⫮ control

@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ "Cancel!", he gasped in mocking shock, staring up at her with his mouth agape and eyes widened comically, the perfect picture of scandalized disbelief. "Miss de Lisle, are you aware how many phone calls I had to make to get a reservation at this hole in the wall restaurant? No way we're going to cancel. Plus. I'm kind of hungry after all this physical exercise, princess." Craning his neck he planted a kiss against her lips, against her chin and the corner of in quick succession, smiling up at her as he said: "But I guess we'll postpone the walk in Kensington Gardens, hm? Shower and food does sound lovely right now. There's just one problem." The smile slipped off his face then, brows furling above his eyes, still blown wide and dark from the moments they spent entwined in pleasure. Biting down on his bottom lip he gave her a pointed look, patting her on the behind.
"You gotta get off of me for all of that, I am afraid", he muttered, almost as if he regretted it bitterly, but there was a twinkle of humor glinting in the honeyed depths of his gaze. "As much as I hate that, obviously."
Giving her a gentle push, he rolled them over half-way, brushing his nose against hers in a loving gesture, scooting away from her towards the edge of the bed soon after, grimacing only slightly at the cold brushing over his slightly sweaty skin, making him itch for the shower, suddenly, as if her words alone had been enough of a reminder for his brain to finally catch on to the state of disarray they were both in. "Come on", he offered with a smile, holding out a hand for her to take. "Let#s get going, shall we?"

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁴ “Then say it to me everyday, baby.” It was a request voiced as a demand. Perhaps even a command, with the coquettish smile that curled upon her lips, ever so slightly repressed when her teeth dig into her bottom lip. However, there’s unwavering adoration in her eyes, dark in colour yet so bright with happiness that even she would be taken aback if she were to see herself in the mirror. And yet, it didn’t matter, when all her focus was devoted to the person she looked at: the person she resisted kissing every single second that dared to pass. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she did not think about her father, or the nightmare that had come true just a few days before. Instead, her mind was blank, except for only the image of him, and the feather-light touch on her spine that made her shiver with excitement. And so the smile that graced her features grew, so much so that the porcelain complexion of her cheeks turned red, and she, who was not used to such overwhelming joy, could do nothing but hide her face in the crook of his neck. But it was not to hide from him. Perhaps it was to hide from the world, or maybe from herself, because never had there been a time when she found herself so comfortable, so vulnerable yet so unapologetically herself. Never had there been a time when her heart skipped the beat in the embrace of another, when her cheeks hurt from possibly smiling much too widely. And yet, she welcomed it, though as bashful as she did, with the little kisses she pressed against his neck, her own visage hidden behind a curtain of white gold hair. She stayed like this, silent as she listened to him speak, content in the warmth of his arms, held against his body without a thought of letting go. Because all she wanted was to stay by his side, for as long as she wanted; for as long as he’d have her. If only they could freeze time right at this moment. But she couldn’t. Not when she yearned for the days she’d miss him from not seeing him for the hour that would feel like an eternity. Because she would miss him. Every single day when they return to Hogwarts, the school that proved to be less magical than this afternoon. This is bliss, she said to herself for the thousandth time that night. This is home. This was the missing puzzle, the piece she needed to feel whole. And it pained her to have to break this little world they created. “We should probably go shower soon if we’re going to make it to our reservation,” she murmured, propping herself up with her forearms resting on his chest, and her face just a few mere inches away from his own. “Unless… you want to cancel it.”

@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ "Well Shakespeare had to be good for something at least, right?", he jested with a twinkle of humor tucked into the corner of his eyes, fingers playing with stray little locks of her hair, her golden halo fanned out behind her across the snowy sheets, the dying light of the world outside painting them in the neon colors of the back-alley tattoo shops and pawn shops by now. Hues of the rainbow, bleeding into the colors of a dying sun and Kaladin vowed secretly, to never let go of this very moment, of this memory. As if it were a photograph he'd be able to fold into his wallet, forever to be kept dear and close to this heart. A haven for him to return to, no matter what. Smiling down at her he barely caught on to the expression of mischief washing over her features and yet he went willingly when she pushed him over, one hand keeping her steady in the small of her back as they rolled over, the sheets suddenly cold against his heated skin as he stretched out on the bed, humming in the back of his throat as he looked up at her with a smile and a half-swallowed laugh, eyes flickering off to the side in amusement as he clicked his tongue at her, his free hand pushing beneath his head to elevate his head just a tad. "People have a way of over using it", he muttered after a brief moment of silence between them, gaze traveling over her features and yet it felt a little as if he was looking at her for the first time all over again, as if those three simple words they had uttered so painfully and yet longingly, had opened up a door between them that would forever be open. A door blown off it's hinges, shattered beyond repair to never be closed again. And for a moment Kaladin found himself almost as scared as he was happy, the emotions going hand in hand in a way he wasn't able to grasp just yet, as it the mixture seemed to strike a set of notes so deep withing his chest, his soul sang with them.
"A part of me feels like this is unfair, you know?", he whispered into the space between them, his fingers gliding up her spine as he was lost in thought, counting up the spaces between her ribs as he wrapped his arm around her fully, unwilling to let her go just yet. "That I will miss it terribly if a day goes by without me telling you I love you and hearing you say it as well... when in the past the both of us never really thought these words were true. And now I suddenly know what it feels like to love and be loved, for who we are. So, in a way, you did the same for me and that scares me a little and yet, as you said, it makes me love you so much more."

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁴ And there it was. The words spilled forth from his lips like the first light of dawn, and all colour had flooded her vision with a vibrancy so astonishing it seemed unreal. Yet, it was all real; he was real, and she knew it well. Her fingertips were planted on his flesh, skin meeting warm skin just as her eyes were trained on his own, and at once she realized that she, for the first time, felt truly, utterly alive. Never did she see such vividity, nor did she feel such warmth that not only embraced her skin, but burgeoned in her heart as if he had lit a fire from within her. In which Emerald had welcomed and nurtured like she would a fireplace in her home, and vowed never to put it out, for as long as it willed to keep her warm. She smiled, as genuine and pure as the love that poured from her eyes and onto the image before her, with his kindred gaze and dark locks, and the rosy, swollen tiers that were a few mere inches above her own, that had spoken a poetry more beautiful than any she had ever read in her lifetime. She chuckled once more, endless bouts of happiness flourishing in her soul as she pressed little kisses upon those lips of his, the ones she laid claim upon over and over again that afternoon. “You become quite the poet when you speak of your love,” she mused, eyes twinkling when she reached upward with a delicate finger to brush through his damp curls. “So romantic.” She fell silent once more, for only the moment of a breath, and allowed herself to let time lay still as her gaze perused over his features as if she wanted to memorize them – a useless effort, since she had already memorized them a thousand times before. Placing her hand on his shoulder, her smile shifted to one of mischief, and with a movement so swift, she had pushed him off of her so that he could rest on the bed instead, while she laid atop him with her fingers tracing aimless circles on his bare chest. She glanced at the gold and green around his neck, releasing a heavy exhale. “I don’t remember the last time I ever said ‘I love you’ to anyone. I have never said it to anyone but my family. But it’s been a while since then. It lost its meaning for as long as I could remember.” With a bittersweet laugh, she brought the tip of her nose to his own, shutting her eyes as she smiled blissfully. “What you did for me was not remind me what it was, but made me understand what it should feel like. And I love you all the more for it.”

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@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ The sound of her chuckle was like a ray of light, breaking through the haze clouding his mind, coating his thoughts and body like a blanket of thick snow, soft to the touch and slowing down the world as if nothing really mattered anymore, as if time had been pulled to a halt by the intertwined hands of a pair of lovers, hidden away from the world, insignificant to the wheels of reality, ever turning. He leaned into her touch, his head turning ever so slightly to bury his face in the side of her neck, breathing in the tang of her skin, the smoke of their passion, the remnants of the embers still glowing deep beneath his skin. With a gentle noise in the back of his throat he cradled her against his chest, carefully tipping them over to the side to lay her down on the bed once more, a hand on the side of her face, thumb stroking over her cheek in a tender caress, eyes dark and glinting as he looked down at her, taking in the details of her features almost as if he was a dying man, looking upon an angel offering him a hand to take him to the heavens up above. "Everything before you", he whispered into the space between them, as if words spoken any louder than this, would break the little crystal sphere they were trapped inside, their very own snow globe of love and passion slowly melting away like the snow of an icy winter, revealing the blooming warmth of a gentle spring. "Was just an idea", he continued, his nose brushing against her, his lips ghosting over the corner of his mouth as he slowly broke the connection of their bodies, his weight held up on either side of her by his elbows. "Everything else before you, feels as if it was nothing but an afterthought, a dream long forgotten, everything just pales in comparison to you, now. I think I might have to pinch myself to know you're real right now."
His words were nothing but a breath, spoken into the skin of her cheeks, the hollow of , hidden in the locks of her silken hair, fanned out beneath her like the glowing halo of an angel, now corrupted by his touch.

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁴ His words were a mimicry of her own, spoken into the space between them in the midst of bated breaths. Phrase after phrase, it spilled forth endlessly from their lips from the very first time they had dared to speak into existence. Spoken not a few minutes before – if her heart had any shred of time – dispelling the void of anguish and tears to replace it with something entirely new, something incredibly foreign she was convinced that it was born right then and there. It was incredibly beautiful to her, really, and in that sultry afternoon, with their bodies tangled together in a sentimental affair, she felt as if the phrase elicited between desperate kisses grew into its meaning the longer she looked at those brown eyes. Yes, her own gaze was filled with wonder that afternoon. But it was not for the lack of familiarity, but more so for the sheer inexplicability of it all: the way her heart swelled with each second, the way she fit perfectly slotted into his arms, and the way she was certain that their hearts beat as if they were one, as if their passionate act had fused them together seamlessly. The way that something so foreign before felt familiar now, as if she had known it all along. Love. It was a strange thing, wasn’t it? What she thought were limited to fairytales had then become her reality, with him being the pure, true love that had mended the broken parts of her. She held him in her arms, small yet as sure and strong as her heart grew at that moment, and once more did Emerald utter the very words that had engraved itself in her mind, heart, and soul: “I love you.” She chuckled. It was pure, a soft sound of delight as she pulled away to look at him, to look into those eyes, a smile ading her features. She let out a sigh, contented with the way her gaze lingered, wordless because she allowed the unspoken to fill the silence, to fill her whole. When she leaned in to pull him tight against her frame, she nosed his cheek, before allowing herself to lean fully against him, a sneaky drowsiness taking over her body. Still, she fought it, refusing to let time pass again if she were to succumb to her exhaustion. She wanted nothing more than for time to stand still. And in his embrace, time was frozen.

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@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ Everything made sense, like this. It was so simple, yet it rang so true, as if the unthinkable mess that had been his life, had finally come undone, like Emerald had been the red string that had always been running through the tabled chaos of connections and moments, finally unraveling before him. One day, everything would make sense and Kaladin finally understood. The heat that gripped him, polling low in his stomach and burning in his thighs, was more than just the simple gratification of , the simple scratching of an itch. No, it was the image she painted above him, bathed in dying light and all the hues of her blushing skin, the slight glistening of sweat that was starting to cling to her collarbones and , that filled him with a warmth that reminded him of all the innocent days spent in the shade of an apple tree in the backyard of their old house in Christchurch. The way their bodies were entwined was obscene in contrast to the innocent love that suddenly bloomed in his chest, tripping him over the edge unexpectedly when Emerald ground her hips down into his in a way that made him buck up into her, toes curling and fingers flexing where they were still holding her hips down against his body. It happened so suddenly he felt as if the world spun backwards for a second, the room flickering to darkness as his muscles pulled taut abruptly, releasing the tension he had held just a heartbeat later and he groan, low and hoarse in the back of his throat, fingers slipping from her hips and down to her thighs just when her head lifted and their eyes met once more, his breath stuttering in his throat. She looked nothing short of perfect, hair a mess, cheeks flushed and her eyes glazed over and Kaladin surged upwards, meeting her halfway for the kiss, fingers framing in a way that could only be called reverent, as if she was a rare flower, only for him to hold and cherish, his lips peppering reckless kisses to her lips, her face, the side of her neck, his inner mantra finally breaking free from his chest as he muttered "I love you, I love you, I love you" into her salty skin, into the warmth of her hair, his arms wrapping around her as he sat up and held her against his chest, mind frayed and heart bursting with what had to be what he had denied himself from feeling for so long. Happiness.

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁴ Emerald shivered. But it wasn’t from the cold of the winter air, nor the chill of a spacious, near-empty room. It was, unquestionably, from the way he looked at her. From the way his eyes automatically looked upwards to meet with her own, coruscating with both wonder and certainty. It was the way his eyes, dark yet filled with a fire ignited by the touch of her fingertips upon his chest. It was the way she felt the beat of his heart underneath the palm of her hand, the subtle rise and fall of his lungs that moved in tandem with her own, and the strong pair of hands gripping around her hips, anchoring her to him as if all he desired was for their bodies to fall as one, now and for as long as time would allow them to. And in this room, still except for the creak of their bed and the movement of their bodies, time stood still. “Kaladin,” she spoke his name like a sinner chanting a prayer, as she ground her hips onto his with the most impure sound effusing from her lips, red as the flush of her cheeks and the skin he laid his hands on. “Kaladin. Baby. Kaladin.” Her head fell back on her shoulders as her jaw slackened, falling to the floor as she moaned with rapture. Her hands, dainty as they normally were, dug into his biceps, a surge of overwhelming pleasure washing over her like a tsunami and nearly knocking her off balance. As her eyes rolled back into her head, she began to see stars, little speckles of light as entrancingly beautiful as the spots on his cheeks, and all the color in the world became brighter, if only for a second. Her brows furrowed, and she brought her blurred gaze back down to meet the tan of his complexion and the droplets decorating his chest like shattered glass. Her eyes, dark and filled with a certainty fueled by the fullness in her heart, met his once more, and all she could do was let out a sound that matched the sensation taking over her body. At once, there was clarity. Though she knew her heart yearned for him, gravitated towards him like a moon to a planet, she just then realized that her desire exceeded want. It was, terrifyingly enough, a need. A need for him, a need for his touch, a need for those eyes to look at her the way they did. And when she had come down from her high, heart still hammering in her , she leaned down to capture his lips with her own, and established that this, too, was something she needed. “I love you.”

@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ Her wordless urging caught him off guard, if only for a second, and yet he rolled onto his back easily, hands sliding up her thighs as she settled over his lap, their gazes interlocked as if no force in the world would ever be able to rip them apart. And a piece of his soul resonated with the sentiment of the thought, vibrating with the brightest of colorful notes, like the finishing note on a breathtakingly beautiful piece of music, devastating in its longing. His soul and mind and body would forever be longing for her after this, Kaladin knew. Somewhere deep down he had thought that, maybe, she had been nothing but an itch he had needed to scratch after that fateful night at a muggle party, something that had been offered to him, only to be denied when he had been reaching for it. He just needed to have her once, the thought had been. Yet he had somehow slipped into the cracks of her carefully crafted mask, had found a secret door breaching her walls, revealing the hidden garden of her beautiful self that she had so carefully tucked away, hiding it from the world, guarded by thorns that had turned into colorful roses beneath Kaladin's touch. Still sharp, still dangerous, but he was happy to prick himself bloody with them. Yes, he realized, he was happy to be cut by her edges on some days, happy when she was the one to mend the hurt. He was vulnerable beneath her and he didn't care. He could never care. Not when the contrast of his sun-kissed skin against hers was the most astonishing match he had ever seen before, like copper on silk, not when she looked wild and free and unrestrained and yet so soft and pliable above him, it made his heart ache beneath his ribs. He was no goddess among people, for her mortality was obvious in the rise and fall of her chest, the flush on her cheeks, the slight sheen of sweat glistening on her skin like a thousand stars had been plucked from the night sky and found their home on her body, like the negative to the ever so gentle freckling that painted his shoulders and the very bridge of his nose, the top of his cheeks. Emerald, in all her glory, was no goddess. But to him she was, would always be, a perfect counter part. Unexpected as it had been, it was the truest thing Kaladin had ever experienced, as he aided her movements with his fingers digging into her hips, as he let out a shuddering breath, his chest fluttering with it, his eyes unfocused and feverish with the lust that burned him from the inside out as he stuttered out: "Baby I think - - I think I'm going to soon. You're so beautiful. So good for me, so perfect. I don't... I don't think I can hold o- on for much... longer."

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁴ Nothing in the world is perfect. Not even the picturesque image of snow covering the soil and rooftops, or the delicate petals that make up a single, red rose. Or the sun that rises above the clouds, and the yellow-white rays that made the spring grass much more greener. Nothing in the world achieved perfection, many knew that. Perfection had always been a possibility that had been deemed impossible time and time again, and yet, looking at Kaladin, whose eyes were as warm as the hearth of a home, with colours that were reminiscent of rich soil and the rarity of an emerald gemstone; whose smile was brighter than that of a thousand suns; whose freckles were like a galaxy of stars, waiting to be discovered and explored. Whose touch was like an angel’s embrace, if she ever had to guess what if felt like. His hand was larger than her own, and yet, with their intertwined fingers, she couldn’t help but think of how perfectly her hand slotted in his, like two entirely unique puzzle pieces, made only for each other. “Only you,” she repeated his words, breathing it against his lips as if granting him confirmation. All the while she began to unwind herself fully from him, leg unhooking from around his waist while her hand regretfully released from his own. She’s wordless, almost completely silent except for the creak of the bed when she gently nudged him off with a hand flat on his shoulder, coaxing him to lay on his back just as she did before. “I love you,” she whispered when she positioned herself on top of him, one hand curling around his length to steady it, to gently lower herself on top of him. It was a blissfully easily slide, skin on familiar skin, and strangely, she felt whole, and she determined that this, too, was so utterly perfect. She let out an exhale, shaky as she looked down at him as her chest rose and fell in irregularity, hands placed on his chest in an attempt to steady herself. For a moment, she allowed herself to take in this sight, so beautiful she wanted to capture it, memorize it. Memorize the way his chest rose and fell with every single breath he took, the way his muscles rippled with every movement, and the way he looked at her. True, she had seen what he had seen; saw herself through his eyes — splayed out between white, wrinkled sheets, eyes filled with a perfect mixture of lust and true adoration — but it could never compare to this. Nothing, she realized, ever would.

@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ The irony of the moment wasn't lost on him, no. Oh and it was bittersweet, this knowledge that once, Kaladin had scoffed at the thought of intertwined lovers on a bed of clouds, so lost in each other and the union of their bodies, nothing really mattered to them anymore. Yet here he was, lost in the slide of their skin together, lost in the feeling of her hair between his fingers when he slid a hand into her nape, tilting her head back so he could press their mouths together for what felt the millionth time, teeth dragging along her bottom lip as he breathed in the words she had uttered so gently, barely audible over the sound of his thundering heart, nothing but an exhale to his ears and yet he was able to pick up on it, a deep rumbling whine boiling over in his chest when he once more tucked his face away in the crook of her neck, fingers prying her own off of his arm to intertwine the two of them even further, sliding their now joined hands across the sheets and above her head, effectively pinning them together in a way that seemed too close, too intimate suddenly. He once had scoffed at the thought of allowing someone to be beneath him just like this. In this simple, uncomplicated way - so uncomplicated it made things just a little harder, arduous for his soul to take, his heart feeling as if it would shatter right there in his chest, beating in perfect sync with her own where their chests were resting against each other, skin slightly slick with sweat. They had been caught up in the heat of the moment before, not that differently from this moment, honestly, pulled together like two magnets, two planets caught in each other's orbit, ready to collide. And he didn't mind the contrast, the way her whispered words of affection got tangled in his mind, echoing across his soul like the sweetest chord of halleluja, a poem in itself as it was breathed out so reverently, so sweetly. Kaladin mirrored it, words lost in the heat of her skin, in the silk of her hair as he was breaking around soft little curses, rhythm growing sloppy and urgent, his body spurred on by her request. He'd give the world to her, he realized, pushing himself up onto his elbow, his other hand running down her side to rest at her hip, pressing her down into the mattress. "Look at me", he begged, feeling his end approaching way too early for his liking, soul and mind and body strung too tightly with the weight of their confession, their feelings. And he knew this was right where he was supposed to be. "Only you", he told her, sure she'd know what he was talking about, fingers curling into the hollow of her hipbone, head tipping forward into his forehead was resting against her collarbone. "Only you."

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁴ Discovery. That’s what it was. A discovery of the most valuable piece of treasure she had ever seen, so rare that she once believed it a mere myth, nonexistent except in the whimsical stories she read about as a child. But what she found was no castle, or a long lost crown that belonged to her, nor did she come across a prince that would save her from destruction. Not at all. What she found was, ironically, what all little girls, like herself once upon a time, was the very thing she shied away from throughout a great fraction of her life, believing it absurd and only a tall tale that would never be truth. Never. That was, until she laid eyes on him for the first time underneath the glow of a silver moon, so bright and full that it was almost as captivating as his eyes. His eyes, so dark yet so clear to her that night, like droplets on a window. Clear, yet, she realized, not entirely transparent enough. Not until she saw him tonight, eyes locked on her own, as he fully surrendered all of himself for her to take as her own. His eyes, his mind, his heart, his soul. He was all hers, and though he had promised her that before, she didn’t quite know in her heart until that very moment, when their eyes locked as she uttered out his name with such reverence that it was clear that she was all his. “I love you.” It was a declaration uttered in the exhale of a breath, that effused from and emanated onto his, lips just a hairs width away from each other. When he tore his eyes away from her, she had closed her own, lashes fluttering shut, and yet, in an incredible find, a miracle to her mind, she could still hear him. Hear his thoughts, see the pictures behind his eyes, the colors that evoked the emotions that matched her own as their bodies became one. She gasped, astounded, and the corners of her lips stretched out, a smile gracing her features, if only for a brief moment. “You,” she managed, voice soft, and she lifts her head from the mattress to press gentle kisses upon the warmth of his neck, her her hand finding solace and stability around his bicep, while the other curled around his locks. It wasn’t long before she found herself relaxing onto the bed again, sinking into the mattress between wrinkled sheets, hair splayed out underneath and around her as she exhaled in satisfaction. “I just need you. inside me, baby. Please.”

@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ There will be a moment, his dad once told him when Kaladin had been desperate and broken, crying in his father's arms between sheets similar to these - scratchy and white, over-starched and over-bleached, smelling faintly of disinfectant instead of a wooden fire - a moment when the world around you will stop turning on it's axis and instead it will turn backwards, time will flow differently and everything will just make sense. He had thought his father to be a liar for years, had chased after this exact moment, hopping from feeling to feeling, always craving that deeper meaning his father had spoken about. And now, it suddenly did make sense. Time did flow differently. His world didn't turn on its axis anymore, instead fusing with Emerald's own as their eyes locked and her nose pressed into his and all it took for him to connect their lips in a heartbreakingly tender kiss was a little turn of his head, eyes screwing shut at the sight of her tears, fingers slipping from her own to cup her face, lips soft despite the way their bodies were connected, a silent hum vibrating through his chest and pouring into the space between them. "I love you", his mind whispered, all barriers between them crumbling and falling away, toppling into the darkest waves of the storm that was brewing between them - a riptide of love that would drown the world, would erase the truth Kaladin once knew and replace it with something else entirely. And he didn't mind, wanted time to screech to a halt, wanted to pull the emergency brakes and trap the both of them in this moment forever. In here the world was suddenly alright, wasn't so cruel anymore, no. It was gentle, like his hand on her hip, aiding her movements against him. Gentle where his fingers ran into her hair, over the side of her neck, over her jaw as he kept kissing her - helpless, longing, nearly whining in the back of his throat with pleasure. This wasn't what he normally did and he knew they were both aware of it. Were aware of the way he worshipped her body with his hands and lips, with the way he pulled her even closer against his body, hid his face in the crook of her neck when the world became nothing but sensations and sounds in his mind, the lines between what was real and what was in his head blurring together. "Emerald", he whispered into her skin, lips brushing over her ear, the snap of his hops into hers shunting them up the bed slightly, the sheets tangling around their legs. "Tell me what you need, baby."

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁴ When a person is with the right one, time stands still. Nothing else in the world would matter, everything else, everyone else, would cease to hold significance, dwindling into nothing but trivial things that harbored no importance in one’s heart. That only that person would matter, as if a spotlight would shine upon them at all times, all other figures in this world paling in comparison, dimming in color, while they shined brighter than anything else—including the sun in the brightest day, or the moon in the darkest night. She had been told this several times before, witnessed a love so passionate in movies and in the black text written on the white pages of a book, yet never had the luxury to experience such paradise, never had been able to touch a happiness unparalleled by any other. That was, until she had laid eyes on a pair that gleamed like crystals, that scintillated with a kaleidoscope of hues that matched the earth in all its beauty: brown like the richest soil with hints of green, as pretty as an evergreen in the winter. In his eyes, as beautiful and transparent as they were, she saw nothing but adoration, a happiness that rose above all else that, before, she was certain she would never be able to have, the possibility impossible, and yet, as she touched him, d his tanned cheek with the tips of her fingers, she knew that this was all real. That he was real, that he was all hers. That he had the ability to ground her, to make her heart flutter, to freeze time and make nothing else matter except for him, for his embrace, and every single one of the sweet, sweet kisses she cherished on her lips.

“Kaladin,” she whispered shakily, tilting her head upwards to press her nose against his, eyes locked with his own and unwilling to let go, to break the bond between them, to never look away because all she wanted to see was him, to look upon him and hope that he knew she loved him too. Because she knew, with his permission, that he saw only her, his heart beating in syncopation with her own; a harmony to a melody, a song unique to them, and only them. She saw everything he was looking at, witnessed exactly what he saw: the image of her, laid upon the bed between wrinkled sheets, with her hair fanned out, cheeks airbrushed with pink as her lips were tinted with the color of a rose. An image overlaid with a tint of purple, so bright, so clear, filled with such devotion for her that she thought it wasn’t possible for someone to love her that much, and yet there he was, eyes locked on her own; a denotation that he—that all of him—belonged to her. “Oh, Kaladin,” she whispered into the space between them, tears falling from her eyes and onto her skin.

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@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ Space and time trickled away, leaving golden trails of memories across his spine, sliding down his soul like a soothing balm, almost as if those simple three words - so overused, so bland, so meaningless to him before, spoken in nothing but hollow, mechanical reciprocation - were able to smooth out the taut scars littering his very soul. Like their joined hands wer all he needed, had ever needed in his life, to overcome the insecurity that had long made itself at home inside his chest, the cage of his brittle ribs finally bursting open, shattered into a million pieces to rain down around them, painting the plain white bedsheets bunched up around them like a frozen sea at storm a brilliant copper. Paint the sheets in all the hues of adoration. "I love you too", he muttered into her neck, lifting her hips up and off the bed ever so slightly, nible digits splayed out wide across the small of her back, dipping into the hollows between her vertebrae. His mind was running out of control, memories and emotions bleeding together and he presses their mouths together with a feeling that borders on desperation as he sets a rhythm - a play of notes in the back of his mind, as if their bodies were the only instrument he ever learned how to play, creating a symphony of their own right here and right now, skin sliding with sweat and breaths bated. Never before had he been so delicate with anybody, fingers and lips fluttering over her skin like butterflies would dance across a flowery field, carried by a gentle summer breeze, his s slow yet deep and steady, desperately chasing for each second of their union. This was their secret garden, their moment in furtive, no more walls nor masks between them and his kisses were barely able to convey the veneration blooming beneath his skin like bruises.
"Emerald", he moans into the space between them, their foreheads pressed together as are their bodies, so close it seems impossible, as if they were truly becoming one in that moment, all the hills valleys of Emerald's body beneath his fitting against his own. "Emerald", he repeats, a prayer, a plea, voice breaking around a sound of utmost pleasure, thoughts breaking over the rifts of his love for her. "Baby, read my mind. Wanna show you what I see." He knew that if she followed his requests she'd share his emotions, would see the way she looked to him right now - kiss swollen lips, flushed cheeks and clouded eyes and by far the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. And god, it was true, he loved her. Desperately so.

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁴ It was, in every bit, breathtaking. It was a cloud of ecstasy, a myriad of colors, a world filled with the song of his voice; a melody that paired all-too perfectly with her harmony, just as perfectly as his hand fit in her own. In that second of entry, the brief moment of introduction, when his body slotted perfectly with her own like a piece to a puzzle or a key unique to a specific lock, she became lost in the haze of hues, the explosion of fireworks that erupted from behind her eyes, and the taste of pure rapture on her tongue — the memory of his silken, saccharine lips on hers. With jagged breaths and an irregularity in her heartbeat, her eyes traced his features: the rose of his lips, the point of his nose, and the freckles that were speckled upon his complexion, so faint that they’re easily missed behind the darker spots that were spare in comparison. Until her dark hues fixated on his glossy pair, orbs like that of the most beautiful opal; brown in appearance until the slightest bit of sunlight shined upon the variation of golden amber and brilliant green. They scintillated, so radiantly that it challenged that of the moon the night she stood at the tower, and she knew that nothing would compare anymore. Nothing ever had. At that moment, she only saw him, all of him, much clearer than ever before. As if a veil she wasn’t aware existed had finally ripped apart from between them, falling onto the floor and allowing her to see him as clearly as he saw her nights before, and at this moment, she knew she had fallen harder than she ever thought she would. This, she determined, was the most beautiful sight in the world, with him above her, nothing but him, an angel that had fallen from the skies to pour love unto her, just as she was willing to give him every single piece of her. She moaned, the sound so delicate, so light and airy, if it weren’t filled with her undulating adoration, the ever-growing affection that beat as strongly as her heart. “I love you,” she whispered shakily, yet the words were the most sure thing that had ever spilled from her lips. “I love you.” Her eyes had fluttered blissfully, closing as she breathed out, as her hand squeezed his own, while the other curled around his neck, pulling him in closer just as her leg coiled around his waist.

@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ Perhaps Karma wasn't a after all, he thought as he got caught in a riptide of love, heart swelling in his chest until it felt as if it would burst - rip him open at the fragile seams of his self, patched together with too many hours spent chasing after the wind, of filling every nook and cranny of his empty soul with meaningless and useless kisses, only for him to arrive at this very moment. Splayed out before him, Emerald was a work of art, a sight to behold and engrave in his memory for all eternity. He had never reveled at the sight of a lover in his bed, had never taken his time to admire a body displayed for his viewing pleasure and now, breathless and dizzy, he wanted to do just that. Look at her in all her glory - from the blush adorning her rosy cheeks, to the way her skin glistened with the faintest traces of sweat, glittering as if heaven itself had shed diamond tears onto her, into her soul, a beacon of utmost beauty. And she was Kaladin's work of art, only his. On the exhale of a laugh he flexed his fingers in her hold, knitting their hands together even tighter when he finally leans over her, pressing a searing kiss into , their joined hands sinking into the mattress by her head, pulling them together so tightly, Kaladin thought for a moment that he would break with it. With the way they were intertwined so perfectly already, their skin sliding together with blissful heat when he lowers himself down on her, one hand breaking free to run down the length of her body, lifting one of her legs to wrap around his waist, fingers lingering on her knee, on her calf, on her hips as he reaches between them, lips hovering above hers while he grips himself, words soft and yet filled with nothing but fire when he says: "Look at me, baby." It's an easy slide, warm and searing and perfect, when he slides into her, just them, skin on skin and nothing else, his breath stuttering up his throat at the surge of pleasure that threatens to pull him into the abyss of his habits, hips twitching when he bottoms out, lips pressing tender kisses into , her jaw, the side of her neck when he breaks away from her eyes, lashes fluttering. "I love you", he whispers into her ear, his free arm pushing beneath her body to lift her hips off the bed just slightly, bringing their bodies impossibly closer at his first , nothing more than an involuntary movement, yet it pulls a moan from his lips that tastes like nothing but pleasure and affection, breathed into her skin.

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁴ Her skin glittered with little droplets of sweat that shined like tiny, shattered glass underneath the rays of sunlight cascading over her complexion. Her hair, splayed like a crown of white gold around her head, shined all the brighter this afternoon, so bright that it could easily catch the attention of the world, if she weren’t hidden behind closed doors, for only him to see. She laid on the mattress before him, calm in comparison to her heavily inebriated state not too long before, a light curvature of her lips denoting something more than just satisfaction; a flourishing adoration for him, and the stillness of this room. There she was, splayed atop white, wrinkled bedsheets, full, body in display, with her back slightly arched towards the ceiling, and a flicker of light shining onto her s, ribs, and the crease between her hip and thigh, in rays of yellow light that were fleeting as the curtains rippled with the breeze that carried into the room. She didn’t realize that the window had been open this whole time until she shivered, a bright giggle falling from her lips like a chime of a bell, amusement ading her delicate features. So this was love, she realized for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, enthralled by each discovery as her heart fluttered with joy. This — with the burgeoning ecstasy in her soul, the delight that filled her with an everlasting warmth, that blossomed from only looking at him, at the curve of his lips, the dampened curls that fell just above his eyes, and his torso, dripped in sweat, glistening beautifully underneath the little light that shined on him — was truly, utterly, and irrevocably love; something that felt like heaven on earth, if she ever had an idea of what heaven should feel like. Truly, he was an angel with that smile of his, but she was no fool: his tongue belonged to that of the devil, she knew, and she couldn’t feel more than overjoyed to have fallen for one. With a contented sigh, she had shaken her head in response to his inquiry, her heart swelling when she saw the visible concern laced in the burnt honey and viridian in his eyes, and once more did she let out a laugh, however delicate, as she reached out for his hand. “Why would I need a break?” she responded, cheekily, as her pearly whites sunk into her lower lip in a useless attempt to suppress a grin. For a moment, she stared, reveled in the picture before her, her visage calming once again. And ever so quietly, she spoke once more, almost inaudible if it weren’t for the complete silence in the room. “Make love to me, Kaladin,” she paused, her gaze flickering to his hands, carefully lacing their fingers together. “Please. I want you. All of you.”

@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ Of all the sounds in the world - starting from the soft siren song of a piano in the dark of the night, over the rush of a busy main road in the city, the silent pitter-patter of rain against the roof of their house just above Kaladin's bed - he thought that his name falling from Emerald's lips in pure bliss was quickly becoming his favorite. He was dizzy with it, drunk off of the passion in her cadence, swinging along his ribs like a pendulum, seeping into his skin with her desperation and then, finally, her leap of faith into an abyss of desire. He felt her coming undone against his tongue, lips closed almost tenderly around her , her muscles shaking around him like a cage made of Gaya's lap, as if the entire world around him was shattering with the force of her and he moaned with it, breathless and dazed, his thoughts sluggish and woozy as he in a breath that bordered on desperate, chest heaving when Emerald tipped forward and off his face, his fingers loosening their hold on her body, rubbing tender, calming circles into her heated skin. His skin was slick with sweat, a drop of perspiration rolling down his neck and he shifted, carefully adjusting her against his body, giving them both a moment to come down from her high, his own pulse racing with it - the lack of air, the satisfaction he felt coursing through him as if it had been him who had tumbled over the edge and plunged into the darkest parts of his soul, unraveling. "Hey", he urged her softly, pushing a hand between their bodies to roll her onto the mattress, untangling their limbs as he leaned forward to press a kiss against her knee. "You okay, love?", he smiled against her skin, fingertips ghosting down the length of her shin and across her ankle, grabbing her ankle to carefully make space between her thighs, scooting over so he's sitting between her legs, thumbs rubbing affectionate patterns into her thighs, eyes soft where they rest on her face. "Do you need a break?"

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁴ There was a tremble in her breath, a tremor in the rise and fall of her chest as she tried her hardest to stay upright and heed the strong command of his large hand on her stomach. There was a flicker of light as the rays of the sun crept in through the curtains and cascaded onto her s and locks of white gold, that flashed in her eyes whenever her head fell back as her spine arched, and only became a speckled blur of luster when her eyes nearly came to a close. Her lips, swollen and cherry-red from his fire-hot kisses had yet to close completely, jaw dropping with every single touch, every indelicate swipe of his tongue on the areas it pleased the most, pulling harmonious sounds of ecstasy from her own tongue. A song of sin, a veritable verification of her rhapsody, a shameless, desperate plea for more. Loud, yet hushed every now and again with the sighs of delight in between, that effused from behind a fleeting smile.

“Kaladin,” was a breathless whisper spoken unto the silence that surrounded them, that had been broken over and over again by her; by him, who kissed and savored every drop of her, whose own touch was electric against her skin, his fingertips hot against warm flesh. Emerald, whose brazen gaze was fixated on his body, on the subtle curve of his chest, on the hard plains of his stomach and the defined lines that outlined each muscle, had loved every bit of what he did to her, of every second that escalated the pace of her heart, that demanded deeper, quicker breaths between each velvet moan that erupted from the back of . Moans that had easily become louder with his sinfully unforgiving touch, slipping from her tongue like butter as her already bated breaths had become more restrained with the heightened whines of her nearing peak. She shuddered, nearly lifting herself off of him with the overwhelming pleasure crashing over her body like a tsunami, only to be held down, planted where she sat as his hand, strong and firm around her hips, kept her anchored on top of him with merciless demand.

“Kaladin…” his name, reverent in cadence, had fallen from , more breathless than the last time it slipped from her. She had taken a sharp breath, nearly too quick it winded her, and her jaw had fallen onto the mattress, brows furrowing as her hand found his, curled around her waist, wrapping tightly around his wrist while the other reached back to barely grab ahold of the bed post. In the span of a second that felt far longer than it should, her vision had gone white, the spectrum of colors blurring into nothing but bright light in her eyes until it had gone dark once again. And she, who had come undone completely atop him, could only see speckles of light, starry in her gaze as she looked ahead, line of sight unfocused, unclear with what she was looking at before her; the backdrop of torn wallpaper only a blur of dull hue behind a kaleidoscope of colors that exploded at the end of her high. Her hands fell from where they were, falling onto the mattress just as she leaned forward to rest her head on his thigh, body falling onto his own as she attempted to catch her breath, tender kisses placed on his skin. Then, she smiled, silent as she laid on top of him, her entire being steadying at last.

@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ The world was nothing but sound and color - a holy place underneath a window made of fragile stained glass, burning with a myriad of hues so brilliant his mind couldn't capture them, dimmed in their grandeur as the rhythm of his heart hammered away frantically. A panicked horse, a crescendo of forlorn pleasure cut off a leash and Kaladin knew that he could get lost in this melody, if only he would let himself. He'd be swept away in the current of her melody, carried out into a storm to end all things rational and true, leaving behind nothing but the rawest bones of a man that had tasted the forbidden fruit, seeing god's truth, his eyes wide open. His thoughts were growing faint, falling into each other like an avalanche, the lack of air making his head spin. The heat of - unbearably hot and wet around his length - only severed to saw away at his sanity even more, the need to buck up into borderline overwhelming, the muscles in his thighs straining with the little fragments of self-control he was able to hold on to. And so he brought a hand between their bodies, pushing against her stomach to pull her off of him, the other firm and steady on her waist still, leaving behind fingerprints that would bloom not only across her skin but her soul as well, surely lingering for days against the porcelain of her complexion. It was no easy task, his balance off, his focus elsewhere, his muscles already starting to burn and pull taut underneath his skin as oxygen became a rarity he had never thought he'd enjoy, lightning flickering back and forth behind his eyes. The weight of her, deliciously dangerous, the smooth expanse of her thighs resting against his features, were a horrible truth to him - the truth that he didn't really mind being at her mercy, even though he was in utter control, still. Kaladin knew that he was able to throw her off to the side, that he was able to make her push her weight into her knees if only he wanted. And yet he didn't. Instead, he made her sit up again, a sure hand now cradling her stomach, his fingers sliding up towards her sternum as he fixed his lips over her most sensitive spot, tongue unyielding, unforgiving, as it pressed against her - warm and slick with her juices where it rolled against her core, eager to deliver that final lethal blow that would have her tumble over the edge and plummet into the chasm he was offering her. An abyss of unconditional satisfaction, the utter loss of control, irreversible. With the faintest of growls he pushed himself off the pillow, grinding her hips against his face as she had done before, ravenous as he was devouring her, the hand he had on her stomach pressing down almost as if to tell her to let go. Let control slip from her hands, let it shatter, so she would be able to let herself dissolve in what Kaladin wanted from her most.

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁴ It was incredible, how it took all of her strength to bring herself to sit up, to keep herself from falling slack onto his body as his mouth worked wonders between her legs. How his tongue, sinfully warm and delicious with the way it worked with his lips, moved in perfect tandem to pleasure her and pull the strings of her sanity, just enough to keep the helpless sounds flowing from and out into the void of space that they barely occupied. She wasn’t loud at this point, not quite yet, her moans nearly mewls with how high pitched and quiet they were; though they were full, not lacking in emptiness, genuine and clear in sound, and not at all restrained. Because, though she knew that there was a very high chance that whoever was in this building could hear her perfectly through the thin walls, Emerald had not a single care. Not when her own selfish need consumed her, her long craving for him, the feel of his hot skin against her burning own, and the taste that she would indulge herself into the moment her lips, swollen from the touch of his pair, had wrapped around the hardened length with her own desire to please him. To touch him just as he did her, so that she too, could hear such lustful sounds come from his mouth that were brought on by her own. And though she struggled, kept herself from pulling away, from bucking her hips every single time the tip of his tongue had revisted her sensitive little nub, that brought her to let out a louder moan and squeeze her thighs around the sides of his pretty face, she kept herself steady, lips sliding around the length of his shaft, cheeks hollowed out, whilst a hand kept herself upright, as the other lightly massaged his pair of sacs between delicate fingers. At this point, Emerald failed to properly remember every affair they had before this, every single kiss, every touch of her fingertips on his flesh, the moans, the little whines of desperation she let out the time he with only his voice. Because though she would normally fixate on every moment prior to this, she couldn’t; with the words they exchanged that afternoon, in one of the shaggy rooms of a decrepit inn, it was as if their fire had been doused with the fuel of their love to burn brighter, hotter than it had before. She could only focus on him now, on the trails of fire he left on her skin, on the heat of her core, and the tips of his fingers that are likely to brandish bruises where they dug into. She moaned, louder this time because her body felt every little touch, the warmth that radiated from his body and radiated into her own. She burned for him, he knew, with the syllables she whispered in his ear over and over and over again, just as he burned for her. And now, she wanted nothing more than to show him, to express just how bright she burned for him with her searing touch, and to hear the approval that would send chills down her spine.

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@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ Her quiet words of ecstasy were like liquid heat, molten copper that was slowly dripping through his veins, spreading through him as the only encouragement he had ever needed, dunk as he was off the taste of her, the weight of her against him. Her essence was like heroin, clouding his senses, his mind, the very fabric of reality stretching and pulling taught around him as he plundered into her core in earnest, helplessly when she started grinding herself against his face, his lips surely bruising and yet he had little to no care for the slight sting of pain that raced through him, soon fizzling out along his nerves, almost as if it were mixing with the purest form of satisfaction he had ever felt in his life. Still holding on to her waist - not stopping her movements, merely steadying her and aiding her on - his fingers were starting to dig into her flesh, his body alight with a flame he hadn't thought would ever be burning his brightly, muscles barely twitching at the touch of her fingers when she steadied herself against his hips, breath hot where it was hitting his sensitive skin. With her resting against his face the way she was, he couldn't speak, could barely breathe anymore and yet it was the sweetest kind of delirium, true and simple and dangerously addicting, his head already starting to swim with the lack of air. He was suffocating in the best way possible - in her presence, her pleasure, her touch. It barely registered in Kaladin's mind when she reached for his length, the groan of surprise and sudden delight he lets out vibrating down his spine, shaking his ribs and nearly breaking them, tight as they were with the lack of oxygen, tight with his thundering heartbeat. The heat of against his swollen flesh was nearly unbearable, his hips jerking beneath her touch, his fingers gripping her waist tighter as he stilled for only a second, breathing in deeply through his nose to steady himself, feeling his pulsing out a droplet of salty desire against her tongue, kicking where she was holding him. Control slipped from him, slowly but steadily. It was as if she was slowly pulling him apart at the seams, thread after thread after thread and Kaladin loved it. Loved how a touch so simple, was able to shake him to his very core, made him double his efforts where he lay buried in her warmth, tongue pressing just a little harder, with that much more effort. He wanted to feel her on his tongue, wanted to taste her - nothing but her for the rest of his life. He had never gotten to, after all, too focused on his own needs that one night he had been between her thighs, her fingers in his hair. God, he wished, if only for a second, for her fingers in his locks, nails biting into his scalp. The thought alone, the memory of the sting, had him , pulling her down against his mouth with such vigor, it nearly split his lips open with the force of it, head lifting from the pillow ever so slightly as he followed the only desire his heart knew in that very moment. Kaladin wanted Emerald to fall apart for him, wanted her to come undone in his arms in way that make her remember this very moment whenever she looked at him. He wanted her body to remember his touch like a house would remember a ghost haunting it's halls.

@－ ❛ ɢ ❜：kaladin ravenwood。⁰⁴ She had in a breath of air, a gasp of sudden ecstasy echoing within the four walls of the decrepit room. As her brows, prettily arched and groomed, had pushed together as a wrinkle in her forehead formed, and her eyes, wide and filled with wonder as they were, had closed, though not quite for her to only see black. Instead, they were just open enough to see blurred shapes of the backdrop in front of her, the dresser and painting above it becoming an image of bland color, hazy in appearance, until she had closed her eyes completely, eyes rolling into her head as it fell back into her shoulders. She had bucked her hips at the first swipe of his tongue, at the first taste of his warm, wet muscle against her sopping core, and saw an array of vibrant colors explode against a black backround. “Kaladin,” she called out, the syllables of his name reverent, yet the whine that accompanied it was more begging than otherwise intended. She had arched her back, beautifully so, but only for a mere second, because she found herself lurching forward, hands planting on top of his hips as a means to anchor herself, to keep herself from losing balance on top of him as he expertly satisfied her , waves of pleasure overcoming her state and she wasn’t sure if this, if he would continue for longer, would quickly lead her into reaching a high that she did not desire to reach too soon, that is, in that moment. Nonetheless, she rolled her hips as much as his iron grip allowed her to, ground herself into his mouth, a moan evoking past swollen, parted lips, and yet another chant of his name came soon after. “Kaladin… baby…” she breathed, the words barely coming out as more than a whisper in between bated breaths, chest rising and falling in irregularity whenever his tongue had found an area more sensitive than the rest. And in her ecstasy did she choose to focus elsewhere, to center her attention on his length with her fingers curled around his base, head dipping down so that she could taste his leaking arousal, and yet another moan erupted from the back of . As she d his shaft with a firm hand, she rested her head on his thigh, barely able to hold it together as nothing but sounds came from , and at this moment she realized how helpless she was at his mercy, and how utterly and terrifyingly good he was with pulling her apart at the seams.

@－ ❛ s ❜：emerald de lisle。⁰⁴ Everything about their first and only night together had burned itself into the back of his mind, like her body had been a branding iron pressed into his skin and Kaladin had been nothing but cattle, lead to the slaughter. Had he not willingly laid his head on the chopping block just mere hours after he had been soaked in her heat, in her scent, in her presence, carrying it with him to the highest point of the castle - as if it were a fluttering bird in the cage of his frail ribs, a construct made of silver and pain. A shield against the dark and the harshness of his sisters words. It had only served as a fleeting taste of a drug Kaladin would never be able to get rid of, in the end. She was his personal brand of heroin, his very own addiction, now that the dam had been ripped apart. "Emerald", he gave back at the sound of his name, reverent yet amused at the same time, pressing his lips against her fluttering pulse. Her heart was beating just as fast as his, a nervous thrum beneath her skin, fire coursing beneath ice and snow and Kaladin reveled in it, breathed it in as if it would light his soul up in all the colors of her own as he did so. And so he followed her silent beckoning willingly, again laying his head on the chopping block for her, did he not know that this - right here and right now - would be his undoing. There was no going back, not ever. He watched, eyes burning with the fire of a man lost in the throes of unadulterated pleasure, as she swung her leg across his head, knees dipping the mattress next to his face and he couldn't help but to settle his hands on her hips, steadying her.
"I love you too", Kaladin whispered, barely audible over the thunder of his heart and he was sure that it must be skipping beats by now, with how hard it was hammering away inside his chest. There was not much he could have said, words failing him once more - always with her - as he gripper her tighter, fingers digging into her flesh hard enough to perhaps leave bruises as he pulled her down against his face, breaching the last feeble inches that separated them before he tasted her. Truly, she was ambrosia, the forbidden fruit. Hades' pomegranate, leaving a man lusting for its taste long after the seed had been swallowed, blooming into a tree inside of his mind. The first taste of her exploded along his thoughts like a spark of fireworks in the distance, tongue flat against her, digging deeper as his hold on her tightened, plundering into her in earnest this time. No holding back anymore, no more teasing her with his mouth. This was a selfish act in every way and he moaned against her , moaned in abandon, in reckless heat and desire, tongue breaching her as the sound rumbled out of his throat.