Wedding Bells (AU, for gunslingerqueen) (NSFW)

[toweredingly]

Roland had woken with a headache and a sinking sense of cold dread, and neither were because of the large amounts of whiskey and graf he'd drunk the night before. It was a familiar feeling; the same steady almost-fear settled into his bones whenever he saw a battle looming. But battles could be fought with gunfire and cold rage, with all thought pushed aside and the world coming at you moment by moment. Today was worse. Today was politics.

He'd set aside his usual jerkin and jeans for more formal gear. The suit itself wasn't so bad, but he felt naked without his guns at his hip. It would have been good to have their comfort, even if he had no intent of using them. Their weight had always been like having a part of his father still with him, and all the gunslingers of their line before him. Now, when he most felt need of that reassurance, he had to set it aside. Clean-shaven and well-heeled, with his hair pulled back into a queue and his feet rubbed by the hard leather of new shoes, he felt like another man - and one even less capable of facing all that lay ahead.

The wedding was in the morning, before the real Fair-Day began. Then things would take their usual course; the castle flung open to the people, the feasting and singing and Fair-Day riddling, with raucous good humour and doubtless a few fights. That was manageable. He had lived that every Fair-Day for his whole life. What frightened him, more than he would ever admit, was the part that came before and after.

"You look more like a man going to put a noose around her neck than a ring around her finger," Bert commented in his ear, bringing him back to the present. For his part, Bert looked perfectly at ease in formal wear, sauntering about and regarding Roland with a critical eye. Whatever dark mood had been slithering about under the surface, he seemed to have excised it for now.

Roland answered with a grunt, looking back ruefully at the gunbelt hanging over the back of his chair, and closed his eyes for a moment. "Is there a difference?"

"Dinh or no dinh, I'm not beyond punching you. Just for once, Ro', try to stop living in whatever darkness is going on in that bony head of yours, and relax." For once, Bert wasn't smiling. He slung an arm around his friend's shoulders, looking at him closely. "She's not Susan. I kennit, Ro'. But she's what Susan would have wanted for you. Carry that with you, at least."

"Thankee, Bert." Patting Cuthbert on the back, Roland shook his head and started towards the door. Towards the Hall of the Ancestors, where Burtock Hattlen waited in lieu of a dinh, where Alain was standing by with a ring.

The hall was filled, to a casual eye, but Roland saw the empty spaces more than the full. No Cort, no Vannay, no Stephen Deschain in the high seat. Many who should have been seated in the best places were gone. Somehow, that made it easier to settle his mind, straighten his spine, and wait steady and watchful at the front of the hall for his bride.

Comments

[gunslingerqueen]

"You might be the only one that feels that way." But she appreciated it even as he looked away and obviously wasn't able to see that, by the time he had gone about the useless act of putting on a bloody shirt she had enough time to look at him funny for it. It didn't make her any sense and she would have made a joke if not for that statement.

He just ... Said it! And so easily! What sort of bizarre hell had she entered and why did no one give her a drink with her admittance?

"No, you don't have to 'settle' for anything." She paused, blinking at him like the confused existence she happened to be. "... You might have saved me a lot of trouble if you were that straightforward about this topic earlier." All that back and forth she had done in her own mind had been for nothing. He literally reduced it to either/or. And of course she would take the 'or', hell, this might be the only time in the duration of their marriage that they might even have sex for all that she knew. He didn't look like the type that would have a need for it the way she did.

[toweredingly]

"If I'd thought to be, I might have saved us both a lot of trouble," Roland acknowledged after a moment, and shrugged one shoulder. "I assumed if you wanted to fuck before now, you'd have done something about it." And that was perfectly frank. In her situation, he would have done something about it. Hells, if he hadn't been so busy tying himself in knots about feelings, he would already have done something about it. The only reason he'd had any hangups about it was that he hadn't been sure what else would get tangled up with it.

Shaking his head a little, he turned back to the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

[gunslingerqueen]

If this asshole shrugged his shoulder one more time she was going to get off of this bed and punch him in his stupid, handsome face. "The eight times that I have had to physically stop myself from touching you beat out your assumptions, Roland. You're the reason my left wrist hurts so damn much!" Alright, maybe that was a little too much information but now he had it, too bad!

While he faced the door Nariko gave up on everything and allowed herself to fall back on his bed. "Ten is a far more accurate number considering these last few conversations." And she didn't care if he was around to hear it or not, she just closed her eyes and sighed. This bed felt nice. And she was still married to a part-time, didn't-mean-to-be asshole!

Things could probably be worse. ... Somehow.

But she didn't care to think on how. For as much as Nariko had feared being left on her own for too long it suddenly didn't feel so terrible. Quiet, but that was good, that same quiet forced her to replay his words as if the repetition might make them hurt less but that would never be the case. It only hurt that much more because it was said from his lips, from the moment she had heard that damned name it had always been the case. Susan was important, everyone else was lucky to be more than a footnote. She opened her eyes again and stood to unbuckle her holster, and left it that.

[toweredingly]

Roland returned a few minutes later, his shirt gone again (he had handed it off to be washed). He didn't say anything, just closed the door behind him, strode across the room, and kissed her. It was easier than trying to find words, and probably got how he felt across better. She wanted him. He wanted her. He was done with talking about it, and done with trying to justify things to himself or to her.

His kiss wasn't unlike the kiss of the day before, in intensity and depth. The biggest difference was that, where yesterday's had been brief and frustrated, this was slower, more demanding. One hand cupped the back of her neck, the other running up her side to her breast.

"We have a good half-hour before anyone comes up here," he said, pulling away a little. "Likely more, with all else that's happening. Let's see about sparing your wrist."

[gunslingerqueen]

In her room everything was arranged just so. She knew where to put her clothes, her guns, everything for her hair (including an obnoxious collection of ribbons) but she did not know what the hell to do here. This was the problem with coming into someone else's space, it was difficult to feel like anything but some foreign invasion. By the time he returned she had mostly shaken off the feeling and was instead focused on getting as many flowers out of her hair as possible. Eunyce really went overboard with it.

She had enough time to raise a brow at him before, well, they kissed, and the first time wasn't some freak accident - It still felt good, and even worse than that it felt natural for her. Rather than think about if that had anything to do with him or not she answered his demand with her own, both arms finding their way around his neck, secure but loose at once. There was a relieved, blatantly desiring moan to go along with his touch but otherwise she got the message loud and clear. No more talking about serious bullshit, and that was just fine with her.

"A decent enough start," Because a half hour wasn't very long to her but, then, after three months nothing was going to feel long, except more talking that might feel like a lifetime. She shut them both up with another kiss while she reached down to deal with his belt and trousers, both needed to be off and out of the way once and for all.

[toweredingly]

He kissed back hungrily, unfastening her dress with one hand while the other hand worked its way into the complex twists of her hair. No matter what else might go along with it, she was a beautiful woman and his dry spell had only been a little shorter than hers. His blood was running hot, all the more so because of the built-up adrenaline from before, and he was already half-hard as he kissed and sucked his way down her neck, nipping at the soft curve where neck met shoulder.

Kicking off his shoes, he pulled away for a moment, but only long enough to strip off his gunbelts and lay them down on the dresser. Then he moved back in, sliding one calloused hand up under her skirts to cup her ass and the other around her shoulders, and went to kiss her again.

[gunslingerqueen]

Hungry was easy to deal with, hell, she practically embodied that even on a good day. Somewhere between their lips meeting and the inevitable parting she smiled, not teasingly or cruel just genuinely pleased. Being touched and wanted again was indescribable, especially after having faced the possibility that he might never hold a lasting interest in her, physically. It didn't have to be about love to be easy and that was what made it great, and so easy to be distracted by his excitement, giving up on his clothes and dropping her touch just enough to shamelessly feel him through the material. What could she say? Curiosity was a pervasive trait. Just feeling became just stroking because half-hard wasn't as good as completely, and the only thing she wanted just as much as him inside of her was to make him want this even more than he already did.

She actually pouted when pulled from her but in those few seconds she managed to get her hair undone and boots off, she might have gotten to her dress but not kissing Roland wasn't a good decision. She nipped gently at his lower lip at first but then with increasing roughness, in part because there wasn't anything wrong with being a little mean, and because she wasn't out to genuinely hurt him. This time she was determined to get his pants undone and on the floor, her free hand pushing at her fucking useless dress.

[toweredingly]

Letting out a little huff of a groan against her mouth, he let go of Nariko's shoulders to help push his trousers and drawers off, stepping out of them and breaking the kiss long enough to pull her dress off for good measure. Nakedness had never been something he was self-conscious about; he had nothing to be ashamed of in that regard, even if by some miracle it had occurred to him to even think of it. He was lean and wiry, long-legged and sharp-edged, and with the blurred tan of someone who had spent his life outdoors.

Naked, he was no less at ease in his body, and no less confident of its ability to do what was asked of it. Which might go some way to explaining why his next move was to pick her up, still kissing her, hands sliding under her thighs. His erection pressing against her, he carried her over to press her up against the wall, ducking his head to bite at the tops of her breasts.

[gunslingerqueen]

He didn't give her enough time for a decent look over but she would agree with that natural born ease anyway. Of course Roland was beyond attractive but as she said before, a body was a body, the specifics came from other avenues, which was why she was pretty damned glad to finally be naked herself.

But it seemed he had his own plan, and it wasn't a bad one. She squeaked a little at being lifted, and then laughed softly without interrupting their kiss somehow, maybe by magic. "Show off," It was muttered affectionately as he trailed down, and then followed by a sharp moan. The bed had been her overall goal here, for her own reasons, but what decent woman would say no to this? Not a sane one. She allowed her fingers to card through his hair, down his neck and to his shoulders while she braced her shoulders against the wall, and snaked one hand between them without interrupting him. She didn't press him into her, that would be to easy and devoid her of any chance to tease even slightly. No, pressing him against the very obvious slick between her legs so that it was easier to stroke his length was far more appealing, and also a personal call back. 'Settle for his hand' her ass!

[toweredingly]

The sound he made against her skin might have been a laugh or a groan. Bucking his hips against her hand, he slipped his mouth around one nipple, his teeth closing on it in a grip too soft to be called a bite, tonguing at the skin as he sucked. Shifting his grip on her thighs so he could support her one-handed, he brought his other hand up into her hair, pulling her head back just enough to kiss his way back up her throat.

"So much for saving your wrist," he commented in her ear, nipping at the lobe of it, and sighed hoarsely, shifting his hips again. "Fuck. You're good."

[gunslingerqueen]

Either was just fine, especially concerning how unbearably rare his laughter happened to be. She only sped up with each passing second with little concern of stamina or if it might result in waiting a while longer, there was pleasure in pleasing someone else, too. The real testament to her skill was that she didn't stop even as he put his mouth to good use and left her moaning, loud and almost gratefully.

"It can-" Talking was a skill that took genuine, hardcore brain power now, how depressing. "Can take one for the team, it's worth it." Forget whether he might cum early, if he kept playing with her neck and hair like that she would go first, but that was so anticlimactic! And therefore, completely unacceptable. He could do as he liked, she shifted her hips as much as she could against the wall so that the head of him might press against her and even just that was enough to make her tremble from top to bottom. If he thought touching was good then what they both wanted would be spectacular. They had all night for foreplay if it really meant that much to him, so why wait?

[toweredingly]

Roland glanced down, the corner of his mouth twitching up in a half-smile as he did so. If she was impatient, well, that did him just fine. He wasn't feeling the most patient in the world, either, not with her moaning and trembling and warm against him. Not after everything.

He pushed his hips up, slow and deep, letting go of her hair to steady himself against the wall. For a moment, he stayed just there, exhaling slowly, his forehead not quite touching hers. Then, moving his hand to her breast again, he leant in and kissed her, hard and passionate, as he started to move. Never one to do things by halves, he set a hard pace from the start, driving her up against the wall as he kneaded at her breast.

[gunslingerqueen]

"Oh!" Three months without proper sex and that's what comes out of her! For a very brief second it just sounds so weird, 'oh' like she had never experienced this before, like it was a surprised exclamation mixed with a pleasured cry because she was nothing if not the vocal type. But that was only for a second and she needed the moment to readjust as much as he did. It felt so damn good it could almost make her stupid.

When she kissed him back it wasn't nearly as controlled as before. There was not such thing as lack of expression, not in a kiss of all things, but now she was so blessedly lost in the feel of him fucking her. Almost defiantly she pushed her chest into his hand, spread her legs a little wider to better wrap them around his hips, all an effort to feel him as deeply as physically possible, it didn't matter if it might leave her walking funny later, she wanted it. "Roland, more - hard as you can, please--" And then there was, of course, the shamelessness of her words, the near mindless call of them because of course he wouldn't stop but it just came out of her anyway. She tugged at his hair and probably couldn't keep quiet to save their lives and didn't want to, didn't have it in her to feel bad about it when he was actually very good at this.

[toweredingly]

With a little grunt in the back of his throat, he obliged, sweat starting to prickle at his skin as he sped up, using the hand on her ass to reposition her. Hearing her plead like that, the way she said his name - it would have taken a better man than him not to be both satisfied and aroused more than ever by it. He ducked his head, his breathing coming a little short now, and sucked hard on the curve of her collarbone, with every intention of leaving a good solid lovebite for her to remember this by. Not that he expected it to be an isolated incident. Not from the way she was moaning and pleading, and how good she felt around him.

With some difficulty, he managed to raise the pace a little more again, pounding into her with all he had, and pulled away from her shoulder. He wanted to watch her when she came, and if that wasn't soon, then he was losing his touch.

[gunslingerqueen]

Sometimes all it took was that little extra bit, combined with the fact that, no, as far as Nariko and the rest of her body knew it his touch was perfectly fine. A hell of a lot better than she had assumed it would be. So if he wanted to watch her then that's what he got because it hardly took another handful of seconds.

She didn't mean to dig her nails into him and it might have been a blessing that she had enough sense to avoid the side that was hurt. She did mean the constant call of his name though, a near unending, almost holy rush of RolandRolandRoland, higher and higher until there was no such thing as speech for her. She writhed and held onto him for dear life, and while there wasn't romantic love in her eyes there was certainly passion and there wasn't anyone but Roland in her mind and certainly only him in her. That was something and it lasted a good few, long minutes, and if he kept going till his own end and didn't pull out of her then, fuck, that'd just be absolute perfection.

[toweredingly]

Roland let out a slightly strangled little sound as her nails dug into his skin, his sharp eyes on her, a little unfocused with arousal. Fuck, but that was hot. He didn't stop thrusting, although he slowed a little as she peaked, as much for the sake of his muscles as for anything to do with her. Stopping hardly seemed like an option just then. He might have the self-control, if he tried, but he wasn't about to strain himself over it, and his body had its own ideas. His breath was starting to hitch, his skin slicked with sweat as he pressed her up against the wall with all his weight, covering her mouth with his.

It was a couple of minutes before he came, letting out a low, guttural sound into the kiss, his whole body shuddering up against her. His hand had found its way back up into her hair, where it clenched spastically for a moment, then relaxed.

When he pulled away, gasping, he was smiling. For perhaps the first time she'd seen, there was no darkness behind it. It would return soon enough, but for now, it had been washed away. "Better?"

[gunslingerqueen]

She heard him but had no time to dissect whether it was a good or bad noise, she was so focused on herself and how he looked at her and how for the briefest second that sparked something that had nothing to do with sex. Thankfully it didn't survive very long, couldn't when she hit the apex of it and if really, if he hadn't slowed down then it was half likely to have kept going on and it was too early to end up that worn out. Caught between the wall and him she didn't have any choice but to keep kissing, no other way to help him to it, so she focused wholly on that. Both hands ended up in his hair and messing it up the way she had wanted to since one particular moment over a week ago.

A couple minutes or not, she wasn't in any sort of a rush and there was something to be said for feeling it happen a little slower until he came. What really got her was his smile and this time it didn't bother her that it was so disarming. She just grinned, bright-eyed and happy in a way that she hadn't felt in months.

"I think I'm supposed to be asking you that," Her voice was airy and thin, but inherently cheerful. "Much, much, much better." She didn't know how he might feel about littler forms of affection, if he would prefer that she not do anything, but she risked it and kissed his neck, made a little trail downward while she spoke, "Good to know that I don't ever have to fake it!"

[toweredingly]

"I hope you wouldn't, in any case." He didn't protest at her kisses, but slowly pulled out of her, moving to set her back on her feet. His breathing was still a little ragged, but only a little; he was fit, and he recovered quickly. "If ever it reaches the point where you have to pretend, I'd sooner know about it." He said it gravely, as if he were worried she might not take it on board, and leant in to kiss her on the forehead.

It was good to see her like that, satisfied and smiling. Maybe it was strange that the first time he felt like he'd made her feel at home was right after fucking her up against a wall, but he wasn't about to complain. Even as the relaxed contentment of his afterglow began to withdraw, the reality of the situation creeping back in, it was worth something to know that something today had gone well.

His thumb traced the mark he'd left on her collarbone, and he smiled again, just a little. "If this goes on," he mused aloud, "we'll both be carrying each other's marks for weeks." There were worse things.

[gunslingerqueen]

She paused and winced a bit at his exit. She had never liked the feeling much but he couldn't hold her against the wall the entire time, so she chose a spot she liked best and set about giving him a mark, too.

"That you would say that at all means that will never be the case." Because an attentive lover, one who would hear and honest opinion that was not meant to hurt feelings, was always a good one. "Just know that we share that thought." Certain things were what they happened to be but she would be damned if he ever had to try and be with another woman to be physically satisfied. She could at least get that much right.

She only paused to grin, her forehead temporarily resting on his shoulder. His contentment might be ebbing but she was still a ball of barely restrained affection. "I like that idea, feel free to leave as many as you like, wherever it pleases you." She returned to her personal mission, this time aiming up a little higher, biting with the littlest bit of force to really make it last, while she gently pushed them forward and hopefully towards the bed. Better than standing, and better for what she wanted to do. There was probably at least a bit of time before anyone came knocking, right? Hopefully.

[toweredingly]

Roland let himself be guided back towards the bed without complaint, his fingers weaving into her hair as they went. "Harder for a man to lie about such things," he commented, looking down at her. "We wear it rather more obviously than you." Which seemed particularly appropriate, since his cock, while still soft, was already to starting to twitch its interest again. If the night went on as it seemed like it might, he thought dryly, he would be too tired to move from bed for days after.

Just at the moment, that didn't seem like a particularly horrific fate. If nothing else, it kept his responsibilities off his mind for the time being. Sitting down on the bed, his legs splayed, he ran a hand down her side, enjoying the warmth and solidity of her. Yes, he could definitely go along with this.

[gunslingerqueen]

"True," But it was harder for a woman to go out and find someone else for pleasure. At least it would be difficult for her. A man could have someone else and she doubted anyone would care much about her displeasure for it. But that was a complicated topic for a number of reasons, better to leave it for some other time, or possibly never.

Better to enjoy how easy things were now, and that she could take her time enjoying and getting to know as much of him with her lips as possible. His neck, his collarbone, the length of his chest and farther down still, she touched before she kissed or licked, but there was no major part left untouched. It gave her time to be thorough in the way she needed and, young or not, it was an extra bit of time for him, too, so that by the time she dropped to her knees again he might not need her hand for very long before the obvious occurred.

[toweredingly]

Resting back on his elbows, Roland watched her, still as stone, his skin prickling pleasurably under her touch. He was tacky with sweat, his hair all mussed and any semblance of his earlier neatness gone. It suited him rather better than the sharp outfit and slicked-back hair.

Sure enough, by the time she worked her way down that far, he was most of the way to hard again, and it was starting to tell in his breath, which had lost some of its evenness. It only took a few seconds of her stroking before his cock stood to attention again, and he looked at her with a certain light in his eyes, sitting up a little straighter.

[gunslingerqueen]

The silence hardly bothered her, he could have been babbling about almost anything in the world and she might have just given him the most distracted responses. In her own way and with many more tasks than just this, she could be single-minded. If her actions didn't make that clear then maybe the coy smirk she gave him would, an answer to the shift in his posture that she couldn't have missed.

But she took her time with it all the same, her fingers didn't stop just because she parted her lips and traced her tongue along the base of him and worked up, far too light and careful to be satisfying, too deliberate to have been anything but the tease that it was. And for those first few seconds, at least, she never looked away from those unfair, blue eyes. When her lips met the same space as her hand it only meant switching off, her lips wrapping around his tip, her hand touching as her eyes finally closed. Teasing was fun but there was an ulterior motive to this. The best thing anyone could do was find every little pleasure and weakness and then not only shamelessly exploit it, but find ways to make it new. It was just a matter of finding the littler details, but maybe he was beginning to see the extent of her dedication.

[toweredingly]

She was good. He wasn't about to pretend otherwise; wasn't about to hide the shiver that went up his spine when her tongue brushed against the hypersensitive skin. Once upon a time, when he had been younger and less experienced (not to mention less well-used already), that alone might have been enough to bring him off, or close to it. As it was, he just half-closed his eyes, relaxing into it, one hand sliding down to toy with her hair. She was good. And, with that initial urgent need gone, he was more than happy to let her show that off for as long as she liked.

At some point tonight, he reflected as a particularly sensitive spot tugged a little gasp out of him, he was going to have to repay the favour. She looked good on her knees, but he thought she might look just as good from a vantage point between her legs. Besides, the way she was teasing cried out for revenge.

For now, though, he settled into her ministrations, twisting his fingers into her hair and occasionally letting out a low, voiceless sound of appreciation when she hit a particularly sweet spot.

[gunslingerqueen]

Even if her general appreciation for sucking a man's dick - especially one she actually liked - had been nonexistent Nariko would have always enjoyed this just for the sake of getting a reaction. Men that were entirely silent during sex were vaguely menacing and not to be trusted, and also no fun at all as far as she was concerned. For Roland a gasp or sigh might as well have been her equivalent to a true moan so in that moment she was nothing short of pleased with life.

She hummed appreciatively when he played with her hair but otherwise concerned herself with enjoying this for as long as possible. For her that meant working farther down, running her tongue along his skin, sucking with no regard for how loud or even lewd it might be. Eventually both hands settled easily on his hips as she moved shallowly, working him and out of her throat in small bursts at first, to get used to it and to, y'know, not pass out. Being conscious was pretty sexy most of the time, in her opinion.