"I'm home!" Ivy's voice rang out from hall as she approached the kitchen. My pulse sped up until is was pounding heavily in my throat. I heard Ivy's footsteps falter as I tried to calm myself. "Rachel? Are you alright?" She asked from the hall, before coming the rest of the way down the hall and stopped in the doorway. I nodded, looking up from the page that I was trying to focus on and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, before looking back down at the book. My pulse finally slowing. Ivy came in to sit at her chair in front of her computer and flicked on the screen, hearing the click of the mouse, I knew that she was checking her messages. She stood soon afterward and gave me a ghost of a smile.
"Ready to spar?" She asked. Her eyes lighting up a bit. I nodded.
"Yeah, I gotta go change real quick, but I'll meet you in the sanctuary." I answered back, fighting to keep myself calm and not allow any thoughts cross my mind. I managed a smile and stood, putting the demon book back under the island counter before trudging down the hall to change.
Once I was dressed, I walked into the sanctuary. Ivy had already laid out the blue sparring mats and was standing in the middle of them. She still wore her black tank top, but had exchanged her leather pants for a pair of black silk jogging shorts. I myself was in a red tank-top and a pair of grey sweat pants. I had taken off my socks and my feet made a soft tap against the cool wood floor. I let my mind stay clear, blank, as I walked upon the mat to meet Ivy standing in the middle. I gave her a ghost of a smile and tucked a stray curl behind an ear.
"You ready?" She asked. When I nodded, she stepped back into one of her intricate karate stances and I stepped back into a basic defensive stance I had learned while training for the I.S. So, the sparring began.
Ivy feinted to the left, thinking I would take the bait. I dodged and crouched to the right as her foot came up swinging. I swept her feet out from under her with a swift kick and she landed on her back with a thud, only to spring back up to her feet quickly. The way she moved around the mat was so sensual and graceful. It seemed more like a dance than a fight to me. It was like she was beckoning me with her body to come to her. Clenching my hands into fists for a moment, I forced my thoughts away from that. 'Stupid witch' I scolded myself, 'It's just the vamp pheramones. Snap out of it'. My scar wasn't tingling... but other body parts sure were.
Her hand stung as she back handed me as I came up to come after her, it rocked my head back, also making me stumble back a few steps. The adrenaline surged through me as the fight went on and before I knew it Ivy had taken me down for the first time in awhile. I had ran straight at her, barreling her over to land on her back, before landing on top of her, pinning her there. She flipped me over onto my stomach and had my arm pinned behind my back before I knew what was happening. I was panting heavily, sweat beading on my skin.
"Do you give up?" She panted out and I nodded before she let me up. She stood and walked over to the edge of the mats and grabbed two towels, tossing me one and began to dab herself off a bit, though she didn't look the least bit sweaty. I don't know what I would have done if I had seen all of that bare flesh, glistening with the strain she had endured. I grimace and wiped the sweat from my face. "I'm gonna go get us some water." Ivy's words broke through my thoughts and I nodded again, still not speaking as I tried to catch my breath.
So, I allowed myself to drift into thought, which was a bad idea... I tried to stamp out the thought of Ivy touching me again, but was too late. I heard Ivy's gasp as well as her deep intake of breath as she scented the air. I grimaced and mentally smacked myself as I tried to calm myself once again. Looking up, I caught Ivy staring at me in the doorway, a look of soft wonder and bewilderment taking over her delicate features.
"Rachel... Stop it." Ivy managed to rasp out, before she took a few steps toward me. I could see her fighting with herself to keep from taking those steps.
"I'm trying, just relax for a second." I snapped at her, hoping the anger I felt would douse out the little spikes of pleasure flowed through me as my mind ran rampant with thoughts of Ivy above me, her hot breath on my skin, her hands on my body... Damn-it, I was doing it again. I could feel the first ebb and flow of Ivy's vamp pheramones hitting my system and my scar began to tingle.
I stood slowly and stepped away from the mats, putting the door at my back if I needed it. She was clenching and unclenching her hands, trying to fight for her own control as her pupils slowly began to swallow the amber color of her eyes and stared.
"I'm going to go into my room. You stay here." I said calmly. "Maybe we should stop the sparring lesson for today." I suggested also. Ivy's gaze shot up to me and she shook her head rapidly.
"No, we can get through this Rache, just stay calm and think of something different." She murmured, barely audible to my ears.
"What in Tink's Disney mansion is going on?" Jenk's voice brought me out of my anger and I realized that he was still there. He flew up slowly to hover unsteadily between Ivy and myself.
"Stay out of this, bug." Ivy's voice was low and strained with the warning that she put into her statement. "Rachel and I can handle this. Everyone just needs to remain calm." She took a step forward as if an invisible force had nudged her just that one step and she was fighting not to take more.
"Like hell I will! You either need to go outside and take a chill pill or Rachel needs to go somewhere where you can't pounce on her." Jenk's snapped. "I'm not gonna let another incident like what happened in Michigan, happen again." His wings turned a dark red to show his anger and irritation as he flew to Ivy, poking one of his tiny fingers into her face. "I vowed to look after and protect Rachel and I will not go through almost losing her again because of YOU!" Ivy's face fell and all the pain and sorrow that she had been feeling since then came flooding back. The tears welled up in her eyes and she turned away. Jenk's tirade faltered and he sighed "Awe, hell. I'm sorry, Ivy. I didn't mean to say that... It's the honey talking. I'll leave you and Rachel be to work this out..." He flitted up and took off through the kitchen in the screen, leaving Ivy and I in the heavy silence. I heard Ivy's whimper and move around the counter toward her.
"Ivy? You alright?" I reached my hand out to touch her shoulder and she whirled on me.
"Don't touch me!" She snapped, making me jump and take a step back. "You don't want to touch a monster like me!" She then turned to leave toward her room. I followed her down the hall (which I learned was a bad idea, but still did it anyway), catching her bedroom door as she tried to close it. She whipped around again to face me. "Get out, Rachel. I can't handle you being here right now and you know better."
"Wait, Ivy. Please." I opened the door the rest of the way and stepped in, closing the door behind me, not really sure of what I was trying to do. I leaned against the closed door and watched her pace about her room, muttering under her breath. She froze mid-step when she realized that I wasn't leaving.
"I said get out!" She yelled and advanced on me. I could see by her eyes that Ivy had almost completely vamped out. She grabbed a hold of my wrists and lifted them over her head with one of her hands, pressing me into the door. "Is this what you want?" She was so close now, her body molded firmly to mine, her breath upon my lips. I let out a soft gasp, but did nothing else. Her breathing was ragged as she leaned her face closer to mine, so close that a sharp intake of breath would bring our lips together. "Tell me what you want Rachel and I will do it. All you have to do is just tell me, for turns sake." She pleaded with me in a hoarse whisper.
I did the only thing I could think of doing. I kissed her... I kissed Ivy Tamwood.