Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter XXIII - Uncharted Waters

Author's Note:

Dear all, I hope you're still enjoying the story :) Or, well... at least surviving it :D There's going to be a bit more relationship angst and drama and unpleasantness in the near future again (I know, it's been a lot. I'm sorry in advance. People are flawed and make mistakes that you might not agree with when they are plagued with issues that they don't know how to handle, but that's unfortunately part of life) But I promise every hurdle faced is another step towards better days :) And we will get to better days very soon ;) (At least in some ways better :D)

I hope you're all excited for the winter holidays :) You might have noticed that chapters are released a tiny bit more often now than before, that's because I'm timing specific chapters for the holidays. I don't even know why, I just thought that it would be nice to have significant chapters released around that time :D So I hope you'll all enjoy the journey towards those (or again, at least survive it :D). And that you will enjoy everything that will come after.

I'm looking forward to sharing it all with you already <3 Thank you for reading and commenting. It means a lot to me every time <3

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It was way past midnight when Aeyrin heard the knock on the door of her room.

She wasn't really able to sleep anyway. She thought that she did rest for a while – she had been in a tough battle with a bunch of trolls earlier after all and she was exhausted, but she woke up after what only felt like minutes, riled up by a nightmare. It was a painfully familiar occurrence by now.

She knew that she would have been tossing and turning until she finally fell asleep again. The knock was like a saving grace just then.

She'd been in and around Rorikstead for two days now, waiting for Bishop to receive her letter. She was really eager to see him again and to enjoy the brief night with him when her head would remain blissfully empty of all worries. He always had that effect on her – even before all this mess. Whatever was wrong, he could always make her feel better or distract her.

She jumped up from the bed, clad in nothing but his old black tunic and she swung the door open eagerly.

Bishop looked her up and down and he tried to fight the satisfied smirk at the sight of her current attire. He failed miserably at that, but, a second later, his brows creased worriedly.

"That was... quick. Everything alright?" he gave her a long searching look as he stepped into the room and shut the door behind himself. It was no wonder, she practically wrote to him right after they had parted ways. But she couldn't wait. She wanted to see him so badly just then.

"Uh-huh," she nodded in reassurance and, before he could respond again, she draped her arms over his neck, lifting herself up on her tiptoes and using his head as leverage. She instantly pressed her lips to his and pushed her whole body against his, pinning him to the door as much as her stature allowed.

Bishop was caught off guard at first. His hands hovered above her waist as if he was deciding whether to grip her or to push her away. When she contacted him, he kind of assumed that something bad must have happened. It must have barely been a day or two after they had parted when she sent the letter and she sounded so desperate to see him. He certainly didn't expect her to just jump him like that.

Well... he probably shouldn't complain.

He was a bit worried about what prompted this, but... maybe there was nothing to it.

And it wasn't as if they couldn't just talk after.

His hands wrapped around her waist and lifted her a bit off the ground just as she plunged her tongue deeply into his mouth, sliding it against his. He moved his hands lower, still holding her pinned to his form, and he grabbed her bare buttcheeks hungrily, kissing her and nipping into her lower lip in equal passion.