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Beneath the mask, he seethed. The heat from the flames that danced around him couldn't match the burning hatred boiling his blood.
"Pathetic," the Ascian spat. "You boasted of unrivaled power. You were entrusted with the ultimate weapon. The ultimate magic !" They scoffed. " And still you failed. So much for the glory of man."
His hands clenched to fists as the anger and hatred welled up inside. It felt like it was strangling him, or was that him choking on his own blood? He coughed and the red sticky substance spattered the inside of his helmet.
He was a disgrace.
He shut his eyes, feeling the pain all over. The flames raged and the air grew thick with smoke. As everything faded to black, he felt a pressure on his abdomen, like someone sitting on it. He opened his eyes and saw a black hooded figure sitting astride him. Had the Ascian come to make sure he was dead?
He reached up and grabbed them by the neck. Their hands immediately went to his, trying to get him to release his hold.
"Gaius…" they sputtered, barely able to get his name out. He squeezed tighter, teeth bared. This was how he would like to end every single Ascian if he could.
They continued to claw at his hand, struggling to break free, until he felt a slap across his face.
Then, he woke up.
His eyes flew open and then widened at the scene before him. It was Genevieve sitting astride him and it was her neck that his hand had wrapped around. She was staring down at him, face red and eyes watering, pleading with him to let go. He finally did, pulling his hand away like he'd be burned, horrified at the realization of what he'd tried to do.
She bent over him, gasping for air and rubbing at her neck, cursing him with the little breath she was able to muster up.
"Genevieve, what are you doing here?" Panting still, she lifted her head enough to glare at him. He glared back. "What were you thinking?"
Finally, she sat up, twisting her neck, this way and that. "I thought you might like some company," she rasped.
Gaius could only stare as his stomach sank. He reached a hand up to her neck and it was a mercy she didn't flinch. His fingers lightly grazed along her throat.
"I'm sorry," he uttered softly.
She coughed. "It's what I get for sneaking in and trying to be sexy."
He narrowed his eyes. "How did you get in here?"
She smirked while trying to stifle another cough. "I never told you what I did for a living."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Before I became the hero of Eorzea ."
He waited for her to continue but didn't miss the snideness in which she used the moniker.
"I was an assassin, in Kugane."
His lips parted in mild surprise.
"I likely killed a dozen of the empire's lower ranking officers, looking for entertainment and pleasure."
Her hand smoothed over his chest and up to his throat, one finger tracing under his chin and down the line of his jaw. For a brief moment, he thought she might try to repay him.
"I'd slit their throat just before they came."
He narrowed his eyes. "And you're telling me this, why? To threaten me with another blade to my throat? If so, you'll have to wait behind Valdeaulin. He has first honors at ending me."
Genevieve laughed. "I'm not here to kill you, silly. Far from it and you know that." She thumped him on the chest. "You just asked how I got here. I used to work in the shadows, quiet and undetected."
Before he could respond or comment, she leaned down and kissed him, her lips full and soft against his, sending a tingle throughout his body. He hesitated placing his hands on her, but as she deepened the kiss, he wove a hand into her hair while the other took hold of her hip. She combed her fingers through his hair, nails lightly scraping his scalp. Then, she tugged lightly at his hair, tipping his head back as she captured his bottom lip, dragging it between her teeth.
He closed his eyes and sighed, savoring the way she was making him come undone with a kiss. Her lips moved down to his neck, nipping at his pulse. His grip on her tightened and he could feel her lips curve into a smile.
This was nothing like before where she had moved so fast, like a lightning storm across his body, hardly able to register what she was doing to him. He could only recall melting under each strike of her touch, letting her reduce him to a pile of smoldering ash.
He was fine to oblige at the time, too stunned as he was to see the hero of Eorzea in the nude and straddling him. Now, she seemed to be taking her time, slow and lingering like rolling thunder in the distance.
She kissed along his collarbone, her hands smoothing down his bare chest, fingers tickling along his ribs, her lips following close behind. His muscles rippled under the sensation and as her mouth closed around a nipple, he felt her go "Mmm."
As she moved further down, leaving a slow agonizing trail of kisses in her wake, his brain finally processed that she was really here. Again .
He hadn't dared dream that there could ever be a reprisal of their first night – a night that felt like a dream itself. A haze of warm skin and hot breath and a near suffocating desire to touch her everywhere, but he hadn't been able to hold her like he wanted, to feel her in his arms. There had hardly been any evidence left of their tryst – only the scent of her on his sheets and a love bite on the inside of his thigh.
He gasped as she nipped by his hip, fingers slipping beneath his waistband to tug down his pants. Breathing heavy, he stared at her, her green eyes flashing up at him through dark eyelashes, practically glowing. He could only just make her out in the dark, the moonlight draping over her like a veil. He propped himself up on an elbow as he reached for her with his other hand, fingers brushing through her hair, watching her eyes flutter close at the sensation.
Then, she winced and cried out, clutching the side of her head.
The flames were dancing higher than she remembered, the only thing she could see through all the smoke.
Until a figure emerged, clutching their arm and limping along. They were headed right towards her, or least in her direction. She turned and saw their goal: a tunnel that would lead them to safety.
She already knew because it was the same tunnel she used to escape from the Praetorium with an unconscious Thancred before it all turned to ash.
She turned back and watched as Gaius van Baelsar slowly made his way. Knowing she had just barely made it out herself before the complex exploded, her heart was in her throat as she witnessed his futile effort.
He wasn't going to make it.
He had just reached the spot where she stood when he stopped. There was no way he could know she was there, could he? This was the Echo. A memory, his memory.
"... and so my conquest ends, in smoke and ashes…"
It startled Genevieve to hear him speak, but he was only speaking to himself.
There was no warning when the explosion finally hit. She shielded her eyes and ducked even though it was unnecessary. When the dust settled she saw him lying on the ground, face first. Most of his clothes were singed, covered in blood, the pink shine of his burned skin peeking through. She knelt beside him and reached a hand out, like she could help him at all.
Then, her world turned to black.
Genevieve continued to clutch her head as she came back to the present. As she sat up, her eyes met his, warm gold smoldering amongst umber skin bathed in pale moonlight. It was hard for her addled brain to reconcile that the man she saw in the Echo and the man before her were one and the same.
"Was that the Echo?"
"...Yes." She didn't want to tell him what she just saw.
"What did you see?"
"It showed me Praetorium."
Gaius scowled. "Why would it show you that? You were there."
"Not when you tried to escape."
His breath caught.
She crawled over him once more, reaching her hand out to touch his cheek, grimacing at the recent memory. "How did you make it out of there alive?"
She looked down at him, eyes narrowed and brow furrowed, confused by how he still lived and breathed. He averted his gaze. "There hasn't been a night since then where I haven't wondered that exact same thing."
Her hands moved down to touch his forearms where his hands had settled loosely about her thighs. They were still covered in bandages except for his hands. He hadn't removed them last time they were together either.
"Your arms… were they badly burned?"
"I believe you already know that answer," he snarled.
It wasn't something he particularly wanted to talk about, especially considering the position they were in. She was just about to blow him before she witnessed him be nearly blown apart.
"Does it still hurt?"
"...Yes." He grabbed one of her hands in his as she still brushed her fingers along his arms.
But not nearly as much as watching my children die gruesome deaths one after another.
When he finally met her eyes, his eyes were ablaze with agony, burning with guilt and regret. He loosened his grip on her and she brought her hand up to touch his face once more.
"Gaius..." He flinched and she withdrew her hand. "...Do you still want to do this?"
He closed his eyes and took a steadying breath. "Please."
Inside him was a storm, a tempest of bitter rage, with bruising waves of sorrow and battering winds of regret buffeting him from all sides. Violent and unrelenting flashes of revenge crackled against his dark skies, the only light by which he charted his course.
Until he spotted another source of light, one flashing in the far off distance. She was a lighthouse in the middle of it all, his dying light of hope, like a candle in the wind. He was foolish enough to set sail for it, feeling it beckon, like a siren song.
He wanted to crash into her, over and over again, let himself be strewn across her jagged edges, desperate to feel anything but the fire on his skin and the sting in his eye. To have her take all the pain away from him by simply being his ultimate ruin.
If he thought he was a foolish man when he was drunk, then he was far worse when he was sober. It wasn't like he thought he could find redemption or salvation in between her thighs, but it damn sure couldn't hurt to try. Especially, when she offered herself up so willingly.
It was something he still couldn't comprehend, why she was so eager to be with him like this. As far as he could tell, there wasn't much emotion behind it. She just liked sex – and him, apparently.
But her hips chased all those thoughts away as she straddled him once more and ground into him. He groaned and bucked up into her.
His hand smoothed up her thigh and underneath her skirt. His lips parted when he realized she wore nothing underneath. Of course, she was the type to forgo underwear whenever she could. She barely wore enough as it was in battle, which made what she did all the more impressive. She leaned down to kiss him, moaning as he slid his fingers along her wet center.
She kissed languidly at his neck as he touched her, fingers swirling in her slick. As he slipped one finger inside, her hands wove into his hair with a deep moan, hips rocking and pulling him deeper.
She felt divine.
He kept thinking back to their first night together. How quickly she had undressed when they reached his room and how she walked him backwards to the bed, pushing him down onto it and quickly divesting him of his clothes before climbing on top of him. How she straddled him then and brought his cock up against her stomach, gaping down at it, seeing how it reached past her belly button. Then, she looked at him with such hungry eyes it made his mouth run dry. She lifted herself up and when she sank back down, he watched unblinkingly as every inch of him disappeared inside her. Once she was flush with him, she had stayed that way for a moment, eyes closed, savoring the stretch of him. If he hadn't been so drunk he probably would've come immediately.
As it were, he recalled having to practically throw her off him later before he spilled inside, his climax blindsiding him as she rode him.
And here she was once again, ready to do it all over again. He watched as she removed her top, full breasts a creamy glow in the moonlight, swaying with the movement of her throwing the garment across the room and quickly moving to undo her skirt. When the skirt was gone, he grabbed her thighs and urged her towards him. It caught her by surprise and she looked confused as he kept easing her closer to his face. Her eyes widened when she realized what he meant to do.
"Gaius," she breathed, as her thighs cradled his face, his stubble scratching the inside of her thigh but that sensation was quickly overridden by his mouth upon her. She cried out, one hand tangling in his hair while the other braced itself against the headboard. He held her to him, tongue laving at every part of her, lips wrapping around and sucking.
Truly, in all the bedfellows she'd ever taken, she had never experienced anything like this.
She moaned as his tongue penetrated her, involuntarily rocking her hips into his face, seeking more. She looked down, to see if he might be suffocating, and she was met with the most brilliant golden eyes looking up at her through long, dark eyelashes.
With another clever movement of his lips and tongue, he drew her out and she came with a loud moan, rocking her hips and pulling his hair as he doubled down on his efforts, devouring her like a last meal, breathing sharply through his nose, never taking his eyes off her.
Relentless in his efforts, he was rewarded with a "Fuck, Gaius" as she squirmed against him.
He finally loosened his hold and she stared down at him, breathless, using both hands on the headboard for support. He wiped his mouth, never taking his eyes off her. She was transfixed.
His hands smoothed up her sides to help steady her as he set himself up. Hands on his shoulders now, she moved to sit in his lap, legs around his waist.
"By the kami, Gaius, what was..."
But she was silenced as his lips collided with hers. Oh, he wasn't just hungry. He was ravenous. His hand went into her hair, grabbing a fistful as his tongue danced with hers. Tasting herself on this man's lips and tongue made her blush and warm all over as she straddled his lap. His other hand smoothed up her waist, fingers lingering at the scales found there, tracing along the top edges before going all the way to her breast and palming it.
It hadn't escaped her attention that he seemed particularly fond of her scales. Where others would quickly skim over them or even recoil, he would take his time tracing them, surveying every ilm. It touched a tender part of her she usually kept tamped down. She had spent her entire life weathering prejudice and hurtful comments, looks and jabs that tried to make her feel unpretty, inferior. The way he touched her though – it felt reverent.
She would lay awake another night contemplating that. Right now, she was moaning into his mouth as he squeezed her breast, rocking her hips into him, feeling his erection bump against her stomach. She wrapped her hand around it and ran a thumb over the tip. He groaned and shuddered, gasping as he rested his forehead against her shoulder. He was fit to burst and ready to fall apart.
He continued to kiss her along her collarbone as he smoothed both hands down her thighs, thumbs rubbing into her scales as he guided her to wrap her legs around him. Knowing exactly where this was going, she wrapped her arms around his neck and murmured into their kiss. "Are you going to fuck me now?"
Her words from last time suddenly ran through his head.
Stop trying to make love to me and fuck me already.
He hadn’t been prepared for the onslaught of thoughts and emotions when he slept with her that night. It was the best night he'd had in recent memory. The way she had made him feel and the way she had looked at him – he wanted it all to mean more than just a one night stand.
She was on her back in an instant and none too delicately, either. The way he was able to lift and handle her was enough to make her catch her breath. Then, he was stealing it away again, kissing her feverishly and all over. She felt his cock glance the inside of her thigh as he moved over her. She moaned and whimpered. Was he teasing her on purpose?
She reached for his hips and tried to pull him to her, lifting her own to meet his. She felt a hand go down between them to line himself up and then finally, he pressed in. She kissed him harder, deeper, tangling a fist in his hair as he eased out and back in. With each slow thrust he went deeper until he was inside her, completely.
Genevieve found herself panting. He was so huge and she was still so sensitive from his over stimulation earlier. He pulled back slightly to look into her eyes, brow creased. She realized too late she was grimacing and probably looked like she was in pain when in reality her brain was short-circuiting.
"Are you--"
Her fingers dug into his waist, prepared to hold him there if he dared try to pull out. "I'm fine, I promise."
"I don't want to hurt--"
She kissed him, bringing both hands to his face and holding him there so he couldn't utter another word. The way he looked at her, so full of concern and worry that he might have hurt her, she could hardly stand it. He already felt enough guilt for the pain he had caused others and she refused to be added to that list.
"Just fuck me, okay?"
He nipped at her bottom lip, a small protest before he proceeded, carefully. He started off slow, savoring the feel of her and finding himself sinking further with each of her gasps and moans. She was impatient though, goading him into going faster until his hips were snapping quick and sharp, precise in their aim. It was hard to miss with how much he filled her. She rarely came from penetration alone but she could feel it building. She threw a hand out and twisted them in the sheets best she could, just to have a bit of leverage. It felt like he was going to fuck her straight through the mattress.
"Don't stop, please don't stop," she begged.
She was so achingly close. He brought one of her legs up and over his shoulder and drove even further in.
"By the kami," she gasped. She wanted more and she knew exactly how to get it. She looked up at him and his hips stuttered as the intensity of her gaze struck him.
Sensing something amiss, he slowed to a stop. "What is it?"
She knew she might be asking too much, but she grabbed his hand anyway and brought it around her throat. "I want you to choke me again."
Gaius nearly choked himself. "W-what?"
"You heard me."
"I nearly killed you!"
Genevieve scoffed. "Don't be so dramatic. It's not like it was the first time you've tried to."
His mouth hung open at her blasé attitude toward the whole affair. She changed her tone to be more serious. "Trust me. You'll know when to stop this time."
He still looked wary and she didn't blame him. She couldn't quite explain it herself. She liked his hands on her, as large and warm as they were. She liked the way he handled her, rough and commanding. Usually, she took the lead and stayed there, but something about letting him be in control turned her on more. Even the way he would protest or refuse stoked a fire in her, like the last time they were together.
She had demanded he stop trying to make love to her and just fuck her already. Instead, he kissed her with too much feeling and she took her leave. She hadn't wanted to but it was too dangerous for her to stay, to let him kiss her like that again. That was a fire she was afraid to stoke because it burned too hot.
She bit her lip as she looked up at him now, waiting to see what he would do. He had a far away look in his eye and she wondered what he was thinking. Was he going to kiss her again? Try to say he couldn't do such a thing? But then to her surprise and delight, he pursed his lips and squeezed lightly.
"Ah, yes. Just like that, on the sides."
His mouth hung open again at her praise.
"Harder," she encouraged. He squeezed tighter. He waited for more praise but she couldn't speak. Before he could panic and release her completely, she stopped him. "No, you're fine. Just look at my eyes, okay?"
Gaius tended to avoid looking her in the eye, dreading the depths to which he'd sink just to drown in them. They were beautiful and shining and right now pleading with him to strangle her. He shook his head, feeling like he'd never understand her but somehow knowing he could trust her.
She clenched around him and he bucked into her instinctively, chasing more of that feeling. She moaned as his grip tightened around her neck.
"Yes, Gaius," she gasped.
He watched her the whole time as he rocked his hips into her, gathering momentum. She was so small, his hand wrapping all the way around her neck. Even knowing all of the things she was capable of, felling eikons and the eikon-slayers themselves, Ruby, Sapphire, and now Emerald, he still worried about crushing her all together. It didn't help either that her skin made him think of porcelain. Her gaze, however, was hard as steel, commanding him quietly.
He found a rhythm soon enough, driving harder and faster the tighter he squeezed then easing off as he loosened his grip. Fast, slow, fast, fast, slow, sometimes a tight grip, sometimes a loose one. She preferred the tighter ones, with the sharp slap of his hips.
They felt like co-pilots once more, like they had been during their fight with Sapphire Weapon. This time, though, she was guiding him at the controls.
Light-headed, her eyes started to roll back, finding it easy to surrender to the mind-numbing euphoria. It felt like standing at a precipice and looking down, the dizzying headrush of realizing just how high up she was. Just a little bit closer and she'd go tumbling headlong into bliss…
But then she heard him curse and let her go completely. It was probably for the best if she was about to pass out but she was too close to the edge to let him turn back now. Her hand tangled in his hair, gripping tight and pulling his face down closer to hers, looking him dead in the eye.
"Don't you dare stop," she seethed.
He growled and bared his teeth at her, bringing her other leg up, pressing both her knees to her chest as he set a blistering pace. His hand never went back around her neck but he didn't stop or slow as she cinched around him, whole body undulating into him as she finally came, head thrown back as her nails dug into shoulders. He fisted his hands into the sheets around her head and fucked her even harder until she screamed and he pulled out with a curse, finishing across her stomach.
He collapsed onto his back beside her, panting. Breathless, chests heaving, they both stared up at the ceiling in a daze. She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she felt him brush a finger along her horn, causing her to shiver and look at him.
"...are you...?"
She appreciated his hesitation, meaning he knew better than to ask but was still too much of a gentleman to not ask at all.
She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. To think, they had tried to kill each other before and now he was asking her if she was okay after he fucked her brains out. She smirked.
"No one has ever made me come the way that you do."
He huffed a laugh and looked away from her, draping the back of his free hand over his forehead like he was exasperated.
They laid there a moment longer, the silence growing increasingly awkward before he finally sat up and left the bed, like he just remembered something. Genevieve watched as he went to the washroom and then returned with a washcloth in hand. She sat up to take it from him but he ignored her proffered hand to rejoin her on the bed and clean her up himself. Blushing and biting her lip, she watched his every move as he worked at her stomach. Feeling her eyes on him, his cheeks warmed as well.
“Did you want me to stay?”
Her question was so soft and hesitant, it took him a moment to process. He couldn't recall her asking last time, they had simply passed out. Did she think he wouldn't want her to stay this time?
He didn’t answer right away as he finished and neatly folded the rag; but, he desperately wanted her to stay.
As he continued to lose everything around him, all of the people that ever meant anything to him, his need to hold onto the Warrior of Light grew, holding ever fast to her. It was ridiculous how quickly he'd become attached and the more they were together, the more impossible it seemed that he'd be able to extract himself from her, to let her go.
She was never going to stay, but somehow moving on without her felt so hollow, so dark, so lonely. Her words to him last time rang in his ears.
Don't be afraid to walk this world alone.
“You stayed last time,” he answered quietly.
“I did…” She ran her fingers idly through his dark hair and savored the way his eyelids fell closed to the sensation. She wondered if he had any idea how handsome he was. “And do you want me to stay tonight?”
“...Yes.”
She sat up on her knees then and kissed him. “Good. Now, go wash yourself up. I’ll be here.” He looked into her eyes, finally. They were green and piercing. Could she see that he was drowning? Struggling against the current as her siren song became deafening?
He did as he was told and when he returned, found her curled up to one of his pillows, still naked. He crawled into bed and laid beside her, facing her. She smiled and reached her hand toward him, a single finger tracing along his cheek.
"Are you ready to sleep?"
He nodded.
"No more nightmares then."
He huffed and rolled over onto his back. She immediately curled up next to him, draping her arm across his chest. Idly, he brought up a hand to run his fingers up and down her arm, tracing along the scales.
He laid awake while she quietly drifted off to sleep, her breath soft and quiet. He looked at her lying next to him, too many thoughts racing through his mind, with too many words he didn't dare to speak.
When sleep finally took him, he was back in the Praetorium again. This time, though, she was there and it was just the two of them. The flames were still raging and the smoke was still suffocating, but through it all, her green eyes glowed up at his, as they slowly danced amongst the ruin. And so it seemed this was how all his conquests and dreams would end: in smoke and ashes.