The Guardians of Time belongs to Marianne Curley, not me. I'm just borrowing the two best characters for a little while. :)


Isabel was still having a lot of trouble accepting the whole agelessness thing. It had been a 3 or 4 months since they had recovered Arkarian and Lorian had granted her the gift, but she just couldn't quite get her mind around the idea. She still felt so... normal. For some reason, she had expected to feel different. To feel like something had changed.

And then there was the blossoming relationship – another thing she couldn't quite get her head around. Arkarian was just incredible – she couldn't quite think of the exact words to describe him aside from perfect. When their eyes met across meetings, her legs turned to jelly. When he pressed his lips against hers, so gently but yet so full of passion and desire, he made her feel like he had been waiting all of his 600 years for her and for every moment they shared. When he held her close, she thought her heart would leap out of her chest. And she felt, with every inch of her soul, that she would feel that way for as long as she lived.

Finding time to be together was difficult at best – Matt scrutinized every moment they spent together, and Arkarian was kept busy with his usual duties for the Guard. Today was Friday, and she hadn't seen him since last Sunday – and her heart ached for him. As a result, she was moody, snapping at Matt, Jimmy and her Mother for no good reason. Matt, as blockheaded as he was, took a while to realise that she just wanted to be left alone. Jimmy was much more tactful, and left her alone aside from fetching a hot chocolate as it got late and darkness fell. Her Mother, bless her, had made an attempt to have a girl talk with her – assuming, not completely off the mark, that she was having 'boy troubles'. Assuring her that no; nobody had upset her, Isabel managed to usher her out of her room and shut the door. She leant her back against it, shutting her eyes and sighing. She had half a mind to escape this house and make her way up to that mountain to see him.

She opened her eyes, stepping away from the door, so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice the very subject of them materialising in front of her until she had walked right into his open arms. She almost let out of yell, but her eyes flicked upwards and met Arkarian's and she couldn't help but throw herself at him so hard that the pair of them both fell back onto her bed.

"I missed you," he spoke softly, pulling her close to him and managing to kiss her forehead despite their awkward position.

"I missed you, too." She replied with a smile, sitting up and pulling him with her. They managed to shuffle to the head of the bed and Arkarian sat with his back to the headboard, folding her into his arms. They sat that way for a while, merely happy to be in each other's presence, before Isabel turned her head to him to ask a question which had been forming since she first saw him appear.

"How did you get here, anyway?" She thought he needed to be able to see where he was going to be able to use his wings to get there, and he certainly hadn't been here before. Not to mention the risk of being out in the mortal world.

"Jimmy was at the mountain earlier and he told me that you were desperate to see me. He showed me this place through his thoughts so I'd know where I was going. He's also going to keep anyone from bothering us for a while." His fingers were unconsciously trailing down her spine as he spoke, which she found somewhat distracting.

Well, Isabel thought, she had never appreciated having Jimmy in her life quite so much before. Looking up at Arkarian's face, she saw that his face appeared tired and drawn, and she reached up a hand and trailed her finger along his cheekbone. "You look so tired. Has it been a hard week?"

He nodded, lifting his hand to cover hers and lacing their fingers together. "It's been busy, yes, but it must be done. How about you? How has your week been?" Lifting their entwined fingers to his lips, he kissed each of her fingers in turn.

"It's been alright." She shrugged a little, and sighed. "Boring, really. Matt's been driving everyone mad with his negativity, and I think Ethan has no idea what to do about that." She tilted her head up, pulling her hand free from his so that she could rest it on the back of his neck. Their eyes met, and she saw a spark there in his eyes, and she realised his lips were so, so close...

He lowered his head to hers, their lips meeting in the middle. The reaction was immediate. She spun in his arms so that she was straddling his lap, one hind diving into his hair while the other rested lightly on his collarbone. His hands were both low on her waist, pulling her close to him, one thumb brushing the bare skin above her jeans where her t shirt had ridden up. The action sent shivers right through her. He noticed and smiled against her lips for a moment. So far, kissing in this sort of way was the extent of their exploration of one another, and Isabel found herself hoping that this time he wouldn't draw away, apologising, saying they had forever, that they didn't need to rush.

Arkarian's kisses were so passionate, so full of love. She craved that when they were apart, craved being with him and seeing him smile, seeing him show how old and young he was at the same time, hearing his exuberant laughter that she had rarely heard before becoming a couple and now she heard all the time.

He paused for a moment, drawing away from her, and she looked into his eyes and whispered "Don't stop now – please," and it seemed that was all he needed. She was surprised as Arkarian pushed her back, reversing their positions, and then she was laid on the bed with Arkarian hovering over her. He trailed kisses along her jaw, down her neck, leaving what felt like blazing heat behind. She caught his mouth with her lips, and her hands were under his shirt, feeling his smooth muscles tighten under her touch.

She wondered what he would do if she took it a step further, and decided to gamble – fingering the bottom of his shirt, she pulled it upwards and was somewhat surprised that he helped to shrug himself out of the neck and sleeves. She wondered if his week had been harder than he had made out - if he was tired and fed up of working so hard and was seeking comfort from her in this way. Not that she wasn't enjoying herself, but she had different visions of how she had wanted to lose her virginity, really, and on her little single bed while her family was home wasn't really part of that plan.

Even with that thought in her head, though, she was helping him to tug her own shirt off, stifling a moan as he trailed his lips down her stomach and back up, his thumbs tracing the outline of her hips that were visible above her jeans. She hooked a leg over him, drawing his body closer. Well, if this felt so good, she could only imagine what else he had in store for her.

It was then that his eyes darted open and he looked towards the door. Isabel, now she was paying attention, could hear the approaching footsteps. "It's your Mother," Arkarian gasped out, forcing their lips apart as he sat up and grabbed for his shirt, shoving it on at lightning speed. "Jimmy's trying to divert her, but she seems pretty determined!"

Isabel grabbed her own shirt and forced it over her head. Arkarian leaned over, quickly, to press a quick kiss to her forehead, before he tore himself away and used his wings to get out. Isabel stood up and moved over to her window, opening it up in the hope that it would help her cool down. In the mirror, she could see her cheeks were flushed and her hair was messy. Fixing the latter, she sat back down on her bed just as her mother walked in.

And as she begun to talk about how 'boyfriends don't matter at your age, sweetheart' and that she ought to 'focus on your schoolwork and let the right boy find you', Isabel wondered how it would be when she eventually had to leave here, as her body stopped growing older and she had to withdraw herself from society. She wished she could tell her Mother about Arkarian, because she knew that she would love him, but she just couldn't... and that thought made her sad enough that she didn't try to get her mother to leave, but sat with her and listened to what she had to say, even if she was completely wrong.