by Idella Breen
Snow looked around for utensils but quickly noticed everyone was eating with their fingers. She might have felt weird eating with her hands if she wasn’t beyond starving. She reached for a stem of cherries first and bit into one. Flavor exploded along her taste buds and she couldn’t help the moan that left her at that moment. They always did say that the best seasoning was starvation. In this case, mix great food with desperate hunger and it was a match made in heaven. The music had started up again and the string instruments, mostly guitars and one harp along with some strange wooden string instruments that made a funky noise, filled in the spaces between the good cheer of the crowd.
Glancing to her left, Snow noticed that Aria was getting a lot of attention from the elves around her. She seemed to be telling a story of some type and Snow couldn’t help the smile of admiration she directed at the woman. An elf running past her line of sight interrupted her train of thought and she turned to her right to see a frazzled elf place another plate before her wife. Snow’s eyebrows shot up and she couldn’t stop the abrupt laugh when she saw the stack of plates surrounding her wife who was desperately trying to curb her appetite but was mostly unsuccessful.
Looking down at her own plate she quickly realized why her wife was eating so quickly and so much. “There’s no meat,” Snow whispered mostly to herself but Beck’s hum of agreement let her know that the tengu had overheard her.
He leaned over towards her from his place to her immediate left as he sat between her, Pine and Aria, he whispered, “The Captain is struggling from the lack of meat, I suspect we will need to make a stop at the first burger joint once we leave here. For now, she will have to fill up on these niceties.”
Snow covered her giggle with her hand and glanced over as another elf placed a plate bursting with fruit and leaves in front of her wife. It really wasn’t Cait’s fault. Her wolf had been put under a lot of stress throughout this whole series of events and her wife didn’t fair much better. Snow reached out and gently touched the werewolf on the shoulder halting her from gorging herself. When Cait looked up Snow quickly noticed the lone trail of red cherry juice dripping down her chin. Without thinking it through, she leaned over and traced her tongue along the trail, moaning slightly at the tangy taste, before pulling back and licking her lips.
When she looked at her wife the werewolf’s eyes were amber and smoldering with barely restrained want. Snow gulped as she realized she had somehow trumped food in her wife’s mind for the moment. She chuckled nervously and tucked a strand of brown and white hair behind her ear before avoiding her wife’s gaze. Throughout the rest of the dinner, Snow could feel the heated gaze of her wife burning everywhere her eyes rested on. It made the brunette a little jittery and slightly lightheaded as she could feel the werewolf’s want through their connection. It made getting through the informal event all the harder as all she wanted to do was grab her wife and find the first patch of leaves to roll around in.
She jumped slightly when a warm hand landed on her shoulder. She looked to her left and into the dark gaze of the tengu. “You looked tired, Snow.”
The brunette nodded. “A little.”
“Pine said we could use one of the spare huts reserved for guests.” He pointed towards the outskirts of the bonfire, to a few huts that were separated from the rest of the homes. “You can have any of the ones over there for you and Cait. The Captain seems to have finally finished feeding her inner monster. I don’t think anyone would mind if you turned in early.”
She would have thought that he was just being innocently considerate had he not winked at the end of his sentence. Snow couldn’t stop the blush that bloomed on her already rosy cheeks, due to the spiced wine, and sputtered, “So that we can sleep, of course!”
Beck smirked. “Of course. Why else?”
Flustered, Snow jumped to her feet only to feel hands hotter than a furnace wrap around her waist and suddenly a warmth settled low in her belly. “Ready to go to sleep, babe?” Cait whispered in her ear finishing her question with a light nip on her earlobe and she drew Snow towards the huts Beck had pointed to.
Snow shivered. “Yeah, I was getting a bit sleepy.”
Cait trailed her hands down Snow’s arms exciting every nerve ending and leaving tingles in her wake as she settled for taking one hand and pulling the brunette along with her. Snow could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Even after all these years, her mate could still make her tingle with a brief touch or a simple smoldering gaze.
The werewolf pulled her into the first hut and hugged her close so that her back was resting against Cait’s front. The redhead trailed her tongue along Snow’s shoulder, pausing to nip at the mating mark on her shoulder, making Snow whine due to its sensitivity. The mark had always reacted to her wife’s touch, sometimes with a persistent ache that just wouldn’t go away until the woman paid it a little attention. This was one of those moments. Cait took the time to trace the quarterly knot that had been tattooed on Snow’s shoulder when she had bit her, marking her forever as her soulmate. With each swipe of the warm muscle Snow could feel her knees getting weaker until Cait finally bit down a little harder and Snow cried out as her knees buckled.
A dark chuckle whispered in Snow’s ear as her wife pulled her towards the small mattress made up of covers and pillows on the floor and laid her down gently. “
“I’m going to get you back for that stunt you pulled earlier.”
Snow gasped when the werewolf leaned down and kissed their wedding ring on her finger and let out a possessive growl to accent her promise. “Are you now?”
Cait nodded and moved up to capture her lover’s lips with her own. Licking and nipping she coerced the brunette into a lover’s dance and their bodies moved as one trying to create the friction they both craved.
“Cait, I love you.”
The werewolf groaned when Snow bit her lower lip and pulled it back before sucking on it slowly.
“Fuck.”
“Yes, please.”
Cait grinned and jumped up so that she straddled Snow, she pinned her hands down. “Stay.”
“Make me.”
The werewolf leaned down and brushed her lips gingerly against the woman’s before sitting back slowly, “Please.”
Snow huffed but her eyes had a glazed look to them when she nodded. Smirking, Cait sat back and slowly pulled off her shirt revealing a lacy black bra.
“Cait, were you wearing that this whole time?”
“Maybe.”
“It would have been such a waste if you had phased into your wolf form.”
“That’s why I tried very hard not to.”
Snow smirked up at her wife. “You’re so naughty.”
Cait leaned forward and unclipped her bra letting it fall onto Snow’s lap. “Then you better teach me how to be nice.”
“Leave it to me,” the brunette said as she pushed up and captured a pert nipple in her mouth drawing a sigh from her wife while her other hand teased and pinched its twin. Cait had begun to grind into her lap as Snow sucked and nipped and she was quickly getting frustrated. With a growl, she pushed Snow back down onto the pillows and pinned her with a ravenous kiss. She only pulled away to help the brunette lift off her shirt before Cait trailed her hand down her neck eliciting goose bumps in her wake.
“Ah, God,” Snow gasped out when her own breast was taken into the warm cavern of Cait’s mouth and her tongue circled and nipped before biting down gently.
Cait pulled back. “More.”
With a quick jerk, Snow found her jean shorts and underwear tugged off and thrown across the room never to be seen again. The cold air made her shiver due to Cait scorching heat that covered her when her wife intertwined their legs.
“Cait!” the brunette moaned as her hips jerked when a warm hard thigh rubbed against the ache that had been building unbearably between her legs.
A hot slickness covered her own thigh as Cait began to rock against her. “Let’s do it together,” the werewolf grunted
as she began to grind her sex against her wife’s thigh. Together they moved as one. Cait trailed her hand down until she reached the bundle of swollen nerves that throbbed when she rubbed her thumb against it eliciting a cry from the brunette. “Cait!”
“I love you,” the werewolf groaned out as she watched Snow’s face contort in pleasurable agony and heard her scream for her.
Hot wetness covered her hand as Snow came for her again and again until she was gasping for breath and Cait soon followed after. As they came down from their high Snow was resting a sweaty forehead against her shoulder as they lay holding each other in the makeshift bed. Cait kissed her forehead and sighed out as she felt the woman in her arms snuggle deeper into her grasp.
“Cait?”
“Hmm?”
“I’ll be okay, right?”
Cait clenched her eyes closed at how small Snow’s voice sounded. “I’ll make sure you are.”
“Cait?”
“Yeah.”
Snow pushed herself up so she could gaze into her mate's electric blue eyes. “No matter what, I love you. More than a heartbeat, more than the air in my lungs, I love you like a cool breeze and I’ll love you until the end of time. Promise me, that no matter what, you will take care of Elena.”
“Snow—”
She shook her head and placed her hand over Cait’s heart. “Remember, your heart beats and mine calls to it. Promise me.”
Cait studied the passionate brown orbs begging her desperately for something she would already give freely. “I promise.”
Snow leaned forward and their lips met with the need to confirm their love. Then she laid her head back down and slowly drifted off to sleep. When Cait was sure Snow had fallen asleep she gently lifted her lover’s arm and with her night vision she was able to make out the inky black number five that branded her wife’s skin. It had been over twenty-fours hours since they escaped Taz’s dungeon. Tomorrow that five would become a four and Snow will have one day less to figure out how to break her curse. The werewolf breathed a deep breath and slowly let it out. She needed to remain strong for Snow and she needed to stand by her no matter what. After all, she had made a promise and this one she intended to keep.
Chapter 16
“I take it that you’re coming with us, then?” Cait asked as Aria jogged to catch up with the group as they exited the elven village.
“Yep! I’m in it to win it.”
Snow frowned. “Win what?”
Aria tilted her head to the side taking on a confused look. “I don’t quite remember. When I do, you will be the first I tell, how about that.”
Snow smiled warmly and Cait moved between the two woman making Beck cough from behind them. Snow turned around to make sure he was alright. “Are you okay, Beck.”
The tengu nodded as he gained control over his vocal cords again. “Quite fine, thank you. I would like to make a suggestion though if I may?”
“Yes?”
“I suggest that we take a plane to get back home. Integra suggested that we drive here in a rented car because she wanted you to be able to make a stop on the way. But, we have accomplished all of that and we must hurry back to your mother to seek her counsel on what to do about your curse. Do you remember what High Priestess Blush said?”
Snow nodded absently as she thought back the elf’s parting words just before they set off.
Pine Blush stood in her small hut looking through one of the many books off of one of the numerous bookshelves when Snow entered.
“So, you came.”
“I wished to speak with you before I left.”
“And the rest?”
“I’d like to speak alone for a moment before they get here.”
Pine looked back to her and nodded, setting the book she had been flipping through back on the shelf, the elf moved forward giving Snow her undivided attention. “I take it you’re concerned.”
Snow smiled. “First, I wanted to thank you for repairing my bracelet and giving me the Saint Pot.”
“It is of no concern.”
Snow nodded. “I’m also confused as to what I’m supposed to do next. I don’t think my mom will know how to lift this curse, yet both Aria and you are suggesting that we seek her counsel, and in person too.”
“Yes.” Pine nodded and waited expecting there was more.
“Why can’t I just call her? I’m just wasting time traveling. Isn’t there someone else I can talk to about this? Not even you or Aria know how to lift the curse and you’re both ancient!”
“Snow.”
Pine waited until the brunette calmed down before holding her gaze. “All we are asking is that you trust us. Aria is capable of many things but a straight answer is not one of them. That child’s mind is as confusing and complex as an unsolvable puzzle but like all puzzles, if one waits and has patience the answers will show themselves. Trust us, and you will soon know what you are meant to do.”
Snow was pulled from the memory by the disorienting distortion that landed them back in the state park.
“Snow?” Beck asked and she took a second to remember what they had been talking about.
“I—”
“Nope!” Aria interrupted.
The three stopped and waited for the elf to elaborate but she simply smiled and began to skip on ahead.
Cait’s irritation was palpable when she spoke, “What do you mean no?”
The elf spun around. “We will drive back to Montana.”
“Why?”
“Hmm? Because I said so.”
“Why you—”
“Cait.” Snow stopped her wife from pounding the elf’s beautiful face in as she held her back.
The brunette studied Aria who simply stood there and smiled back patiently and Pine’s words echoed in her mind. ‘Trust us.’
“I trust you,” she whispered and the elf beamed at her.
“Good! I trust you too, Snow Bennett. Now, let's be off then. We are short on time. Or long on time depending on how you view time as it is relative.”
Smirking, Snow let out a sigh and dragged her silently raging wife alongside her. She slipped her hand into Cait’s interrupting the werewolf’s game of glaring holes into the elf’s back so that she met her wife’s gaze questioningly.
“If you can’t believe in her Cait, can you believe in me?”
“Of course I trust you.”
“Then, trust my judgment.”
The werewolf frowned but nodded. “I don’t like her.”
Snow giggled quietly. “Oh, I couldn’t tell. I’m surprised she hasn’t spontaneously combusted from all the heat you’ve been mentally sending her way.”
“She’s annoying.” The redhead huffed.
“Cait, she’s a good person. Try and make friends with her.”
“But—”
“Cait.”
The werewolf grumbled but consented. “Fine, I’ll try but I’m not making any promises.”
Snow smiled. “That’s all I ask.”
Aria chatted amiably with Beck as the two of them walked ahead. Snow tried to covertly sneak a glance at the tattoo on her arm but Cait pulled back her sleeve to look at the black number four that stained her pale skin. The werewolf solemnly traced the dark ink, that seemed to get colder by the day despite the summer heat, with her thumb before meeting the brunette's gaze. Only love shone in Cait’s eyes and that was all the reassurance Snow needed. She gripped her wife’s hand within her own and bumped shoulders with her. They would get through this. They had to.
* * *
“And then Rae and I beat him up!” a child’s voice chirped happily on the other end of the line.
“It sounds like you had your own little adventure sweetheart.”
“I did Mama.”
“I miss you, Elena.” Snow couldn’t hide the slight sniffle and Cait reached over and took her hand, rubbing her thumb comfortingly along her wrist.
“I miss you too Mama. But, grandma and grandpa have been a lot of fun and I’m
being a good girl like I promised.”
“I know you are. We will be home soon baby. Just keep being good for grandma, okay?”
“I promise.”
“Mom wants to speak with you too. I’m gonna put her on, okay?”
“Okay! I’m gonna tell her all about Rae.”
“You do that.” Snow held out the cell phone and Cait took it while giving her a small smile.
Snow knew the werewolf wouldn’t admit it but Elena had her Mom wrapped around her little finger. The brunette smiled as Cait seemed to be hanging on every word their daughter spoke as she retold Cait of her adventure at the park. Snow wiped at her eyes and turned to look out the window only to see a hooded figure hanging outside her door.
“Ah!” she screamed and Beck swerved the four-door sedan they had rented for the trip.
Snow’s heart pounded in her chest as Cait fumbled with the cell phone.
“Snow, what’s wrong?” Both Beck and Cait asked at the same time.
“I saw—”
Aria interrupted her, “Oh, it’s time I suppose. Beck be a dear and pull over. But, I guess you can’t be a dear since you're a crow but if I say be a crow it’s kind of an insult. Beck pull over my friend! We have a visitor that is most eager to claim what it desires.”
Beck glanced back to Snow in the rearview mirror and she nodded her consent back to him so he pulled off on the shoulder. They were currently out in the middle of an endless forest of Washington. They still had yet to cross the border but the sun had already set as it had taken them some time to get to the road due to a mix up with the rented car as it had been towed due to being left in the park overnight and them not having the proper pass. They had to catch a ride back into town where they then paid the fee for the towed car and rented a sedan at Aria’s request.