A Deadly Sin
Plot Summary: Willow becomes jealous of Brennen and Shalimar's growing relationship, creating tension between the two siblings. However, a crisis forces Willow to resolve her personal issues with Shalimar and Brennen. An obvious Brennen/Shalimar pairing developing here. Part III of the "Blood is Thicker" series. You must first read "Healing the Feral Heart" and "Simple Duties" in order to understand the nature of Willow and Shalimar's relationship and how they arrived at this point.
Prologue
The noise was enough to wake the dead. Spotlights lit up an otherwise dark room and the heat between bodies was almost mind numbing. Pounding music and gyrating bodies filled the dance floor as people forgot their problems and just blindly followed beat of the hypnotic rhythm.
Jesse was on the dance floor with his girlfriend Sarah, enjoying the time they had together, while Emma was at the bar getting more drinks for the group. Shalimar sat in a small booth playing with her drink, feeling somewhat guilty about leaving Willow back at Sanctuary. Brennen sat across the table from her, sensing Shalimar's obvious discomfort. He didn't know what to say, for all he could think about was her.
"Hey, you okay? You don't look like you're enjoying yourself," Brennen said, obviously concerned. Shalimar loved these kind of places. The adrenaline was enough to make your head spin. He knew that it wasn't like her to not be tearing up the dance floor.
Shalimar took her attention off her drink and looked back up at him, "Yeah…I was just thinking. I mean…I kind of feel bad about leaving Willow. I just don't want her to feel left out."
"I know how you're feel. It must be rough not being able to go out on outings like this. But Shal you have to realize that we can't put our lives on hold because she's under age. Unfortunately, there's not much we can do about that. I don't mean to sound insensitive but…"
"No that's okay, I hear what you're saying. I just can't get my mind off of it," She said looking up at him.
"We're here to relax and have a good time," Brennen got up and walked around towards Shalimar, "Come on, let's dance."
Shalimar looked up at him as he extended his hand. Smiling she accepted and followed him onto the crowded dance floor.
Finding a space, he stood face to face with her and put his hands on her thighs, staring intensely into her eyes. As if on cue, she put her arms around his neck and stared back. Slowly they started moving to the beat of the music, never taking their eyes off each other. The room started spinning, as the tension began to reach its climax.
Shalimar's heart was pounding like it hadn't before. Frightened but exhilarated by the adrenaline, she started to sweat from the heat that was being generated between the two of them. Brennen's hands began a gentle exploration, wondering around her hips and ribcage. Shalimar started to breathe heavily, slowly succumbing to the spell she was falling under.
Brennen's hands slowly made their way up her body. Caressing her neck, he slowly pulled her head forward. He gently looked into her eyes, seeing the love and desire staring right back at him. He moved in and began planting soft kisses on her face, eventually reaching her lips.
Accepting the invitation, Shalimar returned the kiss and began an exploration of her own. Suddenly, all her concerns were forgotten as she melted into his embrace.
Emma had come back to the table with drinks, but looked around when she couldn't find Shalimar and Brennen. Finally spotting them on the dance floor, she saw the ice had been broken as they held each other, moving slowly to the music.
Emma smiled to herself, "So it's finally happened."
Chapter 1
Never the Same Again
Sanctuary, the next day…
Willow woke up from a somewhat peaceful sleep, surprised that Shalimar had not come to wake her up sooner. The Sanctuary was quiet that morning, with Adam in the lab doing research, while it seemed that no one else was awake yet.
Wondering what was up, she got out of bed and made her way towards Shalimar's room. Opening the door, she was surprised to find that Shalimar wasn't there. Sensing Shalimar's presence in the Sanctuary however, she made at note of it and wondered towards the kitchen for some breakfast.
Emma was awake, eating a bowl of cereal while reading a book, when Willow stepped into the kitchen. Looking up from her book, Emma gave Willow a gentle smile, "Good morning. You're up early. What did ya do last night?"
Willow returned the smile and opened the fridge grabbing some milk, "Oh not too much. Adam had told me about Proxy Blue's search engine, so I logged on and did some research on Greek myths. Adam's got a great collection of books on all kinds of mythology; I love reading about that stuff. Him and I sat up and discussed the possibility of truths in the myths. It was really intellectually stimulating."
Emma smiled at Willow's growing appreciation of Adam. It was nice that she and Adam had found a common interest from which to bond. "That's great."
"Yeah. Have you seen Shal this morning? She wasn't in her room," Willow looked curiously at Emma.
"Really?! Oh…um…no," Emma blushed slightly, realizing where Shalimar must have been.Sensing something was up, Willow sat down at the table across from Emma. "What's going on Em? How was last night?"
"Oh it was fun. We all had a great time. It was nice to get out," Emma stopped short.
Willow eyed her, "Come on, what happened last night? You can tell me, it's no big deal."
"Well Brennen and Shal…" For some reason, Emma felt hesitant. She looked up at Willow, "You know."
Willow slowly began to catch on to what Emma was trying to tell her, "What…they're an item now?"
Emma, breathing a slight sigh of relief nodded. "Well yeah. You see, things have been pretty intense between them for a long time. They finally decided to act on what they've been hiding for the past few years."
Willow sat there and pondered this new development. "Oh, I guess that's great."
Emma felt an awkward silence coming on, "So, tell me more about this mythology of yours."
Brennen's room…
The room was still relatively dark, although the lights from the Sanctuary halls were seeping through small cracks in the doorway. Shalimar had not gotten a wink of sleep that night. She didn't want to fall asleep, fearing everything that happened last night was nothing more than a sweet dream and she didn't want the dream to end. She was just content to watch Brennen sleep, adoring everything inch of him.
Shalimar knew things had changed and there was no going back now. Many thoughts had run through her mind, mainly whether or not this was the right thing to do. In her heart, she knew this was her deepest desire. But another part wondered whether this was gonna change the dynamics of the team. Finally, she just decided to shut up and enjoy the moment, for it didn't get much better this.
Brennen had finally begun to stir. Shalimar smiled as she ran a finger down his forehead to his lips. Feeling the tickling sensation, Brennen smiled with his eyes still closed and kissed her finger. Opening his eyes, he smiled at the site lying beside him. Not a word was spoken between the two of them, for their glances said it all.
Shalimar looked at him and caressed his ears. "You know you're adorable when you sleep. I couldn't take my eyes off you all night."
Brennen took her hand in his. "Did you enjoy the show?"
"More than you know," Shalimar smiled kissing his hand. "I love you Brennen Mulwray."
Brennen's heart skipped a beat. For years, he had longed to hear those words from Shalimar and now he was convinced he was the luckiest man alive. "I love you Shalimar Fox."
Shalimar absorbed all of Brennen, promising silently never to forget this moment. "What time is it?"
"It's about seven, why?" Brennen asked.
Shalimar slowly got up out of bed; "Oh shit, I forgot to take Willow out this morning. I hate to leave bu…"
"No it's okay, go ahead," Brennen smiled in understanding. He got up put his arm around Shalimar giving her stomach a tickle, eliciting a chuckle from her.She turned around and flashed her eyes at him, "You're playing with fire there buddy."
Brennen smiled misheviously. "Why? Cause I did this?" He asked, tickling her stomach harder this time, causing her to laugh and squirm in his grasp. He tightened his hold on her, as he continued to tickle her.
Shalimar struggled in his grasp, plotting an escape and an appropriate revenge. Finding an opening, she slipped out of his arms and turned to him, flashing her eyes. Brennen just stared back in defiance.
With all her strength, she lunged at him, causing him to fall on the bed. She landed on top of him, pinning his arms over his head. "Now I'm gonna find out where your ticklish," She smiled with satisfaction as she began a teasing exploration.
Running her tongue over his toned stomach, she felt the muscles twitch underneath. Looking up she grinned in victory, "Aw, looks like I found one. Who would've thought that big bad Brennen was ticklish."
Brennen looked up at her; "It was the best kept secret in the world until now. Now I'm afraid I'm gonna have to kill you." Brennen threw her over to the other side of the bed and turned the tables. Pinning her down and staring at her, he leaned in and kissed her.
"You can kill me anytime you want," Shalimar whispered into his ear.
"Okay, I guess that's enough playtime," Brennen said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "I tell you what. What do you say to picking up where we left off tonight?"
"Hmmmm, I don't know, I might be busy," Shalimar teased.
"Is that right?" Brennen moved in and gave her a passionate kiss.
"Well, I guess I could probably work something out," Shalimar smiled as she turned to get dressed. She turned to him and flashed her eyes at him as she left the room.
The kitchen…
Shalimar had heard some chuckling coming from the kitchen as she walked towards it. Seeing Willow and Emma at the kitchen table, she walked into the room smiling at them. "Morning you two."
"Hey Shal," Emma smiled.
"Hi," Willow gave a half-hearted smile.
"So what are you two troublemakers up to this morning huh?" Shalimar mischievously smiled at them.
"Oh not much, just chatting about mythology," Willow replied.
"Oh yeah," Shalimar went up to Willow and ruffled her hair. "Sorry for missing our running date this morning kiddo."
"S'okay," Willow shrugged.
"We still have a date in the dojo right?" Shalimar responded.
"Yeah, I guess," Willow looked up at her.
"What do ya mean you guess?" Shalimar smiled. "Half an hour sweetie." She turned to walk out of the room.
"Hey Shal?" Willow stopped her before she walked out. "You, me and Emma, we're still going to the movies tonight right?"
Shalimar didn't turn around. She grimaced at the reminder because she had totally forgotten her promise to Willow and made a date with Brennen. "Listen kiddo, I have to take a raincheck tonight we'll go together next week okay?"
Willow sat back down in her chair, as if she'd just been pierced in the heart with an arrow, "Yeah whatever."
"Hey Will, you and I can still go," Emma stepped in, feeling Willow's obvious disappointment.
"Yeah, sure…," Willow answered somewhat in a daze.
"Hey that's a promise kiddo, next week, alright?" Shalimar said feeling guilty that she had obviously gotten so caught with Brennen, that she forgotten her promise. "Hey, you got a smile for me?"
Willow looked up at her and smiled at little.
"Okay, I'll see you in the dojo," Shalimar said as she walked out of the kitchen.
Emma knew that there was a potential situation brewing here, but decided to stay out of it for now.
End of Chapter 1