AN: Smut ahead. Typos galore probably. No worries - I'll fix 'em when I find 'em.
54
Vi watched Josie disappear through the doors of the high school, feeling sad. Of course she'd expected that. To Vi's way of thinking, high school represented the last phase of childhood. She had offered to go in with her, earning a scathing stare from Josie. Vi would only smile sweetly at her reaction. She wouldn't purposely embarrass her daughter but she liked to let it be known that she certainly could.
The place was a bit of a madhouse, so getting out of the parking lot was taking some time. Vi inched forward whenever there was room but was prepared to spend at least the next thirty minutes in the parking lot. Every now and then she saw someone that she knew and would wave at them but the place was chaos. Of course the first day of school usually was.
It gave her time to think anyway. Vi sighed and absolutely refused to ponder the weird - dream - thing from that morning. Except for wishing there was an actual name for it. Instead she replayed her conversation with Drew. Of course the one before the kids had lunch, but later as well. Even with Josie's joking around and Glen's attempts to draw him out, Drew still wasn't able to completely come out of his brooding mood. So after supper that evening, Vi had offered to be the one to take Drew home. Glen hadn't been able to hide his surprised and Vi hated to burst his bubble but at that moment Mark had been the last thing on her mind. She'd wanted to see what else was on his son's mind.
They'd barely gotten onto the main road before Vi decided to take the direct approach. The drive wouldn't take long, after all. "So. How long have you known about what Josie is?"
Her blunt question caused Drew to jump a bit, and his eyes widened as he stared at her. Vi glanced at him and gave as encouraging a smile as she could muster up, given the circumstances.
"Honestly? Since her birthday party." Drew finally said. "She's like me. But she's different."
"You could sense it."
"Yeah." Drew looked at her thoughtfully. "Dad doesn't know."
That seemed to take a weight off Vi's chest. She had worried, had gotten the thought that maybe the reason Mark had been so intent on being with her was because of what she was. "How sure are you about that?" She asked, hating herself for it. But only a little bit. Because she had to be sure.
"Positive. If a demon is projecting, then Dad can pick it up. Some of them do. It's kind of like they're wearing an invisible bell. You know what they are. Josie doesn't project but I can tell. Because I can hear her. I wish I had a better way to explain it."
"You're fine." Vi reached over and gave his shoulder a pat. "For now, let's just keep it between us. Ok?"
"Sure." Drew nodded. They were nearing his house at that point. "I think Uncle Glen might know."
"What? How?" Vi asked, wondering if she should be worried.
"I don't know how. Unless it was Randy - he's got the touch and it's strong. And Josie said last night that he acted like he got a shock when she shook his hand." Drew smiled thoughtfully.
Great. That gave Vi something else to worry about. No wonder Glen and Randy had been acting so odd.
Drew had spoken again but Vi had been so lost in thought she had missed it. "Sorry. Woolgathering." She tried to smile.
"I said that they won't say anything until they tell you they know. And they'd prefer to get everybody together all at once. You, them, us, Dad. The sheriff?" That came out as a question but Vi knew it wasn't meant for her. "A few other people that I don't know."
Vi nodded, unsure of who exactly he meant. That woman from the night before possibly. She didn't have time to question him about it anyway. They had reached his house.
Ignoring the way just pulling in to the driveway made her feel, Vi grinned and said goodbye to Drew and watched him until he was in the door. Her smile faded as she backed and turned, heading home.
And then that weird dream - thing. She didn't think she could truly classify it as a dream because it had really happened on some level. Vi could still feel his hands on her, his warm skin against her fingertips. Even the craziest dreams she'd had through her life had not lingered with her like this. The really odd part for her was that after thinking about it that morning, she realized that with each dream she'd had like this, it got more real and stayed with her longer. She had no clue what that meant really.
Vi impatiently clamped a lid on her thoughts. They seemed to get more random as time went on. And of course she knew the real reason for that. Odds were good that if she looked around this mess of a parking lot she might catch a glimpse of Mark's truck or, heaven forbid, Mark himself.
She knew she had to talk to him and tell him everything. Drew had given her the perfect opening, which seemed almost too convenient. His dad would be at home, because traditionally he took the first day of school off from work to take Drew to school and pick him up in the afternoon. His mother would be gone, most likely until late that night, visiting friends.
It was the equivalent of being handed Mark with a ribbon tied around him. Vi smiled at the absurdity of it, knowing full well there was no manipulation involved. Drew was worried about his father. But before she could go talk to him, or even look at him, she had to take a side trip first.
Eventually traffic started to move. Vi finally made it onto the road and headed across town, weaving through the traffic that had formed around the other two schools in town. The first of the younger kids were arriving, their school start time a bit later than the high school. Once she was past that, it was only a five minute drive to the cemetery.
She turned onto the one lane drive and headed toward the eastern edge of the property. The cemetery wasn't huge by any means, but there were rolling hills that made it seem much larger. Vi parked the SUV and got out to look around. This section was marked off by a low rock wall, one barely ankle high. Ray and Rose had, after the death of her parents, purchased an entire section and he had built the border wall himself. He or one of the ranch hands would come out to take care of their area. It was their version of a family cemetery, which was not unheard of in the rural areas.
Link and Rose were buried side by side, in the center. There were empty plots on either side. Rose's parents, Ray's father, and an uncle that Vi had never met were buried in a row at the back. Besides the old burned out house that was no longer there, this was where Vi actually came to talk to Link, as crazy as it might sound to anyone else. Not that she actually had to speak out loud; mostly it was internal.
Vi sank down and sat on the grass that covered Link's grave, looking at the inscription on the headstone. There was no scripture, no poetic last words, no flowery declarations. It simply listed Link's name, date of birth and death, and under that an etched picture of rolling hills - representing the ranch. Rose's headstone was similar. They liked to keep things simple.
For a few minutes Vi just sat there, quiet, studying Link's name. It still hurt - but in a far off, distant kind of way. She'd started her healing process finally. She understood that. She also knew that this was something she had to do to move forward.
Vi reached up and pulled her necklace out of the collar of her shirt. Link's wedding band swung from the end of it. She pulled it over her head and wrapped her fingers around it, squeezing it, closing her eyes. She remembered picking it out, and how very nervous she had been sliding it onto his finger during their wedding ceremony. She had been calm to that point - the jitters, butterflies, and nausea hadn't really sunk in until the ceremony was underway. Even her nerves were laid back. It had been something of a joke between them.
She sighed and tugged her own wedding band off. It felt strange - she hadn't taken the band off for any reason in fifteen years. Her engagement ring was still at home, tucked into the small safe in the basement, more out of fear of her losing it than fear of it getting stolen. She opened the clasp of the necklace and slid the end through her wedding band, so that it jingled against Link's. That done, she closed the clasp and once more wrapped her hand around the two rings.
Vi had decided that morning, while she'd sat in the quiet kitchen before either Glen or Josie got up, that it was time. She had studied her wedding band for a while, feeling sad but not as if she were planning something wrong. Someone else, in light of recent events, might hold on to the hope that he could come back. Hadn't Glen, and Mark's wife? The second was debatable but about Glen there was no discussion.
Vi refused to hope. It felt like the set up to the world's most cruel joke. Her only hope was that Link was at peace, because she was ready for that as well. No more mourning. She would still love him - there was no getting around that - but for the first time in half a decade Vi felt as if she had truly accepted that he was gone.
Taking a deep breath, Vi leaned forward and dug her fingers into the ground, several feet below the headstone. Hopefully near where Link's heart would have been. She pulled up a small chunk of sod and set it aside. Then she dug a little deeper, carefully scooping out dirt, until her hand and wrist could fit inside. She brought the two rings, joined by the necklace, up and kissed them before gently lowering them into the hole.
Vi blinked back tears and started filling the hole in with the dirt she'd put into a little pile. Then she carefully replaced the sod, pressing it down a little so that it was flush with the surrounding grass. It blended right in. No one would notice it had been messed with, not that she worried. She was only doing what felt right, even if it held a certain finality to it. Vi let her hand rest there for a moment, on top of the grass, then slowly got to her feet. She brushed the dirt from her hands before stepping forward and letting her fingers lightly touch Link's name.
She didn't feel so much free as she felt that a chapter of her life had just closed. Vi finally turned away and headed back to her SUV. She definitely had something to do that day, and finally felt like she could do it with a clear mind.
~!~
She almost changed her mind a dozen times, especially when Mark didn't answer his door.
Vi knew he was home - his truck was in the driveway right in front of her SUV. Most of his windows were open as well, letting in some of the breeze. While it still did not feel like fall as of yet, their stretch of hot weather was finally breaking.
So, feeling like an intruder, she tried the door. It wasn't locked. Vi let herself in and shut the door behind her. She took a moment to look around. Everything was exactly the same. She wasn't sure why that surprised her, or what exactly she had expected. The house was quiet - no television, no music. But she heard a soft scraping noise coming from the rear of the house so she made her way to the door that led to the deck.
Mark was completely engrossed in cleaning out the pool. Vi supposed it was necessary winter preparation. He didn't notice her as she halted by the steps that led down to the pool. And he gave no indication of noticing as she studied him thoughtfully. Mostly his back. She wasn't going to complain. He was wearing a pair of tight jeans, and an even tighter black t-shirt, and Vi found herself fascinated watching the ripple of muscle under the material every time he moved.
When he finally noticed he wasn't alone, Vi had to grin. Mark turned around, reaching for a hose that was stretched on the ground behind him. His eyes went right past Vi, and he had nearly turned back to the pool when it must have suddenly hit him that she was there. Vi had read the term double-take in countless books, but it was the first time she'd seen it happen in real life.
He looked at her in disbelief for a moment. "Vivian?" Mark walked slowly toward her, stopping at the base of the stairs. Thanks to the steps she had the height advantage.
There were about a million things that she wanted to say to him. And Vi thought she had actually put her thoughts into order before she'd gotten out of her vehicle. But now that she was standing in front of him…her mind had gone completely blank. Except for the important part, the reason she was here now instead of at home counting down time until Josie got out of school.
"I've changed my mind." Vi finally said, voice barely more than a whisper. She didn't doubt that he'd heard her though. The look of surprise on his face was replaced by a slight frown as he processed what she'd said.
"Vivian…"
"I want to bond with you. Or whatever you call it." That time her voice was a little stronger.
She expected an argument, or maybe a discussion about how it was impossible with his wife showing up alive, but it was apparently her turn to be surprised. For a moment Vi could see that other part of him, the part she'd come to know as his demon half. It was in his eyes. She couldn't explain it, and she didn't care. Even as she thought it, Mark was pulling her into his arms and crushing his mouth against hers.
Whatever nervousness that she'd felt up to that moment disappeared as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him closer. Vi finally pulled back for air, breathless, meeting his eyes and feeling her breath catch at the emotion there.
She slid her hands over his shoulders and up, cupping his face between her palms. "I don't know how this works." She said, her voice husky.
"I'll show you." Mark said softly. Vi nodded and brushed her lips against his before backing away and catching his hand in hers. She pulled and he went willingly into the house and toward the stairs.
Vi led the way into his bedroom. Mark pulled her close again as soon as he'd shut the door behind them. Vi let herself be pulled. He had such an intense look on his face that she felt her nerves jump again.
He ducked his head to kiss her and Vi stopped him by pressing her fingers against his lips. "This isn't going to hurt, is it?" She asked. And felt him smile against her fingertips.
"No." He grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers, her palm. "It won't hurt." He met her eyes and Vi felt her knees weaken at the look he was giving her.
She nodded at that and stepped back, gently pulling her hand out of his grip. He raised an eyebrow but it changed to that slow smile when Vi reached down and raised the material of her shirt, pulling it over her head. She kicked her shoes off and pushed her jeans down her hips, wiggling to get them off. Aware she had Mark almost mesmerized, she shrugged her bra off slowly, watching his eyes as he took in every inch of her he could see. She slid her hands down her sides, meaning to add her panties to the pile of clothes on the floor but he stopped her.
"Leave them on." He had stepped closer and grabbed her hands.
Vi frowned at him in confusion. "Why?"
"A few reasons. First bein' you look so damn sexy with nothin' else on." He ducked his head and lightly kissed her lips. "And second, if there's not somethin' between us to remind me to go slow this will be over way faster than I'd like."
Vi laughed at that. It changed to a moan when he pulled her close and once more covered her mouth with his. She parted her lips for his invading tongue, stroking her fingers lightly up and down his arms. He was rubbing her back slowly with one hand, damn near making her purr. His hand was warm. Actually he was warm everywhere she touched. She broke his kiss and leaned back, gently stroking her fingers up his neck, once more across his face.
"You're hot."
"Is that a compliment or should I take that literally?" He turned his head and nipped at her fingers.
"Both I guess." Vi smiled but it was troubled. Mark was almost radiating heat. The windows in the bedroom were open, the room was cool, but Vi felt next door to sweltering in the circle of his arms.
"I'm not sick." He assured her. Mark moved his hand and traced his fingers up her stomach, between her breasts. His fingers were hot but it seemed to radiate from him and across her. Vi shut her eyes and felt her skin tingle as the heat seemed to grow everywhere their skin touched. "This is what happens when you bond." He continued, keeping his voice low. He took half a step back so that now the only contact between them was the brush of his fingers over her skin. She couldn't see what he saw of course…she wasn't a demon. She could feel it though.
In Mark's eyes, his fingers were leaving trails on her skin, almost the angry red of scratch marks. But they faded as the heat sank in, leaving her unblemished. That more than anything, even her words, told him that she wanted to bond with him. She wasn't just saying it, she wasn't doing it for a reason other than she wanted to be with him. It left him unable to articulate what was happening because he had never felt anything like it before. He had bonded with Rayne of course, but that had seemed almost like work - even if she'd asked for it, he had still had to break through her defenses to get it done.
He looked up and met Vi's eyes as his fingers drifted across her chest, resting for a moment against one hardening nipple before moving to the other, barely applying pressure. Her eyes, normally light green bordering on gray, had gone stormy, darker.
Mark realized something else as well. He could feel her. Not just Vi's physical presence under his fingers, of course he could feel that. In his head. While he could not hear her thoughts - he doubted that he would ever be able to do that, she was somehow blocked in that area - he could still sense her there. It was not unlike having a song stuck in his head.
And he was experiencing something else he'd never felt before. Vi was watching him, her breathing shallow, as he stroked her. She was also letting her fingertips slide over his face, down his neck, over his shoulders, back up. Almost absently. She went no lower because she didn't want to block his slow explorations. It wasn't that she was touching him, which was a sensation he thought he might tire of in about a thousand years. It was that everywhere her fingers drifted there was a cooling sensation. If he was warm, then she was cool. It was not unpleasant or uncomfortable. Vi wasn't like him, so of course she couldn't transfer power but she was transmitting something - maybe a bit of her laid back nature, maybe just her calming influence.
When she finally let her fingers slip down his arm, Mark could see that her touch also left a trail behind. Hers were light blue, nearly white. And much like the red trails his fingers left, hers sank into his skin. Instead of cooling him off though it was setting off little sparks of tension inside him. He didn't fight it. He wanted this just as much as she did, if not more.
He stopped toying with her for the moment. Mark let his hand drift upward, reaching until his fingers tangled into her hair and he cupped the back of her head. He kissed her again, slowly, sighing at the taste of her against his tongue. Vi balled her hands into fists against his chest, tugging on the material of his t-shirt.
Mark broke the kiss and nuzzled her neck, using his teeth to nip her skin lightly. He eased her backward, one step, two, until she felt the bed bump her legs. Vi let go of his shirt and sat down, then slid backward onto the bed, leaning back and using her elbows as he crawled along with her, only stopping long enough to yank his shirt off over his head and toss it to the floor. Vi sighed as he moved over her, pressing down so that his chest rubbed hers as he kissed her again.
She had thought the touch of his fingertips warm. All of his bare skin against her was almost overwhelmingly hot. Vi felt like she'd stepped into a steamy shower. Every time he moved, or shifted, or touched her, it seemed to set off more of that heat until she was writhing beneath him, panting as his mouth closed around her nipple, moaning when he sucked the sensitive flesh.
Mark nuzzled the skin between her breasts and let his hand slide down her stomach, over her hip, down her outer thigh and back up the inner part. He was of course impeded by her panties being in the way but that was fine - he pressed his fingers against her and rubbed, closing his eyes at the feel of her grinding up to increase the friction. He kept rubbing even as he moved down her body, dropping hot kisses along the trail his fingers had blazed moments before. At the same time he eased his fingers under the edge of her panties, slowly pulling them down.
Vi shifted and raised her hips, watching as he pulled the skimpy material off. She could almost feel heat coming from the way he looked at her. He slid his hand once more to up the smooth skin of her inner thigh, closing his eyes at the feel of her under his fingertips, and the soft whimper that came from her as his fingers moved through her folds. She was already wet. It was all he could do not to yank his jeans down and take her. He had thought something about not rushing but damned if he could remember why it was so important.
Mark held himself poised over her, ignoring his urge to hurry, focusing on stroking her slick flesh. Every time his fingers brushed against her clit Vi would moan, her hips rising and falling rhythmically in time with the movement of his hand.
Vi reached for him and let her hands slide across his bare skin. If she could reach it, she touched it, and it wasn't nearly enough. He held himself far enough out of reach. She understood he wanted to take it slow. She loved that he wanted to take it slow. But after two months, and even refusing a bit of dream-world release, Vi was way beyond the point of needing to be teased and coaxed.
She jerked away from him. He was momentarily surprised but went along amicably enough when she pushed at his shoulders, turning him onto his back. She straddled his legs and pushed her hair back over her shoulders before leaning forward to trace her fingers over his chest. Mark reached for her but Vi pushed his hands away, wanting to focus her attention. He finally settled for linking his fingers behind his head and watched through half-closed eyes as she bent and pressed her mouth against his chest, his upper stomach. Her fingers still moved over his skin, making the muscles in his stomach jump at the light touch.
Vi smiled hearing him suck in a breath every time her mouth closed over his skin. Her fingers brushed the waistband of his jeans, and she used her thumb to pop open the button fly. She felt him tense under her and moved before he got any ideas about stopping her. Vi went backward, skimming his jeans down his legs, adding them to the rest of their clothing on the floor. She slowly crawled back up his legs, careful not to touch him except for her inner thighs rubbing against him. At least until her chest was level with his thighs. She lowered herself a little so that her breasts brushed against his legs and his erection slid between them. He shuddered at the feel of her, trying to hold himself still, groaning when she kept going, letting her stomach press against him, all the way up until she was straddling his hips. Her center was so close he could feel the heat coming from her, but she didn't lower herself just yet.
Vi sat up and slowly ran her hands up her sides. She watched as his eyes followed the movement of her hands as she cupped her breasts, squeezing them and brining her nipples back to hard peaks. It was amusing in a way to watch as he started breathing faster, and she could see him struggling not to move his hands from behind his head. She let one hand drift down her stomach and moan softly as she parted her folds and pressed against her heated flesh.
She saw that he wasn't going to let her continue this for long, so Vi turned her hand and caught his hard cock between her fingers instead. She felt it throb and an answering throb went through her center. She slowly lowered herself, not letting him enter her just yet, merely sliding the length of him against her folds. He wanted to tease, she could tease. She didn't mind it now that she was more or less in control.
Vi slowly rolled her hips, hissing in a breath he rubbed against her clit. She did it again, then a third time, before shifting far enough forward so that the head of his cock probed at her entrance.
He finally couldn't take not touching her. Mark grabbed her hips and held on to her as she eased him into her body, inch by slow inch. When he was fully sheathed Vi tossed her hair back again and rotated her hips, grinding herself against him.
It was all he could do to grit his teeth and let her ride him at her own pace. To his credit, Mark didn't try to control her speed or movement. He only held on to feel the way her hips flexed, and the heat of her skin. She found a steady rhythm, rolling her hips in a circle before raising and lowering herself easily against his hard member. Then she would do it again, moaning softly at the friction.
He kept his control. It slipped when she shifted, leaning back so that she could slip a hand between them to rub her clit in time to the slow gyrations of her hips. Mark tightened his grip on her and moaned, struggling to rein himself in.
Vi edged closer to her climax. She also saw that what she was doing was putting Mark in dangerous territory. She stopped moving, pulling her hand back, and leaned forward. With her hands braced against his chest she changed her movements, taking him into her body in long strokes.
It was still too much, too fast. Mark growled and grabbed her roughly, rolling until Vi was pinned under him, buried deep inside her. Now he truly was beyond the point of teasing. Vi wrapped her legs around his waist and that was all the encouragement he needed to move his hips, faster than she had been going, unable to help himself. She felt too good. And it had been way too long.
Vi shifted under him, angled her hips and moaned against his ear when he slammed into her harder. There was no stopping her climax when it happened. She dug her nails into his back and cried out his name, unable to do more than that she was so lost in the sensations. Shuddering, Mark's own moan of completion drowned hers out as he let himself go and slammed into her one last time.
Shivering at the aftershocks, he held his weight on his knees and elbows but did not move away. Not just yet. It felt too good to have her there, under him. Connected to him.
Vi took in a shaky breath, then another. She idly ran her fingers over his back, soothing the spots where her nails had bit in. "So…that's what all the fuss was about?" She asked in a husky voice, when she trusted it enough to talk.
Mark chuckled sleepily. He had, when he considered bonding with Vi, expected there would be regret. There was none. It felt too right. Like everything else in his life had merely happened to lead him to this point, to this woman. He didn't have to question whether the bonding had worked; he could still feel her, inside his head, a spark of blue-white light. She was tired, she was satisfied, but most of all she was completely, utterly content. No regret on her part either. He was grateful for that much.
