It being such a clear night, Ian
and Faith decided to take their ice cream to the beach. Both enjoyed this beach
because it was off limits to the public. Plus, sometimes dolphins could be seen
swimming near the shore. Tonight they had the beach all to themselves. The
couple walked with a companionable silence. Anyone who saw them would think
they were merely a young couple enjoying each others company. No one would suspect
that both were in fact warriors in the battle between good and evil. Which side either was on remained to be seen. Both had a great light within but both also contained
a terrible darkness.
"You did not!"
Faith grinned. "Did
too."
"You were not a
cheerleader!"
"What, you don't think I
would make a good cheerleader?" Faith pouted.
"Hey, none
of that. You know I'm a big fan of your pom-poms. I'm just
saying that I find it hard to believe that you would go 'ra-ra'."
"I screamed a lot of things
in high school." Faith said huskily.
Ian gulped audibly. The killer of
Kabulk was blushing like a school boy. Faith made him
act like a 14 year old. At least, he thought this was how 14 year olds acted. When he was 14 times were different, he was
still learning how to become a killer.
Clearing his throat, he asked
"So, how's that tootie fruitie
treating you?" He was pretty sure
his voice hadn't cracked.
"It is so good! I could eat
this every day!" Faith's grin turned sinister. She placed the double scoop under his face.
"Try some."
"Faith," Ian's voice
held a note of warning. "You know I hate tootie fruitie."
"Please!!!" Faith's
lower lip stuck out. "For me."
Ian glared at her. "You
know, good little girlfriends don't treat their boyfriends like this."
Faith just basked in that word
for a moment. Girlfriend. Not lover, not killer, not slut,
whore, skank. Not any of the other names she had been
called. Ian made her feel like a girl, not someone with a destiny, just a girl.
That was just one of the reasons that she was falling in love with the handsome
redhead.
"Who said that I was a good
little girlfriend?"
Ian's grin turned into a smirk.
"True." Lowering his
mouth, he took a bite of the ice cream. His face screwed up a bit. He really
hated this flavor. "Bad."
Faith's grin turned to a gasp
when Ian grabbed the top of her overalls and pulled her towards him. Before she
could say anything his mouth was on hers, gently probing. She couldn't stop the moan that escaped her
lips. She made a little groan of disappointment when he drew his head back.
Ian licked his lips.
"Better."
Faith swatted his arm. "You
are such an asshole sometimes." she laughed.
"Yes, but I'm your
asshole."
Faith's eyes looked at the
ground. "Are you?" she said, barely above a whisper. It was so soft that if Ian
hadn't had keen hearing he wouldn't have heard her. But he had.
"What do you
mean, am I?"
Faith looked at him then away
quickly. "It's nothing."
"Faith?"
"Forget I said anything, all
right!" It came out harsher than she had meant but she'd be damned if she would
apologize. He was partly the cause of her current confusion.
Ian sighed. He knew that
something was bothering Faith, something serious enough that she felt she
couldn't tell him. Through an unspoken agreement they had decided not to delve
into each others past. Ian knew that there were things in
her past that she didn't feel comfortable talking about. Faith just really
didn't care. He was with her now and, as far as she could tell over the last
three months, he wasn't going to turn into some sort of monster.
Finally, he had had enough. He guided Faith to
a bench by the bay that ran by their home. Being gentle he turned her face
towards his. "Pussy Cat, what's the matter? You know you can tell me
anything."
Faith looked into his grey eyes
and broke. Tearing her face from his hand she continued looking at the ground.
"We've been together for about three months. We live together, we sleep in the same bed, we buy fucking groceries together. It
looks like we have a pretty close relationship going."
Ian was confused. "That's
because we do. I've never been happier."
"Then why haven't you slept
with me?" Faith said in that voice that made her sound like a hurt six
year old.
Ian's confusion wasn't going
anywhere. "You just said we slept in the same bed."
Faith's mood lightened a hair.
She sometimes forgot that despite Ian's prolific life he was still
naive when it came to how people were. He had told her that this was because he
didn't interact with people much. "That wasn't what I meant."
"So what....". Suddenly Ian's confusion was no more. "Ohhh"
Silence descended on the two.
Faith was afraid that she had offended Ian.
"Look Ian, I'm sorry. Just forget about...."
"Faith, why are you apologizing
to me? You didn't do anything wrong. In fact, you asked a pretty damned
good question."
"You were quiet for so long,
I thought you may be angry."
Ian grinned
a little grin. "Pussy Cat, you never have to apologize for saying something
to me. I was quiet because I wanted to word my response right." Ian's grin evaporated. Taking a deep breath he
turned towards Faith. "You have every
right to know. I do have a reason, two in fact. I didn't tell you the
second because it's kind of corny sounding. I didn't tell you the first because
I'll probably lose you because of it." His eyes dropped. "I didn't
want you to find out afterwards because you'd hate me for it."
Faith was starting to get scared.
"Ian, what is it?" What could be so terrible that he thought she
would be afraid of him.
"Faith, I'm not entirely
human."
"If your not
human, what are you?" Faith wasn't scared anymore, just wary, and a little
confused.
Ian sighed. "I don't know. I
honestly don't know. I thought I was a shifter of some sort, because I can do
this." Ian extended his hand so that Faith could see it. Before her eyes
small claws, no longer than his normal nails, grew from his finger tips. "And this." He pulled his lips back to show that
his canines and incisors had grown into small fangs. They were cute, in a feral
sort of way. Faith also noticed that his eyes had changed. She didn't know how,
she just knew they had. "But I don't change any further and the change is
entirely voluntary." Ian lowered his hand into his lap. "Look Faith, I'll understand if you want
me to leave."
Faith had to smile. He looked like
a puppy who was waiting to get kicked. "And what makes you think I'll let you
leave?"
Ian's head snapped around.
"What?"
"What makes you think I'll
leave just because you have claws and fangs?"
"I don't know, I just
thought you wouldn't want to be with someone like this."
Faith took a deep breath.
"Ian, will you ever hurt me?"
"Of course
not." He was actually a little offended that she would
even ask.
"If I asked you nicely,
would you use them during kinky sex?"
Ian grinned
his grin. "I suppose I could be persuaded."
Faith took Ian's face in her
hands and brought it close to her own. "So why should I care?" With
that she brought their mouths together. She maneuvered her tongues over and
between the fangs. She felt his claws caress her scalp, sending shivers down
her spine. After a moment they separated.
"Faith, you are a very bold
girl. I like that." Ian couldn't believe that she had no problem with his
little additions. Just another reason that he would never let
her go.
"Silly boy, thinking fangs
could scare me. Don't you know nothing scares me?"
Ian smirked. "Except
Richard Simmons."
"Hey, he's scary. He only
hangs out with fat people. Plus he's put out a shitload
of exercise videos, yet he's not getting any skinnier. It's just
unnatural."
Ian's laugh rumbled against
Faith, who had placed her head against his chest.
"At least I'm not sacred
of..." Ian's hand flew to cover her mouth.
"Don't even say it. I will
punish you severely if you even utter it."
"Okay." Faith mumble against Ian's hand.
The silence that descended upon
them was a comfortable one.
"Ian, you said there were two reasons
that you wouldn't sleep with me. What was the other?"
Ian actually looked embarrassed.
"Faith, I told you it sounds corny. Can't we just forget about it?"
"Not if it's in the way of
me getting lucky?" she said indignantly.
He couldn't help it. He started
laughing. She just looked too stern to be talking about such a silly thing.
"And what do you find so
funny?" Faith was a little miffed. Her anger lightened at that thought.
She had been many things in her life. Miffed was not one of them.
"All right, but don't say I
didn't warn you. Faith, as it stands, I am in love with you. I'm not talking 'I
like you a lot' love, I'm talking about 'anyone wants to mess with you has to
go through me first' love." Ian took a deep breath and thought carefully
about he was about to say. He looked down at Faith's face. He had her undivided
attention. A single tear had run down her face. "As it stands now, if for
some reason I lost you, either you died or you realized that you were too good
for me and left, I think I might be able to get over it. It would probably take
years, maybe decades, maybe never. But if we become intimate, if we break down
that last barrier between us, I won't ever be able to let you go. If I were to
lose you I wouldn't be able to go on."
"Is that the only thing
holding you back?"
"Nothing
else."
"Ian, I'm not going
anywhere. There is nothing about you I don't find sexy." She paused. "Except
you Cinnamon Life obsession." She smiled.
"What is wrong with Cinnamon
Life? It's been good to me."
Before he could continue he found
his mouth busy. Unlike their previous kisses this one was harder, not asking
but demanding invitation. Ian decided to lose himself in it for a moment. What
snatched him out it was the feeling of Faith's hand sliding across his groin,
starting to massage the bulge that was rapidly forming. She was making this
hard on him, no pun intended. With a groan that was partly due to her
ministrations and partly due to his fucking need to be a gentleman, he pushed
her hand away. She looked at him with confusion.
Swallowing, he answered her
unspoken question. "Faith, the first time will not be on a bench in the
middle of a condo complex. For one, we wouldn't be able to be fully vocal."
he grinned.
Shaking her head Faith answered
"Ian, I've done it in worse places than by the bay."
"Not with me, you haven't.
Faith, I just found out that the fact that I look like Lon Chaney didn't
repulse you. Let me sike myself up for the big event.
We're only going to have the first time once. Let's do it right."
"Oh all right." Faith
pouted. "But you better be good at head to keep me waiting this
long."
He chuckled. That's my Faith.
"Pussy Cat, have I ever told
you about my old master?" Getting a negative from Faith he continued.
"He took me from a bad situation and had me taught to fight. Of course, he
couldn't fight if his life depended on it. Fortunately him
being
immortal made it kind of meaningless." Faith nestled into his chest,
enjoying the story. He rarely talked about his life previous to a few years
ago. "He had the greatest fighters teach me. There isn't a style or system
I'm not aware of. Most I'm proficient in. There isn't a blade or bow I don't
know how to use. After I learned all this, it made me feel good. I
had all this power at my disposal. But that wasn't what I loved most about
him. He treated me like a son. He told me stories, took me to meetings with
him, got mad at me whenever my grades were bad. He expected nothing short of
perfection from me, yet also knew that no one was perfect. When I got older, oh
about 13, I became his head bodyguard. When
I
turned 18, I became his personal assassin. He told me who to kill, what he needed
stolen, anything, I would do it. I loved him like a father. Even
his weird obsession with cleanliness." Ian didn't notice that Faith
had stiffened a little. "He
finally told me to leave about 6 years ago. Told me it was time that I
spread my wings and made my mark on the world." Slow tears were running down Ian's face as
he remembered one of only a few people who had ever given a damned about him. "He was a great man." Suddenly Ian chuckled.
"He was a great man who turned into a big snake."
"He finally let you down,
huh?"
"No, I heard he literally
turned into an 80 foot serpent at the end. Wish I could have seen it. Unfortuantely, I was in China at the time."
Faith's head shot up. It couldn't
be. "What was his name?"
Ian was confused. "Whenever
we had company I called him Master. When we were alone I called him by his
first name."
"What was his first
name?"
"Richard. Why are you
asking?"
Faith couldn't answer him. She
had fainted.