No Regrets
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Eimi, Rochelle
Date Posted: 8th July 2007
Characters: Eleada, B'ram
Description: Eleada thinks back on the night before, and wrestles with herself over a decision.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 1 of Turn 4
Eleada stood barefoot on the cold stone of her weyrledge, her arms crossed over her robe as she watched the first rosy tendrils of dawn rising over the weyrbowl. The low gray of clouds spotted the horizon, suggesting rain later. A few early risers were making their way across the bowl to the dining cavern. The morning air was cool, almost cold where the breeze brushed her face, but for once she didn't mind. The cool air helped clear the fuzziness of sleep from her mind, allowing her to think clearly about what had happened the night before.
She was playing a very dangerous game, akin to standing naked in front of a weyrling flaming practice, and she knew it. It wasn't fair to herself -or to B'ram- to deny it. And already, she wondered if she was going to regret it.
**But Gliorith did rise.** She reasoned with herself. **If it happens, there would be no way to know whether it was him or the bluerider. And maybe I got lucky this time. Maybe the tea actually worked...**
The last sevenday had been wonderful. Despite the hard work and the stress everyone had been under, trying to prepare for Threadfall and to repair a flood damaged weyr, B'ram had been there. He'd taken her away for a few precious candlemarks at times, or simply been a friendly presence in the evenings. It had been a long time since she had let someone get so wonderfully close. Since the night after Gliorith's flight, when he kissed her and she'd finally made the decision that had been haunting her for months, she'd refused to have any regrets. And last night...
~*~*~
"You have got to stop bringing me wine." Eleada said with a broad grin.
"People will think you're actually trying to get me drunk."
"People should know me well enough to know that if I want to get a woman drunk, I bring rum," B'ram chuckled, refilling both their glasses.
"I suppose I would drink rum." Eleada said thoughtfully, holding her refilled glass up in a brief toast of thanks. "If I was really determined to get drunk. But normally I don't care for rum much."
"Some people like it mixed with juice or klah or something." B'ram preferred it straight. It made him feel more manly. Not that he _needed_ to feel more manly...
"I've never tried it with juice before." She admitted after taking another sip. "Just straight. And in cakes. Those aren't bad." She sighed. It was good wine. She wondered when he'd had time to slip out and get it, then decided she didn't care. It was something welcoming to look forward to after a long day of digging out the damaged weyr.
"I'd rather drink my rum than eat it," he smiled, fingering the stem of his glass. "Have you ever been to the Vintner Hall?"
"Not the new one at Amber Hills, no." She admitted. "But I know the northern halls pretty well. Wine tastes best chilled." She said with a grin.
"Maybe we should go, you and I. I hear they do winetastings there for people. Maybe we could pick out a bottle or two together?" It would be nice to get away from the Weyr for a while. There were always...
distractions... here. Luckily his biggest distraction was absent, but he could tell Eleada just needed to have a bit of fun.
"I'd like that." She said quietly, admiring the way the glowlight reflected off her glass before taking another sip. "It would be nice to get away again. And I suppose I should visit them sometime, instead of going north."
"It could be the start of a whole new life," he gently teased. B'ram wasn't really sure just what it was that brought her to the South. Sure, her children were there, and the warmer climate was good for the body as well as the soul, but she still seemed to be only half at Dolphin Cove and half... somewhere else.
She laughed. "What do I need a new life for? The one I've got is busy enough. Besides," she said easily, "you don't need _wine_ to start a new life." She took another sip, finishing the last of her wine with her eyes sparkling at B'ram over the edge of the glass.
B'ram shifted, laying his arm across the back of the sofa behind her and turned enough to look at her. "And what do you need, Eleada?"
Moving deliberately, she carefully set the glass aside before turning back to him. The glowlight send faint patterns of shadow across his face and chest, and she idly ran a finger along his shirt. "Motivation."
He watched her finger trace along the fabric of his shirt. "Do you think I could help you find motivation?"
She stopped tracing the pattern on his shirt and leaned into him, kissing him lightly, the merest brush designed to signal that she wanted to be closer now that the wine was gone. She wanted his arms around her, warm and thrilling, keeping the loneliness she felt so often at bay. She knew he would take the hint as she broke off the light kiss, whispering into his ear. "Do you want to?"
Luckily B'ram was wise enough to know a verbal response was not necessary. His arms slipped around her as he pulled her into him, his kiss more than answering that question. He wanted to be her motivation, and perhaps, just perhaps, she could be his as well.
Eleada drank in the kiss, reveling in the answer to her question, twining an arm up around his neck. He smelled intoxicatingly of wine and male and dragon and sweat, all of it wrapped warmly around her with strong arms. Carefully, she pressed herself a little closer, and little more intimately against him, deepening the kiss.
He welcomed her in and softly caressed and explored her mouth with his own. Shards, he wanted this so badly. But they had come this far before and she had pushed him away. It had been frustrating, and yet thrilling. Pushing him away had only drawn him in more, but tonight...
shards, he didn't want to be pushed away anymore. He couldn't build himself up like this for no reason anymore. B'ram needed to know for sure that this was it. Pulling back slightly he whispered, "Can I stay with you tonight?"
She stared at him for a moment, feeling her heart thudding as her breath caught in her throat. She wanted to. She shouldn't. She knew better.
This was where she should push him away, say "no." But she had already made her decision a sevenday ago, even if she'd never voiced it aloud.
She wanted someone real, someone to hold her and make her feel alive again. She wanted B'ram. Lightly, a feeling of daring thrilling up her spine, she kissed him again. "Please." She said breathlessly. "Please stay."
~*~
Eleada sighed. Last night had been wonderful. She didn't want to part with a moment of it. She wanted tonight, and tomorrow, and every other night in the future to be like that. She wanted B'ram to be there, to take her into his arms and hold her and keep the nightmares at bay. To love her the way that Gliorith, as wonderful as her slumbering green was, never could. She wanted him, wanted him with an intensity that she had not felt in turns, and she knew he wanted her back. She was willing to risk it, to have another night like last night.
And yet...
It wasn't fair to B'ram not to tell him why it had taken so long for her to let him close. It wasn't fair to expect him to return her childish dreams when she had this hanging over her head. She had to tell him, even if she lost him because of it.
**No regrets.** She told herself firmly, tears starting to sting at her eyes as she stared blindly at the dawn sky. **No regrets.**
Last updated on the July 8th 2007