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                His exhaustion from the day’s walking and searching won over his need to flirt with her, and he did not press the issue, falling asleep soon after. Alleria stood watch over them during the night, letting him get a full night of much needed sleep.

                By the time had had awoke, she had a simple breakfast of nuts and berries ready, and their route for the day planned.

                Having spent another night alone on his bedroll and finding himself no closer to bedding the fair Elven maiden, Mason couldn’t help but ask.

                 "You can’t tell me that you find me completely unappealing. I may have stubble on my face and my ears aren’t as pointy as yours, but I’ll have you know I have no trouble with the ladies back home. None what so ever." He did his best to look both charming and honest at the same time.

                Alleria sighed, having wondered how long it would take him to press the matter, to stop his mating dance and come right out and ask why should wouldn’t lay with him.

                 "You are half human."

                 "Yes, and it gives me a certain ruggedness you don’t find in full elves. Don’t you find it appealing?" he asked with a chuckle.

                 "No." her response was plain as she did her best to remain formal sounding.

                He cocked his head to the side, as if waiting for her to say more, to explain her position.

                 "Imagine your precious wine. The best you have ever had. Now poor yourself half a glass of it, and fill the glass the rest of the way with water." She explained.

                Mason put his hand to his chest, as if clutching at his heart, "You wound me. Deeply."

                 "Please do not take it personally, Mason. You are a good person; kind and humorous. I truly do enjoy your company. You are just not; I am not..." she took a deep breath. "I would not want to chance the risk of a pregnancy. Again, do not take it personally, but I find the idea of having progeny with non-Elven to be a heartbreak I could not endure."

                His brows raised up, but this time in surprise. "Woah, that is not what I was expecting, nor even remotely suggesting. Not by a long shot." He paused for a long moment, picking at his breakfast. "I wouldn’t do that to you. Abandon you if you were with child." His face and voice had both sobered significantly, true conviction behind his words.

                His seriousness took her aback slightly. It was so honest. Endearing even. Perhaps there was more gentleman hiding behind that sea dog façade than she had given him credit for. "That is very noble of you, Mason, but that was not my concern. It is just a much bigger deal for elves. Not that we do not believe in coupling for pleasure’s sake as well, its just..." she shrugged.

                He cut her off, "We don’t all rut like animals, you know. Not that I’m against a good rutting now and again, mind you." His charming smile slide back into place. "Different lovers call for different...approaches."

                She said nothing in response, feeling that he wasn’t fully understanding what she meant.  Her lull in the conversation only served as a signal for him to continue; in his mind.

                 "Is that it? Is that why you refuse, because you think me some sort of cad?" Mason asked, more than a hint of curiosity in his voice.

                She chuckled, shaking her head. "No, Mason, a nigh-immortal such as myself is hardly bound by such concerns as monogamy.  I would imagine that I have lived a handful of your lifetimes already.  Even without rutting like an animal, as you put it, I have had my fair share of lovers. And though I have never bedded any of them, I have met more than a few sailors in my time."

                 "Not all men who take the sea as a mistress are scoundrels. Besides, I am a priest as well. I do have some redeeming qualities."  He pushed his chestnut hair from his eyes, running his fingers through his hair. He continued to peer up at her, his gaze unwavering and hopeful.

                 "I have indulged your questions long enough. We need to be going. We have a lot of ground to cover." She replied, turning away from him to finish readying her pack. She hadn’t wanted to admit to herself that he had made a very good point. He was charming and when she stripped away all his bravado, there was good in him.  But, he was also the very thing she was trying to avoid, mortal offspring. How could she lay with him and not be constantly reminded of her vow to herself?

                Even the fact that they were trekking through a forest of a distant realm, Alleria could not feel more at home. This was what she lived for, exploration, the thrill of finding out what was over the next hill. As bleary as this place was, it was like nothing she had seen before, and therefor exciting.

                "If I am right, we will reach a river soon enough, and crossing it will greatly shorten our journey." She told him.

                "How could you know that?" He asked curiously, marching along beside her in step. The sea, not the forest, was his element. The signs that were plan as day to her here, were lost completely on him.

                "A bird told me our friends are on the road back to the Abbey. If we cross the river and continue at his pace we should rejoin them by tomorrow evening.

                "Wouldn’t we make better time if you let me ride you?" He grinned, quickly adding, "As a horse, of course." He was utterly unashamed and unapologetic regarding his forwardness. His eyes twinkled with mirth as he gave her a sidelong glance.

                "You have a better chance of riding me as I am now."

                He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes going wide. "So there is a chance!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together gleefully.

                "No, in this case, better than none is still none."

                Mason ran a few paces to fall back in step with her. "What if I was grievously injured? Lost one of my legs." He asked

                "I guess you would have to lean how to hop."

                "What if we were running for our lives?"

                "I would summon you your own horse."

                "What if you were out of spells?"

                "Then we would have to stay and fight."

                "How about if..."

                Alleria tuned him out at that point, letting him list of all manner of scenarios where she might be moved to allow him to treat her like a beast of burden. Finally, when she could take no more.

                "Mason, stop. Half of those situations are not even possible."

                "I’ll admit the one about warring dragons and time travel are a bit far fetched and extreme, but, anything is possible. You’ve already turned me down more times than I can recall, but I haven’t given up hope."

                "Not everything is possible. I am starting to think that you giving this subject up is not a possibility either."

                "Never." He said, sounding rather self assured.

                After a few more hours of much the same, they reached the bank of the river they had been searching for. Finding a safe place to cross was another matter entirely. As it was getting late, the decision was made to make camp and tackle the problem in the morning.

                Like each night before, he beckoned her to bed down beside him, citing the need to stay warm. Again, she turned him down, replying their fire would keep them both warm enough for the night.  He kept at her, putting more effort into it this evening than he had the nights before. She imagined, because they would be rejoining the others tomorrow and he would no longer have him to herself. When he finally did relent, he kept a silent gaze on her, watching her by the firelight until he drifted off to sleep.

                Once he was asleep, she turned her attention from the moon to Mason. He had been right, his human side didn’t dilute his good looks, but enhanced them. Where she was lithe and delicate, he was strong and sturdy, looking like he could take her up against a wall with ease. She didn’t doubt his stamina either, having marched half way across this realm and back with him already.

                The thing she found the most foreign to her was the stubble that formed on his face as the day progressed. Without meaning to, her mind started to wander and she found herself thinking about the hair that must cover the rest of his body. It would be so different than she was use to, but she didn’t imagine it would be unappealing. Thinking that these simple curiosities must mean he was getting to her, wearing her down, she pushed them away.

                The night passed without incident and in the morning, they prayed to their gods for their blessings for the day ahead.

                "We need to find a safe place to cross." Alleria said, glancing up and down the wide, fast moving river.

                "Leave this one to me, my dearest druid. It may not be a sea, but Valkur will guide me." Mason said with confidence. "It looks like it narrows further down some ways." He added after a few minutes.

                She nodded in agreement, and set off along the river’s edge, taking careful steps along the way. The banks were muddy and dotted with slick, smooth stones. It made keeping ones footing difficult, even for the surefooted wood-elf.

                "I do not think it will get any narrower, and there are some good-sized rocks we can cross on." she said, thinking she had found the best they could hope for.

                Insisting on going first, Mason carefully began the crossing. Alleria stood by, ready to act in case he was to miss step.  When he reached the half way point, he paused to turn back at her side of the bank. "Step to it, lass. Nothing to fear. But, if you don’t want to get your feet wet, I could come back and carry you across." His flashed a roguish grin at her and gave a bit of a playful flourish.

                 "Keep an eye on your own feet, or you will find yourself in the drink." She warned, taking a step towards the crossing.

                As he righted himself to turn and continue, he did indeed loose his footing on the slippery rocks. Into the water he went, head first into the rapids. The quick moving current carried him downstream, his head bobbing up and down on the surface.

                 "Mason!" Alleria called out as she sprang into action, shapeshifting into her dire wolf form and bounding off down the river bank at breakneck speed. After chasing the flailing priest for a handful of tense minutes, she came to a bend in the river. Debris had gathered there and he managed to grab a hold of a branch. With little regard for her own safety, she jumped onto the makeshift float of roots and branches. With strong, but gentle, jaws, she gabbed him by the shoulder firmly and hauled him out of the water, up onto the river bank.

                He sputtered and coughed, hacking up water for a good minute. When he could speak, it was still intermittent with hacking gasps for air. His teeth were chattering loudly and his body was wracked with spasmodic shivers. "M...my angel." He whispered up at her.

                Alleria gripped him by the shoulder again and dragged him farther up, out of the muck of the bank and onto dry grass. When they had reached a suitable distance, in her mind, she shapeshifted back into her natural form.

                 "I told you to be careful." She scolded. "Come, we need to get you out of those wet clothes."

                 "Is that all it takes? A brush with a watery death. Had I known that sooner, I would have filled my pack with rocks and flung myself into the nearest lake." He tried to smile, but coughed up more river water instead.

                She quickly cast destroy water on Mason’s clothing and gear, drying them out immediately. It was not enough though, as his lips were turning blue.

                 "I think right here works just fine for me." His hacking and coughing continued. "I don’t think I could move if I wanted to, I can’t quite feel my feet." He made no attempt to move from his spot, but tucked his freezing hands up under his arms. "You have to undress me yourself." There was no mirth in his expression this time though.

                She rolled her eyes. "If you did not look like death was at your door..." she unfurled his bedroll on the ground beside him and knelt on it. Skilled hands worked to quickly remove his armor, then his clothing. Her actions weren’t slow and deliberate like that of a lover, but meticulous and quick like a tradesman. Even when she reached his britches, she didn’t let her gaze linger.

                 "By Valkur’s firm rudder, please, do not look at me now." He mock pleaded with her. "You have to know the effects of icy water on a man’s...dignity." His voice was ragged from all the coughing, but he tried to chuckle none the less.

                She shimmied him over onto the blanket. "I assure you, I was not paying any attention. But even if I had, all that hair of yours kept your modesty in tact.

                It was hard to pull a rueful grin with his teeth chattering, "But, you admit that you did look." He winked at her. "Now you, lass. It only works if its skin to skin. I assure you, I am in no shape to take advantage of the situation. I can barely lift my head, let alone my abysmally shrunken co..."

                She cut him off. "No, I don’t imagine you are, but I thought a giant fur throw might work better." She shapeshifted back into the white dire wolf and draped her large lupine form over the pale, shivering priest of the high seas. She was careful not to place too much of her weight on any delicate points of his smaller form. She curled her long neck around his head protectively, her own coming to rest against the other side of his face.

                 "Wha...Oh...." He whispered in surprise. "But, you do know you’re supposed to make love on the fur rug, not with it."

                The way in which she had lad her body across his did nothing to suggest that was anywhere on her mind at all, and to admonish him for even suggesting it, she nipped at his stubbly chin. As he was already in a bad way, she made sure not to break the skin, this time.

                He did his best to chuckle, and though he had been bitten for it countless times before, he ran his hand along her furry body in long strokes. This time, she didn’t bite him, instead giving him a feral sounding chuff in reprimand as she tried to re-position herself to pin his arm under her. He was supposed to be warming up, after all, not petting her.

                Recovering from his little accident would end up costing them the rest of the day, through which Mason spent the entity of trapped under his feral protector. At first he was full of jokes and lewd comments about their position, but as she couldn’t respond to any of his comments, he bored after awhile and drifted off to sleep.

                Mason slept, warm and cozy, tucked under the large furry form of his traveling companion. She didn’t, of course, instead keeping a watchful eye on her charge. After a few hours, the color returned to his cheeks and his lips returned to their proper color. Any earlier worries he had about seeming inadequate were gone as well. He stirred, stretching out underneath her.

                "We should sleep like that every night..." he said, making a sound of contented pleasure as he stretched, his canary eating grin had returned.  It wasn’t the only thing that had returned, and to emphasis, he ground his hips against her flank.

                She nipped at his chin disapprovingly, again and started to rise on all fours.

                "No, not yet." He murmured drowsily, throwing his arms around her neck, trying to pull her back down to him. "You feel so soft, so warm. Stay." He buried his face in the downy fur of her neck.

                She indulged him, though the moment lasted only until he shifted underneath her and his waking erection poked her in the side again. If her fur was stoking his fires, it was time to turn back to her normal self. It was easy to escape his grip, as he had not expected her to shift back. Rolling away from him, she hopped up to her feet.

                "Alright then, you are well enough now." She grabbed up his clothes and tossed them to him.

                He popped up to his feet, catching his clothes with ease in one hand. There was certainly no shame on his face as he stood before her, completely naked and fully erect.

                "My beautiful elf maiden, it is a wonderful day to be alive. Surely my continued existence; you saving me from certain death, is worth celebrating. And while we have no wine to drink, or music to dance to, we do have..." he motioned with both hands towards his manhood.

                Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of thinking she was ogling him, she busied with preparing their evening meal. "Mason, your little swim cost us half a day’s travel..."

                He cut her off, "And unless you wish to travel by night, you are stuck with me for another eve. I am already well rested, surely we can come up with something to do."

                "If I could find you music or wine, I would, Mason. I would even drink and dance with you, but you are not putting that anywhere in, or near, me."

                "Someday, my elf lass, someday. But, as that day does not appear to be today, I will take my leave to get dressed."

                Alleria watched him go, without word or a second thought given. Instead, she continued to busy here self with setting up a proper camp for the night. When he had been gone longer than she expected, it occurred that he had to be up to something. Why had he left her sight to put on clothes, when he clearly had no issues being naked around her.

                She padded off into the woods, taking the same route he had left by. It took only a few moments to find him.  He was seated at the base of a large tree, eyes closed and a placid look about his features. His spent manhood was still in hand.

                "Mason." She whispered, a touch of harshness in her voice. "Really? Sneaking off for this, in the middle of a forest filled with gods know what..."

                He smiled at the sound of her voice, but made no move, nor opened his eyes. "There was too great a demand, lass, it had to be dealt with. I could have waited though, had I known you wanted to watch.

                She gave a derisive snort in response, but lingered none the less.

                Feeling her still standing there, looming over him, he opened his eyes. Smiling up at her, he said, "Tell me, lass, if it’s your worry I’ll knock you up that has you keeping me at arm’s length, would you reconsider if I took sex off the table? Surely we could still intimate enough and enjoy each other’s company otherwise." He quirked a brow curiously, trying to appear nonchalant about his offer.

                She chuckled, mainly at his expression. "My people wrote the book on intimacy without intercourse, Mason."

                He extended his hand to her, but promptly withdrew it to wipe it off on the grass beside him, laughing softly to himself and shaking his head with amusement. When he offered it again, she took it and kneeled before him between his splayed legs.

                "You would be willing to offer that? Be content with that?"

                "Alleria, you are so beautiful." He squeezed her hand between both of his, "I’ve wanted you since the moment I saw you, and not just as an experience, or novelty. I would be content with whatever part of you that you wished to share with me. As I told you before, I am capable of more than just rutting."

                She looked as though she might be crumbling slightly, "You would swear to that?"

                "To the King of the Sea himself and what ever other gods might be listening. I swear it. In this, I will follow your lead, you will control the ebb and flow of what is between us." He looked dead serious, but he couldn’t hide the glint in his eye, the lusty eagerness of whatever was to follow. Beneath their clutched hands, his shaft twitched in anticipation.

                It caught her eye and she withdrew her hand from his. The tips of her long delicate fingers brushed over its tip, which still glistened with his spilled seed.

                At her touch, Mason’s eyes shut briefly, drawing in a deep breath which he held for a long moment. When his eyes reopened, her fingertips were at her lips, tasting him.

                "By Valkur’s beard, woman! After all these nights with nothing but pent up torment, the sight of that is just too much. Are you trying to kill me?" As he spoke, some of the color was in fact draining from his face, the blood moving much lower, his cock now fully erect.

                "Salty." He said with a slight grin. "Like the sea."

                "Aye." He murmured, his gaze locked on her lips as he licked his own. "I want to kiss you, very badly."

                She laughed softly, teasing at him. "You intend to kiss me badly, on purpose? That would not do well to make your case." She nodded though, "You may kiss me, badly or otherwise."

                "On just those beautiful lips of yours, or anywhere?" he asked curiously, wanting to be clear lest he get bitten again, or worse.

                "Anywhere, but I would prefer you started with my lips."