The Dragonborn

Part 76

Jack kissed Mark's lips tenderly. Teasing him to try deepening the kiss. Mark moaned against his lips, slightly pulling away to whisper over them. "Jack... I have to pay attention, or the food is going to burn." Jack nipped Mark's lower lip, replying breathlessly. "Multitask, Markimoo. Or is that too hard for you?" Mark shook his head with a devilish smirk. Jack shifted a little, removing his hand off the pot and cutting the spell. Mark tried to keep stirring, while sharing tender kisses with him. It slightly upset Jack that Mark was actually multitasking pretty well. So, he decided to see if he could make it a bit harder on him. Slipping his hand up Mark's inner thigh, Jack felt Mark's leg muscle flex. Jack grinned into their kiss, leaning into Mark to take control over their kiss. Mark tilted his head back enough to surrender control and Jack rewarded him by pressing his hand between Mark's legs.

Mark released the stirring spoon to cup Jack's cheek. Jack shivered feeling Mark's other hand slide up the back of his leg, over his ass, and up the back of his shirt. Mark's fingers followed the curve of his spine up, causing Jack to moan into the kiss. Jack rubbed his hand over Mark's growing bulge, trying to coax him into doing more. To his slight disappointment, Mark broke the kiss to tell him in a husky voice. "We should stop. We should eat and then get on our way." Jack shook his head, quickly reaching up to unbuckle the straps across Mark's chest to release his armor pieces. Mark stopped his hand before he got too far, giving him a reluctant glare. Jack locked his soft eyes on him, telling him in a tender voice. "Mark... What if we don't make it out of here and this is our last time to-" Mark raised his hand to press his fingers to Jack's mouth, cutting him off to sweetly reply. "Jack, don't talk like that. We will get out of here. We've made it this far."

Jack rolled his eyes, sitting back on his heels as he retorted dryly. "Barely... Mark, please?" Mark slid his hand down Jack's cheek to lift his chin and lean in to purr out to him lovingly. "Jack... I told you, don't let it in. If you feed your fears and doubts, you'll find yourself giving up. You saw good people die today. They didn't deserve that end... but their fate will not be ours. You're not going to lose me, Jack. I'll kiss you and I'll hold you, but don't start thinking this will be our last time together." Jack swallowed, nodding only slightly. Mark leaned in to kiss his lips so sweetly that Jack blushed. Then Mark turned his attention to the pot, asking curiously. "You want to split a loaf of potato bread with this stew?" Jack nodded again, taking a seat close enough to Mark to lean on him. Mark made him a bowl first, then tore a loaf of bread in half for him.

For a little awhile, they sat in silence. Jack leaned his shoulder against Mark, sipping his soup and dipping his bread in the juices. Mark finished his bowl first, starting to wipe down his bowl as he looked around the room. Among the two doors in the room, Mark pointed to the thick golden doors and told him. "It looks like the way forward is through those doors." Jack looked toward the other door, seeing through the bars to just an empty room. From that alone, he could easily agree with him. He took a minute or two longer to finish his bowl, then they packed back up and started out again. Strolling carefully through the heavy doors, Mark informed him lightly. "Keep your eyes open. The deeper we go, the more likely we are to see Falmer... or traps." They walked up a small set of steps that lead to a wall.  To their right, they saw a hallway that was caved in.  So Jack pulled Mark to the left.

They only moved a few steps down the tunnel, when Mark reached out to slow Jack down to a stop and pointed ahead. A Dwemer Spider drifted back and forth ahead, crushing fallen rocks into dust. The Dwemer Spider didn't notice them and continued its work like it was trying to clean up the halls and repair damages. It fascinated Jack that even though their makers were long gone, they still worked like they were around and in need of them. Mark nudged his arm, jarring him from his thoughts and he quickly engulfed it in flames. After the Dwemer Spider exploded, Mark continued to lead the way forward. They kept heading straight, occasionally peeking into the rooms that came up on the sides. They were large circular bedrooms with stone beds that Jack couldn't imagine sleeping on.