She and Vernus run into each other

In her eagerness, Lux neglects to pay attention to the turns she takes. How big can this place really be? Is it a cottage, or a palace? If she can just find her way back to the living room, the front door…

An unseen loose floorboard snags her foot and—

With a small cry, she crashes into a fortunately soft and cushioning obstacle. An obstacle that’s a few inches taller than her and clad in a blue woollen tunic…

Still catching her breath, Lux looks up to meet Vernus’s eyes. He stares back, startled. She can feel his hands on her body where he caught her, stopped her from falling – one at her waist, the other cupping her bust. Her pulse quickens.

—his trembling hands hold her hips as she rides atop him, her breasts bouncing free, her hair falling over her eyes. the air is full of their impassioned cries, the creaking of the bed, the urgent sound of flesh on flesh. she wants him, she needs him, he needs her, even though the lady of the house could catch them at any moment—

Lux blinks, the vision gone in an instant. Like a premonition, or a flash of imagination – where did that come from? Her cheeks burn and she’s breathing fast, heart racing in her chest. And as she looks up at Vernus, she senses that something happened for him as well. Embarrassed, he steadies her on her feet and quickly draws his hands behind his back.

“M-mistress Lux,” he stammers, “are you in distress? What compels you to rush so?”

“Sorry.” Lux shakes her head. “I need to talk to you – I mean, we must…converse…”

Vernus blinks slowly. “Your pardon, please, my lady,” he says, “but your parlance doth have me quite perplexed. I gather that my native speech be not yours.”

“I suppose…eth not,” Lux says, cringing at her own efforts to translate. “Would that I were…more intimately familiar with your tongue—”

Oh, fuck. She stares helplessly at Vernus, but fortunately he seems not to have picked up any meaning from that, double or otherwise.

“Mayhap it be difficult that we converse as you do suggest,” Vernus says, after a moment, “but I shall endeavour to aid you however I can.”

“Uh-huh.” Lux fidgets, trying to straighten her overburdened bodice. “I’m trying to get back to the mortal world. Our world, you know? I, uh, spoke with a river fey who led me here…”

Vernus tilts his head slightly. “Surely I do mistake your meaning,” he says, “for, be it that I did not…good lady, what world do you believe this is?”

“The – the Valley,” Lux says slowly. “That’s the only name I know for it. Between our world and the fey realm. Full of trees and mist and things.”

“The Valley of Mists?” Vernus shakes his head. “Forsooth, the name doth awaken memories that long have lain dormant,” he says. “Yet, should you but glance outside, you shall surely find sun and sky, and nary a trace of mist upon this fine day.”

“I know,” Lux says, “but…”

But what? It’s all a trick, an illusion? What are the chances he’ll believe her?

Vernus gives her a reassuring smile. “Were we in that storied Valley, I could verily guide you back to the land of daylight,” he says. “I followed that homeward path many a year ago. It maketh for quite a tale, of a prince who went a-questing – when still I was called a prince. But no royal title do I need, not now that gentle Holly be the eternal Queen of mine heart. This humble house and its little garden shall be my kingdom evermore.”

Lux stares at him mutely. A prince? She almost wants to ask of what kingdom, but she has a sneaking suspicion the name will mean nothing—

She jumps slightly. Without her having moved, she suddenly feels her backside nudge against the wall. How did that happen? And when she looks forward again, she has to crane her head up to find Vernus’s face, so close are they together now…

Vernus seems just as surprised as she is, and maybe more uncomfortable. Yet there’s nowhere else to stand. As if the space around them has shrunk, the corridor feels narrower than before, though Lux saw nothing change. Their bodies almost touching, she feels a shiver of anticipation—

he hoists her up against the wall. her legs wrapping around his waist. his fingers coil through her long, loose hair. her nipples harden under the thin wool of her dress. yearning for his caress…

Another jolt. Lux’s knees have gone weak, warmth building, an aching need. There’s alarm in Vernus’s eyes. He doesn’t seem to know what to do, his sense of propriety freezing him in a situation that is definitely not proper.

Either way, Lux seems to have the only initiative in this situation. But amid these visions, she’s not even sure what she wants…