The flash of her teeth only helped to wake the beast inside of him. He knew he should leave. Get them out into the rain, back into the safety of the Armada. She was injured, with tears on her cheeks, and he would not be gentle with her. But sanity hadn’t been his shadow since the moment he had realised she was taken.

At her words, he pushed her. Bear was already releasing her grip, moving away. In fact, his companions seemed to vanish into the shadows of the cave, as if they had never been at all. Leaving the two wolves alone, with just the rain and the scent of blood as their companions. But Isa didn’t wait around, did not fall into the patterns of the dance that had begun with their kisses, and the intimate sounds she had made. Instead, she walked away from him. Leaving him standing there, an unsatiated fool.

She was already out in the rain, and he would have to enter it to follow her. He let out a low, dissatisfied growl. “You’ll pay for that” He promised her receding back. Slowly, reluctantly, he stepped out into the rain. Tipping his head up to the sky as the storm washed away much of the blood that splattered him. Soaked into the polar bear coat, and took away the heat that had threatened the threads of his control. More than a little disappointed, he trotted to catch up to Isa.

He walked in silence at her side, through the storm would not have been kind to conversation, and what did one say in the wake of what had sparked between them. Now that his blood was cooling, his confusion only deepened. Accompanied with it was a wave of sadness. In order to embrace Isa, that last part of him would have to let go of Zee. Could he do that?

The Armada border was suddenly in front of them, and as they entered the Col she turned to make her way to her den, but he stepped to the side of her so she bumped against him. Denying her path, and nudging her further along until they reached the supply den. He held the door open for her and gestured for her to enter. “You didn’t think I would let you go without seeing to your wounds, did you?” He growled at her. He hesitated then for a moment. “They looked superficial, but if you would rather Halo tend to them… He trailed off, his eyes denying how much her answer meant to him. He needed to know. He needed to see, and touch and know for himself that she was well. At least, as much touching as tending to her wounds would allow.

"Speech"

Isa hadn't heard the growling promise, but if she had, perhaps she wouldn't have walked out into the rain afterall. Alas, she did and so they walked together through the rain back to the place that she now called home. The downpour chilled the woman and, though it felt good on her bruised flesh, it made her a little too cold. By the time they had returned to the Col, Isa was thoroughly waterlogged and freezing.

Just as the fae turned and began to move towards her den, Sirius stepped into her path. The fae blinked and looked up at him with a questioning glance. He then informed her that he wanted to see to her wounds. Part of Isa wanted to deny him and say that she was fine. The look in his eye, however... When he offered to fetch his healer instead, Isa shook her head. "No need for a healer. You will suffice." There wasn't much to tend to. It was mostly bruising. The cut on her lip was obvious. If it would make him feel better though, she would let him do what he needed to do.

Isa was a good patient. She sat still and was quiet as he looked her over. Being this close to him though... the heat thrummed through her veins, warming up her chilled body. The blue dame remembered the taste of his lips and tongue and her tail gave a little thump on the ground as she tried to settle herself. Still... she watched his mouth as he worked, not able to help herself.

"Isa"

She acquiesced to his demand with no fuss, and he moved through the storage room. Rummaging about until he had grabbed a coat, a bowl of water and a soft sponge, as well as some clean bandages. He started with the coat. He ran it through her coat until it was dry enough that he could see her body more easily. Running it down her back, down each leg. Slowly, carefully. Up her stomach, around the nap of her neck. A far cry from the roughness he had treated her with back in the cave. He didn’t meet her eyes as he worked.

Drying her allowed him to examine her body, and he had a good idea where to start when he grabbed the bowl. He dipped the sponge in the water and brushed it across a cut on her back leg. Just lightly enough to remove the blood that had crusted there. Once he was sure the wound was clear, he wrapped the bandage around it. It was shallow, and the bandage was perhaps overkill, but he was taking his time with her.

He found another cut, and the treatment was the same as the first. Then he saw to her bruises. Water and bandages would do nothing for them, but no matter. He had another treatment. He leaned down, and pressed his lips to the bruise, then licked it slowly. Dragging his tongue from one side of the bruise to the other in slow motion. If she could feel his heartbeat, she would know it gave lie to the slow and steady movements he made. He treated the bruises around her front first, then made his way to the one up her back leg. He pressed his lips to this one, as well.


"Speech"

Isa sat still, watching as Sirius gathered supplies. First he took a dry fur to her, sapping the rain from her soaked body. Each stroke of the fur raised the level of heat within the fae even more. She was so close to panting from that heat but the woman grit her teeth and persevered. Perhaps it was the mix of exhaustion with the taste of danger, but there was nothing she wanted more than the man before her right now.

Sirius bandaged the visible cuts and Isa watched with eyes at half-mast. Her lids were heavy and her eyes were likely glazed with lust, so she kept them mostly closed. She wasn't some loose hussy and could definitely control herself. It wouldn't do to give Sirius the idea that she was some wanton woman. Although, if he asked her right now...

The first kiss was placed upon her bruised flesh and Isa released a soft, entirely involuntary gasp, her damaged lips parting ever so slightly. Still she made no move to stop him or to urge him on. Like a good patient, Isa remained still but her heart threatened to beat its way through her rib cage. The fae's breathing increased slightly and her flesh tingled with each press of lips.

Once Sirius' lips touched her back leg, Isa couldn't keep quiet anymore. The woman pulled away, putting a pace or two between them. Her pale chest heaved as her pulse quickened. "Sirius," Isa spoke his name softly. "Make sure," she told him, their blue eyes meeting. "Make sure that you want this. I'm a loyal woman and I've never been with anyone aside from my husband." Perhaps it was the wrong time to tell him so, but it was something that she needed to say. "Make sure that you won't regret me." That was all that she asked.

"Isa"

The Warlord's eyes were heavy, lidded as Isa pulled away from him. Putting distance between them. A part of him rose up inside of him telling him to grab her, hold her. Not to let her go. To have his way, if she wanted it or not. But he didn’t move an inch as she came to a stop, her own breathing heavy. His name sounded pleasurable on her lips, but her words were much more difficult to digest.

He closed his eyes, thinking of Zee as she had been in life. Warm, fierce, and sometimes broken. He thought of Deathbelle, the only other woman he had been with. How broken she had been from contact with him. For wanting, partly having, and then it being taken away. His voice was a rasp. “I want you, I want you now. I won’t regret you, but I don’t know if I would want you tomorrow. I don’t know if I can give you permanence, Isa. But I haven’t felt so alive in… in so long. The feel, and taste of you. I would have you, if you could give yourself over for a day. If you need promises, you should leave, and you should leave now, Isa.” He whispered. His voice grew a little darker, though his head lowered a little. His eyes lifted up to see her face. He didn’t move otherwise.


"Speech"

He didn't chase her to the other side of the chamber, though she half expected him to. What she said needed to be heard. If he was going to regret her, then she wouldn't go through with this. Isa needed reassurance from the warlord. She needed to know what this would mean to him. Was he ready for such an encounter? He didn't make her wait long to find out.

Dark ears shifted forward as Sirius began to speak. He assured her that he wouldn't regret their time together, then went on to say that he may not want her tomorrow. The woman's gaze hardened for a moment and her mouth set in a hard line. There was a lot to muddle over within her mind. Could she handle being a one night stand? Could she handle just being thrown away the next day like garbage?

Sirius spoke of feeling alive in a way that he hadn't in so long and Isa's ears tucked back for just a moment. He was feeling things, but that didn't necessarily mean that he was feeling things for her specifically. He'd recently expended a high amount of adrenaline when he saved her from the slavers. Perhaps he was still riding that high. It could be anyone here with him, couldn't it?

And then Sirius gave her an out, telling her that if she couldn't accept this offer, that she should leave and leave now. Isa stared hard at him for a moment longer. The fae's claws dug lightly into the stone with an audible scrape and her damp coat bristled slightly. "I am too good of a woman to be tossed aside the next day, Sirius Fatalis. You say that you won't have regrets, but admitting that you may not want me tomorrow is as good as admitting that there would indeed be regrets." Teeth flashed for a moment as the fae's nose wrinkled. She tried to choose her words carefully, but it was obvious that she was at war with herself here. Gods, she wanted this big oaf, but her pride wouldn't let her be treated as anything less than what she deserved.

"Thank you for treating my wounds. Thank you for rescuing me and thank you for your kindness." Isa inhaled deeply and released a long, low exhale. "Thank you for igniting a fire within me that I haven't felt in a long, long time. I wasn't sure that I'd ever feel that again." Isa shook her head and shot the man a sad little smile. "If you ever come to decide that I am enough for you... I'll be waiting." Then Isa padded towards the door, stopping before the man only to meet his gaze with her own before she continued on. "Goodnight, Sirius."

"Isa"

His eyes narrowed as she spoke. She wanted all or nothing, and wasn’t willing to take the risk with him. He couldn’t deny the rejection that ran through his bones. He wasn’t sure if he should feel anger, or disappointment. But he felt a spike of both. It was less that he wouldn’t want her, and more weary of the long term consequences. “I have children to consider, it wasn’t that long ago they lost their Mother. I didn’t expect to ever feel… You're infuriating, and bold, and brave, and kind. But I can’t make you any promises. I won't.” That would be too much for her memory, for their children. But it had been so long, and she had woken something inside of him he had considered dead.

She approached him, not to stay, but to leave. But as she moved to go around him he reached out a paw and grabbed her behind the knee of her foreleg. His claws rested gently against her fur without penetrating. But they were there all the same, extended, holding. He didn’t move otherwise. In fact, he all but froze, barely breathing as he stood there. His paw on her. “Don’t go.”

"Speech"

Sirius spoke his piece, giving his reasoning as to why he couldn't give promises. Isa understood where he was coming from, she truly did. There were a lot of outlying factors at play. Yes, he did have children. Yes, his wife had passed away. He had responsibilities and others to care about, but what transpired between the two of them had nothing to do with that, in Isa's mind.

As she began to walk out, a mighty paw wrapped around one of her forelegs and stopped her. Sirius practically begged her not to go. The blue fae stopped since she had no choice and turned her icy gaze up once more to meet his own. "I'm not asking you for commitment, Sirius. I'm only asking you for respect. Respect that I definitely deserve." Isa knew that she was a good woman and she knew her worth. The pair of them were still new to knowing one another and so rushing into some relationship would have been a silly thing and not at all her style. It had simply been his words of 'may not want you tomorrow' that bothered her.

Gently, Isa extracted her foreleg from the warlords grip and placed her paw back on the ground. "I want you, Sirius. For the first time since my husband died, I feel that fire in my belly, that pull, that need." She then placed her paw upon his own, the white edged digits dwarfing her own pale toes. "No one else needs to know, but don't pretend like it never happened. That's disrespectful to both of us as well as the ones who previously saw our value and chose to be with us." The warlords wife had seen something in him that had been good enough to tie her life to his. Just as Isa's husband had found something worth sharing his life with. Isa saw value in Sirius, but she deserved for someone to see her value too.

"Isa"

The Warlord's expression deepened in confusion as she spoke. Asking for respect, not commitment. Had he not just told her that he respected her? Wanted her? Commitment was exactly his concern. He allowed her to work his paw loose, and it fell to the ground with a soft thud. He thought of the taste of blood on her lip, of the heat in her own eyes. The tease of her body. He let out a soft groan.

It was true that there was a heavy dose of lust in his veins right now. Did she want more than that? Was she afraid his feelings were adrenaline based only? “I came for you, Isa. I would do so again. Because you are mine. But I will come for you tomorrow, because you belong to yourself, as well. I will teach you to fight, and give you the tools to protect yourself. Now leave.” He growled, stepping to the side and showing her his fangs. The same ones that ended life not so very long ago.

"Speech"

The man was just so, so confusing. His groan met her ears and she enjoyed the sound, and then he was telling her that he wanted to teach her to fight and told her to leave. Sirius flashed teeth at her and Isa returned the sentiment, flashing her own fangs at him, though hers were much less intimidating. What should she do? The woman took a moment to think about it, not at all obeying the mans orders.

Eventually, after staring at Sirius for a few breaths, Isa crossed the space between them and, standing on tiptoe, leaned up to place a kiss upon his chin, a saber fang on either side of her muzzle. "If you still feel the same tomorrow..." She left it there, open ended. If he still wanted her tomorrow, then he could have her. It didn't need to be anyone else's business. It was strictly between them.

Since he'd told her to leave, Isa did just that. "Goodnight, Warlord." And then she left the storage den and went back to her own space. Still hot and bothered, Isa threw herself onto the pile of furs with a huff. Had she made the right choice? Right now she didn't feel like it, but tomorrow perhaps they would both be thankful for her resolve.

"Isa"