<span style="color: #FF0000">Slowly the tongue darted to wet his lips as he leaned forward, "Yeah....." The smallest of smiles flashed on his face before he closed that gap and placed a kiss on her lips. <br/><br/>Why did he do this? Why did the thought even come to mind for him to do this? <br/><br/>Call it compulsion, curiosity, just this need to see what would happen. To push the little princess and see how she reacted to him, reacted to a real man who showed an interest in her. If she would go along with it, give in to what he saw that she wanted, or would she hold true to her virtue? As it was he saw her look at him, those glances to the side to observe him. When he shifted and moved, when his muscles shifted, flexed, moved. <br/><br/>Now, as his lips pressed against her own, his hand cupped the side of her face and he leaned into her some.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic"> Let's see what the princess does in the face of a real man....</span></span><br/><br/>The movement of his tongue drew her attention, eyes dropping to it for a moment before instantly moving back to his eyes...and noticing just how much closer they'd gotten. His voice was different than it had been before, somehow lower, but his eyes...so blue...kept moving closer and closer until she went cross-eyed trying to hold eye contact...<br/><br/>And he kissed her.<br/><br/>BrÃ¡dach kissed her.<br/><br/>Her mind, at first, didn't catch up to what had happened. It was like when she'd nearly drowned. There was a pressure she recognized, but this time it was different than what she'd felt before. Where before it was frantic and by necessity, this was slow, it was soft. It'd caught her off guard, despite how it'd come about, and it left her wondering at it, much to her own annoyance, especially where she'd only been wondering what his kiss would be like, and now that it was happening...<br/><br/>His lips felt smooth, almost like velvet, and fit into her own. Her heart was jumping wildly, as her mind started to kick in that what she was doing wasn't right.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Maria, what are you doing?!</span>she scolded herself.<span style="font-style: italic">This isn't right! It's not proper! You should be moving!</span>But then...another voice chimed in, this one more timid, but definitely audible to her.<span style="font-style: italic">...He...took you by surprise...and now you know...</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Know? Know what? That his lips are soft? That he's an alright kisser? You shouldn't care!</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Better than alright...but I shouldn't...</span><br/><br/>There was a brief moment, where she'd almost started to kiss him back, something he'd probably be able to feel even if she wouldn't admit it. And then there was a sound, almost akin to a slight whimper as she made herself pull back, not overly far, but enough to break the kiss, and look at him with confusion, conflicted confusion.<br/><br/>"BrÃ¡dach, I...we...why?" came a breathless voice, barely above a whisper. She almost wanted to hope that he'd just apologize and leave it at that, but she wasn't expecting a miracle. Nevertheless, she didn't slap him, didn't push him; The heat was too appealing to do so, along with other reasons she wasn't allowing herself to admit. She just wanted to know... "Why?"<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">This was different and not entirely planned for on his part. As he had expect her to shove him, to hit him, to yell at him and berate him for being rude, improper and barbaric. <br/><br/>Yet, none of that happened, instead she began to kiss him back for a brief second, barely registered but it had been there and he had leaned into her a bit more. Would he do it though? Is that what he wanted? When she pulled back, the whimper had him give a soft smile and his hand at the side of her face reached up to push back some of her hair. All of it merely a means to give him time to figure out what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Why?</span><br/><br/>It was such a good question. Why were they even here, why was he still there with her when he could have left her and gone about the rest of his life? Why did he save her life? There were so many <span style="font-style: italic">Whys</span> that needed to be answered, but for her own currently posed question. <br/><br/>"Because...we can...." he whispered back to her and then leaned back in to capture in another kiss, same as before. It was slow, sweet, tender even with a hand back at the side of her face while an arm wrapped about her. Despite the strength that he had in his form and the power that he possessed, when he held her it was gentle and careful. As though he feared that he might break her.</span><br/><br/>The soft smile, the hand that had been holding her face pushing hair back...It was all so uncharacteristic of what she'd thought of him. He'd always acted so gruff, tough, uncaring, and suddenly he was acting...the polar opposite. The lightest gestures held her attention the most, eyes flitting back and forth between both of his. But the pause was killing her, the lack of an answer. Her mind was recovering from its shock and was telling her to put distance between them, to not allow herself to get so close to him in that way unless her life was at stake, and now that she was warm...she couldn't really justify it.<br/><br/>Just as she went to move, his reply stopped her, a shallow breath taken in just as his lips fell back onto hers and her eyes drifted closed again as her mind tried to keep cool.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Pull back, Maria. You have to pull back.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">No you don't, Maria...you can kiss him back...it's just a little kiss...</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">No, it's not. Don't lie to yourself.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">It's like he said; You ca-</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">You're promised to another. End it.</span><br/><br/>The final voice in her debate brought another whimper, forcing herself to put space between them...not much more than she had the first time, but enough that she felt safe. They couldn't do it, and she shouldn't have let it happen the first time. But it had...and at least she now knew what his kisses were like, and could stop wondering.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Even though you shouldn't have wondered in the first place.</span><br/><br/>"I...we...we can't do this..." Maria tried to explain, flustered but prepared to stick to her guns. "I'm promised to another...We shouldn't have even..." Her words failed her, eyes dropping. "I'm sorry..."<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Again, she let him kiss and kissed back yet again as well. He had begun to push her back gently, ever so gently, because if this were to continue the position would need to change just a bit. The hand at her waist shifted forward and he slipped it ever so gently under her shirt, fingertips glided across her stomach then up. However, before they reached their expected destination, they instead slipped back to run up along her back. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Soft....she is a lot softer than I thought she would be....</span><br/><br/>Just as he thought, this might actually happen she pulled again, though he caught that whimper and it made him groan softly. The words that she spoke, he heard them but to him they did not seem to make much sense, not with how she kissed him back. The whole promised to another thing did not make any sense to him as it was. BrÃ¡dach was free, there was no one that held him in place or controlled what he did. He did what he wanted when he wanted and that was how it would remain. Even the mere thought of someone being promised to another was stupid to him. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">No one should be forced to marry another...that is stupid and barbaric....</span><br/><br/>"Why?"<br/><br/>It was his turn to question to get answers, "I know you want it. You respond to the kiss...."</span><br/><br/>He wasn't going to let it be easy, it seemed. His own groan and the way his hand had been so gentle, sliding over her skin...He wanted what she couldn't give, and she was ashamed to say she wanted to indulge a little longer. She wanted to enjoy a kiss that felt like that, not what she knew she'd be getting with the Prince of Sirmia: no affection at all, expected to sit pretty while the men did what they needed to.<br/><br/>She wouldn't even have been allowed to be alone with a man until the wedding night, but here she was...alone...with BrÃ¡dach...already far closer than she should have been...sharing a kiss with him when she shouldn't have been...and wanting to continue...<br/><br/>The hand that'd been on her back had slid forward as she pulled away, caressing her thigh which kept her mind from fully focusing; Focusing on explaining what he wanted to know, anyway. Instead it was more focused on how his hand felt on her thigh, at how soft the pads of his fingers had been, how light his touch had been, how careful. It was a side of him she preferred, the mask he'd worn around her having fallen away to show something different.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">But you shouldn't have a preferred,</span>she chastised herself some more.<span style="font-style: italic">He's to get you to your intended. What is so hard about that?</span><br/><br/>"BrÃ¡dach, I..." Again, her voice faltered, a hand finding his on her thigh, if only to still it without removing it, allowing herself to indulge while she spoke. "I can't want it...It isn't right. I shouldn't want it, knowing where this journey ends...I...I won't deny that...that the kiss was..." Her words tapered off for a moment, her lip finding itself between her teeth as she tried to find the words. "...But I..."<br/><br/>Her eyes dropped again, turning for the fire instead of looking at him, unwilling to keep looking at the man who was making this so much more difficult than she'd imagined it'd be. To do a complete 180, and catch her attention, on the way to the man she was supposed to marry for her kingdom...Though her mind had fallen silent, she didn't need to think it consciously to know how difficult it'd be from here on out.<br/><br/>Ignoring could only get you so far.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">There was something....something that made him frown and.....hurt. <br/><br/>Why did it really matter to him? She was just a spoiled brat that wanted nothing more than to be the bitch to some inbred twit. So, why did it matter to him that she....rejected him. After all, he had only meant to test the waters, he had not expected it to go much further than that. <br/><br/>It was slow this time, as the softness he had on his face shifted back to being cold and hard. The hand, that rested on her leg and beneath her own, was pulled again, nearly yanked. <br/><br/>"Cocktease," he scoffed as he stood and moved from her to check on their clothing. "Should have known you would do this," he continued while he checked his shirt. "Should have known that you would just....act like this. Tease me and get me going, only to fall back on that bullshit promised to someone nonsense," the words were spat out with anger while he shrugged into his mostly dry shirt. "But...you know...I just save your fucking life and feed you...only to have you....remember that twit! Some faceless stranger who is probably going to fuck you once to consummate then spend the rest of your marriage banging every maid and wench that his tiny prick can stick into!" <br/><br/>Where all of this anger came from he was not sure, but it was there and he fed into it. Wanted it, wanted it to be back how it was but hours ago.  Back to that hate and disdain and away from...whatever the fuck this was about to be.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">I should have known...</span><br/><br/>It was the only thought she had at first, in shock at his sudden change, at the anger, at the hateful words he spewed. For a while, she just took it, eyes widened in the blatant shock she didn't bother to try and hide. What was the point? He'd called her such a word, and then continued to tear into her.<br/><br/>She didn't watch him pull his shirt on, nor what he was doing...not until her own anger started to boil over. A hurt anger. Her face hardened, the once timid and shy violet eyes replaced with something more vibrant, more determined. "Is that what I am?" came her question, her voice quiet but deadly even. "I'm a cocktease, because you pushed for something? Because<span style="font-style: italic">you</span>went in for a kiss after staring at me like no decent man would?"<br/><br/>Her body slowly rose, her steps moving toward him, each one weighted, angry, her body starting to shake but not from cold. "You saved me, and feed me, and that justifies moving in on me? That justifies trying to get something I can't give you? You're your own cocktease! Going after what you know you can't have for the sake of going after it! That's what all of this was, right? I was the naive girl who let you talk smooth, be gentle, and what was it for? Your own amusement? Because I<span style="font-style: italic">want</span>to be in this position? I<span style="font-style: italic">want</span>to be marrying someone I've never even met?!"<br/><br/>Voice raising, she got to him, hands pushing hard into him, following after him. "You're right! He'll probably touch me once and it'll be done, but my people will be saved. I'm doing this for them, for my kingdom! What're you doing this for? You're doing it for the money, and for your precious woods. And you think I want to know how much<span style="font-style: italic">I'm</span>worth?" She grabbed her clothing off of the line hastily, not even bothering to check if it was dry or not, spitting at his feet. "<span style="font-style: italic">That was your one,</span>" she added, mocking his infliction the night before they'd left.<br/><br/>Maria left it at that, refusing to let any tears she felt the urge to cry fall in front of him, storming off toward the back of the cave to get dressed. Away from him and his neanderthalic, cruel judgements on things he knew nothing about.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">"10,000 gold pieces," he said with a tone of ice. "5,000 from your father and the other 5,000 from the "father in-law," he taunted. <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic"> There is was...that fire...that anger...that storm.....</span><br/><br/>"I asked for the woods and they were all too eager to give them to me to insure that your royal ass made it to the other kingdom!" he continued on while he pulled his pants on. "And what people would that be you are doing it for again? Those guards who left you to the bandits? Men that would have taken what I have been denied without so much as a second thought! They would have taken turns on you, that unspoiled virgin pussy would have been just what they wanted. And when they were done, they would have ransomed you back to your father or husband to be, maybe both. Only for neither to want you, because what made you worth a damn was lost to a man who smelled of horse shit and could not write his own name!" <br/><br/>At about this time he had his boots on and went to leave, though he stopped at the entrance, "Stop playing their game and do what you want. Think about your happiness and not that of those who could give two shits about you or your own happiness." Then he was gone, out into the night to try and track down more game and some wood to make a couple of arrows. Or at least that was his reason and not the need to walk and get away from her.</span><br/><br/>"At least I'd have known where I stood with them!" she shouted as he left, picking up a rock and throwing it after him, even if he wasn't even in sight anymore.<br/><br/>And then she collapsed to the floor, in tears as she angrily tried to yank on clothing that she needed his help to fully put back on. It was a frustrating realization as she sat there in an unlaced corset, and an unbuttoned dress, yanking off the corset and the dress, throwing them angrily to the side and sitting in her petticoats and cloak.<br/><br/>Who was she more frustrated with? Him for being brutally honest, or herself for thinking she could share in a kiss she prayed was innocent when it was anything but? He couldn't be blamed for being a brute, having lived in the woods, having no rules enforced or put on him. She knew better. She was doing this for her people, to end a war.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">People that stood by and would have let you fall victim to bandits...</span><br/><br/>It stung, that realization, her knees pulled in tightly to her chest. But two wrongs didn't make a right, so even if they'd have left her, doesn't mean she needed to shirk her duty...<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Even if it costs you your freedom...and happiness...and body...</span><br/><br/>The tears kept coming allowing herself to fall over, back to the fire. She considered, for a moment, going out on her own, but knew it'd be stupid. What choice did she have? Either she stay with him and let him get her there, so she could forget him...or she'd go on her own, likely get lost, and die, if bandits didn't get to her first. These thoughts continued, as did the tears, until a troublesome sleep took her, filled with visions of what he'd said, and what she stupidly wished would have happened.