To Baldur's Gate

Chapter 40

"Ah yes, well, there is also the tiled floor, which is made completely out of mermaid scales!" Cera smiled wildly, looking between Astarion and I with growing discomfort. "Ethically sourced, of course." 

"I'm allergic," I lied. 

"What is wrong with you?" Astarion growled at me. 

"Me? What's wrong with me?" I snapped back at him. "I'm not the one dragging down the entire day. If you didn't want to come along, you could have just said." 

"Excuse me? You needed me today, there's no way you would have found your way without me," Astarion argued, cheeks flushing. "I set all of this up at your request - I singled out places I thought that you would like, I took your measurements for the tailor. I wanted to do this with you today." 

"Well, it sure didn't seem like it, Astarion." I was on the verge of crying. 

"Look, I think we might need to settle things down a bit," Cera tried to quietly intervene, tugging on Astarion's  elbow. 

"Leave us, Cera!" Astarion shouted at the dragonborn, and she squeaked before running out and shutting the door behind her. With her gone, Astarion grabbed my chin and yanked me toward him, but I shoved out of his reach. 

"What did I do, Tav?" His arms were held out in front of him in a pleading fashion. "Help me understand. First it was the kissing - "

"We did not do any kissing the past two nights. You wouldn't even touch me!" I yelled at him. "I wanted today to be fun, but you've been an ass since the sun came up this morning. What did I do to deserve this?" 

Astarion stared at me with bewildered eyes. "You're falling out of love with me, Tav - I think I have the right to be pissed off." 

"Gods, help me," I pinched my nose between my fingers to alleviate the oncoming headache. "What in the realms do you mean?" 

"You've never said no to a night of lovemaking. No one has ever said no to me before," he said, annoyance emphasizing every word that he uttered. 

"So, you're upset with me because I wouldn't have sex with you two nights ago?" I chuckled, despite myself. "Because I don't offer my body at every chance I get, that makes me undeserving of you? Like that's somehow all that I'm worth?" 

"No, that's not what I -"

"Fuck you, Astarion." 

I began to walk away but he grabbed me around the waist faster than I could register what was happening. I fought against him with fat tears in my eyes that blurred my vision. I opened my mouth to shout for Cera, but his hand cupped over my lips to block out any sound. 

"Now, now, love, there's no need for that," he murmured into my ear. "Now, I need you to listen. Can you do that for me? Just for a moment?" 

I nodded my head yes. 

He turned me to face him and with gentle hands brushed the hair and tears out of my face. "You know I love you. I love your body. I love your heart, most of all," he whispered. "I realize now that I've been causing you the same unease that I've been feeling these past days." 

"Why have you been so unkind to me? You say you love me, but I haven't felt it, Astarion", I cried. "You were drunk, and I felt uncomfortable, like I was going to be taking advantage of you. You were so intoxicated, you could barely walk, I didn't want you to not remember taking me." 

"We're such fools," Astarion shook his head and sighed. "I'm not used to being turned down. I think for me, sex gives me a sense of worth. It makes me feel important to you. People don 't discard what's important to them." He kissed my bare shoulder. "I envisioned Gale taking you back to Waterdeep, away from Baldur's Gate and away from me." 

Astarion's lips found their way to my neck and right under my earlobe where my pulse raced. 

"I saw him kissing you just like this," Astarion whispered, his hot breath igniting my skin. He nipped at my jaw and while one hand played idly with my breast through the dress I wore, the other trailed down to my hip bone and I was putty in his embrace. 

"He knew that I watched from afar, but he teased me with you, Tav," Astarion careful lifted up the hem of my skirt and slid a hand underneath, reaching my crotch under the thin skirt. He began to rub his hands in circles, and the heat from the anger I had earlier felt, instantly turned to lust. 

"I watched him slide in and out of you." Astarion sucked on my neck and stuck a finger up my aching hole, pushing in and out with ease - letting me know that my body was ready and eager. 

"And Gods, Tav, you looked so sexy, so utterly delicious," Astarion's hand left my breast and circled my throat, then squeezed, suddenly cutting off my airway. "I had to kill him." 

He pinched my clit, and I came all over his fingers, wetness soaking through my underwear and my thighs shook with pleasure. Astarion released his hold on me just as the door reopened and Cera poked her head through. 

"What are our final thoughts on the place?" 

"We'll take it," Astarion said, giving me that smoldering grin of his.