Holier Than Thou

[Soran Nightblade]

"Oh, but I can," Vlad grinned as he looped the pack over his shoulder effortlessly. He tilted his lips close to her ear. "Your husband has excellent endurance. I hope you're prepared for it," he whispered silkily.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele tilted her head into his words. The implications of them sending a shiver through her. She smiled at him. "I am prepared..." Possibly. "But can you handle me?" she leaned up in his arms, cupping his cheek in one hand and pressing her lips firmly to his cool opposite one. "You better find that house soon."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's instincts roused as her soft lips touched his. "As you ask, my lady," he murmured, his breath mingling with hers. He started ahead again, ascending the steep path into the forest. Sunshine was glowing through the leaves, and as they left the rubble behind them, it grew harder and harder to associate this place with Hepian. They turned a bend in the path and finally came into view of a regal estate. The gardens around the cottagelike building looked like they had been meticulously kept until recently. It was both private and elegant, and a little bit wild. Vlad liked it immediately.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smiled at the garden and the house nestled in the midst. It seemed winter had been kinder here than the rest. "What if someone is home?" she asked him softly. There wasn't any smoke coming from the fireplace and the house did seem quiet.

Tenele looked back to insure Stalker was following behind them. "Though you plan to hog me, let's not leave him out in the cold."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad cast a judging stare toward his hound. Stalker raised his head and lowered his tail attentively. "Very well. But don't coddle him. He's spoiled as it is."

He took in the silent home. The unkempt gardens, clearly once treated with meticulous care, were more than enough assurance for him. "We're alone here. Whoever lived in this place has long since moved to less violent pastures." He grinned. "Which makes it our very own luxury suite." He strolled up the front walk with his new wife in his arms and gave the doorknob a turn. It was locked. He made a quiet, frustrated sound in the back of his throat and turned the knob just a bit harder. A metallic crunch went through the door as Vlad opened it smoothly. "I suppose I get to carry you across the threshold, after all!" he remarked. "Who cares if it's technically ours."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele laughed softly when he broke in, cupping his face in her hands and kissing his lips. "For now it is ours," she told him gently. She trailed kisses from his jaw to his neck and to the spot where his collar lightly brushed his skin. Her teeth dragged over the pale flesh before she lightly nipped him. "You better find that room, Lord Dracul" Tenele murmured against his skin. "You're wife is getting impatient."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad drew a tight breath. Tenele's playful teasing was enough to tighten things low in his body and provoke the need to go further. His grip grew a little more firm around her as he carried her across the foyeur and up a curved staircase that led to the upper level. It was a grand house, no doubt about that, and Vlad chose the bedroom that seemed grandest. A set of double doors, richly paneled, gave way to the master suite. The bed was made. Whoever had left, they'd wanted things to be in order when they returned.

Well, they were in for a bit of a surprise on that note.

He carried her in toward the bed without hesitation. The double doors shut firmly behind them at the no-life king's whim. He sat down with her on the bed so that she sat across his lap. His arms loosed to give her a little room for her own balance, but his hand released her only to cup her cheek possessively while he leaned in to kiss her. He kissed her like he was drinking her in, and when he finally let her come up for air, he was rather intoxicated with her. His eyes glowed a soft red in the dim-lit bedroom. The air was fairly cold inside, with no heat.

He let his lips brush against hers. "Would you like me to build you a fire, my lady," he whispered, his need for her seeping through his voice like a carress.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele exhaled softly when his lips drew away. The heat his touch brought her made her ignore the cold until he mentioned the fire. "A fire..." she muttered, a sly smile coming to her lips as the chill stole a shiver from her. "Maybe a fire can wait? I have a feeling I'll be warm soon." She kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing herself against him.

Her hand started at the top of his shirt and worked the tie lose, and then the buttons down the front. Her finger tips trailed the skin of his chest lightly, another chill running through her. "If my husband so chooses to leave the warm arms of his wife to build her a fire, I dare say I won't protest."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's mouth pulled up into a smirk as he kissed her. He could feel her shivering. "I believe it is the husband's job to be stern on these matters. Who would I be if I allowed you to catch cold on our wedding day?" he scoffed. He didn't normally dote on Tenele, but the idea was amusing at the moment.

He leaned in to kiss her and disappeared just as his lips would have met hers. He reformed outside by the wood pile, snickering to himself. He was going to enjoy teasing his new wife.

[Emora Deen]

Without the slight support of Vlad's arms, and along with his unexpected disappearance, Tenele clamored to keep from falling off the bed. When, she'd manage to fall against the soft fabric of the covers and not onto the polished hardwood floors she slowly righted herself, standing up. She huffed, muttering under her breath.

Tenele listened for Vlad, wondering where he'd gone. She wandered around the room, her hands gliding over the pretty bottles of perfume sitting on a dressing table.

She went to the window, brushing back the curtains and looking down to the garden with the scattered patches of snow. Tenele ventured to a well carved door that curved at the top, and behind it she found a lavish washroom.

There was a wide copper tub situated at the far end of the room along a wall of windows. A bench sat along the wall with hooks and robes hanging there. Unlit candles hung in sconces along the wall and in a tall candelabra positioned next to the tub.

Tenele closed the door slowly. There overstuffed bench before the foot of the bed and position just a few feet from the fireplace, and Tenele sat down slowly. She smoothed her hands along the soft fabric of her wedding gown, waiting patiently for her husband. For some strange reason she felt a tinge of nervousness flowering in the pit of her stomach, and for the life of her she couldn't fathom why.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad reappeared a few moments later with his arms laden with an ungodly amount of firewood. He knelt and tumbled the stack into the woodbin next to the fireplace. He looked over his shoulder as Tenele. "Is everything alright?" he asked a bit smugly, sensing the tension in her heartbeat. He smiled a little as he threw some logs into the hearth and struck a match to light the kindling beneath. He stood up as the flames finally began to lick up around the sides of the wood. Turning, he walked to stand in front of Tenele. He reached out and lightly touched the fabric of her dress, studying the way her hands were knitted into it. His eyes rose up to hers, interested. "Perhaps my teasing was ill timed," he suggested.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smiled softly, "I'm fine," she reassured, letting the dress go and reaching out for his hand. "I just had a moment to sit and think about the fact that this is very real. I never thought... Never even let myself think that we could..." She closed her mouth, shaking her head. Slowly her lips tugged into a smile and she stood up, turning her back to him. She reached behind her, running her fingers over the intricate lacing. "Will you?" She smiled at him over her shoulder, her green eyes glinting in the firelight.

As the fire grew, the room felt warmer, and the chill lessened in the air.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad peered at the delicate lacing, ruminating on what she'd just said. His fingers brushed against the laces and undid them gracefully, almost reverently. As the fabric opened to reveal her back, he brushed his fingertips along her skin. He kissed the back of her neck, the fabric of his suit touching her bare skin as he slid the dress down over her hips.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele exhaled softly, shivering now from something other than the cold. She closed her eyes, soaking in the feel of his fingers on her skin, even the light brush of his clothes against her. When the smooth fabric of her gown glided over the curve of her hips and slipped along the soft skin of her legs she turned to look at him, bare, revealed, and open.

Tenele's cheeks flushed. There was something about this that felt different, and more intimate than ever before. She knew the importance of the consummation and how some viewed it as a ritual itself, especially in the royal setting. She wasn't exactly sure if that was what made it feel different, but something made her hold this moment closer to her heart.

The Queen's Maiden reached up to her hair and gently pulled the bronze pins from her hair until the silver, soft as silk, fell along her shoulders. She dropped the pins along with the dress, and took a step closer to her husband. She reached to his suit and pushed the coat from his shoulders, then set about finishing with the buttons that she'd started earlier. When the shirt was parted to where she could see the skin, she leaned forward and trailed her lips over the center of his chest. Her finger tips glided down over his abs and until they found the rim of his pants. She took his belt in her hands and began to work the rest of his clothes off.

"You seem to have more layers than me," she whispered with a soft laugh. "More work." She lifted her head and stood on the tips of her toes to kiss his lips.

[Soran Nightblade]

"I've been known to have an unfair advantage in such situations," Vlad murmured, a bit distracted by her hands in his clothes. The slacks she was untying fell down around his ankles, leaving him with very little on, and then her hands removed even that. He took the liberty of evening the score, until they were left completely bare to each other in the sunny bedroom. Vlad touched her cheek, meeting her eyes. "My lady," he said, his voice dropping to a near whisper.