Rites of Passage Redux (Armphid & Haremfaery)

[Armphid]

Tiernan cursed himself silently for not hearing Rose approach. But her words made him smile and chuckle a bit, "He has had a trying day as well. Today's deeds would not have been won without him."

Invitation was in her eyes and in those, warm, welcoming words. She was standing so close he could almost touch her and smell the faint scent of woodsmoke and flowers on her, tinged with a faint edge of sweat and arousal.

She could help him forget; very well so, for a short time. He wanted to accept her offer. It would be a balm on his wounded pride and his confusion. Rose would make him feel amazing, and he would gladly do the same for her.

But what would the fallout or consequences of it be? His actions no longer effected only him; though Kynthelig would surely say that they never had.

Damn him for being weak. But right now, he wanted to have something honest and straightforward. No mysterious, no uncertainties, no temperamental and mercurial natures.

"You could at that, Rose. Make it a fine night for us both." He closed the space between them and let his strong arms encircle her. Tiernan's lips found hers and kissed her with hungry longing, almost desperate.

Gods, but how he wished he and Aine could be like this.

((We can RP this out if you wish or skip ahead. Send me a PM and we'll plot out what we want to do next and create a delightful scheme.))

 

[haremfaery]

Rose's arms went around Tiernan. She responded instantly to his kiss. She knew Aine had been through a lot, but this was Beltaine. She would never have left Tiernan on his own on this last night.

She loosened the ties on his shirt and slipped her hand inside to feel his skin. Then she pressed against him. Knowing he was meant to marry Magnus's daughter only added spice to his kisses. Her body burned for his.

 

[Armphid]

Her lips were sweet and warm, though part of his mind tormented him that Aine's honest kisses were sweeter. Her soft body pressing against him make all his doubts and his worries lessen almost to nothing.

Save for those about what this would do to his upcoming marriage.

He groaned, his eyes pressing more tightly closed. Damn it! Could he not enjoy anything? Could he not have even this unsullied?

His arms went about her, one hand caressing the small of her back through the fabric of her dress, the other slipping up to tip her head to one side. His lips pressed just below her jaw and then down her graceful, curving neck, each touch of his lips fervent and passionate, as much about drowning his dark feelings in sensation as bringing them both joy.

 

[haremfaery]

Rose's breath hitched. She had her eyes on Tiernan for some time now, but the time had never been right for a tumble. Now her thoughts strayed to the idea of being Tiernan's second wife. If things were as stormy as they seemed between Aine and he, he would need a woman who could bring him comfort. Then at some point, after Magnus's death, he could leave Aine and keep Rose as his first and only wife.

She began working the ties on his breeches. "Oh, Tiernan." She breathed. She kissed him hard on the lips. He could take her here and now on the ground, up against a tree. "I would give you a night that oyu will long remember." She slipped her hand inside his breeches and found him hard and ready. She moaned against his lips.

 

[Armphid]

The way she said his name, promising them both joy, made him feel wanted and appreciated in ways that Aine had not. Yet his guilt still lingered. Was this a betrayal? Had she not sought after partners the other nights of the festival and refused him? But her actions did not make his own right.

Her hands slipped into his breeches and touched him and he let out a sharp gasp against her neck. "Hnn! Rose, your touch...yes, I'll remember this long."

But would be regret it?

His own hands worked at the lacings on the back of her dress; untying and finally loosening them enough to start to peel the garment down her body. More of her skin seemed to gleam int he moonlight, her shoulders, her collarbones, the sweet swell of her breasts. Tiernan groaned and pressed his lips to them, kissing the curves of her tits and then drawing his tongue along the curve of one, following it to reach the nub of her nipple, flicking the tip across it.

 

[haremfaery]

"Tiernan," Rose gasped. Her hand squeezed his cock.

It was clear to her that the marriage of Aine and Tiernan was a political one and far from a love match. Rose would not mind being his second wife. Once Aine gave the clan an heir, her importance would be greatly diminished and Rose could step up to become first in Tiernan's heart and home. She was ambitious, but she also liked Tiernan very very much.

She arched her breasts to him. "Tiernan, take me now."

 

[Armphid]

Her hand on his hard and throbbing cock was driving him mad. Tiernan wanted to just take her; lift her up and impale her on his manhood, ramming them both into ecstasy. Her back arched and her tits pressed against his questing mouth and hand more firmly and he groaned as she spoke, telling him to do exactly what he wanted.

He growled and rose up, his hands slipping down to grip her legs under her thighs, "Hold me close, pretty girl," the young lord murmured. He lifted her then; up off the ground and moved backwards with her to press her back against the wooden wall of the pallisade. Her legs spread and he moved forward and let out a hot, heavy groan as he felt the head of his member press against the moist heat of her sex.

Tiernan should say something; he would normally tease her body with hands and tongue, make her cream once with them before this but...but he wanted, needed this comfort. His hips moved to shift his head lower, a bit lower, until he felt her entrance and then he pushed forward and let out a long, throaty moan into the night as he thrust his desperate cock into her with steady, slow, forced tenderness.

 

[haremfaery]

Rose shivered in delight at Tiernan's growl. Her arms went round his shoulders as he lifted her in his strong arms. Her breathing was as heavy as his.

She would never understand Aine's dislike of Tiernan, the chieftan's daughter thought too much of herself. That she was too good for any man. Rose was sure she could claim Tiernan's heart, almost as easily as she claimed his body.

She gripped the fabric of his shirt, her breath was hot in his ear. "Ah, faster. Do what you will." She wriggled her hips in encouragement.

 

[Armphid]

Faster, she said. He moaned into her neck and kissed back up the graceful column. Gods, why couldn't it be like this with Aine? And why the hell couldn't he stop thinking about her? Even now!

Teirnan quickened his pace; his thickness rocking in and out of Rose's hot, wet paradise with a wet squishing, slurping sound. Her scent was in his nostrils and he inhaled deeply of it, the aroma of sex, of lust, of open want spurring him onward.

He shifted his angle, being sure to scrape his dick along her insides to try and reach that place in her; that spot inside that made a woman wild and blasted pleasure through her like a lightning bolt. "As we wish," he gasped, knowing full well that she wanted this too. More than he did, for which he felt a moment's guilt.

He slammed home again and again and again, growling low as they took their joy of one another in the moonlight on that last sacred night of Beltaine. "Rose, you beauty," he snarled, "Close." The young lord bit his tongue, trying to focus. He wanted to please her; wanted her to tremble in his arms and on his cock with her own rapture before he exploded into her core.

 

[haremfaery]

Tiernan shifted and something suddenly felt very different. Rose could not describe it. Her pleasure went from a mounting pressure to a deluge.

"Oh, Gods! Tiernan! Yes, yes!" She called out before her words turned into cries of pleasure that echoed around them.

Her legs held him like a vise, her fingers dug into his shoulders. Her breath stuttered. "Now, Tiernan, let me feel you. Let me make a son for you." She cried out again as another wave hit her.

 

[Armphid]

Rose seemed to go wild with pleasure in his arms. She wailed out before her breath sundered and broke, ragged gulps of air breaking her speech as she cried in pleasure and then asked, almost pleaded for him.

Her words broke into his lust clouded mind. A son on her? Gods, that thought was maddening, and he almost did as he wished just from the spike of pure eroticism her words thrust into him. But if he did, if she did become with child, what would that mean for he and Aine? And for any child they had?

"Rose," he groaned and gritted his teeth, driving his hips in one last time, unable to stop his body from moving. Then he let out a primal, shuddering groan and his manhood pulsed within her heavenly heat and his seed began to spill forth into her. He attempted to pull back, to draw out of her as his essence fled him, but her legs were as unyielding as iron and held him fast.

Gods...what had he done?

 

[haremfaery]

Rose let her head fall forward to rest on Tiernan's shoulder as she clutched him to her with a fierce possessiveness. "Oh Tiernan." She breathed his name like a prayer as her body shuddered again. She stroked the back of his head.

Yes, Aine might have Tiernan as husband, but Rose would see to it that she claimed his heart. He could take her as second wife when the time was ripe. She would warm his bed and his heart. Aine was too cold and selfish.

 

[Armphid]

This had been a mistake.

He knew it; knew it not only in his mind but he could feel it in his heart. Gods, and it could be a far worse one that simply lying with a girl he shouldn't.

What if...

Many things complicated his life with Aine. Paternity with another woman would complicate them immeasurably. Not to mention the questions it might throw into the succession and all the rest of it. He had no desire at all to create strife within the clan or spawn the seeds of civil war.

Gods, let Rose not be with child from this.

And yet he found a part of himself enjoying how she stroked his hair and cooed his name, churlish though it may be. She appreciated him and Aine did not. It was hard not to want that.

"Rose, pretty girl," he sighed. "Such joy you've shared with me, thank you." He set her down with careful gentleness and then grunted softly as their bodies parted. Gods, such a terrible feeling, almost as bad as that regret that say heavy in the pit of his stomach. "Happy has this last night been."

He held her for another few moments and then gave her a squeeze before he took his arms from her and stepped back. The young lordling re-dressed himself, "Shall I walk you home?"

 

[haremfaery]

"And I would share such joy again," Rose smiled as he set her down.

"Please walk with me." She laced her fingers in his. She was flushed and still a little tousled from their coupling. "I am loathe to part from you, but we must. Beltaine is o're, but I shall carry this memory with me. As I hope you will as well. You are a fine man, Tiernan Mac Gowan, let none make you doubt yourself."

They stopped at the door. Rose pulled him into a kiss, gentle but full of longing. Her hands gripped his shirt as if she would not let go. Finally, she did. "Good morrow, Tiernan. Sleep well."

She went into the house without a backward look pleased with herself. She had laid the groundwork with Tiernan and if Aine continued as she had been, Rose was sure Tiernan would run to her for solace.

((Do we want to jump ahead some? Or will Aine find out about this sooner than later? I've an idea how she'll react if/when she does. I know in the days until her wedding she will be alternating between making preparations for it and trying to discover who her Beltaine lover was. We could just skip to a few days before the wedding.))

 

[Armphid]

Hammers and mallets pounded and thumped as the men worked. The high hill was bare and there was now a clear road pounded flat and laid with wooden planks that wound up from the base to the gates of a wooden palisade. The frame of the house was up now as well, work going into the setting the walls and floors.

Tiernan leaned on a shovel for a moment; he'd been a few others finishing digging out the root and wine cellar. The young noble looked around at the work going on and felt a faint but tired satisfaction.

It was well on its way. Should they have no ill luck, the house would be finished by the day of the wedding, maybe even before. That would be a boon as it could then be stocked and readied.

It would be a grand place. Worthy of the couple making home there. But would it be a happy home? He sighed at that thought. It was a question far from settled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

"It's such a waste!" Siobhan shook her head as Tiernan passed on his way out of the village. A group of girls were gathered working on washing by the gate stream. "He hasn't been out a walking with me, or anyone at all, since the handfasting!"

"Only Aine," Brigitte nic Tomas added, "And their walks end in squabbles, not kisses, tis said."

Siobhan huffed, "It's unfair! Do you know, other than the ceremony, he didn't even take a woman all Beltine?"

There was a soft chuckle. Rose smiled slyly, "For most of Beltine, actually. That last night..."

"Ooooh!" Squeals of delight went up from the nearby girls. "Tell us about it! What happened?"

Rose beamed smugly, "You naughty girls!" Her cheeks were a bit flushed but she beckoned them closer. "Well, his cousin Brin had been after me all night and took me back to their house, but..."

None of the girls had noticed Aine standing nearby and perfectly within earshot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Tiernan bowed his head as Rose hugged him tightly, her face in his shoulder as she wept softly. His hands slowly lifted to pat her shoulders and hold her loosely, "I am sorry for your grief, Rose."

"I was so sure!" She shook her head, "I'd not had my moon days for a month, I knew I would be a mother, I swore I could feel life in me but then yesterday..." She sniffed.

The dark haired young man was at something of a loss for what to say. The girl was upset and he did not wish her to be but at the same time...he was glad she was not with child. While it would be hard to prove as his, the added complication to both his relationship with Aine and the clan's succession could have been devastating.

It was bad enough Aine knew, somehow, about his moment of weakness that last night of Beltine.

"Be at peace, Rose," he said after a few moments. He kept his hold on her shoulders and gently pushed her back until she was his arms' length from him. "You were not with child, so no child has been lost, and that is a comfort. The gods have done this to spare you that pain, I think. How terrible would it have been if you had a Merrybegot and then this happened."

She sniffed a few more moments and then looked up at him. "...I had not thought...oh, just the thought of that! It would break my heart!" Rose smiled weakly, "You are a wise man, Tiernan Mac Gowan. Thank you." She then blushed prettily, "And now then...in a few days...perhaps we can go on a walk in the woods and...celebrate together?"

He took a deep breath. Part of him wanted to. To feel wanted and appreciated by a woman, to feel her soft curves, her welcoming body taking him in. It might not be his for time yet to come, perhaps not even on his wedding night. "Rose, you tempt me sorely. But I must refuse."

Rose blinked; her face clearly showing her surprise. "Wh-what? Why?" Anger rose up in her face, her brows beetling, lips scrunched together, "Why refuse me now? We had such joy at Beltine! Is it for Aine? She treats you so poorly! She doesn't deserve such faithfulness! And you're not yet married even!"

Tiernan paused for a few moments. "I do merit better than I have from her. But the way a person acts and is is up to their own direction. I will do as I think right; I have no intention of doing things her way, or anyone else's way." He shook his head, "Most would agree with you that I should find what comfort I may, particularly so freely offered, if not to spite Aine than for my own satisfaction. But that is their way, and I will continue to follow my own."

She stared at him; her eyes showing her mind turning over what he had said and coming up with nothing. "You're a damn fool, Tiernan. She'll never make you happy and never welcome you to her bed." The girl turned, swishing her skirt in a disapproving manner, "You'll regret turning me away. But I might take you back when the time comes, if you're less of an ingrate."

~~~~~~~~~​

The noise and the stink of the cattle was incredible. More than he ever could have imagined, in fact, on both counts. The smell of them was bad enough but it was the noise that worried him more. Should raiders from another clan, the one they'd just raided or others out searching, be after them, there would be no way to hear them coming at all.

But this tension was all part of a raid, so his father and the king had both told him. Getting the beasts was only part of it; you still had to get them all home and dole them out.

But they were almost there. It had been a daring move; taken by Tiernan and a small group of men. It was those of his family who had gone with him to recover Aine, as well as another ten and four from their tenants and neighbors. Clan O'Connor's men were off making the O'Banions' troubles worse, and the young lord had taken advantage of their neighbors' misfortune to make a lightning strike.

They'd had to fight almost no one; most of it was accomplished through positioning and intimidation and now they had a hundred new cows for the clan and a few bulls as well, he'd not made count of the calves yet.

But that didn't mean that the O'Connor men might not have gotten home and lit out after them. Tiernan has men looking out, of course, but it still made him uneasy.

~~~~~~​

Tiernan smiled; inwardly wondering what reaction he'd receive today. "Well do you look, Aine. But finer perhaps with this." He produced a bracelet from the pouch on his belt; it was beaten and worked silver, set with three amber stones in a swirling design.

He had gained in the last raid of the season; part of a tribute offered by those they'd raided in exchange for taking less of the herd. "It came from the arm of a queen, and so I think it worthy of you."

The wedding was close now, a week and a day away. But matters between he and Aine were far from settled and her fire burned him more than it warmed yet.

 

[haremfaery]

Aine eyes lit up at the sight of the bracelet. It was beautiful. She held out her arm for Tiernan to place it on her. "You are so thoughtful, Tiernan." She beamed at him. She was a magpie and loved bright shiny things. She admired the bracelet, then on a whim went on tiptoe and kissed Tiernan's cheek.

He was trying so hard to please her. She promised herself that once they were married she would stop her foolish search for the man she had been with at Beltaine and be a good wife to Tiernan. But it was so frustrating for her not to know the man who had brought her such pleasure. But then she heard Rose and the other girls talking and she was angry with him again. But the bracelet went a long way to make her happy, if not with Tiernan himself, then at least with his gift.

She was also frustrated with herself for letting Rose's smugness bother her. It could all be lies. And yet... Aine sighed inwardly.

"I take it the raid went well. Father was happy. He invites you and your men to share a meal with us to celebrate. He has been very happy lately." Happy to know Aine would no longer be his problem, but Tiernan's. And happy that Tiernan would be a great leader one day.

 

[Armphid]

"It did go well, thanks to the gods and our lads for that." Some thought it unseemly to discuss matters of war with women but he was not one of them. The Morrigan was a woman, whether she was a hag or the beauty who came to Cuchulain before the second Battle of Muy Tara, and war was one of her purviews. "The plan was sound and well executed, we had few injured and that is a comfort."

Injuries were dangerous, not just to the injured but to his family and thus to the clan as well. It was why deaths were taken so seriously. The loss of a skilled hunter might mean more deaths when winter came and not enough food was in stock.

He paused then, unsure of his footing. The kiss on his cheek pleased him and encouraged him and yet that could give way to swearing and blows with the turn of the wind with Aine. "He is happy, I think, that he will see you well wed. I say so not out of ego, but he knows I will well care for you and for our issue."

The young lord dared take a step closer to her, hoping he did not smell overmuch of cow. "And you, Aine? It is well that your father is happy, and I hope your mother as well. Mine seems to be in a daze of joy these past days, though it grows more frantic as the date draws near. But what of you? Have you been happy, Aine?"

 

[haremfaery]

Aine searched Tiernan's face for a moment. She was determined not to ruin the moment as she had done so many times before.

"I have been happy, Tiernan." She rested her hand on his arm. It was not a lie. She had never been happier than she had been at Beltane. "The wedding preparations have kept me very busy as well. But there is a ... joy in it. I am a full woman now in the eyes of the clan and will have my own household--in the house that you have built for us." She paused a moment. "I want us to be happy Tiernan." He had been trying so hard, she could at least meet him halfway. Seeing how he looked at her, she had a hard time believing anything that Rose had said.

 

[Armphid]

"I want us to be happy Tiernan."

He looked at her for a few moments as if she had told him that the sky was now green and the grass beneath their feet blue. Surely he had thought that such things must come to pass before she would ever think such a thing, let alone say it.

Then he smiled and inclined his head, "Sweet thought and sweeter words, may the gods grant them true." Tempting fate, he took one of her soft hands in his larger, rougher one. "I want that as well. If we both wish it and strive, then it shall be, I think. Your will is strong enough to bend mountains and I count my own little less, if not equal."

He had been riding with the men for weeks; amid naught but horses and cattle and his days spent in toil. Tiernan let himself look at her as a man then; taking in the sight of the ripening beauty before him and he felt a stir in his chest and in his loins. There was a hunger growing in him for her; one that had waxed and waned over their tumultuous engagement and one he had doubted at times. But not now. Never again, likely.

The young lord drew in a deep breath and let it out; mastering himself. "Well pleased will I be to dine with yours this eve, but with you alone would be grandest of all. Soon enough."

 

[haremfaery]

"Aye, a week and a day." Aine agreed. A week and a day to discover who had been God to her Goddess at Beltane. Perhaps she should give up the search. No one was meant to know their identities anyway. If the gods wanted her to know they would lead her to him. What would she do if she knew anyway? It would change nothing. And Tiernan was a good man, a strong leader. She should act more like a happy bride.

"My parents are always happy to have you. Father will want to hear all of your adventures. And mother likes to watch you eat."

She looked at the bracelet on her wrist then got on tiptoes to kiss him shyly on the cheek. "Thank you again for this gift."

 

[Armphid]

That the king wanted to hear his deeds was humbling but not unexpected. As leader of the people, he needed to know how the raids had gone in detail. It was still a heady thing for the young nobleman and there was a moment of smug satisfaction that flickered over his face. His countenance almost immediately became rueful; a big head meant swollen brains, his father said.

"I will be pleased to be the guest of hosts so renowned." Her kiss to the cheek and softly repeated thanks caught him a bit off guard and it showed as tender surprise in his eyes. He smiled and dipped his head again, "I will find more worthy gifts for you, my fiery bride to be. Bedecked in gold and silver will you ever be, if my way is made as I intend."

He looked down at himself then, "First, I must clean up. Your father wishes to hear of cows, not smell then, I ken." Tiernan nodded to the west, "I shall wash in the stream past Ogma's stone and return anon. Please carry word I shall not tarry long." He paused then; an idea striking him all at once. Part of the friction between them was that he had never acted like the other boys had towards her, she had said as much at times. Perhaps to be bolder now would flatter properly...though like as not she'd find some offense in it.

Still, little risked, little gained.

"Unless you should care to join me? Cold the water is but I doubt not you would make it steam."

 

[haremfaery]

Aine twisted the bracelet on her wrist and thought of golden shackles but pushed it from her mind. Tiernan did not mean it that way and she knew it.

She laughed and wrinkled her nose. "Spoken true." She had gotten more than a whiff just from standing next to him, which made it more impressive that she kissed him at all.

"Unless you should care to join me? Cold the water is but I doubt not you would make it steam."

She blinked then and thought of ten cutting remarks for Tiernan. But she paused instead thinking of Rose's taunts. A little smile quirked her lips. "Tiernan, I will come with you." She looked down and blushed. Rose McGowan could put that in her pipe and smoke it. Aine would wipe the smirk off the girl's face the next time she saw her.

 

[Armphid]

He had expected a demure denial or a scolding, though an explosion of temper was not outside of the question. Her downcast gaze and the blush that was in her voice as much as on her fair cheeks were the last things he had ever expected. Ever imagined. She had warmed to him lately, it was true, accepting the inevitable, perhaps. But he still was sure that the night of their wedding would find them in the same bed but clad and a knife under Aine's shift to enforce that status.

Yet now she was saying she wished to bathe with him? In the stream rather than in a tub in a house?

The ways of the gods were a mystery. It could not be denied.

He stared for a few moments with his surprise blatant upon his face. Then he blinked and nodded with a slow grin. "That is beyond all my hopes, I will not deny it." Tiernan took her hand once more, "Let us go then so I may be the most favored of all men."

 

[haremfaery]

"Do not raise your hopes too high. Nor anything else, Tiernan Mac Gowan. We are not married yet." Yet she let him keep her hand. The men would surely see them going off together even if they hadn't heard their conversation over the sounds of their hammering. But word would spread that she and Tiernan were going off alone.

The walked in silence until they got to the stream. Aine stood awkwardly twisting the bracelet. Now what? She wondered.

 

[Armphid]

That was more like the Aine he knew. "My hopes I shall keep low but whether the rest agrees, I cannot swear to." But if that was how she felt, why do this? Why hint it may be more? Perhaps she was playing a courting game of some kind. As they walked, he idly wondered if he would ever be able to understand her.

The stream was a goodly distance though hardly far, which made it perfect for purposes such as these. Today, however, their legs seemed to eat the distance like starved dogs and they were at the green bank before he expected it.

Tiernan let go of her hand and stretched. "Clean water, sweet air, and not a cow in sight. I could ask for little better."

The strong youth walked to the edge of the bank and knelt for a minute to loosen his shoes and tug them off. He stood and sighed happily at the feeling of the cool, soft greenery underfoot. He then loosened his tunic a bit, then reached down to untie the buckle of his belt. "Look if you please or not, Wine, but I have called grime a close companion too long to wait on modesty." He held up his trousers with one hand while setting his belt and all on it down and then let them fall with a happy sigh.

Despite his enjoyment of the moment he didn't forget her presence. Nor did his body. His manhood was quickening, not to full stature yet, but it was not precisely easy to overlook.