Kiss the cook

[Lovely]

December 10, 2009
Evening
Onmadia - Pack's caverns
runs alongside: The revered ones and Not what it seems


He wouldn't be missed. Keller had gone ahead with Mitch, following a scent to the stables. Any other business in the house didn't concern them yet, so there was no reason to stay, and every reason to get this prize back to the den before her scent reached them. Nance had not intended on delving as deeply or roughly, but once his mind had cleared, he focused only on protecting her from anything worse and repairing what he'd already done, himself. She railed at him in fits as her strength began to return to her. She'd left several gouges in his arms and back already, a large gash over his eye as well as she tried to push him and his raging lust away. Had he bitten her? He wasn't certain of that, but was positive this was her first encounter. He was determined that it would also not be her last. She stirred him so strongly, he would insist that she stay, but needed to tend the wounds soon. His own wounds would manage themselves. She struggled as he moved back through the woods with her, leaving several more scratches and this time a bite of her own that nearly made him laugh. It was light and weak compared to his brothers, but he would soon fix that as well. Mitch wasn't at the den to protest her being brought directly by the fire. Mace attempted to offer help in his usual way and nearly lost his arm as Nance wrenched him away from the girl and flung him against the stack of crates along the wall. He wrapped her in his own blanket and began to soothe first the wounds on her arms, licking slowly over the small cuts and bruises.

Savy had been frightened and confused since the moment she'd encountered Nance in the house, it had grown worse and also included pain once he came at her with his lust and strength. She'd not been able to fight him off though she'd tried, not screaming for fear of what he might do to Tre if she came running. Savy had wanted to scream then and part of her still wanted to as she found herself wrapped up by the fire. She remembered the trip here in bits and pieces as she'd faded in and out, bursts of strength had her fighting against him and even biting him though he didn't seem bothered by any of it. Another man had approached and frightened her more as Nance brought her in by the fire, she found herself shifting closer to Nance as he protected her and threw the man aside. She hurt more than she ever had and she tried to curl into a ball as Nance wrapped her in his blanket, she couldn't help the small whimpers of pain and fear. He seemed to be trying to help her now, after hurting her before and that confused her more but she didn't fight him once she realized the licks over her arm were making the pain less. She stared at Nance, pouting, glaring, and curious all at once.. Savy tried to hide in the blanket, she was trembling a little, part from being cold for the trip here, part pain, part fear, and part shock from all that had happened in a short time.

"There now, that's not so bad, huh?" He cooed quietly as she shifted and curled in the blanket, he assumed for comfort. His senses were still clouded by her scent and the fear he assumed was over Mace's advance, not his own. The cut over his eye had been deep where she'd struck him in the kitchen, maybe with a pot or a bottle, but it had stopped bleeding and was already becoming lighter since they returned to the den.

"You hurt me." She accused him in a whisper, the pout deepened on her face for a moment, the tears shimmered in her eyes. She looked away from him and then finally nodded her head a little. "It's better than it was.. I still hurt... alot." Her other hand reached to wipe a tear that slipped down her cheek. "How do you do that?" She motioned with her damp fingers to her arm and then to the cut over his eye that seemed to heal as she watched.

[Lovely]

"Heal? I.. don't know how it works. I think about healing and it just does. I'll teach you what I know, but not today. Lay still and I'll fix the pain. Are you thirsty? Cold? Hungry?" He was eager to ease her in any way he could and hopeful her strength would return quickly.

Savy nodded and shook her head and then started to cry a little bit more, she wiped at the tears and tried to hold them back but was growing more confused by his actions. "Why are you doing this? Why did you hurt me? Why did you bring me here?" She had no idea what his intentions were and it just didn't make sense to her how he'd hurt her and now was acting as if he cared whether or not she was alright. On some level she understood he hadn't meant to hurt her with what he'd done before, but with his strength and her being just a tender girl.. that didn't tell her why he'd attacked her in the first place or what he wanted from her. He'd taken her from her home and everything she knew and spoke as if he'd keep her with him for some time, telling her he'd teach her things.

"I couldn't help myself," he explained, running his tongue along her forearm that was mostly sealed and pink now. He turned his attention to the marks on her face if she did not fight him more. "In an instant I knew...," he sighed, not sure how else to explain until she'd rested. "I chose you."

Once again she stared at him, it was an effort but she held herself mostly still as he shifted his healing up to the marks on her face. She was quiet for a few minutes as she took in what he said and tried to understand it. "What did you know.. what did you choose me for?" She was smart enough and calm enough at the moment to realize his choice wasn't just to attack her at the house there was something more to it, the reason he'd taken her and tried to make her better now. She moved her arm and felt the difference in the pain since his attention and healing, she wondered if he could heal her core in the same way, as that was what hurt the most.

"To be mine," he said, confused that she didn't understand. He leaned over her as he had before, but not intending to attack her. He looked for signs that he had bitten her already, concerned that it was too soon and she was too weak. "A perfect mate. I never thought I would ever... let me see that," he said, pausing to look closer at a mark on her shoulder.

"To be yours.." She echoed it softly, her face tilting to try to look at his, Savy tensed as he leaned over her like he had before but he didn't attack her again. "That you'd ever find one.. and you think I'm your perfect mate?" She was actually flattered by that, though she didn't like that he'd hurt and frightened her because of it. He wanted to look at the mark on her shoulder and she didn't try to stop him, licking at her lips a little as he came closer, his warm breath tickled her skin. "That one.. it kind of burns.. I think it's worse than the cuts on my arms." She told him softly, not to make him feel bad but to help him help her, trusting him to take care of her now that she believed he would.

The cut was raw and could have been a bite. When she'd said it burned, his heart sank a little. Was it too much for her to withstand? He leaned to kiss the mark gently, smelling it for the poison of his bite that would begin the transformation. He couldn't be sure how much had gotten into the wound. "This will still burn. Hold on," he warned before lapping over it lightly to seal it for now. Their run through the woods had done him no favors with leaves and dust finding the marks.

All she had to hold onto was him and the blanket, he was more sturdy and for first time she reached out to him, her fingers curling around his arms as he tended the wound on her shoulder. She clenched at him and bit at her own lip as his tongue ran over the raw mark. "Next time I get to bite you!"

[Lovely]

"I look forward to that," he smiled, pausing from tending the mark for the moment. Her fingers around his arms was an indescribable delight that nearly scattered his thoughts from his mind again. A low rumble in his chest rattled them both as he leaned back to the wound, cleansing it carefully and ensuring it was closed.

"I.." She hadn't quite meant for it to have the meaning he took from it but she realized that if she stayed with him he'd want that from her. Her cheeks heated in a deep blush and she listened to the sound and felt the rumble vibrate through her. "Will it always hurt me like this.. when we... " She couldn't quite voice the question since the first time had been more of an attack on her than a joining that she'd be a willing participant in.

"No, not if I have my wits about me and you've built up your strength. Soon... That should be very soon," he said, suggesting with the soft kiss and his whisper beside the mark, moving up her neck, that soon meant testing that theory as well.

"How do I build up my strength? I'm not.. like you." Her voice waivered as his soft kiss moved up her neck and she experienced quite a pleasant sensation from his touch. He would likely sense the pleasure she felt and the confusion it caused as she also still felt quite a bit of pain from when he'd encountered her at the house.

"I will teach you that too... but tonight you need rest," he said, kissing her gently again and moving to kiss her lips. The slight change in her scent was almost too much and he felt he might need to take one of Mitch's cigars and sit out in the snow for a few minutes. "As mine, you will become like me," he promised, letting her mind slowly grapple with the meaning of his words.

Savy nodded slowly, her lips meeting his kiss. This was not like the frenzy that met her when he'd come at her in the house and she returned the kiss gently. She found that she liked his touch and kiss when he wasn't crazed with lust and hurting her in a primal need to claim her as his own. "What are you?" She asked quietly, she already knew he wasn't human, she'd seen enough to be sure of that but beyond that she didn't really know.

What was he? He nearly laughed, but instead leaned beside her and pulled a small carving from beneath his stained shirt. The intricate piece of stone or polished wood was that of a snarling wolf's head and ruff strung on a leather cord. He held it up on the cord for her to see, raising a questionning eyebrow. "Hm? Of course you have no reason to know that or to believe me, but... it's true," he whispered.

She shifted for comfort or at least an attempt at being comfortable as he leaned beside her, it was clear in her expression that she was pained and nance would likely know where and why. Savy reached to the necklace he held out, her fingers gently running over the carving. "It looks like a wolf.. you don't look like a wolf.. " She quietly pointed out the obvious, studying the piece for a moment and thinking of all he'd told her and all she'd seen and experienced so far. Her scent would tell him that she believed him, but she still had questions. "Do you have a wolf inside you? Is that why.. you couldn't help yourself?" She thought about his behavior, the way he'd clawed and bitten her and how he had decided he wanted her and simply took her.. like an animal might. He had used the word mate and being his, it all seemed to fit together with what he said he was.

"Barely contained," he nodded, sliding the charm away and looking her over as he leaned beside her. "Every breath in that house was filled with your scent. It stuns me.. and I like it,' he admitted.

[Lovely]

She pouted a little as he took the charm away and hid it beneath his shirt again. He complimented her scent and she blushed softly, it was like he was telling her she was the most beautiful maiden in the kingdom. She wasn't like him but gingerly shifted herself closer to lean to his neck and smell him. Even though he'd been quite close to her back at the house she hadn't noticed his scent like she did now. "Your scent..." She didn't know how to describe it or how to understand the scent in the way he did but she liked his. ".. it makes me want to.. be close to you.. feel safe right here." She shifted carefully and snuggled herself into his chest.

Mace groaned as he pulled himself up from his heap on the floor and looked over at the pair. "Another one. It stinks of females in here," he grumbled, pulling himself to his feet halfway before launching into his own wolf form and heading out to the cold to clear his head and maybe find something of his own to sink his teeth into.

Nance turned only slightly when Mace moved, ensuring he wasn't coming back for another punch to his pride. As his packmate trotted away he curled the woman into his embrace and pulled the blanket over himself beside her. "It's the bite. The burning is the change. It's only a small bite, but enough to know the difference."

"I don't like him very much." Savy whispered after Mace launched himself out of the cave, she more heard him than saw as she was curled up to Nance and he obscured her from the display. When Nance wrapped up with her in the blanket and his arms were around her, she sighed softly and relaxed a little into that embrace. "The change.. will the bite make me like you or.. do you have to bite me again?"

"There will be another bite," he said, nuzzling against her, all the while listening for the others. "Not until you've rested and are... mm, less sore. It will take every bit of strength you have ever known."

That scared her, partly because before he'd tended her some and even since, this was the worst pain she'd ever been in. She nodded and curled herself into a bit of a ball, her eyes closing as she tried to be brave about it, realizing it was the only option, she wouldn't survive repeated joining with him if she didn't have the strength he could give her. Normally when she was frightened, Savy would seek out Tre to help her through it, she didn't have her sister now and was facing this on her own. Her thoughts were clearer now than when she'd first arrived, and as they turned toward Tre, savy started to get upset. "Tre!.. Oh no.. she's going to think something horrible happened to me.. I need to see her and let her know I'm alright."

Nance kept her curled in his embrace as her panic surfaced again. "She might, but you can't. Not like you are right now," he said quietly, trying to calm her.

"Why's that? Cuz you got her nekkid under there?" Mitch spoke from the doorway with his hands curled around a wriggling sack. "Leave her be and take this. Don't let it out of your sight."

[Lovely]

Savy knew with how sore she was there was no way she could walk back to the estate, besides the fact that she'd get lost in the dark.. she would need his help to get to her sister and he'd said she couldn't. Of course this upset her and not only did she pout, she punched him in the arm. "Why are you being mean to me?!" She demanded in a whisper, aware that someone else was there and slowly turning to look at Mitch for the first time. She was wary of him but he didn't frighten her like Mace had, it was more a sense that he was important and she shouldn't throw a tantrum on him. She purposely tried to put her back to Nance, to show him she was mad at him for keeping her from her sister. Her eyes shifted to Mitch and his wiggling sack. "I'm not naked." She defended quietly, curling up again and resting her cheek against her arm.

He wasn't expecting the punch amidst the cuddles even though she was ready to spring loose. He gasped, shocked and amused, then kissed her cheek. "I'm not being mean, I'm being sensible and you... have a pretty solid hook. Maybe I'll have you teach me! Rest and I'll be back soon to help ease the rest of your pain," he promised, trying to steal a kiss from the pout he found as delightful as her clench on his arms had been. Mitch wasn't going to ask him twice and he assumed whatever was in the sack was meant to be kept alive, although it already smelled broken, swollen and petrified with wave after wave of fear.

Mitch smiled as he got a rise from the young thing in Nance's care. "We do all the work and you find yourself a little playmate. That's just so... darn cute. She is, too... smells like the cook. You two been roastin' rabbits in the fire the whole time I've been gone?" He knew the scents weren't recent, something from house undoubtedly, and the remnants of Nance's riled state were too pungent to miss. Mitch put the sack down in the doorway with little care onto which end it landed. "At least one of you knows your way home. Looks like I got two strays."

She kissed Nance back when he tried to steal one, only because he'd complimented her punching him and didn't get mad back.. it was quite endearing, even if she wanted to pretend she was furious with him. Savy wasn't that angry but more upset - worried and wanting her sister near. She didn't understand Mitch's comments and reached to pull the blanket around her more, worried that despite seeming amused, that he wouldn't want her here and would send her away. As odd as it was, after he'd hurt her, she wanted to stay with Nance. She glanced to Mitch, licking at her lips as she tried to look a little better than she felt, maybe if she was strong he wouldn't send her away.

"Strays?" Nance wasn't sure what Mitch meant, either, but noticed the others weren't back yet and he'd had a while to play already. Usually Keller was back to the den first. "Something else happen that I missed?" He looked questioningly at the wriggling sack.

"Boys that don't know when to stop playing and actually work, I'd wager. Antony's not back with you and that usually spells trouble," Mitch grinned, pulling a cleaned pipe out from a crate along with a folded pouch of crumpled, aromatic leaves. He tamped several into the pipe, but left it unlit for the moment. "I have a pretty good idea where I left Keller, just not how long he's going to need to take care of things."

Nance wasn't sure what to think of Mitch's evasive comments. Did something happen? He wasn't sure, but was sure of the sack moving more slowly moment by moment. He let Savy capture his kiss briefly before he pulled himself away to guard the sack. "If you want that one to stay breathing until they make it back, shouldn't we loosen him up a little?"

Savy didn't know Mitch and barely knew Nance, she was nervous about the things she overheard and not entirely relieved that Mitch completely ignored her after calling her a stray. She thought he was talking about her and whoever was in that sack when he made the comment. She wasn't sure whether to sink down again or keep herself upright, she felt like nothing made sense because she knew so little about these men or thier intentions. Would Nance protect her if Mitch tried to hurt her like the person in the sack.. and who was in the sack? Nance caught her off guard when he kissed her again before he pulled away and made his own comments about loosening the other 'stray' up.

[Lovely]

Tully had been trying to keep herself busy and out of the way, she was worried about Mitch going to see her uncle, though she was sure he could more than handle himself. She kept to the 'room' she'd slept in.. Mitch's room, for awhile but had slowly started to make her way to the main room of the deep caverns. Even for non-feral ears voices carried well enough that she swore she heard Mitch's low tone as she approached, her pace quickened until she was at the edges of the main area. She stopped there, biting her lower lip as she hesitated but couldn't hold back the urge to move toward him. "You're back." She spoke softly, knowing she'd hardly have to whisper for him to hear it.

"Well now, that's worth all the trouble, right there," Mitch said softly as he turned toward Tully's whisper and beckoned her closer. Nance had him more concerned at the moment and he gave him a curious look. "Won't matter for long if he's loose or not. Just don't eat him."

Nance chuckled and took a deeper whiff beside the bag. There had been quite a bit of fear rattling it before. The groan eminating from it now sounded weakened, or perhaps ill. He undid the knot and drew the fabric away from the man's face. The scents from inside the bag were ripe with the man's expelled fear and he appeared a pale green and was barely conscious. "Don't like them too scared. You know that. Makes their meat tough," he joked with a grimace.

Savy watched with growing fear, herself... ignored was probably better and she did her best to not be noticed. The blanket would only hide so much but she did her best to curl into the coarse fabric, cringing and gasping softly as the face of her master was revealed from within the sack. She paled a little as she saw how awful the nobleman looked, if they would do that to him - what would they do to a commoner like her, if she wasn't welcome by the leader?

Tully was already coming toward Mitch when he beckoned, she was glad she hadn't been able to hold back the urge to go to him and was wrapping her arms around him gently a moment later. She would have sought a kiss but he was distracted and she was disappointed then shocked by what else she saw, first the sight of her uncle in such a state and then as she looked away, the girl who looked hurt and frightened. Two soft gasps sounded from her and she started to step away from Mitch, her hand rising toward her chest in a gesture of dismay. There was still much she had to learn about Mitch's pack and was disturbed by what she now saw and the comment she heard from Nance. "What is this?" She asked Mitch quietly and directly.

"What is this? This?" His hand motioned to the man in the heap. "This is an insult to my family and to yours. There's a story to be told here tonight, but it's not ready to be told yet. He needs to wake up a little bit first or he's going to miss the show," Mitch explained softly, looking from Tully back to the man. "Uncle here isn't such a popular fellow, it turns out."

Nance was more confused now, looking at Tully and his leader. The heap didn't need much guarding since he was barely moving. He sat back with Savy who'd balled her way back up into the blankets. "Uncle? Yours or hers?" He asked Savy in a whisper. If it was her own, it explained the scents that came off her now. If Mitch meant Tully's uncle, he was even more surprised.

"I thought you were just going to... talk to him.. tell him that I wouldn't be marrying him.. what happened?" She was still shocked enough to question Mitch rather boldly in regard to the state her uncle was in. "He looks... rather unwell.. like he's been beaten.. I thought perhaps he'd be unhappy with the news but to bring him back here in a sack?" She stared at her uncle feeling awful for being the cause of so much trouble for everyone it seemed. Tully turned herself to face Mitch, her eyes flaring with their own still human sparks as she all but demanded answers, though she realized with what he'd said about a story that would be but was not yet ready to be told, she might not get the answers she wanted.

Savy didn't uncurl from the blanket but leaned into Nance as he sat with her again, she was frightened of Mitch and the state of the man he'd brought back with him and sought Nance's comfort and protection. "He's my employer, the master of the house you took me from.." She whispered softly, she was still in pain from the aches and such that Nance had not yet healed and sitting on the floor did not help to ease her any.

[Lovely]

"We certainly talked. Then he went and made me mad," he explained further in the course of events. "The ground wasn't kind to him. There were a few logs I didn't raise him quite high enough over. For all that, he's faring very well, than if I'd actually said anything more to him then." Mitch looked at the man with pure contempt even Tully could sense, an utter hatred that flowed off of him.

Nance hadn't seen him this upset over much in a long time, not since the night that Taidgh's father was killed. He knew the look and scent of revenge waiting behind carefully controlled teeth and watched him carefully. Outwardly, Mitch appeared calm, more than normal, but without his usual grin and banter. He curled around Savy to offer her comfort that he could for the moment. "He's not your master any more. Don't take pity on him."

"Oh.. well he made you mad.. I see." Tully hmphed and folded her arms, glaring at Mitch lightly but even she could sense some of what he felt toward her uncle and she didn't think it was all because of her. "I suppose what he did to make you mad is part of that story that will be told later?" She softened in her own anger, shifting closer to Mitch to try to ease a little of his. Her hand brushed over his arm, down to try to clasp his fingers as she curled to his shoulder. "..What about the girl? Did she make you angry?" Her voice was more quiet, less challenging now and her other hand rose to rest against Mitch's chest.

Savy closed her eyes for just a moment, she made herself 'forget' what Nance had done to her and felt only the comfort he gave, feeling truly safe for that moment. "He's not?" She asked softly, her head shaking a little, it was an odd thing to consider. Her eyes opened and she tipped her head back to look up at Nance, the fear slowly ebbing back into her eyes. "If they have done this to him.. one of noble blood and standing... what shall they do to me if they don't like me?"

Mitch shook his head and looked at the girl in Nance's arms. "No, she hasn't made me angry at all. If she's tamed him some, she's made me very proud." For Savy, he did give her a reassuring grin and came up to the pair. "Should go finish what you started in private. I'm going to need your full attention when the others get back. Show her we're not all animals, alright?"

Tamed? Had she? That was something he hadn't thought of at all and he seemed to turn the thought around on his tongue behind a frown. Nance turned to Savy and kissed her forehead. "He says you've done that, I suppose I will have to keep you," he reassured her. "Keep you safe, and more comfortable as I promised."

Tully nodded to his words but was disappointed to say the least when Mitch pulled away from the tender affection she tried to show him and to make up for being so shocked and cross with him at first. He moved off to the girl and Nance, leaving Tully standing there awkwardly as she glanced again at her uncle. She still knew so little of the pack and it's ways, she didn't know what she should do. She glanced away from the broken man and toward the 'hallway' she'd come from.. perhaps she should just go back to the room and stay out of it all.

Savy felt better for the smile Mitch gave to her, but still greatly confused by everything, there was so much happening in such a short time. She nodded a little to his suggestion they go off to finish what was started in private, she certainly didn't want to do it here. Of course given the option of here or not at all she'd let Nance heal her here. She looked back up at the man who held her and smiled a little. She didn't think she'd tamed him, considering what he'd done and how but both he and Mitch seemed to think so. "I'd be very grateful.. I'm terribly sore in places I'd rather not say out loud." She blushed deeply with that admission.

[Lovely]

"No need to say," Nance grinned briefly. He cleared his throat a little and looked a little lost, himself. Privacy usually wasn't an issue as they usually didn't care. Here wasn't private at all, but there were darker recesses away from the fire's light. "You'll be more grateful when you're no longer sore," he added, nodding to the far side of the cave away from the fire. Although she might be chilled from being further away from that warmth, he offered her what he could to keep her warm, curling the blankets around her.

Mitch left the pair to let them determine what would be the most useful for them, but had already made it clear he would need Nance for the upcoming 'show'. Tully seemed lost for that moment and he returned to her side. "Thank you and I'm sorry," he said, noting the disappointment that dimmed her expression. "Come sit with me out here while we wait for the others?"

Savy was sure she'd be able to like him alot more too, when she wasn't constantly reminded with pain of how brutal thier first meeting was. She smiled somewhat sweetly and looped her arms around his shoulders. "I will.. thank you.. You scared me terribly when you first came upon me.. but now.." He was different, perhaps they were right about how she'd tamed him. Savy kissed his cheek as he wrapped her in the blankets.

Tully looked back to Mitch as he came up to her again, her smile was soft a bit embarrassed at being caught in her doubt and pouting, she had to respect that he had responsibilities... but she wanted to be more important than anything else.. it was immature and silly. "Of course.. I have so much to learn here.. I feel so silly for acting like this."

"And how would that be? Acting like a caring woman? Hm? Just takes some getting used to that my boys need a push every now and then, and a good stern swat other times. You'd think they could come up with this on their own. Guess he was in that much of a hurry to... make her feel at home," he sighed, shaking his head a little and turning to escort her out to sit with him at his log.

The kiss was light and made him smile. She was still uneasy, but accepting of the situation. Helping her to bundle the blankets around her for modesty, Nance rose up to help her into his arms to carry her to the recess that was another dim corridor, obscured by the way the light hit the rocks around them. "Gently, come up here and hold on. We'll go back there for a while."

Tully chewed at her lower lip gently and glanced to the other two again before following Mitch to settle beside him, she had questions she wasn't entirely comfortable asking. "She doesn't look like she feels at home.. she looks.." Tully shook her head and looked down at her fingers. "Can you explain to me what's going on with her and him since we can't talk about my uncle just yet?"

Savy couldn't help the way she winced and whimpered, moving slowly and with the pain that had seemed to settle in as she'd sat on the floor of the cave. She took a moment to straighten enough to reach up around his neck again so that Nance could lift her. She was glad there were only the two others in the room but still blushed deeply as if she had done something shameful rather than the way it truly happened.

"I can explain that that's Nance and he's been here a long time. Never seen him spend any time cleaning anybody up like that, so she's turned something around in that head of his. That back there? That usually means pups, come Springtime. The boys haven't had a good mother around in a long time to show them what to do with them, though," Mitch said, shaking his head again. He considered lighting another pipe, but only pulled it out to hold in his teeth out of habit. "She looks like she's been in a bag? No, she's just been claimed as his... a little more forceful than some of us," he said, giving Tully a glance, the apology in his eyes behind the glimmer of attraction he had for her. He could easily have been as rought but was happy to have learned control.

[Lovely]

"Shhh shh. Just another minute," Nance said, lifting her carefully to cradle her in her bundle. He overheard Mitch's explanations plainly enough and his mind wandered over the suggestions... pups... he hadn't thought of that so soon and as rough as he'd been he hoped he could heal her enough. The heat of the fire and a little of the smoke followed them down the corridor to an offset room, one of several that branched away from the main room they left. The shadows were thick but he could see where he took her in the dim light, setting her down a fully cushioned bed that was still low, but not completely on the floor. The cushions were covered with many pieces that had been stitched together making the surface rough with the varied textures. "Any time you're ready," he said, kissing her neck as he shifted to sit beside her.

Tully blushed for the way Mitch looked at her and for the girl who had been claimed, which she thought she understood correctly. "..and you allow it? For him or the others to be that way.. to claim girls so forcefully? ... but you put Mace into the fire for even suggesting such a thing toward me.." She didn't want to overstep or imply she thought badly of his family but she wanted to understand as she hoped to become part of it herself and thought it was Mitch's intent for her too. "Will she be alright? She doesn't look like she was in a bag, just.. hurt quite a bit and scared.."

"Mace.. Mace was put in the fire only because he says he wanted you, knowing full well that I wanted you with me. He tested me and lost. Guess I've gone easy on them all lately and some have forgotten their place," he sighed and put the pipe away, then reached for her hands. "I won't say I allow it or condone it, but I will say I can't help what they are or what they were, once. They've been in this life a long time while the kingdoms grew around us without us taking part much. Scraping and fighting every day, makes us a little rougher than some of the soldiers, I'd say."

Her fingers curled around his and she smiled faintly, she wasn't exactly reassured by his explaination, she was a lady after all and such matters were not her area of expertise. "So if they take a girl by force, they do.. as long as they don't say they want the one you want? What will happen once we are... married? Will we be married proper or will you just ruin me more nicely than he did her?"

He couldn't answer that completely until he was certain she stayed after the others returned and the uncle was tried for his crimes. He looked at the ground a long moment before he was able to look at her directly. "When we are, I hope I am still nice, but Nance learned a lot from me. Apparently not enough to know when he should control himself more. Don't say 'ruin' like it sounds, either. Think of it as making this more special," he said trying to reassure her as he also tried to kiss her hand in his.

She studied him as he looked down rather than at her and she nodded as he finally did and he answered her questions. She let him kiss her hand, smiling a little as he did and then leaned to return the gesture over his fingers. "You might not be... nice.. because of what you are.. the wolf within you?" She wanted to make sure she understood rather than simply judge him or the others. "I don't understand how what he did to that girl makes it more special.. it's horrible for a girl to be ruined before she's married.. but to be taken by force is so much worse.. It's not likely she'll be able to marry now.. Nance has claimed her but will he make her his wife?"

Mitch grinned as if finding something amusing in what she said though she described something so horribly tragic in the society that cast the shadows they lived in. "He already has, by taking her forcefully or not. He's chosen her as his mate, not as a passing enjoyment. What you consider marriage involves too many other people and their opinions and laws and regimens. With us it's quite a lot more simple. We choose and we do."

[Lovely]

She was upset at his grin at first as she did not understand, but once he explained things, she was relieved and her own smile came more softly and naturally to her face. "Oh." She blushed, feeling foolish and as if she'd insulted them all with her thoughts and horror for the girl. "So she's now his wife.." She licked at her lips and cast her gaze away shyly for a moment before bringing it back to him. ".. and for us.. it will be the same? I will become your wife when we... lay together?" Her cheeks were quite warm with the blush now as she spoke of things she'd been taught not to.

"I think.. all things considered, you already are, but there's this issue of the man you're supposed to marry, still sitting in there. You're still his... as long as he's alive," Mitch said carefuly, reaching to dig for his pipe again, feeling he needed it to soothe the situation.

Her smile started to brighten even more as he told her she already was his wife but it faded in the instant he spoke of her being someone else's. "I am not! Don't you say such things.. I'm not his! Take it back!" She pleaded softly, her eyes stinging with the sudden anger and hurt. "Say I'm yours.. I want to be yours.. be your wife."

He pulled the pipe back up to his lip, wincing as her tone changed. He put his hand up, a finger to his lip over the pipe. "Shhhh... You're not his any more than the moons are. You're still glorious and just as unattainable... for him at any rate." He glanced up at her face and she might see the ragged red, the concern and the barely controlled anger still lurking. "You missed the important part of all that."

"I did not! .. you said I was still his and don't try to get around it.. the moons aren't yours either!" She pouted at being shushed and told she'd missed the important part of what he'd said.. she'd heard the part that was most important to her. ".. and I'm not glorious.. " She wiped at her eyes to make sure none of the tears fell. "What did I miss?" She challenged him gently, finally seeing the red of his eyes, she brushed at her skirts which had gotten a small smudge from sitting so close to the floor beside him.

He clarified slowly, the red flaring a little as he held her gaze. "As long as he is alive... he will stop at nothing and won't consider it valid even if I marry you with the highest cleric's blessing in front of his eyes. It's not me or my boys that need the convincing... except Mace because he's an idiot. And him, because he still breathes and made it clear that he and I will hate each other to our deaths."

She'd heard the part about it being 'as long as he's alive' but to that wasn't the important part, it was that Mitch said she was her uncles.. even if it was for five minutes. "Apparently it is you that needs convincing since you're the one who said i was still his. I didn't miss the part about 'as long as he's alive' I heard it.. that's not what upset me.. it's that you say I'm his.. I can't be yours if I'm his, especially if you're the one saying it. I don't care if he considers it valid, I care if you do.. and if I do. If it mattered to me whether or not he approved or agreed or thought - I wouldn't have stayed with you. Goodness you're such a.. a.. a boy!" She sighed and half glared at Mitch, folding her hands in her lap as she took on a more calm demeanor. "What he will or wont do in regard to our being together, is another matter entirely and it does not.. do you hear me? Does not make me his!" She was quite firm in her statement, her eyes darted toward the man on the other side of the room and then back to Mitch. "What do you intend to do about him? Are you going to kill him?" His men had done so to her guards when they came upon her carriage, so it wasn't outlandish to think the same might be done to her uncle.

He tried not to laugh at the outburst, but it slipped out in spits around the pipe. He reached for her hands again to unknot her and tried to reassure her. "I haven't been a boy in decades, my love, but I thank you for the compliment. I consider even this.. your fingers in my meaty paws... every bit valid and withstanding anything he or Mace or anyone else would try or say to the otherwise."

He laughed at her and she scrouched her face in return, coming up onto her knees in front of him as he reached for her hands. Tully let him clasp one but the other reached to get his pipe out of her way as she climbed closer, into his lap if he's let her. "Then say it.. say I'm yours.. say I'm your wife.. say you're mine just as well and then kiss me proper." She demanded with a slight pout that seemed more like a teasing smile.

"Just like that? You want me to say it just like that?" He hesitated on saying anything of the sort while she slithered up into his lap and took his pipe. His lip felt naked and he wanted either the pipe or her kiss first. "You're very much mine, not sure why I'd need to say it all fluffy like that," he pouted while she teased and held his pipe from him. "Alright. I'm yours, I'm your wife," he winked and stole the kiss anyway.

She let out a giggle as he teased her by saying he was her wife, but it was more than enough for her and she leaned into the kiss he tried to steal, returning it full of adoration. She still kept his pipe from him but wrapped her arms around him to allow them to enjoy the much sweeter taste of the kisses. Her toes curled in her slippers with delight and dug gently into the floor to push her up into his kiss. "Very good.. just as it should be." She smiled sweetly when she finally pulled away for a breath or two.

"Just warning you, that means I'm yours, too, and what you do with me, may the moons protect us both," he winked again.

She put her free hand against his cheek and gazed into his eyes for a long moment. "That's just as it should be." She leaned into bestow a love filled kiss, trying to tell him how happy she was to be his and to have him in return.