Curiosity struck her when mentioning his former lessons, his youth, she wondered? She wanted to ask though couldn’t bring herself to do so. Instead, she took to his instructions with ease, foot in palm, hoisting herself up. Praise finding her ears causing them to flush ever slightly though continued to follow his guidance. The reins were captured in one hand, the mane of the equines hair in another. She still worried that she may have caused some sort of discomfort, pulling tautly on the mane. With his help – that she truly was thankful for, no sooner was she perched upon the horses back. A girlish gasp escaped her, heart fluttering with an uncertain thrill though her eyes brightened with awe. You look natural up there, Ekosha blinked as she briefly glanced to Matthias and only offered a more shy smile. “You jest,” she laughed shaking her head. Alright, I’m going to swing up behind you. Just hold his reins steady. Glacial sights blinked; “What—?” Instinctively she gripped on to the horses’ reins. She felt the heat press against her back and it took every ounce of her not to stiffen or her cheeks to burn bright. It was as if a match had been struck the moment the space between them shattered. The scent of cedar and evergreen still seemed to linger upon him. Now, you can hold the reins in one or two hands, whatever feels easiest You lay them light against his neck on the opposite side for the way you want him to go, so he moves away from pressure. Like this.. His hand enveloped hers entirely, her breath unmistakingly shuddered at his touch, causing her skin to crawl with an unprecedented yearn. No, no, no that was wrong. Pay attention! She watched his movements and in turn would try to mimic them “Like this?” She motioned with the reins a little more stiffly though without a jerking motion, her heels just barely against the equines sides.

Jahi

Matthias Cyprian

”You jest,” she answered, a slight flush to her pale skin, a shy smile on her lips. Her expression changed quickly to one of confusion though, lost to him as he settled behind her. Every muscle tensed as he felt the small of her body press against him. Any sharp retort was snatched from his tongue. The scent of her, all pine and ice and winter’s cold kiss, fogged his mind. He tried to focus on his directions, on the beast beneath him who would surely feel the shift of his emotion, but his gaze wandered. Her thick silver hair was pulled up in that familiar messy knot she wore, revealing one high cheekbone and a curious indigo eye peering back at him from beneath a loose weft of hair. He followed the curve of her lean neck to the dip of her shoulder, a sudden longing to press his lips against the smooth skin. ”Fuck,” was all he could think. He had to focus. Taking her hands in his he tried once more to focus on teaching her the basics, feeling Shadow shift beneath them, picking up on his master’s tense emotion.

Her body shuddered against him as he wrapped his arms around her, and that odd warm ember that had settled in his chest earlier bloomed suddenly into an inferno. Fire burned through his veins in a primal need to pull her against him, to feel that same tremble as she lay beneath him, to touch and taste and devour until she came apart. Until she could barely gasp his name. Fuck, he had to think of anything else but this closeness, or she was going to feel very soon the evidence of her effect on him. When had that started, he wondered. She had always been beautiful, strikingly so. He was a man of course, even coming to her door half dying that first night he’d met her she’d looked like a divine force. Unsure if she was a savior or a haunting angel of death, come to beckon him to peace. He supposed he would have welcomed either.

”Like this?” He let her question pull some of his focus back on where his hands laid against the top of hers, watching as she leaned the rein lightly into the horse’s neck, feeling the shift of her legs to urge him on. The horse moved to her whim, walking briskly through the forest. ”No jest, you are a natural, Ekosha. Just like that.” His normally gruff voice felt thick on his tongue. He had to find a distraction, anything to pull his mind from the image of her long limbs wrapped around his waist, urging him for more.

Focusing on the reins, the horse was becoming more and more of a challenge as her mind wanted desperately to stray to the man sitting behind her. His hands engulfed her smaller ones, sliding over them with ease making her skin crawl as an inkling of unrelenting want - an unfamiliarity she did not know she had, began to burn within the pit of her stomach. What would those hands feel sliding against the curves of her side, the flat of her stomach – ? Her face was bright red which remained out of sight, facing forward. How could she think so obscenely?! It’d always been work or trying to uncover some fantastical artifact that may or may not have always been the wisest decision but the thrill of adventure eagerly coursed through her veins wondering what exciting excursion she could plunge herself in then? How could she use the discoveries made to help those unable to seek aid where it was not so freely reached? Ekosha would push herself beyond her limits ever since she stepped foot on Klewyth soils long before she ever met the enigmatic man behind her. She’d always been the physician and he both friend and patient. Were there ever unearthed emotions that had yet to been stoked before? Her grip cautiously tightened. She did not want to potentially bring to ruin what they had built. Shadows gait shifted, pulling her thoughts back to the present, her weight shifting with the horse. No jest, you are a natural Ekosha. Just like that. Eko hadn’t relented on her grip of the reins. It was the only thing keeping her in a solid state for the way her name fell from his lips just now truly made her want to melt. “How long will it take to get to where we’re going to?” she cleared her throat, making an effort for small talk – something to keep her mind elsewhere.

Jahi