Delvin Mallory was enjoying a quiet moment in the Ragged Flagon. Vekel and Tonilia had gone off to have a couple's night, which left Dirge on his own to get into trouble. With the Flagon officially closed, it was likely that Vekel's bodyguard was up at the Bee and Barb grabbing some drinks with his brother Maul. Vex was off on some job. The rest of the guild was split amongst resting in the Cistern or also on missions.

Although it was nice to have an hour or so to himself to enjoy some Black-Briar mead, Delvin also felt a pang of sadness. He could still remember when this place bustled with activity. "As busy as the Imperial City," he would tell people. Fences filled every niche, thieves bragging about their takes, and the gold. How the gold had flowed like the waters under the sewers.

Then things started to go wrong. No one knew why, but the Guild was falling apart. The Flagon was falling apart. Nothing was new and most of the furniture had been repaired so many times that it was impossible to sit down without fear of your chair crumbling under you. He had tried to tell the others about his theory, but everyone treated him as daft.

Delvin was convinced that they were cursed. Someone or something had put a whammy on them. Why else would the simplest jobs go wrong? Why else would so many thieves be caught and killed?

"Hey, is anyone here?" a female voice called from the shadows.

"Just us old codgers," Delvin called back, recognizing the voice. He smiled at the thought of the sweet, young Nord who was skipping towards him with a sack thrown over her shoulder.

Barri was the newest member of the Thieves' Guild, the most recent in Brynjolf's long line of protégés. Delvin liked her a lot and had great hopes for her, unlike the other fools who had ended up either in jail or dead. Barri was not only young, cheerful, and friendly, but she was also curvy in all the right places. Delvin loved her sky blue eyes and her curly shoulder length hair. He wouldn't mind to run his fingers through it if given half a chance but it was unlikely given how popular she was. No doubt the lass had a handful of younger thieves waiting to tumble into her bed.

"Oh, where are all the old codgers?" Barri asked with fake disappointment. "I was promised old codgers, but all I see is the very sexy Delvin Mallory."

"Flatterer," Delvin chuckled. Barri was a terrible flirt, but Delvin didn't mind in the slightest. Any man would love to have the attentions of such a young thing.

"I had sort of hoped that Tonilia would still be around," Barri said, glancing around the room.

"Even we thieves have to sleep sometime," Delvin teased. "She and Vekel went off to have some alone time."

"Oh poo," Barri pouted as she flopped her bag onto the table. "I don't suppose you would like to purchase some ill-gotten goods?" She smiled coyly as she hugged Delvin and rubbed against him in a very friendly manner. "I am in need of some coin."

"You rogue," Delvin laughed, wrapping his arm around the younger woman's waist to give her a one-armed hug. He also took the opportunity to give her round bottom a quick squeeze, pleased when she didn't swat him away.

"Aren't we all?" she responded as she stuck her tongue out at him. "Seriously though, do you have any interest in any of this stuff?"

Delvin opened the bag and rifled through it as Barri pulled up a seat next time him. She sat close enough that her very shapely thigh was pressed against him, making him more than a little distracted. He wondered sometimes if she was as oblivious about how attractive she was with some of her actions. Like how she would hug people pressing herself completely against them or how she ran her hand up and down his arm, tracing those graceful fingers playfully along the leather.

Surely as a thief, her actions were all intentional manipulations to get favor with the others. But there was something oddly naïve about her too. Delvin had noted many platonic kisses on the cheek or bouncy hugs, but he had never noticed anyone tumbling in or out of Barri's bed. Divines knew that he had been watching for it too. It made for juicy gossip even if it made him ache with jealousy.

"Good stuff you have here," Delvin said as he stacked the various stolen goods on the table. "You have a good eye for quality."

"Thanks," Barri grinned at the praise. "So you'll buy it?"

"I could, but I want to be honest with you," Delvin sighed wistfully. It was one thing to rook the locals; it was entirely another to skim from other Guild members. "You would get a much better deal from Tonilia. I would have to offer at least thirty percent less than she just to make it worth my time to try to sell it to her."

"I don't mind," Barri smiled. Delvin decided that he would only offer her twenty percent less and made sure she knew. "I thought you were a fence too. I think Brynjolf or someone mentioned it."

"Oh, not quite," Delvin chuckled as he swept the items back into Barri's bag and placed it on the floor. "I used to, but nowadays I handle handing out jobs. You know the ones with a more personal touch." His tone was extremely suggestive as he ran his finger along Barri's jawline. His heart fell a little when she just giggled shyly before leaning away. Rather than feel awkward, he asked, "Why the desperate need for cash?"

"Well, I was up at the Bee and Barb and I heard the most scandalous rumor!" Barri exclaimed. Her blue eyes were wide with excitement as she leaned forward with her elbows resting on the table. "There's this little boy in Windhelm by the name of Aventus Aretino who is trying to summon the Dark Brotherhood. He's supposedly doing this dark ritual and he's cursed. I wanted to go up there and see for myself, but as you know traveling takes coin. I figured I could grab the carriage and ride up there tonight if I could sell some stuff."

Delvin suddenly couldn't breathe when Barri mentioned the Dark Brotherhood. He still had pleasant memories of Astrid and her incredibly sexy everything, but there were other much more unpleasant memories. Of blood and betrayal. "Lass, you don't want to get anywhere near anything with the Brotherhood," he warned gently. "They're dangerous."

"Pfft," Barri waved off Delvin's concern. "They're just boogiemen for parents to get their children to behave." Her expression softened. "Besides, if there really is a little boy all alone, someone should do something about it instead of just leaving him there. I've heard of the Black Sacrament and it's not a nice ritual. I can't imagine doing it, and he's supposed to be just a little kid. I want to help him."

"Okay, okay," Delvin held his hands up in surrender. "I can tell I can't dissuade you. But I never haggle dry." He got up and retrieved another cup and a fresh bottle of Black-Briar Mead from behind the counter. He would pay Vekel later. The Breton quickly poured Barri and himself a glass. "To good deeds, eh?"

"To good deeds!" Barri cheered, clinking her glass against Delvin's. "Now how much for that book I picked up?"

A few hours later, Delvin was helping a very drunk and giggling Barri to her bed in the Cistern. He was thankful that it wasn't very far. She was mostly dead weight slumped against him as they stumbled to the common area of the Guild. At the same time he was going to miss having that luscious body pressed against him.

Getting Barri drunk enough that she wouldn't travel that night had been the easy part. Convincing her to stay in the morning would take a little more work, but at least Brynjolf would be back by then and maybe he could convince her where Delvin could not. Or maybe Mercer, but that was a coin toss on whether he would give two farts in the wind about the matter. More likely than not the Guildmaster would just sneer and tell Delvin to give her a fishing job in Windhelm so the Guild would at least make some coin on the venture.

"This is your stop," Delvin said when they reached Barri's bed.

"You're such a gentleman," Barri giggled. She wrapped her arms around Delvin's neck. "Thank you for the lovely evening."

"Would an old codger like me have any chance with a fine young woman like you?" Delvin asked playfully.

"Sure you would."

"Really," Delvin asked, not believing her answer, "what would it take to make that happen?"

"Um," Barri pretended to think, "you have to defeat a dragon, single-handedly stop the civil war, and get Mercer to smile."

"Oh, is that all?" Delvin chuckled; disappointed. He should have known better than to think that Barri would be interested in him.

"Or be a good kisser," Barri said, looking at him with half-lidded eyes. "Are you a good kisser?"

"I haven't had any complaints," Delvin bragged.

"Hm, now I'm curious," Barri purred.

Delvin leaned forward, thinking that Barri was going to give him one of her innocent pecks on the cheek. Instead, the Nord kissed him fully on the lips. And she didn't stop there as her tongue slid past his lips and boldly pressed against his. He was instantly hard as she wrapped one leg around his.

"Don't tease me, lass," Delvin moaned as he wound one hand through Barri's thick hair. "I don't think I could stand to be teased right now."

"I'm not teasing," she promised as she continued to kiss Delvin without abandon. "I think for the first time ever I'm not teasing."

Hands roamed restlessly as the two of them continued to kiss. Delvin silently cursed his suddenly thick fingers as he struggled with the woman's buckles on her armor. He may have handled his liquor better than her, but he was getting older and couldn't drink as much as he used to. At least the booze wasn't affecting his most important part. That particular limb was functioning just fine, pressed hard and ready against his pants.

Barri fell backwards onto her bed as Delvin quickly ripped off his own chest piece. He knelt between her legs, running his hands up and down her legs, enjoying the feel of the leather and her muscles. He pressed his face against her crotch, nuzzling the area as he smelled the leather and her arousal. Barri moaned as she ran her hands over his bald head, fingers lightly playing with the fuzz.

"Tell me what you like," Delvin said as he untied her pants strings. "What makes you scream, lass?"

Barri's hands stopped, suddenly too still. An awkward moment of silence passed and when Delvin looked up at her, he saw that her expression was hesitant. "I don't know," she admitted. "I've never done this before."

Delvin sighed as he grabbed his chest piece and started to stand.

"Wait, where are you going?" Barri asked, sitting up. She held one hand out as if to stop Delvin.

"Lass, as much as I want to, I can't fuck you now," Delvin said as he pulled his top back on. "It would be wrong. You're drunk and you're inexperienced. I'd be a real bastard to take advantage of that."

"You old codger," Barri grumbled as she grabbed him and pulled him on the bed with her. "I'm a Nord. You really think I can't handle a little bit of drink?"

Delvin accessed the girl and decided she had a point. She did look more sober than he would have guessed moments ago. "So, it was a bit of an act then? Why?"

"Maybe I'm too shy to do something directly," Barri admitted, blushing at the confession. "I mean, you're Delvin Mallory. You're one of the big shots around here. Me? I'm just the new kid. And one most people seem to think won't last very long."

"Any man who would take advantage of you while you're drunk isn't a man worth having," Delvin snorted, thoroughly enjoying the compliment.

"You were about to," Barri reminded him.

"It's different if a woman has had some lovers in the past," Delvin defended himself, "but it's completely different with a virgin. I don't want to hurt you either physically or emotionally. I'm not looking for anything long term here."

"Me either!" Barri retorted. "I'm eighteen for crying out loud. I don't know if I'm in love with you or not, but I know being around you makes me feel really tingly and I want to explore that."

"It's really easy to fall for your first," Delvin cautioned. "No one wants hurt feelings."

"Fine, fine," Barri sighed, holding up her hands in surrender. "If you're not comfortable with it, we can always wait until later." She snuggled against Delvin, pressing her full lips against his neck, and breathed huskily against the skin. "No reason we can't continue what we were doing before that topic came up."

Delvin might have enough honor to not take advantage of a drunk girl, but he wasn't honor able enough to walk away from that invitation. He chuckled as he circled his arms around the girl's waist and pulled her close again.

"Shirt, shirt," Barri begged around his lips.

"Oh, sorry," Delvin apologized as he pulled his chest piece off again.

It went a little smoother after that as hands explored over slightly cold skin. Both of them were flushed from arousal and where their bodies were pressed together, but the cool Cistern air left of the rest of their flesh pleasantly chilled.

Barri untied her breast band, releasing her perky, large tits. Delvin quickly cupped one with his left hand and dipped down to run his tongue over the pointed tip. Barri sighed and wiggled underneath him with pleasure. Her hands snaked around his head and pulled him closer, encouraging him to continue what he was doing.

Delvin picked up a nice rhythm of rocking against Barri as she wrapped her legs one of his. Dry humping might not be as good as actual sex, but by the Divines it still felt good. The girl's breathing quickened as her hands worked down his back, tightening her grasp when he did something that she particularly liked.

"I want to touch it," she whispered in his ear, her breath hot, when her hands made their way to his waistline.

"I think I would like that," Delvin replied as he rolled onto his back. He untied his pants and pulled them down long enough so his erection could spring free.

"Oh, wow," Barri said, eyes wide. "Is it big? I mean compared to others."

"Big enough for you," Delvin smirked. "Still want to touch it?"

"Yes, but," Barri swallowed, "it's leaning. I thought they were supposed to be straight."

"Oh Nocturnal, at least I can tell you weren't lying about being inexperienced," Delvin chuckled. "It's okay. They come in all shapes and sizes. Go ahead and touch him. I promise he won't bite." He smiled wickedly. "Can't make any promises about spitting."

Barri laughed nervously, clearly not sure what the joke was, but she did reach out and touch Delvin's cock with one finger. She ran down his length, exploring the feeling with amazement on her face.

"It's soft," she declared. "I mean the skin. I never would have thought it would feel that soft when I've heard men say about how hard they can get. I thought it would be more wooden."

"It can be that too," Delvin said. "Wrap your hand around it. I like that." After Barri followed his instructions, "Now stroke it." He demonstrated with his own hand and let go so she could set her own pace. He groaned with pleasure as she pumped him. She had always been a quick study when he had trained her in sneaking. It looked like she applied that desire to learn to other areas just as fast.

"Now what?" she asked.

"You could kiss it, if you like," Delvin managed to say. She felt so good pressed against him and touching him, thought was very difficult right now. Part of him worried they were moving too fast, but she seemed at ease and enjoying herself as much as he was.

Barri smiled with amusement at Delvin's suggestion, but she didn't stop. She tilted her head to examine his cock before she bent forward and delicately kissed the tip. Her lips widened and took his tip in, making Delvin grunt from refraining from thrusting. Her tongue swirled, licking and tasting, as her hand returned to pumping his shaft again.

"Oh gods, that's good," Delvin moaned. "Keep doing that."

Barri sucked some more, taking more and more of his length in. She bobbed up and down, causing her breasts to bounce against his leg. Delvin gripped the furs under him hard to stop from grabbing the back of Barri's head and shoving his cock down her throat. Most women hated that, a hard lesson learned from past experiences, and he had to keep reminding himself to let her go at her own pace.

Finally, he reached over and tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"What is it?" she asked, concern on her face. "Am I doing something wrong?"

"Oh, oh no," Delvin chuckled, breathing hard. "It's just if you keep that up, I'm not going to be able to hold out. I'll end up coming and that will be the end of that for the night."

"If you did, what should I do?" Barri asked.

"Depends on you, lass," Delvin said. He lightly tugged on her arm so that Barri would move closer to him. He wrapped his arm around her, drawing her close. "Some women like the taste and swallow. Others spit it out."

"Sounds messy," Barri declared, wrinkling her nose. "What's best?"

"I've never known a man to complain about a woman swallowing his spunk," Delvin said, his cock twitching at the thought of Barri doing that.

"I would do it for you then," Barri promised. She started to stroke him again. "Now if you like."

"Are you sure?" Delvin asked, surprised at her boldness. "It's not for everyone."

"Yes," Barri nodded. "The only way I'll know if I like it is to try."

"Far be it for me to stop you," Delvin said.

Barri kissed him before returning to kneeling before him. Her mouth engulfed his length, running up and down the hard flesh. A few times she was too rough and he had to guide her to a better grip, but Delvin never once had to complain about her enthusiasm. Her attempts at different pressures and touches reminded him of her working at opening a lock. It looked like she was the type to experiment and that was always a joy.

Finally, Delvin couldn't hold back any longer and came hard. Barri, true to her word, didn't jerk away and managed to swallow all of it. Delvin smiled at the intense look on her face as she wiped at her mouth.

"Well? Verdict?"

"Hm, it's gooey," she declared. "I liked the kissing part, but not so much the end result."

"It is a refined taste," Delvin said. He moved Barri so that she was lying on her back. "Would you like for me to return the favor?"

"You can do that?"

Oh, she was a delight.

"Yes, and if you ever run into a man who won't, you be sure to tell him to fuck right off," Delvin said as he languidly pulled Barri's tight leather pants off. He probably wouldn't have tried this if she hadn't made him come already, the temptation to take her despite his better judgment would have been too much.

He paused for a moment to admire the sight before him. Barri was completely bare before him, her skin flushed and slightly sweaty. Her hair was wild about her face, framing it prettily. Her legs were open and he could see her sex, wet and ready for him without him hardly doing a thing for her yet.

Delvin knelt before her and playfully ran his fingers along her folds, enjoying how moist she was. Barri's little gasps of pleasure made him stiffen slightly. Whoa, boy, he thought. It had been a long time since he had been up for more than one round in a night. One hand was busy touching her folds while the other reached up and fondled a breast.

"Oh gods," Barri moaned when Delvin finally pressed his tongue against her nub. She descended into meaningless muttering as his tongue lashed relentlessly against her sensitive clit. He easily slid a finger into her and pumped her with it.

"I'm so close," she cried. "I'm so close, but I can't. Delvin, please, oh please."

"Come here," he said, standing up.

Delvin positioned Barri so she was bent over the bed with him standing behind her. He wasn't hard enough to penetrate her, but he had half a stock which was more than enough to press against her ample bottom. While he ground against her from behind, his hand slid forward so he could keep thumbing her clit.

Barri moaned as Delvin alternated between rubbing her and slipping a finger in her cleft while he thrust his cock against her folds. He never quite entered although there were a few times when his tip brushed her entrance. His hand was absolutely soaked as he pleasured the Nord, who was very vocal about enjoying it.

After what felt like forever, Barri gave one final thrust against his hand, calling out his name before collapsing on the bed. By this time, Delvin was hard again. He grasped his cock and pumped it a few time before he came, spilling his seed all over Barri's back.

"Hold still while I get a cloth," Delvin said.

"You could have come in me," Barri said, her tone a little disappointed, but otherwise happily breathless.

"I know," Delvin said as he cleaned her before wiping himself, "but I am a little old school. I think this sort of thing should be prolonged and enjoyed. You only get one first time, dear. I think you've learned enough tonight without necessarily popping your cherry. I wouldn't want to overwhelm you."

"It was very good," Barri admitted. When Delvin slipped back onto the narrow bed, she curled up in his arm and nuzzled her head against the crook of his arm. "Thank you."

"Besides, if I stole your virginity tonight, what would I have to keep you hanging around tomorrow?" Delvin teased.

"Is that a promise for more later?" Barri asked.

Delvin considered the question seriously before answering. "Look, I can't tell you what to do or not to do. However, I get awfully attached to beautiful women very easily. If I do sleep with you, I want you to promise me to not go meddling in Dark Brotherhood affairs. I couldn't stand the thought of you going off and not coming back because one of those assassins got mad and slit your pretty throat."

"You think I'm beautiful?" Barri giggled, apparently missing the point.

"Yes," Delvin sighed. He tightened his embrace and pulled a fur over them. "How does my offer sound? I teach you all sort of illicit delights and you keep your pretty head on your pretty shoulders?"

"You always have been my favorite teacher," Barri said. "I think I can agree to that."

The two thieves kissed again. Warm and sated, they curled up, sleep quickly coming to claim them. Delvin's last thought before drifting off was, "If this is the result of the Ratway being quiet, maybe being cursed wasn't so bad after all."

A/N: This is for Biff McLaughlin for her holiday treat. I hope I did Delvin justice. I haven't really written him before and wasn't completely certain if I had his voice down.

Comments are always loved, appreciated, and treasured.