It had taken several weeks to organise the much needed time off without leaving anyone in the lurch on short notice before they could finally leave and head into the heart of Cajun country, but what Roman had initially thought would be just the two of them quickly turned into anything but.
In hindsight he should have known it would happen, especially when it came to Mackenzie and one Dean Ambrose. The two had known each other since they had been kids and were as thick as thieves, so of course he would be the first to know of the windfall that she had come into. How they got along so well he still wasn't sure, all he knew is they had seen each other through a lot over the years that had cemented an unbreakable friendship. Mack was quiet and reserved, Dean was loud and brash. She was the voice of reason and hated conflict while he worked on impulsive emotion and had no problems telling people exactly what he thought of them. He was a prolific womaniser and heart breaker, but if a man went near Mack with anything less than honourable intentions Ambrose quickly became the most protective person on the planet. Roman knew that last part well, having become the focus point of it once upon a time.
His own buddy, Seth Rollins, soon found an invite sent his way; Mack considered it unfair if Dean was tagging along but one of his own friends wasn't. So where Seth went his girlfriend was sure to follow, and the idea of spending a few days with her man in a secluded southern style estate house was too good to resist. So with an SUV crammed with five adults, a dog and a lot of luggage they set off, the drive predicted to take around two days. When they were thirty miles out from their destination they came to a small town, one of those blink and you'll miss it type of places.
"Pull over," Dean suddenly called from the back seat as soon as he spotted the large sign that proclaimed 'beer!' in big capital letters.
Roman glanced down at the fuel gauge as he did so, while they wouldn't run into any problems getting there it wouldn't hurt to fill up the tank just in case. Besides it would nice to get out and have a chance to stretch his legs, they'd been driving along for hours. Dean made a beeline for his beer while Roman went about dealing with the gas. Leia and Seth headed into the gas station while Mack took Loki around the side of the building so the animal could relieve himself, have some water and spend a few minutes running around.
When she came back to the car Mack found Dean chatting up a pretty girl with dark brown eyes. He had her hanging onto his every word up until he answered her question of where they were headed. She said something Mackenzie couldn't quite hear before making some excuse and scurrying off like a frightened rabbit.
"Been a long time since I saw you get shut down," Mack teased as she came up behind him, "Is she not into firemen? That has to be a first."
"It was going fine until I mentioned that new house of yours," He replied with a small amount of annoyance, "Said some babble in French then ran off."
Mack simply shrugged before putting Loki back in the car and keyed the ignition so he could sit under the air conditioning. "I do recall saying that you were free to bring a date if you really wanted a piece of ass that badly while we're down here."
He laughed, "I wanted to see what the locals had on offer first, so sue me. Now I'll just have to deal with a case of blue balls for a week."
"Dear god, you're going to become unbearable within two days." She playfully ruffled his hair, "Come on, Romeo, let's see what this place has in the way of snacks."
Dean followed her inside and started picking out what they wanted they made their way to the counter just as Roman was done paying for the petrol. When they were done Mack looked at the small pile he had dumped on top of hers, then up at him. "Are you quite through?"
He grinned, "For the moment. You know I've adopted you as my sugar momma now, so it was inevitable."
Mock disapproval aside she paid for it anyway, handing over the cash to cover the purchases, "What if I gave it all away?"
"I'd have to get you committed, because that's just nuts."
"I might have a little something to say about that," Roman commented mildly.
Dean considered this for a moment before conceding, "Good point. I've seen you tackle people playing football, something I'd rather not experience for myself if I can help it." Taking the bags he started back towards the car when he did a double take, looking at a section of the wall that had been dedicated to various points of the tiny town's history. "Hey, Mack, check it out. She looks almost exactly like you." The colour photo was faded, looking like it was taken in the the late sixties. The subject was a young woman, no older than perhaps seventeen or eighteen, "IsabelleBeaulieu. Wait... Wasn't your mother's name Isabelle?"
"Yeah." She came to stand beside him, not quite believing what she was seeing; the resemblance was uncanny. When it came to anything concerning her mother, her father had been rather... uptight with information, simply out of spite. As a result she knew next to nothing about the woman and had eventually put it out of her mind; there had been no point chasing a ghost. She stared at it a little longer while Dean glanced over her shoulder at Roman before heading outside. She was so absorbed in it that she hadn't noticed the old man that had served them come out from behind the counter and now stood only a couple of feet away, startling her a little when he finally spoke.
"I always wondered what happened to Isabelle when she ran off with that Yankee," He said in a voice that sounded like it had been abused by one too many cigarettes. "She was such a sweet girl."
"She's dead," Mack replied flatly.
"I see. Such a shame." He heard the hint of subconscious resentment but left it well enough alone. "It would explain why you've come all the way down here after the announcement of old Gaspard. I take it you're heading up to the old... family home." She nodded slowly, unable to keep her eyes wandering back to the image of her mother. He reached up and pulled the pin from picture and held it out, encouraging her to take the photo when Mackenzie hesitated, "I don't know where you've come from but I suggest you do yourself and your friends a favour; turn around. You'll find nothing at that accursed place but the terror of the loup garou if you stay. His shadow has stalked your famille for a lifetime."
Her brow crept up sceptically. A Cajun werewolf? Really?
He simply offered a sad, rueful smile then headed back behind the counter. Many people had come through his shop during the decades to see if the myth was real or not and none of them ever came back. He wouldn't waste his breath trying to convince them otherwise, for some people the only way to believe was to see. They would go, they would see and then they would either die by the hands of the beast or take its place. Such is the way it had always been, and such is they way it would stay.
She held the old man's gaze a little longer until Roman took her hand and gently tugged her towards the door. A car full of extras and senior citizens handing out bizarre ominous warnings, this was going so well... and they hadn't even gotten there yet. Next time they were going to Hawaii. Alone.
The weird warning was quickly forgotten when they were on the move again, finding themselves passing through an imposing wrought iron gate, its archway towered over the long winding driveway which was long enough in itself. When the SUV pulled to a stop out the front they all once again piled out, taking in the sight of the huge building.
"It's... rather large," Mack stated.
Dean let out a half humoured snort, "That's what she said?" Her response was to simply punch him half heartedly in the arm, "What? Come on, you left that one wide open."
"You're so crass."
The few photos Maddox had left her with really didn't do the place justice. It was massive, thee storeys tall with high arched windows and so long you'd be exhausted running from one end to the other. In all honesty it looked a little out of place in the woods of Louisiana and looking more like it belonged somewhere in old world Europe, but even that did little to detract from the overall impressive visage. Climbing the stairs Mackenzie pulled the keys from her handbag, unlocking and pushing open the large ornate double doors.
Seth let out a low whistle as they took in the grandiose sight of the main foyer, the sound echoing loudly in the large open space. Wide staircases descended from either side and joined up at the middle to lead the way up to the floors above. "We're going to need GPS just to navigate around this place. How are we going to find everything?"
"The old fashioned way," Dean answered with a grin as he headed up the stairs.
The remaining four eventually took his lead as they all went about exploring a good part of the house finding studies, reading rooms, trophy rooms, a huge library, a fancy looking kitchen and of course, bedrooms. There were so many bedrooms that it was ridiculous; just how many people lived here in its heyday? Just as Maddox had said the house was in great shape, considering no-one actually lived in it the place was surprisingly clean and free of dust. Idly Mackenzie wondered just how big of a small army someone would need to keep it that way.
As the afternoon started drawing to a close they eventually started dragging luggage to the rooms they had picked out for themselves, all of them being fairly spread out across the manor. Before long it became unanimous that it was definitely time for dinner, so while that was getting sorted out Dean disappeared only to come back a few minutes later with bottles in hand; the first room he had found being a small bar complete with wine cellar. Soon the atmosphere was filled with the sounds of music, cutlery on plates and several animated conversations. As the night wore on one by one they slowly disappeared into the bedrooms they had claimed during the initial exploration.
A light breeze had picked up, bringing with it a slight chill from the large bayou in the distance. Roman emerged from the adjoining bathroom to find Mackenzie standing outside on the balcony, leaning against the railing while she gazed up at the sky awash with stars and the sliver of a new moon with the only noises breaking the silence that of the night time prowling wildlife. It was so different than back home, all but the strongest starlight blocked out by and endless source of light pollution from traffic, street lights, buildings and the sound of the natural world downed out by a man made symphony.
His arms wrapped around her and inhaled the scent that clung to her freshly cleaned skin, "So, what do you think of the place?"
"Honestly? It's more than a little pretentious and too far out of the way for my liking. I mean seriously, what the hell are we going to do with all this space?"
It was a good question. What exactly do you do with a house this size? Also Mackenzie was a city girl at heart, she liked the idea of convenience and being able to simply blend into the crowd, so he couldn't ever see her wanting to live out here on a permanent basis. "You could always hire it out to Hollywood. A place like this would be great for creepy horror movies."
"I can see it now. 'Curse Of The Louisiana Loup Garou'." She said with a little dramatic flair.
"I don't even know what that is," Roman admitted, "I'm not the one who speaks French."
"It's a werewolf."
He couldn't help the low laughter that rumbled in his chest; that was what the old guy was warning them about? Whatever, all it meant to him was they wouldn't get any unwanted visitors and he was more than happy with that idea. Mack wriggled around in his grip to face him, her hands slipping over his broad bare shoulders and he claimed her with a kiss, his hold becoming tighter when her nails grazed lightly over his skin. His hands moved down and squeezed her ass, pleased at his discovery of a lack of underwear, and was rewarded with a soft moan as her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. His fingers dug into the firm flesh before picking her up and her legs instinctively locked around his waist.
Briefly he thought about just taking her right there on the balcony; having been forced to see her in a skirt that would constantly ride up high on her thighs all day despite how many times she tugged it down had his mind banished to the gutter for the majority of the day. Roman loved tits and ass as much as the next man but what he was a real sucker for was a fantastic set of legs, something which Mackenzie had no matter how much she denied it for a reason he couldn't fathom. He ultimately decided against it however, for now at least. There was a huge bed inside with their names on it and he had every intention of putting his lady through her paces.
"This needs to go. Now," Roman demanded, tugging on the long cotton tank. He held her steady as Mack let go of the grip she had around his neck and shoulders, peeling the top off and tossed it into the room. He tasted her skin while he crossed from the door to the bed, sinking into the soft mattress when he reached it and gently prying Mackenzie off him. He took a second to admire the view in front of him, her pale skin was bright in the low silvery light, even more-so against the contrast of his own darker tone. He licked and nipped his way down her throat while calloused hands ran up her sides and cupped her breasts, squeezing and teasing until she started to writhe underneath him.
Her fingers curled in his hair as her eyes closed, focusing more on the feel of him and the sensations he was creating. His teeth lightly grazed against her skin followed by his tongue lapping at wherever he had just bitten. When she began to run her nails along his back and shoulders he shivered a little before he took her hands in his own and pinned them against the covers. She felt his smirk against her stomach as she let out a protesting whine at being denied the ability to touch him.
"Roman... please..."
God how he loved that pining, pleading tone...
It suddenly became very hard to think straight when one of his hands crept between her legs, eliciting a sharp gasp of anticipation. "I want..."
He slipped a finger inside, slowly followed be another, lazily stroking, circling, teasing; driving her towards the edge but not pushing her over. "What do you want?" His voice was low and hungry, as though he was having a hard time restraining himself. The hand he had freed in favour of toying with her sex wrapped around the back of his neck in a futile attempt to pull him closer, but he was far too strong for her to budge and they both knew it, though it never stopped her from trying. "Tell me."
She was going to go crazy, Mack was positive of it as he held her in some sort of maddening purgatory. "I want you." She finally managed to get out in a ragged, shaky breath.
Nothing could quite stroke a man's ego like a woman telling him straight out that she wanted him. Suddenly his fingers were gone and in their place was something much bigger and a lot harder. He sat up, holding Mack by the hips as it pressed up teasingly against her while she gripped desperately at his shoulders. "Look at me, Mackenzie." It wasn't until pale green locked with dark grey that he finally let her have the control. He watched the mix of lust, love and even a fleeting hint of pain fill her eyes as she slowly took in his length, biting down hard on the urge to simply fuck her senseless like some sex starved animal. God damn his girl was tight.
She could never quite get over the discipline he had; even though she could plainly see he wanted to let loose he never did, not until she was ready for it anyway. After a moment she began to move in a slow, steady rhythm, rolling her hips every time she came back down on him. Roman started to match it, keeping up with her until he could feel her beginning to shake, her soft moans becoming more vocal cries as she surrendered to him. He growled a little as picked up the pace, becoming harder and faster, burying himself completely each time. His breathing became laboured and it tickled her ear, "Come for me, Mack."
She couldn't hold it back any longer and her body tensed when her climax hit, forcing him to come with her as her muscles constricted around him like a vice. Coming down from the blissful high Roman pulled Mack close as he collapsed back onto the covers, her body moulding itself against his. Stretching a little she kissed him languidly, completely spent and utterly content. "I love you."
He smiled through half closed eyes. Mack didn't say those words often, it was almost as if she were scared of them, so he took the moments whenever he could. "I love you too, sweetheart. Now and always."
In the back of her mind she thought she heard a distant howl, unsure if it were real or she was simply imagining things. In any event she was too tired to care and it wasn't long before she had fallen into a peaceful sleep.
Something stirred from its sanctuary of the bayou, the scent of fresh new prey that carried on the wind piquing its interest. Keen, yellow hued lupine eyes set in a large, shaggy head turned to the small darkened silhouette of the manor in the distance and howled. Heavy, grey furred paws sank into the soft damp earth as it obeyed the ancient call to hunt, something that would only be sated by the taste of blood.