sixthiterationlogs | with just one breath, i'm locked in

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with just one breath, i'm locked in

WHO: Sansa Stark
WHERE: Down by the river - Raleigh's
WHEN: January 8th
OPEN TO: Raleigh
WARNINGS: will update if necessary
STATUS: closed

Hurrying up the front steps to Raleigh's home, Sansa felt a little like a smuggler as she thought about the wrapped object that she had clutched close against her chest. The book, one of the presents she had received, was currently wrapped up in a piece of fabric. That was exactly how she had kept it since sneaking it into her home and trying to keep her brothers or her sister from ever finding it. After a couple of close calls, one including the time her dog found it and dragged it out, she had decided that she needed another place to hide it.

She wasn't sure yet that asking Raleigh to hide it was the best idea that she'd ever had but she was sure that he would listen to her if she asked him to never unwrap it. Plus, it wouldn't be for long. Only until she had time to talk to another friend that she trusted who she hoped would hide the book for her too. That or maybe she would just burn it, just to be safe.

Knocking on Raleigh's front door, she hesitated before opening the door and letting herself inside his house. "Raleigh?"

She called out a couple more times but there was no answer. Chewing at her bottom lip, she looked around for a place to put the book down before turning around and hurrying out again. She had a feeling that he was down by the river checking the lines, so she was going to check there first. She would just have to remember to tell him about the package and not to open it when they got back. It seemed like a simple enough plan as long as she didn't get distracted or forgetful.

Making her way down to the river, she was relieved when she finally spied him working just as she thought he would be at this time of the day. Slowing down, her features softened as she watched him, enjoying the view for a moment before lifting her hand and waving.

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Raleigh is almost always happy to see Sansa and now is no exception. He looks up from checking the lines and grins back at her in spite of the cold; the fish can wait while he walks up and greets her properly.

"It's cold out here, even for an Ice Princess like you," he says, drawing up close and wrapping his arms around her. "You're going to freeze. You could have waited inside, if you wanted? I would have come by to see you."

"I didn't feel like waiting." Sansa tells him with a little smile that borders on being a touch bashful until he wraps his arms around her. She doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms around his waist, liking the feel and the ease of it as her smile grows. "Plus how would you know I was there waiting for you? What if you didn't return for awhile?"

Then she pauses. "Not that I would want to keep you from any plans that you may have today.|

"I wouldn't mind if you kept me from going out in the cold to check the lines but I think the rest of the village might have minded," Raleigh says. He's not the only fisherman but there's only a few of them. If he suddenly stops checking the lines, it's noticeable.

"Still, you can come warm me up, right? Especially since my fire's gone now?" It had disappeared as soon as it came, almost, but Raleigh's not sad about it. He still has alternate methods of keeping warm.

"They would and then I would feel bad for getting you into trouble." The words sound genuine but there is something playful, almost coy, in her gaze as she continues to watch him while trying not to smirk. The idea of keeping him inside sounds interesting and she finds her thoughts wandering in directions that she hadn't enjoyed for a long time.

It's almost enough to make her blush a little.

"So they have disappeared completely now?" She asks, her fingers brushing gently against his back. Their sudden appearance had worried her but she can almost admit that she would miss them since he had been a nice source of heat during the really cold weather.

"Yeah. I can't even summon a spark," Raleigh says. He misses it, if only because he hadn't had to use nearly as much firewood when he'd been a furnace on his own. Now he's feeding the furnace a lot more often.

It would be warmer if he had someone to share the bed, of course, but that's not an option with Sansa. Even innocently, it's not something her family would stand for and Raleigh wants to respect that.

"Pretty cold at night. I guess you probably share with your sister or something, right?"

"That's strange that you were given it only to have it taken away so quickly. I still can't figure out what the point of it was." Sansa muses with a concerned little frown because she still can't wrap her head around the events of the last little while.

"Sometimes, if it's very cold." She answers with a little nod. "But neither one of us are really used to sharing a bed anymore. Which is nice because there were times when she would kick in her sleep."

"She kicked but you never did? I guess Sansa Stark is a perfect princess, huh? Not one foot out of line, not even when she's asleep?"

Raleigh is teasing, of course, mostly because it's fun to tease Sansa and when he does she usually gets this fantastic blush that heats up her cheeks and makes him wonder just how far beneath the neckline of her top it goes.

"I'm not that perfect." Sansa huffed, a bit of color creeping into her cheeks as she tried not to feel weird about being called a perfect princess. It wasn't his fault but Arya had sometimes mocked Sansa for acting so prim and proper.

She reminded herself that Raleigh wasn't being cruel, though, and so she made herself relax before a spark of mischief appeared in her eyes. "I would pull her hair whenever she kicked me. Just enough to wake her up. Then I would pretend to still be asleep."

Normally, after dating a girl for two months, Raleigh would be a little more serious than hand-holding and kissing. Dating Sansa isn't like dating a normal girl, though, and he has to be a lot more careful with her. He pulls her close, sliding his arms around her waist.

"So, if you were in bed with me, you wouldn't kick or pull my hair, would you?"

"I..." She should have seen it coming. She knows too well how much Raleigh loves to tease her, usually just to see her blush, but the question still causes her to stumble over her words. Mostly because of the little jolt of electricity that shoots through her when she imagines the two of them in bed.

"I wouldn't kick you." Her voice is a touch huskier than before but she swears that it's only because her throat is suddenly dry. "But I might pull your hair a little."

If only because she had done exactly that just a few days before when the kissing got more heated than usual.

"Don't think I would mind that," Raleigh says. He thinks about how it felt the other day with her hands in his hair and his own body heats up; he doesn't need the fire powers to feel hot when she touches him. Still, they're going to freeze if they stay outside and he reluctantly pulls away from him.

"You want to come inside? I promise to escort you back to your house at a reasonable hour and everything. I just wanted to...spend some time with you alone."

Sometimes Sansa didn't understand the buzzing feeling that raced over her skin or how she felt so heated when she was alone with him. She would have never guessed that it could be so intense or leave her nearly shaking and breathless afterward. There are times when it feels like it's going to be too much, like something is building up inside of her until she swears she will break.

She can feel the hum of heat in her blood when he says that he wants to spend a little time with her alone. Pressing her lips together, she nods. "I would like that a lot. I have awhile before anyone will notice me missing."

"I think I should feel bad about sneaking around," Raleigh says, reaching to take her hand and tug her up and inside his house. He doesn't feel bad about it. Every moment he spends with her makes this place seem a little more bearable and, honestly, since he met her he kind of looks forward to waking up and seeing her every day. The dread of waking up in this place is gone.

When he brings her into the house, he doesn't go to the couch like he normally does. Instead, he pulls her back toward the bedroom. "The blankets will keep us warmer," he says, giving her a steady, meaningful look.

"We're not sneaking around." She will tell him later that her brother knows about him and that soon they will have to meet but right now she doesn't want to think about it. That will be a serious conversation and, right now, she just wants to enjoy being with him. Because he does definitely make this place bearable.

Half expecting to go to the couch just like always, she starts to head in the direction of his living room until a tug on her hand causes her to realize that isn't his intention. Then she realizes his plan and suddenly her heart is racing while her cheeks flush hot again.

"Okay." She sounds breathless now, all while being aware of the dull throb between her legs.

"Nothing will happen that you don't want to happen," Raleigh promises. "I'm not going to pressure you like that. It's just because we're both tall and it's more comfortable to stretch out in a bed than to try and fold ourselves onto a couch."

Raleigh says it for his own benefit as much as Sansa's - he has to remind himself to go slow with her, to be cautious, to guard his own heart. He hadn't been close to much of anyone before coming here, aside from Mako, and now he's close to her. It's frightening.

"I trust you." Sansa murmurs softly, trying to reassure him that she isn't really worried that he would try to pressure her into going further than she is comfortable with. He had been incredibly patient so far, never pushing for anything more than what she was comfortable with.

She wants to tell him that she is only nervous because she has never been in bed with a man before but, of course, he already knows that. He is right in thinking that it will be more comfortable for them both, so she follows while butterflies dance in the pit of her stomach.

Raleigh guides her to sit on the edge of the bed before sitting beside her, turning her so that he can cup her face in his hands. He doesn't have the fire he had for a few weeks last month but he's still warm enough to help warm her.

"Are you cold, Sansa?"

It didn't matter that he no longer possessed the magic of fire these days. Sansa already feels warm, heated by a growing sense of desire that she doesn't recognize. She only knows how it feels when he touches her, causing her blood to stir with heat and anticipation. It is more familiar to her than not now but she still doesn't know how to name or explain it. She only knows that she wants more, even as it makes her shy.

"Not at all." She murmurs softly, her eyes flickering briefly to his mouth before she leans forward to kiss him first this time.

"Good," Raleigh says. He buries his hand deep in her hair as he kisses her, meeting her shy kiss with one that's a hell of a lot more bold on his part. He's falling for her and hard; it's going to be a hard thing to ever let her go, if he has to.

He hopes it never comes to that.

For now, he wants to kiss her like he has no place else to be in all the world, kiss her until all she can see and feel and taste is him.

There is no stopping the soft noise that she makes when he kisses her with enough heat to have her melting against him. Usually, he is slow to bring them to this point but the swiftness of it is staggering and immediately sets her heart racing.

Instinctively, she arches closer and kisses him back with the same heated intent. As she kisses him, she slides one hand down his chest, feeling the muscles beneath his shirt.

When Sansa's hands reach under his shirt, Raleigh can't help but let out a soft, choked little sigh. He's wanted this for as long as he's known her and he hasn't exactly known how to push them from simple kisses to something a little more.

"No...no pressure," he says, breathless between kisses. "You know that, right?"

The soft sound that he makes is addictive, heightening her own desire and need to hear more from him. Feeling bolder, she slides her hands up along his ribs while biting gently at her bottom lip when the kiss breaks for a moment.

"I know." She sounds just as breathless as she brushes her nose gently against his. "I don't feel pressured at all."

"I'll stop if I need to," Raleigh promises her. He doesn't want to stop, though, and leans in to kiss her again, rolling her beneath him on the bed. It's just kissing, sure, but this is a lot more kissing than they've been doing over the last two months.

"This okay?"

Her heart starts racing a little faster when he rolls her beneath him because this is definitely further than they have gone before. She trusts him, though. She knows he will stop if she asks him to but she doesn't.

She makes a soft noise against his mouth before nodding, her body feeling pleasantly warm and her blood humming with a growing sense of need. Then she brushes soft kisses to her neck, teasing over his pulse as she instinctively shifts to cradle his legs between hers.

"That feels good," Raleigh says, letting his eyes drift shut as her lips touch against his neck. God, she's pretty much a natural at this even though she doesn't know anything other than what they've done.

"You can...totally keep doing that."

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