by Laura Hawks
Archanidou stepped forward as she conjured one of the most intricate and beautiful dream catchers Clarissa had ever seen. As she handed it over to the young wolf, she explained, “I am the Goddess of dreams. This is a dream catcher that I wove with my own hand. It will protect you as you rest and allow your nightmares to fall through the aperture while your good dreams will be caught and held onto. It will prevent Spirit Demons or any others from transporting your soul while you sleep and keep it safe as you slumber.”
Clarissa gave a soft snort, the left side of her mouth curling up in a smirk. “In other words, protecting me when I cannot protect myself.”
She reached out and took the crafted circle into her gentle hands, bringing it closer to examine. As she studied the beautiful piece, she noticed it had a few alterations from others she had seen in souvenir shops. Strung with a golden gossamer thread, red and blue strands were woven through and knotted in various locations. It was a very unusual design and almost mesmerized her as she tried to follow the filaments which seemed to draw her in. Suddenly, she saw a hand in front of her face.
“It is for others to get trapped, not you. Do not stare at it so long.” Archanidou chuckled softly as she stepped back. “I must take my leave now. When you’re ready to slumber, place this hanging above your head. You will be protected when you’re otherwise most vulnerable.”
She paused and looked up as Azamel entered the room.
“Consider my debt paid,” with those final words, Archanidou dematerialized. Clarissa turned to face Azamel, a slight frown on her face.
With his hands behind his back, he strode into the room, yet was cautious enough to keep distance between them. His back to her, he poured himself a drink. “You have done extremely well in your training. Your losses cannot be used against you any longer. You are however welcome to keep the memory ball to continue to train or for whenever you might need it. Your one major weakness that I saw were your dreams, for one cannot protect themselves when in slumber.”
He turned slowly, the glass in his hand as he looked at her. “You will be as safe as I can possibly assure. You will always have others after you for the stone that you guard. However, you’re better prepared now to handle them.”
Clarissa frowned as she set the dream catcher down and moved towards him. She sensed a finality within him, a recourse he couldn’t retract.
“Is this your way of saying goodbye?”
Her world shattered at the thought it was time for her to leave him, he was pushing her away. It felt to her as if a knife had been driven deep in her heart as she realized the only desire she really wanted for herself was now telling her to leave. Mel wasn’t even giving her a chance to work something out, to try and figure out a way for them to be together as he dismissed her so easily. She knew he wanted her. Archanidou just told her Mel cared about her. He even pulled in an old debt to make sure she would remain safe. Did he just arrange for that so he wouldn’t feel guilty or was Archanidou correct in what she indicated?
Resigning herself, she knew she would have to go but there was one thing she wanted before she stepped through the portal and into the world above. One more memory she had to have to keep her warm on those long cold nights she was about to endure. As she stepped up to him, she took the glass from his hand and set it aside. Clarissa didn’t give him a chance to think or contemplate what she was about to do. Her hands grabbed the sides of his head and brought his lips down to hers.
As their lips touched, he moaned softly. He started to push her away but the taste of her prevented him and he pulled her closer, his hands tight around her upper arms. After a moment of being lost to her touch, he jerked his head away from hers, though his hands gripped her tighter. His voice was low and husky, “Clarissa,” that one word spoke volumes to her. A plea, a wish, a desire and more than anything a regret. She understood everything in that moment, for she herself felt all of it and more.
“I know, Mel, but I need this. I need you. Consider it a going away gift.”
Azamel growled so low it sounded inhuman. With an ease and quickness which belied his stature, he pulled her to him and pivoted, pinning her against the wall as he lifted her while he pressed his mouth so tight against hers, molding his lips to hers as he invaded her mouth with his tongue. Clarissa wrapped her legs around his waist, locking her ankles together behind him as her back was compressed between him and the hard plaster behind her.
Mel felt her softness against him. The little nagging voice in the back of his head told him he should not do this, that it would be even harder to let her go. In truth, he knew that he needed her. His body craved hers as he had never desired anything more in all the eons he had existed. It was then it struck him harder than a punch in his gut. She made him feel alive. She gave him a sense of being whole and he hungered to feel something in a way he had never felt before, something that only she had ever caused him to experience. She was right. He needed this moment, even if it was the last time he could ever hold her in his arms, touch her soft skin, move against her supple body. He would make love to her and hold the memories within him for the eternity he had yet to suffer alone.
Mel pressed against her, pushing her solidly against the wall behind her. His hand released her arm and caressed its way up to her neck. His hand wrapped about her column while his thumb tilted her chin back, exposing the swan curvature of her throat. He knew he should not be doing this. He just arranged for her to be protected so he could set her free and let her get on with her life, her duty, just as he could now concentrate on his own responsibilities without being distracted with her presence.
Her kiss surprised him and as a result set his body aflame. He hardened immediately as she flung herself at him. He wanted to resist, knew he should push her away but his body refused to listen to any common sense he might have had and eons of training flew out the window as her taste permeated his senses. If he had only one more opportunity to be with her, he was going to take it and he was going to make sure that she never forgot their momentary tryst either. For him, this memory would have to sustain him for an endless eternity.
Mel’s mouth found its way to the hollow of her throat as he nipped her skin slightly. His fangs grazed along the vein that throbbed beneath her softness. Balanced between him and the wall, he was able to release her other arm and skim his hand down her torso to her thigh. He feasted on her bare skin while his hand slipped under her ass to hold her up better. Mel needed to touch her, experience every part of her as if it were the first time and knew it would be the last. He dematerialized her clothes from her form, leaving her bare against him. Gods she was beautiful, her skin flawless. Her rosy pink nipples already stood at attention as the cool air caressed her skin from the sudden disappearance of material from her body.
With his hand on her ass, he slipped his fingers along her moistened pink lips from her backside, feeling her desire dampen his digits. She leaned her head back against the wall and moaned as he plunged into her secret depths, spread wide for his exploration with her legs about his waist. His lips moved to partake of her rosebud nipple, tugging it into his mouth as his tongue swirled about its puckered tightness. He played with her core, feeling her muscles tighten around him. His own desire became achingly prominent.
His manhood twitched as if trying to enter her despite the barriers of cloth between them. He rubbed himself against her bare skin, his clothes creating a harsh static against her tenderness. Clarissa clamored to feel him beneath her hands. She used her magic to make his clothes disappear while her hands ran over the hard muscles along his back. She could feel them flex as he moved to pleasure her. His cock now free, teased her core where his fingers didn’t. He knew what she wanted, what she needed from him as his own body responded to hers with an undeniable fire flowing through his veins. He moved his damp digits from her slick sheath and positioned his hardness under her. Lifting her up slightly, he pushed her down onto his waiting shaft, feeling her expand around his thick member as he filled her. He
let her rest only a moment so her body could adjust to his size.
Mel held her tightly as he continually thrust himself in her. Slow at first, his organs called out for his own pleasure as much as for hers. He adored the little sounds she made, the gasps of breath she sharply took when he hit a particularly sensitive spot. He was enthralled with the way her fingers gripped and clawed at him. Her warm juices coated his own girth, allowing him to glide smoothly into the deepest recesses of her heated core. He could feel her begin to tighten around him, her muscles clenching his mighty piston. His own balls tightened with the onset of his orgasm. He rocked her faster, pushed into her harder until he heard the one sound from her he had longed for.
Clarissa cried out, calling his name in a lusty, hoarse whisper as her body exploded around him. Every nerve she had was on fire as her form clenched then convulsed around him. It was all he needed to allow himself to let go. His hot seed shot within her warmth, swimming into her channels and continued to set her off again with tingling sensations that abounded through her womb, spreading throughout her to curl her fingers and toes. She buried her head on his shoulder after he pumped himself in her a couple more times before he settled to just holding her pinned against the wall.
As their breathing settled, each lifted their head to look into the others eyes. He studied her face then settled his eyes on her lips moments before capturing them in a heated kiss. He wasn’t through with her, not by a long shot. As he still held himself inside her, he flashed them both to her assigned quarters, appearing on her bed. He lay beneath her, his member already hardening again. The Demon inside of him had awakened and he planned on taking her as many times as he could before he had to set her free. He would make sure she was aware of what demon love making consisted of.
Chapter Eleven
Clarissa lost count of the myriad positions, the multitude of times she came or of the hours passed while they spent them in each other’s arms experiencing every imaginable and a few unimaginable pleasures. As a wolf, her stamina was excellent. She quickly learned a demon’s was just as formidable.
As she tried to breathe, her lungs burned from the exertion, she laid curled around Mel’s naked, sweaty form. Her hand was on his chest, absent-mindedly drawing concentric circles across his torso. Silence laid between them, neither sure what to say. They both were well aware that Clarissa’s time had come for her to leave.
Mel had refused to tell her he had been instructed to send her back to the world above or that Nana had forced him to make that action. The thought caused him to unconsciously growl as he was normally not one to be told what to do or when to do it. Yet, on this point, he knew Nana was correct and try as hard as he could, he saw no way which would enable him to keep her by his side.
Clarissa heard him growl, felt him stiffen slightly and she assumed it was because of all they had done together. She leaned up on her elbow to gaze down at him.
“I know I have to go. I know you only used me. I’m sorry. I should not have been so bold in wanting you.”
“Used you?” Azamel was astounded. “What the fuck are you talking about? Do you think so little of me that if I were just going to use you I would train or protect you? Do you think I would call in long time debts to see you protected in the human realm? How many fucking times do I have to prove to you I don’t want the gem you guard?”
He growled, his eyes flashing red at the implication and fury that it inspired in him. His demon wanted out and to tear her to shreds for what she implied.
“Let me tell you something, if I promise to protect someone, I do it because I want to, not because I have to. I don’t cheat, use trickery or am disloyal. I don’t deceive anyone or be disrespectful. I’m pretty blatant in what I want and go after it without pretensions. If you think I’m that shallow...”
He couldn’t even finish the thought and turned away, fury showing in his movements. Mel climbed out of the bed quickly as he flashed clothes upon his form. Angry thoughts whirled through his mind. After all they just shared, moments of passion which rivaled or surpassed those over the long millennia he had lived, did she really think so little of him as to be so frivolous? He detested the way her simple words cut him to the core, the way she touched his cold heart he had thought frozen forever against any warmth or feeling. Yet, here this slip of a woman had embedded herself to his icy organ and he had to let her go. ‘Fuck!’ Not just let her go but send her away and never see her again.
His ire still coursed through his veins over her words, his situation, her responsibilities, his duties and Nana’s command that he growled in utter frustration. ‘Break it off. Now is your opportunity.’ Still, it enraged him immensely that he had no control over this circumstance. As he stormed out of the room he called back, “I suggest you be gone as soon as possible before I do something we both regret.”
Clarissa starred after him in astonishment. Why had Shara lied to her? As soon as the question entered her mind, she immediately knew the answer. Shara was in love with Mel. It was so obvious and yet she didn’t think Shara would be devious or narcissistic as to deceive her in order to damage any opportunities for her to be happy with Azamel. Did Shara not realize because of her responsibilities to the Gem of Avarice the two of them could never be together?
Suddenly, a light bulb went off as Clarissa realized Shara knew there needed to be a separation of the heart as well as just the bodies. Shara was percipient enough to understand Mel and Clarissa would continue to languish for each other even though they both knew their duties were more momentous than their own personal yearning aspirations to be together. Too much was at stake, the fate of humanity and the cosmic stabilities lay in both of their hands. Separately.
However, it didn’t make the untruth any less hurtful, nor did understanding Mel’s coldness allow her to feel any better over the circumstance that it was time for her to depart. Lowering her eyes, she gathered her items, making sure she had both parts of the Gem of Avarice as well as the items she brought with her when he suggested she move in while she trained. She held the picture of her family in her hand, starring at it in melancholy. Her family had been taken from her. She had been on the run so much. She had not made many friends. She had stopped in New Orleans and got a job. Her co-workers were the only friends she had since she began running.
Xon destroyed those relationships by incinerating their business and her place of employment. Azamel had been the one who moved past the chip on her shoulder, who offered to help and train her but he had said from the beginning that it was only temporary. Clarissa really didn’t know what she expected. Did she really think she would make the difference and stay with him happily ever after, like it was some kind of a fairy tale? Did she truly believe she was going to be the one for him? Did she honestly imagine she would have the perfect ending of finding someone who wanted her and never leave her? She was dreaming if she actually thought that was the way things were going to work out.
Once her items were all gathered in the backpack and she was clothed, she took one last look around the room. Nodding in satisfaction, she headed to the reception area to find Shara waiting for her. Mel must still be too upset with her as he sent his assistant to see her off. She lowered her eyes sadly. She had not meant to hurt him.
“I take it you’re here to send me home?”
“Yes. Azamel understood you wouldn’t be able to manage without assistance since you were not a realm traveler. He has bestowed upon me the power to send you to New Orleans, or wherever you wish to reappear.”
“New Orleans is fine. I would like to check on those whom I considered friends before I move on.”
“Then step through the door and Godspeed.”
An opening appeared, glistening in the dimness from what little light the sconces reflected held by the skeletal gargoyles. Clarissa approached the portal before she turned back to face the woman.
“I know what you told me was a lie. I understand it as well. However, know I only wish him happiness, even if I�
�m not the one to give it to him.”
Shara said nothing, simply nodded and watched as Clarissa entered the shimmering egress. Once Clarissa melted into the mesmerizing glow, the doorway dissolved behind her, closing the portal to the human realm. Shara nodded in satisfaction and turned on her heel to report to Azamel, thinking, ‘Now things can get back to normal with her gone for good.’
As Shara entered Mel’s office, she stopped and waited for him to acknowledge her. His back was turned away from the entrance, yet she knew he was aware she was standing there. It was several minutes before he spoke, “Has she departed?”
“Yes. I made sure she returned safely back to New Orleans.”
Again, he remained silent. The only sound was the tinkling of ice in his glass as he brought it to his lips. Still, he did not face her.
“Progress report,” he demanded.
“It is rumored Dzihibai’Manido was the spirit demon who took her soul into the other realm. The others are searching for him now. He should be within your custody shortly. As soon as he has been brought in, you will be informed.”
“I’ll want to interrogate him personally. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Sir. Personally. I will make sure of it myself.”
Azamel nodded then finished off his drink. He turned and sat the glass upon the desk while he refilled it. Shara bit her tongue when she saw him. His eyes were yellow. His face, whereas stoic to others, she knew him too well- she saw the sorrow beneath his hardened features. She had never seen him so upset before and it unnerved her. She assumed it was only temporary. Clarissa just left. He would be fine in a day or two once he got used to the fact she was gone and out of their lives, out of his life.
“Anything else, Shara?”
“No, Sir.”
“Leave then.”
Shara paused a moment longer then turned and left Azamel alone with his thoughts and memories of a young wolf whom he would never see again.