06. Revelations in the Night by Tempest

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“Tell me you love me.” Rook’s words were a drowsy purr against Tempest’s shoulder.

Tempest chose not to answer Rook’s question, purposely keeping the reassurance that his lover needed from him. They were in Rook’s suite, Tempest was sprawled across the expensive sheets of the large four poster bed with Rook nestled against his side. He kept his injured hand safely over his head while replaying the night’s disturbing events over and over, his other hand absently stroked along the pale flesh of Rook’s arm.

Rook’s weight shifted and he frowned, fingers that had been fiddling with Tempest’s gold chain stilled their movement. He rose up to stare down at his lover’s face. “Tell me you love me.” He was more insistent this time.

Seeing that Rook was having a hard time focusing meant that the cold burning potency of the liquor would have him sleeping before too long. Tempest could read annoyance in the jade depths of his eyes, annoyance and maybe just a touch of uncertainty. Rather than giving in to Rook’s need and before the contempt he felt internally could be read in the set of his mouth, Tempest sent an undeniable compulsion to sleep through Rook and was rewarded with his lover’s body slumping over him held fast in a deep slumber.

Tempest carefully extracted himself from the tangle of limbs and dressed then moved towards the doors. At the balcony he turned to look at Rook once more. The flesh of his lover’s back was so white against the dark silk sheets, so provocatively pale and he knew every sensitive area of Rook’s body and so enjoyed exploiting them that he had a hard time not returning to the bed. But he couldn’t, not this time. Turning back towards the sunrise Tempest’s look grew grim, he slipped out and let the breeze carry him into the early morning.

Thurs, Mar 6th – 1:20PM

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The air was chill inside the dark chamber but dry, the scent of stirred dust held the faintest underlying note of death, just enough to let you know that you were in someone’s final resting place. Tempest often came here, much to his lover’s annoyance. Rook didn’t understand and never would and in Tempest’s mind Rook’s seething hatred was misplaced.

Tempest was seated on the tiled floor of the mausoleum, his back against the carved marble sarcophagus that kept the coffin with her remains safe for eternity. He let his head fall back against the cold stone of the tomb after taking a liberal pull from the silver flask. He couldn’t even hold the damn thing with his left hand, Tempest had broken it when he directed his fury at a wall instead of Rook’s face. Jackass. The sound of the metal flask being set on the stone beside him when he freed up his hand broke the silence of the chamber like a harsh insult.

His thumb traced back and forth over the leather of the eye patch that he summoned to him, feeling the smooth grain rather than seeing it. There were no windows in the inlaid marbles of the interior wall and though there is a single door to the ornate burial structure, it had closed forever after the funeral and Tempest had made sure that it would never open again to allow sunlight to grace what had become a place of retreat for him.

Tonight he’d retreated, tonight Rook had gone too far, and Tempest had been in serious danger of losing control not once, but twice, and his first loss of control had almost lead to an act so violent that at this moment he hated not only himself for the near assault but also his lover that had triggered it. It would have been better for both of them if he’d not tempted Rook back to Ravn Acres, fading from existence was preferable to living in this hell. Two steps forward, three back.

Often silently accused of not allowing the past to die, Tempest’s temper started to ignite once more. Damn him! He could move on, could forgive, but Rook, the same accuser, flung the past at him time and time again, not always intentionally either. And that was the worst, knowing that most often Rook spoke with a careless disregard for how those past events affected Tempest, it was hard to admit that your partner was so inconsiderate, so lacking in empathy that he could say the cruelest things without a single prickle of conscience. Rook was the one that refused to let the memories lay buried where they belonged, behind a wall of time that if not erased, at least dulled the ache of repeated betrayals.

Tonight Rook had taken what could have been the most intense time they’d shared together to date and deliberately sabotaged it, twice. Twice. Once again before they could finish. Twice. The two thrived on pushing each other’s buttons, Tempest accepted it, reveled in it and for the most part he enjoyed the challenge that Rook presented him with. But the shadows had crossed the line, use of those had been so thoughtless, or so malicious, that Tempest still struggled with accepting that Rook had done that.

But it was Rook’s careless revelation spoken before the heat of the fires had even begun to cool in Tempest’s body that was the cause of him being here now. Something fundamental changed in that moment and now sitting in the perpetual darkness Tempest understood that it would always be this way and he had two choices, stay or go.

Thurs, Mar 6th – 2:22PM

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Tempest had already proven that he couldn’t go.

Moodily Tempest flung the bit of stiff leather across the chamber then swiped up the flask to take another drink. After wiping the remnants of the cold liquor from his lips with a forearm he shouted into the silence, “Damn you, Rook! What more do you want from me?! You want to make me suffer?! Why?! To what end? What haven’t I given you that you need from me?!” A frustrated, feral growl left Tempest and he almost hurled the flask along the same path the eye patch took but caught himself at the last moment, the contents were too precious to be wasted. With measured movements he set the container down once more.

Fingers thrust impatiently into his untamed hair dragging it harshly back from the darkly sensual planes of his face.

“Punishment perhaps? Punishment for his past transgressions could be why he goads you so. Think about it, did you ever retaliate against his behavior, except to threaten to leave? I’ll remind you, in case you’ve forgotten, that you never did no matter how many times it happened. Threats not carried out quickly lose their effectiveness. Fine, so once you tried for the ultimate escape but you knew that wouldn’t be permitted, you just wanted to see who would come to you first. While you are a spineless wretch where he’s concerned, he’s a rebellious, arrogant pig always testing the boundaries like a child with you. Quick to bite out spitefully, swift to lust. You sure know how to pick them, don’t you? Spoiled. Perhaps he sees punishment as a form of love with his skewed sense of logic. And perhaps he needs it. From you.”

There was only one other person that could speak to him like that and live to tell about it, so to speak, Tempest welcomed it even and the sound of her voice calmed him like nothing else ever could. She always saw things so clearly and Tempest’s heart filled with joy when he saw her image form. For the first time in hours Tempest’s smile was genuine when one small hand took his injured one and carried it to her mouth. The kiss she bestowed upon his swollen knuckle granted immediate relief, the crushed bones restored before she lowered his hand.

“Now go, go give him what he wants, show him you love him.”

Her smile radiated sincerity and innocence while her words rang truthfully in his ears. Tempest yearned to wrap his arms around her just once more. Already her luminescence was fading.

“You always know just what to say.” The scrape of Tempest’s boots on the stone tiles accompanied his return to his feet.

“Don’t forget the flask or this.” Her tiny form glided across over to the wall and bent to retrieve the eye patch.

Tempest watched her natural grace when she returned to him and his heart gave a painful lurch. The cold irony that she could be here now to help him with his problems because of the part he played in her premature death was not lost to him.

She pressed the small triangular piece of stiff leather into his hand then floated upwards until she looked him in the eye. Her youthful features turned stern, “You know what to do, right?”

He knew, he knew just what to do. Then she was gone.

Thurs, Mar 6th – 7:52PM