Thank you to those who reviewed, even my crazy Fiance who decided to pretend to be gangster so I would know. XD enjoy.
Rebecca eventually awoke again, way later in the afternoon, by the look of the sunlight that was coming through her window. She rolled over onto her back, reaching up to rub the sleep from her eyes, feeling the crusted salt that was left over from her crying herself to sleep earlier this morning. Much earlier, too early, if someone were to ask her.
She just didn't get Kalin. Honestly, she didn't. She thought she had all men figured out into one logic line, but he blew it all to pieces. She had easily held a relationship as long as she satisfied the mans physical needs, and they tended to not ask much else from her, and offer her gifts in response.
Though she did have to admit that she had never been sexually attracted to a man before Kalin, and on some level that infuriated her. Okay, on basically all levels that infuriate her. Again,. It was something she had no control over, and Rebecca loved to have control. She had been in control in all of the relationships she had been in so far, and she was getting agitated that the one man she wanted to be in a relationship with now she knew she would have no control at all.
Or would she?
She pursed her lips at that thought. She would have to save that away for later.
Right now, she was starving.
She rolled out of bed, careful to not make a loud bang as she hit the floorboard in case Kalin had decided to stick around after she had locked herself into the bed room. She carefully opened the door, thanking Philip that he had the tendency to keep everything he owned in brand new condition. The door didn't even make a sound when she slowly opened it, and then she waited for a good minuet or so, waiting to see if a single sound came from anywhere else in the cabin.
Nothing so far.
Hesitantly, she left the room, creeping softly so she didn't even make a scuff sound on the floor with a toe. But when she reached the living room she paused. What was she going to do if Kalin WAS still here? Could she really run back and lock herself in her bedroom?
In answer, her stomach growled, loudly, and she sucked in a surprised breath, as well as a blush creeping to her cheeks and the thought of Kalin hearing that. But no sound came as a response, so she allowed herself to relax a little and finally go into the kitchen.
Empty.
She was NOT disappointed by that fact. She wasn't.
With an UN-agitated stride, she moved to the bowl that was sitting on the counter by the fridge. She had seen Kalin scooping ice cream into the bowl, and sure enough, now it was all melted and soggy, and not at all appetizing. She tossed the bowl into the sink with a crinkle of her nose, then moved to the fridge again and opened it, scanning the contents on something to settle her aching and begging stomach. Then, she would hunt down something to kill her crying jag headache.
But her eyes caught the container of ice cream that Kalin had left behind, but her mind rebelled. She had never, once in her life, eaten something unhealthy for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. She was always good about having three meals a day, healthy and good, and snacks in between. But her eyes kept magnetizing towards the ice cream container. No, she wouldn't do that, she couldn't, could she? Not unless she justified it, of course.
Hmmm, what would justify this?
Didn't females binge when they were nursing broken hearts? Well, hurt feelings?
Whatever, good enough.
She snatched the container and popped the lid off, allowing the fridge to swing shut. She peered into curiously, her eyes sorting through the contents. She spied vanilla ice cream, cherries, and . . . brownies? She frowned and looked at the container, to find there was no label. Surely they did not make ice cream like this? What a weird combination.
Who on earth would eat this? She nibbled her lip, then gave in, going to get a bowl and scooping the contents into it. She had just picked up a spoon and was about to sit down at the table, when there was a knock at the door. She paused, but knew it wasn't Kalin, he would have just come in, and Crystal had already gone back to school, but Ben had stayed behind, claiming to need to help Philip with something. Crystal had told her this before she had left the club last night, but she did not have much of a heart for feeling sadness that her friend was once again leaving. Besides, her and Crystal were still not on the best of terms.
And she knew it wasn't Beth, who would be hard studying for her midterms for school.
So who in the world did that leave?
She frowned, bowl still in hand, and moved to the door, opening it with her free hand.
To find Fortis standing there.
"Hey, Rebecca," Fortis said on a cheery note, giving her a big smile that made Rebecca feel like she was still out of it.
"Uh, hey, Fortis." she blinked wearily, then asked. "Uh, how did you find out where I lived?"
"Philip." she said simply.
Yeah, she was going to have to talk to him about giving out her damn address to everyone who came by and asked.
"But listen, I came by for a reason. I wanted to know if you knew where my brother was. Haven't seen him around, and if I found you, well, I figured chances were that he had found you first." she sounded hopeful, and she wanted to step on Kalin's foot for upsetting his sister so. She turned back to look at the kitchen, noting now that the back door was still wide open.
"Nope," she said as she turned back to Fortis. "I have no clue where he is at the moment. But you are right, he did find me already."
"Hey! Is that Cherry surprise?" Rebecca blinked at the name, then followed Fortis's eyes to the bowl she was holding.
"You know this?"
"Yeah! It is three of my favorite foods that Kalin got the clan to put together . . . well anyway, we are the main maker for it, and we started to sell it after . . . well after Kalin disappeared."
Her loneliness called to Rebecca, because she understood how she felt. Not completely, of course, she had never had anyone to care for her like Fortis and Kalin obviously did.
"Would you like to come in and have a bowl with me?" and Rebecca knew she had said the right thing when the sadness disappeared from Fortis face and she lit up light a Christmas tree.
"Really? I don't want to bother you."
"No, it is okay. Besides, if it is your favorite ice cream it wouldn't seem right for me to try it on my own." so she ushered her into the house and set to getting her a bowl of her own.
"Did Kalin give it to you?" Fortis said, by way of conversation when Rebecca set the bowl and spoon in front of her and sat across from her.
"Yes, after he broke into my house." she snorted at the shocked look on Fortis's face. "Yes, your brother is now a top notch stalker. We were okay though, for a little while."
"I would have kicked him out while dragging him out by his ear!"
"I almost did," she said with a giggle around her ice cream, but that caused Fortis to giggle also, and for a second or so neither of them seemed able to stop.
"I am sorry he broke in." Fortis said on a gasped breath when they finally managed to stop.
"Don't apologize for him. Besides, like I said, we were fine, for awhile."
"What happened, if it is okay to ask." she added quickly, making Rebecca give her another smile.
"He told me I can only have children with him as well."
"Ah, I thought that was obviouse with the whole sex thing. I apologize for not going into detail."
"No, again, don't apologize for him. I was just angry, because it seems like the more and more I find out about being his Bride, the more and more I lose the little control I have over the relationship."
she was not prepared for Fortis to snort so hard so ice cream came out of her nose. She leapt up to grab a napkin, only to notice a piece of paper on the floor. She picked it up without looking, and set it on the counter as she went back to hand Fortis the napkin.
"Sorry," Rebecca said in confusion, wondering what it was she had said.
"Is that really what you think?" Fortis asked in a stunned tone, gaping at Rebecca like she was the missing lynx.
"Well, yeah."
"Then you really don't understand being a Bride." she said with surprise then shook her head, setting down her spoon. "You have more control than you think. The women in the Thorian clan are cherished above everything else. They save the men from eternal darkness and madness, give them a family, pleasure, something to fill their lives with joy and happiness. The women are hard to find, even with the medical precautions we have set into place." she looked up to meet Rebecca's eyes. "Do you understand what I am saying? Kalin would do anything for you, anything! All you have to do is ask and he will never question anything you asked of him. Anything you want is yours, you will never be missing anything. He will cherish you like no man ever could, and give you things that no man ever could. You are his entire existence, and while it may seem that you have little power, you have all of the power and he had none. While you are able to resist your feelings and continue on with you life, Kalin is on a razor edge between Thorian and man. He fights his nature just to spend time casually in your presence."
"I don't understand though. Why? Why must he fight?"
"Because the first year is always the hardest, especially when the bonding is not fully complete."
"I thought you said it was." Rebecca said wearily.
"Look, that isn't important. The point is, he is struggling more than you know to give you what you want without going over any boundaries you may have placed. I have never seen my brother fight so hard for something." she smiled and shook her head. "The kid I knew, before he left, would have just kidnapped you and brought you back to the clan grounds."
"Well, I am sure that would have gone over well." Rebecca said on a snort, toying with a cherry in her mouth. The ice cream was good, a perfect mix of the sweetness of the cherries, the spices of the vanilla, and the chocolate of the brownie. Fortis laughed at the comment, before looking down at her ice cream, and then standing.
"Look, it was nice talking to you, but I should be spending more time looking for my brother."
"You really love him, don't you?" Rebecca asked in awe, looking up at her. Fortis paused for a moment, thinking it over, and then she nodded.
"We were all each other had for the longest time. But I am glad he found you, I really am." as she passed by she laid a hand on her shoulder. "Just think about what I told you. Things are not always what you think them to be."
Weren't they?