...Right.
I stepped forward, crowding him against the pillar.
My heartbeat was very fast. He couldn't expect me to do this quickly after all that, right?!
I mean, if I was going for it, I was going to do it properly. If he wanted me to stop, he'd have to tell me himself.
Llewellyn looked at me.
I was standing slightly to his right, instead of flush against him, to avoid… uh… below the belt contact.
But looking at him up close was still devastating.
"Don't worry," I said with a grin, noticing his expression. "You can pin me later."
Llewellyn let out a breath.
"Go on then," he said.
Right.
I leaned in, hovering for a moment. Then I pressed a wet kiss at the base of his throat.
I felt his body tighten.
My heartbeat was really, really fast.
I placed a hand on his hip and licked at the hollow of his throat then upward.
"…Good?" I asked between kisses. I felt insane, but I really wanted him to enjoy himself. "You don't have to restrain yourself for this part."
Llewellyn let out a noise and pulled me closer.
"Those are not going to show," he said, roughly.
"Did you expect me to just—" I nosed at his throat then kissed it again. "I'm not a vampire."
Llewellyn snorted, then let out a moan when I added teeth, his head tilting back against the pillar.
…Uh.
"Now that's an image," Llewellyn said.
I had the same thought, but not about me as a vampire.
I knew I should ease off, but. The sound he made just broke my brain.
"It seems to me you're the one who should stay off the Internet."
"I disagree," Llewellyn said, but it came out slightly garbled.
I was losing my mind.
I sucked harder, drawing out a proper mark this time, and Llewellyn actually groaned. Which obviously meant I had to scrape my teeth back to that spot again to make it more visible and… hear more noises.
He let me have it for a few moments, then—
"My turn now," Llewellyn said.
He spun us around and my back hit the pillar.
"Yeah, okay," I said, dazed.
Llewellyn's mouth found my throat in a wet drag.
…Fuck.
"Here, then?" Llewellyn asked, circling that spot again, then sucking on it.
My hands fisted in his coat, holding on as he worked a bruise into my skin.
I swallowed. He really went for it, tongue, teeth, sucking—
I let out an embarrassing moan, and Llewellyn hummed against my throat, sounding pleased. His tongue soothed over the mark before he dragged his lips lower.
My next sound was even more embarrassing than the previous one.
"…"
Llewellyn pressed closer, his teeth grazing at a second spot.
"One more," he said.
"...One should be enough?" I managed.
"But you're practically melting."
Huh.
I mean— Yeah.
"You sound like you can take another," Llewellyn said against my skin. "Let me."
I panted, helplessly.
I really, really liked him.
It wasn't just— I mean, yeah, he was hot and ridiculously impressive, et cetera.
But I liked him.
I tipped my head, and yanked him closer to give permission. The answering noise was very satisfying.
"You know—" I said, when the second bite was done and soothed, and I realized I was enjoying myself way too much to let this go.
Llewellyn hummed questioningly, breath hot, teeth grazing, messy.
"They say good things come in threes."
I could feel him snort against my skin.
"Begging already?"
Well, yeah. But—
"More like—" I closed my eyes. I really shouldn't have drunk this much. I almost got my hand into his hair and hauled him into a kiss. "I seem to also prefer it when you're the one doing the pinning."
Llewellyn mouthed amused kisses up my throat, then grazed down with his teeth.
"Good," he said under my ear. "I'll give you a third, then," and sucked on the skin.
Uh.
I closed my eyes and tipped my head back.
***
"There," Llewellyn said finally.
The pillars had flared bright, then dimmed some time before, the invisible barrier dissolving.
We hadn't really moved, though.
The notification was still hovering.
[System Notification: Access Granted! Crew marks recognized!]
We stood there, pressed close.
"Guess we're official crew now," I said, hot all over, still pressed against the pillar.
Llewellyn's mouth ticked up, eyes moving down. "You're branded enough."
"…"
Was I going to be looking like someone had mauled me for the whole week?!
Not that I minded.
Llewellyn ran his thumb over his work.
…Uh.
We were wearing too many clothes.
Somewhere ahead, Penguin started chittering excitedly.
Wait, had he gone ahead by himself and found something?!
Llewellyn started to move away.
...I really couldn't help it. I leaned in and pressed a final kiss to his jaw.
"Alright," I said, pushing past him. "Let's see what this is all about."
***
I moved through the pillars following Penguin's chittering noises. The path continued ahead, opening into a small clearing, perfectly circular. At its center, a patch of disturbed earth was marked with a giant X standing vertically to the ground.
…Well. I mean, nothing about this Dungeon had been subtle, so I don't know why I was surprised.
"At least we don't have to guess where to dig," I said.
The System helpfully materialized two shovels.
[System Notification: Excavation tools provided!]
…Why did it always sound so excited?!
Llewellyn took the other shovel and shrugged off his coat, draping it over a nearby branch.
Right. I dragged my eyes away and followed his example, before starting to dig.
Penguin perched on a rock nearby, occasionally chirping encouragements.
To be honest, we needed that. The digging was harder than it looked.
Hell, after a while I'd have welcomed the pirates' lewd heckling. Maybe I should really consider buying the innuendo parrots from the shop.
My muscles were starting to ache. The alcohol and what we'd just done weren't really helping with my coordination either.
"Couldn't you just use Earth magic for this?" I asked.
"Probably," he said, but kept digging.
Well. I guess he was going for the full pirate experience.
Soon, my shovel hit something solid with a dull thunk.
Finally!
"Found it!" I said.