Private All Things Hidden

[Irina Jesart]

Irina watched the weight on his shoulders shift as he settled, it didn't leave him entirely but it was less present, for a moment she just stood drinking the image of him in, tension bleeding out of him as the tiredness seemed to settle on him. She tried not to let her eyes linger on the exposed muscle of his torso.

She moved forward slowly, coming to stand before him as his gaze flicked to the space next to him she did not immediately take it, her hand reaching down to lift his chin up to look at her, the room shrinking suddenly when their eyes met, her lips parting with a small breath before she spoke

"Promise me, we will talk about it." she said softly. "Not tonight, that you're here, that you're..." she almost said mine, but the word felt wrong, because he wasn't entirely.

"It's enough. But we have to talk about everything else soon."

She believed him when he said he didn't want to run, but running from his fear and running from the conversation they would need to have about their future, about Skadi, about his vision for this pack he built around him, were two very different things. Her thumb ran along the scar that marked his jaw, her touch soft as her eyes remained fixed on his.

"Promise me." she repeated.

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

Wearing: This | Weapons: Lightsaber | Knife
TAG: Irina Jesart​

Aerik watched her cross the room instead of taking the place beside him. The slow approach drew his attention without effort, his orange eyes following her until she stopped directly in front of him. When her hand lifted his chin, he allowed it, his gaze settling into hers as the distance between them seemed to shrink again.

"Promise me."

Her thumb brushed across the scar along his jaw, the light touch pulling his focus there for a moment before his eyes returned to hers. Aerik reached up and closed his hand gently around her wrist, not to stop the motion but to hold it there as he considered the weight of what she was asking.

"I promise," he said quietly.

His grip loosened and his hand slid down until his fingers laced with hers. With a gentle tug he pulled her closer. Instead of guiding her to the cushion beside him, his arm moved around her waist and he drew her onto his lap.

The movement was steady and unhurried.

Aerik leaned back into the couch once she settled there, one arm still around her while the other rested lightly against her side. His gaze lingered on her face for a moment longer before his hand lifted again to brush lightly against the back of her neck.

"We'll talk about it," he said softly.

"Everything."

 

[Irina Jesart]

Irina didn't resist the tug, her eyes still locked on his as her heart jumped, his promise was absolute, she had no doubt in that. Everything else fell away, fear doubt and the swirling mist of thoughts surrounding their future fell into nothing as she slid into his lap, knees coming to rest either side of him, each movement slow a contrast to the way her heart begun to race.

The light touch on the back of her neck sent a pleasant shiver through her and she leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his. Her gaze dropped to his chest, hands idly tracing corded muscles, quiet settling after his words. Her eyes rose back to meet his as her hands came to rest against his chest, one settled over his heart where she could feel its every beat beneath her fingers.

Something burned in the quiet between them, not the blaze of a great fire but something gentler like the soft glow of the last logs on an open flame.

Rin closed the infinitesimal distance, her nose brushing once against his before their lips met, some of the softness had gone, replaced by need. Controlled, but unmistakeably there.

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

Wearing: This | Weapons: Lightsaber | Knife
TAG: Irina Jesart​

Aerik felt the shift in her before their lips met.

The way her body settled against him, the way her breathing changed, the way her hands moved across his chest as if they had every right to be there. None of it startled him. His hands rested at her waist, steady and warm, holding her there without pulling or resisting.

When her forehead touched his, his orange eyes softened slightly. He watched her gaze drop to his chest and felt the slow movement of her fingers tracing along the muscles there. The quiet between them no longer carried the same sharp tension it had earlier. Something gentler had taken its place.

His heartbeat thudded beneath her hand where it rested over his chest.

Aerik did not look away when her eyes rose again to meet his.

For a moment neither of them moved.

Then her nose brushed his, and the distance between them disappeared.

The kiss that followed carried more weight than the ones before it. Aerik felt the change immediately. There was still restraint in it, but the need beneath it was impossible to miss. His hand slid slightly higher along her back as he returned the kiss. It was a steady motion.

He did not rush it.

When he finally pulled back enough to breathe, his forehead rested against hers again. His hand remained at the back of her neck, fingers lightly tangled in her hair as if grounding himself in the contact.

His eyes searched hers for a moment.

Then he leaned forward and kissed her again, slower this time, letting the moment linger without trying to push it. They needed to talk. There was a lot they needed to talk about. It just didn't seem to matter in the moment.

 

[Irina Jesart]

Heat rose along her skin, burning in the wake of his hands trailing slowly up her back, tangling in her hair as he drew back. The need for air forcing them apart, eyes sliding open, each of them searching the other. both of them knowing what needed to be discussed, yet neither of them willing to relinquish their grip on this moment to do so.

There would be time, maybe tomorrow, or the next day.

But tonight was for them, for all the moments they had stolen, for all the time they had lost.

His kiss was agonisingly slow, stealing her breath and setting every fibre of her being on fire as she shifted in his lap. Her hands slid over his torso, gliding, fingers trailing up the sides of his neck. One slid to the base of his neck, fingers slipping into his hair, the other remained where a thumb could trail along his jaw.

When she drew back, it was only because her lungs demanded she come up for air, a different fire burned in her eyes as she studied him, her hands moving to cup his face, a question burning in her chest that she couldn't quite find the words for.

"Aerik..." her whisper was nervous, not because she was afraid of what could happen, but because she knew if it did, that the scar that he had been so terrified to see, the one she had kept hidden since Brosi would be inescapable. She tried to find words as her thumbs traced once over his cheeks.

"I want..." she stopped and took a small breath.

"Are you sure, this is what you want?"

Aerik Lechner

 

[Aerik Lechner]

Wearing: This | Weapons: Lightsaber | Knife
TAG: Irina Jesart​

Aerik felt the hesitation in her voice even before the words fully left her lips.

Her hands held his face, her thumbs brushing slowly across his cheeks while she searched for the question she was trying to ask. The nervousness there did not escape him. He knew Irina well enough to recognize when something weighed on her thoughts, even when she tried to keep the moment from slipping away.

"Aerik…"

His orange eyes held hers, steady and unguarded now.

"I want…"

She stopped, and he could almost hear the thoughts turning behind her eyes. Aerik already knew what she was afraid of. The scar was not something that could stay hidden if the moment moved forward. It had been easier to pretend it did not exist while they stood and talked. That illusion would not survive much longer.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

Aerik watched her quietly for a moment.

Then the faintest hint of a smile touched the corner of his mouth.

"Now who is the one thinking too much?" he said softly.

His hands moved from her waist, sliding up along her sides until his fingers found the hem of her shirt. The motion slowed there for a moment, giving her time to stop him if she wished.

When she did not, Aerik lifted the fabric and drew the shirt up and over her head.

For a brief moment he simply looked at her.

The dim light in the room fell softly across her skin, and his gaze lingered before settling where it had been drawn more than once that night.

The scar.

His jaw tightened slightly as he looked at it again. The mark was unmistakable. The shape of his own teeth remained etched there in a way that made something twist in his chest. Aerik did not look away from it this time. He let the truth of it settle in his mind instead of pushing it aside.

He leaned forward and pressed a gentle, but hungry, kiss against the scar.

When he lifted his head again his expression had softened, though the weight behind his orange eyes had not completely faded.

Without another word Aerik slipped one arm beneath her legs and the other around her back. He rose from the couch in a single smooth motion, lifting her easily as though she weighed nothing at all.

He did not rush.

His steps were steady as he carried her across the quiet room toward the doorway that led deeper into the apartment. The soft light of the living area faded slightly behind them as he moved toward the bedroom.

This time he was not running from anything.