Archive of Our Own ^beta

Even through the thick fabric and many layers of her clothes, you could still sense how strong Eileen was. It seemed like her muscles were always tense, like a predator lying in wait for its prey. Ready to pounce at a moment’s notice, but still calm, quiet, contained. There was something immediately captivating about her. As soon as you laid eyes upon her, it was like something turned on inside your body. You could not resist approaching her, as if affected by some spell. The firm, stoic stance, the mysterious pale mask, the crowfeather cape blowing in the wind... And her enchanting voice. So soft and gentle, yet a little gravelly and tough at the same time.

“Oh, a hunter, are you? And an outsider?” Eileen only barely turned her head to acknowledge you as she spoke, but you could tell you were being watched intently from behind that devilish mask of hers. “What a mess you’ve been caught up in. And tonight, of all nights.” For just a moment, you saw a faint glimmer of moonlight reflected in Eileen’s dark eyes as her head shifted subtly. She was staring right at you, straight into your core, and you felt almost naked in front of her. As if her gaze burned right through your clothes and left you bare and vulnerable.

Blood rushed to your cheeks, and you opened your mouth to speak. You wanted to say something, to introduce yourself, make a good impression on her... but nothing came out. You suddenly didn’t know what to say. What could you possibly have to say that would interest an enigma like her? Every subject you thought of seemed to become trivial and unimportant at once when you felt Eileen’s eyes on you. She looked your body up and down with the cold disinterest of her masked face. Even your name felt like it would be dull and uninteresting, if you could even remember it.

“Got something to say, have you?” Eileen said and took a short step closer, close enough that you could smell the blood on her dark feathers. It was a strangely sweet smell, you thought, though you didn’t know why. Maybe you liked the smell of blood because you were turning into a beast yourself... or maybe it was just mixing with the scent of her perfume. A strange urge came over you to bury your head in the feathery coat and take in the sensation, to somehow submerge yourself completely in Eileen. You wanted to be as close to her as possible. But it remained an urge, a fantasy that was quickly buried in the back of your mind. You didn’t move. “What’s wrong? A hunter, unnerved by a few beasts?” she asked playfully.

Suddenly, Eileen’s gloved hand was on your chin, and your body went stiff from the touch. With a firm but gentle grip, Eileen slowly turned your head from side to side, inspecting your features closely. You felt your heart beat ever so slightly faster as your face was calmly turned and examined from every angle. The emotionless mask hid any hint of what Eileen was thinking, but you still sensed some sort of satisfaction from her as the gloved hand loosened its grip on your chin. It slipped downwards, slowly, to your neck.

For a moment, she seemed ready to choke you. You let out a small gasp and closed your eyes in anticipation as her fingers grasped your neck. The grip tightened slightly, just enough that you could feel it. You held your breath, completely at her mercy now. Even if you could resist her, you didn’t want to. In a way her hand felt good around your bare, exposed neck. But soon you felt her fingers let go as they slipped further down. You opened your eyes again and breathed out, relieved and disappointed at the same time, before you felt them at the base of your neck, exploring and prying past the collar of the short leather cloak around your shoulders, and the soft white scarf around your neck. Her touch was gentle, but at the same time strong and decisive. You could feel the hairs on your neck stand up at the sensation.

“Undress,” she said, suddenly retracting her hand and taking a step back. You stared at her again, your gaze frozen in place. ...What? Did she really mean that? Had you misheard? You didn’t know what to say, or what to do. Surely she wasn’t actually interested in making you undress.
“Did you not hear me?” Eileen said, now with a slight hint of annoyance in her voice. “I said undress. Go on now.”

It wasn’t getting any clearer than that. You swallowed nervously and took off the scarf, while Eileen watched you patiently from behind the mask. A heat built in your chest at the thought of what you were doing. You didn’t know why you were doing it, but you kept going. The cloak around your shoulders was covered in bloodstains, from man and beast alike. You unbuttoned it and tossed it aside, revealing the cleaner, dark greatcoat beneath it, fastened with belts and buttons. You felt awkward fumbling with them, and after struggling with the second of the two belts you decided to take off your leather gloves first. They needed to be unlaced along the side first, but after that they slid off, and revealed your bare hands and forearms. Your skin was paler than you remembered it. How long had you been at this hunt, covered in leather from head to toe?

A quick nod from Eileen reminded you to keep going. The second belt came off, and after that you slowly unbuttoned one row of buttons after another, until the coat opened up. It hung loose now, revealing the front of the puffy white undershirt underneath. It felt embarrassing to take it off, and you hesitated for a moment. But you knew Eileen would make you take it off eventually. The undershirt was stained with sweat, old and new, and as the greatcoat finally came off all the way, you felt the chill of the cold night air.

As each piece of clothing slowly came off, you felt more and more vulnerable than before, but none of it seemed to elicit any reaction from Eileen. Even when your undershirt finally came off too and your naked chest was left completely exposed to her, nothing. A twinge of insecurity entered your mind; what was she thinking when she looked at you? Did she like this? You didn’t dare ask. But although you would never admit it, you hoped she was enjoying you.

As you pulled off your thick leather boots and stood on your bare feet, you could suddenly feel how cold and filthy the floor was. The dirt quickly ended up between your toes as you shuffled nervously in Eileen’s gaze, and the coldness of the ground quickly travelled up through your legs. For a moment you hesitated, now naked except for your pants. Eileen said nothing, still quietly staring at you, but you didn’t want to test her patience. You unbuckled your belt, and soon you felt the rough fabric of your pants slip down to the floor. The cold wind made the hairs on your legs stand up, and it felt like the chill seeped right through your flesh and into your bones.

You hesitated again when it came time to remove your last piece of underwear. You didn’t know how long this hunt had really lasted, but you knew you hadn’t shaved since it began. An image flashed in your mind of Eileen running her fingers through your thick pubic hair, and your heart skipped a beat.

Taking a deep breath and swallowing your pride, you finally bend over and pull the underwear down. As the cold air flows between your legs, you realise you’re wet.

You straighten back up again. You’re completely naked, completely exposed. You take a small step forward towards her, stepping free of the clothes pooled on the dirty floor at your feet. Even if you can’t see her eyes, you can feel Eileen’s gaze on your body. It’s almost exhilarating. There’s nothing you can hide from her anymore, and you feel yourself blush as you realise that she can no doubt tell how wet you are just from undressing, though she doesn’t visibly react.

Eileen takes a step closer, again letting you smell the thick smell of blood on her cape. The sweet scent almost leaves you entranced. She reaches out a hand, gently touching your collarbone where she had left off, keeping her other hand behind her back. Your breathing picks up at the sensation. Her glove isn’t warm, but compared to the freezing air, it feels nice. You can feel just a bit of her warmth through the soft, worn leather.

Her touch is less gentle now. She’s not rough or callous, but you get the sense that your comfort isn’t her priority. She tilts your head up again, this time getting much closer, inspecting your neck from only a few inches away. You hear her breathe in through her nose as she brings her head close, and you wonder what your body smells like to her. Through the blood, leather and perfume, you can’t seem to catch any scent of Eileen herself, and you feel sweaty and dirty compared to her.

She puts her thumb on your lower lip, and instinctively you open your mouth for her. She looks inside, and a moment later her index finger is inside you. She presses it against your teeth one by one, from your incisors to your canines to your molars. The leather is soft, but tastes dirty, and you almost gag as she reaches the back of your mouth. Your eyes are closed, but you hear her stifle a chuckle. Her index finger leaves, but is soon replaced by her thumb, which presses down on your tongue. Gentle at first, then harder, until you accidentally let out a short groaning noise, distorted by your lack of control over your tongue.

You open your eyes again as she pulls her thumb out, and she leans back and moves her hand down. Her glove is still wet with your saliva as she starts touching you again. At first she grips your shoulder, squeezing as if testing for muscle. You’re not weak, you’re a hunter, but you can’t help but feel frail and small in her strong, dispassionate grip. Despite your own physical strength, in this moment you can’t imagine resisting anything she does to you.

Her hand moves down to your chest, and without hesitation she starts groping you. You try to contain a whimper, and it comes out as a short hum instead. Eileen doesn’t seem to notice or care. She cups your breast, gentle at first, before squeezing it hard between her fingers. She thumbs your nipple, and you produce another involuntary hum. You want her to keep doing that. You want to hold her close, cling to her and hide your face in her neck as she fondles you. For just a moment you get lost in that fantasy, the smell of blood on her cloak and the warmth of her body. Maybe her other hand could travel up between your legs as you lean into her. But she soon lets go of your breast, and you’re forced back to reality.

She moves on to your arms, once again squeezing and testing for muscle as she moves from your biceps to your forearm. When her fingers reach your hand, part of you wants to intertwine your fingers with hers, to hold her hand, but you quickly dismiss the idea. She traces your fingers with her own, from your knuckles to your dirty fingernails, before squeezing your palm with her thumb.

Her hand then moves back to your chest, gently caressing past your breasts again before settling on your stomach. Again she gropes and squeezes, almost poking you as if to check where your organs are. You don’t know what her goal with any of this is. Is this just some normal inspection procedure for hunters? You feel like a pervert for enjoying it. As her hand moves lower, the image of Eileen running her fingers through your pubic hair returns to you. You breathe in deep and try to keep composure, but her hand defies your wishes, instead going to your waist and down the side of your leg.

She crouches down next to you, and places both hands on your thigh. She’s gentler now, her fingers only caressing your bare skin as they move down your leg.

“On one leg,” she says, and without questioning it you shift your balance to let her lift your leg up and examine your foot. At first she grabs your heel and twists your foot around like she did your head, before moving on to your toes. She traces her gloved fingers along them and in between them, and for a moment you struggle to keep your balance as her fingers briefly touch the ticklish underside of your foot.

She lets go of you and lets you stand normally again as she moves to crouch behind you instead. She puts her hands on your calves now, and gently works her strong fingers into your soft flesh. Your muscles are sore, and for a moment it almost feels like she’s massaging you. Your breathing becomes heavy and slow as you let yourself relax into the movements of her strong fingers. Slowly she moves up, kneading and massaging her way up to your thighs. The skin of your inner thighs is much more sensitive, and you let out another little hum as you feel her hands gradually ascend.

You realise you’re breathing hard now, and it’s as if you can feel the pulses of your heartbeat between your legs. Her fingers reach the innermost part of your thighs, where your hair starts growing thicker. You want so badly for her to go further up, and soon you feel a drop of your wetness roll down your skin to her gloved finger. You swallow nervously and hope she isn’t disgusted with you.

However she feels about it, she doesn’t let you know. But after a moment’s pause, she silently gets back up, letting one gloved hand caress your butt as she rises and returns to your front.

“Not bad, for a new hunter,” she says, looking you over again. “You’ll do nicely.” You stand there like an idiot, naked and beginning to shiver from the cold, not knowing what to do. You want her to wrap you in her cloak and keep you warm, and maybe let you get a whiff of what she actually smells like underneath it all. But she keeps her distance, her body concealed by the cloak and her face by the mask.

“What are you lingering about for?” she asks sarcastically. You blush and look down at yourself, as if you’ve somehow only just realised you’re naked. “Go on you, get dressed. You’ll not be doing much hunting like that.” She turns and walks a few steps away, looking into the distance and returning to her quiet solitude. You try to hurry getting dressed, but it takes an embarrassing while as you fumble awkwardly with all the belts and buttons. As you finally leave, you turn around to get a last look at her, but she’s already gone.