I took special notice of the areas that I needed to stay clear of with him. Most all of Daniel’s areas appeared to be in the red zone. Narrowing our research down to a few particulars, I managed quite nicely. Keeping it simple was the best approach for him. We of course came up with a game called hot, hotter and hottest. Using these signal words would be a warning notice before we were out of control.
Our experimenting lasted until way through the night. It was an interesting way to learn each other’s physical limitations. The laughter between us made the game fun while we tested our code words. Choosing to ignore Daniel’s at one point, I wanted to see how far I could go when he yelled out the word “hot”. I persisted with the sweet spot I had found previously. I continued to tease him with my tongue until I felt my teeth beginning to ache. When he yelled “Too Hot!” I stopped and started kissing him to muffle his murmurings.
I was completely surprised to find his canine teeth had emerged and they were very sharp. Being pleased by my new discovery I continued with my experiment. My next venture would be to find out what happens if we both go past our controlled limits. The previous experience with him earlier on in the morning left me wondering what would have happened if we hadn’t stopped. Only time would tell.
Daniel rolled over to face me. His sleepy eyes opened. Slowly a smile appeared on his face.
“Good morning.” His morning voice was rough and husky.
“Good morning,” I purred and then moved into his arms.
“Anything in particular you want to do today?” he asked, as he brushed the hair away from my face with his finger.
“Well, we do have house guests.” I teased.
“You are absolutely right. Are you up for a little tag team tonight?”
I knew exactly what he meant. “Work on a little practice in before tomorrow night.” I nodded and smiled at him as I watched his face light up. “Why not?”
“We have to make sure you are not going to take a tree out if you are stung by another bee,” he teased.
“I believe,” I paused twisting my mouth into a grin, “the tree is still intact.” I retorted with a huff.
“Barely,” he shot back. “I shudder to think of what you will do to me tonight,” he purred.
“Hot,” I purred smoothly back at him.
Daniel raised his eyebrows in surprise and a wicked grin crossed his face. Moving his hand to my chin, he pulled my face to his. Softly his lips moved over mine. His tongue softly traced upper lip which sent a rush of heat through my body.
“Hot?” he whispered.
“Warm.” I muttered.
Slowly he moved his lips from my mouth to the sweet spot on my neck.
“Hot,” I gasped.
Ignoring my warning, his tongue traced the sweet spot’s boundary lines. My body erupted like a flaming volcano. My heart pounded wildly. His mouth opened to my neck and the point of his sharp canine teeth lingered on the sweet spot. I inhaled a deep and ragged breath.
“Hottest!!” I breathed out my last warning.
In an odd masochistic manner I wanted him to continue. I grabbed his arms and dug my fingers into his biceps. The vibrations from the moan escaping his throat sent shivers through my body.
Last night we tested our boundaries and stopped when our warning signal had been made known. Maybe this was his way of getting back at me for pushing his limits last night.
Rolling me over on my back, he braced himself to support his weight away from me. Gently nudging his head against mine he continued taunting me with the sweet spot. The flames grew hotter under my skin. I opened my mouth and gasped when I felt his teeth as they pierced my skin. My body trembled beneath his. My fingernails dug deeper into the softness of his flesh. His spicy scent filled my senses, pushing me over the edge. A surge of excitement ran through me while a breathless moan escaped through my mouth.
In an instant, I knew I was past my safety zone.
Daniel’s body grew stiff when I felt the hot rush of fluid from the bitten area run throughout my entire body. The animal instinct had taken over my mind. Before he had time to react, my mouth grabbed his neck and the teeth that ached so badly closed down. Again the hot sweet fluid filled my mouth. In an instant Daniel grabbed me by my shoulders.
His hands tightly gripped around me.
The low growl rumbled in his chest when he released me and braced himself on the headboard of the bed. My mouth found his as I squirmed my way back to him.
Aggressively the sweetness of our kiss grew intoxicating.
“Stop!” he said breathlessly against my lips in a moan.
“I can’t..” I breathed helplessly. My hands charted areas of the unknown.
“Ahh!” he moaned when my mouth closed around his again. His scent drove me mad. I wanted him and all of him. My fingers gently stroked his hardness, he was ready and I all I had to do was-With no warning, Daniel was ripped away from my aching body. I blinked several times as I watched him being dragged against his will to the front of the dresser by Jason.
Daniel’s eyes were wild and black as midnight. I’m pretty sure mine matched his as well. I watched as anger and frustration appeared on his face. He struggled to free himself from Jason’s grip. With a desperate attempt, I felt Daniel call me to him. In a flash of a second I was headed from the bed to him. I felt the need in him, pulling me, drawing me like a magnet. The rushing of hot lava flowed through my fevered veins. My mind was overtaken by the blind rage that welled within me.
Something I hadn’t expected in my attempt to reach Daniel, a hand grabbed mine. Strong arms locked around me and held me tight.
“Let me go!” I growled through my teeth. My body trembled.
“Calm down, Julie!” Heather, the petite woman, had the strength of a hundred men inside that tiny body.
“Let me GO! He’s mine!” My voice became rough and the vibration of my growl rumbled in my chest.
Glancing at Daniel, he still fought against the hold by Jason.
“Daniel! Get a grip-boy!” Jason shouted.
“Damn it! Let me go!” he roared. Glaring toward Heather, he bared his teeth which sent chills down my spine. “LET HER GO!” he demanded.
“Heather, get her out of here and quick!” Jason yelled in a fearful voice.
“NO!” I screamed when she pulled me toward the bedroom door.
“Come on, love, you need a little fresh air to clear your senses.”
“Bitch!” I hissed loudly while I fought against her.
Dragging me past the mirror on my dresser my eyes widened in horror when I saw my reflection. My black eyes matched Daniel’s. I opened my mouth to protest while she continued to drag me out of the room and noticed my extended canine teeth in clear view.
Daniel had slammed Jason into the wall hard enough to knock a picture down. The glass in the picture shattered when it hit the floor. Jason tightened his grip on Daniel.
“Oh-no, buddy, you aren’t going anywhere.” He growled at Daniel while his eyes turned into a dark black cloud.
The resistance with Heather was my priority. She somehow managed to drag me down the stairs through to the patio. Outside we stood by the swimming pool.
“If you don’t stop fighting, we’re going for a little dip!” She hissed in my back.
“Let me GO!”
“Okay,” she said and then tossed me into the swimming pool.
The cold water of the swimming pool shocked me back to my senses. Swimming my way back to the surface I gasped for air. Stretching my arms, I swam back to the side and climbed out of the pool. I walked past Heather who sat on the lounger with a smirk on her face. I placed my face in my hands.
“Okay now?”
I nodded and sat down beside her.
“We were okay last night. I don’t understand what happened,” I whispered, then raised my head to look at her small face.
Heather frowned a moment then her pretty face softened. “Listen to me,” she began softly. “I want you to think back t
o what just happened. Do you remember how aggressive and angry you were?”
I nodded. “I didn’t mean to call you a bitch. Why is this happening to me?” I whined.
“Okay then, tell me, Julie, when you wanted to get to Daniel so badly, what did you want to do to him?”
“I think that is an obvious answer.”
“All right, then. Honestly, tell me how badly did you want him?” She snapped at me.
“Bad all right. I wanted him so badly my teeth were hurting.” I glared at her. “I wanted to tear into him.”
“Julie, you have to understand why there are certain laws we don’t break. Did you ever wonder how Jason and I even knew to catch you two before it was too late?” I shook my head. “The perfumed scent you two gave off was so unbearably strong it took our breaths away. That is when we knew you two were in trouble and rushed in to save you from each other.” I stared at her in disbelief.
“The problem is,” she continued, “in the state you two were in, if both of you continued and went through with it, you would have ended up killing one another. Literally.”
“I don’t think… ” She stopped me by shaking her head.
“No! I mean it seriously. The passion turns into a rage. My sister who was dearly in love with a guy she’d met several months prior had the same problem. You and Daniel remind me so much of them. One evening he came over to the house and they went into her room. I remember the same strong perfumed scent. A few moments later it sounded as though they were tearing the room apart. It was later on in the night, I thought that they had left the room. So I went to bed, not giving much thought as to if anything was wrong. The next morning her door was still shut. I smelled something odd and decided to check on them. When I opened the door I was horrified. The walls were soaked with blood, and the two of them laid locked together on the floor in a pool of blood. They had torn each other apart and bled to death in the heat of their passion.” Her voice softened as the memory brought back the pain of her loss. “Now tell me, is this worth it?”
“Daniel mentioned it was dangerous. He said that we could lose everything,” I said softly.
The ultimate horror had hit me. I remembered on several different occasions I wanted to tear into him. How my teeth ached to touch the soft fleshy wonderfully scented skin. I wanted to devour every inch of him. I looked away from her as I remembered my reflection in the mirror. My eyes black, my teeth exposed and ready.
She nodded. “He was right.”
“What do we do then? Will it stop?”
“The only way it can be stopped is with the Rite, which is performed by the Lycan Council. The solemnized union will protect you both and save your souls. It is a difficult and sometimes painful purification process in which you are cleansed of the animalistic desires. You and Daniel can then share all the passion you desire.” There was hope in her voice that we would come through this. “In the meantime, I would suggest you two do not stay in the same room by yourselves for very long. It has become entirely too dangerous.”
“What about the practice tonight?”
“You will be fine. It would probably benefit you both. Jason and I will help you both as long as we can, but you need to be careful for yourselves.” She reached over and embraced me.
The patio door opened and Daniel and Jason walked through. Daniel’s face was in pure agony when he walked toward me. Heather’s body stiffened when she slowly let me go. I stood and walked toward Daniel when I felt her hand on my arm.
“It is okay, Heather. I am all right now,” Daniel said softly opening his arms to me.
I ran into his open arms as he embraced me tightly. His heart beat so hard I could feel it pounding through his chest.
“I am so sorry. You cannot imagine how I feel right now.” The trembling of his voice made me realize he was on the verge of tears.
“No, I’m the one who is at fault.” I cried into his chest.
“I promise I will never do that again.” He held me back and stared into my eyes. “Never again, do you hear me? I will never ever let that happen again. I do not ever want to lose you.” Tears ran down my face. “You mean so much to me, Jewels. I would not be able to live with myself if I did something horrible to you.” Daniel’s eyes lifted to Heather.
“Heather, I am truly sorry for my behavior.”
“Daniel, I understand. I’m not mad at you. Really. I’m just glad Jason and I was here.” Her smile assured us everything was fine. In my heart, I knew it was not a closed book.
The aftermath of our actions was truly saddening. The rest of the day Daniel and I stayed apart from one another. I was truly thankful that Jason and Heather had stayed with us last night. The horrifying images flashed back to my mind of her sister’s and boyfriend’s bodies. Never in a million years would I want the same fate to happen with Daniel and me. The thought of me actually killing Daniel in a crime of passion made me ill.
The dark veil had been lifted from my eyes. For the first time I saw through the darkness of the unknown. I saw a glimpse of the wonders of this new life. Yes, I indeed needed to know more of the laws. Apparently the first of the rules was almost broken. The future held the hope of redemption of our self-destruction. The purification process Daniel and I would have to endure would be, as Heather said, difficult and painful. In the back of my mind, I wondered if my father had considered this process when he married my mother. Since she was human, maybe he didn’t have the same problems. My efforts would be double to ensure our success. I couldn't imagine if I was one hundred percent Lycan. Would our problems be greater then?
The road we traveled became harder each day. The closer we became, the more I learned the Lycan laws and how dangerous we had actually become to each other. This life must have more benefits because of the pain we endure. The purpose of Lycans is to protect humans. If we were protectors of human kind, then how were we to protect ourselves from each other? The answer was clear, choice.
The sickening feeling crept into my stomach again. Daniel and I both chose not to stop this morning. Even though our safe words were clear, we ignored them. How much different were we then from Adam and Eve? Eve’s choice was to eat of the forbidden fruit, then give it to Adam. Proving to him she didn’t die as God said they surely would. But in reality, they died spiritually. Surely this wasn’t going to be the fate for Daniel and me. I chose another fate… to live. At all costs, I would make sure we never went through this again. No matter how badly I wanted him. I knew the consequences of my actions. I would deny myself the pleasure of the forbidden fruit and choose life.
≈≈≈
Nightfall came. The uneasy feeling I’d during the day remained. Daniel and I went of our way to avoid each other. It was a painful experience. My heart longed to embrace him, just to be able to wrap my arms around him once again. I never knew anything such as this could cause so much pain.
There were times we passed one another and didn’t speak. Our eyes held each other’s glance only momentarily. It hurt me the most to see the pain in his eyes every time he looked at me. There were no words we could possibly say to one another which would make the situation better. How long would we keep this going? The fear and tension grew inside me every minute of the day.
Tonight we would all go into the meadow, not as humans but as Lycans. I hoped as the moments grew nearer that my pain and feelings of guilt would subside.
The time came for the inevitable. Heather and Jason were both robed along with Daniel. I slipped into mine and we headed toward the meadow.
Once at the edge of the meadow, Jason and Heather unrobed in the darkness and transformed into their wolf forms. I wasn’t surprised as I noticed Heather. She was still dainty even as a wolf. Daniel motioned me to go next. I closed my eyes to remember the sensations of my first time. My heart pounded loudly in my chest and was followed by a rush of pain. It wasn’t physical pain that prevented me from changing, the pain was purely emotional.
Daniel walked forward to me slowly. I opened m
y eyes and gave him a blank stare. For a moment, he turned his head to the side and looked through the thick black wooded forest. The dark of the night had prevented me from seeing the expression in his eyes. Slowly he walked toward me reaching for my hand.
Fear burst forth from my chest and ran rapidly throughout my body. I jerked my hand away from him. My heart raced. I was without words. I realized in that moment I was afraid of him. I backed away from him slowly shaking my head.
“Jewels?” he spoke softly and cautiously taking another step toward me.
“Stop!” I shrieked. He was as surprised as I was by my reaction. There was no way to cover the fear in my voice. My body trembled with the excess of fear.
From what I could see of Daniel’s face it appeared he had drawn into a frown. Dropping his head to the ground he pleaded one last time. “Julie?” His voice was soft.
For reasons I couldn’t explain, I took another two steps away from him. My pulse rang loudly in my ears making it difficult to even hear him clearly. I watched as he turned slowly and disrobed. He was a wolf within a second, and gone to join Heather and Jason.
I moved closer to where they were in the open meadow. There was enough moonlight shining down to make out the vague forms of the wolves. When I found a good spot, I sat down and pulled my robe together under my knees. Silently I watch the three.
Heather and Jason moved identically as though they were in unison. She separated from Jason and circled around Daniel. She lowered her head in attack position. The attack didn’t come directly from Heather, it came from Jason. Jason followed the movement of Heather, and they lined Daniel up perfectly for the kill. Jason in a blur of a second was in Daniel’s side with his teeth against the back of his neck. Heather charged Daniel and attacked his rear legs. The kill, I assumed. They gave a few quick snorts and short barks to let me know everyone was all right. Daniel stood up and shook. He turned his head toward me as if checking to see if I’d been watching. Soon the game continued.
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