Dedicated to: dent1990

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"You know what truly aches? Having so much inside you and not having the slightest clue of how to pour it out."

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Karen Quan

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"Simon!"
A frantic voice called to him through the thick, groggy hold of his unconsciousness.

"Simon, you have to wake up!"
Simon opened his eyes; their unusuak heaviness making that a more difficult task than usual. It was Delilah, and unknown to him she had trudged through the night beside Pompeii to help him pull the empty wagon back up the mountain in the icy storm, only to return exhausted to her home and find her charge knocked out cold at the foot of her porch.

"Oh thank goodness!" She cried with relief at his return to consciousness.
Simon blinked as the focus slowly returned to his eyes. His head felt strange, though there was no pain, his mind felt as cloudy as the stormy sky above. Icy snow struck him in the face, stinging his skin, and he raised a hand to shield himself from it.

"Delilah, what happened?"
He asked groggily, though he was not sure she could hear him over the howling symphonies of the ill weather.
"I dont know. You tell me."
She laughed in relief, shaking her head.
"Come on, let's get you back inside."
Delilah helped him to lift himself up, pulling him up and off of the ground with an ease that was nothing less than astounding. With her help, they made it back into the cabin.

The warmth from the hearth that heated the whole room greeted Simon like a hug from an old friend, and it wasn't till the door was shut behind them, and they were safely sealed away from the cold night air that he realized he was soaked to the bone, and that his clothing had even began to solidify from the snow.

"What were you doing out there?"
She asked as she deposited it by the fire,
"Well, when you didn't return by dusk I began to grow concerned."
He explained as she began to gather some dry clothes for him from a nearby chest.
"When the storm struck, I guess I just panicked. I left this cabin with the full intentions of finding and or rescuing you when I slipped on your porch steps."

"Well," she began slowly, "thank you for your heroic intents, but as you can see, I am fine. You on the other hand, are lucky you didn't re-break any of those precious bones that I have worked so hard to heal." She scolded him like a schoolboy before placing the bundle of fresh and dry clothes in his hands.
"Now turn around and change, and I shall do the same. We shouldn't spend another second in these wet clothes."

He did as she asked, turning around to peel the sopping wet fabrics from his body.
"What took you so long? Did something happen? Or better yet, why did you not stay in village? I'm sure a storm like this was showing signs hours before it struck."
Now it was his turn to chide her.
"The cart got badly stuck about 2 hours ride from here, and it took me a while to gather enough pebbles and stones to give it traction." She said coolly, making it sound like less of the ordeal that it was. It really had been quite exhausting, she had unhitched and rehitched Pompeii several times before that, hoping to pull the cart free from different angles, but when that had failed, she went searching for traction, and her fingers still felt a numbness from digging into the frozen earth.

"I am sorry, I did see the signs for the storm in plenty of time before it struck. I should have stayed in the village, but I didn't. I was just worried about you being up here all alone."
She apologized after a few silent moments had passed.
"And I am sorry, I should have stayed in the cabin. It seems we both have issues with not wanting the other to be alone."
He smiled even though she could not see it.

"May I turn around now?"
She asked.
"Yes, though it's funny that you ask, as I may recall it's nothing you haven't seen before."
He chuckled, thinking lightly of his time in diapers as he turned to face her.
"Very funny."
She shook her head. It was true, for through caring for him, she had seen every inch of him, but having to clean up after him in the past did nothing to halt the allure his body has always presented.

Without saying anything, he took a step closer and pulled her into a tight embrace. In his arms, there was no mistaking the relief he felt.
"I'm glad you are alright as well."
She returned the hug, wrapping her arms under his, responding to the sentiment he had not said outloud, but that she could feel with every fiber of her being.
Together they stood, perhaps for more than a good minute. Though their mouths and eyes remained shut, their souls did not. This was not a lustful embrace, not in the slightest, but instead it was something much deeper, and more meaningful, this was pure.

"I have word of Aelford."
Delilah said, finally pulling away.
"Huh?" Responded Simon almost blankly, for neither Adelaide or Aelford had crossed his mind for hours, and in the relief of finally having her back in the safety of this cabin and his arms, it was as if they didn't exist.
"Oh yes, Aelford."
He straightened, crossing his arms as that worry once again returned to him.
"Please tell me you have news of Adelaide?"

Hearing him say her name so dearly scraped at Delilah as if someone was using her heart as a sharpening block for an old, rusty blade; but she knew that pain was nothing compared to the pain she would feel watching him crumble from the terrible news she was about to break.
"Simon, I am so, so sorry."

He slunk, and it was just as she had predicted, he was crumbling. No anger flashes his eyes, no bloodlust, or thrist for vengeance, the responses to loss you expected from most men, but no instead she only saw pure, unadulterated sadness.
"She's gone isn't she?"
He asked.
His pain forced a lump into her own throat, and Delilah could only nod in response.

She could see the light draining from his eyes, that spark of hope that he had held tightly in his heart fading away like a covered candle.
He sank down onto the bed behind him, his knees giving out halfway, causing him to thud heavily onto it.
His mouth hung agape in shock, eyes beginning to gloss with the tears of long held back grief.
"How... how did it happen? Do you know?"
Simon asked, his usually steady voice now quite the opposite.
"I do, but I'm not sure you want to."
She spoke, eyes downcast.
"You are probably right, but I have to know regardless."
He wrung his hands into the fabric of the front of his shirt.

Taking a weary breath she began to reluctantly repeat the tragic story from the lady in the market.
Her throat burned as she spoke, and she found herself surprisingly feeling a secondhand sadness from Simon, his pain seeming to bleed onto her, and by the end of it, her heart ached alongside his, grieving the loss of a life and a country she had never known.

After she was done, Delilah knelt in front of him and took his hands.
"Simon, I am so incredibly sorry."
She repeated, wishing more than anything she had something in her medicine chest for the type of pain she saw on him.
His eyes which looked like glass from the sheen of unshed tears, broke suddenly, and tears began to roll down his cheeks.
When Simon began to quietly sob, without a second thought her arms went around him. She slid her arms under his and embraced him as tightly as she could.
He leaned foward and pressed his face into her shoulder, his body weight slumping onto her to a point that it became quite heavy, but she said nothing, only held him.
Under his weight, each of his sobs made her body wretch and shake as he did.

Without letting go, Delilah stood herself up from her knees and pushed Simon back down until he lay on the bed with her beside him. She held him tightly to her chest, stroking his straw colored hair as the tears flowed freely into the fabric of her white nightgown. Comforting him the way her mother had after her fathers death.
Simon felt the weight of the crushing reality finally hitting him with it's full, unrelenting force. Of course he had known the chances of a victory against the Vikings were slim, but for some reason since his awakening he had found himself clinging hopefully to the idea that Adelaide was still alive, that she had survived somehow.
He had cared for her above everything else, and it had been that way since they were both children, just two friends chasing each other through the castle stables; with no regard for rank or propriety.

Simon continued to cry for hours, his body wrenching with grief, guilt, pain and sadness as the lady lumberjack did her best to silently comfort him.
When the noises stopped, Deliah pulled back enough to look at his face, something she hadn't been able to do since he started. Knowing that if she did, seeing him in so much grief, she would break down as well, and she knew that would not be helpful to anyone.
His eyes were closed and his pain was finally taken by sleep, or so she hoped.
Instead of pulling away, Delilah only scooted herself closer. Kissing his head, she closed her eyes and began to wait for her own slumber.

Simon found himself walking through the stone path of the castle garden, the one in particular that lead towards the royal stables. The warm summer sun illuminated the flora and foliage all around him, giving the area a surreal glow. Simon felt relieved, glad to in his homeland, and so near to his beloved barn. Something felt out of place, as if he were returning from a very long trip, but in that moment he couldn't remember where too. Pushing open the stable door, he barely stepped through before being excitedly greeted by Chester, who began to bray loudly, and nuzzle himself against his masters chest.

Odd, Simon thought. Someone must have forgotten to latch his gate.
Nevertheless he returned the animals loving and excited greeting. Simon wrapped his arms tightly around the donkeys neck, burying his face into his fuzzy neck and breathing in his rich, familiar, and comforting scent.
"Seems like someone really missed me." He joked, pulling back to give him a pat before leading him back to his stall and latching it up properly.

"Simon..." A distant voice slowly called out, one that he knew he recognized.
It was Adelaide.
"Coming Addie." He called back.
"Love you buddy." He gave his most precious beast one more pat before turning to seek her out.

He walked down the center of the stables, surprised slightly to see that not a single horse was in any of them. The barn was empty save for Chester.
"Simon..." She called again, but her voice sounded so detached, so unlike herself, almost eerie.
"Where are you?" He asked, glancing into the empty stalls, expecting to find her hiding in an attempt to jump out and scare him, like in the games they used to play.
"Sneak down to the stables for a kiss huh?" He joked, continuing his search.

A feminine shadow from the dim light behind the partially closed tackroom door caught his eye, and a smirk was plastered to his face as he rushed for it, swinging it open quickly he grabbed for the figure, pulling her closely in the darkness and pressing his mouth to hers with a fervouous need. The kiss deepened, he felt overtaken by powerful desires, a fire that he had never felt before when stealing sweet kisses in the barn.

When the short but passionate kiss ended and he pulled back, he opened his eyes and was surprised to see that the girl he had taken in his arms was not Adelaide, but instead, standing before him was the tall and powerful form of Delilah.

Delilah was awoken rather abruptly by the feeling of something warm against her mouth.

Groggily she began wondering to herself if she had fallen asleep in the stall again, and if Pompei was trying to lick the salt from her skin, as he liked to do. Lifting her heavy eyelids she would have gasped, that is if she could, for instead being in the small barn with her overly affectionate horse, she was lying in bed with Simon, who shockingly had his mouth pressed firmly to hers in what felt like the makings of a kiss.

Delilah suddenly felt completely overwhelmed, this truly was such a startling and overpowering thing to be awoken by. All the strange and new feelings she had only first been exposed to hours ago at the dinner table suddenly filled her body like a small pitcher dipped into a raging river. Warmth flooded her chest and began cascading everywhere else; from the tips of her fingers to the very soles of her feet. She began to return his kiss, and she had all but melted against him and lost herself completely to passion when, after wrapping her arms around him and feeling the flaccidity of his body she realized with a slight horror that he was actually kissing her in his sleep.

"Simfff..." She tried to call out his name, but was muffled by his lips as they deepened against hers.
She tried to pull away, but his arms tightened around her waist, crushing her against his still unconscious form.
His mouth felt as if it was hot enough to seer straight into her skin, and when he parted her lips and slid his tounge against hers, Delilah felt any and all resistance fade away quickly into the darkness of the cabin.
She knew she should be pushing him away, trying again to wake him and snap him out of whatever was causing him to handle her in such a wonderfully sinful manner, but after so many years of solitude, a mind that had long ago declared itself a spinster, lost control to a body that had clearly not accepted that fate.

Knowing she would regret this choice, but damning them a later time, Deliah gave in, melting against him and opening her mouth once more to his.
The world fell away again, melting into the darkness until nothing else mattered but the way he made her feel.
The warmth of his tounge was both as surprising as it was pleasurable, and as he began to massage hers. The act seemed so strange, yet felt so intimate, delilah could not help but arch her back and let out a low moan into his mouth, she next tried to mimic the movements of his tounge as it pressed with so much need against hers.

In this kiss his passion felt unbridled, almost as if he were unburdened by the recent tragedies of his life.
Her mind began to wander, stomach turning slightly at all to real possibility that perhaps in his mind he thought himself kissing Adelaide instead of her, but before she could dwell upon that much further, he pushed her over onto her back and rolled himself atop her.
The weight and feel of his firm body crushing her into the mattress, drove any and all thoughts out of her head, and she reached up to wind her fingers into his choppy blonde locks, losing herself to it once more.

The kissing slowed suddenly, and Simon's face began to pull away, on instinct she followed it upwards, her neck craining until it could lift no further from her pinned body, and his mouth separated from hers.
Delilah slowly lifted her lids, which felt heavy with the weight of desire, to see Simon's eyes blinking open slowly.

"Delilah?" His words came out in a near whimper, eyebrows furrowing into a look that was filled strangely with both clarity and confusion.
"Simon, I'm sorr..." She began guiltily, jerking her hands off of his head at to the sides of hers almost as if in surrender.
"It was you!" He exclaimed, cutting her off before she could get through her stumbling apology.
"I know, I dont know what I was thin..."
She tried to speak again but was met with the same result.
"No!" He cried out again, his voice filled with a strange, excuberent, almost excited realization.
"I meant In my dream. It was you!"

"What?" Now it was her turn to become confused. "I dont understand..."
"In my dream Delilah. I was looking for her, but I found you instead. I was kissing you!" He grabbed the sides of her face, relief filled his small smile as he brought his lips back down onto hers and planted a quick, sloppy kiss.
"I, I, I...." She began with a shocked stutter, body quickly roaring back to life from even the quickest of his kisses,
"still dont get what you mean..."

"What I mean is that I think you are what I need."
He said before lowering his mouth to hers once again, this time to kiss her softly. Though still bewildered by his strange words and actions Delilah was overcome with delight. The one she had undoubtedly fallen head over heels for was speaking of dreams of her, and now, kissing her of his own free will.
With a sigh, she gave into his kiss, stomach turning with a nervous energy as his mouth softly caressed her own.
This kiss was nothing like the one he had given in his slumber, which had been passionate, unbridled and consuming; no, this kiss was softer, sweeter and filled with deeper meaning. Simon reveled in the softness and sweetness of her mouth, a taste of which he had awoken with in his mouth. As he kissed her, a kiss that felt so right, he finally felt unburdened by every ounce of weight on his tired shoulders.
He loved this woman, and in the moment, that seemed to be all that mattered. The news of Adelaide's passing, as tragic, and heartbreaking as it was, had finally allowed him to admit to himself.

"I love you too..." He broke the kiss and returned her earlier unspoken, though obvious confession into her ear before biting gently down onto her earlobe. Delilah gasped, her insides felt as if they were melting, but whether it was from his confession, or from the spark of pleasure of his action that had immediately followed, she was unsure.
What she was sure though was that had she not been pinned under him so intimately, her body racing with so much newfound wanting; that she would have burst into happy tears, had they instead been outside doing some mundane task, or inside accross from each other at the table and he had spoken what he just had, she was sure her tears would have flowed like the earlier rain.

Instead of tears, her now hypersensitive body had a different response, and she arched her body upwards and wrapped her arms around his neck until she could feel every ridge and curve of his male form as it pressed against her, before pulling his face once more onto hers in a fiery kiss. Prying open his mouth with her own, she forced her tounge inside and began to seek out every crevice and corner. Simon moaned, and the heavenly sound caused heat to pool to her core with an intensity that she had never before experienced.

For the first time in his life, Simon felt overtaken by guttural desire, and it was a feeling so unusually carnal for the sexually reserved and unambiguous former stableboy. He stiffened, growing hard against her thigh.
He pulled away once more and began to trail rough, needy kisses down her neck. Without seeking any type of consent, which was so unlike him, his hand slid between their bodies and firmly cupped her breast through the fabric of her dress. Her body arched up once more, and she let out a throaty moan of approval.
Simon began to knead her supple flesh gently, finding himself behaving on instinct alone, as he had never handled any woman in such a manner.
He made a path with his kisses down her neck, his other hand toying with the neckline of her nightdress, mind reeling to pull it down so that he could finally see her beasts; to expose those magnificent shapes that had spent the last few days taunting him from behind the thick, sturdy fabric of her dresses, particularly whenever she swung an axe.

Simon had never seen a womans breasts before, and when her hand brushed over his and untied the string in the center, willingly revealing herself to him, he was not disappointed.
Pushing himself up onto his elbows, by the light of the moon he took her in.
For a moment, his needs seemed to pause, and he could only stare in awe. Reaching out a shaking hand, he cautiously placed a single finger to her, tracing her outline gently, as if in fear of damaging her. Her head rolled back, flesh searing wherever his finger trailed. Her raised nipples seemed to ache for his touch. Which seemed strange, for though Delilah knew how the act of love making was supposedly done, her mother had never once mentioned that her breasts could be so affected.

Her desire was granted when Simon finally reached her peaks, fingers brushing over her gently, rewarding him with another low moan.
Encouraged by this, he began to brush over her back and forth until Delilah felt a rush of slickness between her thighs, along with a pounding ache.

In a rush of passion, she pushed him. Sitting up, Simon could only watch in a lustful awe as she began hastily tugging at her nightdress, pulling up and over her shoulders before tossing it off the bed. The chill of the nights air against her now completely exposed body snapped her back reality.
Suddenly embarrassed by her wanton actions, Delilah turned crimson, pulling her knees to her chest to hide herself from him.
"I'm sorry..." She buried her burning cheeks into her knees, unable to look at him. "I just got too carried away. God, you must think me a harlot. If you could please grab my nightgown, I will put it back on..."

There was something so disarming about seeing such a powerful woman so naked, so vulnerable.
He propped himself up onto an elbow beside her, grabbing her chin he pried her face from her knees until she had to look at him.
"Delilah, the last thing I would ever think of you is that you are a harlot."
He smiled, his warm breath caressing her face. Simon moved his hands from her face to her knees, pressing them down and away from her body, so that she was no longer hidden by them.
"You are so beautiful. Please, let me see all of you?"
He asked, patting a spot on the bed between them, signaling her to lie down beside him.

Cautiously, she did.
His eyes all but worshipped her feminine form as it was finally fully on display to him. Every contour seemed like a work of art, from her sturdy calves, to her broad shoulders, and the plump breasts below them, to the curves of her hips and the chocolate brown curls that lie in the center of them. He did not try to kiss or touch her again, instead, he only held open his arms for her. She hurridly crawled into his arms and he pulled the blanket firmly over them both.

When he didnt move further, Delilah grew confused.
"Simon, dont you want to...."
She started, but didnt have the courage to finish that sentence.
"Oh I do Delilah. Believe me I do. But it isn't right like this." He shook his head, better judgment returning in replace of his libido. "Tommorow we will go back down the mountain so I can marry you first."

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A/N: I'm sorry this took so long guys, but I have been suffering from some emotional blockage due to a bitter betrayal from someone quite close to me. After what happened to me it became very hard to write about love and passion in particular, and I did not want my characters to suffer from the hate I felt. But I think after this month of self reflection and healing, I am better now. Thank you for some of the very supportive, and encouraging messages I recieved during this time. I'm glad you like this book and have reached out to say so.

On a better note, "Arch Frenemies" is already up to 13 lengthy chapters on wattpad. I would adore for you guys to check it out and show it some love if you haven't already. :)

Love you guys.
-QueenOfGeeks