CW for mild spice at the end

The Third Night

“Who was that?” I ask as the shop keeper leads me back through the market, heading away from the stall and her friend Rius. She looks back at me, that same light smile on her lips as always.

“My dear friend. His mother is terribly sick and while he is able to procure magic ingredients that I need, since he himself can’t use magic he often comes to me. We trade with each other and my potions are able to relieve her symptoms and pain a little.”

“Who taught you magic then?” I instantly notice the change in the shop keeper’s emotions as she just shakes her head.

“I’ll tell you another time. Let’s get back quickly,” she says quietly, her eyes flicking over to where a group of men are standing around a stall selling various daggers. Hurriedly following after the shop keeper, she slows us down to a normal pace as we pass the men and for the first time she doesn’t hold my hand as we walk. She keeps her eyes trained on the cobblestones beneath our feet and her signature smile is nowhere to be seen.

I’ve never seen her look so uncomfortable.

“Well if it isn’t the ice cold potion maker.” A tall and broad man steps directly in front of us, his thick arms crossed over his chest. The shop keeper doesn’t say anything as she tries to step around him and I can practically feel her tension from here. Whoever this man is, I don’t like him.

“Don’t ignore me,” he snarls, a large hand whipping out and grabbing the shop keeper’s shoulder. My instincts scream at me to shove an arrow through his eye but I left everything back at the shop.

“Let go,” says the shop keeper quietly but firmly, finally looking up and staring the man straight in the eyes. The man’s friends make leering sounds from the side of the road and the creep in front of us just smirks.

“Come on, how long are you going to resist? Just give in - I know you and long hair over there used to be a thing so you can’t pretend you’re not into men. Give up and let me,” he leans forwards, whispering in the shop keeper’s ear so quietly that I don’t catch it but there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s sexually harassing the shop keeper right now. I mean pressuring her for sex in a public market? The fuck is wrong with this guy.

“You’re the one who should give up,” I spit out, wrenching his hand off her shoulder and shoving him backwards. I probably wouldn’t have been able to get him away if he had been expecting me to fight back, so I doubt that’ll work a second time.

“We’re engaged, so leave her alone.” It takes me a moment to realise that it was me who said those words, but oh well. The shop keeper is so kind, so gentle and generous - she should not have to deal with scum like this. 

He stares at me blankly for a moment before laughing raucously. “Don’t worry beautiful, you can join us too. I bet you’d look great in my bed.” Disgust climbs up my throat but I don’t even have the chance to retort because the shop keeper presses a knife up against the man’s throat, murder coursing through her eyes.

“Shut the fuck up, you little pig. You keep squealing away - I’ve never seen a man so pathetic. Show your face in front of me or my fiancée ever again and I’ll cut your tiny little dick off and shove it down your throat,” she sneers, pulling the knife away abruptly and causing a little line of red to dribble down his neck.

He looks like he might piss himself in fear.

The shop keeper takes my hand in her free one and marches us away from the square and it’s only once we’re back in the shop with the door locked that she sags against me. The knife drops from her hand and I catch her as she nearly falls, her breathing fast and her heart hammering in her chest as I hold her in a tight hug. She doesn’t cry, but I would’ve understood if she had. Instead, she just hugs me back, hiding her face in my shoulder as I stroke up and down her back, pushing all of the comfort that my lifeless heart can into that single hug.

“He used to come by the shop, but now the dogs chase him away before he can even get close,” she whispers against my neck, sending shivers down my spine. “I have a bit of a reputation here, of not sleeping around. Rius and I were together for a few years, a while ago, and before you, he was the only person I’d ever been with in that way.”

My thoughts come racing to a stop.

How does someone go from only sleeping with the man they’re in a relationship with to accepting sex as a form of payment from some travelling whore?

“That’s a surprise,” I admit, pressing a kiss to the shop keeper’s temple without even thinking about it.

“What, do I seem like a total slut or something?” She laughs slightly, pulling back to cup my face, her thumb smoothing across my jaw. Shaking my head, I kiss her greedily, some part of me enjoying the knowledge that I’m the first woman she’s ever been with.

Hang on.

“How come if you’ve only been with Rius - a man - that you know so well what you’re doing when it came to me?” She simply had to have practice, with those skills. She bites her lips for a moment before sighing.

“This is a secret, but I trust you not to go blabbing around - Rius is a man, but he has the same parts as you and I. He was simply placed in the wrong body at birth.”

Oh. I’ve heard of people like that before, but never met one myself. I never would’ve known if the shop keeper hadn’t said anything - Rius looked just like any other man, except for perhaps his longer hair, but even that is hardly unusual for men around here.

“I see. That’s unexpected but I can assure you that I will not repeat it to anyone,” I swear, enjoying as the shop keeper laces her fingers through mine once more. She smiles before resting her head back against my shoulder.

“Anyway. This reputation of me only being with one person meant that several of the sleazy trappers like that man began to view me as some kind of prize. Something that none of them had tried,” she shivers against me and my arms automatically go around her back, holding her close to me.

“It’d been better recently, since it’s not often that I go into the populated parts of the town, but it does still happen, as you saw. Thank you for standing up for me,” she whispers, kissing my neck lightly. I curse my body that reacts to every touch of hers, no matter how little. She just experienced something disgusting, there’s no way I’m going to make a move on her tonight.

“Come, let’s get started on that poison,” she straightens and breaks away from my embrace, but stops to make sure that I’m following her out towards the kitchen. I can’t help smiling a little.

Climbing into bed, I gladly relax against the shop keeper as she snuggles up to my back, her knees tucked behind mine and her hand resting just below my chest. Her arms are somehow so comforting to me. I don’t really understand it.

I assumed that we’d just go to sleep cuddling. I’d assumed that the shop keeper wouldn’t be in the mood for anything else, after the altercation earlier, but as her hand slowly inches higher and higher, before eventually landing on my breast, I begin to realise that maybe she did want me to try and initiate something like how I normally do.

The shop keeper kisses along my neck, her hand caressing me gently through my clothing - the shirt I sleep in is only thin though, and I know that she can feel every part of my chest as her fingers explore the fabric. She kisses my shoulder before sucking at it, drawing a gasp from me as I lean back against her. One of her legs pushes against mine, wanting to slip in between. I eagerly let her as I turn slightly, meeting her halfway for a deep kiss that leaves us both panting for air.

“Do you want to, tonight? We don’t have to, if you’d rather just sleep,” she whispers, caressing my face with her signature gentleness. How her touch can both comfort and excite me so much is baffling.

“I do want to, but I assumed you wouldn’t,” I admit, reaching up to brush a dark curl from out of her eyes. She smiles, full of warmth and affection as she strokes my cheek. 

“With you, darling, I always want to,” she whispers, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

I have never been treated like this before. With such care and appreciation, as if she’s looking at me like I’m some kind of goddess sent down from the heavens especially for her.

But I’m just a whore. I’m nothing special, seriously. I’m just…me. 

So why does she look at me like that? Why does she kiss me like this? Why does she hold my hand so gently, so kindly? 

Why does she treat me like I’m her greatest treasure?