Daybreak would have been an hour away when Hope rolled and released a soft sigh as her nose pressed against the familiar scent of Astarion's collar. A low chuckle roused her already waking senses. As she blinked her eyes open, she met his red hue. A smile curled her lips as she stretched against him, the space they'd had between them when they'd gone to bed was now nonexistent.
"You have inched your way closer and closer to me all night long," Astarion purred against the shell of her ear as his thumb traced the dip of her hip.
Still curled on her side and her hands tucked under her chin, she snuggled a bit closer and sighed, "Hm, I believe you."
Hot and wet, he dragged the tip of his tongue along the pulse of her carotid, pulling a sensual moan from the back of her throat. Though, she closed her eyes again, she didn't fight his hand as he pressed against her hip, guiding her to lie on her back.
With the fire dwindled to mere embers of warmth, they were cloaked in darkness—a curtain of privacy as the others slept. With the comfort of Astarion's palm pressed against her belly, she began to drift again, but as she edged the cusp of sleep, his lazy fingers drifted downward. Hope's breath hitched as they delicately glided back and forth across the exposed skin of her pelvis.
Words wouldn't form despite her effort. Dragging her lower-lip between her teeth, she instinctively raised her hips to meet his hand, but as she moved toward him…his touch disappeared. Hope blinked her eyes open and gazed up at him, brow furrowed with tired confusion.
Astarion merely smirked down at her and quietly responded, while smoothing the crease between her eyes, "Stay still, darling."
Honestly, she was too tired to fight it, and just wanted his touch back. So she conceded and let her hips rest back down to the ground. When she was still again, his touch returned. Slow and swirling, his deft fingers traversed her skin like an artists brush explored a canvas. He dipped beneath the band of her underwear, earning another sigh, and Hope relished in the goosebumps that rose in wake of his touch. They sent tendrils of tingles down her spine and down to her toes and up to her scalp.
Every time she thought he might stroke into her heat, he ghosted around, caressing the soft hair and creases of her thighs. It was almost maddening the way he avoided where she needed him most, but she stayed still. She'd rather this torture than for him to stop.
"You're being very patient," he chuckled against her ear. Then, as if to reward her, his middle finger sank between her folds and her legs fell open completely with a soft gasp.
"Bastard…" Hope groaned softly as his finger trailed through her arousal and circled her clit without making contact. Though he said nothing, she could feel his grin against her temple.
It was another slow and tedious build up, but with each passing minute he brushed closer to her fluttering clit. Not once did he make contact. Now, with growing need, Hope was more awake than she had been. Her breathing quickened; her heart raced; sweat coated her forehead in a thin sheen.
He was so slow…too slow, she needed relief now.
Hope squirmed her hips, desperately trying to move his hand where she wanted him, where she needed him. But no matter where she moved, he moved the opposite. With a soft growl of frustration, she reached down and took hold of his wrist to guide him to her throbbing clit that ached for attention.
The attempt at control lasted only a moment before he snatched both of her wrists and held them in a vice-like grip above her head. Hope looked up at him now with wide eyes as his hand, still hidden beneath her now-soaked underwear, continued to lazily swirl through her arousal.
"Astarion…"
"You sound troubled, my dear."
Tears pricked her vision as she dug her heels against the ground as the need crescendoed into something almost painful—burning with every aching throb.
"PLEASE!"
Astarion abruptly pulled his hand out from her underwear and his absent touch suddenly became a haunting echo. Then, he slipped his fingers to his mouth, and sucked off her arousal. All Hope could do was watch with wide, wanting eyes. She wanted those fingers back on her, in her. She wanted them to stretch her and make her cry tears of pleasure.
As she parted her lips to release her desires, he tapped her lips with his finger, "You aren't going to come until I allow it."
"What makes you think I'll agree to that?"
Astarion grinned crookedly as he stroked her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb, "Because if you wait…then I'll reward you."
Hope grinned, too. "I could easily just reward myself."
"Ah," he chuckled as he wrapped his hand around her throat and lightly squeezed, "I can assure you, mine will be worth the wait."
Swallowing, Hope looked up at him and realized he was being serious. After all that, she wasn't going to come. Not tonight, at least. She still ached between her legs and every instinct she had told her to finish herself off, but he was right…
She would like his reward better.
"I think I may have found a solution to our gate malfunction," Gale declared as he stood before the statue of Selune. Everyone gathered with him, dressed and ready.
Hope didn't have much to wear that suited her preferences; she missed her jeans and t-shirts. More than that, she missed her candles and her garden—the coffee shop downtown. How were her chickens doing?
"We're going to fight fire with fire," Gale said, pulling Hope from her thoughts, and added, "Well, fight electricity with electricity. Now, you'll all kindly take a few steps back, I'll be only a moment."
As they cleared the area, Gale scaled the ladder on one end of the gate, which led to a platform above. Hope tilted her head back, watching him walk closer and closer to the edge, and tried to contain her grimace.
Please, don't fall.
Above them, Gale thrust his hand forward and shouted, "Perurē!"
Was that Latin? Hope had spent time studying the language, and while it was often used as a stepping stone into her own spell-work, she didn't necessarily use it for her magic on a regular basis.
They watched the bolt of blue leave his hand and collide with the glowing light and sizzle with a hiss. The hum of energy in the air faded and crackled out completely as Gale climbed back down, beaming. "It worked! Ah yes, books once again save the day."
Hope couldn't help but grin too, "What would we ever do without our Wizard from Waterdeep?"
A soft hue of pink tinged his cheeks as he returned her grin and gestured toward the gate, "Ladies first."
With that, they were on their way, but they didn't get far.
There was something disconcerting about the Underdark. Perhaps it was the lacking sun or the inability to tell time, but as safe as Halsin said it was compared to the Shadowfell, she wasn't entirely convinced.
Her bones ached with something: A warning.
More are coming, the deep, grating voice grazed her ear, yet she knew no one had spoken. It was in her head.
She stopped and turned, glancing at her companions, who had also stopped to listen.
Hope glanced between them with raised brows as she whispered, "The fuck was that?"
They're coming. They're coming.
"Someone's coming," Astarion swallowed, "and someone else wants us to know."
Gale furrowed his brow, "That's a myconid…and it's warning us."
"Careful, if we can hear it. Perhaps it can hear us." Shadowheart frowned, rotating in a slow circle to survey their surroundings.
They're coming. You're coming.
"Who's coming?" Hope frowned. Or…what?
Then her eyes fell on them. On the path ahead, staring at them, two more beastly Minotaur's.
"Oh, shit…" Hope managed just as the one closest slung a massive boulder in her direction. It was Halsin who snatched her around the waist and flung her to the side. She fell, rolling away and nearly off the ledge to the left of the path.
Astarion lunged toward her, standing above her as he released an arrow at its head. Over and over and over, he launched his arrows through the air and into their flesh with a sickening smack. As they howled with rage, spittle flung from its maw as it charged toward Gale.
Hope jolted forward, but Astarion's frame stood in her way as she watched Gale form a red sphere around his body. It shimmered with a scarlet energy before combusting on impact as the Minotaur slammed its claw against the surface. The explosion was enough to send the beast a good sixty feet, which, in turn, sent it careening over the edge and to its end in the chasm below.
Okay, that was impressive. She had to learn how to do that.
Another arrow was released from Astarion's bow, and it sliced through the throat of the other in a quick spray of warm blood. It gurgled on the flood of its own blood as it fell to its knees and collapsed. Hope stared at its twitching ear, allowing Astarion to lift her to her feet.
"What warned us again?" Hope breathed.
Gale nodded, still catching his breath as he said, "A myconid colony…this way."