Thorn decided to go with the 'less is more' angle about Parker's rescue. (Meaning the less he said the less likely he was to hurt someone, especially someone innocent like Aimée when they tried to press him for details.) That also meant that he had just left the human to sleep in her room while he returned to his dark nether realm. He figured that either Parker would wake up to find one of the bears or one of the bears would stumble into her room and find her. Which scenario happened first really didn't matter much to him. The human was home and he had to go speak to his half-wit brother to make sure that he didn't return to seek out Parker again anytime soon.
But first Thorn had to make a quick stop to try to recruit re-enforcements. He had teased and taunted his brother too many times to think that he'd just take Thorn at his word about any subject. Of course there weren't many beings from any pantheon that could or would scare Thorn's brother enough to leave a human alone, but it was still worth a try. Plus, if this didn't work then Thorn still had a couple of heavy guns still left in his arsenal to stop Spike form doing anything stupid.
Barring all of that, he also had the option of blasting his little half-brother into oblivion. Thorn would never admit it to anyone, dead or alive, but that was something that he wasn't absolutely sure that he would be able to do. He hated the thing that donated the sperm that spawned hi and his brother, but he always did whatever he to look after his little brother because most of the time they were all each other had. Before Spike had taken Parker to the cabin, Thorn had been the only other being to have ever seen the secluded refuge. That was the kind of trust one only afforded family or a very, very close friend, so Thorn new that the two of them shared a unique bond that wasn't easily forged or understood beyond the two of them.
No, he would convince Spike to leave Parker alone because she wasn't worth losing his life over. Or at least that's what Thorn hoped that he'd be able to get his little brother to believe.
WHEN PARKER WOKE UP, she stretched out to relish the relaxed feeling that came over her after such a sound sleep. She kept her eyes closed as she savored the feelings of being so refreshed after a good night's sleep. It had been a long while since she had slept so soundly and deeply. In fact, the last time she could remember feeling this way was on a day off that she spent with Remi at Talon's cabin. She had fallen asleep after more than one round of intense love making with him and then she woke up to the smell of fresh coffee brewing that Remi had made to go with their afternoon snack.
That memory nearly made Parker want to sob, so she forced herself to sit up on the bed. She then wiped a small amount of moisture from her eyes and swiped an arm under her nose to try to prepare herself for being awake. Lately her dreams had been so lucid that they almost felt like memories of her being with Remi. Most of the time they were together at Talon's cabin or in one of their rooms at Peltier House. Then there was that one odd dream where Remi had actually professed his love for her after she had told Otto off in an English pub in a way that she had only day-dreamed about for nearly half a decade.
Although she had woken up with an odd sense of satisfaction after each of those dreams, she had woken up away from home all the same. She had actually begun to wonder if there was something about Spike's cabin that had allowed her to have such dreams. Sure she had always felt completely at ease there, but maybe that had something to do with her subconscious allowing itself to play out some of her wilder fantasies, like Remi actually being in love with her. Or him going to a Dream-Hunter to try to find her.
Then again maybe there was a spell or something on Spike's cabin that drove any mortal in it to insanity. That would help to explain a lot of the things that she had said and done with him while she was there. Well at least it would be the easiest excuse for the majority of it.
With another swipe over her closed eyes, Parker forced herself to make a resolve to open her eyes and face the day. She had never allowed herself to be a coward, so there was no way she was going to start that today. Spike wasn't the worst kidnapper on the planet. He hadn't hurt her or forced her to do anything weird or sexual. Sure cooking had never been one of her hobbies in the past, but then again he hadn't forced her to do that either. He probably would have been more than happy to have been the household chef, but that hadn't sat well with Parker. She wasn't used to being waited on, nor was she someone who could remain idle for long periods of time, so cooking seemed like the best resolution.
She took in a deep breath before she forced herself to open her eyes. Once they were opened she gasped in a breath and quickly slammed them shut because she couldn't believe what she had just seen. Instead of the sparsely furnished cabin deep in the woods somewhere that she had yet to identify, Parker's eyes had landed on her closet that looked like it was still in disarray after she had ripped some close off of their hangers after she had found out that Remi had been mated to someone. Someone that wasn't her because an identical mating mark hadn't magically appeared on her hand at the same time that it had for him.
She wasn't his mate, right? I can't be Parker thought to herself as she rubbed her eyes with the fists of both of her hands. Maybe she was dreaming again and she just had to remind herself of where she was so that she wouldn't continue to hallucinate that she had someone returned home.
Okay Parker, time to face the music, she coached herself as she forced herself to open her eyes once again. Much to her surprise she once again found herself in her bedroom at Peltier House.
"Holy shit!" She exclaimed quietly to herself. She barely moved on the bed because she was still afraid that it was all some kind of mirage or cruel hallucination. But she was still set on finding out the truth, so she moved her left hand in front of herself as she said, "Okay, here goes nothing."
As she turned her am over, Parker opened her hand so that she could look at her palm. She exhaled a disappointed breath because the only mark that she could see was the double bow and arrow she had inked on herself not long after her graduation. Sadly, her palm was devoid of any unnatural markings and was only marred by the lines that gypsies used to predict someone's future.
IDIOT! She mentally chastised herself. He didn't look at your left hand. Her right hand was still in a fist so she said a quick prayer to Eros, Psyche, the Fates and anyone on Olympus that she could think of that might be of even the tiniest bit of help that she wouldn't have a boring, totally human palm when she opened her fist.
"Okay. Come on… just do it," she ordered herself out loud. "It's the only way that you'll find out the truth. Come on. On the count of three. One… two…"
She opened her fist with the palm facing down because she was afraid of what it would reveal. She knew that she was being a bit of a coward, but that didn't seem to bother her right now. If nothing had changed then she would be right back where she started, needing to find somewhere else to live. The most depressing part about that was that if she still wasn't Remi's mate then she wished that Thorn would have just left her at Spike's cabin so that she wouldn't be faced with the sad reality that was her life every single day.
Alright, come on. Quit being such a wuss, she told herself as she turned her hand over. Even though she really did want to know the truth, she subconsciously had closed her eyes when she started to turn her hand over. If anyone had told her that looking at her palm was going to be such a challenge, Parker would have laughed at them and told them that was the stupidest thing that she had ever heard.
And yet here she sat, forcing herself that she had to stop being such a wimp. She had trained long and hard to work with fierce, ancient warriors so there was no reason that she shouldn't be able to handle looking down at her own stupid hand.
Very slowly she opened one eye and then the other. For a couple of seconds she felt so shocked that her mind went completely blank. It wasn't often that she wished or prayed for anything for herself because the last time that she did, she felt like her prayers had fallen on deaf ears because her mother had still died. Since then she found that whenever she caught herself praying, it was never actually in earnest because she didn't actually expect anything to happen. It was just an odd habit that she had somehow formed over the years. Plus, she like the fact that any awards or accolades that were bestowed on her were the result of her own hard work and effort. Parker had become an expert marksman because she had worked so hard and diligently, not because Artemis decided to be in a good mood and gift her with the extra talent.
As she continued to stare at her hand, the image of the attacking bear claw started to blur. For a second she worried that it was because the mating mark wasn't really on her palm and that it was a cruel illusion, but then a tear dripped off her chin and onto her wrist. Her vision cleared for a bi but then it blurred again almost as quickly because her tears started to fall at an alarmingly fast rate.
"Thank the gods," Parker whispered to herself as she pressed her now balled up right fist to her heart.
Finally, her prayers had been answered and this time it was with the outcome that she had actually desired. She was in fact Remi's mate. Spike had done something to keep it from appearing before he stole her away from her bed. Just the thought of how much power he must possess that she wasn't even aware of caused her to shudder in her place. Luckily for her he liked her because the thought of what he might be capable of if he didn't was truly scary. And if anything happened to her, then…
"Remi!" She nearly shouted as she jumped up off the bed.
Parker's thoughts were so focused on Remi that she completely forgot that she was just wearing her pajamas right then. It also slipped her mind that she was still missing to everyone so anyone she ran into would have questions about when she got back, how she had gotten back, who had taken her and so on.
But none of that came to mind at all because right now her mind was completely focused on one single thought: Remi.
Parker rushed out of her room and hadn't made it more than two steps before she ran into someone, literally. He grabbed her by both of her shoulders to keep her from falling over. Once he had a couple of seconds for him to focus on her face and recognize her, he exclaimed, "Holy shit! Parker… is that really you?"
She slipped out of his now slack grasp replying, "Yeah Dev, it's me. Have you seen Remi?"
"I think I saw him taking out the trash a little while ago, but…" he answered sounding like he was thinking about the rest of his answer.
"Outside… alley… got it. Thanks Dev," Parker interrupted as she stepped around him to continue her path towards the stairs.
Dev quickly grabbed Parker's right arm when he realized that she was going to head outside without saying anything else to him. Not only that, she was barefoot and in her pajamas. That wasn't exactly pat of the bar's dress code. He also didn't think that it was smart for her to go into the dingy alleyway without wearing shoes. And he definitely knew that it wouldn't be good for his health if his overprotective sister caught wind of him allowing their 'Cub' to so something so reckless and dangerous.
"Whoa! Parker! Hold up a sec," he said as he tried to move her closer to him. "How did you get back? WHEN did you get back?"
At first Parker started to struggle out of Dev's hold, but she knew he was physically stronger than her, so struggling would only result in her getting hurt. Instead she let her whole body go lax and took a step towards Dev. She was hoping that if she gave in a little right now then she'd be able to continue her search for her mate that much quicker.
My mate, she thought to herself in a dreamy tone.
She remained in her own thoughts until she felt Dev tug on her hand a little harder than he meant to do as he exclaimed, "Holy shit! Parker is that what I think it is?"
Parker cradled her hand against her chest then answered, "It is. That's why I need to find him."
That comment seemed to slip a switch for Dev because suddenly he was no longer the easy-going bear she had grown up knowing. Instead he was more like the caricature of a father to be who didn't seem to know which way was up and was nearly so frantic that he couldn't speak in full sentences when he found out his wife was going into labor.
After a couple of minutes of rambling to himself, Dev gripped Parker by the shoulders as if she had been the one who had been pacing back and forth like he had just been doing. "Okay, I'll see if I can find him. You get changed or… or at least put on some shoes because Aimée will kill me if I let you out of the house barefoot."
That comment caused Parker to look down the length of her body. She frowned because she hadn't remembered that she was still wearing her pajamas. In truth, once she saw her right palm she had complete tunnel vision and wasn't thinking about anything but finding Remi. Now, though, she just frowned at her outfit and wondered if this was what she wanted to be wearing when she saw him for the first time. Well, for the first time as his mate that is.
"I need to change," she mumbled absentmindedly to herself.
Dev suppressed the urge to chuckle as he turned her around by her shoulders and answered, "That sounds like a good plan, Cub. You go and do that and I'll find your… your… uhh Remi."
Dev couldn't find it in himself to call Remi her mate because even after nearly two weeks the concept was still too strange to him. His little Parker, the strawberry blond little girl who used to follow him around while asking a million questions while fiddling with her pigtails was now a full grown woman. One who had finished school and was now ready to start the next chapter in her life. One who now…
Dev shook his head to clear the rest of that thought away because he didn't like where that train of thought was going. He really didn't want to think about Parker having sex with anyone, let alone one of his brothers. And Remi… well he didn't need to think about his sex life at all, ever.
Still shuddering from that last thought, almost physically, Dev rushed down the hall to the stairs. He really wanted to teleport himself to the bar at Sanctuary, but it was day time, which of course meant he was supposed to get from Point A to Point B only by the power of his own two legs. Heck, today was actually supposed to be his day off and he had headed up to Parker's room only to appease his sister. (Aimée was convinced that Parker might show up back in her room so she had been checking her room periodically to see if it was true. Dev still wasn't sure how he got roped into checking also, but if you were to ask him he would blame it on his love for his sister and not his own curiosity. Although the latter was just as strong.)
As he made his way to the first floor, Dev stopped as he watched his sister making her way up the stairs. As a pregnant werebear, Aimée was forced not to teleport no matter the hour of the day, but Dev was somewhat shocked to see her all the same. She was watching her feet as she made her way up the stairs because she didn't want to trip so she didn't notice Dev making his way down them towards her.
"Aimée?" He called out softly.
She stopped mid-step and looked up at him with a tear-filled smile on her face as she replied, "She's home."
Dev tried not to look startled, but he failed miserably. She huffed out a laugh then added, "Big Brother, I know things, wield magic and have for a while without any of you giving me credit, so don't look so surprised."
By this time Dev was following Aimée as she ascended the stairs. Somehow, even in her 'burdened' state, she was able to put a lot of square footage between them before Dev had a chance to catch up to her.
When he finally did, Dev caught Aimée by the hand and gently tugged on it before he said, "Aims hold up a second. There's something you need to know before you bust her door down."
"She IS his mate," she quietly exclaimed as she tried to shake Dev off. When his grip remained ironclad, she glared at him adding, "Devereaux Aubert Peltier, let go of me this instant!"
"I will," he quickly replied. "But first. Try to remember that she is a fairly delicate human, so please try to take it easy on her, sis. I'm sure this is a lot for her to process right now."
That reply earned him a full-on death glare from his sister as she wrenched her hand out of his hold retorting, "I know she is! And I understand how confusing this must be for my Cub, so you go. Go do whatever it was that you were rushing to do when I ran into you. I'll take care of Parker."
Dev held his hands up in surrender then said, "Okay, sis, okay. You take good care of our Cub while I…"
He let his response trail off without completing his thought because Aimée just continued down the hall without paying his words any mind.
At Parker's bedroom door, Aimée stopped for half a second while she contemplated knocking. In the back of her mind she was still worried that Parker wouldn't be in the room when she opened the door, so she didn't actually pause and just barged into the room. Once she was through the door Aimée gasped in a surprised breath and froze in her place.
THORN PACED AROUND THE small cabin and he felt his anger swell with every step. Why wasn't his brother back yet? What the hell was so important that he hadn't returned yet? Why hadn't he answered any of Thorn's calls?
Feeling utterly frustrated and disgusted, Thorn was just about to teleport home when he heard the door to the cabin start to open. He then took a couple of steps towards the bed and sat down while he waited for his brother to enter.
Once the door was partially opened, Spike called out, "Primrose, I hope ye haven't started dinner because…"
He froze in his place and stared at his brother who was seated where he had last left Parker sleeping. Without thinking, Spike slammed the door and move towards his brother while demanding in a threatening tone, "What have ye done with me Primrose?"
Thorn threw his hand up to freeze his brother in his place. He then stood up and slowly walked towards Spike saying in a forced calm voice, "I did nothing. She isn't your and she isn't this Primrose person you think she is. She belongs to a bear. She's his mate. You HAVE to let her go and forget about her Little Brother."
"NAY! Ye be lying to me," Spike snarled as he tried to move from his frozen state. "What did ye do with her?"
Thorn let out a heavy sigh then snapped his fingers as he replied, "I simply took her back where she belongs."
Spike spun in his place in the dark room Thorn had brought him. He was about to ask where they were when he heard Thorn snap again and the room was bathed in a soft light. He recognized it as his brother's office in his Nether Realm, but he still didn't know why he had been brought here.
Knowing that Thorn's powers were greater than his, especially when in his own realm, Spike stayed where he was standing and asked as politely as he could, "And bráthair, why did you bring me here?"
Thorn sat down in the chair behind his desk as he motioned to a chair on the other side of the desk for Spike to sit in. He waited until his younger brother started moving to reply, "I had to call in a lot of favors for this, so please do pay attention."
Spike frowned, but before he could voice his question the room went completely black again. To his right, Thorn's left, a six foot by two foot mirror started to glow. Spike could see that Thorn was lounging in his throne like chair and motioned for Spike to just watch the mirror and not to look at him right now.
At first it looked like the mirror was filled with mist. Slowly that mist dissipated and a scene in a meadow appeared. Spike looked a question at Thorn, but his brother just ignored him. Instead he once again motioned for Spike to watch the mirror.
Spike still wasn't sure why Thorn was so intent on him watching his stupid mirror, but he stilled turned his attention back to it. Much to his surprise, there was now a young maiden sitting in the meadow. She wasn't clearly defined, but he could tell that she was sitting and weaving meadow flowers into a crown. Even though her face still wasn't completely in focus, Spike knew exactly who she was and he reverently gasped out, "Primrose."
As her face came into focus, both Thorn and Spike could hear her humming a song. Thorn neither knew, nor cared about the little ditty, but Spike recognized it right away. He started humming along with her while he watched her agile fingers weave the stems of the flowers together in a raptured awe. As the daughter of a sheep farmer, she was used to working with her hands and he was always amazed at how delicate she always appeared. He always assumed that menial labor like farm work would harden a person both physically and emotionally, but that was never true for his Primrose. She as always kind to anyone that crossed her path, especially animals and her body always looked soft and supple, completely feminine. In fact, it was his memories of watching Primrose on the farm that helped him to finally decide to start his own farm out at his cabin.
Spike took a couple of steps towards the mirror to touch Primrose's face when another person entered the scene. But not just any person, it was a man who looked like he was rushing to her side. He called out something to her that Spike couldn't hear because suddenly there was no sound coming from the mirror, just the pictures.
Without taking his eyes off the scene in front of him, Spike growled out, "Who be touching me Primrose?"
"Little Brother," Thorn replied with an aggravated sigh. "Again I say, she isn't YOURS." He walked over to Spike's side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders as he added, "That, Little Brother, is her soulmate. After they both died they were reunited in the Elysian Fields. She belongs with him. They are happily spending eternity at rest there together."
Spike stepped out of his brother's embrace and gave him a quizzical look asking, "Elysian Fields?"
"They worshipped the gods from Olympus, that is their version of Heaven," Thorn answered in a very detached voice.
Spike shook his head and then said to himself, "No… no… Parker, her soul shined just… just like me…"
"Parker is her daughter," Thorn interrupted with the same detached tone of voice. "What you think you recognized is just the residuals all human children inherit from their parents. The woman you see in the mirror is the one you called 'Primrose', not Parker so you have to forget about her. You have to let her go."
Thorn spared a look at his brother. The slight sheen of tears gathering in the other man's eyes told him that his obsession was far from over. His little brother wasn't going to just let this drop. He could tell that this might actually and quite literally be the death of him if Thorn didn't do something to put an end to this insanity.
"Dee-ah…" Thorn started until Spike turned to stare at him with eyes that were filled with an orange and red fire.
"I will not let ye control me," Spike interrupted in a deep, demonic voice. "And I will leave the human alone to keep you from feeling justified in taking me body and mind over."
With that Spike used all of his powers to take him back to his cabin. Thorn let out another sigh and whispered, "I hope you will Little Brother, I really do."
ONCE AIMÉE WAS THROUGH Parker's bedroom door, she gasped in a surprised breath and froze in her place. Parker stared at her through the reflection of her vanity's mirror. Her hand was frozen, mid-air between her eye and the mascara bottle that the wand she was holding had just been pulled out of.
"Cub…" Aimée nearly sobbed out as she rushed towards the human.
Parker quickly turned and held her hands out saying, "No, Aimée you have to stay there."
Aimée stopped and frowned quietly asking, "Parker?"
"No, you can't come over here," she replied, seemingly ignoring the hurt in the bearswan's tone. "No, if you come over here then I'll start to cry and I just got my eye makeup exactly how I want it."
Aimée glared at Parker, but it lacked the necessary heat to be truly scary. "Yeah, well too bad," the bear finally replied as she moved towards Parker again. "I guess we'll just have to fix you up again."
Despite what she had said, Parker met Aimée half way so that they could embrace. Even though they were roughly the same height, it took Aimée no effort at all to pick Parker off the ground while they embraced.
After she put the human back down, Aimée held her cheeks in both of her hands and once again nearly sobbed out, "Cub… Parker… you really are actually here?"
Afraid that her voice would crack and her tears would start to spill down her cheeks, Parker just nodded in response.
"And who took you? Where did they take you? Did they hurt you? Do anything weird to you? How did you get back? Who…?" Aimée stopped there and then scooped up Parker's right hand saying, "Forget all of that for now. This is the most important…"
She held up Parker's hand so that she could see her palm. Without meaning to, the bear held her breath until Parker's mating mark came into view. She already knew instinctively that Parker was Remi's mate, but that fact didn't become completely true until this very moment.
"Sweetie, your… it's beautiful," Aimée nearly whispered.
Parker shook her head and then showed Aimée her own marked palm replying, "No, this is beautiful. Mine is so… so… Remi. I mean seriously, how did he manage to make our mating mark look angry? That is some serious talent."
"Parker," Aimée tried to admonish her, but it came out with a sputtering chuckle.
Parker walked back to her vanity replying, "I know, but I was serious when I said that I didn't want to cry yet."
Aimée watched as Parker finished applying her makeup for a couple of seconds before saying, "I know Cub and I understand." She walked up behind Parker and picked up a brush to start brushing her hair. "While Dev is out tracking Remi down, why don't I help you finish getting ready?"
Parker looked into Aimée's eyes through the reflection of the mirror as she answered, "Thanks, I'd really like that."
"Wow," Aimée gasped out once their gazes met. "Your eyes look amazing."
"Thanks," Parker said with a visible blush. "A friend of mine back in England taught me a few tricks."
"And they're working great. I never knew that your eyes could look any bluer." Aimée looked down and noted that Parker was wearing a familiar dark blue silk robe. "So, do you know what outfit you want to wear to go with this fabulous makeup?"
Parker shrugged answering, "I've been trying to decide, but I'm really not sure."
Aimée continued to brush Parker's hair until her eyes went wide as a thought struck her. She passed the brush back to Parker so that she could rush over to the closet. While she took over the task of taming her mane, Parker turned in her seat so that she could watch Aimée.
It didn't take the bearswan long to find exactly what she was seeking. She pulled out a deep, royal purple satin knee length halter dress and turned to show it to Parker. The human's eyes widened when she saw the dress because she would have to go braless in order for the dress to look its best.
Aimée caught the look on Parker's face and she couldn't help but to laugh. "Don't give me that look Cub. We all know what you want to do with Remi when you find him." Parker's mouth actually gaped open as a dark blush spread across her cheeks. Aimée laughed again then said, "Cub, don't be embarrassed. Everyone knows what needs to be done to be mated. Just like you all know what Fang and I had fun doing in order for me to get pregnant."
"Oh gods Aimée! Please… please stop!" Parker sputtered out as she turned her back on her friend.
"Sweetie, really it's nothing to be embarrassed about," Aimée replied as she took over brushing Parker's hair again. "But I'll stop because I don't want to make you any more nervous than I'm sure that you already are."
"Thanks Aims. It isn't that talking about sex and stuff it's just… well… he's your brother, so that makes this all kind of weird."
"Oh Sweetie, that's no big deal. I've heard my brothers brag about their exploits most of my life…"
"AIMÉE!" Parker cried out in a shocked whine. "I know they do that but you're talking about me and sex… and your brother!"
The bearswan gave her a chiding smile then said, "You should have heard what my maman used to say to me when we had visiting bear clans here. But I will respect your wishes and change the subject. I think I know exactly how you should wear your hair."
"Really? I sort of thought that wearing it down would be fine."
"Nope, that won't do," Aimée replied. She manifested a silver hair pin and started bundling Parker's hair up to the top of her head. "This way he'll get to fully appreciate your dress. And then you can always do the pull the pin out of your hair and shake it out all sexy like too."
Parker let out a loud groan but stopped herself from covering her face with her hands like she wanted to as she said, "Are you really giving me pointers on how to seduce your brother?"
"No, I'm giving you pointers on how to entice your mate." She finished pinning up Parker's hair and then placed her chin on her shoulder so that they could look at each other more easily in the mirror. "You are beautiful Cub. Now how much do you know about the mating ritual?"
"Umm… well we get the mark on our hands and then umm… he claims me as his mate?"
"Not exactly," Aimée answered as she walked over to Parker's bed to sit down. "Now that your brands have appeared, the ball is totally in your court. It's up to the female to claim or reject the mate."
"Really?"
"Really Cub. If he tried to force it on you then the ritual can't be completed and he's forced into celibacy for the rest of your life."
"Wow! That is so cool!" Parker didn't try to hide her giddiness at all. She then stood up and stepped behind a large wooden screen that had a map of Ancient Greece carved into it that she received as a graduation gift from her dad so that she could get changed and think a little bit. "So, I decide that I want to claim my mate… what happens next?"
"Well to complete the ritual the female literally does 'claim' her mate. They clasp their branded hands and she says the magic words: 'I accept you as you are, and I will always hold you close in my heart. I will walk beside you forever.' And then you are officially mated."
Parker stepped out from behind the screen as she finished tying the dress behind her neck to ask, "When you say 'claim' like that, you mean… uhh… you mean sex, right?"
"Yes Cub, I do mean sex."
"So, if I'm in charge that means…"
Parker's confused frown almost made Aimée laugh, but she held it in out of respect to Parker. She had just returned from being held captive by something that none of them knew anything about and now one of her best friend's was coaching her about how she was supposed to have sex with her mate. Add in the bonus that Parker's mate was her best friend's brother who was the spitting image of another best friend (also Aimée's brother) and you got a perfect recipe for instant awkwardness.
"Parker… Cub… it means that you have to accept him into your body, all on your own, and then you set the pace from there. Understand?"
Parker nodded replying, "Yeah, I think I do. I mean the easy access dress definitely makes a lot more sense now."
Aimée finally gave into her desire to laugh then. "Plus you look smoking hot in it."
"Yeah, that helps too," Parker retorted cheekily as she sat down beside Aimée on her bed. "Okay, so what am I supposed to say again?"
They stayed in Parker's room working on helping Parker to memorize the mating spell. Neither of them noticed how much time had passed and would have continued on but then they were interrupted by a knock at the door.
Aimée got up to answer it saying to Parker, "You put on the finishing touches and I'll get that. Just don't add any jewelry. It'll just get broken or lost."
"Oh gods! Tell me you didn't just say that."
"I did and you know that I'm right."
Aimée disappeared into the hallway. There she found Dev, Samia, Fang, Cherif, Quinn and Cody. She looked over the group again to make sure that she hadn't missed the one face she expected to see and made sure that he actually wasn't there.
"Where's Remi?" She finally asked in a quiet, unsure voice.
Fang moved over to her side to wrap her in a hug while Dev answered, "We've looked everywhere that we can think of and we still haven't been able to find him."
"But Parker's back. They can complete the ritual now," Aimée said sounding as if she was having to convince everyone of that truth.
"We know Aims," Fang replied. "That's why we have everyone we can spare checking for him still."
She rested her head against Fang's chest and let out a soft sigh. "I know, I know. I just hadn't planned on that being an issue once we finally got her home."
"We'll find him," Dev said trying to sound more encouraging than he felt.
"Okay, so where have you guys looked?"
Quinn was the first to start listing off places. Everyone else would add in the places they had checked as well. Aimée just listened and tried not to panic.
"Did anyone check Talon's cabin?"
Everyone turned to look at Parker where she stood in her doorway. They all stared at her for a couple of seconds and then looked at each other sheepishly.
Parker then stepped into the hallway to officially join the conversation and added, "It's where I would go to, y'know… collect my thoughts if roles were reversed."
"That makes sense," Dev replied with a smile.
Parker gave him a half smile then meekly asked, "Can any of you take me there?"
Again they all just shared an uncertain look. No one wanted to look her in the eye which prompted her to ask, "Do any of you know anyone that could take me there?"
"There's Carson," Cherif offered.
Aimée shook her head replying, "He's with Bride's dad helping with a hawk that was brought into the doctor's office earlier today."
"None of you guys have ever been to Talon's cabin, have you?" Parker asked sounding like she was on the verge of bursting into tears at any second.
Aimée removed herself from Fang's embrace to rush to Parker's side to try to comfort her. "Sorry Sweetie, but most of us don't make it a habit to hang out at Dark-Hunter's homes."
Parker started to hyperventilate, but she managed to sound calm when she finally asked, "Does someone have a car that I can borrow?"
Fang snapped his fingers then said, "I think I can do you one better. Wait here."
Parker shared a look with Aimée, but neither of them said anything. There were a few murmured words of encouragement. Even though she just wanted to scream out in frustration, Parker forced herself to calm down by pacing a bit in the hallway.
"You do look really pretty," Cody said to Parker just under his breath when she stepped closer to him.
She gave him a small smile then quietly replied, "Thanks Cody, but I'm already spoken for."
Cody blushed fiercely then mumbled, "I didn't… I was just…"
Parker reached over and squeezed the bear's arm then said, "It's a joke Cody. Jeez, I thought by now that you'd get my humor."
Cody chuckled uncomfortably then said, "Right… joke… Good one Parker."
She felt a little bit guilty for teasing Cody like that, but he just made it too easy. Parker had started to help him every once in a while to set up equipment for Howlers' shows. At first he was resistant to letting the new comer touch the merchandise (so to speak), but after she had single-handedly set up a pair of speakers flawlessly under five minutes he completely changed his tune. Since then she became one of his favorite assistants. Well that was whenever she felt like helping because he liked to work in silence which could be hard for her to do. They had gotten to know each other a bit better none the less and she felt like he was a little brother to her now. Or was that a big brother? Him looking around her age but being centuries older still sort of messed with her head.
The thought of him being a brother made her laugh because with Remi being her mate, Cody now was actually like a brother to her, sort of.
Parker opened her mouth to tease him again, but she was silence by Fang appearing beside Aimée. He looked rather grim as he moved to hug his mate. When Parker saw the look on his face, she felt like someone had punched her in the gut and she very nearly did start to cry.
Fang turned to speak to Parker when another male popped into the hallway. The anger that filled his green eyes was so palpable that Parker actually took a step back and hit her closed bedroom door.
"I thought you were busy," Fang spat out snidely at the new comer.
"I was! I have five little ones running around at home, they don't just take care of themselves, you know." He then stepped forward and punched Fang in the arm hard enough that Fang nearly stumbled backwards. "Thanks a lot for snitching to my mate, Asshole."
Aimée stepped between the two wolves before Fang could reply and politely asked, "Vane? Do you need one of us to go and look after the kids?"
"No," he replied as his face immediately softened and he sounded eerily calm. "Bride called Fury, so he and Lia are watching them. That's why I didn't get here at the same time as my idiot brother over there." He then turned to Parker and raised an impressed eyebrow when he took in her outfit as he stated, "I take it that you're the Squire that needs help getting to a secluded shack in the swamp."
"It's not a shack, it's a cabin. And it isn't a 'swamp', it's the Bayou," Parker retorted automatically with some heat in her tone.
Vane held up his hands in mock surrender as he replied, "Sorry… sorry. I didn't recognize you in that dress, Talon."
Parker sneered at him before she looked over at Fang and asked, "Is your whole family this charming?"
Fang laughed and hugged Aimée to him so that her back was flush against his chest. He kissed the side of her head and then whispered to her, "I like her, can we keep her?"
Vane smirked at Parker saying, "Hey, look if you don't want my help then I can just go home to my kids before our brother warps their minds any more than he already has, okay?"
Parker crossed her arms over her chest and hardened her expression before replying, "Yes, I would appreciate your help, but if you're going to continue to be so insulting, I'll be more than happy to find another way to get out there."
"Insulting?" Vane said sounding very confused. "Hey, look…"
Parker held up her right hand and showed him one finger (no not the one she wanted to, it was her index finger) saying, "One, you called one of my favorite places on the planet a shack in a swamp. Two…" She held up a second finger. "You said that I look like a man in a dress when Aimée and I worked really hard on trying to get me to look my best. Did you want to try and go for strike three?"
"I… I didn't…"
Parker threw her hands up in exasperation and then stepped towards Cody, who looked like he was trying his best not to make it look too obvious that he was retreating from everyone in the hallway. As she stepped towards him, she softened her tone to practically plead, "Cody, can I please borrow your car?"
Vane stared at his brother, move his stunned gaze to Parker and then back to his brother as he stuttered out, "Wh-what are you doing?"
Pointedly refusing to look over at him, Parker replied, "I'm trying to get to my mate. No one here seems to be able to teleport me there, so I'm trying to do what I've been trained my whole life to be… resourceful."
Vane stared at Fang and Aimée in wide-eyed disbelief asking, "Is she for real?"
They both shrugged but it was Aimée that answered, "She's spirited. And we love her for it."
Cody was mumbling about his car being in the shop and how he was catching a ride from a classmate to school causing Parker to let out a frustrated breath. She turned and started towards her room saying to herself, "Maybe Talon's home. He should know the fastest way to get out there."
As she passed Vane he grabbed her arm and she had enough time to say, "Hey!" before he flashed them out of Peltier House.
"Where…? How…?" Parker stopped and held her hand up into Vane's face and said, "Forget that, I know those answers. What I don't understand is why you actually brought be here. I thought you were more than happy to leave me to go take care of your kids."
"Hi Parker, I'm Vane, Fang's brother," he replied as he held out his hand to shake hers. "It's nice to meet you."
Parker crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him saying, "Yeah, pretty sure…"
"Look," he interrupted while holding his hands up in surrender. "I think we got off on the wrong foot and I take full responsibility for that." Vane forced himself not to laugh at the shocked look that comment put on her face. "How long have you had your mating mark on your hand?"
Parker's scowl deepened. She almost didn't answer him, but her curiosity got the best of her. "Technically two weeks, but it was hidden by magic so physically… like around twenty-four hours. Why?"
"Shit," he cursed softly. "And I'm guessing before it appeared you really didn't know much about all of this stuff, right?"
Parker's scowl remained fixed as she shrugged and replied, "You guys are cousins to Daimons so we learned about your history at school, plus Aimée told me a lot about her experience with Fang. But no, I probably didn't and haven't learned everything that I need to know."
"That's what I thought," he said with an apologetic look on his face. "I shouldn't have teased you like I did. I'm the Regis Lykos and have basically been a leading in my clan for… well almost my entire life, so I can know how your hormones are…" He paused there because he saw her anger flare in her eyes and wanted to extinguish it right away. "No… not like… not just because… It's… you're human, so male or female, it can be overwhelming when you're first mated. So, I brought you here as my way of apologizing for being such an insensitive dick to you."
Parker's face softened slightly as she reached out and picked up Vane's hand to shake it. "I guess I can see what Bride sees in you now."
"You…? You've met my… I mean you've met Bride? And you were wondering what she sees in me?"
"Yeah, I ended up at her store and she is such a kind, caring soul who makes everyone that steps foot inside her store feel welcome so effortlessly. It isn't hard to see why anyone would fall in love with her. But you? Well like you said, we probably got off on the wrong foot because before now it really was hard to understand."
Vane barked out a laugh and squeezed Parker's hand that he was still holding. "I can see why Fang and Fury like you so much. Yes, they both vouched for you and helped to convince me to help you tonight. You really aren't like a lot of humans I've met."
Parker shrugged then held up her marked palm to show him it while she said, "I'm a human who has been mated by the Fates on Mount Olympus to Remi Peltier and you've just realized that I'm 'special' now?"
Fang barked out another laugh then shook his head. "Good point. Good point. Whenever you finally make it back to Sanctuary, get Fang to give me a call so that we can have a beer and meet properly."
Parker smirked then said without a hint of humor in her tone, "Third times a charm, eh?"
It took Vane a second before her joke registered because of her dry tone. She then smiled more demurely and then asked, "Would you maybe have some words of advice?"
Vane held one of her hands in both of his and he made very direct eye contact as he answered, "All you need to do is to follow your heart. You were able to find a way through to him before, so you know how to get through to him again."
"Wow," Parker gasped out. "That was way more touchy feely than I expected from a wolf." She quickly lunged forward to give him a hug as she quietly said, "Sorry. I joke when… and I don't want to cry… so it's easier if…"
"It's alright Parker, I understand," Vane replied as he softly rubbed circles on her back.
Parker pushed back on his chest and very sincerely said, "Thank you Vane. I literally couldn't and wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."
Vane shrugged then replied, "I don't know about that. If any human could have found a way out here without our help, I'm sure that it's you. Good luck."
With that said Vane flashed himself back home leaving Parker alone on the door step of Talon's cabin. Suddenly she started to feel the butterflies in her stomach as they started to flutter with a vengeance. She took in a couple of slow, deep breaths while she turned her back to the door so that she could stare into the Bayou.
"Fuck," she whispered to herself while she fought off the queasy feeling that was trying to overtake her.
Fuck! What am I doing here? She thought to herself. He probably doesn't even want to see me… or speak to me. Damn it!
She moved her hands up to her face to rub her face, which would have ruined her makeup that she had tried so hard to keep in place. Just as her right palm came into view, both of her hands froze in their place. She stared at her mating mark for a couple of seconds and then it hit her. The last time that she saw Remi (because she finally realized that he actually had met her in her dreams) she was absolutely convinced that she wasn't his mate, so she had sort of blown him off each time. But now she knew she had been wrong. That would give her a good starting point for how to start a dialogue with him, or at least she hoped that it would.
Parker took in another deep breath and straightened herself out thinking, apologize, mating ritual and then talk it out. You can do this Parker. She wiped her hands down the front of her body to make sure that her dress was straight when another thought hit her. And if nothing else works, you can always remind him that without mating with you he'll never have sex again.
That thought made Parker chuckle quietly. She then opened the door with that smile still plastered on her face. It had to be better to go in with a smile than to be crying like he had seen her doing every time he had visited her in her dreams.
Remi jump up to his feet when he heard the door open because he wasn't expecting any visitors, so he assumed it was some kind of squatter. If it was a free-loader who was looking to defile this cabin with their filth, then Remi was more than happy to set them straight. If they required some 'persuasion' to understand his point of view, Remi would be more than happy to help them with that too. And if he had to use his fists to get his point across? Well, after the last couple of nights he had been itching for a fight.
Parker heard movement inside and she held her breath because it finally dawned on her that the person inside might not be Remi. Her parents had told her stories about going to one of their summer or winter cabins before she was born and finding that someone had broken into it over the winter. The polite ones left a note apologizing for breaking in and/or thanked them for the shelter to help save their lives. The not so polite ones… well she was just happy that she hadn't been around for that clean up because just hearing the descriptions of what they had done had made her want to vomit.
NO! She said to herself as she finally started to walk through the door. Vane's a wolf. He would have said something if he smelled someone who doesn't belong here. She smirked and then thought, smelled! And I used to think my life was strange when I only hung out with the bears and their friends and now…
"Parker? Is…? Is that really you?" Remi's voice quietly called out to bring her out of her thoughts.
Parker carefully closed the door to take a moment to help her to compose herself. When she turned around she saw his eyes widen slightly. Who would have thought that after all of the times that he had seen her naked that seeing her in a sexy dress could still affect him so much?
"You're back? When did…? How did…?" Remi stopped there and hardened his facial expression before he returned to his spot on the bed. He made sure to sit on something that Parker was sure that she had seen him holding. He deliberately cleared his throat before saying in a tone that was carefully devoid of any emotion, "You're back. I guess that's good to see… Aimée and Dev were worried about you."
"Thanks," Parker replied feeling totally awkward. "And… Umm… I haven't really been back that long."
"Just long enough to get all dolled up for your big date, huh?"
"Date?" Parker asked without being able to stop herself. She scowled and opened her mouth to say something else, but she stopped herself.
Remi was pointedly refusing to look at her. She sighed inwardly because this man in front of her looked more like the old Remi. The one who had been perpetually had been pissed off at the world and everyone in it for no reason other than the fact that they deigned to exist happily around him.
This was the Remi that she had been working so hard to show love and kindness so that he wouldn't give into his random impulses to beat people into a pulp. This was the Remi who had refused to listen to her when she tried to apologize for the 'Otto incident'. This was the Remi that she really wanted to punch in the face most of the time, especially when he spoke. This was the Remi with whom she had had to get really creative in order to get him to even stop to listen to her.
Vane said you could do this and… okay he doesn't know you, but he knows Were-Hunters… Fine then, I guess I'll have to be creative again, she thought to herself with a smirk.
After she silently stepped out of her silver ballerina flats, Parker raised her hands to the back of her neck and deftly untied the know on her dress. It pooled around her ankles with a soft thud. Remi must have heard it because he stated to lift his head up, but he stopped himself to continue to stare at his hand that were folded in his lap.
Parker let out an inaudible sigh and then stepped out of her dress. Her footsteps barely made a sound as she crossed the floor towards him barefoot. She paused a couple of feet away from him, slipped off her panties and then closed the distance between them. Once she knew that her toes were in his sight line, she dropped her black lace panties at his feet.
Remi's head finally shot up to look at her at the sight of the racy lingerie. Parker bit her lip to keep from laughing at how his eyes bugged out at seeing her naked. She took advantage of his shocked state to gently unlace his fingers and move his hand to his sides. She then sat down on his lap and wrapped her legs around his waist.
He still hadn't moved anything but his eyes, so she had no problem picking up his left hand and lacing the fingers of her right hand with his left. Once their palms were pressed together, she looked him in the eyes and said, "I accept you as you are, and I will always love you with all of my heart. I will walk beside you until the end of time."
She lifted their hands up to her lips to kiss their entwined fingers as he quietly said, "What did you say?"
"It's… it's the…" She stopped and then got a chagrinned look on her face. "I said it wrong, didn't I? Shit! I told Aimée that she should have written it down for me. I'm so sorry that I fucked it up."
Remi looped his free hand around her waist so that he could run his fingers gently un and down her spine. "It's okay, but say it again."
Parker scowled softly then replied, "but I said it all wrong."
"Fine. Just say the middle part again."
Parker let go of his hand so that she could settle back closer to his knees and look up at his face more comfortably. She still looked confused when she said, "I love you with all my heart?"
Since she made it sound like a question, Remi asked, "Are you sure? Because…"
Finally giving into her urges to do so, Parker leaned up slightly to kiss him into silence. "Yes. I'm very sure. The last time I saw you… uhh… in the Dream Realm, not in real life… I was confused… hurting…"
"Really? Because you sounded pretty sure to me when you said you didn't love me."
Parker huffed out a breath and crossed her arms over her breasts. Remi quickly wrapped his now free left hand around her waist to make sure that she didn't fall off of his lap. She also tightened her hold around his waist with her legs when she noticed the precarious situation she had put herself in.
Her lips were pouting when she replied, "Then you need to work on your listening skills because I NEVER said I didn't love you…" He opened his mouth to interrupt her, but she used her left hand to cover it. "I didn't! I said that I couldn't LET myself love you anymore. When my palm didn't get marked, I thought that you had cheated on me… BUT I know that's not true. Not only did Aimée tell me that she had talked to you about it to… well anyways…" She tightened her hold on his mouth slightly because she was afraid that if he interrupted her that she wouldn't get everything out. Very slowly she held up her right hand up at shoulder height to show him her palm. "But then this appeared after Thorn took me away from Spike's cabin. It hurt like hell so I think he knocked me out or something, but either way when I woke up all I could think about was finding you. I love you Remi Peltier. I… I… I still believe… despite our differences… that what we have's enough. I believe in you. I believe in love… our love."
Remi's eyes went wide and his mouth was gaping open when Parker removed her hand from his face. Thinking that she had once again messed up the lines that she had been rehearsing, albeit these ones were for nearly a month not just a few hours, Parker started to blush. Remi could see her skin turning pink in her cheeks and it steadily started to spread down her neck and across her chest above both of her breasts, but he couldn't help it and had to tease her, even just a little bit.
"Did…? Did you just recite the lyrics of an Indigo Girls' song?" He asked sounding like he was completely in awe of that fact.
Parker shied away from him a bit and covered her chest with her arms by crossing them over her torso and grasping her shoulders with her hands as she replied, "I was try to… at the very least. Did I mess that up too?"
Remi shook his head and reached up to pull the pin out of her hair so that it could fall around her body. He knew that she normally used it as a security blanket, so he wanted to let her have it free in case that she felt like she needed to use it. An extra bonus was that he also loved the way she looked with her midnight black hair falling nearly to her waist to frame her luscious body.
He then grasped both of her wrists and gently pulled them away from her shoulders as he replied, "No, you didn't mess them up." He started tracing her mating mark with his index finger and kept his eyes laser focused on it while he continued to speak. "So? Does this mean that you want to be my mate?"
Parker lifted his chin with her bent, left index finger so that she could reestablish eye contact with him before she answered, "Remi? I'm straddling your lap… completely naked, reciting lyrics to a band that I only listen to because of you… so no, I don't actually want to mate with you. I just thought this would be a fun thing to do tonight… the first night I'm back from being abducted."
"You joke, but some female mates have been known to do just that exact same thing."
"Well… I'm not just anyone's mate. I'm YOUR mate," Parker retorted in a husky voice as she moved her face closer to his. "And despite that icy cold reception I received after busting my ass to get out here to you… Yes… Yes, I do want to be you mate. But… I think I'm going to need some help with the ritual in order to make that happen."
Remi gave her a devilish smile and then used magic to make his clothes disappear. Parker gasped softly because no matter how many times she witnessed him using magic it still amazed her that he had such a talent and that he could use it so effortlessly. She also couldn't believe that someone as powerful and gorgeous as him would be interested in her, let alone wanting to mate with her.
He shifted his grip on her right hand so that their palms were pressed together replying, "Just tell what you need to know."
Parker smiled and then started to lift herself up so that she could impale herself onto his length, but she stopped while she was in mid-air to ask, "Does it mess up the ritual if you tell me each line before I say it? Should we go over the spell before I… ahem… mount you?"
Remi barked out a laugh and used his free hand to pull her head forward to kiss her. "Non, mon ourson, it doesn't have any effect on the ritual at all."
"Good," she replied against his lips as she lowered herself onto him. "Because I am yours. Forever and for always."
"Good thing too because after this that's how long we'll be stuck with each other," Remi teased as he forced himself not to thrust up into Parker's inviting body. He took in a couple of deep breaths with his eyes closed to try to keep himself in check. Once he felt like he had calmed down enough to continue, he opened his eyes and quietly said, "Okay… Repeat after me. I accept you as you are…"
Parker maintained steady eye contact as she started to move her hips in a circular motion, "I accept you as you are…"
"And I will always hold you close in my heart."
Parker's cheeks rogued from embarrassment at hearing that line because now she could hear how badly she had screwed it up. "And I will always HOLD YOU CLOSE IN MY heart." She made sure to put an emphasis on the words that she had recited incorrectly.
That earned her a smile from Remi, but he still sounded slightly distressed when he said, "I will walk beside you forever."
"I will walk beside you FOREVER."
Parker then completed the ritual by engulfing Remi's lips with her own. He finally allowed himself to relax into her embrace no that he believed that he spell had been completed. Even though he didn't have to worry about interrupting the ritual by participating, physically that is, Remi still let Parker be in complete control of their union.
She would have been content to continue to kiss him, but she pulled back with a surprised gasp when she felt him bite her lip. At first she was going to tease him about being such an 'animal, but she stopped herself when she felt her own canine teeth start to elongate. She had no idea what was happening, but Remi didn't seem to be bothered by it at all because he still had his eyes closed and looked like he was relishing the sensations of their bodies being joined so intimately.
When he felt Parker pull out of their embrace with a sudden jerk, Remi very reluctantly opened his eyes. He couldn't really decipher the look on her face, so he tried to give her a seductive smile to help to ease her mind. The ritual had been completed, or at least from what he had heard about from other people's experiences it was, and she had been returned to him, so there was nothing left for them to worry about… or so he thought.
Instead of calming Parker down, Remi's smile seemed to distress her further. She placed her flattened palms against his chest to start to shove at him as if she wanted to get as far away as possible from him. When he realized what she was doing, Remi caught her arms and tried to hug her against his chest.
"I don't think that the ritual is actually finished until we both climax," he explained quietly to try to calm her.
Parker continued to struggle against him replying, "But Remi, you… I… WE have fangs! Am I…? Am I turning into a bear?"
"Shh…" He hushed her while he continued to gently press her against him. "Sorry. I guess we forgot to mention the thirio."
"The what?" She questioned sounding even more panicked.
Remi made sure to keep his voice as calm as possible even though he was ready to throttle his sister for not warning Parker about this part of their mating. "It's call the thirio… but don't worry… it will pass soon enough."
Parker felt like she was going to go crazy because all she wanted to do was to bite down on his neck or attack him somehow. She forced herself to keep her face away his because she was worried that if she got too close to his neck or any other part of his flesh that she might actually attack him.
With that thought in mind, Parker decided to try to shift her focus onto helping the two of them reach their climax instead. Maybe the endorphins or whatever else was released in their bodies would help her to keep from giving into her urges to take a bite out of him. Which was becoming so hard for her to do that she had to squeeze her eyes closed so that she could at least make an attempt to focus on other things.
"W-Why…?" Parker stuttered out with her eyes still closed tightly. "W-why…? Wh-what's…? Why…?"
Remi wanted to laugh at Parker's familiar disjointed questions, but he couldn't because he too was trying his best to resist the urge to take a bite out of her. He was so conflicted because he was sure that the insatiable need would subside if he sunk his newly found fangs into her, but in the next breath he didn't want to do anything that might hurt her, especially physically. Even before he knew that she was his mate, Parker induced a protective streak in him. Actually, Parker had been so sweet in her youth and beyond that she had caused almost everyone she met to want to protect her in some way, so Remi knew that if he had actually harm her that he'd have more than just his brother and sister to answer to for it, so he tried his best to avoid it all together.
Instead Remi replied through clenched teeth, "It's… the… the thirio happens so… so that… two mates… mates can… can bond."
Parker gasped as Remi's member hit a sensitive spot inside of her which caused her to breathlessly ask, "D-does that…? I-is that…?"
They kept moving in such an exquisite dance like motion that Remi didn't fault her for not being completely coherent right at that moment. But he also knew that she deserved an answer, so he forced himself not to focus on how perfect her canal felt as he slid against it so that he could reply, "It means… oh shit… slow down… mmm… yeah… just like that Parker…" He let himself settle down a bit after her vigorous onslaught before he looked her in the eyes to say, "It means that we would bond our life forces together."