A Winter Long Ago...

[Bloodrose]

Radasanth, present day...Solo…almost...

The bed linens, cold and damp with sweat, clung to his arms and chest as Teric sat bolt upright in bed. His breathing was labored and shallow, wheezing from his lungs as his heart pounded a furious rhythm in his temples. Just a dream. The veteran told himself silently, forcing his next breath through his nose rather than an open mouth. Slowing his harsh breaths burned his lungs and made his body quiver for oxygen, but it had the desired effect of slowing his racing heart and dulling the throbbing in his head. The darkness of the night surrounding him was a welcome embrace after such a vivid and heartrending dream...

"What's wrong?" A caring, worried voice whispered from behind Teric. A gentle hand, warm against his sweat-chilled skin, touched his arm tenderly. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Teric turned to gaze reassuringly at his companion for the night, "it was just a bad dream."

She was nineteen and beautiful, the kind of woman any man lusts over. Her raven-black hair framed those thoughtful, questioning emerald eyes perfectly, and her dark complexion gave her a truly exotic quality. Slender and soft to the touch, curved wonderfully in all the right places with legs that went on for days...She was the type of woman he could have wooed off her feet in his glory days. These days such company cost him a fair purse, but Teric was never a man to worry about money...

"Anything interesting?" She asked coyly, pulling him down onto his back. The contrast of her warmth nuzzling against his shoulder and the cold of the damp sheet beneath him awakened Teric fully, and any thought of drifting back off to sleep soon was banished.

"Bad memories." He replied softly, fearful that speaking to loudly might shatter the tranquility of the inn room at this moment. The dark, dimly lit by what little moonlight filtered through the drawn curtains, and the soothing pleasantness of his company. "Nothing that would interest you."

"Aww." Her disappointment surprised Teric with its sincerity. "You're no fun."

His playfully menacing gaze matched her curious stare, and for a moment Teric found himself lost in those eyes, despite the darkness of the room. "Of what interest to you are my problems?"

"I can't take an interest in you?" She moved to prop herself up on her elbows, gaining the height advantage. It was an exercise in will that kept Teric's eyes focused on hers, rather than allowing them to drop and marvel at the generous assets her current position offered up for viewing. "Maybe you've aroused my curiosity?"

If only I could arouse everything else. The veteran couldn't help but imagine. Gold could buy you a wonderful time, true, but there was no amount of money in the world that could incite the same feelings and the same intensity that came with natural attraction. She was special in the sense that she had been more willing and believable than most, but Teric had to wonder if she was special enough to share this kind of personal story with...

"Tell me about your dream, please?" Eyes like those of a wounded puppy melted away Teric's inhibitions immediately, and he nodded in agreement. She smiled with delight and nuzzled closer to his shoulder than before, resting her head in the shallow between his neck and shoulder while draping one arm and leg over his body. There was a warmth down there, close to his hip, that almost made him forget the story entirely, but shook off the euphoria of the moment and settled into revealing details not known to many people still wandering the face of Althanas...