Seventeen and already his parents were trying to push him towards marriage. He certainly didn't feel ready for such a commitment even if most young men his age were starting to seriously look and pursue such a thing. He was far more interesting in continuing to hone his skills in the smithy and getting into bar fights with his friends at his side than in thinking about the long term, about a wife and a children.

Still, he was loyal to a fault and in spite of how mistreated he felt in his family sometimes, he still believed that they must do it out of love. Who was he to know what love was supposed to look like anyway? Maybe this was how it was meant to be. Pushing and ridiculing in order to make one better. They just wanted what was best for him. Right?

In that sense of loyalty, he had decided that he should do his best to at least get to know the girl they were pushing him towards. They had met on a few occasions now but it was always in a group setting and the two had hardly really talked. He got the impression that she was also doing little more than keeping up appearances but perhaps their parents knew something they didn't. Perhaps there was a really reason why they thought they'd be a good match for each other beyond name or tying together their families. Maybe not.

The weather seemed to match his mood. It was cloudy but the day held onto a gloomy feeling and mist hung low to the ground as it fought against being dissipated as the day warmed. He rubbed his gloved hands together to warm them, feeling a chill of the changing season starting to creep in. He made his way to Tallis' home and upon knocking at the door for a few minutes he was about to just head home when he decided that on land such as this, it was just as likely she was out and about doing some type of task.

So he started to wander around the farm and was drawn in by the sound of a horse's whinny. Not feeling in any particular hurry, he followed the source of the sound as it seemed as good of a place to start as any but as he rounded the corner towards the enclosure where he found a rather panicked looking steed, his eyes then fell to the dark shape on the ground and spotted Tallis there.

His immediate worry was that with the horse being so frantic that the girl might get trampled and he picked up speed, jogging over to the enclosure and vaulting over the fence to reach the inside. He held his arms out wide. Even at seventeen he wasn't exactly small in stature, and the mare backed further away from him, keeping her distance. He turned to Tallis and crouched down beside her, hearing and seeing the way she struggled to catch her breath. "Tallis, are you alright?" he asked, trying to scan her for any visible injuries.

Tallis felt her chest lurch at his voice. If only it had been someone else—anyone else. She felt goosebumps on her arms that she attributed to the electricity of the storm. Annoyance at the change had her furrowing her brow as she gasped for air. Cezar was a match being shoved bitterly down her throat. She had no aspirations of marriage. As a general rule, she found men used it as a bridle and bit. Much like the stubborn mare that now tossed about the paddock, Tallis refused to be tamed.

As a general rule, Tallis found men tiresome, and logically she should dismiss Cezar just as she had the rest. Logically, that should be the case. But even so…there was something about him Tallis didn’t yet understand; something powerful and unsettling and difficult to describe.

When Cezar crouched next to her, she reached for him.

“Help—” Tallis croaked, reaching a hand to him, knowing the horse was still ping-ponging around the corral and could trample her.

Tallis had a formidable kind of nature. Even down on the ground like this, struggling to catch her breath, he was hesitant to touch her without her permission. Yet as soon as it was given with her reaching out to him and speaking that single word, he wasted no time in doing just that. His arm moved around her back and pulled her arm around the back of his neck as he helped her stand and guided them to the edge of the corral and then out of it.

He could feel the tone of her muscles in her back, further evidence of her life on the ranch. Formidable indeed. He had always got the impression from her that she wasn't someone to cross. He found it to be...alluring if he was being honest. He had always thought that he would like a 'damsel in distress' sort of woman. Soft spoken and sweet, helpless without a big strong man to take care of her. Yet upon meeting Tallis he found this was far more intriguing and exciting.

"Try to slow your breathing," he said calmly. "Don't fight so much for the breath. Don't chase it. Rather let it come to you."

Tallis let herself be guided. Though she begrudged every step, she knew she didn’t have much of a choice. The mare still whinnied and tossed in the enclosure as she gasped, leaning against the enclosure, trying to follow Cezar’s advice but finding herself more frustrated with every choking breath. The thunder sounded again, only this time much closer. Tallis looked at the mare in anger. She’d have to break the beast, one way or another.

“Help me—” Tallis breathed, “Get her inside. Open the door.” Without so much as a thank you or backward glance, Tallis flung herself back into the pen, gesturing vaguely to the barn door as she went to grab the lasso from the ground.

In spite being at least mildly annoyed that Tallis wouldn't give herself time to recover first, he also had to admire her tenacity. She couldn't breathe properly but it wasn't going to stop her from finishing the task she needed to accomplish. He hesitated for a only a moment as he watched her walk away from him but quickly regained focus and moved over to the barn door. The muscles in his arms and back naturally flexed as he pulled open the heavy barn door so that Tallis could focus on getting the mare back inside and out of the oncoming storm.

With the door held securely open he had nothing left to do but watch. And watch he did. He watched the fright in the mare's eyes and the tension in her muscles as she moved. Mostly he watched Tallis. He watched how she moved, her attention to the mare, the anger written all over her face. There was a pull he felt to her, something he had never felt with another human before in his life. She was different. Special. He didn't know how yet but his need to find out was growing increasingly more demanding.

Tallis took up the lasso and walked determinedly toward the animal. She swung the lasso slowly at her side in a hypnotic swirl. The mare watched her warily, tossing about as the thunder started to rumble.

“Easy now,” Tallis said, “Easy…” The thunder cracked. The mare reared her head, presenting the pause and opening Tallis needed to drop the lasso over her neck. Tallis held onto the rope as it burned against her hands digging her heels into the dirt as she tried to hold the horse still. The horse put up a fight, wild-eyed before the skies opened up above them.

The rain changed things. As it pelted down the horse settled, dancing about uncertainly but letting Tallis get closer. She was patient, taking slow step after slow step until she could stroke the slick hair on the horse’s neck. “There you are…” Tallis handled the horse with more gentleness than she’d ever shown a person. Unconcerned that she was soaking wet — and that Cezar was getting wet for that matter — Tallis walked toward the barn, horse alongside her, barely glancing at Cezar as they passed through the door out of the rain.

Tallis directed the creature into a stall, taking the noose of its neck and firmly locking it shut. It was only then she turned to Cezar, looking own at her thoroughly rope-burned hands.

It was mesmerizing to watch and Cezar couldn't take his eyes off of the scene. It was almost like he was watching it all happen in slow motion. Perhaps with some background music to accompany it. Part of him wanted to help to rein in the wild mare but he had never been particularly good with animals, not like he was in the forge where he could get even the toughest metals to meld the way he wanted them to. A horse though? He'd probably just make things worse by trying to assist.

He barely noticed the rain as it started to fall. That is, he didn't notice as it fell on him though he certainly noticed the way it altered and enhanced the scene in front of him. There was a softness in his chest as he watched the gentleness that Tallis had with the animal.

Eventually they were all inside the barn, the rain still falling but no longer on top of them. Drops fell from the ends of Tallis' hair onto her shoulders but it did nothing to detract from her beauty. He stepped closer as she finally turned to face him again and followed her gaze to her palms and he winced at the sight of them.

"Here, let me see," he offered, holding out his hand with his palm open so that she might let him get a closer look at the rope burns.

Tallis hesitated for a moment, as uncertain and wild-eyed as the mare she’d just brought into the barn. But, like the horse, she allowed herself to be coaxed. Was it curiosity? No, not quite, but she couldn’t quite decide just what it was. A pull, that defied reason, unlike anything she’d felt before.

She held her hands out to him—palms up.

"Why is it you keep finding me?" Tallis asked softly, "I'm not nice to you. It can't be worth the trouble."

Cezar moved to gently place both of his palms under her hands so that he could get a look at her injuries. His thumbs lightly brushed over her palms but he looked up at her at her question. He considered what to say for a moment but kept eye contact with her.

"'Nice' doesn't make a person worth the trouble or not. You have far more interesting characteristics than your level of friendliness," he began to explain. "Our parents might be trying to push us into something but in spite of whatever they think about the situation there is just...something about you that makes me want to find out more. I'm- I'm drawn to you." It was perhaps more honest than she might want but it was what he had to offer.

He then looked down at her hands. "This doesn't look so bad, honestly," he said. While he was looking at her he had healed her hands, leaving them just slightly pink but no lasting marks and the pain mostly subsided. He was trying to subtle about it. To not heal it so completely that she'd automatically assume it was caused by him but hopefully she'd just assume it wasn't as bad as she might have originally thought. He released her hands and tucked his hands into his pockets, rocking on his heels slightly.

Tallis chuckled, a sound that had a little more warmth to it than her usual mirthless, mocking laughter. Her hands felt so small in his, his form so impressive that it seemed his arms could swallow her. That image lingered in a way that surprised her.

“This doesn’t look so bad, honestly.”

Tallis looked down to see her hands had changed—or at least, the pain in them had subsided. She pinched her brow in confusion, looking back up at Cezar with curiosity. No, it was likely that the barn was just dark. That she’d been mistaken. Looking up at Cezar, Tallis looked very much like the girl that she was—not the woman she tried to be.

“But what if you don’t like what you find?”

Lightning cracked outside as thunder continued to rumble, shaking the boards of the barn.

The lightning flashed, causing strips of light to illuminate Tallis' face through the slats as the thunder rumbled aggressively. Somehow the setting felt right in this moment, like a threat lying just below the surface of something beautiful. Beauty could be dangerous too.

"I'd rather find out than always be left wondering for the rest of my life," he told her. His hand reached up to brush a wet piece of a hair from her cheek, stepping in closer to her as he did so. "Some dangers...are worth the risk."

Tallis had watched other women pant after men like Cezar. Though she didn’t know exactly why or how she was different, she knew she didn’t have the same burning desire for the male form that other women did. Maybe there was a secret she had yet to discover, one hidden in Cezar’s gentle touch as he brushed the lock of her hair aside. It was curiosity that made her lean into his hand. Her heart thundered in her chest. Tallis would be damned if she were made a coward now.

“Then satisfy your curiosity.” The phrase was uttered as a confident dare, but the hint of uncertainty that trembled beneath.

The challenge was a turn on, he had to admit, but he was an observant enough person even when clouded by arousal to notice that she didn't seem one-hundred percent sure of that challenge. He had every intention of changing her mind and removing any of that uncertainty until she was left trembling for other reasons.

He leaned closer to her, his lips so close she could feel his breath but not yet touching. "You realize that my curiosity is for more than just your body, Tallis, don't you?" his hands moved to her hips, gliding up and down from her hips and over her ribs. "There is more to you than just whatever physical pleasure I can draw out of you. There is more to a marriage than what happens in bed." He bent to brush his lips against the soft place below her ear. He could smell the barn and the horses and the rain on her but also a sweetness that was all her. "I want to know you. All of you."

He pulled her flush into his body, her affect on him clear as day, as he pressed kisses along her jawline and his fingers dug into her hips almost painfully.