A.N. I read, enjoy and take in the advice of every single comment, so please keep them coming. Thanks so much for sticking with this story, some fun things coming, so keep an eye out! These two just need to find a way to finally communicate, and quickly, before this gets any more out of hand...
Chapter 12: Rhydian
He was a complete idiot.
That was the only thought that seemed to run around Rhydian's head as he watched Maddy's retreating figure. Where the hell had that all come from?
It must have been when she kissed him before they ran. There was no other rational excuse. He had been so preoccupied this week with acting for others that he had got confused where the line between friends and something more had blurred. Each action had been so natural, it was only when she continued it beyond their audiences that he had realised what they had been doing.
In the woods, it was like he had been possessed at first, speaking with so much confidence and initiating a step in their relationship that he had only really wondered about in the past. He cringed to think of the animalistic way that he had pursued her through the trees, only to pounce on her and drag her under him.
Was it even consensual at first? Maddy had looked at him in such surprise at what he was doing, and yet it was like he was listening from underwater, much too preoccupied with scenting her skin.
Oh and how she smelled! Had Maddy changed her deodorant lately or something because she suddenly smelled absolutely incredible?
It wasn't like she hadn't always smelled incredible on the instances that they'd hugged, but now it seemed to be multiplied tenfold. Before, she had smelt like coming home, calm and content. But now it was electrifying; the same smell had enveloped him, but he could focus more intently on the different aspects of it. By burying his face in the juncture of her neck, where it appeared to be the strongest, he could pick out sweet citrus mixed with cinnamon, and the smell of rain after a drought.
It was so delicious that his only rational next step had been to taste it, and when Rhydian had gone to lick her skin, he swore he could have died happy.
Even watching her retreating form now from across the school field, he could still smell it, fading as it was. It almost convinced him to drag her back into the protection of the woods to continue with what they had started. To make her scent mix with his own on her skin.
The memory of the look on her face when he had woken up from whatever had been happening to him was the only thing that held him back.
Something had felt so right when she had been crowded underneath him and yet when she had first gasped his name, it was like being doused with a bucket of freezing water. Looking down at her after he moved away had only proved what he had gathered from her reaction.
He had all but forced himself upon her. The look of complete surprise on her face had been all the clarity he needed to know that he had stepped over a line. Rhydian had needed to get off her as quickly as possible in order to try and recover whatever was left of their friendship.
Only, she hadn't let that happen. Maddy had so tenderly kissed him on the cheek and rolled them over. Surprising him so fully that he hadn't known what to do with himself. When before she may not have felt the response his body was having to her, there was no hiding the bulge that she then found herself sitting on top of.
Rhydian could have sworn that in those tense few moments that she stayed still and stared straight into his eyes, that he didn't breathe. That was, until she moved.
It was so unexpected that she would reciprocate his actions that he felt his mouth drop open. She did it again and he groaned, his head feeling much too heavy to hold upright.
Distantly aware that he didn't want to miss a second of Maddy on top of him in a position he was embarrassed to admit he had imagined quite often. He tried to raise his eyes, helped by Maddy taking his hands and putting them on her thighs.
In the past, Rhydian had quite often found himself thinking about particular parts of Maddy's body, in passing when she might brush past him, or stand or sit in a particular way. He was not ashamed to mention that her thighs were one of those body parts. A perverse thought flashed across his mind of sucking a hickey on to the inside of one of those legs. Claiming her.
This spurred him to buck upwards and gasp into her mouth as they began rhythmically grinding into one another. They were getting so close, to each other and to release that Rhydian's only thought was to kiss her. He just wanted to taste her one more time and he knew that would send him over the edge.
Before he knew it he was clenching his hands over her arse, another part of her he had thought much too much about than a friend should. Their lips brushed very slightly and Maddy immediately jerked away with an odd look in her eye. Surprise, fear and something similar to horror.
A part of Rhydian shriveled up and died, and he felt both of their hips slow to a stop. In that moment he was sure that she was about to blame the same biological impulse that had prompted him to start this rendezvous, had also encouraged her to finish it. This had been the moment she had woken up, just like her utterance of his name had done for him. Only for her, she hadn't wanted to continue.
Even thinking back on it now, Rhydian still couldn't get his hard on to flag. Suddenly being offered the contents of every dream he'd had for the past two years landing in his lap was a hard thing to resist.
Knowing he had most likely already missed the first five minutes of registration, he knew that not even a cold shower would bring down his erection right now. Definitely not when all the surrounding area of woods still smelt like her arousal.
Groaning at how baser and caveman-like he had become, Rhydian promptly fished his hard-on out of his trousers and began to stroke himself. Only having to think of Maddy and the position they had been in, he finished in an embarrassingly short amount of time.
He quickly cleaned himself up and began to trudge up to the school, only stopping quickly in the toilets to splash water on his face.
What he didn't consider was that in registration he would have to sit next to Maddy, as they always had done, before he'd made a giant prat of himself and probably ruined their friendship. It wasn't until he set foot in the class doorway, that his brain made this connection.
"Ah Rhydian! Late yet again, what was it this time?" Mr Jeffries asked, barely looking up from his register.
"Overslept." Was all that Rhydian could think to say, and was relieved when Jeffries just nodded and shooed him over to his seat.
Maddy had left the space empty. Of course.
He felt his face flame when he sat down, avoiding eye contact with her at all costs, though he was hyper aware of her presence in every way. Did she smell even better than earlier?
Just as Shannon and Tom turned to ask why he was so much later than Maddy, when they would usually be joined at the hip, the bell mercifully went. Rhydian jumped as he had been so concentrated on every sound and move that Maddy could have made that he failed to notice that he had entered registration pretty much right at the end of the session. Leaping to his feet, he accidentally met Maddy's eye and immediately looked away, before striding out of the room. The look was so brief that he failed to notice the look of devastation he left in his wake.
Luckily, in the next period, they had different classes scheduled, so he managed to go another hour without interacting with her. This continued into the next lesson, where he arrived early and managed to sandwich himself between the Kay's before she turned up. They were surprised, as he would usually do anything to avoid their inane gossip, but welcomed him just the same.
When Tom, Shannon and Maddy walked in last, they all raised an eyebrow at his seat placement, but went to their usual seat all the same. Although he tried his hardest to not look at her out of embarrassment, Rhydian did notice Maddy's face scrunch into a scowl as she turned away.
God. He really must have forced himself on her earlier if she was still angry.
At break, he managed to quickly secure an invite to play football with Jimmy and the boys, and he accepted, much to the surprise of all those involved. Their eyes only met for a fraction of a moment as he shrugged out the excuse and walked off.
This tactic of avoidance managed to work until lunch, where he scarfed down his meal before she could even sit down at their table and then lied about a detention that Jeffries had given him. He noticed Shannon frown and began to ask more about it, but he'd already begun to walk away. After that, he spent the rest of the break hiding at the back of the library, which he was sure she knew about, because he always seemed to know where to find her, and Rhydian assumed that the skill worked both ways.
It wasn't until the final period, where he had a free, that he was finally cornered. "What the hell have you been doing all day?" Tom whisper-shouted at him, when he finally found him in his hiding spot. "Why do you keep on running off?"
Rhydian couldn't help but look behind him to see if Maddy had followed him, even though he knew that she had Art this period. Of course he had memorised her timetable without realising. This action didn't go unnoticed.
Tom glanced around as well before sitting down across from him, "What? Have you and Maddy fallen out or something?"
Rhydian groaned and rubbed his hands over his face, "God, I wish it were as simple as that!"
Tom just frowned and so he continued, "It's just that… I dunno- please don't make me say it."
"Sorry mate, but I'm starting to get a bit confused here."
Rhydian groaned again and sank back into his chair, beginning to explain. "Well, we were out running this morning. Right, to blow off steam for the full moon?" Tom nodded in understanding, still not knowing what was the issue. "So, yeah… I was chasing her, because I do that sometimes." He blushed, realising how weird it sounded when describing it to another person. Tom began to smirk as he realised the direction that this was going in. Rhydian ignored him.
"Well today, I don't really know what happened, but I sort of pounced on her. It was like I was possessed." He chanced another look at his friend, who was grinning. "And then I started smelling her." He winced and Tom's smile only got larger with each blow. "And growling." He sunk even further into his chair, "And, sort of… grinding on her?"
The last part of the sentence came out all high pitched and almost like a question, but it finally made Tom snigger. If that had been Tom's reaction so far, Rhydian wasn't even going to try telling Tom that he also remembered licking her.
"So you're telling me that you finally built up the nerve to make a move on the girl you've liked for years, and now you're embarrassed because you got a little bit too excited?"
Rhydian grimaced and looked away, "No, it's not like that. I told you, I couldn't control it. It was quite scary actually."
Tom chuckled, "Ha, I'm sure you couldn't, all caught up in the heat of the moment…" Rhydian gave him a thunderous look. "So why exactly are you avoiding her like the plague then? I thought you both wanted this, and would be happy that something has finally happened."
Rhydian huffed and replied, "Tom, you didn't see her face. I practically hunted her down and rutted into her like a wild animal." He felt his face twist into a scowl as he imagined how scared she must have felt; he was terrified of himself when he woke up, who knows what she was thinking.
Tom looked confused, "So you're telling me that she didn't want you to kiss her? That she pushed you away?"
"I didn't kiss her." He quickly clarified, somehow it felt important to do so. "We just- you know... And no. She didn't push me away. She just sort of froze at first."
"...at first?" Tom asked with another smirk.
"Well-" Rhydian explained with a sigh. "She seemed to get into it, and then I woke up from whatever was happening to me, and we both sort of stopped."
"So that was it? You didn't get a chance to talk about it, or even kiss again?" Tom asked, clearly wanting to get all of Rhydian's side of the story.
"Um-" Rhydian began, turning beet red as he remembered her climbing on top of him, "S-she sort of did initiate something, but-" He quickly raised his voice on the last note as Tom looked like he was going to interrupt. "But- as soon as I tried to kiss her, she looked so horrified and scared again, and I didn't know what I was doing anymore."
There was a moment where they both considered what might have happened, before Tom gave his assessment of the situation. "So basically, you've claimed to have been taken over by some doggy instincts that may have scared Maddy off." Rhydian nodded. "And yet despite the obvious evidence that she didn't mind at all and probably reciprocated the feelings, you have now spent the day avoiding her. Probably hurting both of your feelings more than if you would just talk to her and tell her you like her."
He raised his eyebrow at Rhydian as he finished and smirked yet again. Rhydian scowled, "Nah man, you didn't see her face when she worked out what we were doing. That was certainly not reciprocating what I feel for her. I mean, she lasted about two seconds in my presence before having to run off! She must be terrified."
His friend very clearly rolled his eyes, "Oh give over! We both know Maddy, and know that she feels safe with you. You're just embarrassed about throwing yourself at her and don't want to come clean to her." Rhydian got a flash of Maddy's wide eyed stare at his groin when she thought he hadn't been looking, and felt himself colouring again, knowing that Tom was right.
"Just be honest with her," Tom continued, "Talk about your undying love and wolfy feelings to one another. God knows that Shannon and I have to deal with you two moping over each other for much longer."
Rhydian shot him another embarrassed look, "I'm not that obvious am I?" Tom just laughed, as they both picked up their bags as the final bell rang, beginning to leave for the end of school. "You have no idea."
They continued to walk outside to the benches and saw Maddy and Shannon waiting for them, but Rhydian couldn't help but ask one more time. "You're sure she feels the same way though?"
Tom smiled again, softly and nodded, "It's almost painfully obvious."
They both stopped talking when they got in earshot of the others and smiled at them, Rhydian finally being able to look Maddy in the eye. Smiling wider to see that her face blushed just as much as his had done at the proximity. It was only then that an overwhelming scent of relief reached him from where she was sitting. After picking up on the strong sense of anxiety she had been feeling before, he suddenly realised that her scent had been heightened, but that he could also miraculously smell what she was feeling.
Since when did feelings have a smell?
As he was considering this, he felt his nostrils flare as they detected the smell of her arousal, which must have begun to form as he had been staring at her. Fuck, she smelled incredible. This thought must have shown on his face because she became more red and the smell got stronger, almost making him feel lightheaded.
He shook his head to clear it, but just as she was about to open her mouth and probably offer to run home together, he cut her off, knowing that he had to get away from her before he did something to embarrass himself again. She smelled too good for him to be around her one on one, and he knew he needed to clear his head before tonight.
"Sorry, I need to check in with something with-" he frantically looked around and spotted Jimmy by the gates of the school, "-with Jimmy before he leaves. Is it alright if I meet you at yours later Maddy?"
"But- what?" She began confused, but he had already begun to make his exit, yet again unable to meet her eye. He did however, spot Tom shaking his head in shame at him backing out of their agreement so soon. Rhydian just ignored him and waved back at the others, turning away and walking more quickly.
Before he got out of eyeshot around the school gate, mercifully unable to see Jimmy anymore in case he would have to make up an excuse to talk to him, he heard Maddy shout. "Just don't be late!"
His heart sank as he considered that he would have to be around her tonight when they had both still not addressed what had happened. First thing after the full moon they needed to talk. About what was happening to their wolf senses and especially what was happening between them.
But first he had to survive a full moon in the presence of the woman who was driving him crazy whilst also being observed by her parents. Could the combination be any worse?
Oh yes, both parents have incredible senses of smell and the teenagers had spent the entire day slowly becoming hornier at the thought of one another!