Author's note- Impossibly speedy update for an impossibly fluffy break from the tension :).
Happy Birthday live it love it33! Here's my gift to you, a Valentine's Day, QxC style.
Disclaimer.
"But, I don't like surprises," Claire pouted delectably from the passenger seat, fiddling with the bandana I'd secured over her eyes.
"Stop!" I told her, laughing. I grabbed her fidgeting hands in one of mine and held them to her lap. "It'll be more fun this way."
I wound through the familiar streets of town, heading towards the spot that she already knew about. It was just more fun this way.
"You used to tell me that you hated Valentine 's Day," she remarked, smirking in my direction.
I squeezed her hands and snorted. "Well you weren't old enough to be my valentine, which wouldn't make it a very fun holiday now, would it?"
She giggled softly and twisted around in her seat, blowing on the window. A foggy patch formed under her lips and she blindly traced a shape into the cloud. It was a heart.
"How does it look?" She asked.
"What? Your drawing?"
She nodded.
"It's cute."
"Where are we going?" She changed the subject quickly. I rolled my eyes dramatically, knowing she wouldn't be able to see my expression of sarcasm.
"Nowhere, C, we're actually just going to drive around with you blindfolded for the next four hours."
"Great," she said, bemused. "That's exactly how I wanted to spend the evening of my Valentine's Day."
I snickered to myself and steered the truck into a break in the bushes.
"We're here." I stuck my hand into my pocket and wrapped my hand around the small parcel inside; making sure it was still there.
"Finally," she groaned, hopping out of the truck and beginning to untie the knot at the back of her head.
"Don't take it off yet!"
"Ugh, Quil, why not?"
"Can't you just wait a little longer?" I begged her, tucking the thermos and flowers into one arm and picking her up in my other.
She snuggled into my side. "I guess so."
I couldn't help the butterflies that wrestled in my stomach and spread a grin onto my face. I hiked quickly up to the big rock and placed her up carefully, pulling myself behind her. I rested her in my lap and gently untied the knot.
"Oh." Her voice was soft. "I love it here." The lights of the town were dull tonight, the stars outshining them by hundreds of watts.
I smiled, "me too." I let my lips brush the side of her face and reveled in the heat that drew beneath the skin. I produced the bouquet of flowers from behind my back and handed her the thermos of hot chocolate that I'd made us. "Happy Valentine's Day."
She blinked a few times, allowing a sweet smile to grow on her mouth. "Thanks, Quil." She tilted her head and touched my arm with her lips from where she was situated in my lap. She inhaled the scent of the pink and white flowers deeply, "I think Jasmine is my favorite flower."
"I think I knew that," I teased, twirling a few pieces of her hair with my finger.
"I love you," she whispered. Rapture's wispy fingers spun through me, driving me to get closer to her.
"I love you, too." The words still made my hands shake, even though they couldn't come close to holding the magnitude of emotions that I felt. I grabbed the ring from my pocket and sucked in a deep breath of the humid air. "Hey, Claire?" My voice was trembling.
"Yeah?"
"Can I make you a promise?" My heart was beating loudly beneath my ribs. I blushed suddenly, hoping she couldn't hear it. She sat up, putting space between my body and hers. I immediately had to resist pulling her back towards me. But she simply resituated so that she could face me. Her eyes were open and gentle, the light flecks of gold within the brown reflecting the stars' shine.
"Of course," she murmured, her shapely lips bowing into a faint smile.
"I promise," my throat was coated with sincerity and nerves, making my voice coarse and low, "to never let anyone else sleep in my dreams." Her eyelashes sparkled as small drops of tears formed on them. She dipped her chin and began wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. I put my finger under her chin and lifted her face towards mine again. "And I promise to become whatever you want me to be, because your imagination is a lot freer than mine." I lifted my hand out of the pocket in my pants, twirling the silver ring around in my fingers. "I'm yours," I confessed, adding jokingly, "whether you want me or not." I slipped it onto the ring finger of her right hand and leaned forward, kissing the paths that the tears had made down her cheeks.
She glanced down to the band and smiled up at me. "A promise ring?" She wondered.
"Sorry, I'm not very creative with these things," I admitted. I twisted the ring around on her hand, feeling a sense of pride bud in me, knowing that the ring signified my place in her life.
"I love it," she said, her teeth gleaming in the low light as she studied the curvature of the piece. "What does it say?"
"52606." I ran my fingers over the numbers. "It may not mean much to you, but it was a big day in my life." Her eyes flickered up to mine, curiosity bouncing in her irises. "It was the day I imprinted on you." I pecked her softly on the tip of the nose. Her mouth formed a small 'o' as she looked back down to the band.
"I promise to wear it forever," she pledged, wrinkling her nose in delight.
"I'd like that."
"You never told me about Brady and Collin," she pointed out, smiling as I grimaced. I didn't like either of those two.
"Remember what I said about our rules?"
"Yeah, they're not to be broken."
"Well, they broke some rules," I said finitely. I leaned back onto the rock and felt her shift to incline against me. My skin burned wherever she was touching me, her touch lighting a different kind of fire than the one I knew. The familiar one was harsh and piercing as it shot through my nervous system. The kind that Claire lit in me was sensual and tender, a slither of heat through my veins.
Claire turned onto her stomach, scooting up on the boulder so that her chest was even with mine. I could feel the bones of her ribcage as they inflated with her lungs. Her breasts were pushed tightly against my chest, making my heart beat serrate. She laid her chin in folded hands against my sternum, smirking with a sense of smugness. "Okay, that was by far the worst story I have ever heard."
"I never promised to tell you the story," I retorted, sharing her infectiously playful grin.
"Yes, you did!" Her warm eyes went wide with irritation.
"I said that I would tell you what happened with them at a later time, aka now."
"But you didn't tell me what happened."
"Yes, I did. They broke some rules," I insisted, having as much fun teasing her about it as I was enjoying not actually having to talk about it. She huffed and narrowed her eyes at me. I groaned and rolled over, pinning her beneath me on the rock. I was careful to hold my own weight, only locking her thighs and arms down to the boulder.
"Quil!" She squealed.
I snickered defiantly and began kissing her neck, making it so she was squirming and giggling beneath me. "Are you sure you want to know, Claire?" I questioned with a doubtful tone. She gasped in breaths within the troughs of her contagious laughter, unable to utter even a single intelligible syllable. I asked her over and over, my breath tickling her sensitive skin even more.
I ran out of breath and, with my chest still heaving in laughter, turned back over, towing her back on top of me. I wrapped my arms around her shaking form and felt my heart swell with contentment. A prolonged sigh poured from her lips as she relaxed.
"Okay, now you have to tell me," she maintained. I rolled my eyes and sighed, holding her closer to me.
"Well, it was near the beginning. They were brand new and therefore hot-headed and stubborn," I started, running my hands through Claire's silky hair. "We aren't supposed to track beyond the borders of the reservation."
"Why not?" She interrupted.
"It's just a heritage thing I guess; we're the protectors of our people, not anyone else. So anyways we were chasing a vamp, it was a small one, not too much of a bother, but it was faster than a bat out of hell. We usually try to catch them and just dispose of them here; but we chased that one off, knowing that he wouldn't come around for a second visit."
"We all phased back and turned around. But later that night Collin and Brady snuck out, wanting to snatch the little bloodsucker up for good. They crossed the border and stalked it towards Forks, only to run into a photographer who was documenting the nocturnal paths of constellations over the pacific coast. He caught a shot of their retreat, just two gigantic blurs across the frame. It was a headline on the next day's newspaper. Rangers were sent in from all corners of the state to trap and bind the beasts in order to 'relocate them to a safer environment'."
My breath blew out in one swing, releasing the tension that the memory had brought back onto my chest. Claire fidgeted with her fingers, her hot breath rhythmically skimming over my torso. "Wow," she breathed.
"They could have ruined everything," I conceded, running my fingers through the thick knots in my hair. "We couldn't trade forms for almost two months after that." I shivered at the memory. "Imagine what could have happened if something really dangerous had come along! We wouldn't have been able to do anything!" I sucked in a calming breath. "I don't think I left your side for one second."
"How old was I?"
"Young," I mused, "you couldn't have been three yet."
"I don't remember that," she said, cuddling deeper into my arms as a brisk wind blew over the rock. "What time is it?" She jerked up, patting her pockets for the phone she had left in the car. I pulled mine out.
"10:26," I supplied. She groaned and flopped back over my stomach. "I should be getting you home."
"No!" She stiffened against me. "Ugh—why is Valentine's Day always on a school night?" Claire asked rhetorically. I chuckled and gathered her up as she tucked her flowers beneath her arm and twirled her ring around and around. I climbed down the rocky trail and set her down to unlock the door. I felt her hand close over a section of my shirt as she whispered beneath her breath, "Quil?"
I spun her around, my corporeal instincts getting the best of me. My upper body pinned her to the truck, bowing against her nimble form. Her fingers trembled as they glided down my neck, needles erupting beneath her fingertips. Our mouths molded to each other's, her lips silky and full against mine. I gasped into her mouth as she ran her nails down my arms, causing a shiver to tumble down her spine.
My lips curled into a smile as the steady beat of passion echoed underneath my abdominal muscles. Our kisses were more fervent than before as her breathing sped and deepened. I tightened my arms around her back, sealing the small pockets of space that had existed between us.
Sam's growling stipulations were knocking on my eardrums, a head splitting pain compared to the sickening ecstasy that was rushing other places. I lost my breath as one particularly strong command rang through my conscious. Claire's restless lips rested against my ear," Happy Valentine's Day."
The grin that smoothed over my teeth was one of enchantment. I opened the door and set her inside, pressing my lips against her cheekbone, "best one so far," I confirmed.
Author's note- Substance AND fluff, good stuff, right? Ha. I hope you enjoyed it :). More drama to come next time...leave me some inspiration to continue! My fingers would be very thankful for it!
