I own nothing except my characters.
A/N: First, I would just like to apologize for the long wait for this chapter. As you know, school has been let out and summer break is here! Yay but...that means I'm extra busy training horses and looking for a job. I will do my best to keep up with these chapters but for future warning, there is a chance you won't get a chapter every week and I am apologizing for that in advanced: I am so sorry! Now, I hope you like this chapter!
Chapter Twelve: A new plan
~Unbowed-and-Unbroken~
"What are you staring at me for?" Piper snapped, her dark eyes flashing angrily at Pan. He smirked, his dark green eyes trailing slowly over her, a contemplating expression on his face.
"You said you would do anything for Dolly, correct?" He asked, cocking his head to the side, some of his bronze hair slipping in front of his eyes. Piper cursed the adorable sight silently, narrowing her eyes at the insufferable prick.
"Yeah, and we agreed I would find the savages so you could mercilessly slaughter all of them. What's your point?" Piper asked icily, her chin raising stubbornly at him.
"My point-" He began and then paused, snapping his fingers, green mist enveloping him. He reappeared right in front of her, completely in control of the mist travelling, cementing her thought that he was dropping her into the water on purpose. Her second thought was...she was no longer clothed in just a bra and underwear...she was suddenly completely naked. "-is that my plans may change." He finished before flashing her a wicked grin and ducking under the water, raking his fingers through his hair, his shirt suddenly gone and baring lean muscles that rippled when he stretched back up to his full height.
He really was too close, a part of Piper whispered. That part was drowned out by her more immediate urge to take advantage of their unclothed state. A drop of clear water slowly snaked down his neck, trailing down his throat before sliding into the hollow of Pan's throat before spilling down his chest and back into the water.
Piper cocked her head to the side, a slow, devious smirk curling on her full lips, lighting up her dark eyes and making her look like an angel hiding the true devil within.
"You mean-" Piper slid a little closer, feeling heat emanate off of him, making slow heat slide through her. "You mean you want us-" Her 's' was drawn out the slightest bit. "To become-" Piper flicked her dark eyes up at him from under her long, curling copper lashes, darkened by the water, a small crystal drop of water clinging to her eyelash. "-closer during my…stay on this island?" Piper purred huskily, cocking her head to the side, her dark curls slicked against her head.
She was completely naked, inches from his bare chest, yet she felt no shame.
Her skin gleamed copper, the slight shimmer of water softening her wild beauty. Her shoulders were held proudly back, her breasts covered by nothing. She felt a flash of feminine pride when his eyes flicked down to her chest and his eyes darkened, hunger flickering in the depths. A soft smirk curled on her mouth and she slid closer, lifting on arm out of the water and draping it over his lean, muscled shoulder. Water slid down her arm, caressing her skin down her shoulder, sliding over her breasts enticingly.
Piper swam a little closer, fully pressing her body against his. Pan still had his pants on but by now, he was so aroused, she could feel the length of him pressed against her with no problem.
"You want me to be yours. To welcome you into my arms, bed and body until you are pleased?" Piper paused, their breathing heavy. Her skin was hot and slick against his. Almost against her will, she was enjoying this. She almost wondered if he was using magic on her but she knew it was just her. She couldn't lie to herself like that. In her life, there was no such thing as an easy way out. "You want me to please you until you are spent?" Piper purred, feeling heat begin to course through her. She lifted her other hand and slowly raised it, sliding it between them and pressing her palm flat against his chest, fighting to ignore the heat of his skin and the feeling of his muscles flexing under her palm. "Do you truly believe yourself to be that irresistible?" Piper asked, sliding her lips lightly over his neck, her tongue darting out and swiping at his skin, tasting the salt.
His hands shot up and Pan gripped her supple hips in his palms, the heat of them burning in her. She gasped and arched into his chest, lightly panting. Pan grinned darkly, lowering his head, his dark bronze hair curling a little on the ends as it began to dry.
"I know I am." Pan growled huskily, pulling her even tighter against his chest. Piper felt a small thrill shoot through her and a dark smile curl on her lips. She hummed lightly and stretched up, her skin sliding against his in a way that made him hiss and grip her hips tighter, making Piper grip the back of her neck, her nails lightly biting into his skin just as she nipped over his pulse point with her gleaming white teeth.
"You have my friend in a cage on this island…you aren't that attractive to me." Piper said normally into his ear and then used her hand on his chest to push back and away from him. To feed her ever-growing ego, Piper saw the shock in his eyes for a split second before anger hid it and she knew she had actually caught him off guard.
A small, pleased smile curled on her lips and she cocked her head to the side, fluttering her lashes teasingly.
"What's the matter, Pan?" Piper asked mockingly. "Never had a woman who played your games so gracefully and willingly before?" Piper grinned, arching her back and lowering herself into the water, letting her head dip back into the water.
"I haven't-" Pan appeared at her side, his muscled arm sliding under her back, lifting her out of the water and pulling her tightly against him. Piper stiffened and met his dark green eyes challengingly, her hands pressed against his chest to keep her distance. "-but now that I've had a taste of what it's like, I plan on enjoying it." Pan purred darkly before disappearing. Piper fell into the water with a splash and a yelp.
"What the fuck?" She snarled, despite a part of her knowing that she may have deserved that just a little.
"Get dressed, Piper. You have some savages to find." Pan called, fully dressed and dry, levitating over the large pond, stealing one last look of her before he disappeared in a cloud of dark green smoke.
"Well, fuck you too." Piper muttered, shrugging and dunking her head back under the water, enjoying her first bath in what seems like centuries.
~Unbowed-and-Unbroken~
Fully dressed, Piper walked through the forest, dark eyes scanning the woods around her.
Trust Pan to dump her in a waterfall pond in the middle of nowhere and then just leave her. It seemed he was the typical male: he needed to be told what to do before he stormed off in a righteous anger. She rolled her eyes at the thought, ducking under a branch and then straightening.
The incident in the pond was lurking at the back of her mind.
That hadn't been planned…well, not at first anyway. Piper had just seen an opportunity to gain the upper hand and she took it. Pan was going to be pissed at her but she knew he would channel that into winning this little 'game' Piper has started. She could see it in him, that drive to play a game to prove that he is the best.
Piper shrugged off her thoughts, perking up when she saw Fiercemoon trotting out of the dark, tangled woods, a pleased look on her tiny cat face.
"What's got you so pleased?" Piper muttered, dropping her shoulder down so Fiercemoon could hop up to her spot. Fiercemoon purred loudly, batting her tiny silver-dipped paws on Piper's cheek. Despite herself, Piper laughed, the sound light and husky from underuse. "Yeah, yeah." Piper said lightly, still not quite a used to hearing her new, throaty but entirely feminine voice.
"Mrow." Fiercemoon purred, the first catlike sound Piper has heard from her. Piper arched a dark eyebrow, watching as Fiercemoon leapt down from her shoulder and trotted to the woods, stopping and looking back commanding at Piper.
"Oh, so that's how this relationship works now, is it? You lead and I follow?" Piper teased and she could swear that Fiercemoon rolled her silver eyes. "Okay, shutting up now." Piper muttered, grinning when Fiercemoon glanced back, a visible look of playful relief in her silver eyes. Laughing lightly, Piper was briefly startled by the sound, having forgotten how her laugh sounded like. It was light and husky, cheerful and rough all at once.
There was something infectious about it.
Piper could remember the days when her, Dolly and Cortez could descend into giggle fests they would feverently deny had anyone ever seen them and confronted them about it. They could laugh for hours but still find something more to laugh at. Tears sliding down their faces (one part happiness, two parts hopeless, hysterical sadness), stomachs aching, breath wheezing out of them, doubled over with the force...they almost seemed like they were drunk but it was the type of environment around them. If they didn't laugh, then they would cry. If they cried, then they fell and all three of them are far too stubborn to allow that to happen to themselves.
"Wh-Piper!" The unmistakable sound of Dolly's voice was like a warm hug, enveloping Piper the moment she stepped into the clearing, leaving her blind to everything around her except the tiny strawberry blonde...suspended...in...the...air...in a...bamboo...cage. Piper snapped her jaw shut and shook her head, trotting over to the tree and swiftly climbing up, swinging herself over and under a few branches until she reached the one holding Dolly's cage in the air.
"Hold on tight, Dolls." Piper called, pulling out her special knife, a part of her captivated by the sight of the silver butterflies on it before she shook it off, starting to saw at the thick, rope-like vine wrapped several times around the large branch.
"Wait!" Dolly shouted, her voice a little loud.
"What?" Piper snapped, cocking her head to the side and listening for any approaching footsteps. Not that she'd hear Pan if he decided to smoke in and confront them. Piper scowled at the thought. Stupid Pan with his stupid cheating smoke...
"Couldn't you bust the lock open and help me into the tree?" Dolly asked, peering at Piper from between her closely placed bamboo bars. Piper hesitated and shrugged, wrapping her arms and legs around the branch, sliding until she was hanging upside down like a large monkey. Placing her hands one after another, Piper pushed with her legs, wiggling along the branch until she was close enough to the cage that she could let go of the branch with her arms, her body swinging down and held to the branch only by the strength in her legs.
Reaching as close as possible, Piper ignored the suddenly dizzying rush of all of her blood flooding to her brain and lodged the tip of the dagger into the lock, wiggling it around and hearing a sharp click! a few seconds later.
"Score!" Piper exclaimed, a braggy grin crossing her face. Her gleaming white teeth shone against her copper skin and Dolly paused for a moment, a shiver going through her until she shoved it away, gratefully accepting Piper's arms and carefully stepping out of the bamboo, clamping her mouth shut to hold the scream in. They were fairly high off of the ground and Piper was just dangling there, fully supporting both of their body weights like it was absolutely nothing.
"Um-" Dolly's voice cracked and she swallowed deeply, dizzying fear swirling through her veins and making her head spin. "I-" Piper may not be afraid of heights but boy is Dolly.
"Relax, Dolls." Piper said soothingly, her muscles beginning to burn but she refused to show any evidence of that to her smaller friend. "Just climb up my body. If it helps, you can pretend this is the trellis outside of that awful group home we broke out of with Cortez. You remember that one?" Piper asked, doing her best to distract Dolly from her fear. As she watched, the terror slowly faded out of baby blue eyes, replaced by a fond and slightly mischievous gleam.
"Yeah." Dolly slowly began to climb, remembering how Piper and Cortez had supported her then and will do even now, despite the fact that Cortez isn't with them. That reminded her. "Oh! Cortez wanted me to tell you off for stealing his sweater. He claims he knows you had your eye on it from the moment he stole it from that fancy home and he plans on getting revenge. He might steal your thong." Dolly teased, the racing fear slowing in her veins now that she has something productive to focus on. Hand over hand, tease Piper, hand over hand. She's got this.
"Is that so?" Amusement hummed in Piper's voice and a sharp little grin crossed her face. "When we get back, I plan on burning that thong." Piper informed the blonde matter-of-factly, causing her to squeak and whip her head down, blue eyes wide.
"There is a thong? I thought he was just joking!" Dolly exclaimed, her voice going higher. She didn't even notice she was looking in the general direction of the ground and she wasn't freaking out about it. The grin lingered on Piper's face and she laughed a little, the sound relaxing Dolly even more even as she began to climb again, getting closer to the branch.
"Of course there is no thong. You know how Cor and I are." Piper said calmly.
Dolly does know how they are.
Cortez and Piper have the oddest relationship. They flirt and joke around like they have major crushes on each other but Dolly knows for a fact that they don't. Not yet anyone and potentially not ever. It's like the two of them can't bring themselves to be really deep with each other because they are afraid if they are, they could find someone that they would love deeply. Both of them are a bit relationship challenged and both seem to have this aversion to love and emotions.
Dolly sometimes worries for Piper, wondering how the other girl could ever find love and happiness if she refuses to look for both.
Still, as Piper helps Dolly out of the tree, the other girl knows she doesn't have to worry so much. Piper is awesome and it's only a matter of time before some lucky guy snatches her up and away from the rest of the world.
Thank you so much to any and all of my followers, favorites and reviews!
zuleika126 - Thank you so much!
ABANDON3D PAG3 - Hey, no worries, I'm happy you reviewed for this chapter!
EleanorWhite27 - HA, I love it when my readers are just waiting for the next chapter to come out!
HopeAndHeartache - Aw, thank you so much!
The Wild Striking Storms - Yay, #1! And yes, Piper is in a boatload of trouble! Even more so after this chapter!
GiraffePanda2 - First, I love your username! Dolly told Pan...you'll have to wait and see, sorry! I'm glad you liked him dumping her in the lake, it seemed like the mischievous but meant to get under the skin type of move Pan would make. And thank you for reviewing!
BookRain - Thank you so much but all I am doing is trying to keep Pan as close to cannon as possible with a few twists because who doesn't like those? I do think Piper will fall for Pan but the thing about them is they are both so headstrong, arrogant and stubborn that neither of them are going to admit it to themselves or others very easily. As for tricks and tricking...just wait and see! I love it when one of my stories is someones's #1 and all of you have been so kind to tell me when this story is. It seriously makes my day so thank you for that!