My heart hammers in my chest as we step out of the alleyway. Kerym drops my hand immediately, cold air swarming in to take the place of his warm grasp. I try my hardest to keep my eyes on the ground, arranging my body to look every bit the part of a scared, docile human woman following in the footsteps of her dark elf master.
A part of me rages against the idea of anyone seeing me and thinking me weak, or worse, thinking of Kerym as one of the more lewd miou around the camp, but it’s a necessary evil. None of the human men in camp may hold any appeal for me, but Kerym is no mere human man- and if I want to continue to see him, secrecy is just a part of the equation.
I chance a glance up at Kerym, who walks a few steps ahead of me. His spine is ramrod straight, the taut muscles of his back and shoulders rippling beneath his uniform as he sets a lazy, relaxed pace.
His long black hair glints in the starlight, brushing across his shoulder as he leads me through the village square. Fiercely pointed ears part his hair on the sides, the sharp tips protruding occasionally as he moves. Even without being able to see his face, warmth pools between my legs. Kerym is a force to be reckoned with.
Feeling my eyes on him, Kerym looks at me over his shoulder, his violet eyes sparkling as they meet mine. He gives me a wink, heat sprinting up my neck and flushing my cheeks as I look back at the ground again.
I don’t know how he has this effect on me, but I can’t deny that I like it. Kerym makes my knees weak. Every time our eyes meet, I feel more naked than I know how to describe- it’s not as if he’s just seeing me with the absence of clothing, but with the absence of pretense, of physical form. It’s like he’s staring into my very soul.
Kerym makes a sharp turn, striding down another dark alley leading west, taking us closer to the little cabin he occupies in the dark elf quarter. Glancing around to make sure no one is watching, I follow, darkness swallowing me as the height of the surrounding buildings shuts out the moonlight.
No sooner am I in the alley than I feel Kerym’s body pressed against mine, his supernatural speed and strength crushing the air from my lungs as his hands wrap around the backs of my knees, lifting me off the ground and pressing my body into the wall.
“Keep looking at me like that, and I won’t be able to wait until we’re home,” he says roughly against the bare skin of my neck, his tongue lashing from between his lips and tracing a sizzling trail across my pulse. My breath catches in my throat, and my hips grind mindlessly against the heat of him through his pants.
“Maybe I don’t want you to wait,” I breathe, arching into his touch. The challenge I’ve laid before him glints in his violet eyes, and for a second, I think Kerym very well might take me against this wall. Instead, he exhales sharply through his nose, setting me back down.
“Walk faster,” He says roughly. Before I can think better of it, I reach out, grabbing his thick length through his pants. Kerym hisses as my palm wraps around him, going rigid beneath my touch and bringing a feral smile to my face.
“Make me,” I whisper, before darting back out into the village path. Kerym growls throatily from the alley, well aware of what I’m doing. Teasing him will never stop being fun, and I know he won’t do anything where people can see us- he has no desire to get caught together, not if he values his reputation and standing within his family.
A part of me almost wishes he didn’t care so much, that he’d decide being with me isn’t something to hide or be embarrassed about, but I quickly shoo those thoughts away. I’ve been down that road too many times, and while I’ve never outright voiced my feelings on the matter to Kerym, I can see the guilt he feels over it shine through.
Letting that spiral run rampant will only ruin a perfectly good night. Kerym and I could never be together, not in any meaningful way. He’s a dark elf, with a powerful miou family and even more powerful ambitions to rise in his caste.
And I’m just a human.
Besides, if my aunt and uncle found out, there would be hell to pay. I doubt either of them would be truly angry, but I’ve seen the way some of the women are treated by the other humans after word gets out about them being with dark elves, consensually or not. It’s taboo, and wrong- their kind has enslaved and tortured our kind for centuries now.
To be with a dark elf, much less fall in love with one, is a betrayal of the worst kind.
You’re not in love with him,I remind myself roughly as Kerym falls into step once again ahead of me, his shoulders wound tightly.It’s just… fun. That’s all this is. A way to blow off steam.
Even as I tell myself that, I still can’t deny the feelings that bloom in my stomach any time Kerym is near. It’s not just simple desire, or even just comfort- there’s something about Kerym that speaks to my soul in a way that no one else ever has.
I can’t help but wonder sometimes if he feels that way, too.
In between our trysts, when we’re in bed together or find a quiet moment to simply be, we talk about the world around us. Knowing what Kerym hopes to do with his life, knowing how hard and demanding his family is, I understand why I would never fit into the picture even if Kerymdidsee me as something more than just another human woman.
Kerym feels things deeply, and seems genuinely perturbed by the injustices of Protheka. We’ve spent countless hours dreaming up a new world, a Protheka where humans are liberated and dark elves are free of the constraints of the brutal society they’ve built up around themselves.
No, I don’t think he sees me as just another human. Despite his background, Kerym is nothing like any of the other dark elves I’ve come across and heard about, especially the noble ones. He cares so deeply about the people around him, the world around him- even if he doesn’t love me, I think he at least on some level respects me.
Maybe not as an equal, because he is a dark elf after all- but I believe he at least respects me as another living being.
I shake my head, trying to rid myself of the thoughts swirling in my head. It does me no good to linger on the things I can’t change about my life. I enjoy spending time with Kerym, whether that time is spent laughing and talking, or… not talking.
The sparkling lights of the west quarter begin to come into view as we duck down another alley, Kerym making a grab for me that sets me squealing and giggling before I slip through his fingers and back out onto the path. I can see the feral beast beginning to wake in his eyes, his frustration and need only growing each time I playfully deny him.
I love the power I have over him- I love knowing I can make him feel so hungry for me. It’s one of the few times I feel truly in control, and I have no intentions of letting him off easily.
As we approach the dark elf quarter, Kerym gets bolder, squeezing my ass in the middle of the path and making me jump. I giggle nervously, swatting his hands away as he gives me a lopsided grin before we duck down another alley, circling around to the back of his housing block.
This time, as soon as we’re encased in darkness, I take off in a mad sprint, knowing how it will rile him up to not be able to catch me or steal a kiss before we’re inside.
“Layla,” Kerym warns, his voice thick with desire. I only laugh in response, not slowing my steps in the slightest. We both know Kerym could catch me in a heartbeat- his elven abilities easily overshadow my measly human ones, but I think he likes the chase.
In a world where everything is either handed to him or out of his reach entirely, I think he finds it cathartic to test his patience and abilities. I know I do.
Suddenly, I’m slamming into a solid mass right in front of me, the force nearly sending me sprawling to the ground before an equally solid arm is wrapped around my waist, keeping me on my feet and pressed tightly to the mass before me.
It takes a second to realize I’ve run straight into Kerym, who must have sprinted ahead and around me with that damned elven speed.
“Caught you,” he rasps as I find his piercing violet eyes. I pout playfully, shoving lightly against his chest.
“No fair, I want a rematch,” I say, pushing out my lower lip. Laughter dances in Kerym’s eyes as he slowly relinquishes me from his hold, dragging the broad expanse of his hand over the small of my back and the curve of my ass as he releases me.
“Then a rematch you will get,” He replies, his deep tenor hardly above a whisper. “I’ll race you there.”
I take off in lieu of a response, knowing that I’ll need all of the headstart I can get. I hear Kerym laugh and curse lightly under his breath before following after me, our footsteps echoing off of the empty streets as the twinkling lights of his cabin come into view ahead.
Our race isn’t the only reason I’m so excited to see his back porch.
