by Arwen Rich
“Vodka and lemonade,” I said. “Thanks.”
“And I'll have another couple of shots,” Steve interjected from the other side of Adam. He'd finally taken his face away from Jade's.
“You've had enough, Steve,” Adam said, turning to him.
“I'm just getting started, brother!” Steve laughed. “I'm thirsty as hell.”
“Seriously,” Adam said. “Take a break for an hour.” His deep voice was commanding, and contained more than a hint of annoyance.
“Whatever, man,” Steve said, grinning numbly. He stood up unsteadily, and pulled Jade to her feet. “Let's dance, babe,” he said, grabbing her ass. Jade giggled and the pair stumbled away, into the heaving mass on the dance floor.
I couldn't help but smile at the spectacle. Drunk as they both were, they looked like they were having a blast. The bartender delivered my vodka, and I took a big gulp. It burned.
“Does Steve always get that hammered?” I asked, turning to Adam. He didn't answer me for a moment – he seemed to be looking somewhere into the distance, with a haunted look in his eyes. I wondered why he was so bothered.
“Yep,” Adam said, without looking up or changing his expression. “The idiot's gonna fucking kill himself one day.”
I was taken aback by the seething anger in his voice. It somehow matched that mysterious darkness that I'd spotted in his golden eyes earlier.
For some reason, I had a longing to understand that darkness. To know why it was there.
But I was starting to feel a buzz from the vodka, and I thought I might be able to cheer Adam up a bit by lightening the mood.
“I'm sure he'll learn his lesson before he manages to pickle himself completely,” I said, smiling. “He's not your responsibility.”
My words seemed to have the opposite effect that I'd intended. The darkness loomed in Adam's eyes, until they clouded with anger. He slowly looked back at me, his expression cold.
“You don't know us,” he said. “So don't pretend you do.”
I felt the smile evaporate from my face. His sudden change in temperament made me a little afraid, and I struggled to reply, burning with confusion and embarrassment. I looked at him, shocked, and I saw his expression soften.
“I'm sorry,” he said. “I shouldn't have said that.”
“No,” I said. “You shouldn't.” Suddenly I felt like leaving the bar. Adam's sudden change had frightened me, and made me realize just how out of place I was here. This was a rough, dangerous bar. And maybe Adam was just another rough inhabitant of it. That longing that I'd felt when I first saw him – that I still felt, if I was to be honest – was probably nothing but a raw, physical attraction. I didn't know him, and now I wasn't sure whether I wanted to.
I stood up from the bar, placing my glass down. “I have to go,” I said. Adam stood up too. I could see the regret in his face.
“I'm sorry,” he said again. “Don't leave because of me –”
Although a part of me actually wanted to stay, I had to stick to my principles. I wasn't going to hang around with a guy who spoke to me like that. I checked my watch, and saw that it was late – time to head home anyway. I had a mountain of homework to work on in the morning.
“No,” I said to Adam. “I really should be going. I have to study for an exam.”
“Then allow me to walk you home,” Adam said, standing from his seat. His golden eyes were mesmerizing. I felt that longing again, flowing up from deep inside me. It made me so badly want to say yes. To walk home with him. To invite him in. A dark swirl of anticipation, deep within.
To lead him to my bedroom, and part my legs for him. To feel him inside me ...
What the hell was I thinking?
I pushed the feeling away, blocked out the stupid fantasy, and shook my head. “Thanks, but I'll be fine,” I said. “I just live around the corner.”
“Are you sure?” he said. “It'd be safer if I accompanied you.” As if to emphasize his point, a violent smash of glass came from the back of the bar. I turned to see a huge man being dragged out by three bouncers who struggled to contain him. He swept tables aside, kicking and roaring as they pulled him towards the doors. I realized that it was the bald guy in the singlet that had grinned evilly at me before – the nasty-looking one with the blind, scarred eye and the wolf paw tattooed on the back of his neck.
For another fleeting moment, I wished I could say yes to Adam. I felt safe next to him at the bar.
But I had made up my mind. Steeling my resolve, I shook my head again.
“Really,” I said. “I'll be fine. Don't worry.” Adam nodded, accepting my decision. I could tell by his expression that he was genuinely concerned for my safety.
“Thanks,” I added. And then I turned and left, burning with conflicting desires. As I exited the bar, my hand burned for a second where Adam had held it.
It was freezing outside. I wished I had driven. As I walked away, I heard a vicious cough emanate from the darkness, and I jumped and squealed. I turned and saw that man again – that horrible-looking guy who had just been kicked out of the bar. Scarface.
He was shrouded in shadow, but his blind, blue eye stood out in the darkness, along with his jagged teeth. He was grinning at me again, the same way he had when I'd first entered the bar. Misty vapor poured out from between his shining teeth, and I though I was several feet away, I could smell the alcohol on his breath.
I turned quickly away, turning up my collar with a shiver – whether of cold of fear, I wasn't sure. I wanted more than anything to be home. Safe. I felt regretful that I hadn't accepted Adam's offer to walk me home, but I tried to brush the sentiment away.
The street was empty now. As I walked away from the bar, my footsteps echoed alone into the night.
I decided to take a shortcut through the park. Although I loved the park during the day, the idea of walking through its forest path at night kind of freaked me out. But it would cut my traveling time in half. I couldn't resist.
The park was intensely dark. My eyes took a moment to adjust as I entered the path and left civilization behind. Shadows seemed to reach out from the blackness towards me, stirring up fear in my gut. Silence, except for the quiet creaking of branches. They sounded like whispered threats in a language I didn't understand.
And then I heard something else.
Something that sounded like breathing.
Stop it, I thought. You're imagining things. But I began to hurry anyway. My foot snagged on a root which I failed to spot in the inky darkness, and I shrieked and stumbled.
Stop it. Stop frightening yourself.
I took a deep breath and continued to walk. But that sound – the breathing – I could still hear it. More loudly now.
Maybe I wasn't imagining things.
I turned around to reassure myself, and shrieked again as I saw the black silhouette of a man standing behind me on the path. My heart began to thump in my chest, and the skin crawled all over my body.
There was definitely somebody there.
“Who's that?” I called out. My voice, shrill and pathetic, betrayed my terror. The silhouette ambled closer, and I saw a blue gleam near the center of his face. And beneath it, the sickly shine of jagged teeth. Misery loomed inside me as I realized who it was. The dangerous-looking guy in the singlet – Scarface. He must have followed me.
Run, I told myself. Get the fuck out of here!
But my body refused to move. I was frozen in place, petrified with horror, as Scarface approached.
“Slow down, sweetheart,” his voice rasped from the darkness. He burped, and the sound made me sick to my stomach. He came so close that I could smell him – a sickly combination of alcohol and sweat. My body continued to refuse movement – my pounding heart seemed to be the only part of me willing to perform any action at all.
“I saw you earlier,” Scarface said. “A nice shapely lady like you shouldn't be going home alone.” His voice was thick, his words slurred.
I opened my mouth, tried
to speak. I wanted to scream, fuck off!
“Leave me alone,” was all I could muster. My voice was little more than a squeak. “... Please,” I finished lamely.
He just laughed and moved closer still. I could feel the heat emanating from his sweaty body now. He reached a hand out towards me, and I recoiled with a disgusted cry. Finally my body had become un-frozen. A burst of terror shot through me, and I turned and fled.
The darkness was thick. It enveloped me like molasses as I sprinted through it. I could see only the vague outline of the path, moving beneath my feet. I ran blindly, clawing at the air, my heart pounding, my breath rasping.
I could hear him behind me, his footsteps heavy. My skin crawled with the thought of hands touching me, and I pushed myself to run faster. Faster.
But still he gained.
A flash of white light burst behind me, lighting up the forest for a moment, and suddenly the Scarface's footsteps sounded different. No longer were they crashing clumsily. They were more constant now, and quieter.
They aren't human feet any more, I realized. He's transformed into wolf.
It wasn't a man chasing me now – it was a monster, with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
I shrieked with blind, animal terror as I ran. I heard a growl behind, and couldn't help but turn my head, to see how close he was.
But as I turned, he was already attacking. The huge black creature was already in the air, leaping towards me. A red-hot explosion burst in my thigh as the monster collided with me, closing his jaws on my leg. His teeth sank deep into my muscle.
I fell to the ground, and the wolf was on top of me, pinning me to the ground, slavering and growling into my face, its eyes burning in the darkness.
Gripped with panic, I tried to struggle, but the crushing weight of the wolf was too heavy. I could barely breathe, let alone move. The black wolf's breath was hot on my face, reeking of carrion. Flecks of spittle dripped from his slavering mouth to my cheek, and I retched. My body was spasming with terror, my breath hyperventilating and wheezing, as the wolf continued to growl down at me. I squeezed my eyes shut, tried to block it out –
I heard the sudden approach of something else, pounding along the forest path. Something heavy. I opened my eyes, and before I knew what was happening, a huge gray shape shot out of the darkness and collided with the black wolf on top of me. The black wolf was torn away, and the two shapes – light and dark – rolled across the ground.
It was another wolf.
The pair were entangled now, tumbling violently across the grass before standing up and immediately launching into one another. The gray wolf was a whirlwind of fury, snapping its jaws and roaring with rage. The black wolf, still dazed with the sudden attack, didn't stand a chance. The gray wolf bit into its neck, and the black wolf screamed in pain and terror. It tore its neck from the gray wolf's jaws and fled squealing into the darkness.
The lighter wolf let it go. It turned and approached me, as I lay trembling on the ground. All I could do was watch as it neared. I was petrified once again; I was weak, depleted, and the pain of the black wolf's bite was radiating from my thigh down my entire leg.
A white glow enveloped the gray wolf for a moment and he began to change. His fur became smooth, supple skin, legs turned into muscular, long human limbs. He was naked, glistening in the moonlight.
“Adam?” I said weakly. Was it really him?
He swore in frustration. “You've been bitten,” he said. Adam bent down and wrapped his arms around me, picking me up easily and cradling me in his arms. His scent, masculine and earthy, dominated my senses. I felt drugged, hanging limply against his chest.
My vision was doubling now, blurring ... my head lolled back, and the last thing I saw was the moon, huge and luminous in the sky. It was expanding, growing brighter, filling my field of vision ...
And then darkness. Dreams.
My blood burns like fire in my veins. Something is unfolding inside me; some new life, some animalistic being is merging with me. This being dreams along with me; it dreams of the moon, aches with an impossible yearning for that luminous mother in the sky.
I am transforming, changing somehow. My ears ring with a pulsing, overpowering wail that turns slowly into ... a howl.
I woke with a gasp and a pounding heart. Covered in sweat. There was a ringing in my ears, which slowly faded into silence. Adam was looking down at me concernedly, silhouetted by bright morning light.
“Where am I?” I asked. “What's happening?” My body felt strange, different and somehow alien.
“You're at my house,” Adam said. “You were bitten.”
“Bitten?” But the events of the previous night were coming back to me now. The darkness of the wood. Those burning eyes, those slavering jaws ...
“A werewolf,” Adam said. “Now you're becoming one.”
A blind, panicking fear, like that of a trapped animal, flooded through me. I leaped out of bed, feeling somehow removed from my own actions, as if I was watching them from afar.
“No, no, no,” I was murmuring. Blabbering. Adam tried to hold me as I jumped to my feet. I pushed him away, burning with a sudden rage. A terrible, overpowering anger took hold; I could only watch as I struggled violently from his grip.
“Leave me alone!” I heard myself scream, backing away from him.
“Listen!” he said. “The rage you're feeling, it's because of your transformation –”
I snarled and pushed him as he neared again. I turned to leave, but he grabbed my hand, pulled me towards him. Suddenly he was kissing me, his lips hot on mine.
My body melted as our burning lips converged. I could smell him again, his masculine scent overwhelming as his hard body pushed against mine. I could taste the hunger in his mouth, and it stirred something inside me – a hot, unstoppable lust which bubbled up from deep within. A warm, wet need formed between my thighs.
He pulled away, his golden eyes blazing. His jaw clenched, and his lips drew back to reveal white, sharp teeth. Suddenly, his strong hands were on my black dress – he tore it open at the chest, and I cried out as the air caressed my naked skin. My heart was in my throat, pounding with anticipation.
Adam picked me up by my waist and tossed me squealing back onto the bed. He stood panting at the foot of the bed for a moment, before tearing off his T-shirt and diving down on top of me, between my hot, trembling thighs. We kissed again, desperate for each other's touch. His abdomen clenched against mine, and I felt him harden in his jeans ...
I slid my hand down his rippling abs and scrabbled at the button of his jeans. I pulled them partially down and he helped me, quickly pulling them off his legs before kissing me again, his breath coming quickly through his nose. He kissed my neck, and my back arched; goose-bumps formed all over my body. He continued lower, kissing down my chest, sucking on my nipples as he went, and I clutched tightly at his hair.
Adam gripped my dress and ripped it wide open at the tear, directly down the center. A voice protested the destruction of my clothes somewhere in the back of my mind, but it was quickly silenced by my pounding heart.
Adam's hands slipped inside my dress, clutching hungrily at my hips. His fingers hooked beneath my panties, and my hips automatically bucked towards him. Adam tore my underwear down and then pulled the torn dress off me. He threw the garments aside, leaving me naked and panting beneath him on the bed. Adam's hands gripped my thighs and spread them apart, before diving headfirst between them.
His mouth made contact with my wet pussy and my legs contracted, spasming on both sides of his head. Bolts of electricity flowed up my spine as his tongue caressed my clit. Short gasps burst from my mouth – I thought I might hyperventilate. Adam's tongue slipped inside me, and I felt myself melting. I gripped his hair even tighter and moaned in pleasure, squirming on the bed.
Adam pulled his face away from between my legs and came back up my body. He settled between my thighs, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Slowly, slowly he began to
push himself inside of me. The head of his cock, huge and round, pushed against my entrance, slipping over the wet folds of my pussy, and I moaned into his ear. He was so big that he was stretching me – a slight pain which mingled with and then dissolved into an intense burst of pleasure as he slid all the way inside. His dick filled me completely.
I heard myself making tremulous, uncontrollable sounds as Adam began to fuck me.
His arms were like hot, hard pillars, flexing on either side of me as his rock-hard abdomen curled against mine. Adam's breath panted rhythmically in my ear, and I relished the sound, hearing that I was pleasing him as much as he was me. His pelvic bone somehow rubbed my clitoris with each thrust, inciting fresh flushes of pleasure which flowed up through me.
Adam began to speed his thrusts, and heat gathered between my thighs, pulsed inside my core. Heat flushed through me, wave after wave of it, up my neck, into my face. My hands were slipping over Adam's sweaty back, trying to find something to clutch; I clawed at his muscles and he thrust into me even harder, faster. He sank impossibly deep with each thrust, and my eyes squeezed shut, blocking out everything except the pleasure blooming my legs. Adam wrapped his arms behind my head, holding me still as I squirmed and thrust back.
The orgasm tore through me – a hot, wet explosion of pleasure pulsing inside my pussy. It rolled over me, dissolving my entire being for a moment, as I moaned and gasped into Adam's ear. And then Adam was cumming too – his dick pulsing before shooting a hot, flowing load of cum deep inside me, filling me completely.
Adam came to a shuddering halt, and we both clutched at each other, trembling and convulsing with each movement. Overwhelmed by a shared blissful oversensitivity.
Adam held me tight against him, our bodies slick with sweat. We were both gasping for breath, our hearts hammering against one another through our rib-cages. They gradually slowed.
Finally, Adam pulled out and lay beside me.
I was filled with a satisfaction I'd never felt before – a river of bliss ran through me. Stars swirled in my vision before slowly dissipating. Some animal urge inside me had finally been satisfied; it seemed like Adam had filled a void which I'd never known existed. That overwhelming, sudden rage had faded completely, and I had a feeling it was because of the sex. Despite my current state of comfort, I felt a little unnerved, thinking about how overpowering that rage had been. I had to mention it.