Ravin was in a horrific mood.

Things were manageable when he could take each challenge in isolation. But there were some days when the partitions he’d built dissolved and all his responsibilities hit him in one giant flood: building a better life for his now children, providing for his doves who depended on him, training Odina so that she could reclaim what was hers, and - the most recent addition - working with Kasper Van Zant to find the thing he promised he would: the painting.

He’d woken up agitated, and his agitation had only progressed from flustered, to irritable, to practically unbearable. All the pressure was bottling up inside of him, pushing against his chest, threatening to burst forth in a torrent of outrage. The doves had made themselves scarce, knowing when to keep their distance and not make any trouble. Ravin had been left alone to stew in his discontent; that is until Apollo knocked on the door to his office. Ravin was rifling through some papers, looking for something but honestly forgetting just what it was he was looking for.

“What?” Ravin barked, continuing to rifle through the desk as the door opened. Apollo stuck his head in, cautious as if at any moment Ravin would lunge in his direction. “Boss, there’s a guest, wants a word with you. Sounds important. They’re at the bar.”

“Fantastic.” His voice was laden with sarcasm as he pulled his jacket off the back of his chair, taking a deep breath and running a hand through his hair. Ravin sighed, still irritable but softening for a moment towards Apollo, almost apologetic. “Let’s see what this is all about.” Thanks to Apollo’s excellent poker face, Ravin had no reason to suspect this was anything other than a disgruntled guest, or some other manner of inconvenience. Or at least, that’s what it felt like at the present time.

Marching down the stairs, he straightened his jacket before following Apollo out onto the floor. Apollo pointed surreptitiously towards a cloaked figure before resuming his place behind the bar. Whoever they were, their hood was up, which added an even sharper edge to Ravin’s already edgy mood.

“Is there something I can help you with, madam?” Ravin asked, trying to keep the bristling irritation out of his voice. He mostly succeeded but didn’t quite make it to his normal smooth tones.

The moment Apollo disappeared, a few doves slipped by and upon recognizing her, grasped her into a tight hug or gave a smile that wasn’t forced. She did her best to not just get up and talk with them while she waited. Nerves stirring in her, which was noticed apparently as one of the doves set down a drink in front of her. She stared at it for a moment before giving a quick thank you. Downing the shot before another was poured for her, her fingers toying with the the lip of the glass as she waited.

She had been on the edge of taking the shot to order the third when she felt him before she heard him. Something in her made a shiver spider walk it’s way up her spine and her fingers paused on the shot glass. Her Crow. His voice sounded behind her and instantly the scar on her palm tingled, as if it remembered him and was saying hello to him. Instead of turning in her seat, like she very much wanted to, she raised her head a bit to stare at the wall. “Yes,” she breathed, unable to stop the smile now.

“You see, I have not been able to find the item I was desiring most out here amongst the others in the Midnight House.” With a practiced movement, she took the second shot for good measure before she spun her seat slowly around to look up at him. Tilting her head far enough back to let the light filter into the hood, locking her dark eyes onto him with a smile. Her voice was breathless as she greeted him:

“Hello my Ravin.”

Ravin didn’t need to see the speaker to know who it was. Norah’s voice transformed him, all of his organs turning somersaults the moment her first word left her lips. How many times had he conjured up that voice in the dead of night? Thought he caught it drifting like a phantom on the wind? Yet here it was - clear and smooth, flying through him like an arrow. The frenetic energy stirred up by his earlier irritation didn’t leave. It simply redirected, setting his heart to race and his blood to burn through his veins.

By the time she turned around, he was panting; wide-eyed and frozen in place with shock. “Norah,” he whispered incredulously, observing her with the same awe he always had. His thoughts were frantically trying to catch up to the need screaming through his body. He gently pushed the hood back from her face, letting it fall to her shoulders so that her immaculate features would catch the firelight. “My enchantress returns…” Ravin’s voice was full of wonderment as he reached for her, palm bearing the same scar that she wore on hers. Norah would be able to feel the raised skin as he brushed his hand down her cheek, just to be sure she was real.

“Come with me.” It was a growl, a command that needed no response. He took her by the arm, tunnel vision setting in as he swiftly but gently guided her behind the front desk and through the curtain. As soon as the curtain fell and the main parlor disappeared behind it, Ravin turned on his heel, pushing Norah against the wall and kissing her like he’d wanted to night after night, day after day since she’d left.

She was buzzing by the time she looked up at him and got a good look at the face she had thought about often. Even with all her distractions, he'd still slip through the focus and remind her that he was waiting back at home. His breathing was hard, and her heart beat was fast. A buzz made her hand shake a little now that he was within reach. Especially when he whispered her name. Her whole body shivered hard enough he had to have caught it. Something that should have been very odd coming from a well trained noblewoman. Yet she was putty by the time his hands reached forward and dropped her hood.

A blush painted itself across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, but she didn't turn to hid her face or nervously look away from him. Not when he was looking at her like she was the first ray of sunlight he had seen in years. A smile growing as he spoke to her and his hand brushed over her cheek. The scar she felt caused her own to ache for him. Making her reach out to grab ahold of his jacket as he took her in. "I have," she breathed, not daring tell him that she would be leaving again in a few days time. Because she'd be back. And back more regularly now.

The smallest sound of surprise left her as he wrapped a hand around her arm and growled out his words. His voice rumbling through her as she stood and followed behind him without any protest. Not caring how it looked, she easily slipped behind the curtain with him. She knew where it lead, back to a room she had gotten to know well before she left in a few ways. But they didn't make it there. Not as he turned to her and pushed her back flat against the wall. A groan of 'thank goddess' left her as he kissed her. She desperately reached for him then, her hands curling around the contours of his cheeks and jaw as she pulled him closer.

A soft, almost purr like sound came from her throat before she pulled back, just enough to talk to him through her gasp for air. "I've missed you, I had to come see you." she admitted, her fingers trailing across his skin. Recommitting the feel of him to her memory.. "I hope you didn't have any important plans," she panted against his lips before she pulled him back to her. Kissing him deeply and with a longing that made her chest ache.

There was so much Ravin wanted to know. He wanted to know about Loren, about Norah’s travels and adventures; why she’d come back, and how long she was here to stay. But all those questions had taken a back seat to his burning desire for her. When Norah asked if he had any important plans, Ravin grinned against her lips, pulling away just enough to say, “I do now.”

Ravin picked her up and carried her towards his room - kissing her all the while. He felt that, at any moment, he would wake up and realize this was all a dream. That Norah was still hundreds of miles away, where he couldn’t kiss her, or hold her, or touch her. So he had to rush forward, to claim her as his own before the fantasy slipped from his grasp.

Once he reached the door, Ravin let Norah slip to the floor. He fumbled for the keys in his pocket, thrusting the door open and slamming it closed when they were on the other side. He watched her, panting as he started to undress. “Every night, Norah,” Ravin’s voice rumbled desperately in his throat, eyes full of fire as he stripped off his jacket and kicked off his shoes so they skid across the floor. “Every night I lay awake and ache for you in the dark,” He whipped off his shirt before swiftly pulling Norah back into him once more. “But I will ache no longer,” Ravin whispered in her ear, breath tickling at her neck. His nimble fingers started to undo the laces on the back of her dress.

'I do now.'

Her heart skyrocketed. No one compared to him. She could blame it on the fact that they had taken down a man who was terrorizing a lot of the commoners in Skia. Who was using witches for evil things, more evil that the craft itself. They had taken the man's witch and brought her to safety, to give her a second chance at life. Which she wanted to ask about eagerly. How was Nadia doing? But her attention was completely stolen by him and the way his hands dug into her as he carried her to his room. The way he kissed her washed away the rest of the thoughts that were not on how he was making her body burn for him.

Her toes hit the ground first as she accepted her weight once more, quickly ushered into his room where he sealed them back inside. As she turned to him, she realized that their chests rose and fell in unison with the desire that was ruling them. His hands moved and started undressing, his voice sending shivers down her spine and she raised her hands to pull at the tie around her neck that kept her cloak on her. Quickly untying it and letting it fall to the floor, revealing the long sheer gown she had worn underneath. Nearly froze on her way here, but she knew that his reaction would be worth it. Her shoes were quick to follow his as he closed the distance between them.

Just a few laces that held it together before it would easily slip from her. Her hands would move to capture his face and draw him back to her, kissing him with a renewed passion at his words, promising to ease the ache he spoke of.

[ FADE ]

[ FADE IN ]

Ravin and Norah had certainly made up for lost time. He leaned back against the headboard, pulling Norah into his arms, unwilling to take the risk she’d slip away from him again. Even though he was completely spent, his graze still tracked hungrily over her curves, looking with satisfaction at the stinging pink on her buttocks. Yes - they’d more than made up for lost time. He hadn't gone easy on her, and she'd more than willingly returned the favor.

“So now that you’ve rendered me a lustful husk of a man, Enchantress,” Ravin grinned mischievously, tilting Norah’s chin upwards so that he could look into her eyes. “What is it that brings the great Ambassador back to my humble city?”

Thoroughly satisfied for the moment, she was pliable in his hands as he pulled her closer. Her hands instantly wrapping him as she moved in close, allowing the sting to set in on her backside with a soft hum of satisfaction. A small laugh left her as he seemed to be pleased with their position and he tilted her chin up to look at him. She would live with this every night if she had been given the chance. She playfully bit the tip of his thumb before she settled back again.

"As it turns out, it seems I will have more opportunities to come home than we had originally thought," she told him. Her hand lifting to brush over his cheek and long the line of his jaw. "I am not only an ambassador to the people of Lorendale for Nevermere, but also to the people of Nevermere for Lorendale." Norah's actual job title felt like it had grown knowing that. "Which means regular visits to convince the others that this is good for us. Trades opening, communication and expansion, access to so much more." A soft smile rested on her face. "And it just so happens that I get nights off. Most the time at least." She joked, and curled closer to him.

"Perhaps I can give you a heads up next time," she said softly.

Ravin’s face lit up like Christmas. He kissed the top of her forehead, chuckling, infinitely pleased. “I don’t know. I rather like surprises.” His hand stroked along her soft curves before going to play with her curls. “You sure you won’t be missed? I don’t want to be the dirty little secret that sullies your fine reputation, Madam Ambassador.” He said the last words with a purr, turned on by the power of the woman in arms.

Norah was like a cat in his hands, practically purring away and arching as his hand passed over her back. Pet me more, is what her body screamed as she focused on him. "Then I shall continue to be a surprise for you." She teased, her fingers gently tracing his ribs along his side.

"Of course I'll be missed." She said as if it was the most obvious thing,. A smile lingering on her lips as she placed a kiss against his chest. Then another before she nuzzled back into him. Tan her backside and the woman was apparently very pliable in the right hands. "But the thing is, I don't need to answer to many others unless I want to. And for some wild reason," she grinned and squeezed him a bit tighter. "I want it to be you who warms my bed and challenges me. Maybe I shall hide you away and bring you to Lorendale with me so that I can get twice the work done." She teased.

A soft sigh left her, as her teasing suddenly slipped for a genuine moment. "I missed you, more than everyone." she said gently. "I am glad you are here, protected by witches. After what happened in Lorendale... I don't want those gifteds around anyone I care for."

Ravin hummed with satisfaction, hand gently exploring Norah’s smooth skin. The realization that he would get to see her regularly now was too good to be true. At times, Ravin had convinced himself that Norah wasn’t even real. That she’d been a dream, cooked up by some twisted facet of his subconscious that wanted him to yearn for the perfect woman forever. But she was real, as improbable as it seemed she was here for him to hold and touch and devour.

“For some reason…” Ravin purred, kissing the top of her head, “Perhaps because men of power tremble at your very name? The formidable Norah Prowze.” His admiration was evident and sincere, “Yet here I am, a mere mortal, bewitched beyond all reclamation.”

The mention of the gifteds in Lorendale took a backseat to the thought that Norah missed him more than anyone. Ravin stared at the ceiling, his own playful teasing slipping as his eyes grew soft and distant. “I heard.” Ravin said softly as he continued to stroke her side. Yes, he had heard. And he’d worried about Norah every night since. He was thoughtful for a moment, before saying, “They won’t come for you, will they?” It was a naïve question, perhaps, but a genuine one.

”Tremble at my name, is that what they say?” She teased, her fingers curling against his side and letting her nails gently rake against his skin. Just enough to send shivers down his spine if done right but not enough to leave any markings. “I suppose that means the Goddess has blessed you then, to capture a cunning little minx as myself,” it was playful, the smile on her face said just that as she stared up at him.

She didn’t say it again. Didn’t need to, she had missed him. It was a fact to state and move on from. Not needing to be coddled and any feelings returned word for word. He said he had missed her in the way he dragged her away from the bar, in the way he kissed her, and in the way he made wild love to her.

“I don’t know. I would think it’d be in their best interest not to.” She answered honestly. “They were truly powerful. But nothing we couldn’t win. They retreated because they knew we would.” She said it confidently. Though her hand subconsciously brushed the side of her mouth that had been badly bruised. “If we could’ve collared the head of the family… I think we would’ve had them all. He seems to be the one who calls the shots… the one they all listen to.”

Ravin did shiver, a little involuntary groan escaping him. “I think you mistake who it was that was captured. I never stood a chance against your devious ways, Norah Prowze,” He chuckled, blissfully content. He held her, humming thoughtfully as she described the gifteds. Ravin had never given much thought to the machinations of other kingdoms. There was so much right here in Nevermere that required his attention, so many people that needed him to provide for them, support them, that he’d never thought much outside the boundaries of Skia. But now, for the first time, what happened outside Nevermere’s borders mattered to him. It mattered to him because it mattered to Norah - and because what happened in Lorendale might hurt her as it already had.

“Well, I hope he’s smart enough to know when he’s outmatched,” Ravin mused, “And I hope the king knows when to let sleeping dogs lie.” He rolled over then so that Norah was beneath him and he was looking down at her. Ravin studied her face, green eyes flickering with intensity. “Because I won’t lose you, Norah. There’s no man or monster, king or god that could keep you from me. I’d walk to the ends of Terra Nova to bring you back again.” He brushed a piece of hair away from her face, marveling at her.