The chatbox has been hidden for this page. It will reopen upon refresh. To hide the CBox permanently, select "Permanently Toggle Cbox" in your profile User Settings.
This chatbox is hidden. To reopen, edit your User Settings.
It was rare for Fotios to be disturbed by the stable hands. Over the years of Leventi trading in the finest horseflesh known in Greece and beyond, the men who worked on the main estate and across the farms and breeding grounds that Leventi held in its further afield provinces were the finest minds of their trade. Born and raised as much around the horses as the yearly foal yield, the men that handle the Leventi animals were of the finest stock - as carefully chosen as the studs and broodmares that made up the Leventi's high standards of creature. As such they were a wise and experienced bunch of workers, likely more knowledgeable in certain areas than Fotios himself. Where he spent time in his study, tabling accounts, reading reports and arranging the relationships and connections that ensured his knowledge and power in the Taengean Senate, those that he employed lived and breathed his horses.
Regardless of the expertise, knowledge and skill that Fotios himself had with the equines - a not unsubstantial talent and a rarely equalled level of reading - it was still rare for one of his masters of the stables to require his presence and aid in anything related to the animals. But it did occasionally happen.
Luckily for Fotios, he slept little. Only catching a few hours of sleep as his busy mind kept him awake at all other hours. And when the call came from one of his stewards, politely knocking on the door to Fotios and Eirini's private chamber, the head of Leventi was already awake. Despite his reputation as a man who did not like disturbances to his plans or routines, the soft knock upon his door irked him little. For he knew his stewards. If one of them felt that such an interrupt to his alone time with his wife was necessary... then it was necessary. And it was just to the man's benefit that he hadn't interrupted a more... wakeful activity between the married couple. Instead, Eirini was already long asleep and Fotios was able to slip from the covers of their shared bed, brushing the tips of his fingers along her temple and arm as he went, and dress himself quickly in the riding pants and tunic from the previous day.
When the door to their rooms was opened, it took little time for the awkward servant on the other side to explain the situation and what had led to his disruption of his master's night time hours. Without judgment or criticism, Fotios simply returned to his chambers for his boots and then hurried from the room with his steward in toe.
There were few reasons that Fotios would accept his alone time with Eirini being disturbed. And this was perhaps one of them. His assumptions that his steward was able to know what would be considered an emergency circumstance had been proven correct when the man took up the torch he had left in the bracket outside the estate's main doors and led his pasted to the appropriate stable building.
Not that Fotios wouldn't have been able to find his own way there. The noise of hushed voices and the occasionally thump and whinny of a horse in pain were enough to guide him as surely as his own feet. For he knew that noise well.
Foaling season - or that which should have been foaling season - had long since passed now that the month of Panamos was nearly half way through its lunar cycle. Most of the offspring from this year’s stud were already wandering on occasionally wobbly pins across the meadows of the Leventi estate or had been shipped to the satellite farms in other provinces for careful rearing that the main estate had not the time to give. But one particular mare had been cause for concern.
Not only had she fallen pregnant late in the stud season, but she had held the young for longer than she should. For the last two weeks, Fotios had issued a constant watch on the animal. For she was a valuable piece of property. Already the mother of a dozen or so sturdy and well-bred creatures, fine in shape and glossy in their black coats, she was a brood mare of the highest value and Fotios had formed an oddity of affection for her. Whether this was due to the number of times he had been given live young from her successfully or the wealth that they had then brought to him, he wouldn't have analysed or admitted. But there was a connection of familiarity there that had slipped into compassion when he wasn't looking.
Now, it would appear that the nightly hours had brought about the birth at last. And the steward's report at his door had not been favourable.
Heading inside the appropriate stable block, then moving down the walkway to the stall that had been renovated for the animal, Fotios was able to assess with a single glance that all was not well...
For the last two weeks there hadn't been another animal in the place. The wooden slats that divided the stalls had been removed from two of the divides, leaving an open space of stray and hay that the mare could lay upon unfettered. Water, hay and a soft and warmed mush had been provided for her sustenance at all hours of the day to ensure that she had energy for whenever the birth decided to announce itself. And three stable hands had been assigned to her every night when the rest of the staff were removed of the estate and returned to their families.
The three on hand now were experienced in foaling and Fotios knew that he would have only been called if the mare was in dire straits. Which the look of her rolling eyes and the shivers that shook her distended belly already told him...
It was seven hours before the foal was born.
Fotios remained there for the duration. He worked with his men as a peer, all snide remarks and cerebral games set to one side as they attempted to save not only the foal which, if it survived, would be a valuably bred cross, but also the mare herself. Such sturdy brood material was worth a lot of coin and could likely produce a few more young before she passed into old age. Foals that would be worth a small fortune. Each.
Yet, regardless of effort, and the coaxing of her natural processes and the diligent care that all four men applied to the creature whilst Fotios' steward held the lamp light in all the right places... the mare did not survive as her foal did.
At the birth of one, the other shuddered and heaved a last breath, too exhausted and too lacking in blood to maintain its own functions. The stable stall smelt of blood and birthing fluid and all manner of bodily functions. All four men were exhausted from tension and the awkward physicality of being crouched in straw for so long.
The foal was slow to wake from the shock of its own birth and had likely been deprived of air for a little too long. How that would affect him, they could only wait and see but with a little nudging and coaxing he was able to lift his head and be taken away by the nearest hand to be seen to. He would require heat and blankets and milk that his mother could no longer provide.
Fotios was left to clean up with the others.
He could have returned to the manor. As a lord of his own estate, he could have left the removal of the gruesome reminders to those in his employ. Simply returned to his chambers, burnt the clothes he wore that were now beyond saving and sunk into a hot bath.
But Fotios' mind didn't work quite like that. He didn't naturally turn to distraction or ignorance when it came to a situation he disliked. Instead, he liked to work through it. To feel productive and in control once more. He didn't yield to nature's decision to turn the Fates in a certain direction but instead took manipulation of such eventualities and sought that which he could influence.
Which, at this moment in time, was the clearing of the stables.
Once the mare's body had been removed with a rope harness and the strength of his men, Fotios cleared the stall alone, angry beyond measure at the loss of so profitable an animal. The stable hands, upon their return, he ordered to stand outside and clear away that which he threw their way with the pitch fork he had claimed for his own. The straw, along with blood and anything else the animals had left behind them, was removed and then his call for water and a brush was honoured quickly.
Fotios worked for perhaps an hour or move, feeling the burn in his back and thighs and the effort in his limbs. It was nice to exert some power over a space in which he had felt almost powerless for most of the night. At the reminder, Fotios kicked out at one of the stall posts and gnashed his teeth in frustration. Such a damn waste!
When all was settled and done, the stables aired out through the open flaps he had seen pushed wide and all traces of the birthing removed from the ground and wooden slats, Fotios heaved a long and slow exhale. He placed his hands on his hips and looked down with frustration, the toe of his boot scuffing the ground as he watched the rising sun stream in through the stable openings and doorways and dry the cobbles beneath his feet.
It was as he was looking down at himself that he realised the state of himself. He had cleaned the stall until he could eat his morning repast from the floor, but his own figure was still that of a man who had been awake all-night tending to one of nature’s more disgusting happenstances.
"My lord..." The voice had Fotios looking up to find his steward with a plate of food and a bottle of wine and accompanying chalice. "I thought you might require a fast break?" He offered, his hands rising and falling but an inch to indicate that which he carried.
Fotios nodded a little, his gaze falling to the little barrel beside the open archway at the entrance to the stables.
"Set it there, Kuros." He told the older man. "I'll dine in a moment."
Knowing his master well enough neither to argue or make a spectacle of himself, the steward set the plate upon the little barrel of grain and the bottle and goblet just beside it upon the floor. He then made himself scarce. Working for the House of Leventi for long periods of time trained his men well in the ways of horses and rearing. But it also trained them to know when the Head of the House required solitude.
And this time, Fotios required it. To be angry, to grunt with frustrating and to kick at one of the hardy posts all the more in his lack of control over the injustice of it. Stupid really, over a single mare. He had fields of the creatures all across Taengea. And yet, one did not build the kind of empire that Fotios had seen become the most profitable in all of Taengea, by not sweating the details. It was the fact that he cared about every obol and owl. The fact that he saw the way each singular action or break from efficiency would affect the bottom line. Each loss of an animal. He knew how it would all have a knock-on effect to everything else and it was that knowledge that made him a great economic mind. It was that knowledge that now had him beyond angry at the recalculations he would have to do to establish the next year's income.
But first... he needed to wash.
Having pulled on his sleeping tunic the night before, Fotios was lucky to require little of any real clean. Unlike his usual daily attire, which reached his waist, this one brushed at his knees. The entire thing was coated in the ramifications of the birthing, but upon removing it from up and over his head, Fotios found his pants and boots to have escaped almost entirely scot free. His left boot had a slight smudge of something nasty, but Fotios had only to step out into the sunshine and run the pump on the well in the centre of the courtyard to wash it away. He bent down and brushed at the boot with his hands to ensure it was clean, and then chucked the tunic to the ground. Quickly, he washed his face and his hands to the elbow, and then cupped his palms to splash more over his bare chest. He had tied his hair back in the night so there was no need to wash that, and the rest of him had been protected by his tunic.
He couldn't be arsed with standing at the pump all day half naked, so Fotios turned back towards the food still waiting for him. He would have a bathe once he re-entered the house. But at least he no longer smelt of horse.
Taking up the plate that had been rested upon the barrel, Fotios replaced the silver with his own backside and sat upon the item like it was a stool. His legs extended a little, feet flat to the ground and his knees splayed, one of Fotios' arms was in the sunshine and the other in the darkness of the stables. His attention was on that far stall where he had remained all night, his mood only darkening still further as he poured himself a cup of wine and took a deep swallow. He let his head fall back against the pillar of the open archway and picked at his food a little.
The stables were empty. The men had all arrived for their day's work but that amounted mostly to caring for the new offspring in the fields. There was little to nothing to be done around the estate that day and the stalls would not need to be turned out until the more vulnerable animals were brought in for the night. Instead, Fotios was left to grouch and internally seethe over his disturbed night... and his disturbed bottom line...
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Apr 23, 2020 9:01:54 GMT
Posted In Nature's Way on Apr 23, 2020 9:01:54 GMT
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
It was rare for Fotios to be disturbed by the stable hands. Over the years of Leventi trading in the finest horseflesh known in Greece and beyond, the men who worked on the main estate and across the farms and breeding grounds that Leventi held in its further afield provinces were the finest minds of their trade. Born and raised as much around the horses as the yearly foal yield, the men that handle the Leventi animals were of the finest stock - as carefully chosen as the studs and broodmares that made up the Leventi's high standards of creature. As such they were a wise and experienced bunch of workers, likely more knowledgeable in certain areas than Fotios himself. Where he spent time in his study, tabling accounts, reading reports and arranging the relationships and connections that ensured his knowledge and power in the Taengean Senate, those that he employed lived and breathed his horses.
Regardless of the expertise, knowledge and skill that Fotios himself had with the equines - a not unsubstantial talent and a rarely equalled level of reading - it was still rare for one of his masters of the stables to require his presence and aid in anything related to the animals. But it did occasionally happen.
Luckily for Fotios, he slept little. Only catching a few hours of sleep as his busy mind kept him awake at all other hours. And when the call came from one of his stewards, politely knocking on the door to Fotios and Eirini's private chamber, the head of Leventi was already awake. Despite his reputation as a man who did not like disturbances to his plans or routines, the soft knock upon his door irked him little. For he knew his stewards. If one of them felt that such an interrupt to his alone time with his wife was necessary... then it was necessary. And it was just to the man's benefit that he hadn't interrupted a more... wakeful activity between the married couple. Instead, Eirini was already long asleep and Fotios was able to slip from the covers of their shared bed, brushing the tips of his fingers along her temple and arm as he went, and dress himself quickly in the riding pants and tunic from the previous day.
When the door to their rooms was opened, it took little time for the awkward servant on the other side to explain the situation and what had led to his disruption of his master's night time hours. Without judgment or criticism, Fotios simply returned to his chambers for his boots and then hurried from the room with his steward in toe.
There were few reasons that Fotios would accept his alone time with Eirini being disturbed. And this was perhaps one of them. His assumptions that his steward was able to know what would be considered an emergency circumstance had been proven correct when the man took up the torch he had left in the bracket outside the estate's main doors and led his pasted to the appropriate stable building.
Not that Fotios wouldn't have been able to find his own way there. The noise of hushed voices and the occasionally thump and whinny of a horse in pain were enough to guide him as surely as his own feet. For he knew that noise well.
Foaling season - or that which should have been foaling season - had long since passed now that the month of Panamos was nearly half way through its lunar cycle. Most of the offspring from this year’s stud were already wandering on occasionally wobbly pins across the meadows of the Leventi estate or had been shipped to the satellite farms in other provinces for careful rearing that the main estate had not the time to give. But one particular mare had been cause for concern.
Not only had she fallen pregnant late in the stud season, but she had held the young for longer than she should. For the last two weeks, Fotios had issued a constant watch on the animal. For she was a valuable piece of property. Already the mother of a dozen or so sturdy and well-bred creatures, fine in shape and glossy in their black coats, she was a brood mare of the highest value and Fotios had formed an oddity of affection for her. Whether this was due to the number of times he had been given live young from her successfully or the wealth that they had then brought to him, he wouldn't have analysed or admitted. But there was a connection of familiarity there that had slipped into compassion when he wasn't looking.
Now, it would appear that the nightly hours had brought about the birth at last. And the steward's report at his door had not been favourable.
Heading inside the appropriate stable block, then moving down the walkway to the stall that had been renovated for the animal, Fotios was able to assess with a single glance that all was not well...
For the last two weeks there hadn't been another animal in the place. The wooden slats that divided the stalls had been removed from two of the divides, leaving an open space of stray and hay that the mare could lay upon unfettered. Water, hay and a soft and warmed mush had been provided for her sustenance at all hours of the day to ensure that she had energy for whenever the birth decided to announce itself. And three stable hands had been assigned to her every night when the rest of the staff were removed of the estate and returned to their families.
The three on hand now were experienced in foaling and Fotios knew that he would have only been called if the mare was in dire straits. Which the look of her rolling eyes and the shivers that shook her distended belly already told him...
It was seven hours before the foal was born.
Fotios remained there for the duration. He worked with his men as a peer, all snide remarks and cerebral games set to one side as they attempted to save not only the foal which, if it survived, would be a valuably bred cross, but also the mare herself. Such sturdy brood material was worth a lot of coin and could likely produce a few more young before she passed into old age. Foals that would be worth a small fortune. Each.
Yet, regardless of effort, and the coaxing of her natural processes and the diligent care that all four men applied to the creature whilst Fotios' steward held the lamp light in all the right places... the mare did not survive as her foal did.
At the birth of one, the other shuddered and heaved a last breath, too exhausted and too lacking in blood to maintain its own functions. The stable stall smelt of blood and birthing fluid and all manner of bodily functions. All four men were exhausted from tension and the awkward physicality of being crouched in straw for so long.
The foal was slow to wake from the shock of its own birth and had likely been deprived of air for a little too long. How that would affect him, they could only wait and see but with a little nudging and coaxing he was able to lift his head and be taken away by the nearest hand to be seen to. He would require heat and blankets and milk that his mother could no longer provide.
Fotios was left to clean up with the others.
He could have returned to the manor. As a lord of his own estate, he could have left the removal of the gruesome reminders to those in his employ. Simply returned to his chambers, burnt the clothes he wore that were now beyond saving and sunk into a hot bath.
But Fotios' mind didn't work quite like that. He didn't naturally turn to distraction or ignorance when it came to a situation he disliked. Instead, he liked to work through it. To feel productive and in control once more. He didn't yield to nature's decision to turn the Fates in a certain direction but instead took manipulation of such eventualities and sought that which he could influence.
Which, at this moment in time, was the clearing of the stables.
Once the mare's body had been removed with a rope harness and the strength of his men, Fotios cleared the stall alone, angry beyond measure at the loss of so profitable an animal. The stable hands, upon their return, he ordered to stand outside and clear away that which he threw their way with the pitch fork he had claimed for his own. The straw, along with blood and anything else the animals had left behind them, was removed and then his call for water and a brush was honoured quickly.
Fotios worked for perhaps an hour or move, feeling the burn in his back and thighs and the effort in his limbs. It was nice to exert some power over a space in which he had felt almost powerless for most of the night. At the reminder, Fotios kicked out at one of the stall posts and gnashed his teeth in frustration. Such a damn waste!
When all was settled and done, the stables aired out through the open flaps he had seen pushed wide and all traces of the birthing removed from the ground and wooden slats, Fotios heaved a long and slow exhale. He placed his hands on his hips and looked down with frustration, the toe of his boot scuffing the ground as he watched the rising sun stream in through the stable openings and doorways and dry the cobbles beneath his feet.
It was as he was looking down at himself that he realised the state of himself. He had cleaned the stall until he could eat his morning repast from the floor, but his own figure was still that of a man who had been awake all-night tending to one of nature’s more disgusting happenstances.
"My lord..." The voice had Fotios looking up to find his steward with a plate of food and a bottle of wine and accompanying chalice. "I thought you might require a fast break?" He offered, his hands rising and falling but an inch to indicate that which he carried.
Fotios nodded a little, his gaze falling to the little barrel beside the open archway at the entrance to the stables.
"Set it there, Kuros." He told the older man. "I'll dine in a moment."
Knowing his master well enough neither to argue or make a spectacle of himself, the steward set the plate upon the little barrel of grain and the bottle and goblet just beside it upon the floor. He then made himself scarce. Working for the House of Leventi for long periods of time trained his men well in the ways of horses and rearing. But it also trained them to know when the Head of the House required solitude.
And this time, Fotios required it. To be angry, to grunt with frustrating and to kick at one of the hardy posts all the more in his lack of control over the injustice of it. Stupid really, over a single mare. He had fields of the creatures all across Taengea. And yet, one did not build the kind of empire that Fotios had seen become the most profitable in all of Taengea, by not sweating the details. It was the fact that he cared about every obol and owl. The fact that he saw the way each singular action or break from efficiency would affect the bottom line. Each loss of an animal. He knew how it would all have a knock-on effect to everything else and it was that knowledge that made him a great economic mind. It was that knowledge that now had him beyond angry at the recalculations he would have to do to establish the next year's income.
But first... he needed to wash.
Having pulled on his sleeping tunic the night before, Fotios was lucky to require little of any real clean. Unlike his usual daily attire, which reached his waist, this one brushed at his knees. The entire thing was coated in the ramifications of the birthing, but upon removing it from up and over his head, Fotios found his pants and boots to have escaped almost entirely scot free. His left boot had a slight smudge of something nasty, but Fotios had only to step out into the sunshine and run the pump on the well in the centre of the courtyard to wash it away. He bent down and brushed at the boot with his hands to ensure it was clean, and then chucked the tunic to the ground. Quickly, he washed his face and his hands to the elbow, and then cupped his palms to splash more over his bare chest. He had tied his hair back in the night so there was no need to wash that, and the rest of him had been protected by his tunic.
He couldn't be arsed with standing at the pump all day half naked, so Fotios turned back towards the food still waiting for him. He would have a bathe once he re-entered the house. But at least he no longer smelt of horse.
Taking up the plate that had been rested upon the barrel, Fotios replaced the silver with his own backside and sat upon the item like it was a stool. His legs extended a little, feet flat to the ground and his knees splayed, one of Fotios' arms was in the sunshine and the other in the darkness of the stables. His attention was on that far stall where he had remained all night, his mood only darkening still further as he poured himself a cup of wine and took a deep swallow. He let his head fall back against the pillar of the open archway and picked at his food a little.
The stables were empty. The men had all arrived for their day's work but that amounted mostly to caring for the new offspring in the fields. There was little to nothing to be done around the estate that day and the stalls would not need to be turned out until the more vulnerable animals were brought in for the night. Instead, Fotios was left to grouch and internally seethe over his disturbed night... and his disturbed bottom line...
It was rare for Fotios to be disturbed by the stable hands. Over the years of Leventi trading in the finest horseflesh known in Greece and beyond, the men who worked on the main estate and across the farms and breeding grounds that Leventi held in its further afield provinces were the finest minds of their trade. Born and raised as much around the horses as the yearly foal yield, the men that handle the Leventi animals were of the finest stock - as carefully chosen as the studs and broodmares that made up the Leventi's high standards of creature. As such they were a wise and experienced bunch of workers, likely more knowledgeable in certain areas than Fotios himself. Where he spent time in his study, tabling accounts, reading reports and arranging the relationships and connections that ensured his knowledge and power in the Taengean Senate, those that he employed lived and breathed his horses.
Regardless of the expertise, knowledge and skill that Fotios himself had with the equines - a not unsubstantial talent and a rarely equalled level of reading - it was still rare for one of his masters of the stables to require his presence and aid in anything related to the animals. But it did occasionally happen.
Luckily for Fotios, he slept little. Only catching a few hours of sleep as his busy mind kept him awake at all other hours. And when the call came from one of his stewards, politely knocking on the door to Fotios and Eirini's private chamber, the head of Leventi was already awake. Despite his reputation as a man who did not like disturbances to his plans or routines, the soft knock upon his door irked him little. For he knew his stewards. If one of them felt that such an interrupt to his alone time with his wife was necessary... then it was necessary. And it was just to the man's benefit that he hadn't interrupted a more... wakeful activity between the married couple. Instead, Eirini was already long asleep and Fotios was able to slip from the covers of their shared bed, brushing the tips of his fingers along her temple and arm as he went, and dress himself quickly in the riding pants and tunic from the previous day.
When the door to their rooms was opened, it took little time for the awkward servant on the other side to explain the situation and what had led to his disruption of his master's night time hours. Without judgment or criticism, Fotios simply returned to his chambers for his boots and then hurried from the room with his steward in toe.
There were few reasons that Fotios would accept his alone time with Eirini being disturbed. And this was perhaps one of them. His assumptions that his steward was able to know what would be considered an emergency circumstance had been proven correct when the man took up the torch he had left in the bracket outside the estate's main doors and led his pasted to the appropriate stable building.
Not that Fotios wouldn't have been able to find his own way there. The noise of hushed voices and the occasionally thump and whinny of a horse in pain were enough to guide him as surely as his own feet. For he knew that noise well.
Foaling season - or that which should have been foaling season - had long since passed now that the month of Panamos was nearly half way through its lunar cycle. Most of the offspring from this year’s stud were already wandering on occasionally wobbly pins across the meadows of the Leventi estate or had been shipped to the satellite farms in other provinces for careful rearing that the main estate had not the time to give. But one particular mare had been cause for concern.
Not only had she fallen pregnant late in the stud season, but she had held the young for longer than she should. For the last two weeks, Fotios had issued a constant watch on the animal. For she was a valuable piece of property. Already the mother of a dozen or so sturdy and well-bred creatures, fine in shape and glossy in their black coats, she was a brood mare of the highest value and Fotios had formed an oddity of affection for her. Whether this was due to the number of times he had been given live young from her successfully or the wealth that they had then brought to him, he wouldn't have analysed or admitted. But there was a connection of familiarity there that had slipped into compassion when he wasn't looking.
Now, it would appear that the nightly hours had brought about the birth at last. And the steward's report at his door had not been favourable.
Heading inside the appropriate stable block, then moving down the walkway to the stall that had been renovated for the animal, Fotios was able to assess with a single glance that all was not well...
For the last two weeks there hadn't been another animal in the place. The wooden slats that divided the stalls had been removed from two of the divides, leaving an open space of stray and hay that the mare could lay upon unfettered. Water, hay and a soft and warmed mush had been provided for her sustenance at all hours of the day to ensure that she had energy for whenever the birth decided to announce itself. And three stable hands had been assigned to her every night when the rest of the staff were removed of the estate and returned to their families.
The three on hand now were experienced in foaling and Fotios knew that he would have only been called if the mare was in dire straits. Which the look of her rolling eyes and the shivers that shook her distended belly already told him...
It was seven hours before the foal was born.
Fotios remained there for the duration. He worked with his men as a peer, all snide remarks and cerebral games set to one side as they attempted to save not only the foal which, if it survived, would be a valuably bred cross, but also the mare herself. Such sturdy brood material was worth a lot of coin and could likely produce a few more young before she passed into old age. Foals that would be worth a small fortune. Each.
Yet, regardless of effort, and the coaxing of her natural processes and the diligent care that all four men applied to the creature whilst Fotios' steward held the lamp light in all the right places... the mare did not survive as her foal did.
At the birth of one, the other shuddered and heaved a last breath, too exhausted and too lacking in blood to maintain its own functions. The stable stall smelt of blood and birthing fluid and all manner of bodily functions. All four men were exhausted from tension and the awkward physicality of being crouched in straw for so long.
The foal was slow to wake from the shock of its own birth and had likely been deprived of air for a little too long. How that would affect him, they could only wait and see but with a little nudging and coaxing he was able to lift his head and be taken away by the nearest hand to be seen to. He would require heat and blankets and milk that his mother could no longer provide.
Fotios was left to clean up with the others.
He could have returned to the manor. As a lord of his own estate, he could have left the removal of the gruesome reminders to those in his employ. Simply returned to his chambers, burnt the clothes he wore that were now beyond saving and sunk into a hot bath.
But Fotios' mind didn't work quite like that. He didn't naturally turn to distraction or ignorance when it came to a situation he disliked. Instead, he liked to work through it. To feel productive and in control once more. He didn't yield to nature's decision to turn the Fates in a certain direction but instead took manipulation of such eventualities and sought that which he could influence.
Which, at this moment in time, was the clearing of the stables.
Once the mare's body had been removed with a rope harness and the strength of his men, Fotios cleared the stall alone, angry beyond measure at the loss of so profitable an animal. The stable hands, upon their return, he ordered to stand outside and clear away that which he threw their way with the pitch fork he had claimed for his own. The straw, along with blood and anything else the animals had left behind them, was removed and then his call for water and a brush was honoured quickly.
Fotios worked for perhaps an hour or move, feeling the burn in his back and thighs and the effort in his limbs. It was nice to exert some power over a space in which he had felt almost powerless for most of the night. At the reminder, Fotios kicked out at one of the stall posts and gnashed his teeth in frustration. Such a damn waste!
When all was settled and done, the stables aired out through the open flaps he had seen pushed wide and all traces of the birthing removed from the ground and wooden slats, Fotios heaved a long and slow exhale. He placed his hands on his hips and looked down with frustration, the toe of his boot scuffing the ground as he watched the rising sun stream in through the stable openings and doorways and dry the cobbles beneath his feet.
It was as he was looking down at himself that he realised the state of himself. He had cleaned the stall until he could eat his morning repast from the floor, but his own figure was still that of a man who had been awake all-night tending to one of nature’s more disgusting happenstances.
"My lord..." The voice had Fotios looking up to find his steward with a plate of food and a bottle of wine and accompanying chalice. "I thought you might require a fast break?" He offered, his hands rising and falling but an inch to indicate that which he carried.
Fotios nodded a little, his gaze falling to the little barrel beside the open archway at the entrance to the stables.
"Set it there, Kuros." He told the older man. "I'll dine in a moment."
Knowing his master well enough neither to argue or make a spectacle of himself, the steward set the plate upon the little barrel of grain and the bottle and goblet just beside it upon the floor. He then made himself scarce. Working for the House of Leventi for long periods of time trained his men well in the ways of horses and rearing. But it also trained them to know when the Head of the House required solitude.
And this time, Fotios required it. To be angry, to grunt with frustrating and to kick at one of the hardy posts all the more in his lack of control over the injustice of it. Stupid really, over a single mare. He had fields of the creatures all across Taengea. And yet, one did not build the kind of empire that Fotios had seen become the most profitable in all of Taengea, by not sweating the details. It was the fact that he cared about every obol and owl. The fact that he saw the way each singular action or break from efficiency would affect the bottom line. Each loss of an animal. He knew how it would all have a knock-on effect to everything else and it was that knowledge that made him a great economic mind. It was that knowledge that now had him beyond angry at the recalculations he would have to do to establish the next year's income.
But first... he needed to wash.
Having pulled on his sleeping tunic the night before, Fotios was lucky to require little of any real clean. Unlike his usual daily attire, which reached his waist, this one brushed at his knees. The entire thing was coated in the ramifications of the birthing, but upon removing it from up and over his head, Fotios found his pants and boots to have escaped almost entirely scot free. His left boot had a slight smudge of something nasty, but Fotios had only to step out into the sunshine and run the pump on the well in the centre of the courtyard to wash it away. He bent down and brushed at the boot with his hands to ensure it was clean, and then chucked the tunic to the ground. Quickly, he washed his face and his hands to the elbow, and then cupped his palms to splash more over his bare chest. He had tied his hair back in the night so there was no need to wash that, and the rest of him had been protected by his tunic.
He couldn't be arsed with standing at the pump all day half naked, so Fotios turned back towards the food still waiting for him. He would have a bathe once he re-entered the house. But at least he no longer smelt of horse.
Taking up the plate that had been rested upon the barrel, Fotios replaced the silver with his own backside and sat upon the item like it was a stool. His legs extended a little, feet flat to the ground and his knees splayed, one of Fotios' arms was in the sunshine and the other in the darkness of the stables. His attention was on that far stall where he had remained all night, his mood only darkening still further as he poured himself a cup of wine and took a deep swallow. He let his head fall back against the pillar of the open archway and picked at his food a little.
The stables were empty. The men had all arrived for their day's work but that amounted mostly to caring for the new offspring in the fields. There was little to nothing to be done around the estate that day and the stalls would not need to be turned out until the more vulnerable animals were brought in for the night. Instead, Fotios was left to grouch and internally seethe over his disturbed night... and his disturbed bottom line...
The Panamos sunlight seemed to filter in through every single wooden slat of the stables that it could. The little beams of yellow made the space feel just a little brighter, though there were still a few delightfully dim corners to be found. How long Xene had been standing at the side of the building, just listening to Fotios inside was entirely lost on her. The princess was very aware that the Leventi lord was angered, a few of the servants she had passed on her way in had thought to tell her, warn her, really. The Lord might not be up for visitors, one of them had said, but Xene hadn't given that much thought.
Instead, she had tied off her mare at one of the posts toward the top of the fields and then walked her way down the rolling grassy knolls toward the stables. All of this, she did alone, knowing that she was safer here than she really had ever been before. Her gown was of soft emerald silk edged in golden embroidery. The fibulae at her shoulders were the same glittering gold and her sandals a soft, light-toned leather. The princess' curls had been pulled up into a delicate coronet braid, a few tendrils of hair cascading down her back. They caught the gentle breeze as she trailed through the grass.
When Fotios had finally quieted down, the princess had trailed around to the front of the stables, leaning in the archway and watching the man. He was staring off in the opposite direction and hadn't noticed her entrance. That pleased her beyond words for the moment, especially because it gave her time to admire the muscles of his back. Leaning her head against the wood, the princess found herself biting lightly on her bottom lip, trying her best not to make a sound as Fotios finished his food and supped from his cup of wine.
She hadn't expected that the stables would be empty of everyone but the lord, but Xene couldn't find it in herself to be disappointed in the solitary nature of Lord Fotios. Finally smoothing her hands down the front of her gown, she pushed silently away from the archway, stepping slowly into the more darkly lit barn.
Her voice was lilting, carrying a tune that was soft, yet not unfamiliar. It was a common song, but one that Xene often liked to practice with nevertheless. "As long as you live," she sang softly, taking the first step forward toward her lover, "shine forth do not at all grieve." The princess stepped ever closer, still admiring the perfection of Fotios' bare back. Her fingertips brushed his spine when she sand the third line, "life exists for a short while," her voice had dropped an octave, making her sound much softer than she usually did when singing. "Time takes its course."
By then, Xene let both her hands trail up to his shoulders and the princess dropped a delicate kiss against his neck. Once more, she was glad that they were entirely alone. Her actions were bold, but she couldn't truly be sorry about it. She had been lingering for so long and she could tell by the tense cording of his neck that he was still far from a good mood. This was all that she could think to soothe him, fully aware that her showing up unannounced might backfire.
"What ails you, apagorevménos mou?" Xene whispered softly, resting her forehead against the back of his neck.
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Apr 25, 2020 0:37:17 GMT
Posted In Nature's Way on Apr 25, 2020 0:37:17 GMT
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
The Panamos sunlight seemed to filter in through every single wooden slat of the stables that it could. The little beams of yellow made the space feel just a little brighter, though there were still a few delightfully dim corners to be found. How long Xene had been standing at the side of the building, just listening to Fotios inside was entirely lost on her. The princess was very aware that the Leventi lord was angered, a few of the servants she had passed on her way in had thought to tell her, warn her, really. The Lord might not be up for visitors, one of them had said, but Xene hadn't given that much thought.
Instead, she had tied off her mare at one of the posts toward the top of the fields and then walked her way down the rolling grassy knolls toward the stables. All of this, she did alone, knowing that she was safer here than she really had ever been before. Her gown was of soft emerald silk edged in golden embroidery. The fibulae at her shoulders were the same glittering gold and her sandals a soft, light-toned leather. The princess' curls had been pulled up into a delicate coronet braid, a few tendrils of hair cascading down her back. They caught the gentle breeze as she trailed through the grass.
When Fotios had finally quieted down, the princess had trailed around to the front of the stables, leaning in the archway and watching the man. He was staring off in the opposite direction and hadn't noticed her entrance. That pleased her beyond words for the moment, especially because it gave her time to admire the muscles of his back. Leaning her head against the wood, the princess found herself biting lightly on her bottom lip, trying her best not to make a sound as Fotios finished his food and supped from his cup of wine.
She hadn't expected that the stables would be empty of everyone but the lord, but Xene couldn't find it in herself to be disappointed in the solitary nature of Lord Fotios. Finally smoothing her hands down the front of her gown, she pushed silently away from the archway, stepping slowly into the more darkly lit barn.
Her voice was lilting, carrying a tune that was soft, yet not unfamiliar. It was a common song, but one that Xene often liked to practice with nevertheless. "As long as you live," she sang softly, taking the first step forward toward her lover, "shine forth do not at all grieve." The princess stepped ever closer, still admiring the perfection of Fotios' bare back. Her fingertips brushed his spine when she sand the third line, "life exists for a short while," her voice had dropped an octave, making her sound much softer than she usually did when singing. "Time takes its course."
By then, Xene let both her hands trail up to his shoulders and the princess dropped a delicate kiss against his neck. Once more, she was glad that they were entirely alone. Her actions were bold, but she couldn't truly be sorry about it. She had been lingering for so long and she could tell by the tense cording of his neck that he was still far from a good mood. This was all that she could think to soothe him, fully aware that her showing up unannounced might backfire.
"What ails you, apagorevménos mou?" Xene whispered softly, resting her forehead against the back of his neck.
The Panamos sunlight seemed to filter in through every single wooden slat of the stables that it could. The little beams of yellow made the space feel just a little brighter, though there were still a few delightfully dim corners to be found. How long Xene had been standing at the side of the building, just listening to Fotios inside was entirely lost on her. The princess was very aware that the Leventi lord was angered, a few of the servants she had passed on her way in had thought to tell her, warn her, really. The Lord might not be up for visitors, one of them had said, but Xene hadn't given that much thought.
Instead, she had tied off her mare at one of the posts toward the top of the fields and then walked her way down the rolling grassy knolls toward the stables. All of this, she did alone, knowing that she was safer here than she really had ever been before. Her gown was of soft emerald silk edged in golden embroidery. The fibulae at her shoulders were the same glittering gold and her sandals a soft, light-toned leather. The princess' curls had been pulled up into a delicate coronet braid, a few tendrils of hair cascading down her back. They caught the gentle breeze as she trailed through the grass.
When Fotios had finally quieted down, the princess had trailed around to the front of the stables, leaning in the archway and watching the man. He was staring off in the opposite direction and hadn't noticed her entrance. That pleased her beyond words for the moment, especially because it gave her time to admire the muscles of his back. Leaning her head against the wood, the princess found herself biting lightly on her bottom lip, trying her best not to make a sound as Fotios finished his food and supped from his cup of wine.
She hadn't expected that the stables would be empty of everyone but the lord, but Xene couldn't find it in herself to be disappointed in the solitary nature of Lord Fotios. Finally smoothing her hands down the front of her gown, she pushed silently away from the archway, stepping slowly into the more darkly lit barn.
Her voice was lilting, carrying a tune that was soft, yet not unfamiliar. It was a common song, but one that Xene often liked to practice with nevertheless. "As long as you live," she sang softly, taking the first step forward toward her lover, "shine forth do not at all grieve." The princess stepped ever closer, still admiring the perfection of Fotios' bare back. Her fingertips brushed his spine when she sand the third line, "life exists for a short while," her voice had dropped an octave, making her sound much softer than she usually did when singing. "Time takes its course."
By then, Xene let both her hands trail up to his shoulders and the princess dropped a delicate kiss against his neck. Once more, she was glad that they were entirely alone. Her actions were bold, but she couldn't truly be sorry about it. She had been lingering for so long and she could tell by the tense cording of his neck that he was still far from a good mood. This was all that she could think to soothe him, fully aware that her showing up unannounced might backfire.
"What ails you, apagorevménos mou?" Xene whispered softly, resting her forehead against the back of his neck.
Fotios offered little reaction when the sound of singing broke through the dull hush inside the stables. At least not that which could be seen from behind him, where from the lilting song came. At the first notes of elegant song, Fotios had closed his eyes, bowed his head a little and taken a long and slow inhale. For he knew the sound of that voice and to whom it belonged and he was torn in his natural response.
Whilst part of him was interested in the distraction that Xene offered - the ability to extend the control he now so craved over another living thing; something he had failed to successfully do the night before - there was also the effort required in playing the role he had orchestrated before the young woman.
Such an image was not much of a deception. For all manipulators knew that the best lies held as much truth within them as possible. Xene was a beautiful young woman. His desire for her on a physical level was nothing but truth. His interest in her as an individual was equally truth - for it was an engaging cerebral activity to watch her wooed and entranced by his machinations. The fact that she was the princess of the realm - sister to a former king and still cousin to the current monarch - was an additional political bonus that he could hold in his hand for whenever the opportunity struck to use it.
Nothing about his association with the princess, in this sense, was false.
But, in order to preserve the more innocent, romantic element of their connection, Fotios was forced to watch every word, to choose his phrasings, his expressions and the manner in which he progressed their physical relations. Everything was to be analysed at every turn and moment. And he was tired.
His muscles tensing under the soft and smooth touch of nubile fingers - fingers of hands that had never seen physical toil in their life - Fotios knew that such tightness in his back could be read a thousand ways. Instead of attempting to plaster a smile upon his face, he worked with the situation that he had. He remained bent, his arms braced upon his thighs, his head low and his eyes closed. His hair was tied back in a knot on the back of his head and left his neck bear to her caress.
"Nothing." Fotios answered, the word an obvious avoidance of the issue at hand. But the following statement offered a little more, turning a circumvention of the topic into a simple explanation of impotence. "Everything is as the Fates have dictated. I am left only with the inability to alter it."
Fotios ensured that he took a sharp little inhale as the princess touched her lips to his skin.
"Why are you here, princess?" He asked her, in a tone that was low and secretive. His gaze was fixed on the glims in the wall stands as they burnt down the wick. The sunlight streamed in through the open slats at the top of the structure but now the corners of the stalls were set to a darker contrast of shadow... "I am not good company and my wife is in the estate." His head turned so slightly to gesture towards the building that was across the courtyard. "We are alone now but that may not persist."
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Apr 25, 2020 18:43:16 GMT
Posted In Nature's Way on Apr 25, 2020 18:43:16 GMT
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Fotios offered little reaction when the sound of singing broke through the dull hush inside the stables. At least not that which could be seen from behind him, where from the lilting song came. At the first notes of elegant song, Fotios had closed his eyes, bowed his head a little and taken a long and slow inhale. For he knew the sound of that voice and to whom it belonged and he was torn in his natural response.
Whilst part of him was interested in the distraction that Xene offered - the ability to extend the control he now so craved over another living thing; something he had failed to successfully do the night before - there was also the effort required in playing the role he had orchestrated before the young woman.
Such an image was not much of a deception. For all manipulators knew that the best lies held as much truth within them as possible. Xene was a beautiful young woman. His desire for her on a physical level was nothing but truth. His interest in her as an individual was equally truth - for it was an engaging cerebral activity to watch her wooed and entranced by his machinations. The fact that she was the princess of the realm - sister to a former king and still cousin to the current monarch - was an additional political bonus that he could hold in his hand for whenever the opportunity struck to use it.
Nothing about his association with the princess, in this sense, was false.
But, in order to preserve the more innocent, romantic element of their connection, Fotios was forced to watch every word, to choose his phrasings, his expressions and the manner in which he progressed their physical relations. Everything was to be analysed at every turn and moment. And he was tired.
His muscles tensing under the soft and smooth touch of nubile fingers - fingers of hands that had never seen physical toil in their life - Fotios knew that such tightness in his back could be read a thousand ways. Instead of attempting to plaster a smile upon his face, he worked with the situation that he had. He remained bent, his arms braced upon his thighs, his head low and his eyes closed. His hair was tied back in a knot on the back of his head and left his neck bear to her caress.
"Nothing." Fotios answered, the word an obvious avoidance of the issue at hand. But the following statement offered a little more, turning a circumvention of the topic into a simple explanation of impotence. "Everything is as the Fates have dictated. I am left only with the inability to alter it."
Fotios ensured that he took a sharp little inhale as the princess touched her lips to his skin.
"Why are you here, princess?" He asked her, in a tone that was low and secretive. His gaze was fixed on the glims in the wall stands as they burnt down the wick. The sunlight streamed in through the open slats at the top of the structure but now the corners of the stalls were set to a darker contrast of shadow... "I am not good company and my wife is in the estate." His head turned so slightly to gesture towards the building that was across the courtyard. "We are alone now but that may not persist."
Fotios offered little reaction when the sound of singing broke through the dull hush inside the stables. At least not that which could be seen from behind him, where from the lilting song came. At the first notes of elegant song, Fotios had closed his eyes, bowed his head a little and taken a long and slow inhale. For he knew the sound of that voice and to whom it belonged and he was torn in his natural response.
Whilst part of him was interested in the distraction that Xene offered - the ability to extend the control he now so craved over another living thing; something he had failed to successfully do the night before - there was also the effort required in playing the role he had orchestrated before the young woman.
Such an image was not much of a deception. For all manipulators knew that the best lies held as much truth within them as possible. Xene was a beautiful young woman. His desire for her on a physical level was nothing but truth. His interest in her as an individual was equally truth - for it was an engaging cerebral activity to watch her wooed and entranced by his machinations. The fact that she was the princess of the realm - sister to a former king and still cousin to the current monarch - was an additional political bonus that he could hold in his hand for whenever the opportunity struck to use it.
Nothing about his association with the princess, in this sense, was false.
But, in order to preserve the more innocent, romantic element of their connection, Fotios was forced to watch every word, to choose his phrasings, his expressions and the manner in which he progressed their physical relations. Everything was to be analysed at every turn and moment. And he was tired.
His muscles tensing under the soft and smooth touch of nubile fingers - fingers of hands that had never seen physical toil in their life - Fotios knew that such tightness in his back could be read a thousand ways. Instead of attempting to plaster a smile upon his face, he worked with the situation that he had. He remained bent, his arms braced upon his thighs, his head low and his eyes closed. His hair was tied back in a knot on the back of his head and left his neck bear to her caress.
"Nothing." Fotios answered, the word an obvious avoidance of the issue at hand. But the following statement offered a little more, turning a circumvention of the topic into a simple explanation of impotence. "Everything is as the Fates have dictated. I am left only with the inability to alter it."
Fotios ensured that he took a sharp little inhale as the princess touched her lips to his skin.
"Why are you here, princess?" He asked her, in a tone that was low and secretive. His gaze was fixed on the glims in the wall stands as they burnt down the wick. The sunlight streamed in through the open slats at the top of the structure but now the corners of the stalls were set to a darker contrast of shadow... "I am not good company and my wife is in the estate." His head turned so slightly to gesture towards the building that was across the courtyard. "We are alone now but that may not persist."
The princess didn't feel any difference in the tensity of his body. That was a disappointment, but Xene was still intent that she could fix this. His mood may have been black, but she had seen him at one of his lower points before, and it was quickly becoming apparent to her that Fotios' world was not all that it appeared. There were things that brought him ill will and stress and it was not something that Xene was contented with. She would have much preferred him to appear as he usually did. Calm, composed, and with the very slightest, imperceptible smirk on his features. An expression that was easy enough and familiar enough to make her melt now, but had brought her unease prior to their becoming friends.
And now lovers.
The sharp intake of his breath, however, left her sure that he might be finding some bit of calm. Especially since such a reaction was her own doing. With her eyes still closed, Xene shook her head just slightly. "I am here because I felt as if I was needed," the princess said very softly, "And I am not one to ignore the draws of the Fates, either," she murmured, both of her hands now trailing tender patterns down his back. She had never actually gotten to see the long expanse of skin, the toned torso and the equally toned back of a man that never gave the impression of having any strength at all. Her fingertips grazed the gentle slope of his spine and she lifted her head to press her lips against his shoulder.
Fotios' words had Xene lifting her head just slightly, looking over his shoulder at the wall he had been intent to stare at. She, too, watched the way that the candles burned down slowly and then carefully pulled her hands from his skin, her mind now on the fact that he did not seem at all wanting of her company in the same way he had the last time that she had been upon his estate grounds.
"Then perhaps I'll simply trail the stables and return home," the princess said gently, not willing to bring him more stress by fighting her presence there. Instead, Xene leaned more toward him, pressing a soft kiss against his temple before the warmth of her was no longer pressed against his back. Now, instead, she was trailing around him, the emerald gown on her person seeming to hiss across the ground as she busied herself with the peering into the stalls instead. The golden embroidery of the gown caught the soft light within the stables, the tiny rays of sunlight that trailed through the slats and the stable floor below catching the glittering color as she trailed through them as well.
"I am sorry for whatever it is that has turned your mind to the black once more," Xene finally said when the silence, even in these stables, had become too much. She turned her head, glancing over her shoulder at him with a quiet smile that promise she would be no more trouble to him.
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Jun 1, 2020 17:46:15 GMT
Posted In Nature's Way on Jun 1, 2020 17:46:15 GMT
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
The princess didn't feel any difference in the tensity of his body. That was a disappointment, but Xene was still intent that she could fix this. His mood may have been black, but she had seen him at one of his lower points before, and it was quickly becoming apparent to her that Fotios' world was not all that it appeared. There were things that brought him ill will and stress and it was not something that Xene was contented with. She would have much preferred him to appear as he usually did. Calm, composed, and with the very slightest, imperceptible smirk on his features. An expression that was easy enough and familiar enough to make her melt now, but had brought her unease prior to their becoming friends.
And now lovers.
The sharp intake of his breath, however, left her sure that he might be finding some bit of calm. Especially since such a reaction was her own doing. With her eyes still closed, Xene shook her head just slightly. "I am here because I felt as if I was needed," the princess said very softly, "And I am not one to ignore the draws of the Fates, either," she murmured, both of her hands now trailing tender patterns down his back. She had never actually gotten to see the long expanse of skin, the toned torso and the equally toned back of a man that never gave the impression of having any strength at all. Her fingertips grazed the gentle slope of his spine and she lifted her head to press her lips against his shoulder.
Fotios' words had Xene lifting her head just slightly, looking over his shoulder at the wall he had been intent to stare at. She, too, watched the way that the candles burned down slowly and then carefully pulled her hands from his skin, her mind now on the fact that he did not seem at all wanting of her company in the same way he had the last time that she had been upon his estate grounds.
"Then perhaps I'll simply trail the stables and return home," the princess said gently, not willing to bring him more stress by fighting her presence there. Instead, Xene leaned more toward him, pressing a soft kiss against his temple before the warmth of her was no longer pressed against his back. Now, instead, she was trailing around him, the emerald gown on her person seeming to hiss across the ground as she busied herself with the peering into the stalls instead. The golden embroidery of the gown caught the soft light within the stables, the tiny rays of sunlight that trailed through the slats and the stable floor below catching the glittering color as she trailed through them as well.
"I am sorry for whatever it is that has turned your mind to the black once more," Xene finally said when the silence, even in these stables, had become too much. She turned her head, glancing over her shoulder at him with a quiet smile that promise she would be no more trouble to him.
The princess didn't feel any difference in the tensity of his body. That was a disappointment, but Xene was still intent that she could fix this. His mood may have been black, but she had seen him at one of his lower points before, and it was quickly becoming apparent to her that Fotios' world was not all that it appeared. There were things that brought him ill will and stress and it was not something that Xene was contented with. She would have much preferred him to appear as he usually did. Calm, composed, and with the very slightest, imperceptible smirk on his features. An expression that was easy enough and familiar enough to make her melt now, but had brought her unease prior to their becoming friends.
And now lovers.
The sharp intake of his breath, however, left her sure that he might be finding some bit of calm. Especially since such a reaction was her own doing. With her eyes still closed, Xene shook her head just slightly. "I am here because I felt as if I was needed," the princess said very softly, "And I am not one to ignore the draws of the Fates, either," she murmured, both of her hands now trailing tender patterns down his back. She had never actually gotten to see the long expanse of skin, the toned torso and the equally toned back of a man that never gave the impression of having any strength at all. Her fingertips grazed the gentle slope of his spine and she lifted her head to press her lips against his shoulder.
Fotios' words had Xene lifting her head just slightly, looking over his shoulder at the wall he had been intent to stare at. She, too, watched the way that the candles burned down slowly and then carefully pulled her hands from his skin, her mind now on the fact that he did not seem at all wanting of her company in the same way he had the last time that she had been upon his estate grounds.
"Then perhaps I'll simply trail the stables and return home," the princess said gently, not willing to bring him more stress by fighting her presence there. Instead, Xene leaned more toward him, pressing a soft kiss against his temple before the warmth of her was no longer pressed against his back. Now, instead, she was trailing around him, the emerald gown on her person seeming to hiss across the ground as she busied herself with the peering into the stalls instead. The golden embroidery of the gown caught the soft light within the stables, the tiny rays of sunlight that trailed through the slats and the stable floor below catching the glittering color as she trailed through them as well.
"I am sorry for whatever it is that has turned your mind to the black once more," Xene finally said when the silence, even in these stables, had become too much. She turned her head, glancing over her shoulder at him with a quiet smile that promise she would be no more trouble to him.
As Xene tried to offer comfort in a manner that was unfamiliar to her - the caresses of a lover from a virgin princess - Fotios reacted as was necessary to show his connection with her touch. The drawing of patterns over his skin had muscles and shoulder blades shifting beneath her hands and the trailing of his spine caused it to straighten, his head to fall back a little and his neck to stretch in a manner that offered his temple for her kiss. It was clear - at least to most, though perhaps not one of such chastity - that Fotios was reacting to her sensuality despite a pre-disposition to not wanting to.
When she declared that she would not force their closeness, that she would leave his company then as requested, he could almost hear the pout in her words that he had not reacted as she might have wished. He did not stop or hinder her as she came to stand once more and move around his still frame, heading deeper into the shadows of the stables. Her hand reached out to brush along the wooden posts that marked the end of each stalled stock and she glanced over her shoulder with a soft smile that spoke of total contentment. Fotios had been sure to look up and watch her as she moved. Such a stare would then be noticed in her inevitable look back.
When she commented on his dark mood, Fotios' features fell into a look of frowning contrition and self-degradation. He reached up to scrub a hand over his face, pinch at his eyes and then bridge of his nose and then shook his head. His gestures were harsh and damning. His voice, when he parted his lips, was rasping with withheld emotion.
"Black once more..." He murmured her words back to her as if they were death tolls upon his character. He closed his eyes and placed a hand over them. As if he could not bear to look at her. Or that he did not deserve to. "Each time you see me now it offers you nothing but the darkness of my own misery."
Shaking his head sharply and placing his hands heavily upon his thighs, Fotios pushed himself up to standing. His sudden motion was at odds with his languid stillness a moment before and his hands opened outwards in a beseeching gesture of forgiveness.
"Forgive me, my princess. I am inattentive to you of late." He winced and lowered his voice. "In a manner unbefitting of a... of a lover." He seemed to fumble the unfamiliar word over his tongue before committing to it.
On the third shake of his head, his tone lightened dramatically, his words became more open, more friendly, calmer and less agonised. His entire demeanour seemed to return to his normal visage.
"Tell me how I might redress the deficit, my princess." He offered with a small smirk of knowing - an offer of great opportunity. "What do you wish of me when next we meet that I can offer you? Our next encounter will be entirely of your desires and not my own concerns." His hand shifted outwards, mimicking the whipping clean of a slate. His look then turned dark and smouldering, as he remained where he was but seemed inclined to head in her direction. "I am yours to command..."
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Jun 6, 2020 12:22:20 GMT
Posted In Nature's Way on Jun 6, 2020 12:22:20 GMT
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
As Xene tried to offer comfort in a manner that was unfamiliar to her - the caresses of a lover from a virgin princess - Fotios reacted as was necessary to show his connection with her touch. The drawing of patterns over his skin had muscles and shoulder blades shifting beneath her hands and the trailing of his spine caused it to straighten, his head to fall back a little and his neck to stretch in a manner that offered his temple for her kiss. It was clear - at least to most, though perhaps not one of such chastity - that Fotios was reacting to her sensuality despite a pre-disposition to not wanting to.
When she declared that she would not force their closeness, that she would leave his company then as requested, he could almost hear the pout in her words that he had not reacted as she might have wished. He did not stop or hinder her as she came to stand once more and move around his still frame, heading deeper into the shadows of the stables. Her hand reached out to brush along the wooden posts that marked the end of each stalled stock and she glanced over her shoulder with a soft smile that spoke of total contentment. Fotios had been sure to look up and watch her as she moved. Such a stare would then be noticed in her inevitable look back.
When she commented on his dark mood, Fotios' features fell into a look of frowning contrition and self-degradation. He reached up to scrub a hand over his face, pinch at his eyes and then bridge of his nose and then shook his head. His gestures were harsh and damning. His voice, when he parted his lips, was rasping with withheld emotion.
"Black once more..." He murmured her words back to her as if they were death tolls upon his character. He closed his eyes and placed a hand over them. As if he could not bear to look at her. Or that he did not deserve to. "Each time you see me now it offers you nothing but the darkness of my own misery."
Shaking his head sharply and placing his hands heavily upon his thighs, Fotios pushed himself up to standing. His sudden motion was at odds with his languid stillness a moment before and his hands opened outwards in a beseeching gesture of forgiveness.
"Forgive me, my princess. I am inattentive to you of late." He winced and lowered his voice. "In a manner unbefitting of a... of a lover." He seemed to fumble the unfamiliar word over his tongue before committing to it.
On the third shake of his head, his tone lightened dramatically, his words became more open, more friendly, calmer and less agonised. His entire demeanour seemed to return to his normal visage.
"Tell me how I might redress the deficit, my princess." He offered with a small smirk of knowing - an offer of great opportunity. "What do you wish of me when next we meet that I can offer you? Our next encounter will be entirely of your desires and not my own concerns." His hand shifted outwards, mimicking the whipping clean of a slate. His look then turned dark and smouldering, as he remained where he was but seemed inclined to head in her direction. "I am yours to command..."
As Xene tried to offer comfort in a manner that was unfamiliar to her - the caresses of a lover from a virgin princess - Fotios reacted as was necessary to show his connection with her touch. The drawing of patterns over his skin had muscles and shoulder blades shifting beneath her hands and the trailing of his spine caused it to straighten, his head to fall back a little and his neck to stretch in a manner that offered his temple for her kiss. It was clear - at least to most, though perhaps not one of such chastity - that Fotios was reacting to her sensuality despite a pre-disposition to not wanting to.
When she declared that she would not force their closeness, that she would leave his company then as requested, he could almost hear the pout in her words that he had not reacted as she might have wished. He did not stop or hinder her as she came to stand once more and move around his still frame, heading deeper into the shadows of the stables. Her hand reached out to brush along the wooden posts that marked the end of each stalled stock and she glanced over her shoulder with a soft smile that spoke of total contentment. Fotios had been sure to look up and watch her as she moved. Such a stare would then be noticed in her inevitable look back.
When she commented on his dark mood, Fotios' features fell into a look of frowning contrition and self-degradation. He reached up to scrub a hand over his face, pinch at his eyes and then bridge of his nose and then shook his head. His gestures were harsh and damning. His voice, when he parted his lips, was rasping with withheld emotion.
"Black once more..." He murmured her words back to her as if they were death tolls upon his character. He closed his eyes and placed a hand over them. As if he could not bear to look at her. Or that he did not deserve to. "Each time you see me now it offers you nothing but the darkness of my own misery."
Shaking his head sharply and placing his hands heavily upon his thighs, Fotios pushed himself up to standing. His sudden motion was at odds with his languid stillness a moment before and his hands opened outwards in a beseeching gesture of forgiveness.
"Forgive me, my princess. I am inattentive to you of late." He winced and lowered his voice. "In a manner unbefitting of a... of a lover." He seemed to fumble the unfamiliar word over his tongue before committing to it.
On the third shake of his head, his tone lightened dramatically, his words became more open, more friendly, calmer and less agonised. His entire demeanour seemed to return to his normal visage.
"Tell me how I might redress the deficit, my princess." He offered with a small smirk of knowing - an offer of great opportunity. "What do you wish of me when next we meet that I can offer you? Our next encounter will be entirely of your desires and not my own concerns." His hand shifted outwards, mimicking the whipping clean of a slate. His look then turned dark and smouldering, as he remained where he was but seemed inclined to head in her direction. "I am yours to command..."
Xene had never seen herself as being a manipulator, but standing there before him, she felt like one. How odd it was to have her words appear to affect a man so strongly, and she had no other reason to assume that that wasn't because there was such a draw to her. She didn't have any reason to believe that he didn't love her and didn't actually want to please her. Fotios was a good man, and she was sure that she would assert that to everyone she ever met for the rest of her life. He had already done so much, barony not withstanding. She couldn't imagine where she would be if he had not suggested the idea to Emilios, and that alone was pleasing to her.
In a way, she felt like she owed him. Owed Fotios far more than she thought she deserved herself. The way that he rose to his feet did not startle her and did not make her recoil the way it may have made others. The princess had absolutely no reason to fear her lover, as each touch he gave her had been nothing but loving and sweet. Sweetness that Xene had come to appreciate more than she was truly willing to express. She took a soft sense of joy from being able to be coy about things.
With his hands up, silently asking forgiveness, the princess lifted her chin slightly to observe her lover with a quiet tilt to her head. Her blue gaze trailed down his form once and then back up in the next moment. "I do not blame you for your inattentiveness, my lord," Xene expressed carefully, pausing in her movements so that she could watch him with a keenness she hadn't shown before. It was here that she turned more fully toward him, both of her hands settling carefully in front of her form so that she could be more receptive to his slow advances.
The way his tone seemed to shift had the princess immediately standing straighter, wondering for just a moment how he was so easily able to control his emotions. And then in nearly the same breath his expression had turned heated and smoldering. Her body reacted in the way that she had come to expect it to, the quiet memory of how he had felt pressed between her legs, even with clothing keeping both of their modesty, hitting her as if someone had struck her across the face. Her breath sucked in quietly through her nose and Xene swallowed hard. "It would appear, from your expression, Fotios, that your thoughts are much the same as my own already. I wonder why you ask at all when you already know how I long for you so?" her words were soft, almost inaudible in the moment. Her gaze dropped to the outwardly shifted hand of his and Xene found herself reaching for him.
"Is your mood still black?" she whispered up at him quietly, "Or has it taken on a different heat, apagorevménos mou?"
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Jun 10, 2020 1:04:30 GMT
Posted In Nature's Way on Jun 10, 2020 1:04:30 GMT
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Xene had never seen herself as being a manipulator, but standing there before him, she felt like one. How odd it was to have her words appear to affect a man so strongly, and she had no other reason to assume that that wasn't because there was such a draw to her. She didn't have any reason to believe that he didn't love her and didn't actually want to please her. Fotios was a good man, and she was sure that she would assert that to everyone she ever met for the rest of her life. He had already done so much, barony not withstanding. She couldn't imagine where she would be if he had not suggested the idea to Emilios, and that alone was pleasing to her.
In a way, she felt like she owed him. Owed Fotios far more than she thought she deserved herself. The way that he rose to his feet did not startle her and did not make her recoil the way it may have made others. The princess had absolutely no reason to fear her lover, as each touch he gave her had been nothing but loving and sweet. Sweetness that Xene had come to appreciate more than she was truly willing to express. She took a soft sense of joy from being able to be coy about things.
With his hands up, silently asking forgiveness, the princess lifted her chin slightly to observe her lover with a quiet tilt to her head. Her blue gaze trailed down his form once and then back up in the next moment. "I do not blame you for your inattentiveness, my lord," Xene expressed carefully, pausing in her movements so that she could watch him with a keenness she hadn't shown before. It was here that she turned more fully toward him, both of her hands settling carefully in front of her form so that she could be more receptive to his slow advances.
The way his tone seemed to shift had the princess immediately standing straighter, wondering for just a moment how he was so easily able to control his emotions. And then in nearly the same breath his expression had turned heated and smoldering. Her body reacted in the way that she had come to expect it to, the quiet memory of how he had felt pressed between her legs, even with clothing keeping both of their modesty, hitting her as if someone had struck her across the face. Her breath sucked in quietly through her nose and Xene swallowed hard. "It would appear, from your expression, Fotios, that your thoughts are much the same as my own already. I wonder why you ask at all when you already know how I long for you so?" her words were soft, almost inaudible in the moment. Her gaze dropped to the outwardly shifted hand of his and Xene found herself reaching for him.
"Is your mood still black?" she whispered up at him quietly, "Or has it taken on a different heat, apagorevménos mou?"
Xene had never seen herself as being a manipulator, but standing there before him, she felt like one. How odd it was to have her words appear to affect a man so strongly, and she had no other reason to assume that that wasn't because there was such a draw to her. She didn't have any reason to believe that he didn't love her and didn't actually want to please her. Fotios was a good man, and she was sure that she would assert that to everyone she ever met for the rest of her life. He had already done so much, barony not withstanding. She couldn't imagine where she would be if he had not suggested the idea to Emilios, and that alone was pleasing to her.
In a way, she felt like she owed him. Owed Fotios far more than she thought she deserved herself. The way that he rose to his feet did not startle her and did not make her recoil the way it may have made others. The princess had absolutely no reason to fear her lover, as each touch he gave her had been nothing but loving and sweet. Sweetness that Xene had come to appreciate more than she was truly willing to express. She took a soft sense of joy from being able to be coy about things.
With his hands up, silently asking forgiveness, the princess lifted her chin slightly to observe her lover with a quiet tilt to her head. Her blue gaze trailed down his form once and then back up in the next moment. "I do not blame you for your inattentiveness, my lord," Xene expressed carefully, pausing in her movements so that she could watch him with a keenness she hadn't shown before. It was here that she turned more fully toward him, both of her hands settling carefully in front of her form so that she could be more receptive to his slow advances.
The way his tone seemed to shift had the princess immediately standing straighter, wondering for just a moment how he was so easily able to control his emotions. And then in nearly the same breath his expression had turned heated and smoldering. Her body reacted in the way that she had come to expect it to, the quiet memory of how he had felt pressed between her legs, even with clothing keeping both of their modesty, hitting her as if someone had struck her across the face. Her breath sucked in quietly through her nose and Xene swallowed hard. "It would appear, from your expression, Fotios, that your thoughts are much the same as my own already. I wonder why you ask at all when you already know how I long for you so?" her words were soft, almost inaudible in the moment. Her gaze dropped to the outwardly shifted hand of his and Xene found herself reaching for him.
"Is your mood still black?" she whispered up at him quietly, "Or has it taken on a different heat, apagorevménos mou?"
Fotios' gaze was fixed upon Xene's hands. He watched as they shifted and then twisted before her, uncertain of their place and role in this little endeavour between them. She held them before her frame, in dignified quiet, as if wishing them to be free and available for when they were needed. She never reached out to boldly take the lead, but she always ensured that she was physically open, her walls down and her soul laid bare for his manipulations and use.
Though, there was little manipulation that was needed here in this moment.
It was true that Fotios was using Xene of Mikaelidas. He held no deep feeling for her, no grand ardour as he boasted. Fotios' heart had been removed from his person and soul long ago and only one woman held it under lock and key, never to return it. Just as Fotios held hers.
But the deeper emotions of their relationship was the only element of it that Fotios was forced to manufacture. Here, in this moment, he wasn't attempting to convince the princess of his true love for her. But of his desire to possess her. And that was hardly a lie. Fotios was an active and sexual man, still in the prime of his life and eager to explore those passions wherever the chance was offered in a manner that benefit his greater plans. He was hardly not going to find the Princess Xene a desirable young woman. Her features were elegant and pretty, her figure one of a fine young lady. Her eagerness was bold yet untamed and her position as cousin to the king was bound to be useful at some key point in the future. She was useful to have as a card in his hand.
The fact that he would, one day soon, get to bed a beautiful princess that would otherwise be outside of his considerations or chances, was a nice bonus that he didn't have to fake.
Instead, he watched her hands, her fingers and her touch with a bold look of curiosity. His lips parted on an exhale and the tip of his tongue broke over the line of his mouth for just a moment. He allowed his gaze to trail up the princess's arms towards her neck, curving around to her breasts and the neat dip of her waist. His stare came back to her face and lingered on her lips.
The princess offered herself as more confident than she was. She leaned towards him, reaching to curl her fingers around one of his hands. He stepped forward, allowing her the touch. His hand remained soft in hers, not wanting to claim with a possessive clutch that would send her running. In a gesture of intimacy, he, instead, linked their fingers together.
"It is not black, my princess." He told her, his face moving down towards hers. His shoulders were drawn in as if to shield her from the view of any passers-by at the stable doorway. His next step sent her backwards, towards the pile of straw and hay that had been piled into the animal stock in which she stood. "...but it is dark."
This last he admitted with a curl to the corner of his mouth. He swallowed. Another step had the both of them further inside the stocks, where only their heads could be seen through the top of the slats if they didn't bend low.
Fotios drew himself in towards Xene, his lips hovering above hers.
"Would you think less of me, princess..." He asked her. "...if I admitted to not being able to wait until our next encounter to make up for my distractions of late?" This question was made in jest. Given her assurances that she was just as eager to touch and hold him, Fotios was able to use such gentlemanly coyness as a means of bringing Xene's temperature to boil.
After all, he had never needed permission before the take what he wanted from women.
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Jul 7, 2020 22:34:05 GMT
Posted In Nature's Way on Jul 7, 2020 22:34:05 GMT
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Fotios' gaze was fixed upon Xene's hands. He watched as they shifted and then twisted before her, uncertain of their place and role in this little endeavour between them. She held them before her frame, in dignified quiet, as if wishing them to be free and available for when they were needed. She never reached out to boldly take the lead, but she always ensured that she was physically open, her walls down and her soul laid bare for his manipulations and use.
Though, there was little manipulation that was needed here in this moment.
It was true that Fotios was using Xene of Mikaelidas. He held no deep feeling for her, no grand ardour as he boasted. Fotios' heart had been removed from his person and soul long ago and only one woman held it under lock and key, never to return it. Just as Fotios held hers.
But the deeper emotions of their relationship was the only element of it that Fotios was forced to manufacture. Here, in this moment, he wasn't attempting to convince the princess of his true love for her. But of his desire to possess her. And that was hardly a lie. Fotios was an active and sexual man, still in the prime of his life and eager to explore those passions wherever the chance was offered in a manner that benefit his greater plans. He was hardly not going to find the Princess Xene a desirable young woman. Her features were elegant and pretty, her figure one of a fine young lady. Her eagerness was bold yet untamed and her position as cousin to the king was bound to be useful at some key point in the future. She was useful to have as a card in his hand.
The fact that he would, one day soon, get to bed a beautiful princess that would otherwise be outside of his considerations or chances, was a nice bonus that he didn't have to fake.
Instead, he watched her hands, her fingers and her touch with a bold look of curiosity. His lips parted on an exhale and the tip of his tongue broke over the line of his mouth for just a moment. He allowed his gaze to trail up the princess's arms towards her neck, curving around to her breasts and the neat dip of her waist. His stare came back to her face and lingered on her lips.
The princess offered herself as more confident than she was. She leaned towards him, reaching to curl her fingers around one of his hands. He stepped forward, allowing her the touch. His hand remained soft in hers, not wanting to claim with a possessive clutch that would send her running. In a gesture of intimacy, he, instead, linked their fingers together.
"It is not black, my princess." He told her, his face moving down towards hers. His shoulders were drawn in as if to shield her from the view of any passers-by at the stable doorway. His next step sent her backwards, towards the pile of straw and hay that had been piled into the animal stock in which she stood. "...but it is dark."
This last he admitted with a curl to the corner of his mouth. He swallowed. Another step had the both of them further inside the stocks, where only their heads could be seen through the top of the slats if they didn't bend low.
Fotios drew himself in towards Xene, his lips hovering above hers.
"Would you think less of me, princess..." He asked her. "...if I admitted to not being able to wait until our next encounter to make up for my distractions of late?" This question was made in jest. Given her assurances that she was just as eager to touch and hold him, Fotios was able to use such gentlemanly coyness as a means of bringing Xene's temperature to boil.
After all, he had never needed permission before the take what he wanted from women.
Fotios' gaze was fixed upon Xene's hands. He watched as they shifted and then twisted before her, uncertain of their place and role in this little endeavour between them. She held them before her frame, in dignified quiet, as if wishing them to be free and available for when they were needed. She never reached out to boldly take the lead, but she always ensured that she was physically open, her walls down and her soul laid bare for his manipulations and use.
Though, there was little manipulation that was needed here in this moment.
It was true that Fotios was using Xene of Mikaelidas. He held no deep feeling for her, no grand ardour as he boasted. Fotios' heart had been removed from his person and soul long ago and only one woman held it under lock and key, never to return it. Just as Fotios held hers.
But the deeper emotions of their relationship was the only element of it that Fotios was forced to manufacture. Here, in this moment, he wasn't attempting to convince the princess of his true love for her. But of his desire to possess her. And that was hardly a lie. Fotios was an active and sexual man, still in the prime of his life and eager to explore those passions wherever the chance was offered in a manner that benefit his greater plans. He was hardly not going to find the Princess Xene a desirable young woman. Her features were elegant and pretty, her figure one of a fine young lady. Her eagerness was bold yet untamed and her position as cousin to the king was bound to be useful at some key point in the future. She was useful to have as a card in his hand.
The fact that he would, one day soon, get to bed a beautiful princess that would otherwise be outside of his considerations or chances, was a nice bonus that he didn't have to fake.
Instead, he watched her hands, her fingers and her touch with a bold look of curiosity. His lips parted on an exhale and the tip of his tongue broke over the line of his mouth for just a moment. He allowed his gaze to trail up the princess's arms towards her neck, curving around to her breasts and the neat dip of her waist. His stare came back to her face and lingered on her lips.
The princess offered herself as more confident than she was. She leaned towards him, reaching to curl her fingers around one of his hands. He stepped forward, allowing her the touch. His hand remained soft in hers, not wanting to claim with a possessive clutch that would send her running. In a gesture of intimacy, he, instead, linked their fingers together.
"It is not black, my princess." He told her, his face moving down towards hers. His shoulders were drawn in as if to shield her from the view of any passers-by at the stable doorway. His next step sent her backwards, towards the pile of straw and hay that had been piled into the animal stock in which she stood. "...but it is dark."
This last he admitted with a curl to the corner of his mouth. He swallowed. Another step had the both of them further inside the stocks, where only their heads could be seen through the top of the slats if they didn't bend low.
Fotios drew himself in towards Xene, his lips hovering above hers.
"Would you think less of me, princess..." He asked her. "...if I admitted to not being able to wait until our next encounter to make up for my distractions of late?" This question was made in jest. Given her assurances that she was just as eager to touch and hold him, Fotios was able to use such gentlemanly coyness as a means of bringing Xene's temperature to boil.
After all, he had never needed permission before the take what he wanted from women.
It was the feeling of his fingers that was so distracting to her mind. The way that they threaded through her own and pulled her mind to focus on them. Only them. This was infinitely more intimate, in a way, than many of their encounters in the past. This was not a gesture that the princess would have expected, even from the man that claimed to love her so. Fotios had never struck her as the type to hold her hand like this and she was so fixated on that fact alone that she barely caught his words until he had finished speaking.
And the way that she instinctively stepped backward at his words, her blue gaze now fixated on his face instead of his hand holding hers. Xene's mind reeled on the idea that his mood was still in a dark place, though it was not dark in the way that she had imagined it to be. No, the look in his eyes told her an entirely different story that had her breath catching in her throat. The princess did not turn her head to look at the pile of hay behind her. Her gaze remained specifically on his face, even as he stepped her backward further than before, now hiding them nearly entirely from view.
But her mind wasn't on hiding, it was on him. It was on him and the way that her blood seemed to simmer in her veins as the fleeting sound of his first words left her mind, only to be replaced by his next declaration. With her head tipped slightly upward and her gaze dropping to his lips, now so close to hers that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin, his words dragged a heady breath from her lungs.
Xene didn't know how to answer that immediately, too distracted by his proximity and the way her mind wandered to the fact that if she just leaned up slightly, his lips would be on hers again. Where she had imagined them to be in both her waking moments and her dreams in the night. Ever since their last meeting, she could still feel the ghost of the desk at her back and the feeling of his hands clenched in her gown. The ghost of his desire between her thighs that set her breath harder everytime she thought of it.
"I would think less of you if you left me wanting yet again," the princess finally whispered, her voice thick on her own declaration of desire. "I still feel your heat even in my waking, lucid moments," she admitted carefully, "And for you to torment me so is a level of cruel that I do not think I can withstand any further," her voice was soft, her tone almost pleading, but Xene found herself wanting silence save for the sounds of their mingled breaths.
Before Fotios could respond to her desires with words, the princess leaned up the last few inches and captured his lips with her own. Her hands spread up along his chest, releasing the hand that she had held before in favor of exploring the bareness of his skin in a way that she had never done before now.
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Jul 19, 2020 15:15:22 GMT
Posted In Nature's Way on Jul 19, 2020 15:15:22 GMT
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
It was the feeling of his fingers that was so distracting to her mind. The way that they threaded through her own and pulled her mind to focus on them. Only them. This was infinitely more intimate, in a way, than many of their encounters in the past. This was not a gesture that the princess would have expected, even from the man that claimed to love her so. Fotios had never struck her as the type to hold her hand like this and she was so fixated on that fact alone that she barely caught his words until he had finished speaking.
And the way that she instinctively stepped backward at his words, her blue gaze now fixated on his face instead of his hand holding hers. Xene's mind reeled on the idea that his mood was still in a dark place, though it was not dark in the way that she had imagined it to be. No, the look in his eyes told her an entirely different story that had her breath catching in her throat. The princess did not turn her head to look at the pile of hay behind her. Her gaze remained specifically on his face, even as he stepped her backward further than before, now hiding them nearly entirely from view.
But her mind wasn't on hiding, it was on him. It was on him and the way that her blood seemed to simmer in her veins as the fleeting sound of his first words left her mind, only to be replaced by his next declaration. With her head tipped slightly upward and her gaze dropping to his lips, now so close to hers that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin, his words dragged a heady breath from her lungs.
Xene didn't know how to answer that immediately, too distracted by his proximity and the way her mind wandered to the fact that if she just leaned up slightly, his lips would be on hers again. Where she had imagined them to be in both her waking moments and her dreams in the night. Ever since their last meeting, she could still feel the ghost of the desk at her back and the feeling of his hands clenched in her gown. The ghost of his desire between her thighs that set her breath harder everytime she thought of it.
"I would think less of you if you left me wanting yet again," the princess finally whispered, her voice thick on her own declaration of desire. "I still feel your heat even in my waking, lucid moments," she admitted carefully, "And for you to torment me so is a level of cruel that I do not think I can withstand any further," her voice was soft, her tone almost pleading, but Xene found herself wanting silence save for the sounds of their mingled breaths.
Before Fotios could respond to her desires with words, the princess leaned up the last few inches and captured his lips with her own. Her hands spread up along his chest, releasing the hand that she had held before in favor of exploring the bareness of his skin in a way that she had never done before now.
It was the feeling of his fingers that was so distracting to her mind. The way that they threaded through her own and pulled her mind to focus on them. Only them. This was infinitely more intimate, in a way, than many of their encounters in the past. This was not a gesture that the princess would have expected, even from the man that claimed to love her so. Fotios had never struck her as the type to hold her hand like this and she was so fixated on that fact alone that she barely caught his words until he had finished speaking.
And the way that she instinctively stepped backward at his words, her blue gaze now fixated on his face instead of his hand holding hers. Xene's mind reeled on the idea that his mood was still in a dark place, though it was not dark in the way that she had imagined it to be. No, the look in his eyes told her an entirely different story that had her breath catching in her throat. The princess did not turn her head to look at the pile of hay behind her. Her gaze remained specifically on his face, even as he stepped her backward further than before, now hiding them nearly entirely from view.
But her mind wasn't on hiding, it was on him. It was on him and the way that her blood seemed to simmer in her veins as the fleeting sound of his first words left her mind, only to be replaced by his next declaration. With her head tipped slightly upward and her gaze dropping to his lips, now so close to hers that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin, his words dragged a heady breath from her lungs.
Xene didn't know how to answer that immediately, too distracted by his proximity and the way her mind wandered to the fact that if she just leaned up slightly, his lips would be on hers again. Where she had imagined them to be in both her waking moments and her dreams in the night. Ever since their last meeting, she could still feel the ghost of the desk at her back and the feeling of his hands clenched in her gown. The ghost of his desire between her thighs that set her breath harder everytime she thought of it.
"I would think less of you if you left me wanting yet again," the princess finally whispered, her voice thick on her own declaration of desire. "I still feel your heat even in my waking, lucid moments," she admitted carefully, "And for you to torment me so is a level of cruel that I do not think I can withstand any further," her voice was soft, her tone almost pleading, but Xene found herself wanting silence save for the sounds of their mingled breaths.
Before Fotios could respond to her desires with words, the princess leaned up the last few inches and captured his lips with her own. Her hands spread up along his chest, releasing the hand that she had held before in favor of exploring the bareness of his skin in a way that she had never done before now.
Fotios allowed the princess to move at the pace that she felt most comfortable. He felt the way her fingers twisted with his, as if testing the connection, the way that her eyes trailed over his features and shoulders. He was bare chested thanks to the clean he had had to see to after the loss of his stock, so there was much for her to witness and none that he had to fake. The heartbeat in the curving base of his neck sped up as she grew closer, the light dusting of hair over his chest moved closer in longer, deeper breaths. The muscles of his abdomen tightened in a desire to be nearer, as she frame lingered just out of reach. As he twirled their fingers together, the muscles in his arms shifted, new shadows cast along the dips and lines of his shape.
Whilst Fotios was not a man such as Xene's cousin - not built like an Adonis with thick muscle and heavy lines that had been waxed and oiled clean of hair - he was far from portly or out of shape. Fotios' livelihood revolved around working with animals. Had seen him mastering the heavy and powerful steeds that the Leventi name bred. Had had him working the fields with the hands as a boy and young man. he rode every day, spent almost as much time in a saddle as he did at his desk. His night time activities saw to the strength in his core and lower torso. His arms were strong from archery and his command over the female form with his many lovers. Fotios was no grand Apollo of shape, but he was a fit, strong and deceptively powerful figure. And he had the muscles to shift and tempt to prove it.
As the princess permitted him to step her backwards, she seemed unaware of the dangers being alone together in a hidden spot of the stables might possess. Or, she knew it and was simply unheeding. More desirous to see where their entanglement would lead than she was the risks to her reputation, were they discovered. Yet, it was still early. The hands had still been sent away, there was darkness in the stables and a wooden wall around the stock that would see them blocked from view. Just how risky was this to be?
When the princess talked of being left unsatisfied, Fotios' lips parted and his eyes became hooded. He watched her with a slumberous look of passion that brought his gaze to her lips. He opened his mouth to speak, to promise her that he would not leave her in such pain and would see that she found her desires now. But he did not get the chance. The princess had had enough of waiting and simply leaned forwards onto her toes. She lifted herself so that their lips might find one another and took his mouth with hers.
Fotios was still against her for just a heartbeat, as if he were unsure of their place and time. As if he held a hesitation over the desires to hold her, join with her in this moment of passion. But such a pause only lasted for that one heartbeat. As Xene's hands came to journey over his chest, his breath hitched in his lungs and she would feel the spasm through her hold. He felt the smooth palms and fingertips of a gentle virgin trailing over his skin, reaching up and around his shoulders and exploring the pads of his upper chest.
Fotios claimed the princess's mouth with a touch so impossibly gradual and gentle, it was as if it were happening in slow motion. As if Cronos himself had drawn down to be with them and turn everything to its simplest of forms. Every movement of his lips was glacial, every parting for breath slow enough to have their lips cling to one another. Any time that the princess attempted to claim him with any speed or strength, Fotios's lips drew back and forced that slowness once more. He would brush his mouth over the princess', waiting for her to gasp and mew, before beginning another kiss of equally torturous, unhurried leisure. His eyes had closed, his enjoyment of their love-making like a test. Could he continue to move slow, to be so temptingly and frustratingly gentle that he drove the woman mad?
And just what would be the greatest way to test his ability over such things?
Breaking their kiss for just a moment, Fotios reached to take her hands in his. They had explored his shoulders, the lines of his neck and chest, but now he drew them south. With fingers wrapped around her wrists, gently holding them captive, Fotios drew the backs of Xene's knuckles over the ridges of his lower belly, until her touch found the top of his riding pants and the laces of his stays.
Watching her with a dark and desirous gaze, Fotios reached out just to nip the princess' lower lip between his teeth in a little biting challenge of a lover to his woman.
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Jul 19, 2020 15:59:34 GMT
Posted In Nature's Way on Jul 19, 2020 15:59:34 GMT
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Fotios allowed the princess to move at the pace that she felt most comfortable. He felt the way her fingers twisted with his, as if testing the connection, the way that her eyes trailed over his features and shoulders. He was bare chested thanks to the clean he had had to see to after the loss of his stock, so there was much for her to witness and none that he had to fake. The heartbeat in the curving base of his neck sped up as she grew closer, the light dusting of hair over his chest moved closer in longer, deeper breaths. The muscles of his abdomen tightened in a desire to be nearer, as she frame lingered just out of reach. As he twirled their fingers together, the muscles in his arms shifted, new shadows cast along the dips and lines of his shape.
Whilst Fotios was not a man such as Xene's cousin - not built like an Adonis with thick muscle and heavy lines that had been waxed and oiled clean of hair - he was far from portly or out of shape. Fotios' livelihood revolved around working with animals. Had seen him mastering the heavy and powerful steeds that the Leventi name bred. Had had him working the fields with the hands as a boy and young man. he rode every day, spent almost as much time in a saddle as he did at his desk. His night time activities saw to the strength in his core and lower torso. His arms were strong from archery and his command over the female form with his many lovers. Fotios was no grand Apollo of shape, but he was a fit, strong and deceptively powerful figure. And he had the muscles to shift and tempt to prove it.
As the princess permitted him to step her backwards, she seemed unaware of the dangers being alone together in a hidden spot of the stables might possess. Or, she knew it and was simply unheeding. More desirous to see where their entanglement would lead than she was the risks to her reputation, were they discovered. Yet, it was still early. The hands had still been sent away, there was darkness in the stables and a wooden wall around the stock that would see them blocked from view. Just how risky was this to be?
When the princess talked of being left unsatisfied, Fotios' lips parted and his eyes became hooded. He watched her with a slumberous look of passion that brought his gaze to her lips. He opened his mouth to speak, to promise her that he would not leave her in such pain and would see that she found her desires now. But he did not get the chance. The princess had had enough of waiting and simply leaned forwards onto her toes. She lifted herself so that their lips might find one another and took his mouth with hers.
Fotios was still against her for just a heartbeat, as if he were unsure of their place and time. As if he held a hesitation over the desires to hold her, join with her in this moment of passion. But such a pause only lasted for that one heartbeat. As Xene's hands came to journey over his chest, his breath hitched in his lungs and she would feel the spasm through her hold. He felt the smooth palms and fingertips of a gentle virgin trailing over his skin, reaching up and around his shoulders and exploring the pads of his upper chest.
Fotios claimed the princess's mouth with a touch so impossibly gradual and gentle, it was as if it were happening in slow motion. As if Cronos himself had drawn down to be with them and turn everything to its simplest of forms. Every movement of his lips was glacial, every parting for breath slow enough to have their lips cling to one another. Any time that the princess attempted to claim him with any speed or strength, Fotios's lips drew back and forced that slowness once more. He would brush his mouth over the princess', waiting for her to gasp and mew, before beginning another kiss of equally torturous, unhurried leisure. His eyes had closed, his enjoyment of their love-making like a test. Could he continue to move slow, to be so temptingly and frustratingly gentle that he drove the woman mad?
And just what would be the greatest way to test his ability over such things?
Breaking their kiss for just a moment, Fotios reached to take her hands in his. They had explored his shoulders, the lines of his neck and chest, but now he drew them south. With fingers wrapped around her wrists, gently holding them captive, Fotios drew the backs of Xene's knuckles over the ridges of his lower belly, until her touch found the top of his riding pants and the laces of his stays.
Watching her with a dark and desirous gaze, Fotios reached out just to nip the princess' lower lip between his teeth in a little biting challenge of a lover to his woman.
Fotios allowed the princess to move at the pace that she felt most comfortable. He felt the way her fingers twisted with his, as if testing the connection, the way that her eyes trailed over his features and shoulders. He was bare chested thanks to the clean he had had to see to after the loss of his stock, so there was much for her to witness and none that he had to fake. The heartbeat in the curving base of his neck sped up as she grew closer, the light dusting of hair over his chest moved closer in longer, deeper breaths. The muscles of his abdomen tightened in a desire to be nearer, as she frame lingered just out of reach. As he twirled their fingers together, the muscles in his arms shifted, new shadows cast along the dips and lines of his shape.
Whilst Fotios was not a man such as Xene's cousin - not built like an Adonis with thick muscle and heavy lines that had been waxed and oiled clean of hair - he was far from portly or out of shape. Fotios' livelihood revolved around working with animals. Had seen him mastering the heavy and powerful steeds that the Leventi name bred. Had had him working the fields with the hands as a boy and young man. he rode every day, spent almost as much time in a saddle as he did at his desk. His night time activities saw to the strength in his core and lower torso. His arms were strong from archery and his command over the female form with his many lovers. Fotios was no grand Apollo of shape, but he was a fit, strong and deceptively powerful figure. And he had the muscles to shift and tempt to prove it.
As the princess permitted him to step her backwards, she seemed unaware of the dangers being alone together in a hidden spot of the stables might possess. Or, she knew it and was simply unheeding. More desirous to see where their entanglement would lead than she was the risks to her reputation, were they discovered. Yet, it was still early. The hands had still been sent away, there was darkness in the stables and a wooden wall around the stock that would see them blocked from view. Just how risky was this to be?
When the princess talked of being left unsatisfied, Fotios' lips parted and his eyes became hooded. He watched her with a slumberous look of passion that brought his gaze to her lips. He opened his mouth to speak, to promise her that he would not leave her in such pain and would see that she found her desires now. But he did not get the chance. The princess had had enough of waiting and simply leaned forwards onto her toes. She lifted herself so that their lips might find one another and took his mouth with hers.
Fotios was still against her for just a heartbeat, as if he were unsure of their place and time. As if he held a hesitation over the desires to hold her, join with her in this moment of passion. But such a pause only lasted for that one heartbeat. As Xene's hands came to journey over his chest, his breath hitched in his lungs and she would feel the spasm through her hold. He felt the smooth palms and fingertips of a gentle virgin trailing over his skin, reaching up and around his shoulders and exploring the pads of his upper chest.
Fotios claimed the princess's mouth with a touch so impossibly gradual and gentle, it was as if it were happening in slow motion. As if Cronos himself had drawn down to be with them and turn everything to its simplest of forms. Every movement of his lips was glacial, every parting for breath slow enough to have their lips cling to one another. Any time that the princess attempted to claim him with any speed or strength, Fotios's lips drew back and forced that slowness once more. He would brush his mouth over the princess', waiting for her to gasp and mew, before beginning another kiss of equally torturous, unhurried leisure. His eyes had closed, his enjoyment of their love-making like a test. Could he continue to move slow, to be so temptingly and frustratingly gentle that he drove the woman mad?
And just what would be the greatest way to test his ability over such things?
Breaking their kiss for just a moment, Fotios reached to take her hands in his. They had explored his shoulders, the lines of his neck and chest, but now he drew them south. With fingers wrapped around her wrists, gently holding them captive, Fotios drew the backs of Xene's knuckles over the ridges of his lower belly, until her touch found the top of his riding pants and the laces of his stays.
Watching her with a dark and desirous gaze, Fotios reached out just to nip the princess' lower lip between his teeth in a little biting challenge of a lover to his woman.
There was something about the feeling of his lips on hers that left her dizzy, her mind spiraling away from all coherent thought whatsoever. Any resignation she had held to these actions faded in a single instant, the princess' shared moments of passion with her lord lover taking over thought and decision that she made from here on out. But the man saw fit to torment her, kissing her gently and slowly, allowing heat to pool in her core only to deny her further of what she wanted. His hands on her. His lips on her skin. Her imagination had only stretched so far, imagining what it might feel like to have his body pressed to hers, no further barriers between them. As she had been dreaming time and time again for the last few weeks.
First, his grief over the death of her uncle and then his frustration over the death of one of his stock had given her these openings. These moments where Fotios could claim her body as his own, though he seemed hesitant to do any such thing at every turn and it made her wonder if he truly wanted her at all. Didn't men ache for these moments? Didn't they want to feel a woman's body against theirs in the same way that Xene ached for his? Why did he leave her so infuriatingly wanting at every turn?
Each fleeting kiss seemed to wind her tighter, her breath coming sharper and her quiet frustration at his need to torment her growing more and more apparent by the quiet sounds that fell off her lips when he broke them apart. The hitching of his breath in his chest was interesting in a way that was new and she quietly hoped that he would lose his composure a second time, her fingertips trailing back down his chest in an exploratory manner.
Their kiss broken for the moment, her gaze was fixated on her own fingers trailing odd patterns against his skin, only to watch him take her wrists. Her gaze immediately snapped up to his features, wondering if he was going to deny her yet again. Her brows furrowed a little until Xene felt him move her hands further down his form. Lips parting in silent wonder of the feeling, her blue gaze locked to his face and her knuckles brushing each ridge of muscle, it was her turn for her breathing to hitch in her chest.
As soon as Xene's fingers brushed leather and the ties of his riding pants, her blue gaze dropped from his face and to his waist. Not wanting to seem overly eager, the princess worked very carefully at the ties of the pants, loosening them enough that she would be able to slip her hands beneath their hem. Dropping one tie and then the other, Xene watched her hands as she spread her palms against his lower abdomen and then let them drift lower, following the trail of his body and the v of muscle that wandered beneath his pants. Her fingers slid across skin, feeling, and memorizing.
She stepped closer to him as she did this, lifting her head to brush her lips slowly against his jaw, her hands drifting lower against his body. She did not jump as she let her fingers drift far enough to feel the outline of his arousal, but she did find her breath hitching again, her mind drifting once more to that silent curiosity. The want to see his body and feel it against her own. "I have thought of this moment many times," the princess admitted against his jaw, "This moment and numerous others," she whispered, closing her eyes and letting her fingers further explore his anatomy. "Soft," she admitted quietly, speaking of the feeling of his skin rather than the stiffness of his arousal. "Like silk," she whispered, her teeth tentatively grazing the hollow between his jaw and throat as she spoke. "Fotios," the princess pleaded softly, willing to beg if he would both sate her curiosity and her want of him.
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Sept 5, 2020 12:54:26 GMT
Posted In Nature's Way on Sept 5, 2020 12:54:26 GMT
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
There was something about the feeling of his lips on hers that left her dizzy, her mind spiraling away from all coherent thought whatsoever. Any resignation she had held to these actions faded in a single instant, the princess' shared moments of passion with her lord lover taking over thought and decision that she made from here on out. But the man saw fit to torment her, kissing her gently and slowly, allowing heat to pool in her core only to deny her further of what she wanted. His hands on her. His lips on her skin. Her imagination had only stretched so far, imagining what it might feel like to have his body pressed to hers, no further barriers between them. As she had been dreaming time and time again for the last few weeks.
First, his grief over the death of her uncle and then his frustration over the death of one of his stock had given her these openings. These moments where Fotios could claim her body as his own, though he seemed hesitant to do any such thing at every turn and it made her wonder if he truly wanted her at all. Didn't men ache for these moments? Didn't they want to feel a woman's body against theirs in the same way that Xene ached for his? Why did he leave her so infuriatingly wanting at every turn?
Each fleeting kiss seemed to wind her tighter, her breath coming sharper and her quiet frustration at his need to torment her growing more and more apparent by the quiet sounds that fell off her lips when he broke them apart. The hitching of his breath in his chest was interesting in a way that was new and she quietly hoped that he would lose his composure a second time, her fingertips trailing back down his chest in an exploratory manner.
Their kiss broken for the moment, her gaze was fixated on her own fingers trailing odd patterns against his skin, only to watch him take her wrists. Her gaze immediately snapped up to his features, wondering if he was going to deny her yet again. Her brows furrowed a little until Xene felt him move her hands further down his form. Lips parting in silent wonder of the feeling, her blue gaze locked to his face and her knuckles brushing each ridge of muscle, it was her turn for her breathing to hitch in her chest.
As soon as Xene's fingers brushed leather and the ties of his riding pants, her blue gaze dropped from his face and to his waist. Not wanting to seem overly eager, the princess worked very carefully at the ties of the pants, loosening them enough that she would be able to slip her hands beneath their hem. Dropping one tie and then the other, Xene watched her hands as she spread her palms against his lower abdomen and then let them drift lower, following the trail of his body and the v of muscle that wandered beneath his pants. Her fingers slid across skin, feeling, and memorizing.
She stepped closer to him as she did this, lifting her head to brush her lips slowly against his jaw, her hands drifting lower against his body. She did not jump as she let her fingers drift far enough to feel the outline of his arousal, but she did find her breath hitching again, her mind drifting once more to that silent curiosity. The want to see his body and feel it against her own. "I have thought of this moment many times," the princess admitted against his jaw, "This moment and numerous others," she whispered, closing her eyes and letting her fingers further explore his anatomy. "Soft," she admitted quietly, speaking of the feeling of his skin rather than the stiffness of his arousal. "Like silk," she whispered, her teeth tentatively grazing the hollow between his jaw and throat as she spoke. "Fotios," the princess pleaded softly, willing to beg if he would both sate her curiosity and her want of him.
There was something about the feeling of his lips on hers that left her dizzy, her mind spiraling away from all coherent thought whatsoever. Any resignation she had held to these actions faded in a single instant, the princess' shared moments of passion with her lord lover taking over thought and decision that she made from here on out. But the man saw fit to torment her, kissing her gently and slowly, allowing heat to pool in her core only to deny her further of what she wanted. His hands on her. His lips on her skin. Her imagination had only stretched so far, imagining what it might feel like to have his body pressed to hers, no further barriers between them. As she had been dreaming time and time again for the last few weeks.
First, his grief over the death of her uncle and then his frustration over the death of one of his stock had given her these openings. These moments where Fotios could claim her body as his own, though he seemed hesitant to do any such thing at every turn and it made her wonder if he truly wanted her at all. Didn't men ache for these moments? Didn't they want to feel a woman's body against theirs in the same way that Xene ached for his? Why did he leave her so infuriatingly wanting at every turn?
Each fleeting kiss seemed to wind her tighter, her breath coming sharper and her quiet frustration at his need to torment her growing more and more apparent by the quiet sounds that fell off her lips when he broke them apart. The hitching of his breath in his chest was interesting in a way that was new and she quietly hoped that he would lose his composure a second time, her fingertips trailing back down his chest in an exploratory manner.
Their kiss broken for the moment, her gaze was fixated on her own fingers trailing odd patterns against his skin, only to watch him take her wrists. Her gaze immediately snapped up to his features, wondering if he was going to deny her yet again. Her brows furrowed a little until Xene felt him move her hands further down his form. Lips parting in silent wonder of the feeling, her blue gaze locked to his face and her knuckles brushing each ridge of muscle, it was her turn for her breathing to hitch in her chest.
As soon as Xene's fingers brushed leather and the ties of his riding pants, her blue gaze dropped from his face and to his waist. Not wanting to seem overly eager, the princess worked very carefully at the ties of the pants, loosening them enough that she would be able to slip her hands beneath their hem. Dropping one tie and then the other, Xene watched her hands as she spread her palms against his lower abdomen and then let them drift lower, following the trail of his body and the v of muscle that wandered beneath his pants. Her fingers slid across skin, feeling, and memorizing.
She stepped closer to him as she did this, lifting her head to brush her lips slowly against his jaw, her hands drifting lower against his body. She did not jump as she let her fingers drift far enough to feel the outline of his arousal, but she did find her breath hitching again, her mind drifting once more to that silent curiosity. The want to see his body and feel it against her own. "I have thought of this moment many times," the princess admitted against his jaw, "This moment and numerous others," she whispered, closing her eyes and letting her fingers further explore his anatomy. "Soft," she admitted quietly, speaking of the feeling of his skin rather than the stiffness of his arousal. "Like silk," she whispered, her teeth tentatively grazing the hollow between his jaw and throat as she spoke. "Fotios," the princess pleaded softly, willing to beg if he would both sate her curiosity and her want of him.
The hesitancy, the distance that Fotios used upon the princess was to not to encourage the idea that he was disliking of her touch or presence. It was a two fold attempt to conjure desire. Not only did he withhold the true satisfaction that she wished for, taunting her with what she could have if she opened her mouth a little more or moved a little closer... but it hinted at his hesitancy regarding their current situation. In the stables, not a hundred yards from his estate and the wife that resided within it. It offered a sense of taboo and forbidden passions...
Something that he knew always made most women weak at the knees. The culture that Greece encouraged - one where women were expected to follow so many social rules of etiquette... it produced a breed of lady that was eager to break boundaries and throw decorum away. To present himself as something that was unallowed, kept away from her for the benefit of social convention, was an easy trick to play.
In their little to and fros, where the princess feared his distance, he moved it back to focus. By taking her hands and drawing them down his belly, down across the muscles of his abdomen, he gave her the permission to take her touch to the next level, to claim him in a way that he had not yet claimed her. Which would offer her a level of confidence in his desire for her that she may have been losing. Either way, it would raise the heat for them both.
With each kiss and each touch, the princess grew breathless. By the time her hands reached the stays of his riding pants, she had difficulty keeping her mews, gasps and moans back behind her pert lips. They escaped on every exhale, they messed with the rhythm of her breath. He felt her heartbeat through her wrist racing rapidly, her breathing was sporadic. Everything about their encounter was sending her normal bodily processes on a riotous shifting adventure. And she seemed totally unprepared for it.
But eager to experience it nonetheless.
When the princess took to his clothes, Fotios watched her with a sense of heated possession that only served to stir them both, the heat under his skin rising. She didn't push away his pants over his hips, but reached in beneath the fabric, her fingers exploring his shape. The second her hands came into contact with his shaft, his body tensed. A grunt died a sharp death in his chest, heard only in the back of his throat. He restrained it. Releasing it as a slow exhale. His eyes closed and his jaw broke wide, a trigger flickering beside his ear.
The princess lifted onto her toes, her lips finding his. She breathed her hopes and her fantasies against his mouth and he parted his lips to breathe them in. He took such desires into his lungs and moaned on them as her fingertips moved to explore the length of his shaft, testing the texture of his most intimate skin. His next exhale shuddered from his body when the edge of her nail brushed against the ridge of his head.
'Soft.'
Only on the outside. Beneath the silken skin, he was rock hard, ready to bury his body inside of hers. With so high a sex drive as his, Fotios could not be turned off by any woman of Xene's beauty. Regardless of how chaste she was or how little she knew of the pleasure act. Her innocence only served to stoke his desires for control and manipulation - a whole other set of passionate needs.
She moved to kiss the hollow beneath his jaw and Fotios allowed his head to fall back, throat to hold a growling moan.
When she said his name, Fotios returned the gesture by placing a kiss to the side of her neck. His forehead found the hollow of her shoulder and his breath rushed down between her breasts.
"I... I claim a powerful self control, princess..." Fotios murmured against her skin. His tongue came out to taste from her between words. "I hold myself back for the sake of your innocence. The last thing I wish to do is scare you." He exhaled long and slow, his shoulder blades tensing as her hands continued to explore the shape of him. "But I fear that… if you continue to touch me so, there is no force alive that would stop me from bedding you here and now..."
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Sept 5, 2020 20:27:14 GMT
Posted In Nature's Way on Sept 5, 2020 20:27:14 GMT
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
The hesitancy, the distance that Fotios used upon the princess was to not to encourage the idea that he was disliking of her touch or presence. It was a two fold attempt to conjure desire. Not only did he withhold the true satisfaction that she wished for, taunting her with what she could have if she opened her mouth a little more or moved a little closer... but it hinted at his hesitancy regarding their current situation. In the stables, not a hundred yards from his estate and the wife that resided within it. It offered a sense of taboo and forbidden passions...
Something that he knew always made most women weak at the knees. The culture that Greece encouraged - one where women were expected to follow so many social rules of etiquette... it produced a breed of lady that was eager to break boundaries and throw decorum away. To present himself as something that was unallowed, kept away from her for the benefit of social convention, was an easy trick to play.
In their little to and fros, where the princess feared his distance, he moved it back to focus. By taking her hands and drawing them down his belly, down across the muscles of his abdomen, he gave her the permission to take her touch to the next level, to claim him in a way that he had not yet claimed her. Which would offer her a level of confidence in his desire for her that she may have been losing. Either way, it would raise the heat for them both.
With each kiss and each touch, the princess grew breathless. By the time her hands reached the stays of his riding pants, she had difficulty keeping her mews, gasps and moans back behind her pert lips. They escaped on every exhale, they messed with the rhythm of her breath. He felt her heartbeat through her wrist racing rapidly, her breathing was sporadic. Everything about their encounter was sending her normal bodily processes on a riotous shifting adventure. And she seemed totally unprepared for it.
But eager to experience it nonetheless.
When the princess took to his clothes, Fotios watched her with a sense of heated possession that only served to stir them both, the heat under his skin rising. She didn't push away his pants over his hips, but reached in beneath the fabric, her fingers exploring his shape. The second her hands came into contact with his shaft, his body tensed. A grunt died a sharp death in his chest, heard only in the back of his throat. He restrained it. Releasing it as a slow exhale. His eyes closed and his jaw broke wide, a trigger flickering beside his ear.
The princess lifted onto her toes, her lips finding his. She breathed her hopes and her fantasies against his mouth and he parted his lips to breathe them in. He took such desires into his lungs and moaned on them as her fingertips moved to explore the length of his shaft, testing the texture of his most intimate skin. His next exhale shuddered from his body when the edge of her nail brushed against the ridge of his head.
'Soft.'
Only on the outside. Beneath the silken skin, he was rock hard, ready to bury his body inside of hers. With so high a sex drive as his, Fotios could not be turned off by any woman of Xene's beauty. Regardless of how chaste she was or how little she knew of the pleasure act. Her innocence only served to stoke his desires for control and manipulation - a whole other set of passionate needs.
She moved to kiss the hollow beneath his jaw and Fotios allowed his head to fall back, throat to hold a growling moan.
When she said his name, Fotios returned the gesture by placing a kiss to the side of her neck. His forehead found the hollow of her shoulder and his breath rushed down between her breasts.
"I... I claim a powerful self control, princess..." Fotios murmured against her skin. His tongue came out to taste from her between words. "I hold myself back for the sake of your innocence. The last thing I wish to do is scare you." He exhaled long and slow, his shoulder blades tensing as her hands continued to explore the shape of him. "But I fear that… if you continue to touch me so, there is no force alive that would stop me from bedding you here and now..."
The hesitancy, the distance that Fotios used upon the princess was to not to encourage the idea that he was disliking of her touch or presence. It was a two fold attempt to conjure desire. Not only did he withhold the true satisfaction that she wished for, taunting her with what she could have if she opened her mouth a little more or moved a little closer... but it hinted at his hesitancy regarding their current situation. In the stables, not a hundred yards from his estate and the wife that resided within it. It offered a sense of taboo and forbidden passions...
Something that he knew always made most women weak at the knees. The culture that Greece encouraged - one where women were expected to follow so many social rules of etiquette... it produced a breed of lady that was eager to break boundaries and throw decorum away. To present himself as something that was unallowed, kept away from her for the benefit of social convention, was an easy trick to play.
In their little to and fros, where the princess feared his distance, he moved it back to focus. By taking her hands and drawing them down his belly, down across the muscles of his abdomen, he gave her the permission to take her touch to the next level, to claim him in a way that he had not yet claimed her. Which would offer her a level of confidence in his desire for her that she may have been losing. Either way, it would raise the heat for them both.
With each kiss and each touch, the princess grew breathless. By the time her hands reached the stays of his riding pants, she had difficulty keeping her mews, gasps and moans back behind her pert lips. They escaped on every exhale, they messed with the rhythm of her breath. He felt her heartbeat through her wrist racing rapidly, her breathing was sporadic. Everything about their encounter was sending her normal bodily processes on a riotous shifting adventure. And she seemed totally unprepared for it.
But eager to experience it nonetheless.
When the princess took to his clothes, Fotios watched her with a sense of heated possession that only served to stir them both, the heat under his skin rising. She didn't push away his pants over his hips, but reached in beneath the fabric, her fingers exploring his shape. The second her hands came into contact with his shaft, his body tensed. A grunt died a sharp death in his chest, heard only in the back of his throat. He restrained it. Releasing it as a slow exhale. His eyes closed and his jaw broke wide, a trigger flickering beside his ear.
The princess lifted onto her toes, her lips finding his. She breathed her hopes and her fantasies against his mouth and he parted his lips to breathe them in. He took such desires into his lungs and moaned on them as her fingertips moved to explore the length of his shaft, testing the texture of his most intimate skin. His next exhale shuddered from his body when the edge of her nail brushed against the ridge of his head.
'Soft.'
Only on the outside. Beneath the silken skin, he was rock hard, ready to bury his body inside of hers. With so high a sex drive as his, Fotios could not be turned off by any woman of Xene's beauty. Regardless of how chaste she was or how little she knew of the pleasure act. Her innocence only served to stoke his desires for control and manipulation - a whole other set of passionate needs.
She moved to kiss the hollow beneath his jaw and Fotios allowed his head to fall back, throat to hold a growling moan.
When she said his name, Fotios returned the gesture by placing a kiss to the side of her neck. His forehead found the hollow of her shoulder and his breath rushed down between her breasts.
"I... I claim a powerful self control, princess..." Fotios murmured against her skin. His tongue came out to taste from her between words. "I hold myself back for the sake of your innocence. The last thing I wish to do is scare you." He exhaled long and slow, his shoulder blades tensing as her hands continued to explore the shape of him. "But I fear that… if you continue to touch me so, there is no force alive that would stop me from bedding you here and now..."
The princess was utterly mesmerized by the feeling of him in her hand. The silkenness of his skin that contrasted the firmness of his actual body. Delicate fingers continued to explore his body, her head tipping back to reveal her throat to her lover. The sounds Fotios made sent shivers up her spine, making her wonder what he sounded like when he was fully joined with another person. What would he sound like to her ears? Music? Would his voice turn melodic with the want that he felt? She herself was struggling with remaining quiet, his lips and hands on her body making it impossible to focus on anything but him.
And now his words. With her eyes closed and her head tipped back slightly so that he could rest his forehead against her shoulder, Xene tried to find her breath, wanting him impossibly close. Impossibly close where all she would feel was his skin upon hers. The hardness of his body, the litheness of his muscles. She had watched the way the muscles in his back rippled when he moved and that had sent a thrill down her spine then. Now, with him so close, she could scarcely focus on the words that he spoke, though he spoke them with such passion that she comprehended them rather quickly.
He spoke of her innocence and not wishing to scare her, which had her bringing her fingers back through her hair, her breathing still sharp. "I am afraid, Fotios," she whispered quietly, trying to turn her gaze to his face while she had the ability to. "But I am not scared of you or what you could do to me. I am scared because I don't know what I am doing," she admitted softly, brushing her lips against his cheek now. His next words had her hand stilling on him, still warm and brushing against him, but not moving as she had been.
"If I am not allowed to touch you," Xene replied quietly, "Then what alternative do you offer to help keep your composure, my lord?" the princess questioned just as a challenge. She knew it wasn't a good idea to be caught out here. She knew that for him to take her here would not be good form, but she would not deny her wants and desires. Not as they had been settled so continuously on her mind for day after day, night after night. "Guide me, my love," the princess finally murmured, "For I want to feel as I have made you feel."
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
Oct 22, 2020 13:31:12 GMT
Posted In Nature's Way on Oct 22, 2020 13:31:12 GMT
This character is currently a work in progress.
Check out their information page here.
Badges
Deleted
Deleted
The princess was utterly mesmerized by the feeling of him in her hand. The silkenness of his skin that contrasted the firmness of his actual body. Delicate fingers continued to explore his body, her head tipping back to reveal her throat to her lover. The sounds Fotios made sent shivers up her spine, making her wonder what he sounded like when he was fully joined with another person. What would he sound like to her ears? Music? Would his voice turn melodic with the want that he felt? She herself was struggling with remaining quiet, his lips and hands on her body making it impossible to focus on anything but him.
And now his words. With her eyes closed and her head tipped back slightly so that he could rest his forehead against her shoulder, Xene tried to find her breath, wanting him impossibly close. Impossibly close where all she would feel was his skin upon hers. The hardness of his body, the litheness of his muscles. She had watched the way the muscles in his back rippled when he moved and that had sent a thrill down her spine then. Now, with him so close, she could scarcely focus on the words that he spoke, though he spoke them with such passion that she comprehended them rather quickly.
He spoke of her innocence and not wishing to scare her, which had her bringing her fingers back through her hair, her breathing still sharp. "I am afraid, Fotios," she whispered quietly, trying to turn her gaze to his face while she had the ability to. "But I am not scared of you or what you could do to me. I am scared because I don't know what I am doing," she admitted softly, brushing her lips against his cheek now. His next words had her hand stilling on him, still warm and brushing against him, but not moving as she had been.
"If I am not allowed to touch you," Xene replied quietly, "Then what alternative do you offer to help keep your composure, my lord?" the princess questioned just as a challenge. She knew it wasn't a good idea to be caught out here. She knew that for him to take her here would not be good form, but she would not deny her wants and desires. Not as they had been settled so continuously on her mind for day after day, night after night. "Guide me, my love," the princess finally murmured, "For I want to feel as I have made you feel."
The princess was utterly mesmerized by the feeling of him in her hand. The silkenness of his skin that contrasted the firmness of his actual body. Delicate fingers continued to explore his body, her head tipping back to reveal her throat to her lover. The sounds Fotios made sent shivers up her spine, making her wonder what he sounded like when he was fully joined with another person. What would he sound like to her ears? Music? Would his voice turn melodic with the want that he felt? She herself was struggling with remaining quiet, his lips and hands on her body making it impossible to focus on anything but him.
And now his words. With her eyes closed and her head tipped back slightly so that he could rest his forehead against her shoulder, Xene tried to find her breath, wanting him impossibly close. Impossibly close where all she would feel was his skin upon hers. The hardness of his body, the litheness of his muscles. She had watched the way the muscles in his back rippled when he moved and that had sent a thrill down her spine then. Now, with him so close, she could scarcely focus on the words that he spoke, though he spoke them with such passion that she comprehended them rather quickly.
He spoke of her innocence and not wishing to scare her, which had her bringing her fingers back through her hair, her breathing still sharp. "I am afraid, Fotios," she whispered quietly, trying to turn her gaze to his face while she had the ability to. "But I am not scared of you or what you could do to me. I am scared because I don't know what I am doing," she admitted softly, brushing her lips against his cheek now. His next words had her hand stilling on him, still warm and brushing against him, but not moving as she had been.
"If I am not allowed to touch you," Xene replied quietly, "Then what alternative do you offer to help keep your composure, my lord?" the princess questioned just as a challenge. She knew it wasn't a good idea to be caught out here. She knew that for him to take her here would not be good form, but she would not deny her wants and desires. Not as they had been settled so continuously on her mind for day after day, night after night. "Guide me, my love," the princess finally murmured, "For I want to feel as I have made you feel."