Action, then Reaction

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 25th January 2009

Characters: B'ram, Traelyn
Description: Trae seeks comfort in her usual way, but B'ram's no fool.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 13, day 23 of Turn 4

B'ram

The rest of the evening went by in a blur of gaudy colors, glaring lights and blaring noise for Traelyn, but she managed to play the role of a joyous and proud Weyrwoman--a role that she normally wouldn't have had to "play." She forced herself to wear the mask, to smile and chat at N'vanik's side with the Lord Holders, their Ladies, and a few of the Weyrleaders, dance with all of the important men who asked for her hand, and finally track down her own Weyrleader again and dance with _him_ after she had escaped the others. All she really wanted to do was run away from it all to the dark and quiet solitude of her own weyr, but it wouldn't be the right thing to do. Not on a night like this. And so she stayed and accomplished what was expected of her.

Halfway through the evening, when she finally had a spare moment to do as she pleased, she became aware of a pair of green eyes steadily watching her. She met B'ram's stare straight on, invited him over with an arched brow, and together they took to the dance floor. The music the Weyr's harpers had chosen was certainly not the music of a chaste waltz. Most dragonriders knew this song, and knew the dance that went along with it. It was a dance that would probably make most Hold and Hall folk blush and avert their eyes, and perhaps make some look on enviously, wishing that they could indulge themselves like the Weyrfolk could. It was a dance of passion. Pure, unbridled passion. It wasn't coarse or lewd, however. The steps were rather intricate but undeniably suggestive, and that was what made it beautiful to watch and perform. Such a dance was exactly what Traelyn needed. She was strung-out and angry and was trying to deny what had just happened out in the Stands, so this dance was the perfect outlet for all of those pent-up emotions.

The way B'ram held her to him assuaged her feminine pride and allowed her to lose herself in such a way where the world narrowed down to only him and her and the music--nothing else existed. As the dance reached its peak, she spun under his arm to come up against his chest and their eyes met. They were both panting from the exertion, and desire rushed through her as his hands slid down her spine, intimately massaging the small of her back. She knew it would be highly improper, even for one of the Weyr's own, for her to take her leave now. She was the Weyrwoman; she couldn't leave the celebration yet. **Soon,** her furious, dark eyes said as they searched B'ram's, **but not yet.**

So they parted. But for the remainder of the evening, Traelyn could feel his eyes on her time and time again as she made her rounds to socialize and dance. The dance that they had shared was quite significant in the fact that it was their first in front of so many onlookers--they both knew it. She could have chosen any other dance to share with him, but she hadn't. It had been _that_ dance she'd wanted with him, and B'ram probably wanted to know what had spurred her on to choose it. He knew her well enough to know that something must have happened, for with her it was always "action, then reaction." But she wasn't going to let him in on her dirty little secret. Not yet. He would find out soon enough.

As the night finally began to come to a close, when Traelyn knew that it was finally safe for her to take her leave, B'ram was waiting for her in the dark corridor. She bared her teeth in a feral smile and he grasped her arm, heat in his eyes. Together they went to her weyr, and the door had barely slammed shut before she was shoving him against the wall. Her gray eyes gleamed in the dim light as she brought his head down to hers, fervently kissing him. She fully intended to drown herself in sensation so she wouldn't have to dwell on U'kaiah. B'ram's response to her was what she hoped it would be, and he walked her towards the sofa even as she unlaced his tunic, pulling it over his head.

B'ram was in a rare mood himself as he pulled her down to the sofa with him. He had watched her flirt and tease and smile at all those other men, and while he knew there was no feeling behind it, he couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy, especially as she stayed on her sharding Weyrleader's arm! One dance. _One_. That was all she had spared for him. Even though he knew she wanted more, he had wanted more too. He had wanted to wrap an arm around her waist and kiss her soundly in front of her Weyrleader, the Hallmasters, the Lord Holders. He'd had an insane urge to show them all that this goldrider was not N'vanik's but B'ram's! "I hated seeing you with all those men," he growled as he unlaced the back of her dress. "I will not be shoved off in a corner again."

"Fine," she snarled, hands tugging on his belt buckle until she finally got it loosened.

"I mean it, Trae." He sat up as he pulled her dress from her shoulders, his fingers caressing bare skin. "I am not your loyal little canine who will wait on some sharding leash for you to have time for me."

"Loyal little canine? You?" Her laugh was harsh and she shook her head, slipping her arms from the sleeves. "You'd never accept any kind of sharding leash."

"I won't accept being a flaming after-thought either." His lips latched onto the side her neck. The thought of how all those men had looked at her made his blood burn as his hands moved along her skin, claiming his territory. Let them look! She was _his_ tonight.

Her fingers curled tightly into his hair, lean legs wrapping around his hips. "You are _not_ an after-thought," she whispered fiercely.

He pulled her face towards his, his lips drawing teasingly close to hers. "And how many men did you dance and shake hands with before you even looked in my direction, huh?"

"They don't matter." She nipped at his lower lip, the tip of her tongue lightly tracing it before murmuring, "What matters is that you're the one who's here with me now. Not them." And certainly not U'kaiah. Her temper spiked, and she pulled B'ram closer.

"Slinking off to your weyr again?" he growled, his breath coming much faster now as his hands slipped along the outside of her thighs. "I don't care who sharding knows I want you. Why do you still feel you have to treat me as your dirty little secret?"

She glared furiously up at him. "Would you rather we had screwed out on the flaming dance floor?" Though they very nearly _had_ tonight, dancing that dance. Anyone who'd been watching them would have seen just how much of the passion and desire between them was real, not acted. How could he lay on top of her like he was, seducing her body while accusing her of keeping him a dirty little secret?

He pulled back, locking his eyes on hers. She had to understand that he was serious. "You could have talked to me. You could have acknowledged me. Would it really have been so far outside your duties to share a sharding drink with me? Or were you too embarrassed to be seen flirting with just a brownrider in front of important people?"

"That's not it!" Shards and shells, she didn't need this from him right now. "I screwed up, all right, B'ram? I admit it."

His eyes narrowed as he saw a crack in the flawless mask she had tried so hard to wear. One moment she was passionate and angry, the next apologetic and vulnerable. He knew her. "What happened tonight? What are you not telling me?"

A pale brow rose as she tried to build her wall back up. Faranth, she didn't want him to know. Not yet. Not when even she couldn't accept the fact. His eyes pierced hers--she was cornered. And she did the only thing she could do when he shoved her into a corner--she lashed out. "Do I have to explain every sharding aspect of my life to you?" she demanded angrily, trying to prop herself up onto the arm of the sofa.

B'ram was unphased. He knew he had judged right. "Only if you want me to be part of it."

"I don't want to talk about it."

Well, that at least was honest. B'ram didn't want to just let it go, but he knew enough not to push her too far when she was lashing out. "Then just tell me one thing," he said, his tone much more gentle. "Did they hurt you?"

Completely and suddenly undone by his soft tone and the memories his question brought back, she felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. Mortified, she closed them, fighting the swelling emotions back, shoving them down deep where she hoped to Faranth they wouldn't surface until she was brave enough to face them. "I don't want to talk about it." This time her voice was a desperate whisper, and her fingers clamped on his arms.

"I'm sure you don't," he said softly, pulling back. "You just want to use me to forget it."

"No." Fear gripped her, and she didn't let go of him. "I want to _be_ with you."

B'ram didn't want to give in to her little game. 'Be with him'? Why? What could she possibly get out of him now? But as he looked down at her face and felt her grip at his arm, he could feel her distress, and could see the anxiety in her eyes. Lowering himself down between her body and the cushion, he sighed. In the end it really didn't matter what she wanted to get out of him. He knew deep down that there really was very little he wouldn't be willing to give. "Shards sometimes you drive me absolutely crazy."

That brought a tiny smile to her lips, and she curled herself up against him, more relieved than he'd ever know that he wasn't going to leave her alone. She couldn't be alone. Traelyn closed her eyes.

Not tonight.

Last updated on the January 27th 2009

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Action, then Reaction