Chapter Text
“So I'm thinking, there's no way this night could get any worse, and then the hagraven says we've gotta consummate the marriage!” The stormcloaks erupted with laughter around the fire.
Lea had been entertaining them with stories for nearly an hour. Ralof smiled as he watched her, her eyes sparkling as she told of her adventures, which seemed to be everything from heroic quests to drunken escapades. He felt strangely proud, as all the faces around him looked at her in admiration, though he knew he didn't have a reason to. He'd had to keep reminding himself that she wasn't his, and likely wouldn’t be again.
Ralof was sure that's what she wanted to talk to him about. To clear the air and make sure he understood there wasn't anything between them. It had been over a year, after all, and they'd only really been together once. Ralof sighed. He was an idiot if he expected anything more from her.
Of course, this logical thinking didn't do anything to quell his feelings. It's not like he'd been pining after her every night, but he had thought about her. More often than he'd like to admit, in fact. Things were different now, though. She wasn't the same girl he'd pulled into the keep in Helgen. She was the Dragonborn, the most important person in all of Tamriel.
Still, it was a hard fact to remember when she sat right there, close enough to touch. She'd seemed so different this morning. Ralof was no stranger to seeing her demeanor change with the wind, but it was still disarming to watch. This morning, she was the serious and hardened hero of Skyrim, and now she was laughing in the firelight, looking every bit the warm, carefree girl he had known. Though even that wasn't wholly true, as the more he thought about their time back in Riverwood, the more he remembered the look of loss that would glance through her face when her past was brought up. The genuine fear when the Thalmor threatened her. The focus she had in battle.
Ralof picked at the label of his mead bottle. This girl had layers, and he never knew which version of her he'd get. Not that it mattered to him that much. He’d longed for her for so long, there wasn’t any part of her he wouldn’t take.
She finished up her story with a flourish, something about a staff and a miserable hangover, Ralof had lost track. He was distracted, staring at her, more watching than listening. She caught his eye and smiled, making his heart flutter. Damn, it was happening again. Acting like a love-struck boy, even after all this time.
Lea stood and bid goodnight. It was late, and they had a lot of ground to cover tomorrow. Ralof's stomach dropped. He'd expected to get a chance to talk with her. But flipped again as she walked past him, leaning in so only he could hear and whispered, “Meet me in my tent in ten minutes.” Ralof's heart raced. Maybe he wasn't crazy to hope, after all.
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Ralof stood outside Lea’s tent. A freezing winter wind gusted down from the hills, chilling his bones as the cold dug under his skin. And yet, he hesitated to go inside. He wasn’t sure why she had him so nervous. Or rather, he knew why, and didn’t want to admit it. Ralof had fantasized about finding her again countless times – but this wasn’t what he pictured.
How many nights had he fallen asleep dreaming about holding her in his arms again? But now that it was real, he had to mitigate his expectations. This wasn't some fantasy. He remembered the feeling of waking up to find her gone like it was yesterday. She'd made it clear how she felt that night when she left. Hoping for something more was just asking for more heartache. Ralof took a breath, and stepped inside.
The tent was a decent size: large enough to stand comfortably and twice as wide. It was unnaturally warmer inside. Ralof briefly wondered if it had some sort of enchantment as well. There was an oversized bedroll against the fabric wall with layers of soft, fine-looking furs. Lea sat in the corner, atop a blanket behind a small folding table, writing a letter. Her head snapped up when he entered, a defensive reflex, but her face softened instantly when she saw him.
For the first time that day, he didn't see the Dragonborn. As she stepped toward him, he was transported back to their little room at the inn. His insecurities, his hesitation, everything fell away, leaving only her. His Lea.
Ralof didn't think. Something buried deep inside him took over, and before he realized what was happening, his hands were wrapped around her waist and his lips were on hers. He felt her gasp against him, but she quickly melted into the kiss, arms snaking around his shoulders.
He'd pictured this moment of reunion countless times, back when he didn't dare to hope it could actually happen. It was exactly as he'd imagined. She was as perfect as he'd remembered.
What are you doing? The logical part of his brain screamed. She doesn't want you, she proved that when she left. So much time has passed. She probably has another man now. She could have any man she wants.
But then he heard it. He felt Lea pull back the tiniest bit, lips still touching, and breathlessly whisper, “Gods, I've missed you so much.”
And just like that, any lingering reservations Ralof had disappeared. He groaned aloud and pushed against her, nearly toppling them to the floor as his hands grabbed and roamed frantically, trying to touch her everywhere at once. All he could think about was her, and her, and her. He didn't care if there was anyone else, didn't care if she'd still be there in the morning. He'd let her break his heart a thousand times over if it meant he could have her tonight.
Everything was a blur. Their clothes fell off of them, his armor clanging to the ground and her soft nightclothes ripping away. Before he knew it, they were lying on the soft fur blankets, sighing and gasping and touching and biting with a frenzied passion.
Ralof worked his way down her, retracing his path from a year ago, trailing along her body to see if it was as he remembered. There were small differences – a thin scar across her chest, and a large, healed gash on her stomach, likely from an arrow. Her hips and stomach were thicker and more toned, and her hands felt calloused as she ran them down his back. But in other ways, she was exactly the same. Her soft breasts that he had dreamed about so many times felt the same in his hand, and she arched her back against him as he nipped at the sensitive skin just as she had before.
Ralof continued making his way down, hoping to savor every inch of her, but had barely reached her stomach when she stopped him. Her eyes were dark and hazy with lust as she pulled him back up for a wet, desperate kiss.
“Please,” Lea whimpered. “It's been so long, I want all of you.” Any ideas of taking it slow or savoring the moment went out the window. If she said she wanted him now, who was he to stand in her way? Within moments, he spread her beneath him and pushed inside.
“By Talos,” Ralof groaned. “How is it you've gotten tighter?” Lea could only moan in response, his full length making her head roll back as he sheathed inside her in one motion. Ralof tried to keep still, to let her adjust, but she bucked up against him, begging for friction.
Ralof growled at the motion, the feeling of her sliding against him, slick, wanting, it was too much for him to hold back. He grasped her hips roughly, his fingers indenting her soft curves, and crashed into her desperately. Lea cried out, surely loud enough to be heard outside the tent as he repeated the motion, again and again.
The world spun around them. Ralof was drunk off of her. He buried his head in the crook of her neck and ravenously bit and sucked at the delicate skin, surely leaving marks in his wake. Lea squirmed and moaned beneath him, her hands clawing up his back. It was driving him mad how much she wanted him, but her frantic movements were stopping him from finding a good rhythm as he pumped against her.
Ralof pulled back, causing her to whimper as his mouth left her, and sat up on his knees. Lifting her hips into the air, he pulled her against him in one solid motion. Lea cried out as he plunged into her, as deep as he could. Fuck, she felt incredible.
“By the Nine, Ralof,” she moaned, clawing at the blankets as he sank against her, ramming into her back walls. “Fuck, don't stop.” Ralof's senses were overwhelmed. The sight of her face, flushed with pleasure, her red lips curved in a perfect O-shape as she moaned out strings of curses and begs for more. The way her ass felt under his strong grasp. How she squeezed so tightly against him, like her body was desperately trying to hold him inside.
Ralof was so wrapped up in the everything of her that he didn't realize how close he was until it was too late. Before he could help himself, Lea cried out his name once more with such wanting desperation that it completely sent him over the edge. The orgasm ripped through him like lightning, and he had no choice but to completely surrender to it, to her, as the bursts of pleasure coursed through him.
With a groan, Ralof collapsed over her, one elbow dropped next to her head as he buried his face in her hair, suddenly embarrassed by the loss of control. “Fuck,” he mumbled, out of breath. “I'm sorry love, I couldn't hold it back.”
Lea just kissed his brow, digging her fingers through his hair just as she had done the last time. “It's ok,” she soothed, also panting. “There will be other nights.”
“Will there be?” Ralof couldn't help but ask. He instantly regretted the question, though, as Lea didn't answer. She just shifted beneath him, prompting him to readjust, and gasping as he pulled out of her, still half hard.
Ralof lay down beside her, head propped up on his hand while the other traced down her body. Lea avoided his eyes, still blushing from the sex. “I'm so sorry, Ralof,” she finally spoke, voice cracking a little. “I should never have left you like that. I just… I knew I couldn’t go with you.”
He brushed her hair back behind her ear. “Lea, it’s alright. You don’t need to explain.” He had never been mad at her – he couldn’t quite put his finger on what he'd felt. Hurt felt like too strong a word. Just, saddened maybe? Like he’d caught a glimpse of something he didn’t know he could have, right before it slipped away.
“No, I need you to know. It wasn’t because of you. You were… perfect.” She spoke quickly, her breath ragged, like she was trying to get it all off her chest. “I wanted to stay with you so badly, but despite everything, I just couldn’t. I don’t know why, but I just had to go my own way.”
Ralof considered for a moment, looking into her. “Maybe part of you knew you had a different path to follow, ” he finally said. Lea gazed back at him, glassy-eyed, seeming confused that he wasn’t upset. Ralof just smiled and stroked her cheek with his thumb. “You know, I used to think that dragon was fate, bringing us together. But I can see now… it was your fate, calling you towards your destiny as the Dragonborn.” Lea scoffed softly.
“Destiny? Like this is all a part of the Gods’ plans? I don’t know if I believe that.”
“I don’t think the Gods care if you believe in them or not.”
Lea lay quiet, running a hand up his chest. “You really thought we were destined to be together?” she finally asked, voice just above a whisper.
“Something brought us back together, right?”
Lea smiled and leaned up for a soft kiss. The kind they might've shared if they'd gone about all this properly. As if she were just a normal girl he'd met back home, and he was romancing her like a respectable suitor. Delicate. Loving.
They continued like this for a while, easing against each other with languid, tender kisses and touches. They melted against each other until Ralof no longer knew where he ended and she began. After what could've been minutes or hours, they drifted into sleep, still holding each other as the wind howled outside.