"R" rated parts of sexual situations described in this chapter. Please read at your own discretion.
The hallway of the Wind Academy's teacher dormitory was so tomb-silent that Molly had the sudden urge to tiptoe, but Shane was clearly not sharing her discretion.
"So now that you're back, what are your next plans?" he asked, not bothering to lower his voice.
She cocked her head, considering the question for a moment, before she replied, "Well, since I dropped out of high school for my little trip, I guess I'll make my GED, but besides that and teaching here…I haven't really given anything else in my life much thought." She gave him a quick look. "As for anyone else in my life, though…" They came to a stop in front of her door and she suddenly averted her eyes, looking shyly down at his shirt. "Listen, I know I've been gone a long time, but I was really hoping that we could pick up where we left off…"
Shane cut her off by placing his hand under her chin, thus lifting her head. And before she could ramble on, he firmly pressed his lips onto hers. She still tasted faintly of vanilla shake.
"Absolutely," he said simply when their mouths finally parted.
Over the sound of her thundering heart, Molly suddenly became aware that they were still standing outside her door in the hallway, in clear view of anyone who happened to pass by. Not that she cared who saw them, but she wanted to be alone with Shane, and the hallway was not the place for some of the things she had in mind. So she wordlessly took his hand while she unlocked her door. No further invitation had to be relayed as she led him inside.
Shane let his eyes roam around the room. Apparently, Molly hadn't had time to properly move in yet. The place looked exactly as it had yesterday, the only difference was that the cloths had been removed from the couch and the mattress. A few splashes of color were provided by small stacks of clothes piled onto the sofa. The duffle bag from her trip was still propped up against the bed. Two more half-empty bags sat on the floor. Molly caught his gaze. "Earlier on, Carmen brought over my stuff from our old room," she said, pointing to the bags. "I'm gonna have to take it all to the Laundromat, because they all have this 'alien spaceship' smell on them."
Shane nodded in sympathy. "I can imagine. I remember after we got the students back, there was a mad rush for the showers and the Laundromat, too." Shane suddenly sighed. "Problem is, memories don't wash off."
Molly joined in with a sigh of her own. "Yeah, I know," she whispered, then stood on her tiptoes to peck him on the cheek. "Speaking of…I'm going to wash hands real quick. I'll be right back." And with that, she disappeared into her tiny bathroom.
After a moment of indecisively standing around, Shane sauntered over to the only electronic gadget he saw in the room: a small boom box sitting on the desk. Next to it was Molly's CD collection; four in total. Shane looked through the titles, then popped in Kenny G. and moments later the smooth, soulful tunes of the sax player filled the small room.
He went to the window, propped his hip onto the ledge and looked out at what would have been a view of the main training plaza. At almost ten o'clock at night, however, the silvery moonlight illuminated only shadows of various shades between gray and anthracite. A few torches were lit at the four corners of the plaza, making the shadows there twitch and dance.
He was staring into the darkness beyond the glass, seeing not even the little bit of scenery that was visible, his mind solely on the things that might happen in this room if he were to remain. He was suddenly nervous yet elated, excited yet a little scared, and he wasn't quite sure what brought about this stew of emotions.
But, no, he told himself with a small shake of his head and a heavy sigh, he did know.
Something that had been on his mind for far too long. An incident that had to be laid out in the open between Molly and him before they could move on with their relationship – if Molly still wanted a relationship after hearing what he had to say. Shane couldn't suppress an almost violent shiver as the snake of guilt slithered up his spine and settled in his heart to feed upon him. Memories of events only a few months past yet they seemed to have happened a lifetime ago. (see "Betrayal")
Dark, disturbing images of sable-brown hair and azure eyes, a body with all the right curves and a cunning that had caused him to lose his head for a while – and almost his hand as a consequence. Crystal. Who had played him like a sucker, had drawn him in with her charm and beauty, had seduced him – and had worked for Lothor the entire time. Back then he had been deeply wounded by her betrayal; now he was wondering just how deeply he would wound Molly by telling her about Crystal. But it had to be done. Now that she was back, she would sense his guilt sooner or later anyways. Besides, he didn't want any secrets between them. For his own sake, he had to come clean – tonight
Shane was so wrapped up in his thoughts that her sudden voice beside him startled him. "I stood here earlier today, and I thought to myself that this was the best view in the whole world." Molly said happily. "Just to see the Academy whole again…" She trailed off, and with a somewhat wobbly smile, Shane reached out to her.
She leaned back into his embrace and was at once enveloped in the aura of power still emanating from him. He might not be a Ranger anymore, but his vibes of strength and courage had hardly diminished. She felt…protected, and the feeling was so new and unfamiliar to her that it took her a moment to recognize it.
He tightened his arms around her waist just as she tightened her grips around his arms, and together they stood gazing out into the darkness and the lambent dance of the torches lining the perimeters of the training plaza.
"You know," Molly continued softly, "The day I got your e-mail that the schools were back and all the ninjas were safe…I think that was one of the happiest days of my life." She turned her head and regarded him sideways. "I wanted to kiss you so badly that day…and not just out of gratitude."
Shane smiled modestly. One of his hands left her waist for a moment to sweep her hair aside, and he kissed the back of her neck. Molly made a noise between a sigh and a moan and craned her neck to allow him access to as much skin as possible.
"Well, you can always make good for that now," he murmured, his lips grazing the skin just below her earlobe. She shuddered and instinctively pressed herself tighter to the firm body behind her, feeling Shane's breath on her neck quicken in response.
Then, suddenly, she turned in his arms – a quick, graceful motion that was so fluid it never broke his hold around her waist. Her arms came up at the same time, settling around his neck, their faces now only inches apart.
"Yes, I do owe you that kiss, don't I?" she said huskily and quickly closed the short distance between their mouths.
He groaned at the contact of their lips. One kiss turned into two, then three. By then, Shane was barely hanging on to his self-control. Her mouth opened, willing, and he took all that she offered. Gentle touches, tender and soft, as all the months of waiting and longing came pouring out of him. He kissed the corners of her mouth, tracing her lips with his tongue. The resulting sound from deep in her throat finally shattered his tenuous control and he plunged his tongue into her mouth, toying, exploring, sucking. She clung to him, and the feeling of her body in his arms felt so right, so natural. As if it was always meant to be this way. Her heat was mingling with his own, and desire washed over him with the force of a tidal wave. If his mouth had been free he would have grinned at the metaphor. Wrong element!
Shane's body reacted to her with a vehemence that astonished him as the groin area of his jeans was rapidly becoming way too tight. There was no way Molly couldn't feel this. He pulled back from her mouth, breathless, only to see her eyes, huge and heated behind her glasses, gazing back at him. Her fingers were in his hair, but now she brought her hand to his cheek, caressing the side of his face with slender fingers. Her voice was but a whisper.
"Stay with me tonight."
Shane swallowed. It was what he longed to hear and was afraid of hearing at the same time, for the next step was commitment, a joining of souls along with their bodies, and Shane was afraid, desperately afraid, of hurting her. Or getting hurt, for that matter. "Are you sure?" he asked hesitatingly, "I mean, there's no need to rush."
She met his gaze steadily. "After ten months of waiting, I don't consider this rushing." She tilted her head slightly, intending to kiss him again, but Shane puzzled her by turning his head towards the window instead. He drew in a long breath and when he turned his gaze back to her, his eyes were clouded with anxiety. "There's something you need to know." He cleared his throat. "Something that happened…a few months ago…"
She could tell he was trying to gather his thoughts, to make his next words as coherent as possible. He needn't have bothered; the psychic emanations that came off him told Molly more than he could have put into words. The feelings of hurt, guilt and regret penetrated her mind at the same time as the vision of a girl's beautiful face, a bedroom…Then it abruptly changed to a cold, windowless room, fear, Lothor's masked visage grinning triumphantly. The glint of a wicked-looking blade as it sped towards the wrist holding the red Wind morpher, panic…My God!
Molly blinked, exhaling sharply as she cast him a shocked look. One that Shane obviously misinterpreted as pain and urgency re-shaped his handsome features. "Molly, listen, it wasn't…"
Then he blinked in surprise when Molly suddenly placed a finger over his lips. "Ssshhh. It doesn't matter."
"But…"
She shook her head firmly. "Before I left I told you no strings, remember? I meant it. Whatever happened between you and whoever – as long as it's finished, it doesn't matter."
"Oh, it's finished," he reassured her in a hoarse whisper, almost dizzy with relief at her reaction to his half-spoken 'confession'.
"That's all I need to know," she said, the look in her eyes emphasizing her words. She touched his face again, tenderly, her voice soft. "If one day you want to talk about what happened, then I'll be here to listen, but for now…just you and me," she whispered, drawing him in for another kiss.
They took their time undressing each other, savoring the sight and feel of each other's bodies. Molly pushed the shirt off his shoulders, letting her hands roam over his muscular arms and his smooth chest while Shane reached behind her, unzipping her dress in one quick motion. As the fabric pooled around her ankles, Molly felt a moment of distinct self-consciousness – the physical and mental strains of the past few months, together with the Spartan cuisine of the Tibetan monks, had left her thin almost to the point of gauntness, and she had the fight the instinctual urge to reach down and re-cover herself with her dress. Shane seemed to sense this, for he leaned close, his dark eyes intent. "You're beautiful," he said simply, followed this statement with a searing kiss, and, in one swooping motion, suddenly gathered her up and carried her towards the bed. When he gently lowered her onto the mattress she held on to him, pulling him down with her until he was on top of her. Quietly, slowly, they touched, exploring and getting to know the details of each other's bodies.
Shane drank in the sight of her. Molly's obvious excitement fueled his own to no end, but there was also a lingering, sweet shyness about her that was just as erotic to him as her naked body. He kissed his way down the side of her neck and over her collar bone, making Molly shudder with pleasure - as much from the touch of Shane's lips on her skin as from the feelings of love and passion that came off him in torrents. Her psychic perceptions were so honed from months of fine-tuning that she actually had to work on shutting some of his emotions out to keep from getting overwhelmed by them.
Speech was replaced by fiery gazes, ragged breaths and wordless exclamations of pleasure as they finally shed the last of their inhibitions together with the rest of their clothing and gave themselves over to the pristine joy of their love.
Shane was alight with an inner fire,fighting for control to take his time, letting her adjust to him, carefully trying to sense any discomfort on her part. He saw nothing but love and trust in her eyes which had darkened to a shade of emerald green with desire. Her arms came around his back, drawing him closer, fusing him to her.
They moved together in an unbroken harmonious rhythm, her small cries of pleasure fueling his passion until he felt like his heart could swell no more. Her face, her heat, her body…Shane's visual field narrowed until there was nothing but her and he lost himself in her bottomless eyes until he could hold out no longer. He cried out, feeling her clench around him, her back arching as they went over the edge together.
The balmy June night had nothing to do with the sweat that mingled between their bodies as they held each other through the gradually fading tremors of their climaxes. After a while, Shane lifted his head from her chest, his gaze clear, intent and honest as he whispered, "I love you, Molly Taylor."
Molly's breath caught in her throat, for she knew he had said these words not as a proper way to wrap up their lovemaking, nor had he merely blurted them out in the aftermath of his release. She sensed that those feelings for her had been there for quite some time, probably since before she had left. Molly was humbled by this revelation, but it also made her almost delirious with joy, for it gave her the chance to finally tell him what had been stowed inside her as well. Running her hand through his sweat-damp hair, her mouth articulated the words, but it was her heart that really spoke.
"And I love you, Shane Clark."
Unlike her, Shane wasn't psychic and he didn't need to be, for he saw the truth of her words in her eyes. They bore straight into his soul and the unadulterated joy he felt at that moment he could not possibly articulate even if his life depended on it. He chose to show her instead by reaching for her again.
And some time later, when he was at the brink of sleep with her in his arms, he felt complete – and at peace. Finally at peace.
TBC…