Er... bit of an epic. (There didn't seem to be an obvious break point without getting shouted at for too much plot and not enough action)
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They rode back down the track in silence, the horses picking their way along the rutted ground, dust hanging in the air behind them.
"It's not that he died..." Athos glanced over in surprise. There was a slight frown on her face, and she wasn't looking at him. He kicked his horse alongside, but made no comment.
"I mean, it's bad enough that he did. But it's not that he died, or the blood... there was so much blood.... But we were just talking, and laughing, and he was asking about Meg, and then...." She shook her head and looked at him, bewildered.
He shrugged "It was an accident, it's not your fault"
She shot him a dubious look. "No, but it could be. He was only there because of me. And if we hadn't been talking he might have noticed the open door and not bent down to get the hoofpick... If." She shook her head "No, I know it's not my fault. But still..."
A gust of wind blew dust across the track and the sun went behind a cloud. They both looked up at the sky and kicked the horses on. The sky darkened as they carried on riding, and they paused to pull cloaks on just before the first drops of rain fell to the ground, splashing in the dust. The sky darkened further, the clouds boiling up on the horizon bringing distant rumbles of thunder. The horses snorted and shook their heads, unimpressed at being kept out in the rain. They kicked forward into a trot as the rain fell harder and the rumbles of thunder grew louder.
A sudden squall announced the start of the storm proper. The horses spooked and danced across the track as the wind drove the rain into their faces and blew Kate's hood back. She squinted across the fields, looking for shelter as the rain poured down. Cresting a rise, they simultaneously pointed towards a small building set back in the field and kicked the horses on again.
The wooden door scraped along the ground as they dragged it open and led the horses inside. There were two small windows at the back, but the barn was dark with the smell of fresh hay hanging in the air. As their eyes adjusted to the gloom they could see that it was empty inside: some stalls at the rear, a bare earth floor, stone walls and a ladder leading up to the hayloft. The rain bounced off the roof as they loosened the tack and put the horses into the stalls. Kate walked back to the door and shivered as she watched the rain fall.
Athos looked her up and down: the strands of hair that weren't tied back were hanging in dripping rats tails, cloak and coat dripping water, boots squelching in the wet. "Good look - very elegant."
She wiped a sleeve across her face and met his eyes with disdain "I think you'll find that the 'drowned rat' look is very fashionable right now." A smile tugged at her lips. "You're a bit bedraggled yourself." The water was dripping off both of them and pooling onto the earth. They exchanged glances and grinned.
She took her cloak off and shook it out, then wrapped it back round her, relieved that it had done its job and kept the worst of the rain out.
The thunder rumbled closer as he looked around the barn again. "We may be stuck here for a while."
Kate pulled a face "More than an hour or two and we'll lose the light, and the road's not going to be safe in the dark." Water was pouring down the track they had been riding on.
He frowned as she shivered again, and looked around - there was no convenient pile of firewood or hearth, nothing but bare earth. The ladder creaked ominously as he climbed it and stuck his head into the loft - loose hay had been stacked up to cure, but again, there was nothing of use. He climbed back down to find her rubbing the horses down. "Nothing but hay up there."
Kate walked out of the stalls "Hay? In a hayloft? Fancy that." She failed to keep a mischievous smile off her face.
He raised an eyebrow "Did you want to go back out there?"
"No, no, you're fine. I'll just stay in here... with the hay"
"Right, out you go then..." He moved swiftly towards her and picked her up, bundling her towards the torrential rain beyond the open door.
She squeaked and tried to wriggle free, then scrabbled backwards into his arms as a flash of lightning was immediately followed by a clap of thunder overhead. Instinctively he pulled her close. "Maybe not. It's a bit wet out there." Another lightning strike hit close by leaving a tang in the air. The horses spooked and they both recoiled as another deafening boom echoed through the air and shook the building, swiftly followed by a downpour of hailstones that bounced off the roof and field, rolling in the grass. She glanced up, her eyes huge and he smiled - she'd somehow managed to manoeuvre her way inside his cloak and gave the impression she'd quite happily stay there.
"What's the plan then?"
Kate pulled a face "Realistically, we're stuck here for the night if it doesn't clear over. Even if we have enough light, it's going to be very slow going now. We could go back to the farm, but I'd really rather not." She closed her eyes, smothering a yawn as she leant against him. "In the meantime, I'm going to try to grab some sleep."
"Best get up into the loft then, at least the floor's dry up there." He pushed her away with a smile and she rubbed her face, then kissed him gently before another crack of thunder sent her burrowing back into his cloak and he smirked. "You're just using it as an excuse now. Up you go - I'll throw the bed rolls up. Have you got any food with you?"
"I brought the rest of breakfast with me. Norah tried to give me some more food but I said we didn't need it. That'll teach me to turn food down."
She slung the bag over her shoulder and climbed the ladder, then stepped back as the bed rolls landed at her feet.
They stood looking around - nothing but bare floorboards and hay. The odd drop of rain splashed on the floor as it found its way through the roof.
"Could be quite cosy" Kate was looking wistfully at the hay. He raised an eyebrow. "No - it's been laid properly, I can't go crushing this year's harvest while it's curing - height of bad manners." She turned away and kicked her bedroll, watching it unwind across the floor then hung her cloak on a nail sticking out of a rafter, where it continued to drip onto the floor. Various weapons were dumped on the floor.
He leant against the wall, smiling slightly and watching as she wiped away a trail of water running from her hair down her cheek and started unbuttoning the coat.
"What?"
He shook his head "Nothing."
"What??"
"Look at you - you're completely bedraggled, dripping wet, off your feet with tiredness, dressed more like a musketeer than one of the Queen's ladies... and you're fucking irresistible."
She rolled her eyes, "Yes, ha ha, very funny and all-" The rest of her sentence was lost as he stepped away from the wall, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, pushing her hair back from her face. He rubbed his thumb gently along her scar and then across her lips "I wasn't joking". Her eyes widened in surprise and amusement before she grinned and kissed his thumb, flicking her tongue across the tip and watching his eyes darken with desire. She pushed his hat off as her fingers ran through his beard and into his hair, and kissed him - savouring the texture of his lips and beard against her skin, the warmth of his arms around her. He broke off to nuzzle his way down her neck until he reached her collar; she stumbled in his arms as he pulled the collar aside. He frowned and stepped back apologetically. "I'm sorry - you're tired."
Kate smothered a yawn. "Yes, but you don't get to just stop and politely apologise after starting something like that." She pulled him back to her and kissed him hungrily. "Besides," Her voice was muffled against his neck as she pulled his scarf to one side to lick the damp skin she'd exposed "we've shaken off our escort - best make the most of it."
He looked at her searchingly, his breathing uneven, then grinned and kissed her again, undoing the remaining buttons on her coat. He abandoned his efforts to undo her bodice and simply slid his hands inside the split skirt and grasped her hips, pulling her tight against him. He spun her against that wall and Kate lost herself in the kiss, tongues duelling, licking, teasing - her hands roaming though his hair, under his jacket and finally inside his shirt as she pulled it free. He groaned against her neck as her fingers played across his body, then shifted - wedging his thigh between hers and worked a hand down the back of her breeches, squeezing a buttock and pulling her tighter against him. A whimper escaped her and her hands moved to unfasten them, allowing his hand to move more freely before she moved on to his fastenings.
They barely noticed the thunder as he pulled her down to the bedroll, her skirt spread beneath her on the ground. She yanked her boots off as he started to pull at her breeches, then he paused, looked at her face and grinned. He moved back up to her lips and began to kiss her slowly while he unbuttoned the bodice.
Once undone, he moved down and slowly lifted the smock beneath, kissing his way up her body, using his lips to caress his way up one side while his fingers traced lazy circles up the other side. She squirmed under his touch, a fistful of his shirt crushed in her hand, fingernails dragging through his hair. As his lips reached her breasts her body spasmed against him and he shifted, using his weight to hold her still as he continued to suck and lick her skin, fingers spiralling inwards - alternately teasing and caressing.
He lifted his head to kiss her, then looked past her and pulled a piece of grass with a long fluffy seed-head out of the hay. She smiled and reached up to him as he stroked it round her ear, down her neck and then dragged it back along her cheek and across her lips, before kissing her again. The grass trailed around her breast and was echoed by his tongue, moving ever downwards as she lay back, luxuriating in the contrasting sensations, anticipation building. Finally he reached her breeches - she lifted herself up on her elbows and he smiled at her, pushing her back down.
He began to gently tug at the material, inching it lower to expose more flesh. His tongue circled her belly button, then moved to her hips, tracing the outline of the bones with the grass and his tongue, kissing his way downwards as he eased the breeches out of the way. Kate gasped, hips lifting as he pulled the material lower still and she wriggled out of her breeches. The grass drew circles on her inner thighs, her skin quivering as he blew warm air against her skin and kissed his way upwards. She muttered a frustrated curse as his mouth continued upwards, following the shape of her hips again, fingers continuing to tease and stroke her inner thighs without addressing the growing ache between her legs.
As she reached out and pulled him back up to her his fingers finally slipped between her legs, causing her whole body to buck against his - back arching as her body screamed for release from the growing tension, while he tried to ignore his own body's response to her. He watched, mesmerised by the sight of her writhing under his touch, then leaned down to brush his lips against her neck. She twisted to capture his lips and pull him down towards her. The kiss fierce and demanding, obliterating any sense of their surroundings. Their hands moved over each other bodies, kissing, sucking and licking whatever flesh they could find. HIs erection was almost painful as she reached down inside his breeches and made him gasp as her hand closed around him, stroking and caressing. Her tongue trailed down from his ear, nipping and sucking a bruise at the base of his neck, fingers in his hair, brushing against his skin. His hand gripped hers as a low groan of pleasure escaped him and he moved, positioning himself between her legs and nudging gently forwards, supported on one elbow, hand buried in her hair, until his control failed him and he buried himself within her, moving deep inside her as she wrapped herself around him.
Somewhere in her mind she was vaguely aware of the thunder rumbling onwards, the rain splashing on the roof, the horses shifting in the stalls below, but it all seemed distant and irrelevant as her mind ignored everything the growing heat between then, the tension rising as they moved against each other and then finally the waves of pleasure pulsing through them as he collapsed against her.