Dalliance

Chapter Forty Five

Dawson sat near the water, his gaze falling into the trembling rippling water as his thoughts scattered from Holly to what was to come. As he threw small rocks into the river, Holly watched from afar-admiring his childlike activity. Moving quietly towards him, she took a seat beside him and he gave her a quick smile-obviously distracted by his thoughts and guilt.

"I am so joyed you are well."

"As am I. Thank you for coming for me."

"To be honest, if the Alchemist had not told me of your kidnapping, I would have not done so. I feel full of guilt for that thought-the possible outcome."

"You cannot place everything upon yourself, Dawson. Please understand that."

"I adore you for wanting to believe that I am innocent with how things are-but I am far from it." Her brows furrowed as he explained. "If I would have never gone after Nicholas-you and I would have been married, we would not be lavish or posh...but we would love with a fever like no other...and you would be safe, not scarred from the forced removal of that child. To you, it might not seem so, but it is all my fault. I thought you dead, I believed it, I knew it was true..but somehow fate brought us together."

She placed her hand on his cheek. "Please do not blame yourself, Dawson." But as she tried to get him to relax, the pain was peeking through his eyes as he looked to her. "If I would have ran, none of the later stuff would have happened. But it has. We must seize these moments."

"What moments?"

"The ones right now. We could be captured any second, hung or tortured...I do not want to think of what could have been. Do you remember what Eleana told us when we were kids about what makes a knight a hero?"

He rolled his eyes, frustrated on her being right.

"That it is not winning the war that creates his title, but never refusing to back down when he loses."

She nodded. "She told you that so many times...both of us. I think of it now and understand it greater than ever. We will never be anything more than what we are now, but if we it right, Dawson-that will be enough."

"What can we do? We have no allies but a madman who has consumption...and he is more powerful than God."

"There is nothing in this world that is unbreakable. There is always a weakness, we just have to find his."

She saw how the guilt was still incredibly prominent in his eyes and stood beside him. "Come with me."

"Where?"

"Just do as I say."

He smirked, admiring her forced nature as she held out her hand. Accepting it, she led him to the abandoned shack that they had found along their continued journey. Closing his eyes for a second, he was brought inside as she closed the door-a fire blazing in the cracking fireplace.

"What are you doing?" He asked with a smirk as she gave him a smile in return.

"You worry far too much...and as I told you, I do not want to spend any more time that we have with just us two...thinking so grim..." Moving towards him, she dropped her dress to her feet, leaving her in her corset.

"Are you sure you are well enough?"

"I believe I should ask that of you..." She motioned to the wound that had been upon his body before he nodded.

"I can manage." He said in a low tone before pulling her against him. As their bodies crashed, he placed her down in front of the fire, sweetly kissing her lips. Her long hair fell behind her as her leg moved to his hips. Taking his hand, he brought it up her leg and felt the softness of her skin before smirking between kisses. Pulling back for a moment, she began to remove his shirt and then left his torso bare as she reached out to kiss him. Lifting her legs around him, he raised above her just enough to remove her corset and left her bare as well. Kneading, teasing, and kissing her breasts, he moved to her stomach where there was a small scar from the forced abortion. Her eyes gently shut as she was overcome with a second of pain and then there had been a feeling of ease as his lips moved to her neck. Her fingers then moved to his pants and pulled them so he was matching her bare nature. He looked at her amorously for a moment, caressing her cheek before sliding himself between her legs. Sweetly, he claimed her beside the raging fire. Each movement more intense then the one before-each kiss sweeter, and each moan longer; until everything finished with a grand finale of release. She laid upon his chest, wrapped in his arms, falling asleep to his heartbeat.