Chapter 7
Too Close
Juno and Guy find a low point in the mountain plains and decide that would be the best path to take. Hiking up the mountain they reach a stone wall.
"Just step where I step" Juno finds her footing and starts to climb and Guy followed.
"So did you really mean what you said back there?"
"Not really the time to talk."
"You do, You do care about meee." Guy called out in a teasing voice.
"Consecrate on the task at hand."
"You like me." He said in a singly song voice.
"Shut up. We are almost at the top." Juno disappeared over the top of the peak.
"Well just to let you know I..." Guy looked up just in time for a rock to fall from the sky and smack him right in the face. Guy falls off the wall and the rope looses slack. At the top Juno braced herself as the rope pulled her toward the edge. She dug her heels into the ground as she skidded to a stop.
"Still alive down there?"
"Umm yeah for now." Guy gulped as he made the mistake of looking down.
"Hold on I'm gonna swing ya." Juno swayed the rope back and forth trying to build momentum. "Pump your legs. You ready?"
Following her instructions Guy started swinging back and forth. "Yeah ready."
"One two THREE" Juno swung the rope as hard as she could and pulled Guy in as he passed by. He landed on his back next to her. She helped pick him up by his should and placed him on his feet. "Yes I do care about your well being. You've grown on me and traveling without you just wouldn't be the same."
"Thanks, I think. I care about you...'re well being as well."
The peak presented a crater shaped valley with another peak to climb at the other end.
"Maybe we should break here for the night huh." Guy ran up behind Juno.
"The climb down will be faster."
"Yeah but we don't want to climb in the dark. Besides this place is the perfect place to camp. It's beautiful and it's far away from any predators."
Rain started pouring down as a storm raged on.
"Who's bright idea was it to stay here." Guy called out while sanding in the rain sulking with his hands across his chest. Belt chirped a few word and pointed at Guy. "I don't remember saying that. This is the worst possible place to camp. There are no trees or anything to shelter us from the storm. We should have kept going." Belt incoherently jabbered at Guy. "No we would have reached the bottom before the storm. Then we would be safe, and dry, and warm." He said while his body shivered.
Juno whistled and Belt jumped off Guy. He scurried up Juno's leg. Guy stood there and pouted as he watched the two converse. Belt gave Juno two thumbs up and ran off.
"Where is he going?"
"To get supplies." Juno unwrapped her blanket and signaled for Guy to stretch it out. "Now place heavy rocks on the corners and sides." Belt came back with an arm full of long branches. Juno made quick work of the gathered supplies as she shoved the branches under the blanket and propped them up from the corners to the middle. This made it into a pyramid shape shelter. Juno lifted a rock from on of the sides and ducked in, Guy and Belt followed. As Juno finished tying the branches together in the middle Guy put the rock back on the side from the inside.
When Juno was done she rubbed her hands together with a satisfied look on her face. "This should keep us out of the elements for the night."
"Wow I mean, it will have to do." Belt walked between them and shook his fur dry getting them wetter in the process. Guy was still shivering. "Can't we start a fire."
"No you'll burn the material besides there's no where for the smoke to clear."
"But I'm so cold."
"Well I just used the only cover I had to make this shelter. You can live one night being uncomfortable." They laid down besides each other while Belt curled up in a corner of the tent. Guy's teeth were chattering. "Stop that and lay still. It should warm up in here soon."
"Not soon enough. I can't feel my fingers or toes."
"What?" Juno sat up and scooted closer. "Why didn't you say something earlier?"
"I didn't think it was such a big deal." Guy sat up.
She put her hands on his. "You feel like ice. Quickly take off your shoes." Juno grabbed Belt and wrapped him around Guy's feet. "I think you have hypothermia. Lay down." Guy was too weak to argue as she pushed him down on his back and curled up next to his side. "I need to share my body heat with you." Juno wrapped his hand under her and placed it on her side. She rested her leg on top of Guy and placed his other hand on her thigh. The cold from his hands made her flinch and gave her goosebumps. Juno rested her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beat pitter patter rapidly under his skin. "Just take deep breaths and try to sleep. It will be alright in the morning." Guys body greedily consumed the heat Juno gave off as his body relaxed under her touch. Juno fell asleep to the sound of Guy's heart beat settle down to a normal rhythm.
Hours later Guy opened his eyes to a dimly lit room. The rain was still falling but the moon was bright enough to give the walls a light glow to see by. The air in the room was now warm with a slight musky smell. Guy gazed down to see a sleeping Juno on his chest. There was a slight shock at this sight. But Guy remembered the events that had transpired earlier that day.
He lifted his head and sniffed at her hair. 'She smells different. She smells like the earth and waterfalls. Has she always smelled so good?'
He took his arm off her side and placed it around her shoulders. He shifted his body weight until her head slid off his chest. Setting her on her back, legs spread, Guy raised his body to hover over her sleeping form. Kneeling in between her legs he lowered his head to her face and inhaled her sent. He went down her neck and shoulder sniffing her.
'What is this feeling?' Guy's tongue darted out and he ran it across her collar bone. 'She taste amazing.'
The weird sensation made Juno's body stir. Noticing the presence of something strange Juno's eyes shot open. She immediately flailed her arms and legs trying to fight off what ever was on top of her. Guy grabbed at her arms, caught her wrist, and pinned them to either side of her shoulders.
Both panting, Juno looked up at the stranger on top of her. 'It's Guy.' Juno's eyes opened wider. 'But there was something different, something wrong about him.' She saw a predator looking down at his prey with pitch black orbs for eyes.
"Guy " He lowered his head back to her chest and started sniffing again. Going lower he traveled down to her hips. He stuck out his tongue and licked both her sides. Juno grunted in discomfort. "What are you doing? Get off of me."
Guy licked a trail right below her waist, up her bellybutton, between her breast, and up the side of her neck. "I... I don't know." He whispered in her ear. "I've never felt this way before. I have this thing, this urge to devour you." He licked up her jaw line and up the side of her face.
'Just stay calm. You can get out of this.' she thought. Her legs were useless with Guy between them. Juno tried to lift her arms to sit up. But that action was met with Guy slamming her wrist back down on the ground. He growled at her as his face met inches away from her.
Juno took a deep breath. "Ok I get it. No quick movements. Ya know If you let me go I can help you through these urges."
Guy squinted at her trying to decide whether or not he could trust her. She seemed to understand what was going on with him. But he didn't want his prey to get away. He let go of her right hand and kept his gaze on her for any suspicious movement.
She slowly lifted her hand and ran it through his hair. Guy closed his eyes and purred under her touch. 'Distraction, this is good. I can work with this.' She pulled him down and lifted her head up. She licked the outside of his ear and nibbled at the bottom of his lobe. Juno slowly worked her way down his neck. She sucked and nipped down his neck and to his collar bone.
Guy moaned from the new sensation. He lifted his head and put his free hand in Juno's hair. He wanted to put his new found knowledge to use. He pulled her hair down causing Juno to expose her neck. He repeated her steps. First licking and nibbling her ear he traveled down her neck. Throughout the excitement Guy misjudged the pressure in his bite and as he broke the skin. A warm liquid glazed the inside of his mouth. The taste excited him more causing his hips to buck into Juno.
"Owww" she lightly scream. "Too hard." At the sound of pain in Juno's voice Guy softened his touch. He sucked on her collar bone and chest causing blood to rise through her pores. He left a trail of these red marks across her chest and between her breast. Working his way down he retraced his earlier route down her stomach and off to her sides leaving little red marks.
"I will claim you and you will be mine." he growled between the nipping and sucking at her skin.
Juno took heavy gulps of air while trying to not let fear overpower her logic. With Guy distracted in his new task of marking every inch of her body his grip had loosen around her wrist. Taking the opportunity Juno called out to Guy in a soft voice. "Hey Guy." He looked up at her with hunger in his eyes. She snatched her wrist out of his hand and quickly slammed her palm into his nose.
The surprise took him off guard. He leaned back using his arms to steady himself. Juno wrapped her thighs around his neck and spun around onto her stomach flipping Guy on his back. She sat up on his chest and squeezed her thighs cutting off his air supply. He clawed at her legs and sides as everything around him went blurry, then black.
Once Guy was unconscious Juno released him and jumped off. She grabbed a rock that was holding down the side of a flap. 'I need to eliminate the threat.' With madness in her eyes she walked over to Guy lifting the rock over her head. 'He is a threat.' She stared at the helpless man beneath her. 'I have to kill him.' She had been with him for so long and he never showed such signs of aggression. 'Why did this have to happen now?' Images of his risking his life to save her flashed in front of her. 'Maybe this was just a fluke.' Juno stood there frozen as her thoughts battled in her head.
Juno dropped the rock to the side and ran pass a waking sloth, out the shelter, and into the rain. She stopped and screamed at the empty world in front of her, tears rolling down her eyes, and fell to her knees. 'What am I going to do now?'
Guy was awoken with a shock when cold water was dumped over his face. Sitting up he struggled to move but quickly realized he was tied up with Juno's rope. Juno was huddled up with Belt her arms at the farthest corner away from Guy.
"Whwhat happened?" Juno stood up and walked towards him. He could see the damage to her body. The cuts on her legs, the marks covering her torso, and the bite mark on her neck. "I did that...to you...didn't I?" Praying it wasn't true he looked at her face and she only nodded. "Why did I do that?"
"You tell me. Tell me what would posses you to do this?" She crouched down and turned her head to the side giving Guy a good look at the damage he had done.
"I don't know. It was like I wasn't in control of my own body. Nothing was telling me to stop." Juno slapped him across the face with all her strength and he fell over.
"I told you to stop." She walked back to where she previously sat.
"You're going to leave me now."
"You're lucky I didn't kill you when I had the chance."
"Please don't go. Please what ever that was it won't happened again." Knowing that was a lie she kept her back to him and sat down."Please I don't want to loose you" His voice cracked as tears formed in his eyes. "You're the only friend, other than Belt, I've ever had."
'Friend' The thought of hope ran through her mind. She shook her head from that notion. "No Friends don't do that. Friends have trust. Friends don't have to fear one another."
"Please give me another chance."
Belt comforted Juno and cooed something to her. She didn't understand his words but she knew with his tone and his face what he was trying to say. Juno didn't want to leave. Guy had shown her a new way to live. She was tired of walking away from the things she cared about. "Fine but there will be conditions."
Guy sat up and nodded hopefully. He scooted closer and Juno backed up. "First of all you will keep your distance. You will not touch me without my permission. If you even look at me in a way that makes me uncomfortable this is over. Number two you will be restrained at night." Guy gave her a irritating look. "Until I feel safe around you. Three you can't ignore what happened. I've seen these urges turn men into monsters"
"Can't we talk about the restraints?"
"No, these are my terms take em or leave them."
"OK than sounds good."
"We have an agreement. Now sleep. We can talk in the morning."
Both laid down and slept in silence on opposite sides of the shelter.
