Author's Notes: This was written for the 1sentence community on Livejournal where you write one, and only one, sentence for each of 50 themes. In my case, this led to much abuse of semicolons, colons, commas, parenthetical comments & dashes.
Disclaimer: They belong to Annette Curtis Klause, not me.
#01 - Ring
Loup-garoux exchange no gifts swearing fidelity, but when they curled together in the moonlight, Gabriel ran his fingertip around the base of the third finger on her left hand.
#02
- Hero
Vivian
never thought of herself as a princess in need of rescue (she had her
own claws and fangs with which to protect herself after all) but
Gabriel insisted on playing her dark knight anyway.
#03
- Memory
When
Vivian first met Gabriel, he'd stood by her father, dirty, underfed,
and looking very much like a much-abused stray.
#04
- Box
Their
love was too complicated, tangled, and edged to ever be contained so
easily.
#05
- Run
When
they arrived in Vermont, she asked him to come outside and claim
their new home: "I will never be your bunny, wolfman, but I
like you anyway."
#06
- Hurricane
Those
first months after her father's death, before Gabriel became Alpha,
Vivian felt like a piece of driftwood tossed around by unforgiving
waves.
#07
- Wings
Sometimes
when Gabriel touches Vivian, her heart beats so fast she fears it
will burst from her breast and take flight.
#08
- Cold
On
those rare nights Gabriel left her side, Vivian missed the throbbing
heat of his body.
#09
- Red
He
once told her he wanted to lay his kill at her feet, and damned if he
didn't follow through, his muzzle gleaming, slick, and crimson with
the stag's cooling blood.
#10
- Drink
Gabriel
offered her the water bottle and watched as she drank greedily from
it, cool liquid slipping from the corners of her mouth to slide down
the curve of her neck.
#11
- Midnight
Humans
called midnight the witching hour; Vivian knew better -- for them it
was their time to howl a duet to the moon.
#12
- Temptation
Stay
away from her, they told Gabriel when he arrived -- she's just a
child, she's the Alpha's daughter, and besides she only wagged her
tail for the Five.
#13
- View
Vivian
thought herself ugly when she was neither woman nor wolf but rather a
monster in between; Gabriel taught her love is blind.
#14
- Music
Gabriel
laughed at her complete and utter lack of musical knowledge and took
it upon himself to enlighten her; after two weeks, he threw his hands
up in despair and dropped the matter.
#15
- Silk
Every
time Gabriel touches Vivian's soft skin, a small piece of him
shatters and waits to be made whole again by her kiss.
#16
- Cover
When
they lie naked under the stars, grass for their pillow, trees for
their canopy, Gabriel uses her long hair as a blanket.
#17
- Promise
Officially,
Gabriel bought the land for them to run and hunt away from
ever-watchful human eyes, but in truth he did it to ease her broken
heart.
#18
- Dream
Though
she would never admit it, his face was all she saw when she closed
her eyes at night.
#19
- Candle
Esme
was experienced and Astrid was aggressive, but neither of them could
hold a candle to Vivian.
#20
- Talent
Gabriel
had a knack for attracting women like bees to honey; Vivian had an
even better skill: scaring them off with her deadly glare.
#21
- Silence
Sometimes
words are unnecessary: the brush of his hand over her golden hair,
the touch of her lips on his forehead, the pressure of his teeth on
the back of her neck -- these are enough.
#22
- Journey
Vivian
hated moving -- she'd despised coming to Maryland even though it had
been for the sake of protecting their broken pack -- but she found
herself looking forward to Vermont more and more with each passing
day.
#23
- Fire
Vivian
lost everything she knew to flame; she regained a piece of it when
she ran with Gabriel that first night underneath the stars.
#24
- Strength
Vivian
admired his commanding presence, but she loved his vulnerability best
of all.
#25
- Mask
The
human is not a disguise and the wolf is not an illusion; whatever
they truly were, Gabriel loved Vivian in both her skins.
#26
- Ice
The
first time Vivian really, truly, noticed Gabriel was during
that summer after they moved to Maryland--the day was sweltering, and
she'd been sucking on an ice cube, running the rapidly melting piece
back and forth across her lips; when she'd realized he was staring at
her, she'd ducked and run, her cheeks so hot she'd need an entire
tray to cool them off.
#27
- Fall
Gabriel
loves to ride his motorcycle fast; when Vivian's behind him, he goes
slower, but sometimes he speeds up so that she'd tighten her arms
around him.
#28
- Forgotten
Some
things are never forgotten: the beloved dancer he'd killed, the
adored meat boy whose life she'd destroyed.
#29
- Dance
His
arm cradled her back like that and her leg curled around his
hip just so -- this is the only choreography they needed or
ever wanted.
#30
- Body
Though
his flesh was torn and battered, Gabriel lived and his opponent did
not, for Vivian tolerated no harm to her mate.
#31
- Sacred
Gabriel
doesn't follow any organized religion -- he is a wolf, after
all -- but for him, there is nothing worthier of worship than
Vivian's body.
#32
- Farewells
Had
she the chance to do it over again, Vivian would try to reason with
Aiden, find a different way to say goodbye, but she'd made her choice
when she'd taken the bullet for Gabriel.
#33
- World
Had
they been born in a different time, Gabriel would have given his
Princess Wolf the world; instead he can only offer himself and hope
that it is enough.
#34
- Formal
The
gown was lush, expensive, and hugged her curves like it was made for
her (it wasn't; it once belonged to her mother); Gabriel tore it off
her body in five seconds flat.
#35
- Fever
Sometimes
Vivian wondered if this unbearable heat, this dizziness that
afflicted her when Gabriel touched her would ever cease.
#36
- Laugh
He
loved her fierce laugh, strong and fearless, like everything else
about her.
#37
- Lies
Every
year, in July, Vivian thinks about Aiden and wonders where he is now,
if he jumps at his own shadow and sees monsters around every corner,
or if he even thinks of her at all; and though she never talks about
it and tries to keep it a secret, Gabriel knows.
#38
- Forever
Gabriel
knows that it is a myth and that another female could always
challenge Vivian for the title of Queen Bitch, he truly believes that
wolves mate for life.
#39
- Overwhelmed
Vivian
lost all words the instant Aunt Persia placed the wailing infant in
her arms, but she found them again when she met Gabriel's eyes over
their newborn son: "See, I didn't need your help at all!"
#40
- Whisper
His
fur whispers across her bare human skin and she laughs because it
tickles.
#41
- Wait
Gabriel
waited for Vivian to grow a little older, guarded the cave in which
she hid from him (a fact he reminds her of to this day), and fought
for her acceptance; when she finally followed him out her bedroom
window, he thanked the Hunter God profusely because even his patience
has its limits.
#42
- Talk
Gabriel
believes actions speak louder than words, and in that, Vivian has
never failed him.
#43
- Search
After
he killed his human lover, Gabriel fled from man and wolf alike,
shunning all but himself and his tortured mind--and would have
continued that bleak existence without repent if he hadn't met a
certain Alpha and his beautiful, golden-haired daughter.
#44
- Hope
Once
she feared duty, the memory of her father and her failure to prevent
his death--now Vivian believes together she and Gabriel can make the
pack better, smarter, stronger.
#45
- Eclipse
Changing
during a lunar eclipse never felt quite the same; even Gabriel, who
Vivian thought of as solid and unflappable, was perturbed.
#46
- Gravity
Gabriel
is a force of nature that none can deny, and try as hard as she
might, Vivian found herself pulled into his orbit anyway.
#47
- Highway
When
Vivian rides on the back of Gabriel's bike, she likes to spread her
arms and pretend she's a falcon swooping down to strike her prey.
#48
- Unknown
Wolves
live day to day, because the future is never absolute or predictable,
but Vivian tried to plan for the future and all its eventual
possibilities anyway.
#49
- Lock
Hear
me, my knight, I offer you the key to my heart; do you dare to unlock
it?
#50
- Breathe
Her
face stopped his heart and stole his breath; his face short-circuited
her brain and set the wolf in her free.
Completed: 4.27.06
