Virtual Season Two – Episode #25
"Where The Wild Things Play"Part Three of Three
(Soundtrack Suggestion – "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones, and from the album "Come Away With Me" )
"I have to admit," Vivian whispered softly against the curve of Matt's shoulder where she had lain her cheek against. "I'm a little rusty at this. It's definitely been awhile."
He smiled and pressed a reassuring kiss to the top of her head. "You're doing fine. Besides, you're not the only one who is a little nervous. I can't even remember the last time I did this."
Vivian closed her eyes. Lips curving faintly, as she cuddled closer. "I don't want this to end. Think we can keep this up for a little while longer?"
Matt chuckled. "I'm not going anywhere. We have the entire night ahead of us."
Vivian made a sound of contentment as he ran his hands down the curve of her spine. Pressing into the small of her back as they continued to sway to the beat of a soft jazz love song filtering out from the interior of the Mansion through the open sliding doors, which lead out to the spacious wrap-around porch that had just been turned into their dance floor.
Stars glittered above them like vibrant diamonds cast against a black silk cloth, and the moon shone brightly. It's light pure and beautiful as it lit up the expanse of jagged, snow-capped mountains and surrounding forests that made up their view and their world.
They were still dressed up from their date. Matt was still in his suit, and Vivian was still in her silk dress made up of several different hues of amethyst and lavender. But their dress shoes had long ago been kicked off in favor of dancing barefoot across the smooth wood planks beneath their feet.
"I enjoyed tonight." Vivian admitted conversationally. Eyes still closed as she breathed in deeply of her new mate's scent. "Everything has been so crazy the last few months… It was so wonderful to actually relax for an evening, and not have to worry about anything."
"Yes, it was." Matt agreed. Enjoying the feel of Vivian's arms wrapped around his neck. Fingers resting against his nape.
He'd been the official Alpha of the Pack for four months now, and the transition had been pretty seamless in its lack of traditional bloodshed. He had made sure of that. There had never been a doubt in his Clan's mind about what repercussions would befall them if anyone tried to turn his ascension into a civil war.
Matt was the leader that most of them had wanted seventeen years ago… Well, they had him now. And they all knew it. Now he was just waiting to see who would make the first threatening move in challenge of his position.
So far, it had been a quiet wait. But a big influence in that quietness had to do with the fact that most of those that would have challenged him were either dead or gone. Malachi, Stokes, and Gerald – all dominant males of the Old Guard – had been killed, along with Stokes and Gerald's sons. The only potential two rivals were Tyler and Malachi's son.
Tyler was MIA… they hadn't seen nor heard anything about him since the events of four months ago… he had disappeared from Wolf Lake, and hadn't even taken anything with him. Matt knew it was only a matter of time before he came back, but for now, he didn't think it was an issue he was going to have to confront anytime soon.
Malachi's son, however, was a completely different scenario, and one that he had been discussing at length with Vivian tonight over dinner.
When Malachi was killed, and the future of the Clan was up for grabs, Julian – just turned twenty – had been smart enough to disappear long before his father's impaled body had even turned cold. And he had been long gone by the time the election had rolled around.
He had gone up north, over the border into Canada, and had remained there for the past six months. But now, word had finally reached him via a loyal supporter of his deceased father that Matt was now in control of the Clan, and that it would be safe for the young heir to the Old Guard leadership to return.
But the acceptance of Julian back into the fold wasn't going to be seamless. He would be the youngest pack member to ever have control of the Old Guard, and even though it was a group that Matt didn't approve of, it was still a critical part of the Wolf Lake Clan.
The Old Guards were their solders. Their army. The most brutal of their kind. They had a different set of beliefs, of handling things. Keeping to themselves, living by the ways of their ancestors, and isolated from the rest of the Pack.
They did the things that none of the others wanted to know about or do. They handled the situations that none of the others were willing to touch.
Handling the problems that no one else even so much as caught wind of.
They were the proverbial power behind the throne… the stiletto in the dark. And as Alpha to the Pack, it was critical that Matt have their support. But he was already on shaky ground with them for giving the order to evacuate Wolf Lake four months ago in the face of the Hunters' aggression and technology, when it had been apparent that they had wanted to stay and fight. Despite being weakened by not having their strongest of leaders to guide them.
Julian was Malachi's son. He had been raised with the knowledge that one day he would replace his father. He had been trained in the old ways of their kind that were now considered too barbaric except for the most extreme positions within the Pack. Matt was concerned about whether or not Julian would be loyal, or if he would carry a grudge against him for the same reasons that the other members of his tribe did… Or if maybe his possible disloyalty would stem from the same flavor that his father had possessed.
Malachi had been against Matt's marriage to a human. And he had heartily disapproved of Matt giving away his right to lead the Pack after Marie's death. He hadn't been pleased with the idea that their strongest male, and the shoe-in for Alpha, had thrown it all away because of a promise he had made to his dying wife, just days after their Alpha of over thirty years had died, and the war amongst the Clan had begun. He had thought Matt a coward and a weakling and that he had turned his back on his Clan when it had been at its greatest hour of need.
There had been a lot of hostility between Matt and Gerald… and Matt was sure that that had to have bled over to his son at some point or another. He was just going to have to wait and see whether or not Julian was going to seek to be just like his father, or if he would be strong enough to be his own person, and choose whether or not there would be war between them as well.
He hoped that it wouldn't. After everything that they had been through, the last thing that Matt wanted to see was the Pack falling back into civil war. Their numbers had dwindled far too low as it was, what with the last war before Willard's ascension, then the resulting loss of far more children than ever before, what with an even thinner gene pool to work with, and then the blow of the Hunters in which valuable breeding mated pairs had been lost… They couldn't afford another war.
Because if that is what lay on the horizon for Wolf Lake, then what remained of the Skinwalkers wouldn't survive to see the birth of the next century. There would just be a silent graveyard of torn apart corpses and lost half-flipped children to mark their passing.
"You're doing it again." Vivian chastised gently. Eyes opening slightly. "You're thinking about things you have no business thinking about while you're holding me in your arms during such a perfect moment."
"I'm sorry."
Vivian lifted her head up to look at him. Expression soft and inviting. "Don't be. Expecting you not to worry about the future of our people would be like expecting the sun not to come up tomorrow."
"I'm just… concerned… Concerned about whether or not I'm doing the right thing by allowing Julian to come back home."
Vivian rested her chin against his chest, eyes trailing over the strong column of his throat revealed by the open top of his crisp white dress shirt. "We won't really know where he stands till he does come back. Besides, I've told you before. Julian never particularly struck me as a Malachi clone. He always seemed far more intelligent than he let on. I mean, he was quiet because he was smart enough to know that the longer you remained invisible to the rest of the Clan, the quicker it became easier for you to remain as such… Even though he might have been standing right in front of them. That can be a powerful tool in the right hands." Vivian paused. "Where is he now? Did he say?"
"He'll be crossing over the border in two days… he'll be back in town by the end of the week."
"Well then, I guess we'll just have to wait and see whether or not his allegiance we fall to you. He will be a powerful ally if so."
"Or a dangerous enemy if not." Matt pointed out. Wrapping his arms tighter around her as they continued to dance.
Vivian turned her head and pressed her cheek back against his chest. Slender hands running over the back of his shoulders reassuringly.
~*~*~*~
Sophia knew that standing there with her mouth ajar was probably not the proper response, but for an extended moment in time, it was the best she could do as she gazed upon Luke's handiwork. The answer to the mystery of where he had gone off to in wolf form while she had taken her swim was revealed.
He had brought her to the mouth of a cave, carved into the side of what was the foundation of what could either be referred to as a small mountain or a massive hill… but it wasn't so much the unfamiliar cave as it was the interior.
Her lover had been apparently been a very busy boy.
The cave's interior didn't stretch very far… only about 200 feet into the rock, and it was less than 100 feet wide. And the only way she was able to know that, was partially because of the small fire banked low and burning close enough to the opening that the small amount of smoke was able to drift out of the mouth and into the night air.
As nice as it was though, the fire wasn't the reason for her stunned silence… the dozens of lit candles scattered throughout however, were.
She felt Luke come up right behind her, and had the presence of mind to finally shut her mouth as his arms encircled her waist, and his lips brushed over her temple.
"Do you remember right after my father had his stroke in the Diner, and the Rave that I brought you to?"
Sophia frowned slightly. "Uh, you mean the one where you got drunk and acted like a total jackass, and then I tried to go home and got kidnapped by Nancy?" She turned around in his arms enough to give him a look. "Gee, I don't remember that at all."
"Remember me telling you then that I knew of this great place that I wanted to take you to?"
Sophia's eyes narrowed. "You're not exactly winning any points here with this conversation, Luke."
Luke continued, ignoring her comment. "Well, consider this my making it up to you. This was the place I wanted to bring you that night… even though the timing hadn't been right."
"And you were drunk." Sophia added firmly.
"And I was drunk." Luke repeated in agreement. Eyes darkening slightly. "If I hadn't been drinking, I would have remembered who had picked you up that night on the highway, and I could have told your father. Also, if I hadn't already been drunk when going to her salon, I would have picked up on your scent… and not just the lingering one that would have been left from your visit there a couple days prior." He craned his head around enough to meet her gaze with his. "Notice how I don't drink around you anymore."
Sophia snorted. "You and I are hardly ever apart."
Luke kissed the top of her head. "Exactly."
Sophia gave him one last look, before relenting and turning back around. Curious, she slowly pulled away, wanting to explore the interior a little closer. He let his arms drop from around her waist, and shadowed her from just a few feet away.
She felt it when she crossed its threshold. The power. The energy. It tickled over her skin and raised the fine hairs on the back of her neck. Surprised, she turned to look at Luke.
"What is this place?"
His lips curved upwards faintly. Shadows cast by firelight dancing in his eyes. "It's been a secret place for the Clan for as long as our kind have been in this town. A lot of our people have embraced their duel nature here."
Sophia turned her head away and walked further into the cave… and it hit her right in the gut.
It wasn't necessarily painful, but it was an unusual sensation. She should have been panicked at the feel of it sinking into her. Touching places within her that were decidedly not human. She gasped slightly as a second wave of power poured over her. Soaking into her skin. She had never felt anything quite like it… except when she Flipped. And even then, it wasn't this strong.
"You mean this is where couple came to…" Sophia's question trailed off as she stopped. Closing her eyes for a moment and trying to take in shallow breaths when she began to sway slightly. Steadying herself up against the energy that seemed to permeate the very air, filling her lungs, and finding yet another way into her body by coursing through her blood stream.
Luke thought she had stopped speaking because she was embarrassed about the nature in which this cave had been used. She felt him come closer to her, although he didn't make contact.
"You don't mind me having brought you here, do you?" he asked, concern in his voice. "I don't want you to think that this place is the equivalent of an over-used motel room or something… that's not it at all. It has a very special meaning for the Pack. I don't know… something to do with it being at the heart of our territory or something. It's open to the embrace of our forests, and to our animal nature." He paused hesitantly. "It's where you should have been when you Flipped."
Sophia heard him but she didn't respond. He sighed. Taking her silence to mean unhappiness.
"I'm sorry. I thought you would enjoy coming here. But we can leave if you're not comfortable, it not a big de – "
Sophia's eyes shot open and she flung her hand out. Grabbing his arm to halt him from walking away. "No. That's not it at all. I want to stay. It's just…"
Luke looked at her oddly. "It's just what?"
Sophia let go of his arm and both of her hands swept outward. Encompassing the interior. "Can't you feel it?" she asked. Finally feeling a little more steady on her feet. "There's… power here. A hell of a lot of it, too."
Luke looked around. "Well… hundreds of our ancestors have flipped here. You of all people know what that Otherness feels like when it bursts along the skin for that first time."
"This is different, though." Sophia commented. Walking over to the naturally formed surface of the surrounding walls. "It's like the surrounding rock and even the ground under our feet have been soaked in it." She pressed her palm against the cool stone. Feeling the rough texture under her skin. "I can feel it."
And she could. Somehow or other, in this place she was connected to the past, present, and future. She could sense the hundreds – indeed thousands – that had Flipped within this chamber in the last two hundred years. She could sense the passion and eroticism of couples coming together for the first time… the agony of the experience as their bodies were literally ripped apart from the insides in order to give birth to their second forms… The incredible power that would come in a wash of glowing light, clinging to their new furs… Their joy of succeeding successfully, and the rapture of slipping off into the surrounding forests in order to explore this new world that had just been opened up to them…
It was enough to make her eyes burn from the emotion it invoked from within her, but it was what lay under that, that caused the tears to gather. There was a darker, more subtle undertone resting there… the by-product of the youth that didn't make it. A failure becoming more and more common as the decades passed.
She could feel the agony of bodies rejecting themselves… Of minds pushed to the breaking point… Of lovers screaming out their pain as their mates died in their arms, or at the hands of their Alpha…
It was all here. The good… and the bad.
And this place had soaked up the experiences like a sponge.
It had always been an ongoing discussion amongst the members of the Pack to discuss the idea of magic clinging to the forests of Wolf Lake… Not that the actual forest itself was magical, mind you, but because of the people within it that had been making the Change and running in their wolf skins for over two hundred years, that the by-product of that shift must cling in some way or other to their surroundings.
Sophia herself had never been sure if she believed in all of that, or if it was just a pretty little thought… But now, standing in this place, she had no doubt. It literally throbbed and pulsed with the awakening of thousands to their Otherness. Regardless of whether or not that awakening brought them new life or only death.
"Sophia?"
Sophia blinked… and yanked her hand away from the wall as if burned. Cradling it to her chest, she slowly backed away. Stopping after about ten feet.
"Sophia, what's wrong?"
She shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing at all. It's just… this place is a little overwhelming."
"Sophia, I'm not sensing anything."
She smiled secretively at that. Slowing dropping her hands back to her side. "No, you wouldn't. No one would. It's me. It's only me. I'm probably the only one who can sense it… Just like I'm the only one who can sometimes force those in arrest to complete their Flip."
Luke came up beside her. Tucking a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. "You think there is some sort of magical quality to what you do?"
She shook her head. "No, nothing that dramatic… I don't know how to describe it, Luke. When I'm with one of them, it's like I can call out to their inner wolves. Actually achieve a mind link, just like I would do with any of our kind. I can convince them to come to the surface. Sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes they are just too far gone, and too far buried under their twisted humanoid bodies… But it's a lot like coaxing out a reluctant animal with a piece of meat. They always want to come… it's just that sometimes they aren't sure how to go about it."
She began to walk along the cavern's wall. Studying all the ancient looking candles mounted into the walls, and the beads of wax that dripped down their slender bodies to harden at varying levels in the rock crevices. She had to step carefully to avoid the ones scattered about on the floor. Sitting in their holders as they burned steadily. Flickering only from the slight stirring of air currents caused by her and Luke's movement about the cavern.
"It's almost like I'm connecting to all of the ones that have come here to Flip. And I know that's crazy, because I know it's just the imprint of the wolven pheromones released during the first Change that have collected here over the centuries… but that is still the way it feels. Because I'm sensing those, I'm also connecting to the emotions felt by those individuals at that particular time. It's a little… chaotic." But she knew how to deal with it. It was simple child's play in comparison to what she had done four months ago in order to save the Pack and destroy the Hunters.
"This is where you Flipped, isn't it? This is where you made the Change for the first time."
Luke nodded slowly. "Unlike some of the other members of the Pack, my father new forgot the knowledge of this place, or the purpose it served. He wasn't going to risk losing his only son and heir without having provided me with everything he could think of to help me survive when the time came."
Sophia frowned. "You were thirteen. So young…"
Luke sighed. "You know as well as I do, Sophia, that the older we get, the more dangerous it become to attempt to merge into that other world. I was too important to the Pack to be allowed time to mature by human standards. My Flip was a ritual immersed in the ancient traditions of the Clan to give me all the leverage possible. It was definitely not a casual – or private – experience."
She nodded distractedly, as if she wasn't paying attention to what he had said. But she had heard every word, and had filed it away for further examination. The Pack turning their backs on the ways of the Old down through the recent decades might explain a portion of their current predicament.
Luke grasped her by the arm and turned her around to face him. Forcing her to look at him. "Are you going to be okay, or do we need to leave?"
Sophia smiled reassuringly at him. Stepping closer to him to press her palms against his bare chest, she watched as the play of darkened shadows and golden light danced across his beautiful nude body and features. Knew that he was watching a similar show taking place on her own skin. Highlighted by the black bra and underwear still gracing her form.
In that moment, their surroundings took on an entirely different meaning, as she remembered the reason why they had come out here in the first place.
Sliding one hand up the centerline of his chest, she encircled the back of his neck… and brought his lips down to hers.
~*~*~*~
It was entering well into the darkest hours of the night. Vivian had already changed into her nightgown and was perched on the edge of the chair pulled up to her vanity, brushing her hair, when Matthew knocked on her door.
Surprised, a small knowing smile flitted across her lips as she placed the brush back down on the vanity top, threw an arm over the back of her chair, and turned just in time to see him open the door to enter her room.
But any thoughts she might have had about his unexpected visit evaporated when she saw his expression.
"Matt? What is it? What's wrong?"
"I just got a call from Molly. I'm going to have to go in tonight. There's been a murder. Actually, two murders."
Vivian slowly came to her feet. A look of concern spreading over her features. "Who were they?"
Matt visibly swallowed. "A young couple. Human. They were out-of-towners, just here visiting some family that live in town. They went for a walk one morning and never came back. They found their bodies behind the Brewery." He paused, as if unsure how to continue. "Molly said that the bodies were half eaten."
Vivian closed her eyes, and let out a breath. "It was one of ours, then." She looked back up to Matt for confirmation. "It was a Skinwalker."
Matt didn't answer, but he didn't need to.
The silence was answer enough.
~*~*~*~
Shadows danced with the golden light from the surrounding pinpoints of firelight flickering within their depths. Darkness crept along the rock surface of the walls and ceiling of the cavern, settling thickly in the corners farthest from the multiple sources of glowing candles. The small fire closer to its entrance was still burning steadily. As the flames licked at the wood fueling it, the sounds of popping and crackling echoed within the cavern's expanse. Intermingling with the faint sounds of passion beginning to ignite in the hearts and bodies of the couple intertwined at the very center of the naturally formed room. A couple unaware of how their own shadows cast against the rock wall behind them had melded erotically with each other. Depicting their intimate foreplay in a startlingly primitive contrast.
Sophia was straddling Luke's lap where he had tugged her down upon after first kneeling in the nest of furs gathered at the center of the cavern. It had been something that had escaped her scrutiny upon first entering this place, although how, she wasn't exactly sure.
It was a bed, for lack of a better term, that was made up of pelts. It was the fur that had covered the prey that had fallen under the claws of the Skinwalkers.
Their were hundreds of them, potentially thousands, and it covered at least a twenty by twenty foot section, at least four foot thick. Some were old. Older than the couple currently resting on them combined… Some were newer, and still carried the scent of the animals that they had once belonged to. Large and small, of varying textures and colors, she couldn't help but marvel at the collection.
Despite how her human morals might have protested the mass amount of the furs, she wasn't completely human. And she couldn't find it within herself to even be the slightest bit guilty. Not while in this place. She was a wolf at heart, after all. They were predators, and Wolf Lake provided the hunting grounds that became necessary at different times in a Skinwalker's life. The hunt, the kill, and the feast were all a part of their Other nature. And there was no shame in that.
Besides, the feel of the various furs rubbing up against her body, surrounding her in warmth and the reminder of who and what she was… it was a powerful aphrodisiac, and she understood yet again why this place had become such a valuable secret to the Pack.
This was a place of magic and the miracle of that first Flip. It had once been a necessary part of every young member of the Clan. But over the years human morality had stolen into their people's lives, and they no longer wanted to press their children to come to this place when the time came to Flip. Thinking that it was too barbaric a practice. Too ritualistically heavy with potential sacrifice. Not fully understanding that that decision might have cost them so many fragile lives.
She didn't want to think about how many of their kind they might have saved if they had held to that ancient tradition, instead of turning their backs on it. Leaving most of their children to struggle in the darkness of uncertainty and ignorance. She didn't want to think that in their desire to be more like the humans and leave the Old Ways behind them, they had let their pride get in the way of their offspring's – and their species – survival.
Sophia tilted her head back as Luke ran the heat of his mouth down the curve of her throat. Running the tip of his tongue over her pulse, and pinching the tender skin over her collarbone gently between his teeth at the same time both of his palms cupped her lower hips and pulled her closer.
A small cry came from her parted lips, and her hands clenched where they rested on his back shoulders. The tips of her nails digging firmly into the soft skin overlaying rock-hard strength as she gave herself over to his ministrations. They had been lovers for five months, and although it had always been incredible between them, they had had a lot of time to find out what pleasured the other the most. The secret places on each other's bodies that were unique only to them, and revealed only to each other.
One thing that would never change for their people was their highly sexual nature. And communication amongst lovers didn't necessarily mean talking. In fact, it very rarely ever did. When you are dealing with a species that rely on their senses to tell them everything they need to know, it's impossible to keep anything secret from your mate. It could be a very beneficial – if albeit a frightening experience at times – to know that there was somebody out there that knew your body as intimately – if not more so – than you did.
She could feel him long and thick and perfect, pressing into her lower body, as the junction of her thighs continued to burn with increasing arousal. The thin scrap of satin that passed for underwear still clung to her body, even though her bra and had ago been cast aside.
Pulling his mouth away from her neck, his glowing gaze met hers for a spilt second before he kissed her, and slipped between her parted lips to stroke deeply inside her mouth. She could feel the muscles of his in his mouth, his jaw, his neck working as he held her, pressed into her, explored her... Possessed her. He moved inside her mouth the way she imagined that he would move inside her body, and a sound rose in her throat at the sensations it invoked. As if with every movement of his tongue against hers, he tugged upon a shining, slender filament tied directly to the pleasure zones of her body… and with every tug, he forced something within her to tighten hotter and hotter till she couldn't help but cry out against the pressure of his mouth against hers.
A growl erupted from his throat, and his hands slid lower. Cupping her derriere and tilting her backwards. Letting her fall into the thick nest of pelts beneath them.
She landed against them, all pale skin and shining eyes surrounded by the furs. He followed her down, and the view of his body leaning over hers took her breath away. His hands pulled forward slightly till they came to her hips, and stroked under the thin black straps resting there. The feel of his slightly calloused fingers running over the tender skin caused her to set her teeth into her bottom lip, and when she both felt and heard the cloth rip with a sound that only wet silk could make, she had to restrain the soft, inarticulate cry that rose in her tightening throat, or the way that her body moved restlessly underneath his. Knowing that the only barrier that separated them now was nothing but thin air and the magic of anticipation.
His eyes glowed more vibrantly than any candle that surrounded them, and the shadows of firelight mimicked the flames she saw in those passionate depths as they danced over the glorious expanse of her body.
She had many images of Luke that would forever be imprinted upon her heart… but there would always be a part of her that would always see him just like this. Sexually charged and desire ridden. Dominate and gentle. Primitive and adoring.
The surface of his skin rippled with suppressed inhuman strength as he rose aggressively over her. Taking her hands in both of his, fingers intertwining, and pinning them relentlessly above her head. Holding her there.
His lips came down to hers, his kiss gentle and loving. At odds with the raw animal aggression raging through his body. The contradiction was almost enough to bring a smile to her lips as she kissed him back. Almost. She knew all too well what a potent combination that made in him.
Feeling her body arch underneath his, he worked a path down the line of her curved throat. The sensation of that mouth and teeth and tongue working against her sensitive skin was pure torment.
He pulled his mouth away reluctantly, and looked down at her. Really looked at her. Stretched out beneath him, revealed and open.
A faint smile curving his mouth as the firelight danced in his inhuman eyes. Sophia smiled back, breath catching a little bit as she saw in his gaze the effect the sight of her was having on him. Loving the sensation of his fingers running between hers above her head tenderly.
"This is it." He whispered hoarsely. "This is the vision that I want to see the night following our own mating ceremony. This is where I want us to be when we come together for the first time as official mates, and complete the bonding process." One of his hands untangled itself from hers and came down to stroke the side of her face. Fingers tracing over her cheekbone and jaw-line tenderly. "This is where I want to spend that night with you."
Sophia blinked. Of all the things she had been expecting him to say, this possibility hadn't even been a remote consideration. On one hand, she almost wanted to cry at the beauty of his words and the love that she saw in his eyes… but on the other…
Luke's focus suddenly sharpened, and he looked at her a little closer. Suddenly serious. "I told you four months ago that I would give you time to think about it. Time for everything to sink in, and for you to become comfortable with your new position in the Pack, and with me. I also told you, that the day would come that I would ask you again, and I would want your answer."
Sophia's eyes widened slightly, and her lips parted even though it took a couple of tried before anything came out. "You're asking me again here? Now?"
One brow rose a fraction. "Can you think of a better time?"
Sophia blinked again a couple of times. Trying desperately to gather her thoughts. "I-It just seems like such a big step."
Luke frowned. "And what we've done together already wasn't?"
Sophia shook her head. "No, I didn't mean that."
Now Luke just looked confused. "What exactly did you mean? I thought you were comfortable now, with everything."
"I just… don't see a reason to rush into it, that's all. What's wrong with just taking it slow for awhile longer? What wrong with just keeping things the way they are?"
He went completely still and just looked at her. She could see his shock at her obvious refusal. As if uncertain that he was having this conversion with the right person. Sophia groaned inwardly. Not liking this turn of events.
Wanting to remedy the situation, Sophia tried again to convince him. "I love being with you, Luke. I love everything about our relationship. I just don't want any of that to change, that's all. And it shouldn't. It'll be so much easier this way. You know it, and I know it. Mating ceremonies among the youngest of the Pack don't exactly happen every day, even with those who are bonded, like we are. So I don't see why we can't just be content with what we have for right now, and forget about the rest."
Luke cocked his head to the side, eyes staring unwaveringly into hers. She looked back at him uncertainly. Tension beginning to gather in her stomach. She didn't like the look she saw rising in his eyes at that moment.
But before she had a chance to decipher it, he surprised her. Again.
Before she had a chance to contemplate any of it, his lips descended back onto hers. And she knew something had just happened. A line had just been crossed. Something critical had just changed, altering her future, although she'd be damned if she knew what it was.
But it wasn't going to take long before the answer was revealed to her, as she was about to find out.
The kiss was hungry, erotic, heated. Like black silk or the softest of midnight velvets, it rubbed across her senses and made her painfully aware once more of the desire running through her like the smoothest flow of golden honey. She felt his other hand release hers and join his other as he ran them down the sides of her body. Exploring the texture of her skin. Fingers tracing every line and hollow and curve he had committed to memory. He brought her body skillfully back to life. Touching her in ways that only a familiar lover would know how to do.
Her eyes, burning with desire, looked up into his… and the calculating expression she saw there sent a shock through her. And it wasn't a pleasant one.
She knew then what was wrong, what had changed. He wasn't enjoying himself.
He was touching her, and his contact was gentle and loving, but the desire was gone from his eyes… even if his body hadn't quite gotten the message.
Despite the detachment she was seeing take place in his eyes, she still thought that he was going to make love to her. That he was going to sink himself into her as far as he could go. She was prepared for that. For him to try and convince her to change her opinions about the mating ceremony through the touch of his body against hers. It was one of the traits that all Skinwalker males carried. They all knew just how to weaken their mates resolve enough to get what they wanted, if they tried long enough. She knew now for certain that, for whatever reason, he wanted their ceremony to take place soon… And he was nothing if not determined when he wanted something to go his way.
Her breaths were still coming fast, causing her chest to rise and fall rapidly, and she knew he was sensing her blood pulsing just below the skin. She also knew he could smell her overwhelming arousal, as well as feel the dampness between her thighs where he held himself completely still. Poised as her entrance. The hard length of his body pressing her firmly into the softness of the bed of furs. Scalding her with the touch of his skin upon hers.
And then he pulled away. And the shock of the cold air rushing over her skin as his left her drove the air from her lungs.
Turning slightly onto her side, she brought her legs together and sat up. Looking at him through a curtain of her own mussed up hair where he stood about thirty feet away. Surprise and more than a little hurt running through her mind.
His back was slightly turned, and he had already pulled on a pair of dusty jeans that had been discarded in a corner of the cavern before he had come back for her at the Rave. She heard the sound of the zipper sliding upwards and the button snapping in place, before he finally turned back to look at her.
Tossing her hair back, she met his gaze unobstructed. Confusion apparent in her expression.
He answered her question before she had a chance to verbalize it. "I'm sorry, Sophia. But if I'm not good enough to be permanently claimed as your true mate in front of the entire Clan, then I'm not good enough to have sex with."
Her jaw dropped. She couldn't help it. "I never said that I didn't want to officially mate with you, Luke."
"No, but you didn't exactly say you would either. And you just made it pretty clear that for whatever reason, you still have doubts about being with me for the rest of your life." He stalked back over to her. "So until you are ready to be my mate in truth, Sophia... I won't be in your bed."
Sophia felt something cold settle in her heart. "So, what then?" she asked bitterly. "You're going to find some other piece of tail to be with because I won't accept your proposal? I think everyone in the Wolf Lake has been wondering just how long it would take before you would become bored and head off in search of new territory."
Luke's eyes narrowed with something dark and dangerous, and before she could react, before she could anything at all, he lunged forward. Covering the space between them in a single leap, he grabbed her by the arms and hauled her off the nest of furs.
Sophia gasped as her body hit his. The force driving the air from her lungs. His hands tightened into bands of steel on her forearms, and his body pressed unrelenting into hers. The bulge under his jeans hard against her stomach.
She felt the stirrings of anger at his harsh and abrupt – if painless – treatment of her person, but before she could express it, his lips found hers again… and this time he didn't stop until he had just about driven every sane thought from her head.
Breathing a little harshly himself, he finally pulled away. Looking into her golden brown eyes with his that were burning with the light of a newborn star. The wolf in him was moving, shifting, just under the surface, and it clicked with her then that leaving things between them physically unfinished was costing him a hell of a lot more than it was costing her. And that was saying something.
"Don't… ever… say… that… again. " He forced out between clenched teeth. A faint growl echoing in his throat. "Or I swear I won't be responsible for how I react." He let her go so suddenly that she had to catch herself to keep from falling. Not an easy task while balancing on a pile of furs.
"The day I stop burning for you will be the day that I stop breathing." He admitted darkly. As if the admission almost didn't sit well with him. In light of her cruel words, a part of her really couldn't blame him. She had a crossed a line and there really wasn't any way of going back. And even if there was… she didn't think she would have known how to do it. There had only been a few moments in her life where something had completely and totally stunned her, and this one was ranking way up there.
She didn't know what to say, so she just stood there, staring back at him. Shocked silence her only response.
He was the first one to break it.
"It's getting late. We should head on home." He held his hand out to her. His face suddenly expressionless, like a slate wiped clean. No anger, no frustration, no tenderness. Nothing.
Sophia hesitated, before slowly placing her hand in his. Letting him help her step off the pile of furs.
As she quickly replaced her bra and underwear, and numbly took the oversized shirt that Luke handed her, she couldn't help how her head seemed to almost spin with how quickly everything had just changed…
And leaving her to wonder what exactly the hell had just happened.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Well… what did you think of that little slice? Do you think Sophia is being a nut, or that Luke is being a jerk? Review, and let me know what your thoughts are!
Okay, that's it. That is the end of the first "episode" to VS2… The first part to the next episode "Can't Have Just One" should be up relatively soon… So take care till then!