AN: This story takes place several weeks after the end of the Immortals War. Daine has still not accepted Numairs proposal.

Disclaimer: I am not Tamora Pierce and thus don't own anything you recognize...

Her plan had formed slowly in the last weeks.

After their first passionate encounter - which had taken place immediately after his recovery from the mage fight with Inar Hadensra and had actually brought them to the brink of lovemaking - he stubbornly refused to touch her anywhere beneath her shoulders. Their physical relationship was reduced to kisses, which he, too, kept moderately chaste. He would always interrupt when he thought they could possibly go too far.

She had waited patiently for him to get over his impractical idea of wedding before bedding for months now. Finally she had decided that she wouldn't take it any longer.

Now she was using the secret tunnels of the palace mice to get into his quarters. It was late, but he was still awake. She had seen the flicker of candlelight in his bedroom window. The rest of the windows in the wing were dark; the perfect time to set her plan in motion.

As soon as she entered his quarters through the mouse hole she changed her form to that of a cat, providing her not only with much better eyesight in the dark but also with a graceful and, most importantly, a visible form. She slipped her head through the chain of the pregnancy charm she had had to drag behind her as a mouse and took a short look to orient herself, then she sauntered towards his bedroom. The twitching of her tail the only sign of her nervousness.

The door was slightly ajar which suited her just fine. She wedged herself through the tiny opening and carefully looked about the room. He must not see her too early. Everything depended on the right timing. There he was, standing in the middle of the room, close to a branched candleholder, with a thick book in his hand. He was concentrating on his reading, his lips parted and his eyebrows frowning. She needn't have worried.

Greedily, and a bit embarrassed to be true, she drank in the sight of him. He was clad only in his breaches; his shirt laying discarded on a pile of books next to his bed, his long black hair fell unbound over his shoulders. She had never before been at leisure to ogle his bare breast for so long. The fine black hair, which often sneaked out of the v-neck of his shirt, continued over his breast, giving it a slight dusting of black. She would love to nuzzle it, if he only let her. She sat in his direct line of sight and stared at him for some time, waiting for him to look up.

After what felt like an eternity he seemed to become aware of her presence. He closed the book and gazed intently at her.

"Daine?" he asked a little unbelieving. This was her cue and she took a deep breath in preparation. Then she changed back to her human form. Seconds later she was standing naked before him and watched his face turn a scarlet red. He seemed to realize his staring and instantly turned his back to her. The rejection stung a little but by this time she was well used to it.

"What are you doing her?" he asked in a small voice which broke twice. She took another deep breath and slowly, placing one foot in front of the other, she crossed the small distance between them until her outstretched hand touched his muscled back. He stiffened and she noticed that his breathing stopped for a moment. This was all the encouragement she would get and before he could interrupt again she let her hand travel over his skin to his stomach. The other hand wandered from his back to his breast until she had caught him in an embrace and pressed her naked breast against his bare back. He groaned softly and his head fell back at her touch.

"What do you think I am doing?" she asked trying to keep all the fear of yet another rejection out of her voice. Daine started kissing his shoulder blades while her hands roamed his breast, his abdomen and his side. His skin felt so good under her touch, velvety and warm. His scent was intoxicating and she flicked her tongue over his skin to determine if he tasted as good as he smelled. She tasted a little salt on his skin mixed with a faint herbal aroma of his favourite soap and a slightly musky savour. Not at all like his scent but tasty none the less.

He hissed as he let out his breath which he had unknowingly held. She let her nails graze lightly over his skin and he groaned again. Interesting, she thought and stored this new knowledge of his reactions to her touch away for later use. Suddenly he turned around, grabbing her face to kiss her passionately. She moaned as she returned his kisses with equal force. She had missed this and she dazzling feeling of heat which now warmed her from the inside. Daine pressed her naked body against his and gasped as her hips met a hard presence. He was obviously glad to see her. His eyes flew open and he grew stiff again, pushing her back a little.

"You're really here, aren't you?" he asked suddenly sounding serious and, gazing over her body, blushed deep red again.

"Yes, I am." Daine said a little irritated wanting to kiss him again and explore the tingling feeling which the touch of his erection at her abdomen had caused inside her body. It got worse. He turned away and quickly stepped to the pile of books next to his bed. Numair grabbed his discarded shirt and with a quick glance threw it in her direction. Instead of catching it she let it sail slowly to the ground in front of her. Sadness and dread filled her.

After a moment of silence he spoke again.

"Are you decent?" his voice sounded stiff but she couldn't determine if he was angry at her.

"I did not put on the shirt if you mean that." She said slowly trying not to let the hurt she felt by his rejection show in her voice. He put his head in his hands and groaned.

"Why are you doing this to me?" he asked with a strangled voice.

"I could ask you the same." And this time, trying though she might to suppress it, her hurt sounded clearly in her voice. A single tear trailed her cheeks. He was shaking slightly. Was he angry? She couldn't bear it any longer, the pain of rejection inside her heart was much worse than she had thought it could ever be. She really hadn't thought it could get worse, to be true, but nothing had prepared her for the pain of being turned down after offering herself in this way. What was wrong with her? He had gladly slept with his former lady-friends; that she knew for sure. Why was she any different? Daine sighed and picked the shirt from the floor, but couldn't decide if she really wanted to put it on. It would mean awkward talk if she did and cowardly flight if she didn't. Unsure, what to do, she decided to leave the choice to him.

"Do…" her voice broke and she swallowed to start again. "Do you want me to leave?" It sounded small, the tone was too high. Her throat felt so constricted that it hurt to speak at all.

"It would be better." Numair answered after a long pause, the tone of his voice, too, was far from normal. She nodded and slowly laid the shirt on his bed. Daine started to turn away from him, ready to start her walk of shame, when she realized that he had not in fact answered her question. With her back to him, barely allowing herself to hope, she asked again. This time the suspense was even longer. It was hard to bear. She had put all of her courage out for him to trample, there was only a minuscule trace left inside of her.

"No." His reply was so low that it was scarcely audible.

"Then what do you want?" she asked, keeping her voice carefully neutral. A tiny spark of hope was dancing in her heart, waiting for encouragement to grow or devastation to extinguish it. Again her question was followed by silence.

"You." He finally said, his voice getting firmer with every word. "I want you. I want to hold you, to kiss you and to… to make love to you so much that it scares me." With his last word he turned and stared at her still naked body with an intensity that made her shudder. "Just the sight… no, just the thought of you naked in my room nearly breaks my control. Having you standing here, in front of me like this is pure torture. I want to ravish you, take you, possess you." He nearly spat the last word at her. The tendons in his neck were standing out, his hands fisted, his body shook and his eyes were fixed on Daine's curves. Hot shivers washed trough her as her newly ignited hope flew high.

"What holds you back?" Daine asked breathless.

"What holds me back?" his voice sounded unbelieving, nearly angry. "You are the love of my life and a young, innocent virgin. Not only that it would be the proper thing to wait till after the marriage." She snorted and he glared at her for a second for interrupting him. Then his eyes trailed to the floor and his voice became soft again. "I am scared to death that I could hurt you. I want your first time to be special, not a… mess, because I couldn't control my desire."

Daine started to slowly move towards him.

"I just want my first time to happen." She said softly. "And I want it to happen with you. I want you to … to ravish … to possess me." When she reached him, she let her hand rest softly on his breast. He trembled, his hands balled to fists so hard that the knuckles blazed white.

"And I don't want to wait for the months or maybe years it might take me to grow the balls to finally marry you." Her words were getting constantly lower until the end of the sentence was barely audible. They had talked about her marriage issues before, but this made it not easier to say out loud just how scared she was. He tentatively put his arms around her and pressed a tender kiss on her forehead. She, equally cautious, leaned into him. He cleared his throat repeatedly.

"I will try to be gentle and we can stop at any time." He finally croaked and before she could say something he picked her up and laid her softly on his bed. Her answering smile was radiant. Her love-filled eyes gazed at him with so much trust, that it took his breath away. Daine reached for him and he obediently laid himself next to her. For a long time, all he did was look at her, his eyes travelling over the length of her slender figure, lingering on her curves and the soft spot between her legs.

At first it felt terribly awkward for her to be exposed like that while he still wore his breaches, but then she saw him unconsciously wetting his lips with the tip of his tongue. She went from watching his eyes to observing his mouth then and soon the little tongue action repeated itself. It was strangely exiting to watch. Her breathing sped up. What was he thinking, that could make him lick his lips in this way? She was no stranger to men and women interaction, she had thought, with growing up as the bastard of a hedge witch/midwife. But now she felt absolutely clueless.

A feather light touch on her breast woke her from her musing. She gasped and turned her eyes to where his fingers travelled softly around her nipple. Her breast tightened and something inside her body did as well, leaving a tingling feeling on her skin and inside her stomach. His eyes were glued to her breast now, his expression intense. There was the tongue action again and shortly after it his eyes skipped to hers. Whatever he saw there seemed to reassure him, because he continued to caress her breast. But now he tugged and twisted a little at her nipple, which had grown hard with all the attention. She closed her eyes to fully savour the sensations racing through her body. The butterflies in her stomach were practising a quadrille by now.

"Magelet, will you let me kiss them?" What? Whom? Daine opened her eyes in confusion at the same moment as Numair latched his mouth on her breast. She gasped and then moaned as he suckled her nipple. His hand grabbed her other breast in turn kneading and caressing it. His tongue circled her nipple and his warm breath felt cold on her now wet skin. She shivered.

"Exquisite." He said in a husky voice, his breathing was ragged and fast as if he had been running. His hand was leaving her breast and wandering to her hip as he claimed her mouth in a passionate kiss. This finally woke her from her stupor and her hands flew at him. One hand went behind his neck to keep him where he was, the other explored his naked torso. He groaned and the grip on her hip tightened. Daine stopped shortly to make sure she hadn't done something wrong or stupid.

His eyes were darker than usual, wearing a look so intense that it stopped her breath. Before she could say something his mouth claimed hers again, she gasped and his tongue used the chance to enter her mouth. There was nothing gentle or tender about his hands now, or was it? Truth be told, he was tender and gentle just more …passionate. He rolled to hover over her, leaning on one elbow while his legs had come to rest between hers. Something that could only be his erection, still hidden behind his breaches, pressed at the soft spot between her legs. The breaches were strangely wet but Daine couldn't wonder about that. The things he did with his tongue and her mouth stole her mind away. The tip of his tongue was exploring her mouth, tickling her tongue and twirling around it. Daine's instincts took over and her tongue moved in sync with his. His groin pressed against her hips and made her moan once more. Feeling the hard length of his near her core evoked a longing, a need, a desire she hadn't known before. She had thought herself desperate for his touch only recently, but it could not compare to what she was feeling now. She groaned in need as he levelled his hips away from her and she moved her hands to his ass to press him against her once more. Her action got interrupted as his hand moved between her legs. He started to move his fingers in ways that fuelled her desire. She nearly cried out.

"You're so wet already." Numair groaned and, before she could ask what he meant by that, he plunged a finger into her and she knew. She cried his name as he started to move his finger along the slick wet walls of her core. Her hands clung to his body and, moving of their own accord again, sneaked inside his breaches and grabbed his ass. He moaned and shivered above her but never once lost the rhythm his finger was following. His thump picked up the same rhythm and stroked her clit while he entered a second finger into her already stretched core.

"So tight." His husky moans didn't really penetrate her mind as it was occupied with a penetration of another kind. The feelings of desire and need combined with a feeling of heat and tension that grew to a nearly painful intensity. It shot in waves over her body and made her cry out again, when suddenly the tension broke and brought a new wave of calm and relaxation with it. She nearly couldn't feel his fingers inside her anymore, but she knew they were there. Numair watched her with dark and fervid eyes as his fingers stopped their rhythm and left her core. She whimpered and looked down at his hand. He fumbled with his breaches and she eagerly helped him to loose them. His hand was back stroking her clit as he positioned himself above her again.

"This was how it will feel for you once the pain of the first time is past." He told her with a rough voice. She had already closed her eyes again to fully concentrate on the action of his fingers. Moments later his fingers were replaced by what could only be the tip of his erection. Her eyes flew open. He was watching her intently.

"Are you still okay with this?" his voice sounded strained. She nodded and he slowly entered her. She tensed and he stopped. It was a bit painful but bearable, she tried to relax and nodded again. He pushed forward gently until he had buried himself completely in her core. There he stopped again, waiting for her to adjust. Slowly the intense feeling of being ripped apart loosened and a pleasanter, a tingling feeling spread through her. She gasped as she felt a tiny movement within her.

"Are you all right?" his voice was tense and hoarse. She nodded again and he began to move for real. Slowly he pulled himself out of her a bit and pushed inside again. The pleasant feeling in her core spread to her guts and startled a moan out of her. It was still accompanied by a little pain, but that she could handle.

His breathing was speeding up now, a look of intense concentration laid on his face. She pushed a few locks of his hair out of his face and caressed him softly. He seemed to be holding back still. Their eyes met and Daine held her breath. His eyes were dark, a smouldering look of passion shone out of them with an impossible intensity. Startled she moved her hips. He groaned and shut his eyes as he increased the speed of his thrusts. She gasped again and likewise closed her eyes. To concentrate solely on the spreading feeling in her stomach made the emotion much more intense. Her every breath now was accompanied by little moans and sighs of pleasure.

Numair was breathing heavily as he once more increased his pace and puffs of warm air tickled her neck. Suddenly he shuddered and his erection inside her core twitched as his semen filled her. He collapsed on top of her and instantly began to kiss every spot on her skin he could reach. At first Daine could barely feel his weight on her as she mirrored his kisses, but soon the ecstasy in her veins turned to calm contentment and his weight began to oppress her. Before she could make up her mind to tell him so, he rolled himself off her. His now relaxed length left her and feeling curiously empty she involuntary gave a light noise of protest which made him chuckle. He lightly caressed her body with his fingertips.

"I am blessed by all the gods." He solemnly told her and kissed her softly on the lips.

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