Scarlett had decided to stay with Lucas so she made it her mission to find him. He'd been missing for a week now and though his parents and Fiona were looking for him she felt like she should be doing something too. After all, she was part of the reason he left. She had to find him.
She waited until there were snores coming from every room before she grabbed her backpack and flashlight. She climbed out the window and down the fire escape onto the empty sidewalk. She started looking in places she thought he might be like dank alleys, grungy pubs and seedy shops but she never found him. Her search eventually led her into the woods. She heard the wolves calling but it didn't scare her. She was a wolf too; maybe they would pick up on that fact and leave her alone.
She walked through the woods, calling out to him. The only sounds that came back were her echo and the wind rustling through the bushes. Lucas was nowhere to be found. She was at the edge of a cliff. In the distance a huge black mass... it was a bear. She started running and the bear pursued her. She let out a howl, expecting a response but there was none. She was all alone. She came to a dead end. There was nowhere else to go. She was about to be bear food. She backed up and there was nothing but cliff there. She nearly lost her balance and fell off the edge.
The bear swiped at her and she jumped back again, this time she did lose her balance. She fell off the cliff and only escaped the rocks below by holding onto an exposed tree root that was hanging out of the side of the cliff. She didn't call for help because it would have been pointless. There was nobody to help her. Suddenly the bear came flying over the cliff in pieces and she was slowly lifted up from the cliff.
She was shocked to see Lucas standing there, covered in bear blood looking tortured and mostly dirty. He didn't smell so great either.
"Lucas? You're okay!"
She ran to him and hugged him. She didn't care if his nature funk got on her, she was just happy to see him.
"What are you doing out here Scarlett?" He asked.
"I came to find you."
"Why? I'm a monster."
"Well so am I. Look… I was scared when you had your bloodlust and you came after me but I know it wasn't really you doing it."
"I could have killed you."
"That's in the past… Everybody is looking for you."
"Well tell them to stop. In fact, don't even tell them you saw me tonight."
"How have you been living Lucas? You can't live out here like and animal."
"At night I go into the cities and I feed on the bad guys and then I come back here and tend to the forest."
"Then I'll stay here too."
"What? No! Scarlett, go home!"
"No! Don't tell me what to do!"
He started walking away from her and she followed him. They ended up at a waterfall where Lucas had his clothes and belongings in a cave. He eyed her evilly before walking straight into the water. She didn't even attempt to get in because she knew the water was freezing.
He stood under the waterfall and got all the bear blood and dirt off of him. By the time he made it into the cave Scarlett was there. He took his soaked shirt off and she looked at his skin glistening from his makeshift shower and from the light of the moon.
"You're being a total jackass right now, you do realize that?" Said Lucas.
"What makes you say that?"
"You're being stubborn, reckless and stupid. I'm dangerous."
"Well… There's no denying that but we can make this work. Your mom and dad are worried sick! I've been worried about you."
Lucas moved closer to her and Scarlett thought her heart would beat right out of her chest. The glowing blue eyes she loved so much were back where they belonged. He touched her face with his ice cold hand and it sent chills all over her. His lips crashed over hers and it took her breath away.
She kissed him back, running her fingers through his wet hair. He lifted her off the ground and embraced her while nuzzling her neck with his chilly nose. She laughed and held onto him tighter. He moved them over to a blanket he had in the cave. He eased her onto it and deepened the kiss. She gasped lowly because he'd never kissed her the way they were kissing now. She knew tonight would surely be the night. He suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong? Why'd you stop?" She asked.
"I want you so badly." He said, sounding strained and tortured.
"Then take me. I want you too… I'm ready."
"Good. Because I didn't know how much longer I'd be able to wait."
He kissed her again, their tongues entwined. She thought of his lips as candy, each kiss was sweeter than the last. His cold hands moved under her shirt causing her teeth to chatter. He gently palmed her breasts and her stomach did flips. She started to ache for him at her very core. With every kiss and every touch her need for him increased and she felt like she was going to explode.
Though it was cold she wanted to be skin to skin with him, she wanted to feel his icy chest against her so she took off her jacket and slipped off her shirt. He assisted in taking off her bra. She blushed as she sat totally exposed in front of Lucas. He just smiled before leaning in to kiss her.
She lay back on the blanket and he unbuttoned her pants, placing kisses on her thighs as he pulled them down. Next he started pulling off her panties and she giggled lightly as he swallowed deeply. She was starting to see some nervousness on his face. He narrowed his eyes at her threw her panties to the side along with her pants as he placed light kisses on the insides of her thighs. He worked his way up until he was at her core and he placed one gentle kiss on it. Scarlett moaned out. That only added fuel to the fire that was burning inside her.
He ditched his pants and underwear and he lay on top of her. Their bodies pressed together and nearly smoldered into one.
"I love you Scarlett." Said Lucas with his voice trembling nervously.
"I love you too."
He went into her hastily. It wasn't exactly rough, just quick, like ripping off a band aid. It caused Scarlett to yell out a little and hold onto him tightly. He looked her in the eyes and they kissed while he started to move his hardness in and out of her. Scarlett always figured the first time would hurt, so until the pain subsided she found solace inside his eyes.
"Are you okay? Should I stop?" Asked Lucas.
"No. It's fine." She said as the pain started to wear away.
He went deeper and she moaned out while arching her back and clinging to him. She held onto him a little tighter with every thrust. She felt like she was going crazy. Not even shifting made her feel so insane. She never knew it was possible to feel hot and cold, pleasure and pain, and shocks that constantly kept her body buzzing. Surely this must have been what death and life would feel like if they were concentrated and placed in a person's center until they fizzled out all of their magic.
With a last stroke Scarlett was struck by a wave that overwhelmed and immersed her leaving her unable to breathe but at that same right, able to moan Lucas's name. The wave came for him minutes later causing him to make sounds she'd never heard before. Though she was recovering from her own orgasm she chuckled a little and then moaned out as he released his essence inside her and collapsed on her chest.
They just lay in the cave. Eventually falling asleep wrapped in each other. She didn't care anymore that is was cold or that she was naked, in a cave in the middle of the woods. She just knew that she loved Lucas and he loved her right back.
Lucas opened his eyes, seeing only red. He smelled something that was totally irresistible. He had to have it. He noticed the girl in the cave and he wanted to lunge at her and consume her, all of her but something held him back.
He felt liked he needed to kill her but he didn't want to. Her blood smelled delicious and the sound of her heart running through her veins was like hearing chicken hit the grease but something deep inside him told him that she wasn't for killing.
He crept closer to her, still not totally sure he wasn't going to kill her and he threw himself back against the wall of the cave. A few rocks tumbled down but it didn't collapse. He felt a wave of desire for her life source hit him again so he ran and jumped into the water, holding himself under until he blacked out.
Lucas got up and wondered how he'd gotten in the water. The only thing he could conclude was that he'd either rolled out of the cave or that he'd had a bloodlust but he didn't smell or see blood. He leaped back into the cave and Scarlett was still there sleeping peacefully.
He couldn't believe that they'd had sex. He'd waited on the moment for so long that now, after it'd finally happened, he was in disbelief. The only thing that made him realize that it was real and not a vivid fantasy was the fact that she was in his cave naked and sleeping.
He sat on a rock and he watched her slumber. He didn't know if he'd go home… he probably should have but he didn't want to hear his father's lecture.
Scarlett stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes. Lucas smiled at her and she smiled at him back. He walked back over to her and lay down beside her. He was able to wrap himself around her until an hour before sunrise. Then she had to get up, get redressed and go back home.
"Are you going home today?" She asked.
"I don't know." He said.
"Well… if you do or if you don't let me know. Please?" She begged.
"Okay. Hey, I love you."
"I love you too."
With that she disappeared and he decided to pack up his things.
It was an hour before sunrise and Clare was worried sick. Scarlett wasn't picking up her cell phone and she wasn't in her room. She didn't want to wake Eli because it was the first night he'd actually slept soundly without liquor in weeks. Instead she waited up on her daughter.
The door crept open and Clare clicked on the lamp. Scarlett looked startled by her mother's presence there.
"Mom. Hi." Said Scarlett, her voice trembling.
"Hello Scarlett. Say um…where the fuck have you been?" She asked.
"Mom, just let me exp…." Scarlett stopped talking as Clare sniffed the air around them.
"Lucas." Said Clare.
"Yeah."
"Well I hope it was worth it." Said Clare. "Because you're grounded for a week."
"I understand and I take my punishment."
"Oh my goodness you and your brother are the worst! Scarlett do you know how worried I was?"
"I'm sorry I just wanted to go find him."
"Well I can see that you clearly did. He's all over you and there's grass in your hair. It's not hard for me to put two and two together."
"He saved me from a bear and a cliff…"
"Well it's not him I'm mad at."
"Come on mom, please don't be mad. It just happened."
"Sex never 'just happens' Scarlett. It's too complicated a process to just happen. Still, you are growing up and I know what that's like."
"So I'm not grounded?"
"No, you're still grounded. You can't go see him but he can come see you if he comes back home and… I won't tell your father the real reason I'm punishing you. Deal?"
"Deal! Thanks mom! This is the best punishment ever!"
Clare shook her head and chuckled, unable to be too mad at her daughter. She was a teenager after all, even if she wasn't a human one.
She went back to bed and cuddled up next to Eli who was sleeping like a log. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.
"You should have grounded her for a month." He said with a rough chuckle.
Clare just laughed and snuggled closer to Eli. She could understand why Scarlett would go and look for Lucas even though he's dangerous and crazy. After all it hadn't been so many years ago that she'd been the one following Eli into the woods on a full moon. Risk taking apparently ran in the family.
Merry Christmas!