by Carol Roi
"Blair! Come on!" She pulled the Buell to a stop, glancing back at him.
Grabbing his staff, Blair ran for the motorcycle, climbing aboard, wrapping one arm around her waist. She took off, and he was hard pressed for a moment to keep his balance, with one hand gripping his weapon. He felt her reach back with her right hand and grab his hip, steadying him. He glanced down at her arm in time to see what looked like a metal glove retracting into a bracelet on her wrist. Okay. Now that's weird. Not as weird as immortality, but strange all the same. He shook the thought off for the moment, and concentrated on hanging on.
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Sara took a circuitous route to her apartment, making sure they didn't have any more tails. Braking to a stop outside the entrance to her building, Sara shut off the Buell, and waited for Blair to dismount before she got off. Pulling off her helmet, she turned to face him. "What in the hell did you think you were doing?"
Blair twisted his staff, wincing as it separated into two halves. "Divide and conquer, do what the enemy doesn't expect." He tucked the staff away inside his coat, pain flickering in his eyes.
Reaching out, Sara ran her fingers over his right shoulder. They came away sticky and wet. "You're bleeding."
Surprise flashed on his face.
"Come on. Let's get you up to my place and I'll take a look at it." Unlocking the door, she ushered Blair inside, then up the stairs. Once in the kitchen, she helped him off with his coat. He hissed as it slid off his shoulder. His T-shirt was soaked with blood.
Carefully, she helped Blair remove it as well, easing his good arm out and the fabric over his head before peeling it slowly away from his injury. As the cloth separated from skin, it tore the shallow graze open again, and blood began to seep from the wound. "Sit down," she told him, pointing to the sheet-covered sofa, tossing the ruined shirt on the counter and running a dishtowel under the tap.
"So, like, is that an everyday occurrence for you? Having guys on motorcycles chasing you?"
Walking over to the couch, she took a seat next to him. "Unfortunately, yeah. My life is infinitely complicated. Danny says I need to work on my confusion tolerance."
"Your life sounds a lot like mine," he responded with a smile, but didn't push her further for details, for which she was grateful. "Is Danny your friend from the pub?"
"Um, yeah." She didn't elaborate. How did you tell someone your best friend's a ghost? Quickly she cleaned the wound, and disinfected it with alcohol as Blair gritted his teeth. The bleeding had stopped by the time she covered it with a gauze pad and taped it down.
"There, all done." She looked up to find his steady gaze on her. Suddenly shy, Sara dropped her eyes to his lightly-furred chest, and the smooth clean lines of his muscles moving under the skin with each breath he took. He had a lean swimmer's build, powerful shoulders, trim waist, and muscular thighs stretching the fabric of his worn jeans. She fought the urge to touch, rebelling against whatever the Witchblade had in mind for her.
She felt his fingertips trailing along her cheek, pushing her hair behind her ear before gently lifting her chin, and she was looking into those incredible eyes again.
"Thank you," he murmured, his lips brushing against the skin in front of her left ear.
Heat and need exploded in her gut at that casual touch. "Blair... I... don't know what's happening here... but I--" His strong hands cupped her face, his kiss swallowing whatever she'd been about to say. Her arms wrapped around him, pulling him close as she felt the conscious, thinking part of her brain shut off and the baser, physical half kicked into high gear.
He didn't rush her, taking it slow, kissing her for what seemed like forever before pulling her into his lap. Warm hands slid underneath her sweater, tracing lightly along her ribs and up her spine. Lips nibbled at her pulse point and down her throat. The sweater disappeared on the way to the bed. He tumbled her on her back, his hands splaying across her stomach, stroking her soft skin. Leaning over her, he planted kisses along her collarbone, his fingers popping the buttons on her jeans, slipping them down her legs.
Divested of the remains of his clothing, Blair crawled onto the bed. He kissed and nibbled his way over her stomach, across her chest, and up the curve of her throat, his lips finally meeting hers again in a tender kiss that quickly turned hard and urgent. When he pulled away to look at her, his eyes dark with passion, his wild, loose curls framing his face, she could hardly breathe, and her heart pounded in her chest. "More," she demanded, tangling her fingers in his hair, pulling him down, biting at his lips, opening her mouth as he kissed her again, feeling his tongue dive inside.
Blair's kisses grew more intense, pushing her closer and closer to a precipice she hadn't realized she'd been standing on. She wrapped her legs around him, melting into him, her fingers digging into his back, urging him on. With a wild cry, she tumbled over the edge, finally breaking the chains she'd placed on her emotions. They spilled forth in a torrent of tears, as she screamed both in pleasure and in pain.
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Blair pulled Sara close, cradling the exhausted woman against his chest, wiping the remains of her tears from her cheeks. He hadn't expected their passion to elicit such an extreme reaction from her, but he'd dealt with it, switching gears from lover to shaman and healer. He hadn't had to do much, just hold her as she cried and screamed for someone named Conchobar. Blair knew the pain of loss, of having his heart's mate ripped from him in the blink of an eye. Though Diandra had been gone nearly a year, he shed a few tears as well, Sara's grief reminding him all too vividly of his own.
Finally, though, Sara slept. Blair dozed for a few hours beside her, holding her. When he awoke, the first rays of the sun were beginning to creep along the windowsill. Slipping out from underneath the covers, he tucked them around her, then bent to kiss her temple. She stirred slightly, but didn't waken.
He was nearly dressed, and searching for his shirt, when he looked up to see the Asian man from the bar standing in the kitchen. Blair raised an eyebrow at him, but continued dressing.
He was putting on his coat when the man said, "Thank you, Shaman, for helping heal Sara's wounds."
"You're welcome." He glanced back at her sleeping form. "I hate leaving like this, but I get the feeling if I stayed, it would only complicate things more than they already are. I know where my place in life is, and it's not at her side."
The man smiled at him. "The Witchblade chose well. You are wise in the workings of the universe, Shaman."
Blair shrugged. "I know where I belong, that's all." Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a business card. "Sara ever needs help, any kind of help, have her call me." He scribbled his cell number on the back, then placed it on the kitchen table. "You'll look out for her?"
"I will watch over her, yes."
Blair headed down the stairs, then looked toward the bed one more time. Sara still slept, but the long-haired man was gone. "Cool. I think I was just talking to a spirit guide."
Exiting the building, Blair went in search of a cab, wondering how he was going to explain his night to Jim. He knew his friend would never believe the truth.
Finis
Sarah Mclachlan - Possession
Listen, as the wind blows from across the great divide
Voices trapped in yearning, memories trapped in time
The night is my companion, and solitude, my guide
Would I spend forever here and not be satisfied?
And I would be the one to hold you down
Kiss you so hard, I'll take your breath away
And after I'd wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes, dear
Through this world, I stumbled, so many times betrayed
Trying to find an honest word, to find the truth enslaved
Oh, you speak to me in riddles and you speak to me in rhymes
My body aches to breathe you
r breath, your words keep me alive
And I would be the one to hold you down
Kiss you so hard, I'll take your breath away
And after I'd wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes
Into this night, I wander, it's morning that I dread
Another day of knowing of the path I fear to tread
Oooh, into the sea of waking dreams, I follow without pride
'Cause nothing stands between us, here, and I won't be denied
And I would be the one to hold you down
Kiss you so hard, I'll take your breath away
And after I'd wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes, dear
I'll hold you down
Kiss you so hard, I'll take your breath away
And after I'd wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes..