“Oh gods he's right behind me…” she realized.    

Soo maybe she didn’t know this man.. He was following her, and that was problematic. Where she lived..was not a place she wanted him to find out about on a first date.  She quickened her stride. He wasn’t even making any pretense of tailing her. He was just right there two steps behind her, looking for all the world like they were traveling somewhere together. She sped up again.  HOW was he keeping up?  Dam wood elves were faster than she thought. Her strides were at least three times as long as his own, and he practically had to run to catch up to her, and jog to keep up. She did not stop, and did not acknowledge that he was there, absently adjusting her satchel, or her daggers, or her hair.

She headed directly for an inn, a trip she seemed to have memorized. She tipped her fingers at the homely woman behind the counter as she passed through the enormous oaken doorway (it seemed they were quite familiar with one another), leading Edovan into a brightly lit restaurant on the base level of the inn, bustling with patrons and servers.

Yagaritte was frantic. He wasn’t supposed to FOLLOW her. She was executing a long game. He was supposed to  go home to wherever he was staying and then the next day he would ask everyone in town about the giant strawberry blonde with the scary daggers and everyone would say “oh that’s Yagaritte”  and then she would appear right there in the exact same spot in the setting sun.  You know, the one where she tried to smother him? 

Hadn’t she nearly killed him?  

Why was he RIGHT THERE??? 

The woman waved a rag at Yagaritte, and then pointed at Edovan. It was unusual for her to be accompanied by someone so… small. Just so very, very small. Yagaritte rolled her eyes and stopped suddenly, causing Edovan, who was for more preoccupied with the hundreds of delicious smells coming from the inn’s kitchen, than with following Yagaritte, to crash into her. “Tsk,” she intoned, putting a hand on his head and pushing him away from her. “Go home little mouse, this inn is the Horny Boar,” she said, turning him back towards the door. “And not a place for you.” 

Edovan dug his heels in. “W-w-while it might be true that I don’t care much for boars… least of all lusty ones… I h-have just as much a right to be here as you do..” he said with more than a little conviction, struggling against her grip, trying to turn back towards her. He had had too many cold nights, too many missed meals, and his desperation was driving him to be bolder than he had ever dared before. Boldness wasn’t breaking her grip on him though as she palmed the top of his entire head the way a child would palm a ball of string.  He could feel her warmth radiating into him. “Besides… you owe me!” he added, his fear making him...well, fearless.

She had to think of something quick. He REALLY didn’t belong here. “Do you have gold for a room?” Yagaritte asked, spinning him around abruptly, and with ease. He was but a doll compared to her. She crouched down so that they were face to face, she took his chin into her hand again, as she had done before, and forced him to look into her eyes. “Do you have gold for a meal? Gold to tip this kind woman here?” she asked, waving an arm at the woman behind the bar.

And just like that he was defeated. She had poked a hole the size of very large thing in his feeble attempt to believe that he might possibly belong in the same room as someone as beautiful as Yagaritte. She was right. Clearly he had misread the situation.  He didn’t know a thing about girls after all.  He’d just assumed since she had actually talked to him, touched him (nearly killed him?) that maybe she might be different. But she didn’t need him to do anything for her..she was a goddess.  

 All his newfound boldness had been stripped away by the harsh reality of her words.  He ceased pushing against her hand and just stared down at the muddy floor. He was just about to turn to go when, Margara, the woman behind the counter, laughed. It was not as elegant or beautiful as Yagaritte’s (Edovan was sure nobody’s was, in the whole of Tamriel), but it was kind.

“Yagaritte, deary, be kind to this little one,” she said, coming from behind the counter. Her dingy skirts were tied up, kept free of the ground, which was dusty and dirty with the muddy bootprints of a hundred patrons.

“Remember, you were in his position once,” she reminded Yagaritte gently.

Now it was Yagarittes turn to look defeated.  She dropped her head, breaking her gaze from Edovan’s. Margara took Yagaritte’s hand gently and took it away from Edovan’s chin, squeezing it tenderly as she did so.

“Do you like sweets, little mouse?” she asked him.

Yagaritte stood up and silently went over to the bar, dropping her satchel at her feet as she sat down. Her back was to them, and she ignored them. A barmaid quickly brought her over a pint. Yagaritte took it and chugged it.

Why had she seemed so sad suddenly? And what did the woman mean about Yagaritte having been in his position before? Edovan had to draw his gaze away from Yagaritte, shaking his head to clear it before he looked up. He nodded at the woman, who was smiling down at him. While she was clearly Nord, she was not nearly so tall or well-built as Yagaritte was, and she shared none of her beauty. She gently moved him toward a small table near to the fire, and produced a bit of chocolate from the depths her skirts.

“Nibble on this while I fetch you something from the kitchen,” she said. 

Edovan took the chocolate gratefully and sat down, unable to believe his sudden change in luck. He reached to pull his staff from his back, and carefully set it against the empty chair beside him. The dark red crystal atop it seemed to come alive in the jumping light of the fire. He unwrapped the chocolate and took a small bite from the corner. It was clear this was from the woman’s personal stash, as it was already half gone. Not that Edovan cared, he was happy to have anything to eat, much less chocolate, which was a luxury he hadn’t been afforded in quite some time. But even as his heart sang with the joy of a promised meal, he couldn’t help but turn back to look at Yagaritte, who was still occupying a stool at the bar. There were now two empty steins in front of her, and she was gulping down a third. Edovan bit his lip, unsure if he should call out to her, or let her be. It seemed she wasn’t suited for company at the moment, for even as he watched her, she irritatedly waved off a man who had taken the empty stool beside her.

She should not be sad. He thought.  Even though less than an hour ago she was literally squeezing the life out of him, he felt somehow responsible for her sudden change in mood.  Was she sad because of him? Did he need to leave?  It made sense if she was penniless once, that just being around him might conjure up all sorts of unpleasant memories from her past.  He wanted to hear that full throaty laugh again. See her smile light up the room and make everyone at ease. He was suddenly very conscious of his fine tailored clothing. Ripped and scorched and frayed now, it had clearly seen better days, but it still stood out somewhat. Back when it had been presented to him as a gift by his parents for finishing his third year studies at the Stormhaven Academia Magicka, he was pretty sure the coin used to purchase it could have bought everyone in this inn more than a few nights stays with money left over. He knew better than anyone how sudden changes of fortune can affect people. He imagined it was much the same looking back for her as it was for him looking forward. Edovan looked wistfully at the warm fire. Took a long huff of the air scented with hot food. Well. This had been nice, but there was nothing for it. She was right. He didn't belong here.  He knew then what he needed to do.

When the innkeeper returned with large bowl of thick steaming soup and some fresh bread rolls, she found the chair empty. The remainder of the chocolate was sitting on top of a neatly folded but slightly stained and wrinkled silk handkerchief, along with a small pile of meager coins. Margara set the food down on the table, and reached for the coins.  Perhaps the young man his misinterpreted what she’d meant? She had no intention of taking his coins.

It did not take her long to find the young man, who had almost made it out the door. Unluckily for him, he had caught the eye of Bernadette, the most infamous of her… maidens, so to speak. Infamous because though over average size for a Nord she had a thing for the smaller patrons of the Boar. Margara clucked her tongue.  Bernadette’s “tastes” were a bit too exotic and could be dangerous for the uninitiated. Even though except for one close call, she had yet to really harm anyone, It was better to be safe than sorry.

“Where you goin, love?” Bernadette drawled, slipping between Edovan and the doorway, just a moment before he had been able to escape. She pulled him around and looked down into his eyes hungrily as his back went up against the wall. Her scarlet dress was done up in a noble’s fashion, it showed off its owner’s hourglass figure quite well, but was obviously tailored with less fine materials, lacking the minute details of a true noblewoman’s dress. It was a nice charade, but only held up because her dress was usually in a rumpled pile on the floor.  

Everything about her was red. From her dress to her long. curly. fire red hair.  Her lips were painted an obnoxious red, a shade that men usually fell prey to, as it made her mouth extra pouty, and particularly sensual. Her full breasts of course, were as propped up and pushed together as they could be, practically at her throat. They, too, were painted, a rosy tint that matched that of her cheeks. If she had been an animal in nature she was either trying very hard to attract a mate or warn of possible danger.

In Bernadette’s case it was an emphatic “both”.

“You’ve only just arrived…” she trilled, biting her lip as she pressed her hips against his chest and hooked a very long shapely leg around him from behind., she slid down him a bit, her hand sliding up his thigh with little reserve. Once again, he was pinned against a wall, at the mercy of a much larger, more powerful woman. Margara approached Yagaritte and nodded towards the door.

“Looks like your little mouse has found himself some trouble,” she said, taking the empty steins from the table and dropping them into a basin of soapy water. She propped her elbows up on the bar and watched them silently. That poor boy...

Yagaritte jerked around and found Edovan with Bernadette, the woman practically trying to mount him in the middle of the room. She grinned, then chuckled to herself. She supposed it wouldn’t hurt to watch… at least for a little bit. There was little in the world as entertaining as this, she thought.

“I… I…” Edovan stammered, squirming against Bernadette’s advances. He looked past the wide hips of the painted woman over at Yagaritte, who waved at him as they caught each other's eye. HELP ME! he mouthed. Yagaritte simply shrugged and pointed at her ears, miming that she was unable to hear him, and therefore unable to help.

Bernadette leaned down and put her mouth against Edovan’s ear, her breath hot and smelling of alcohol, with a hint of mint. Her tongue flicked out at his lobe.

“Come on, love… don’t be scared,” she purred, nibbling now at his ear lobe. The hand she had on his thigh moved between his legs, and she cupped him there ever so gently. “I can be gentle… or rough…” she continued, and at ‘rough’ she squeezed his cock through his pants. Edovan’s legs gave way at that, and he slumped down the the ground, his face as red as a summer apple and burning with embarrassment. He was eye level with her crotch.

“Ooohh you know JUST what I like...…” she drawled, quickly lifting her hem and pushing his head between her legs under her skirts. From her vantage point at the bar all Yagaritte could see was Bernadette with her legs slightly apart grinding her pelvis toward the wall, with a pair of boots protruding toes first from under her skirts and two arms flailing at the sides of her hips.

  She burst out with laughter at this ridiculous scene, and finally got up from her seat at the bar. She strode over to where Edovan and Bernadette were, near the door, and she tapped on Bernadette’s shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, towering over the other woman.

She still had a smirk on her face.  Bernadette slowly turned from the wall to face Yagaritte, the hapless Bosmer still lodged between her thighs. She looked up at Yagaritte haughtily and scoffed. “I don’t see your name on him,” she said, her fingers still curling into Edovan’s hair as she slowly ground against his face. “And he didn’t say no,” she added grunting as she thrust her hips forward.. Which was truthful, but he also hadn’t said much of anything.. and couldn't now if he wanted to. 

As if to respond to her statement Edovan made a quick attempt to disengage, but she deftly hooked her upper leg up over his shoulder and curled her lower leg around his back possessively, both hands forcing him even further down into the generous gap between her thighs.

“Beside, he’s too small for you, but just the right size for what I like.”  she smiled wickedly up at Yagarrite and gave a sharp upward pull on the hair on the back of his head as she tilted her hips forward. He seemed to somehow slide up IN to her.  Edovan emitted a wet, muffled squeak. It was still a ludicrous scene, but Yagaritte had had enough. The little bosmer had started to make drowning noises. And, she thought, with more than a twinge of guilt, he was already one over his daily quota of being suffocated by strange women he’d barely met.

She reached down and grabbed the back waistband of Edovan’s breeches and with a speed and grace that startled both him and his aggressor, plucked him from her thighs, hauled him up through the air and brought his body against her own, his back against her front. She put an arm across his chest, the top of his small head safely nestled in the nook between and under her breasts. “He’s mine,” she said simply, narrowing her eyes dangerously at Bernadette. 

Bernadette was momentarily startled by how quick he had disappeared from her hungry cleft, but quickly adjusted. She rolled her eyes up at Yagaritte, crossing her arms over her chest, standing firmly. 

“Why don’t you let him decide,” she dared. This was clearly a contest for her now.  She knew Yagaritte from around the inn, but they had never had cause to cross paths before, and she was sure no man in the world would choose this massive, clumsy woman over her. Yagaritte laughed at that, the sound radiating all around Edovan, flesh jiggling atop his head. He was still pressed firmly against her body, the obvious possessiveness with which she held him was a small comfort, and a protection from this woman who meant to bed him and probably rob him and who knows what else...

 “You’re foolish to think he would have part of… WHATEVER it is you plan to do with him,” she said, looking down at Bernadette, who was quite a bit taller than Edovan was, but nowhere near as tall as her. Compared to Yagaritte, Bernadette was all but a dainty little girl.Bernadette smirked, leaning in towards Edovan.

“He knows exactly what I plan to do with him,” she purred, talking directly to him now. She pointed a finger at his nose and then pulled up her skirt in front exposing her firey red bush, and pointed at her nethers. Then she drew her finger upward against her skin tracing an invisible line up from her bush to her pelvis between her hip bones and patted her abdomen and grinned a wide wicked grin. As she finished, she licked the side of his face, her hand dropping her skirt and coming up to grab his hair, pushing her fingers through it. Edovan squeezed his eyes closed, equal parts terrified, aroused, and extremely confused.

He started the day a lonely man with nary a companion, and now he had two women who were fighting over his company, one who had tried to kill him already and one who apparently wanted to try another method. Logical brain was beginning to wonder if maybe he had been better off before. Lizard brain was thrilled to have breasts on his head again.

Yagaritte flicked her ear, sighing in annoyance. “Off with you, little girl,” she said, as Bernadette recoiled. She reached up and held her ear, baring her teeth at Yagaritte. “Go on. Run off,” she repeated. Bernadette all but hissed and turned away from them, storming passed Margara who had just approached from behind.

“Don’t you harm her face,” Margara warned.

Bernadette was one of her best girls, of course, and she liked to keep them in good shape. Yagaritte waved her hand. She was fine, and it hadn’t even been her precious face, besides.

She dragged Edovan back over to the table where his dinner was still sitting, only it was starting to get cold. “You’ll eat your dinner,” she told him, pushing him back into the seat and shoving a spoon into his hands. She acted as though nothing had just transpired, as though she hadn't just claimed him as her own. Margara came over and plunked down the coins Edovan had left on the table, she smiled down at him, warm and genuine, and left again without a word, bustling back behind the counter. Yagaritte took the seat across from his and sat down, crossing her legs, and her arms.

“Eat,” she repeated, as Edovan stared at her dumbfoundedly, the spoon slack in his hand.Edovan was at a loss. He grabbed his previously abandoned kerchief from the table and began thoroughly drying his face. His head was spinning, and slightly damp. And the smell of the painted woman was still thick in his nostrils. He still had no idea what was going, but sitting across from her now he was still concerned about Yagaritte. First she had been sad… then she said he was hers? Hers how?

Admittedly, she could have said it just to scare the painted woman away, though Edovan had no doubt she didn’t need any help in that department. He bit his lip, then started speaking slowly, halting between each word as if he didn't know what the next one would be.

“I..don't. ..you...and then..  but she..and then YOU…”  his voice trailed off but there was specific emphasis on the “YOU” that spoke volumes.  

He stopped and looked down at the floor again. It was then that he noticed that Yagaritte and Margara and his attacker (who was already dragging some Dunmer up the stairs) were far from the only women in this room.  There were dozens of them, scattered all over. All Nords as well, though none as tall (or as beautiful), as Yagaritte. Some lounging, some talking to patrons. A few were dancing for a group of rowdy Nords in the corner, each with glasses in their hands and eyes on their assets. He’d been so focused on Yagaritte, and then food, and then trying to sneak out, that he hadn't even noticed. The Horny Boar… of course!  God's he was thick sometimes.

Yagaritte grinned. “Now you get it?” she asked him, as she saw him look around the room, his face lighting up with realization, then reddening. “You’re a bit on the slow side, aren’t you?” she added, chuckling. Of course, she was only teasing, and didn’t mean any harm by it. Edovan blushed deeper, if that were possible. “No!” he spurted. He looked down at the bowl of stew in front of him. “...well, maybe a little,” he admitted. “But I was… I was distracted!” he finished, sighing. So now she thought he was a simpleton. Perfect.

Still grinning, Yagaritte leaned over the table and reached to pet his head carefully. “You’re not slow..” she assured him. As much fun as it was to tease him, she truly didn’t want him to think that she actually  believed that little bit of misinformation. Edovan swallowed thickly… that… that had been the gentlest touch she’d bestowed upon him, a hand that was so massive, but incredibly gentle, that he only just felt it atop his head. She made a face, though, as his hair was still damp with Bernadette. She silently wiped her hand on her leg.

“Yagaritte… why…” he muttered, putting the spoon down. He was hungry, and it was gnawing painfully at his insides, but he couldn’t let this moment slip by, this was a tender moment, and though he knew next nothing about her, even he could sense Yagaritte’s walls were down, at least momentarily. Yagaritte looked at him, waiting. “Why were you s-sad… earlier…” he finished, not really able to look into her eyes.

He was terrified that he would see that sadness there again, and he wasn’t sure his heart would be able to take it. Yagaritte smiled sadly , and indeed, her eyes lost some of their sparkle. She closed them and exhaled.

“When I first came here, I was like you,” she said quietly, looking back up at him now. She reached for a bit of the bread Margara had brought with Edovan’s stew, and held it between her fingers. “I was penniless, I was homeless…” she continued, turning the bread over and over in her hand. She tore a piece off and squeezed it absently between her fingertips. “I was.. kicked.. out of my home by my father, nothing to my name but the clothes on my back and a pendant necklace from my mother,” she said. “She thought I would be able to sell it for gold, but I couldn’t part with it…” She cleared her throat, reaching absently to the thin silver chain that disappeared into her armor. “My little sist--” she trailed off, the look of pain in her eyes doubling, glossing over as she looked beyond Edovan, into the past. She was quiet for some time, contemplative, her hand still at the chain around her neck. She seemed to shake herself free of her memories, her eyes focusing again, gaining back most of their usual devious glinting.

“But that’s enough about me,” she said, seemingly slipping back into her usual self. She ripped a huge bite out of the bread and chewed it happily. “Eath your theww…” she said, talking with her mouth full as she waved her hand at his bowl.

He wanted of course to ask her more about what had happened.. But he also didn’t want her to be sad again. Edovan sat quietly for a few seconds, looking contemplative. Then he dipped his spoon into his stew and stirred it around.  Thankfully it still steamed a bit and was actually just now at the perfect temperature for eating. He leaned over the bowl and inhaled the aroma. His mouth was salivating in anticipation. He savored the moment.  He was just about to take a large scoop of the rich dark broth when he suddenly paused, looked around the room then looked back at Yagaritte. Then he looked around the room again.. then back at her. He seemed to be working something out in his head.

Yagaritte laughed heartily as she watched him, his facial expression saying everything that was going on in his brain.

“Keep your mind out of the gutter,” she said, completely amused. “I’m an adventurer,” she said flatly. “Don’t get any ideas,” she added, still chuckling.

“Oh..no.. I would never…” Edovan blushed again.. but looked secretly relieved. “I mean...you are certainly pretty enough….”  his voice trailed off as his logical brain put the steam brakes on the thought lizard brain was about to say out loud.

Now an even rosier shade of crimson, he dug into his soup in earnest now. He started slowly, savoring each bite but soon was picking up speed with each spoonful.  In no time he had downed the entire bowl..and was sopping up the last savory bits with a large hunk of bread when he suddenly paused.  “Did you want the last piece?”  

He looked at her and smiled as he extended the still dribbling bread in her direction.“Being a good whore isn’t about how pretty you are,” Yagaritte said wisely, as she reached for the bread. “In fact,” she continued, stuffing it into her mouth. “...it’s not about your face at all. It’s about your tits, and your ass, and if you know how to use them,” she said bluntly, knowing that such talk would only continue Edovan’s blushing embarrassment. Which, of course, was exactly what she wanted.

She grinned at him. “And for those facts, I would indeed make a great whore!” she exclaimed wolfishly.

Edovan, who was pulsing crimson, just as she suspected he would, looked away from her quickly.  Lizard brain had instantly recalled the feeling of her soft cleavage against the side of his face, the huskiness of her voice as she teased him...the warmth of her body against his when she had rescued him from Bernadette’s attention. Suddenly he had a brief vision of Yagarrite’s fingers entwined in his hair as SHE guided his small face down under HER skirts and then up IN to the sweet musky darkness hidden underneath. “Ye Gods man..what are you thinking?!“  he shivered at the secret thrill of it. Thanks to Bernadette's crash course in female anatomy he was now intimately familiar with what women were like betwixt their thighs.  

Breaking himself from his trance he was filled with confusing feelings.“D-don’t talk about yourself that way!” was all he managed to mutter aloud, trying to look anywhere in the room instead of at Yagaritte or any of the other women. He didn’t have many places to look.

Yagaritte laughed. “There’s no shame in whoring,” she said simply. While it may not be a noble profession, it was a profession all the same, and afforded many women (and some men), who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity, a chance to make their own money, to live an independent life.

“I’ve never done it, but Maybe I should give it a try after all, hmmm?,” she added lasciviously, biting at her lip. “What do you think?” she asked him, her voice taking on that sensual, husky quality again. She had leaned in toward him as she spoke, her linen shirt somehow had unbuttoned its top 3 buttons to the point her voluminous bust was threatening to spill out. The last fastened button was holding on for dear life. And there was the barest hint of the darker skin around her peaks emerging over the top of the strained fabric. “Would you do me?” She winked.

On that note Edovan suddenly paused.. and a horrified look crept across his face. He got up abruptly and said “Excuse me!” and quickly walked awkwardly to the door of the Inn and slipped out it into the night. 

“Really? That’s all it took? Guess I’ve still got it!” Yagaritte said, looking back at Margara with a grin. Margara shot her a wink, chuckling to herself.

After less than a minute or so, he re-entered the inn, teeth chattering, cheeks blueish, snow on his boots. By this time it had become something of a scene, so every single eye in the tavern was watching the door when he returned, one hand trying to cover the crotch of his breeches from view. Several of the girls tittered and the male patrons flat out chortled. 

Yagaritte was leaning lazily against the wall just inside door, her arms crossed over her chest, her feet crossed at the ankles in such a relaxed posture as Edovan came blustering back in.

“Are you done making a spectacle of yourself?” she asked him, as she tossed her barely used cloak over his shoulder.Edovan caught the cloak and flipped it around his shoulders, shivering. Thankfully it was large enough to not only warm him up, but it covered his embarrassment with ease. Not that it mattered, everyone occupying the inn’s tavern was smart enough to figure it out.

He wanted to squeeze between the floorboards and disappear forever. But since that wasn’t an option, he looked up at Yagaritte, silently pleading.“Come on,” she said with a sigh, pushing away from the wall and putting her arm across his shoulder. She couldn’t deny that face, and even though she took immense pleasure from making him suffer, there was a line even she knew she shouldn’t cross, at least in public.

“Let’s get you situated,” she said, nodding at Margara, who nodded back, watching curiously.Whatever Yagaritte planned, Margara was behind her, a hundred percent. Just as she had helped Yagaritte all those years ago, she would help Edovan. She could see the same look in Edovan’s eyes, as she had seen in Yagaritte’s, and that was not a look she would let walk out the door alone.

Yagaritte swung by their table and grabbed her satchel and his staff that he had left behind in his haste, and she steered Edovan towards a stairway that was hidden by a wall off to the side of the room, near the bar. Edovan smiled at Margara as they passed. “Thank you,” he said quietly. Not only had she fed him, but she did it free of charge. Even in his state of embarrassment, his manners were well in tact, and he could not let her kindness go unnoticed.“You’re welcome, little mouse,” she said gently, giving him that warm, kind smile of hers. As they came closer, she held a small package out, that Edovan recognized as the last bit of chocolate she’d given him earlier. Margara didn’t say anything, only continued to smile as Edovan took the sweet from her hand. With that, she turned back to the bar and shooed a man away huffily as she tried to lean his snowy, muddy  boots onto the bar top.

Yagaritte steered him up the stairs, and towards the room at the very end of the hall. She pulled a large iron key from her belt, and slid it into the lock, twisting it. She pushed the door open and nudged Edovan inside. “Mind the pile of books,” she warned him, as she closed the door behind them. And locked it.

She slipped the key back into her belt, and started the process of removing her armor. Though she appeared to live in it comfortably, she was, of course, most comfortable out of it. And the less clothes she had on the better! Edovan, who was currently more interested in peeking around her room, wasn’t paying her much attention.

The room was cavernous somehow. With high ceilings and split level floor that dropped down towards the back. He would have wondered about the architecture all night, if she hadn’t had so many trinkets, bits, bobs, stacks and stacks of books, more weapons than any single person could possibly use. Maps scattered here and there, a dozen half-used candlesticks spread on every surface. And curious things even Edovan was clueless about, ancient or sacred objects that he’d never seen before or even read about.

As messy as it was, it seemed to be a controlled chaos, and everything looked as though it were exactly where Yagaritte had intended it to be. On the desk beside her large but meager bed was a spread of open books, were she had been making copies of various runes, seemingly trying to translate them for some mysterious purpose.

“Yagaritte, these ru--” Edovan turned around and saw that she had stripped away all of her clothing but the thin shift she wore under her armor. It was so thin… so very, very thin. He could see the huge swell of her breasts, and the darker, pinker circles in full visibility through the sheer fabric, along with her  hardened nipples which were doing their darndest to poke THROUGH it.  It barely covered the top of her legs, which were as strong, and perfectly sculpted, as he envisioned them to be. Her skin seemed to glow in the light of the room’s lanterns. She flopped down lazily on her bed on her back, pulling her arms up over her head and resting on them. This exposed the entire length of her long legs, and the peek of her underthings, which weren’t much thicker than her shift.

“These what's?” she asked him, innocently stifling a yawn. Edovan stared. He didn't mean to, it just happened. This… this was more woman than he had ever seen at one time in his entire life, and as she stretched out on the bed in front of him, he lost all his rational thoughts. To make matters worse, Yagaritte brought her feet up close to her body with her knees pointed upward and then absentmindedly started bouncing her knees togther. Then she dropped them both to the side, arched her back and stretched her arms over her head and gave a long yawn, giving Edovan a full view of the incredibly flimsy stretch of fabric that was barely covering her most intimate parts. In fact it appeared to be trying to crawl IN them..  

He didn't blush this time, but he did turn back toward the desk and forced his eyes against their will to look at the runes.

“These runes… they’re dwemer..  I’ve seen them before in my studies, and again in a book in the shop where we first met. T-this one is the symbol for Sheogorath… and this one…”  

A loud, very unlady like snore emanated from the bed.  He turned to look at her and she was out like a snuffed candle, sprawled on the bed, knees still akimbo with her arms over her head. Her hair had fallen out of its bun and had cascaded in strawberry blonde pools all round her head.  It was actually quite thick and long. Probably why she kept it up in that bun, he mused. He stared again, but this time at her face, now serene as she slept. He had never seen anything so beautiful… so angelic… so...

“ZZZZZZZZZZZ” 

Another long snore, even worse than the first, interrupted his reverie. He walked over to the edge of the bed, the top of which came up to the middle of his thigh. Up close like this he really felt like a child. He’d been small all his life. He used to think it was just his race. His adopted parents were Breton, not Bosmer, after all, and he had thought for years that maybe around his own people he wouldn't feel so out of place. When he first started his new school though he was surprised and disappointed to discover that even among FEMALE wood elves, he was still very slight in stature. Now, standing here, next to this sprawling goddess on a bed he almost needed help to climb on to...he felt very small indeed.  

He did not want to disturb her.. but even if he could find her key, he knew he was better off trapped in here with her than out in the inn proper. That painted lady was still out there after all. He shuddered. Part of her scent still lingered on him, even now.Still, he didn’t feel right about being in her room while she slept, especially in such an exposed state!  

As if to bring home that point, at that moment Yagaritte shifted her hips slightly and made a  little sound..  Her right hand tugging the shift up over her waistband and then slipping under the fabric and down between her legs. His eyes got big as saucers. Lizard brain was hooping and hollering, when logical brain clocked him from behind with a large piece of wood. “There will be NONE of that!” he reminded himself. But he had to do something.

Edovan spotted the rumpled sheet on the opposite side of her sleeping form where the mattress butted against the wall. He decided the best thing to do would be to cover her up, and then find a nice spot in the room where he could crash, and pretend he was NOT here alone with a beaultiful woman pleasuring herself in his presence. He didn't want to get the bed dirty, so he slipped off his soft boots and hauled himself up on to the bed.

Unfortunately he hadn't thought about her positioning as he clambered up, and found himself on his knees and elbows between her legs with his face just inches from where her fingers were now busily questing under the flimsy fabric of her bottoms. He froze and gulped silently. The gap between her thighs was easily as wide as his whole head. His thoughts suddenly turned to the painted woman and the damp darkness under her skirts. He had an unbidden urge to know what would happen if he were to lean forward and press his head against the place where her fingers were now so determinedly going.

“What is happening to me?” he said to himself under his breath. Before today everything he had learned about female anatomy had come from two ancient books he had uncovered high on a forgotten shelf in the school library. One, Aspergin’s Treatise on Female Biologies of the Races of Tamriel, was dry and clinical with simple and very unappealing illustrations. (Had that crazy wizard really cut all those poor women in half to expose their inner workings?)

The other one, “Young Master Pensin and the Lusty Maids” had gone in to lurid detail about the illicit adventures of a rather well endowed (in both senses of the word) orphaned adolescent heir and his retinue of maidservants..a human, an argonian and Khajiit.  It had detailed an astonishing variety of different things people of different species could do to each other, only a few of which were in the first book, but he was sure that what the painted woman had tried to do him, and what his lizard brain was suggesting now, were NOT accepted forms of physical congress.  Besides even if they were… she was asleep!  They had barely met. It wouldn't be right he thought, and that was the end of it. 

He could smell her scent now, and unlike the painted lady’s heavily perfumed nethers, this was raw and sweetly pungent. He felt himself stiffen inside his breeches. “Oh no… not again?!” He stared up over her to find the safest path to the sheet above her head. Her hips had started to slowly thrust upward. Her breast rising and falling faster as her breaths quickened.

She gave a small gasp and bit her bottom lip. It was now or never he thought. Maybe never? He wondered to himself, as she cried out gently, more than a gasp. Her hand was working rapidly between her legs, and Edovan could see that the thin fabric had become wet with her flowing juices. He swallowed thickly, and a thought sprung unbidden to his brain..would it taste as sweet as it smelled?  What was he thinking? He shook his head to himself, even as lizard brain whispered to him that a small taste wouldn’t hurt, she would never even know.

She was literally inches from his face.. it was so close.. her fingers were really moving now. He was mesmerized as he watched them so expertly working. This was clearly not new for her.  He stared in fascination as tiny rivulets of clear liquid began to trickle outward. He observed every minute detail as she plunged in over and over again parting herself so widely that as her hips gyrated faster and faster he caught momentary unblocked glimpses of the glistening rippled inside of her. Had he moved closer?  Or had she moved?

Somehow he was only an inch away now. So close he could feel her heat. The slurpy squelchy sounds of her secret craft filled his ears. He wanted to taste her. To plunge forward into that dark rippling passage..past the outer folds and through the smaller tighter space her fingertips were disappearing into..to feel her on his cheeks..his ears.  

Bye now his erection was throbbing almost painfully and his hand absentmindedly slipped into his pants..but then.. her hand paused for split second. Her parted lips clenched tightly in series of rapid spasms.  She moaned loudly.

He jerked his head back instinctively as she suddenly kicked her legs out, bucking wildly, her back arching against the bed, her free hand grabbing at the sheets under her. She cried out in sweet release, sweat beading on her forehead, her strawberry blonde hair matted against her cheek. Edovan’s heart raced, as his cock throbbed. As inexperienced as he was, even he knew what an orgasm was, and of course he’d helped himself to a few in his lifetime. But his body had never reacted the way Yagaritte’s did, and he had certainly never had cause to cry out in pleasure quite the same way. She was so attuned to her body… he thought to himself.

He watched her chest began to slow its movements, her breathing evening out as she slowly rode her orgasm into a peaceful sleep. Her hand pulled itself from between her legs and tucked innocently underneath her pillow. 

Edovan’s mind reeled. He couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.  It was so raw and primal and savage and then beautiful.  And it had happened so close that she had almost bucked into his face!  Her underwear were sopping now.  But his logical brain had retaken control. There would be no tasting tonight  It was not proper, and it was not right. Lizard brain be damned!

He sighed and inched closer towards Yagaritte who had resumed snoring again. He brought one knee up over her outstretched leg and balanced there on the bed straddling her thigh with his left knee all but touching her now sopping crotch. Leaning over her carefully, he stretched out to reach for the bedding bunched behind her stack of pillows at the head of the bed. His arm was barely long enough to cover the short distance, and he was terrified. He had no idea what she would do to him if she woke, and he still had a raging erection that was pressing painfully against the inside of his pants. Just when he thought his situation couldn’t get more precarious, his right arm slipped and he fell forward on top of her. His left knee was pressed solidly up against her soaked underwear.   He froze in horror.  

Yagaritte moaned softly and closed her legs suddenly, turning to lay on her side, her hand reaching to brush hair from her face in irritation.There was no escape, no chance to dodge the attack. Yagaritte gripped his left knee between her thighs, her arm curling around him and drawing him close to her as though he were a teddy bear she would snuggle up to in bed. She then reached down and cupped his butt and gave a quick shove, burying his trapped leg between hers all the way up to the top of his thigh.  She smacked her lips and snored happily, nuzzling her face against her pillow.

For the second time in a single day, he was under the threat of death from Yagaritte’s physical body. Her thighs clenched tightly around his leg, his face pushed up into the underside of her breasts.  She squeezed him tightly but not enough to crush him this time, so maybe he was safe, and only trapped?

Indeed it was actually very comfortable.  He could feel her heart pounding, as it was just now starting to settle back into its regular rhythm. She was so warm, so very warm… and she smelled wonderful. A bit of her natural musk, mixed with the dirt of the day, and of course the wetness between her legs… Edovan inhaled deeply.

If he was going to die, he might as well enjoy his last few moments. He closed his eyes and imagined what it might be like to come to bed to this at the end of a tiresome day. What it might be like to have a home again, a place where he truly belonged. He squeezed his eyes tighter. Of course, that was a ridiculous thought. His free arm was slung across her waist, his left leg caught between hers, the wet warmth of her crotch pressed against his hip. He pulled his arm closer around her and… held her. He’d never held anyone before, much less a woman like Yagaritte. It felt good, and it felt safe.

Though opposite extremes physically, their bodies were shaped and sized in such a way, that they fit together like a puzzle. With his eyes still squeezed closed, he pressed his forehead against her and sighed softly. This was nice. And he needed it. He had been on his own for so long now. On the move, on the run. No connections. No friends. 

No… family.. 

Sorrow welled up in him without warning as images of pain and loss ran through his mind. A tear threatened to form and was just about to fall when she squeezed him tightly with both her arm and her thighs. It took his breath away. But it also calmed him.

Right now he was here. With her. And there was nowhere else he wanted to be more than here right now.

“She’ll probably kill you in the morning,” was the last thing logical brain said before sleep quieted him.

“Yes... but what a way to go!” replied lizard brain.