The Fury of the Night
Chapter 4. Kissing the Moon
Raven held tight to David as the motorcycle tore up the beach, loving the warm breath of the night air rushing through her long hair as it flew out behind her. Being immortal and all of the covertness that was commonplace in their existence did tend to cut away at the time allotted for earthly pleasures and times such as this were to be treasured. This night, there was no lonely concrete jungle filled with the same sad souls trying to be someone in a city that did not care; no coven to be kept in check; no dangers to be dealt with; no long hours of solitude spent keeping watch. There was only here and now, where the ocean tide pulled at her and the wind carried the scent of wild recklessness unfettered by mortal caution. There was the easy familiarity of the young men and the way they accepted her, more so by the minute. And there was HIM. David. The one whose appearance in her mind all those months ago had at first startled her, then intrigued her, then called her in.
When she had first reached out to him, back in New York over a year ago, she was shown visions of two distinct paths. The first was that he would be polite but show no interest in her situation, being in a long-settled area with a tight group. In spite of the youthful boyish visage he would forever wear, he was a mature battle hardened veteran as was she and sometimes the invitation of possible drama should just be passed over. Raven had accepted that as a potential outcome; she would have perhaps felt the same. If that was his choice, she would remain where she was and continue searching for another solution. The other vision was that he would invite her to come to him. He would be intrigued by the fact that one such as her would need assistance firstly, and doubly intrigued that she would reach out to him and be willing to travel across the entire United States alone to reach him. He would reach out to other covens to aid in her safe passage and would welcome her into his home. And he would listen to her plight and carefully collaborate with her on their options. He would help. She had had flashes of other visions as well, but they were just that; flashes. She saw the two of them sitting facing each other in antique high-backed chairs; she with her legs drawn up comfortably beneath her and he leaning his head slightly towards her, deeply focused on her words. She saw a large heavy table with him at the head and herself seated upon it, looking down at something he was drawing on a piece of brown paper. In yet another flash, she saw herself diving into the ocean from a high cliff and him diving after her. Herself in a large cavern full of dancing firelight showing him her true form. Him, his head thrown back in laughter, fangs flashing and blood dripping from his chin. The two of them facing each other in a smaller chamber with candlelight dancing softly, staring at each other intently.
When she had felt him first acknowledge her, their interaction had been somewhat cautious as she let him into her mind. She had quickly lowered her defenses and let him see for himself who/what she was and he in turn had relaxed. David had spent some time in the recessed shadows of her memories; she could picture him there as though he was walking through a huge maze of shelved leather-bound volumes, reaching out on occasion to pull one from it's place and flip through it, then carefully return it to it's special slot. His perusal of her mind was thorough but gentle, unlike some others who had entered by force when she was weak and left the chaos of tangled nightmares behind them as they exited just as quickly as they had come with no regard for her wellbeing. David had come into the front of her mind before departing and left her with a vision of him holding out a gloved hand; an invitation for her to come to him. Raven had sighed in relief as she felt him withdraw, his presence flying thousands of miles in half a blink of an eye, back to his own body. Her sigh was relief, but might a small part of it been due to the sudden absence of him? As she had relaxed while he roamed through her mind, opening herself to him, had she not taken notice of parts of him as well? Felt the strength of him, his focus, his solidity? And perhaps the beast that had been asleep in it's iron-barred cage in the core of her being had raised it's head and come to it's lumbering feet as it sensed the beast inside of him as well…For, when all the tempered exchanges and formal greetings were over, isn't that what they both were?
The boys had performed every stunt possible on the bikes, David included, and with her clinging to his waist laughing in delight. They came to a sliding sideways stop within a foot of Paul's bike and David spoke.
"What do you think, boys? Show our Beautiful Bird the bridge, then home?" Raven felt the vibrations of his voice and unconsciously tightened her thighs against him. David felt her movement, took pleasure in her pleasure, and reached back to rest one leather gloved hand against her leg, gently stroking a path of fire over her flesh. She was wearing a knee-length black skirt that had ridden up high, having long come untucked from between her legs, and the male in him was thoroughly appreciating the feel of her, even through the leather. Raven's skin was like the skin of any other vampire; it looked human and could even bleed though any wound healed instantly. A wound given by another vampire or night beast would be slower to heal if of any significance and would more than likely scar. But even the scars faded over time, and they had eons of that, so no battle wound would ever be fussed over for vanity's sake.
The skin that he could see was pale perfection, and he found himself wondering what it would feel like to touch her without the confines of the leather gloves. He had actually reached up to remove them without giving the matter a conscious thought, the desire to feel her in the flesh so strong. Thankfully, he was saved, or rather interrupted, by Marko's enthusiasm for his plan.
"Hell yeah!" the boy yelled, and his agreement was echoed by Paul and Dwayne as they revved their bikes.
David silently cursed himself for his almost-lapse in judgement, let alone respect-what would Raven have thought of him, for heaven's sake, if he had just began to, well, to feel her up to be crass about it. He threw his head back and laughed at his own thoughts and made sure his passenger was secure before gunning the powerful engine and sending them tearing down the beach again, his pack closely following.
Raven had not caught David's entire thought, but she had caught an emotion emanating from him that was so sensual she felt herself almost overcome by it. It wasn't carnal lust, but something softer but no less intense. It was a craving; a wanting. It was the purest form of desire. And it was directed towards her. She blocked her mind immediately to briefly contemplate this. Surely he had not been aware of his feeling or he would have hidden it from her out of respect. But yet here it was. He had been thinking about touching her bare flesh and the pleasure it would bring. "But why?" she pondered. "I am not so unusual that he would think of me as different. As something he has not experienced before. Why on earth would he have desire for me?" Vampires were lustful creatures, but with age came control, and they both were mature. "I must have misgauged his emotion, " Raven thought as the night raced by, "I've misread his intent." She quickly convinced herself that was the way of it, even though she had never misread pure emotion before, not once in all her years. And what about those little shivers she got at the sound of his raspy voice and the way she felt "right" in his arms during their brief embrace earlier in the evening? What did those things mean? The ocean chose at that moment to capture the reflection of a pure silver moonbeam and send it into her eye and at the beauty of it, she willed away those thoughts and again opened her mind to those around her.
David had noticed the walling off of Raven's mind briefly and had thought nothing of it; each of them needed private moments. He needed a lot of them. And it was a mode of self-protection first and foremost. He would have thought it odd if she had not closed herself from him and was surprised she had not done so sooner. Taking his eyes from the trail briefly, he gazed up at the bright moon and let a fanciful thought float away. "Perhaps she was thinking of me…".
The wind had changed and grown stronger and a fog so thick it was like an opaque wave of gray was rolling in fast, obscuring the trail. Raven did not fear the loss of sight, for they all could sense the curves of the rutted path and knew when to duck to avoid an errant branch. She instead savored the press of the cold mist and the smells of aged timber, noting a hint of rusted iron as well. She started to reach out to pluck an image of their destination from Dwayne's mind, but chose not to, instead letting the place they were taking her be a true surprise.
The motorbikes slid to almost simultaneous stops at the edge of a bluff and the engines cut off, making the night seemingly press in more closely. The other boys jumped from their bikes and took off sprinting through the dark, down a steep path that disappeared in the blackness, laughing and yelling at each other as they went. Raven couldn't help but smile at the infectious laughter and jovial spirits and leaned herself into David's back, giving him a quick squeeze before she loosened her arms from his waist. He caught her mood and showed his dimples in a dangerous grin as he reached back to give her his hand to steady her dismount.
"Having fun, my Midnight Raven?" he asked as she took his hand and nimbly got off the Triumph, spinning a few times with unfettered joy.
"I've not felt this…this…light…in so very long. You must think me a simpleminded fool for all the laughter I've indulged in this night, but I do not care; you have given me exactly what I needed." She ended on a quiet note, looking down at the worn black boots on her feet.
David had swung himself off his bike and now stood frozen in place with his head tilted slightly to one side as he took in the peaceful emotions pouring out of Raven. Her words struck him hard and he felt a sudden need to reach out and bring her into his arms; to hold her and keep her safe and to keep away the weight of the world that was threatening her. Instead, he spoke to her softly.
"I would never think you a fool, Raven. Though this is the first time our physical selves have met, I know you. I've been inside your mind." As he spoke, he moved to stand directly before her. He reached out and gently lifted her downcast chin up until her crimson gaze met with his icy blue.
As she gazed up into David's face, the night sounds retreated. The wings of the occasional bird, the rustle of leaves as small creatures scurried, the crash of the ocean waves far below…it all seemed to fall away. All that she could hear was the deep timbre of his voice.
"You are as far from a fool as anyone could ever be. You are a night creature and you were set on your path alone, with no guidance, no help. You were left to choose your own alliances, and you chose well. You have built your own kingdom and rule multiple covens. Even the dark lords beneath heed your words and you have a chair when their conclave meets. Do not tell me Abaddon turns his head toward the words of a fool."
At this, a soft smile came over her. He spoke with such quiet conviction and in that moment, she knew him as a true ally. Reaching up, Raven gently cupped David's cheek in her small hand and let her thumb run over the blonde stubble there. David drew in a slow deep breath as blue fire crackled from her fingers and danced over his skin. The sensation was pure pleasure to him, though he knew that if she wanted to, she could change that fire into a thing that would char his flesh and leave him weak upon the ground. He leaned into her touch, briefly closing his eyes, and when he opened them again she spoke so softly he could barely hear.
"Thank you." The fire briefly flashed and snapped, then was gone and Raven lowered her hand.
David gave her a smile that would break the heart of the most hardened of human females and held out his hand to her.
"Well, Midnight Raven, would you care to play some more? After all, the night is young."
She silently thanked him for lightening the mood, and put her hand firmly in his.
"Lead on, M'Lord" she chuckled, moving with him as he turned toward the path the others had taken.
"This way, My Lady" David mockingly bowed and pulled her with him, both of them running to where the boys were waiting impatiently.
David released her hand as they burst into a small clearing, watching her reaction as she took in the sight of the boys scrambling on the frame of an old iron railroad bridge, rusty but still in use. The thick fog wound in and out of the arches almost like a live thing and covered the area where the land ended and the divide the bridge spanned began, making it impossible to have any sight knowledge of where the ground beneath the bridge was. Raven could hear the rush of a small river far, far below that must flow through the chasm between the bluffs. The sound was almost hidden beneath the crash of the ocean waves on the face side of the rocks. They were high between two towering bluffs that were covered in huge pine and redwood trees and the crisp scent was pleasant to her.
"Noone lives around for miles and the trails are too treacherous for even the most confident humans to try. We can relax here; stretch our bodies a bit; use them as they were intended to be used without fear of being seen." David explained as he strolled closer to the hulking iron alongside Raven. "Home is back closer to where we began our evening; call this our backyard if you will."
Raven watched Paul playfully shove Dwayne as they reached the top of the bridge and laughed as Dwayne pretended to lose his balance and nearly fall. She heard the scrape of claws against metal and saw Marko climbing straight up the middle post, playfully hollering out "You're both goin' down!"
"Never, shorty!" "Not on your best day!" they yelled down at him. Marko let out a growl and climbed faster.
"Care to go up?" David asked, leaning toward Raven, "You don't have to play but if I don't join in once in a while, they pout." He winked and she laughed merrily, catching on to their game. Marko had reached the top and he had an arm hooked around Dwayne's ankle in an attempt to pull him from his perch. Dwayne had nothing to grab on to and reached out to Paul, who sidestepped away easily, howling with laughter.
"I'm all about joining in." Raven laughed and took off running toward the bridge. She moved so quickly that even David was momentarily surprised. The air where she had stood half of a second ago seemed to snap in on itself and when his eyes next found her, she was leaping through the air stretched gracefully out in midair like a cat. He watched as she caught on to the side of the bridge and then raced up it, moving with grace as well as strength. He chuckled to himself and launched himself into the air, glad that she was entering into play with them. Choosing not to scramble up the iron supports, David simply flew up and landed easily on the top support. Raven was already there, attempting to help Dwayne free himself from the persistent Marko's clutches.
David sidled along the support, taking a deep breath in. Male musk was heavy in the air as the boys played and it was now joined by increasingly evident vanilla and cinnamon and fire as Raven joined in.
Marko gave one last mighty tug at Dwayne's leg in an effort to finally dislodge his pack mate and suddenly found himself wretched forcefully up by the back of his jacket and set lightly on the beam. He looked at Raven with wonderment and she tried mightily not to giggle at his perplexity as to what just happened.
"Marko," she teased in a matter-of-fact voice, "You looked like you needed a hand."
Dwayne, Paul, and David laughed mightily at the look on Marko's face while he tried to decide whether or not to be embarrassed about being manhandled by such a slight looking female.
Dwayne took the initiative and looked at Marko with false derision. "Saved by a girl. Sad. Very sad." And shook his head. He then looked at Raven as she stepped nimbly around him on the narrow iron and gave her a flirtatious grin. He conspiratorially leaned toward her, and fake-whispered while pointing at her with both hands, "I think I got a crush on you." Then he was gone, having taken one step backward into thin air and falling straight down, immediately disappearing as the fog sucked him in.
Raven reached her mind out and sensed the ground far, far below and felt Dwayne falling with his arms spread out, preparing to stop himself the instant before he hit the rocky river below. It was their game, she knew. He would stop himself with his body suspended inches above the rushing water and then fly back up to the bridge to do it over and over again. They challenged each other to see who could come the closest to the water without getting wet and partook of the adrenaline rush of both the falling and the soaring back up to the bridge. Raven could see the benefit in the seemingly childlike play. It allowed the vampires to stretch muscles that were too often coiled tight from having to restrain their strength in public and to use their ability to soar through the sky without worry of being seen. Much general tension was relieved this way. She and her coven played a version of this same game in the city, only it was tag, leaping from rooftop to rooftop and chasing each other up the side of skyscrapers, hiding in nooks in the building's design or briefly tucking themselves onto a window ledge. She grinned to herself as she thought of the mortals who must have come close to having heart attacks in the deep of the night when they paused on their way back to bed from the bathroom or fridge to peer out their 102nd floor window and check the weather; expecting at the most to see a little rain and instead finding a frightening figure in black who smiled in at them with too-long teeth before seeming to vanish. Immortality was not all doom and gloom.
Her attention came back to the hulking bridge as Paul made a sudden move, trying to tip David off the top. David, of course, moved like lightning and easily avoided him, giving out a deep chuckle that made Raven's breath quicken. "What is it with me and his voice?" she asked herself before joining the fun.
Paul was persistent and David let him capture the sleeve of his coat to keep the game fun.
"Oh, Paul. That's so very naughty of you. You don't really expect me to watch you try to overtake David, do you? As he is being the most delightful host, it would just be…wrong…of me; you do understand, don't you?" her musical voice danced in the air. She gracefully did several cartwheels across the narrow beam towards them, effortlessly balancing and smiling ferally all the while.
Paul's eyes grew wide and before he knew it, his neck was clenched firmly between Raven's thighs, as she had sprang out of her last cartwheel while still upside down, taken him prisoner, and then flipped them both so that when they came to rest, she was sitting on the beam and he was suspended over open air, his neck being squeezed so hard that he could feel his vertebrae grind together. She looked down at him in amusement as he began to struggle against her and slowly started to swing her legs.
The hunter in David greatly admired her cunning moves, and the male in him admired the grace of her body performing them. And…this was just funny. Paul had considered himself a bit of a ladies man and here he was, with his neck trapped between a beautiful woman's thighs.
"He'll HAVE to appreciate the humor in this later." David thought wickedly, and Raven giggled like a naughty little girl. Paul was trying to reach out to David for help, and Raven began to swing him further and further out.
"Paul, Paul, Paul…I'm so disappointed in you. Trying to overthrow your leader. Thank goodness our guest has my back. What to do with you, what to do?" David frowned down at him as Raven smiled wickedly. "Well, I guess there's only one thing." And with that, David turned his head to Raven, dimples showing. She in turn looked back down at Paul and snapped her legs out straight, releasing him and sending him spinning backwards forcefully, his hands outstretched, grasping at air. The fog swallowed him and David reached down a hand to help her to her feet. As they both laughed, she leaned into him and he placed his hands gently on her waist.
The moonlight struck her hair and it seemed to him that the deep blackness contained silver fire as the cold breeze picked up it's length, causing it to dance around her. Her eyes were the darkest red now, dancing with sparks of fire, and he found himself being pulled into them. She stepped even closer, placing her hands on his chest as her head tilted up towards his. David slid his hands behind her back and pulled her tight against his chest, his head beginning to lower. He noted how beautiful her long black eyelashes looked in contrast to those pale perfect cheeks, and just as his own eyes started to lower, Marko made a fake coughing sound off to their side, several yards down the beam.
David felt Raven stiffen slightly, then relax again in his arms. As he lifted his head, they both looked behind her to take in Marko looking rather sheepish.
"Uh…yeah." And with that he stepped off the bridge and disappeared.
Raven suddenly realized that David's arms were still holding her tightly and while she luxuriated in the feeling of those bands of iron around her, she didn't want him to think she randomly gave in to such acts of pleasure. She was a warrior and pleasure came after a battle had been won. Hers had not yet begun. She gently smiled at him and stepped back, balancing on the edge of the iron on her toes. David let her slide from his arms and while he immediately missed the feeling of her against him, he couldn't help but smile back.
"See ya."she winked, and was gone, letting herself fall backwards from the bridge.
Raven stretched her arms out to her sides as she plummeted towards the river, closing her eyes and relishing the rush of the wind against her body. Her hair whipped wildly around her face and her clothing felt as if it would be yanked apart at the seams. She sensed Dwayne rushing up from the ground and spun herself in the air so that her fingertips grazed his hand as their bodies shot past each other, the fog prohibiting sight but never sensation. He acknowledged her inside her mind with a flash of a huge smile and was gone again. She turned herself again so that she was now rushing toward the river face down, her arms slightly behind her, unable to stop the laughter that tumbled from her lips. Her mind reached out and found Paul, just righting himself above the water, preparing to soar back up to the bridge. She sent him a teasing thought. "All in good fun, right?" to make sure he wasn't upset with her for trapping him earlier.
An image immediately came back to her: Paul saluting her and then shaking a finger at her as if she were a naughty child. "It won't be so easy next time!"
She heard a collision just then that sounded like boulders colliding and sensed that Marko had just performed a mid-air tackle and knocked Paul from his upward journey. In her mind, she watched them spin out of control, playfully wrestling, then catching themselves right above the water again. They both passed her as they flew back up, yelling in glee the whole way and trading insults.
Raven felt river water spraying upwards against her as the current below crashed against rocks impeding it's flow and she stopped herself mere inches above it's surface. The joy she felt was unparalleled and she cupped one small hand and reached down, catching some of the cold water in her palm and carrying it up to her lips. She relished the icy liquid and the taste of each mineral in it burst in her mouth. It was not uncommon for immortals to eat or drink human food as their guise of being human required it from time to time. The venom in their bodies simply disintegrated any foreign substance making human food or drink harmless. Pleasure had a large part in an immortal mind, and if there was a substance the body enjoyed, then it could be partaken of without repercussion. At this moment, Raven wanted to taste the pureness of the river water, and she did so, drinking deeply while suspended above it's surface.
She felt David's mind reaching out for her and she sensed his enjoyment at her pleasure. He had remained on the bridge above, and she heard his pack taunting him to jump. She wanted to see him suddenly. Wanted to see his frighteningly handsome face with that white-blond spikey hair around it; wanted to smell him up close; wanted to be near him physically. She righted herself and propelled upward so forcefully that the river water was displaced down to it's bed, crashing back with the sound of a waterfall. Her fangs descended and talons pushed out at the amount of adrenaline coursing through her body and she delighted in their feel.
David stood on the iron beam, waiting for her to come back up. He had loved how she had looked as she had fallen away from the bridge, her slight frame taken by the fog, her lush lips open in a full smile. He couldn't wait to see her again, even though it had only been minutes.
His eyes were trained on the spot where he knew she would emerge from, but at the sight of her shooting out of the grayness, spinning in joy, laughter like music spilling from her lips, he was nearly overcome at her beauty. Her hair had wrapped itself around her like a live thing as she spun in space and her arms were thrown back over her head as if expecting a lover's embrace. As he watched, her spins slowed, her back arched, one knee coming up, looking like a ballet dancer in mid-performance. He craned his neck back to watch her as her upward momentum carried her a little further. She slowly came still in the air, and from his view with her body positioned as it was, it looked as if she were a magical night fairy, tilting her head back to kiss the moon.
Raven looked down from her spot in the clear night air above the bridge directly into David's cool blue gaze. The boys were knocking into each other and preparing to dive again, but her attention was only on David and his on her. She floated down to him, her boots gently meeting the iron. He was looking at her so intently, yet his thoughts were not open to her and she did not press. Her eyes held his, crimson sparks against ice blue fire, and she held out her hands to him. He took her hands in his, yet didn't speak, and they raised them together, arms bent at the elbows, fingers interlaced. She turned so her back was to the outer side of the beam, their bodies moving against each other as if in a slow dance.
"Come with me, David." she whispered and slowly let herself begin to lean backwards over the edge. He guessed her game, and smiled slowly as he let the momentum of her body carry his forward. They fell down into the chasm, the thick grayness enveloping them, cutting them off from the world. It was if they were inside a private place, wrapped in a great gray blanket. They were in a traditional lover's pose as they fell, she beneath him, him atop her, their arms above her head, fingers intertwined firmly. The wind took her hair and whipped it past his head, further enclosing them. The speed of their fall seemed to slow as each was caught in the gaze of the other, yet in reality they still hurtled downward. David's eyes left Raven's, traveling down over those high cheekbones, her perfect nose, coming to rest on those full rose-tined lips that were slightly parted. If anyone had been watching, they would have thought him enchanted by a spell perhaps, unable to help himself. But David was not one on whom a spell would work; he was simply doing what he wanted to do. And what he wanted to do was kiss this magic creature beneath him. And he did.
Raven watched his head descend and lost herself. At the first touch of his sensuously defined lips upon hers, flames burst out from her, enveloping them both. The flames were cold and a deep sapphire blue shot through with violet. Her colors of pleasure. She could not contain them and did not try. David's lips moved against hers, softly at first, then more firmly, seeking a response and she gave it. She kissed him back, and as his tongue entered her mouth, she moaned deep in her throat. His body responded and he untangled his fingers from hers, wrapping his arms tightly around her body and pulling her tightly up against him. She encircled his neck with her arms and to his pleasure, deepened their kiss even more. He growled in pleasure deep in his chest and an explosion of deep blue shot out around them, though neither was aware. They were slowly starting to summersault in the air and the change of angle brought their bodies even closer, causing delightful friction.
Though neither wanted to end the kiss, they both sensed at the same time that the river was seconds away. David broke away at the last second, flipping them quickly in mid-air in an action of protection for Raven, so that if they had misjudged their timing, which they had not, he would strike the river first and potentially take any harm upon his own frame. Using their combined forces, they managed to stop themselves with only the bottom of David's trenchcoat dipping into the cold water, and they hovered there above the surface, Raven laying atop David, letting her flames extinguish around them. An eternity passed in a few moments as they just continued to look at each other, emotions barely in check, but in check never the less.
Slowly, David righted them, keeping his arms tightly around Raven. The rest of the world slowly came back as the noise of the boys echoed above them and the sound of the river and the ocean beyond stole back in.
He lowered his head, placing his forehead against hers.
"Mmmmm. What a delightful aperitif. How about a late-night snack, Beautiful Bird?"
Raven tipped her head back and laughed joyously.
"Yes, please, my Night King."
David kissed her forehead and squeezed her tightly before taking her hand. Together they flew up and up and up, passing the boys who were on their way down. David sent a command to them to meet at the bikes soon and it was acknowledged with good-natured moans and groans. He and Raven journeyed on and shortly arrived, the others not long after. David got on his bike, and as before, reached back to offer a hand to Raven. She took it gladly, feeling a tingling in her palm, even though he still wore his leather gloves. The powerful engines roared to life, and as David skillfully headed them back towards town, Raven couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he touched her one day without those gloves on. She smiled as an image of the world exploding into blue flame came to her, and she settled her head against his shoulder and smiled.