“Oh, you think that was inconvenient. I bet it would have been more inconvenient if you’d actually been caught in any of my explosive energy blasts that you just somehow managed to evade.“  She rolled her eyes.  “How did you even manage to do that? No one normally makes it out of a fight with me, nevertheless makes it to become an incessant pain in my rear for the rest of my mission.”

“Either way….” She eyed his body, lying across the bed as if he were waiting for her to either kill or smother him, “I’m going to be completely honest with you,” She pushed off one of her hands and moved her right leg so that she was sitting upright, straddling his lap, “I’m a bit inebriated. And I bet you are, too.” Biting her lip, she let a hand slip under his shirt and onto his abdomen, tracing the edge of his trousers with her fingertips. “And on top of that, as annoyed with each other as we both may have been, I’m sure that we’ve come to some sort of… understanding… about how we feel now. Not necessarily bout each other, but in light of recent near-death incidents, pirate fights, and the even more recent drinks, I’m certainly feeling something a bit out of the ordinary.“ She grinned for a moment, and playfully messed her own hair with her free hand.

“Well, anyway, considering that you’ve been lugging me around and doing so much just to keep me safe, I’m sure I can find some way to repay you for your kind-heartedness,” she implied coyly of what she was about to do, as she tugged at his clothes, eventually fighting off his trousers with little help from him.  Now on her hands and knees, with a wink and a smirk, Rixxan pushed his shirt up just enough that she could trace her way from his navel to his manhood with her lips.
 

Upon finishing her self-appointed task, she found his hands wrapped in her hair. She untangled herself from him as she sat up and laughed to herself and reached for a pint to take a swig in order to wash away the taste.  She dropped the empty tankard on the floor behind the bed and returned her attention to Icarus. “And, if that’s not enough, you’ll certainly have to let me know if you can think of any other ways for me to repay you,” she traced the slight curves of her own body now, to heighten his interest some more.

Icarus was nearly asleep when it seemed the woman had other plans in mind for the young adventurer.  "What are you…" he started, unable to finish as Rixxan placed her hand upon his abdomen.  Her explanation was rather unusual, but his body felt too exhausted to disagree with the feminine touch as she caressed his body.  In truth, she could likely attack him if she truly were as callous as he initially believed and he would be hard-pressed to do anything about it.

The truth was, both of them were certainly drunk and this was perhaps a mistake on both of their parts, but the simplicity of their life and death situations brought a symbiotic dependency upon one another.  "I'd wager we're both feeling rather unusual right about now," he commented as she played with her hair.  It seemed that she was feeling indebted to his good will despite owing her nothing with the exception of swift and decisive violence as she had attempted against him.  Was this her way of apologizing to him?  If so, he certainly couldn't find himself disagreeing with the means by which she did it.

"You don't have to, but by the gods, I can't argue with a beautiful woman bringing a weary man comfort," he said as she had her way with him, pleasing him in ways only a woman could.  Unable to fight the pleasantness of her act, he found himself grasping her by the hair with one hand, lust and rapture beginning to take over.  Despite being a man of experience in many facets, he found himself incapable of resisting this ancient Elven art of seduction and soon fell into the precipice of his lust.

When she had finished and sat up, Icarus found himself willing to do many harmful things to the Elf at his bed that likely would result in a permanent fissure between the two races.  "Not enough?  You say that and do not realize with whom you're speaking.  Come here and let me show you that you have started something you may be incapable of finishing," he said as he pulled her down to him, rolling them both over to have her on the bottom.

Using his teeth, Icarus undid the bindings of the pants he had placed upon her as she had slept, tugging at the laces and caressing her lithe frame with his hands as he removed them.  Seemingly unable to contemplate the sudden change in the pace, the woman began to fall into the throes of pleasure as he became vengeful, biting her neck as a rabid animal but not firmly enough to harm her.  As they locked eyes, she nodded her approval to him with a face both eager and scared as he disrobed fully as well.  

The first moment of their embrace was pure ecstasy as they felt the fullness of one another.  Together, they fought for control, each vying for the dominant position on top and neither was capable of maintaining it for long.  The war between the Elf and Human became much like the continuous struggle they had faced since their first meeting, each moment bringing them closer to their limit as days of fighting and injuries piled their frustrations upon one another.  With all the fury they had taken out on their adversaries, they reached new heights in their endeavors as they did all they could to break one another to their wills, neither of them succeeding but both enjoying their failure.  

When at last the pair were done, they still lay, engaged in their deadly tangle of limbs and flesh, at last satisfied they had come to grips with the tension that had plagued them from the moment they felt despair at the clutches of the pirate lord and the tinge of worry they felt for one another in that time.  Neither would admit it, but this was a moment, an encounter that had changed them both, whether their paths would cross again or not.  Both were bound to a degree, perhaps in their budding rivalry or in the fact they found an equal in one another that surpassed the boundaries of race.  

Icarus rolled over, exhausted after their mutual display of affection that had no place between the pair.  The sun had already begun to rise and their satisfied panting gave testament to the very depths of effort they had both pooled into the battle they had waged against one another.  "I think we survived the night and we may have repaid one another with interest," he joked, panting as he looked to his companion, the Elf's tired frame nestled in the crook of his arm.

Rixxan found herself nearly to the point of panting as he did, however she would not let this human see her in such a way after what she’d just engaged in with him. As if their power struggle had not been enough during their coinciding missions that had first caused their paths to cross, it seemed to have only been worsened here in the bedroom. Their deed was more an act of war than of passion. There were some other stirred feelings inside of her, but Rixxan was in no mood to be dusting off such memories and things to deal with yet. As he rolled over and lay next to her, she nestled closer to him for the sake of maintaining her heightened body temperature, not wanting to experience the chill of the cold that might dampen her high. He commented about them having survived the night, and Rixxan nodded. 

“It will be morning soon, and I bet we’d be more likely to make a short-term escape from the city at dawn than during mid-morning or dusk. I have business elsewhere, soon, so as much as I have come to call this place home… or as close to one as it could be, I need to be heading out of the area anyway. Better for the city that way, it will become much quieter soon. If given enough time for me to take care of what I need to elsewhere, I should be set to return without too many recognizing my face. Until then, I recommend a nap. Easier to make a break for the gates with a bit of a recharge. Especially after a romp like that.” She sat up and wormed her way toward the pillows, wincing as noticeable pain from her wound started up once more. 

To disguise the pain from Icarus (as well as herself), she distracted from the injury by talking more. 

“Care to join me for a quick sleep beneath the covers? It may be out of our area of high-energy-and-combat-based-living expertise, but I’m sure we could manage.” She tucked her legs under and tried to wiggle into the sheets, and found her back acting up more, though she managed to get the sheets over herself. Rixxan lay on her side facing the wall, so that if he chose to Icarus could hold her or spoon her. The idea of what she could seduce him to do from that position danced across her mind, though she did believe that she would need at least a small bit of rest in order to start traveling to her next monetary opportunity. She sighed and closed her eyes to try and settle into sleep. 

Rixxan didn't even have to ask Icarus if he wished to sleep as he was already nearly there.  The sheer exhaustion of what they had just done in addition to the very little rest he had actually received over the past few days would render him nearly comatose for a short time.  All things considered, however, it seemed to be a good way for this strange journey to reach its end for him, considering he had nearly died numerous times and somehow managed to rescue the girl.  It would only be a matter of time before he would return to his full strength but the two would go their separate ways, perhaps to never meet again.

Rolling over and draping his arm over the Elf he had bedded, Icarus at last had the faintest smile on his face.  Dreadbeard was dead and they had both received a hefty sum for the assassination, though he could have simply kept it all for himself.  Her intuition and knowledge of the workings of the establishment were correct.  Although the riots would persist at night at the manhunts for the pair would continue for weeks after their departure, none of the pirates would be foolhardy enough to burn this tavern to the ground.

"Yeah, I think I can sleep for a while," he said as he kissed her neck and caressed her thigh before pulling her close to him.  He wasn't the man he used to be, the sort that thought nothing of bedding a woman and going their separate ways as adventurers often did.  Now, Icarus knew to cherish every little moment of happiness he found, though they often seemed few and far between.  In this instance, despite all the difficulty she had caused, this woman had proved to be one of those moments.

A few hours passed and Icarus departed, waking a short while before his companion.  He left her a note saying he wished he could remain for a bit longer, but that he would make a public appearance near the docks before a blatant retreat out of the city.  That, at least, would end up serving to remove more of the attention from her and keep her safe longer.  In the end, the pair would cross paths again, as though fate itself were sending them into the fray whenever it deemed it convenient.