Holier Than Thou

[Emora Deen]

Tenele turned slowly to look at him, leaning against the counter. Her brow furrowed with confusion. "Have me?" she whispered. "Vlad... He's just playing with us. He only pokes at me because it scratches at you." Her anger melded quickly, brought on more from worry and fear than anything else. She reached out and gently placed her hand over his arm. "Don't let his words worry you. That's all they are, words. I'll be fine."

And Tenele forced herself to believe her words. She moved closer, placing a hand on his cheek. "Nevertheless, thank you, for not letting him harass me."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's eyes still held a faint crimson glow as they met hers. He wanted for a moment to believe her. He could feel her wanting him to believe. "What if..."

He frowned, and for a moment his eyes were somewhere else, thought they didn't really leave hers. "What if this were more than just words. What if he came here targeting you, and I just happened to wake up at the right time?"

[Emora Deen]

Her eyes flickered with fear, and her hand slowly dropped to her side. She looked away for a moment, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. "Then..." she started, her lips pursing together after a second longer. "I don't know, Vlad... I don't want to think about that. It scares me." She cupped her hand around her arm, rubbing it through the robe.

Her green eyes lifted to his. "Do you... know something that I don't know? You are connected to him, do you know what he would want?"

She felt an uneasy feeling in her gut at the possibility of the God targeting her. Her worst fear was being trapped in his realm alone and in that maze of terror and games.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad made his face a blank slate, pale as stone, but their link betrayed his indecision. Her father had told him those things....but he still highly doubted they were true, despite the fact the man would have no reason to lie to him. It all seemed a little too extreme, too made-up coming from the lips of a werewolf who'd probably been tortured to madness in the witch queen's camps for all these years. After facing that life, what human wouldn't start to remember his wife as a goddess? But then why would Verin single out Tenele? Bittersweet...he'd said that joining with her would be bittersweet. Why?

"Your father...shared some theories with me," the no-life king said, picking words carefully. "But you're right. It is too soon to worry them into facts."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele blinked, shaking her head. "My father thinks Verin is after me? You... shared theories?" Tenele exhaled slowly to calm the little spark that flared. "Well, maybe he'll share these theories with me..."

Tenele still found it too hard to believe that her father was alive, and very well. Even if he were a werewolf.

"Well, eating is out," Tenele muttered, changing the subject. "He stirred my pot, and I don't trust him not to put something in it... so... I didn't want breakfast anyway." Tenele's eyes flickered over Vlad. "And you're still naked..."

She smirked at him, pushing all the fear weighing heavy in her to the back of her mind and choosing to find another time to think about it.

"I know you don't mind showing your... eh... father all your glory, but I'm not sure how mine would feel to see it," she laughed softly. "If he's still coming to visit today as he said he would, maybe you should throw on some pants? For that matter... I should put on something other than a robe."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smirked. "I completely disapprove, he announced as he strolled behind her toward the bedroom.

He glanced at himself in the mirror while she was exploring their luggage. His skin an almost human vibrance after all he'd shared with Tenele the night before, though it was still paler than death. The thought of her effect on him left him smiling at his reflection and feeling rather pleased with himself. "Maybe a bath," he pondered out loud.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smiled as she drew a comfortable dress that would keep her warm from her bag and draped it over the edge of the unmade bed.

"A bath... That is a perfect idea," she mused to him, leaning on the tips of her toes to kiss his lips.

Tenele went into the bathroom that joined the borrowed bedroom and began to fill the large bronze tub with hot water.

"I'm sure we can both fit," Tenele told him in a low voice as she poured bath oils into the rising water, knowing he could hear her even with the water running.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad walked up next to her and sat on the edge of the tub, trailing his fingers through the water. He watched the gold ring on his finger shine through the movement of the water. So this was what it was like. His pleasure and confidence radiated through their link. With her at his side, he couldn't even find it in himself to be concerned about Verin. Especially with her at his side. They'd fought him off. Although, he had used Tenele as a shield.

So he would have to be hers, as well. His gaze drifted to his wife proudly. "Well, it looks ready. I suppose I should see if it's too hot," he offered generously. He perched on the lip of the tub with on leg and flopped casually over the edge into the water, splashing suds all over Tenele and the marble floor. He smirked at her unapologetically.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele gasped and jumped back, getting soaked with water before her bath. She scowled at him even as a smile tugged at her lips. "Very generous," she commented, slipping the damp robe off her shoulders. She drew her hair over one shoulder, brushing it behind her ears.

Tenele placed a hand on his shoulder to balance herself as she stepped over the edge and down into the water, her body slipping along his wet form. Her hand slid up his arm, the glint of gold around her finger catching her eye.

"So... this link we have," she murmured against the skin of his neck. "It seems to come in pretty handy... but it fades. Is there a way to make it permanent or... do we just keep renewing it? Not that I'm complaining about renewing it..."

[Soran Nightblade]

"I suspect it would put quite a strain on you if we renewed it that often," Vlad teased. He closed his eyes blissfully, resting his chin on the warmth of her hair. "And as you've seen, it's not quite as...romantic, when the situation involves my darker instincts. Probably for the best that it is only temporary."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smiled. "Probably," she admitted with a sigh, trailing circles across his chest with the tips of her fingers. "I think you'd get into a lot of trouble with me knowing what you were thinking all the time."

Tenele took up the soap and cloth and began to help her husband bathe. She took mischievous pride in tormenting him. Slowly her mischievous touched calmed, and her hands moved more distracted than anything. Her brow furrowed as she watched the soapy water froth around the rim of the tub. A mild wave of anxiety floated through their link as her mind absently turned to the events of the morning.

"He scares me, Vlad," Tenele whispered before she could get a handle on her tongue or her thoughts and turn them away to a more pleasing venture.

It took a lot for Tenele to admit that something scared her. She was a Queen's Maiden. A warrior. But, Vlad was her husband and she could tell him everything she hid from the world. Her eyes flickered up to his, and she smiled faintly. "I'm human, though," she admitted to make herself feel better. "So, he can't hurt me." Just through my husband and any other demon out there, she thought sourly and winced as it filtered through their link.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad shifted in the tub, placing a hand over the sponge so that she had to stop and look at her. "I will never hurt you. Regardless of what he might try, he can't control me now. I'd sooner cut off this hand than betray the ring it wears."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele frowned at him, and despite his morbid words she did feel a small bit of comfort push out her anxiety. She nodded gently to him, leaning forward to press her lips against his cheek. "If he can't control you, then he shouldn't try... So you will keep your hand," she decided with a nod.

[Soran Nightblade]

"I certainly will," he affirmed, pulling her in close to him. Her scent and warmth were wonderful and tempting, but after the way they had pushed the limits of their bodies the night before, he felt no particular need to go further. He shifted sideways to let Tenele further into the water and stroked his fingers through her wet hair peacefully. "A few years ago, I wouldn't have been caught dead cuddling with a woman in a bath," he scoffed.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele laughed. "A few years ago I think I might have been killed had I been caught cuddling with a man in the bath. Queen's Maiden chastity and all," she told him, sighing at the wonderful fill of his fingers in her hair. The gentleness of it, the warmth of the water, and how comfortable it was to lie with him in it was enough to make her want to fall a sleep. Her eyes grew heavier, and she sighed content against him.

Until the faint sound of a knock clattered on the front door to their elaborate cottage.

"Did we lock the door?" I think we broke it, Tenele thought.