This is the first story I was ever paid to write, a request by a publisher that had read one of my first stories (THE LORIAN PARADOX) on this very site and liked my stuff.
It's free here but I'd love to hear your thoughts with a comment or DM. How to do that is clear when you get to the end of the story.
***
It was cold. Colder than it should be this early into autumn, Randr thought as he dismounted his horse. He looked around the Gunnarson's farm and felt a chill straight through to his bones. It was not a good night to be out. The rain wasn't helping.
He walked the path from the road to the house, his armour clinking as he strode quickly down the muddy path. His gloved fist banged on the large wooden door several times.
Yrsa, a woman in her forties pulled open the heavy wooden door.
"Randr?" She said, recognizing the King's guard. He had been especially kind to her family since her husband had died two years prior.
"M'lady. I beg that I may come in." He asked as the rain picked up considerably, seemingly out of nowhere.
"Of course, of course." She stepped out of the way, allowing him to enter.
Randr shook off the rain and removed his helmet. He looked around the stone home. A pot of stew boiled on the fire, the only source of light in the room. The home was simple but warm, in every sense of the term. It helped the chill in his bones lessen but didn't actually make it go away.
"What brings you out on such a night?" Yrsa asked.
"Yrsa, forgive me, but I must speak plainly. We have not the time to be as tactful as I would otherwise wish." Randr placed his helmet on the large wooden table. "Your daughter, Dalia, she is of age, yes?"
"Of age, plus a year this last season." Yrsa nodded.
"Tell me, has she yet laid with a man?" He asked.
Yrsa became livid, "Randr, you have been a friend to this family but even so you shall not stand in my home..."
"Again, I ask forgiveness, we have not the time. I have received word that the Dark ones are roknor hunting, and are in search of pure energy to replenish their stores." Randr explained. "If Dalia is still pure, as I suspect she is, she is in grave danger."
"By the host! The dark ones? The wizard and sorceress both?" Yrsa asked, not believing it.
"It is indeed dark days when those two put aside their grievances and find common ground." Randr agreed. "Why they would so openly challenge a roknor, I cannot even fathom. But Dalia, is she here?"
"She is. I sent her to hide when you had not yet been identified as friend or foe. I sensed something was amiss, but never imagined it could be the Dark ones." Yrsa turned her head, "Come my child, Randr is here to help you."
Dalia entered the room. Though her clothes were plain, her beauty was great. Her long golden locks hung to her shoulders, which were bare in the shirt she wore. Randr couldn't help but admire how beautiful she was, though her eyes were wide with a fear that suggested she had overheard his conversation with her mother.
"Dalia, you have heard and understood what I have said to your mother?" Randr asked.
"I have, and I swear to you I have not laid with any man." She told him.
"I believe you, and I would not have ever asked such a thing had circumstances not forced me to do otherwise." He assured her.
"Now then, quickly. We shall ride. The king has offered use of the keep, where you shall be safe with the others." Randr said, as he took back his helmet and strode to the door. He had barely begun to pull it open when the wind threw it open wide, with enough force to knock him to the floor.
Hail and gale-force winds entered the home. Randr scrambled to his feet, using all his might to close the door once more.
"That is not a natural wind," Yrsa told the room.
"Indeed, it seems someone does not want us to leave." Randr agreed.
"Am I to die then?" Dalia asked.
"The dark ones do not kill, but their ways are said to be worse than death," Yrsa told her daughter.
"Then I shall kill myself, for I will not be taken by evil," Dalia told her mother.
"Randr, is there nothing else to be done?" Yrsa asked.
The tall man stared at his friend, considering what options, if any, they had. There was one, but he did not want to speak it aloud. He lowered himself to one knee and said, "I beg thee to not judge me. There is another way and I would not even think it, less utter it, if I thought there even a chance of making it to the keep."
"Judge you? You have come to save my daughter. If I do judge thee, then it is as a man of honor, and a friend to my departed Erick and his family. Now tell us, how may we save Dalia?"
Randr looked up from the floor at Yrsa. Then to Dalia, who stood silent and scared. He looked to the floor once more before he spoke.
"The Dark ones seek one who has lived but has not yet been corrupted. One who is of age, yet pure." Randr hesitated a moment, "If Dalia were to be, rid of her purity, she would be of no use to the dark ones."
Yrsa pondered that as Dalia sat back on a wooden stool, the meaning of Randr's words sinking in.
"Well then her purity must be lost," Yrsa told him. "I will not lose another of my family."
"Mother!" Dalia gasped.
"The choice is yours dear, but it is also clear. Be forced to submit to the Dark Ones when they arrive or choose to surrender yourself to Randr now."
"My lady!" Randr spoke. "I spoke only of the way to save your daughter, not to suggest I be the one to...to..."
As he searched for the words, Dalia spoke to him, though he could not look her in the eyes.
"If not you, then who? The Dark ones approach, as you yourself have told us. Have you not come all this way to save me? Was that not your intention?"
"It was, but not in such a manner. Surely there is someone else? Another?" He countered.
"Even if there was, how could she get to him?" Yrsa said, pointing to the door. "Randr, will you not save my daughter? Do you find such an act so repulsive that you are unable to?"
"Dalia, you are a fair maiden. Most fair, but you must understand, it is your purity that draws them near. You would need to do more than lose it, you would need to rid yourself of it completely"
Dalia nodded slowly, trying to understand what he meant. She was untouched by a man, but not naive to the ways of the world. She had grown up a lot since her father had passed two years prior. At twenty she was more an adult than most.
Without a word, Dalia turned her back to the others. She headed to her bedroom, undoing her top and dropping it to the floor as she walked.
A moment later Randr rose, and without looking at Yrsa, followed Dalia into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
--
Dalia stood on one side of the bed, undressing with her back to Randr. Despite her earlier statements, she was shaking with nervousness.
Randr stood at the foot of the bed, unbuckling his armor, and placing it on the floor, piece by piece. He snuck a peek at Dalia, her back still to him, and saw her remove the last of her clothing. The sight of her firm bare bottom stirred something deep within him. He looked away in courtesy as she turned and stepped over to the bed and slid under the covers
From the bed, she watched him remove his shirt. He was a soldier, and as such had scars as she had suspected he would. That he was so muscular, however, was a pleasant surprise. Many of the King's guards were large men, but few were in such good shape. She looked up at his well-toned body till their eyes met. He smiled awkwardly and removed his undergarments.
Dalia gasped, he was large. Larger than she had expected and already partially erect. She felt a sudden tinge of excitement. Randr slid into the bed, under the coarse blanket that covered her.
"Dalia." He whispered. "We don't have the time to do this the way a woman as beautiful as you deserves."
She reached up and cupped his face, "You're a sweet one, Randr of the King's guard. I trust you, do as you must."
He responded by leaning into her and giving her a kiss. It was soft and gentle, the very thing he had just tried to explain they didn't have time for. It was an important gesture though. For both of them.
He pulled away and asked, "Are you... prepared?"
She understood his question completely, he had used up any time they had for her feelings with the kiss, and his question wasn't about tenderness so much as it was functional.
"I...no." She admitted. "The idea of... being with you, it excites me, but your... manhood is more than I expected and I don't think my body could take it yet."
"You understand, it is you that must cast aside your purity. You would still retain some power if I were to just take it from you." He told her, as he slowly pulled the blanket off of both of them.
Completely exposed, she nodded, whispering, "I know."
"Then prepare yourself." He told her.
Slowly, tentatively, her hand travelled down her body. Her fingertips making and breaking contact with the goosebumps on her stomach as they made their way toward her femininity. She dragged her fingers through the blonde tuff of pubic hair, enjoying the sensation.
Randr watched as she reached between her legs, and split open her lips with a single finger. He was hard, his large erection throbbing as he listened to her gasp with pleasure.
"Open your legs." He told her, firmly.
She turned her head away from him as she obeyed.
"Dalia..." He spoke, knowing they were running out of time.
"Oh...gods." She cursed as she dipped a finger inside herself. It wasn't the first time she had pleasured herself, but she had never done so in front of anyone, let alone a naked man.
"Look at me." He instructed.
She forced herself to turn her head to face him, her hand continuing to play with herself. He made eye contact with her for a moment before letting his gaze drift along her nubile body.
"I...this feels good," Dalia admitted aloud, knowing she had to make a better effort if she was to lose all the value the Dark ones would see in her.
"It looks good." Randr agreed as he watched her rub her clit. She moaned as she watched him watching her, the excitement of sharing this experience outweighing her embarrassment.
His cock bounced as her movements shook the bed, and she imagined it entering her as she slid several fingers deep inside. She was now very wet and clearly ready for him.
