by Ivy Hayes
I find that I am impossibly tired. His loving caresses don’t stop, massaging my body; I find myself yawning. I feel so secure in his arms that when he whispers, “Sleep,” I do.
FIFTEEN – GREGORY
Ash is asleep on top of me and I am pleased, this went much better than I had expected. When she wakes up, I am going to have to find a way to convince her to come home with me. I am ready to protect her with my life, but she has to allow me. She thinks she can protect herself, but her fighting skills won’t be enough. The fact is, it had taken me less than twenty minutes of searching to find her. She had left a ridiculously obvious trail when she left the road. I may have a bit of an advantage over the average tracker, with my owl night vision, but even the most rudimentary one would have been able to find her tonight. She is not as good at hiding as she thinks, and frankly, I am astonished she hasn’t already been discovered by the ones hunting her.
At least she accepts what I am and trusts me enough to have sex with me. That might be enough to get her to come back, but based on her behavior of running, I worry it will take more. I am ready to give her more. From the first moment I saw her, I felt a connection, which was, without doubt, the reason I did not lead a band of vigilantes to her location. The first moment I talked to her, I fell in love with her; and that was her yelling at me. Her speaking sweetly to me, only made me love her more. She had already nestled herself into my world before we made love but now, my soul belongs to her.
I can’t tell her the depth of my feelings now, I know it will just make her flee. Her absence would crush me. I would be doomed to live the rest of my life searching for her. And I would search because being with her fills the void that has been missing my whole life. The void I didn’t even realize I had until she forced her way into it.
Looking down at her sleeping form, there is no hope of me falling asleep out here. The problem is, my dick is growing harder by the second. It was bound to happen with her pressed against me like this. I would need at least one more release before I could even think about sleeping. I use this wakefulness to come up with a plan. Step one, convince her that she needs my protection and get her to move into the manor. If she is there, we can all look after her. No one would be able to get close.
I will also enlist a few men I trust. Obviously, Grant. Aaron, Tom, and Nash would be good as well. I need their ears to start digging. To see if anyone knows who Ash is and why she is here. I will use the construction plan to keep an eye on all traffic coming into town. I won’t tell the men the whole truth, but I will find some way to convince them to keep their eyes out for anyone who seems suspicious.
Most importantly, it is finally the time to reveal what I am to my family. I would never have done it for myself but I will need their help so, I am willing to risk everything for her. The worst that could happen is my family disowning me, then Ash and I would leave. It won’t be easy, but I would find us somewhere, far enough away we would be safe.
I need to know more about who we are dealing with. I wonder if she knows what any of the stalkers look like? Lucky for me, she promised to answer all my questions in the morning. I know she only did that because she wasn’t planning on being anywhere near me in the morning. I am going to hold her to it anyway and get the whole story from her.
I let my thoughts trail off and I start absentmindedly stroking her hair. I notice she smells like my soap and I get an idea. We would be far more comfortable sleeping in my bed and the fastest way back there is flying. It would take less than 10 minutes. I am ready to jump to the skies and I salivate at the idea of flying with her.
Ever so softly, I say, “Ash, sweetness, you need to wake up.” She shifts a tad, then nothing. I chuckle to myself, she was really worn out. Caressing the side of her face, I say, “My sweet-eagle, Ash. Open your beautiful green eyes. I need you to wake up.” This time, she doesn’t move, just squeaks out, “Bugger off.” At that, I laugh out loud, “Ash, come on. You will like it if you wake up.”
“No,” and she tries to bury her head. Alright, she isn’t going to make this easy. I sit up, then force her off my chest. “Ash, please wake up?”
Finally, she opens her eyes and she looks angry, “What is wrong with you?”
“I like it when you’re angry,” my eyes twinkle at her.
“I like being asleep,” she snaps. “There better be a good reason you are waking me.”
“There is,” I look up excitedly, “Let’s go back to my room?”
“Damn you, it’s at least an hour walk. Let me sleep.” She tries to lay back down on my chest, I stop her with my next sentence. “Let’s fly?”
“It’s not safe.” She shakes her head, no.
“The moon is only a crescent, it’s dark out tonight. Besides, we can fly high enough, even if someone did see us, they wouldn’t be able to identify any details.” I plead.
“I am not worried about the flying, I can see it’s dark outside.” In an exasperated tone, “There is nowhere safe to shift back.”
“Actually, there is. You forget I live here and have been hiding my shifting for years.” She looks at me, and I can see I already won. I am sure she loves to fly as much as I do and it sounds like she hasn’t in weeks.
“Do you trust me?” I ask.
She climbs off me, “Yes. Help me bag up everything so I can carry it back.”
Together, we do just that. Once the fire is out, we stand hand and hand in the clearing. She gives me a light squeeze and we both shift to our animal forms.
Her eyes are still green.
She looks at me and I swear I can see a smirk. She grabs the bag with her talons, then takes off towards the skies. Without hesitation, I chase after her.
SIXTEEN – GREGORY
Our ten-minute flight took closer to an hour. I showed Ash my shifting location, an alcove on the roof of my house, not too far from my window. Instead of landing, she just dropped off her bag, then flew off again. Following her was a challenge I was not likely to fail. Just when I thought the night could not get any better.
As magnificent as she is on land, that is nothing compared to her flying. Together we climbed high, then circled around each other as we dove towards the ground. We flew perfectly in tandem with each other. She was a sight, owning the wind and using it far more dexterously than I could ever hope to do. Where I visited the skies, she belonged there. It must have been agony for her, not thinking it was safe enough to fly.
The more time I spend with Ash, the more I realize how essential she is to my life. I don’t want to ever fly alone again. I want to see her racing around me, forever. I feel crazy for thinking this so strongly, after all, I’ve only known her for two days, but it feels right. The old people always say, when you meet the right one you just know. I always chalked them up as loony, or romantics, but I now see it as truth.
Without a doubt, Ash is my future. She just might not know it yet herself.
After a while, I land and shift back to human, wanting nothing more than to watch her. I feel such joy, watching her streak through the sky. It goes to show how much she loves flying, as it took her about fifteen minutes to discover that I had stopped. When she finally did, she flew towards me on the landing. As soon as her talons hit, she shifted back to human so effortlessly that she was able to walk towards me without stumbling.
“You are so graceful,” I found myself saying.
She blushes, “Thank you, I ought to be, after twelve years of practice.”
That doesn’t make sense, “Twelve years? How old are you?”
“I shifted for the first time at eleven.” Changing the subject she says, “Sorry, I know it was supposed to be a quick flight back, but once I was in the air, I didn’t want to stop. I haven’t been grounded this long since before my first shift.”
“I loved flying with you, I only stopped for my want to watch you.”
She smiled at me, and god it was stunning. Unabashed by my nakedness, she walks right up to me, “You know, it’s been a night of fi
rsts for me. I have never flown with anyone else.”
That surprised me, “Really? Why didn’t you fly with your clan mates?”
“I would have,” she shrugged, “but none of them were fliers. The closest was Paul, he was a monkey.” She laughed and I loved the sound, “He didn’t quite fly, but he could really launch himself through the trees.”
“I am sure that was quite the sight.” I step closer to her, “I am jealous of that, you are the only shifter I have ever known. I have never flown with, let alone interacted with another one.”
Her eyes looked pained, “It’s understandable, you know how secretive shifters have to be. You have probably been around a few but would never know it.” She closed the distance and hugged me, crushing her head into my chest. “I am so sorry you have had to be alone. It’s not fair.”
Hugging her back, “No it’s not, but I would do it all again if it led me to you.”
She tried to back away, but I wouldn’t let her go, “No, Gregory. You can’t think about me that way. I know we just shared something wonderful, but I am dangerous to be around. I have people hunting me.”
“They don’t scare me.” I lied, the thought of them taking Ash from me, scared me to my core. She does not need to know that though.
“Then you are stupid,” she looks up at me. “They may have killed everyone from my clan. I haven’t heard any official word, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what happened. I only got away because I can fly.”
“Oh, my sweet-eagle.”
“I still have hope, but I am not sure how far that will go. These are not people to mess with Gregory. Hell, I don’t even what they look like, but that is what makes them so dangerous.” She starts to shake, I can’t tell if it is from cold or fear. “They came out of nowhere, and there were so many of them.” To my amazement, a single tear falls from her eye and she says so quietly, I almost miss it, “I had to kill two of them to get away.”
She has been dealing with this guilt by herself. I remember what it was like after I killed my first man during a skirmish with some bandits. It was so traumatizing, it was what caused my first shift. I reach up to wipe her tear away, “It’s going to be okay, you had to kill them. I am glad you did, otherwise you would not be here today.”
She shakes her head, “I would have gotten away without killing them. They only reason they are dead is to protect my identity. They saw my human form”
“It’s okay. If they had your identity, you would never be safe. This is good news.” She is shaking more and I know it’s not from the chill in the air. “My love, they would not have hesitated to hurt you. Believe me, you did the best thing you could have.”
Ash stiffens in my arms, then changes the subject, “Can we go inside?”
Letting go of her, “Of course,” and I head towards the ledge, picking up her travel bag on the way. Turning back to look at her, “Follow my steps as best you can, it’s can be a tricky climb down.”
Smirking, she says, “I am sure I can handle it.” And she does, but not quite as graceful as she handled her landing.
When we are both safely inside, I shut the window and there is a sudden awkwardness in the room. Trying to break through it, I say, “Bet you didn’t think you would be back in here so soon?”
“No,” she chuckles, “I never thought I would be in here again.”
“Ouch,” giving her a wince, like her words hurt.
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, you did run me out of town.”
Stalking up to her, “But then I chased you right back in.” One thing I love about her, she doesn’t shy away from me, despite me being twice her size. As I approached, she stood her ground. She flared a challenge in her eyes, “The real question is, can you keep me here?”
Accepting the challenge, I picked her up and walked her over to the bed. Laying her down gently, I ask, “I will give you plenty of reasons to stay. Do you think you’re up for round two? I don’t want to push you if you’re still sore from earlier.”
Repeating her line from a few minutes ago, “I am sure I can handle it.”
SEVENTEEN – ASH
The first thing I think about when I wake up is that I am blissfully sore. The second thing is that I am alone in bed. How disappointing. After he was so tender last night, I expected Gregory to be holding me as I awoke.
I perk up a little remembering his promise, to turn things up as soon as I get a little more used to sex. It already felt so good, I can’t imagine what turning it up is going to feel like. The second time around only solidified that I still have much to learn. That time, Gregory stayed on top of me the entire time and devoured me with his attention. He did not hold back on his affections, either, which is why I am baffled by his lack of presence.
Decided to go looking, I peel back the curtains and suddenly, the lack of Gregory makes perfect sense. The room is a lit with afternoon sun, it must be well past noon. I notice him sitting near the fireplace, reading a book and drinking some tea. He didn’t look up when I moved the curtains, so I assume it is a thrilling read.
Clearing my throat, I say, “Can I have some of that?” He looks up, and seeing me awake, he sets down his mug and says, “Of course. Would you also like a bath? You must be sore and a long soak will help.”
My eyes light up with the memory of his glorious bathtub. “Yes, please. Can you warm some of those stones too, I want to be in for a long, long time.”
Walking towards me, he sits next to me on the bed, “They already are, I anticipated this. Do you want to hide when Rose comes in?”
“Maybe. I don’t want her to think any less of me, especially since I’ve never met her before.”
He reaches out to cup my face, “I will bring you a cup of tea, to help pass the time. Though it shouldn’t take too long, she always has water ready.”
“Okay,” Reaching out to stop him as he gets up, “Thank you, Gregory.” I haven’t been this taken care of since I left home.
When he gets to the door, he does that ear-splitting yell again, “ROSE, BATH WATER PLEASE!” I pipe up, “My god Gregory, do you need to yell that loud every time?”
“I do, actually.” He heads to fill up a mug of tea for me, “She is getting old and her hearing gets worse each day. You will see when you meet her.” Handing me my mug, he reaches down and gives me a quick peck on the lips, then shuts the curtains.
I hear him settle back in his chair, no doubt picking up the book again and trying to look natural. Rose comes in a second later and he greets her, “Good afternoon, Rose.”
“Afternoon Greg. You’ve been takin’ plenty o’ baths lately.”
“I know, I’m still trying to wash the dirt of the road away.”
“Sure, the dirt o’ the road.” She mutters, and she has an interesting accent. She elongates the vowel sounds, I’ll have to ask Gregory where she is from. I hear the splash of water being poured into the basin. “I need three more o’ these, want to help?”
“I can do that. Though we might only need two more, I don’t want to risk it overflowing.”
“You ain’t that big, boy.” Their voices are getting farther away, they must have already left the room. The last thing I hear is Gregory’s reply, “You never know, I am still growing.” And I catch myself thinking of him growing, indeed.
With his help, the bath should be filled in minutes. I am eager to sink in. Taking my first sip of the tea, I find it’s much more floral than I would have thought Gregory liking. It has hints of sunflower, and maybe chamomile. So much better than the tea I tried to make last night.
I am torn on what to do. I don’t want to put him in danger, but I don’t want to leave. It all changed when I saw him shift from the owl. Before he was just a normal person I could not burden with my powers, now he is in the same situation as me. I know how lonely he must be and I embrace the chance to not be alone anymore either. After what Gregory said last night, about never having known another shifter, I can’t imagine leaving him to fend for himself
again. I know from my past that it is a difficult burden to bear alone, that’s why I ended up with a clan.
I hear them enter back in the room, “Rose, you can just set the bucket down, I’ll fill the tubs.”
“Thanks, they are starting to get heavier.” Then I hear water splash again.
Gregory and I are going to have to talk, but it can wait until after the bath. He knows the danger I am, so he must see that I cannot stay in town. It would put everyone at risk. It would put him at risk. We need to find a plan. And we need to figure out what is going on between us.
The splashing stops, “Here you go, thanks for the bathwater.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t have another one today.”
“I won’t.”
With that, I hear the door close. I crawl off the bed and walk straight towards the chamber room, I need to relieve myself before climbing into the bathtub. I holler to Gregory, “I will be right back.”
When I get back in the room, Gregory is already in the tub. He looks up at me with a sheepish grin, “You didn’t think I was going to let you bathe alone?”
“I didn’t think one way or another. The tub is certainly big enough to fit us both.” I dip my fingers in and find the temperature blessedly hot. “Make room.” He separates his legs, leaving me space cradled between them. I climb in and sink back, using his chest as a backrest. The tub is deep enough that the water covers past my breasts, causing them to float in the water. He wraps his arms around my chest, cradling me against him and I let out a sigh of contentment. Not sure what to do with my arms, I rest one across my stomach and grab his knee with the other.
“I love this bathtub.”
He kisses the top of my head, “I love this bath, with you in it.” And since I am mildly embarrassed and seem to enjoy stirring up trouble, I respond, “You probably say that to every woman.”