She opened her mouth, allowing him access so that she could taste him more deeply. She heard a soft cry in the night air, wondering where it had come from until realizing the sound had escaped her own lips. As their breaths became intermingled in a steady rhythm, she felt him from the top of her head where his hands kept returning to caress her hair, all the way down to the tips of her toes. She whimpered as he covered her breast with his hand, the palm of his hand barely skimming the tip of her tightly budded nipple. His fingers splayed out like the petals of a flower, stopping short of squeezing, then began all over again.
She arched her back as the tingling sensation became almost painful, thrusting herself completely into his palm, trying to quell the ache.
This drew another deep chuckle from him. “You're a lot more than I bargained for.” She continued to surprise him at every turn. With her inexperience, he had feared that she would be too frightened to allow herself to enjoy, but she was delighting in everything he had to offer. He began to gently knead the delicate flesh this time, stopping only long enough to chafe the tip of her rosebud nipple with his flat palm.
With each stroke, her hips began to move until in a pleasurable rhythm of their own. It was as if she were helpless to extinguish this fire he had started inside her. “Shadow, please...” Bethanie began then stopped, not knowing how to finish the request.
Shadow knew that she was asking in her own artless way for relief of the building tension inside of her body. He had wanted to take her there, to the brink of the cliff before sending her off the edge into sweet oblivion. But since this would be her trip to take, he wanted her pleasure to last. His own pleasure would come in watching her journey, hearing the soft cries from her lips, and seeing the satisfaction on her face when she returned.
He reached behind her back, unfastening the clasp of her bra and let it fall away. Sliding his hand down to her hips he hooked a finger in the waist of her panties and pulled them down in one motion, tossing them aside as well. Now there was nothing between them. One hand on her breast, reaching between them with the other to the juncture of her thighs where with soft strokes, he played with the nest of curls there. All the time, watching her face change with each movement, he found the soft petals of her womanhood moist with pleasure and the sensitive nub hidden there.
With that one electric touch, he sent lightning searing through her, leaving her transformed forever. Wanting more of what he could give her, she opened for him.
Humbled by her trust, he was now more determined than ever to make this night one that she would never forget, no matter how many lovers she would know in the future, she would not soon forget him. He slowly moved down dipping a finger between the slickness of her soft folds, he moved his finger in tight circles around her clit, wringing cries of pleasure from her. Repeating the motion until her body was writhing against him hips rocking in the rhythm that he set.
She opened her eyes finding him watching her. But she discovered in that moment that all inhibition had left her. She no longer cared that she might seem to him to be wanton. His gift of passion was all she wanted. A cry rang out in the dark, startling her until she realized it had been her own. As he worked his magic on her, her body felt as if it were tumbling, and she was helpless to stop it. She looked up at the wood ceiling of the gazebo and little stars appeared in her vision. Holding on to her vision of Shadow loving her for as long as she could, she succumbed to sensation took her body over. Finally, she had to squeeze her eyes shut for it had become too much to bear. When the tremors had ceased and she dared open her eyes again and face Shadow, the corners of his steel gray eyes were crinkled into a pleased smile.
Shadow carried Bethanie from the gazebo into the back door of his cabin with surprising swiftness in the darkness. Once upstairs, he lay her down in his bedroom on a thick, patchwork quilt covering his bed. Without a light on, the room was cast in total darkness until Shadow striking a match from the box he kept in his nightstand, lit an oil lamp. Placing it beside the bed so that a gentle glow cast upon Bethanie, giving her and everything around her an ethereal quality, he lay down beside her.
Shadow groaned deep in his throat as Bethanie sighed and stretched out completely in the lamp's light. The sight of her sprawled out on her back in his own bed caused him to fear that if he looked away, she would disappear like the spirit she seemed to be. He moved quickly to the medicine chest in his bathroom where he kept coconut oil and returned to her, discarding the quilt to the floor. Bringing the oil lamp closer to the edge of the dresser, he wanted to watch her face and her naked body change as he applied his ministrations to her. Straddling her pelvis, taking his own weight on his legs, he rubbed the coconut oil between his palms to warm it before ever so gently, stroking it into her shoulders. As he did, he closed his eyes for a brief second to relish the feel of her soft skin beneath his hands and unbidden a vision of his first love, Maria, popped into his mind. Conflicted emotions ran through him as he could still recall the way her soft, brown skin had felt beneath his hands. Sometimes in his mind, it felt as if no time had passed since she had walked away from him. A soft cry escaped Bethanie when his hands became too rough, bringing him back into the present moment. He purposefully opened his eyes to see Bethanie, hoping she might rid him of the painful memories. Caressing and gentling her with each long stroke of his hands, he let her feel how good she felt to him and tried to convince himself that his past was behind him. His hands moved down her body pressing lightly then skimming softly across her bare chest. Using his fingertips, he slowly traced light circles around her breasts in a figure eight, which Bethanie matched with the arching of her back.
She found it harder and harder to lie still as the steady strokes of his strong hands wrung every drop of self-control from her mind. Pressure was building steadily between her legs until she felt she might come undone. Never before had her body felt such pleasure. Never had she expected to feel such things for Shadow. But here she was, wanting and waiting to give all of herself to him. And most surprising of all to her, was that she did not give of herself in the hopes of getting something in return from him, like his love. Even if she had to move back into her dorm room tomorrow, she would take with her this most beautiful night of passion. More than she had ever hoped for, she would live off of it for the rest of her life.
He was so beautiful to her now, his long hair, his strong nose, his powerful body, loving her. As he moved his hands toward her stomach in long gliding strokes, a single tear slipped down Bethanie's cheek.
Shadow stopped immediately for fear that he had hurt her. Kneeling down in front of her on, looking into her eyes, he said, “It's okay. We can stop.” Taking her into his arms, he held her, rocking. As he had hoped, Bethanie relaxed.
She wanted to tell him that she did not want him to stop. That the real reason she cried had been that her own happiness had moved her. The love she felt for him had caused her to cry. But she could not, and instead, she began to laugh. She did not want him to think that she was so naïve as to assume that one night in his bed meant a lifetime love. No, she would not do that to herself or to him. So she laughed out loud at the predicament in which she found herself. Not only had she met a man who was intelligent and someone she had grown to respect a great deal, but she had gone and fallen in love with that man. And there was no chance of the two of them turning this into the great American romance. So, even though she had found real happiness, she could not do a thing about it. So, she laughed.
Shadow did not know what to make of her behavior. But when she reached for him, taking him into her hands, exploring the smoothness of his cock with her fingers, nothing else mattered to him. Flattening her hands on either side of his shaft, she watched it transform into a velvet rod before her eyes as sliding her hands up and down, she became even more emboldened when a moan escaped him. Moving her hands in opposite directions like she was rolling breadstick, something she had seen done a million times but never in her wildest dreams imagined doing to this man
and loving it so much, she giggled.
Shadow relished the feel of her hands on him until he now was writhing under her ministrations. Suddenly, he stilled her hands. “This will all be over way too soon for my liking if I don't stop your eager hands now,” he said, a slow grin touching his face.
When he turned to the nightstand for protection, his body's reaction to her was obvious, and a surge of delight sizzled through Bethanie, knowing that she had been the cause of it. She watched in wonder as his hands skillfully slipped the condom down his erection and when he caught her watching, his eyes sparkled in the lamp light at her natural curiosity.
He moved to cover her with his body and lay her back as she instinctively opened her thighs to him. He moaned deep in his throat as he matched their bodies together so that he was nestled in her thatch of curls. As their bodies moved together, lubricated by the natural oil, he shut his eyes tight as another unwelcome image of his past lover, her dark hair and eyes, haunted him. Willing her away, he focused on Bethanie who was looking up at him. In her eyes, he saw pleasure, and he wanted her to know more. But he hesitated, poised on the precipice of her maidenhood, knowing this next thrust would cause her pain. Despite that fact, he wrapped her legs around his back and forced himself to take her completely. Sweat rolled down his temples at the effort it took to control his desire, and he whispered to her, “I swear… I’ll be gentle.”
As he took her, she felt as though she were dying. And she was. The maiden she had been was no longer. And the awakened woman she would be from now on was born.
Pleasure built with each thrust of his hips until she cried out, sinking her nails into the flesh of his back. And as her muscles squeezed and contracted around him, his entire body tensed as he let out a mighty groan and finally relaxed upon her, breathless and spent.
They lay that way in each other’s arms as no time passed. She, feeling his warm breath on her breast where he had lain his head, reached up and stroked his silken, blond hair still bound in its braid, saying with her hands what she could not say with her lips, that she loved him and always would love him for giving her this night.
It was Wednesday morning when Bethanie awoke in Shadow’s bed. In the past three years, she had not known a good night's sleep until now. The nightmare had not come. Making love with Shadow had been the tonic her soul had been awaiting. Sitting up, she noticed for the first time the bed she had slept in all night with him under handmade quilts. The handmade wooden bedposts were made of shaved pine and whose tips had been whittled to rough points was straight out of her favorite children's book. Smiling to herself at the rare, happy memory she had of her childhood, she looked at Shadow, still sleeping, and the smile turned into a knowing one. She had made love to a man last night, and it had been exquisite, beautiful, poetry, that was all things good and wonderful. After a lifetime of reprimands not to indulge in sins of the flesh, here she was, living and breathing the pleasures of the flesh. And she would not allow herself to be sorry. No matter what.
Shadow stirred beside her, looking up at her, sexy and rumpled from sleep. He thought about cursing himself for taking her virginity last night, but oh, God he would do it again. He wanted to take her again right then and there. “How are you feeling this morning? Not too sore I hope,” he asked in a husky voice.
“No.” She shook her head, propping herself up on one elbow, then smiled, a thoughtful look in her eyes.
“What's going through that scientific mind of yours?”
“I've been thinking about something.”
“Yes,” Shadow prompted.
“Well, I don't think there's a Hell.”
Shadow smiled. “Well, coming from you, that's quite a statement.” Then he chuckled. “When did you have this epiphany? Last night?” He hoped that he had not been the cause of her change of heart. He knew that what was between the Creator and a human was no one else's with which to tamper.
She looked deep into his eyes, searching for truth that she knew was there. Something told her that his soul held the answers to the questions she sought. “It's just something I suspect I've known deep down all along.”
Shadow stroked a hand down her auburn hair, letting her continue but relieved to hear that she had come to the conclusion on her own.
“God wouldn't make a place like that. He wouldn't do something like that, would he?”
“No, She-Who-Never-Dies,” Shadow said, nodding in agreement, “would not.”
Bethanie smiled, her round eyes sparkling in her heart-shaped face with unshed tears for the longing in her to see the world through eyes that did not fear God. She reached for Shadow, trailing her index finger down the curves and valleys of his shoulder, feeling desperate to absorb some of his peace.
He rolled her beneath him, kissing her as she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. “Stay here with me, Bethanie. Don’t leave again. I'll keep you safe.”
After Shadow made love to her all over again, Bethanie thought she was imagining things. She asked herself if Shadow had really just asked her to stay with him as she drifted back to sleep.
Later that morning when Bethanie finally got out of bed, she was alone. Her mind could not grasp the fact that she had made love with a man to whom she was not married. She had expected she would disappear if she ever did. But she was still here. Her life had become unrecognizable, a new adventure, and frankly, it scared her. She deliberately ignored the voice in her head that warned her she had sinned. That voice had been the loudest one for her entire life, and it had not helped her yet. It had only served to fuel her guilt, but she was through seeing things as simply right or wrong. Because thanks the jarring reality of losing her father forever and her mother to prison, she was now forced to take a gray-er look at her own world and see things as they really were. Her world was not the black and white place she had been told it was.
In the kitchen, she poured herself a cup of strong, black coffee, the kind she had become accustomed to since moving in with Shadow. She had even begun to like it. A knock sounded on the living room door. Shadow was down at the barn, the note left on the counter said, Gone to check on the trail camera. He had also promised to take a look in the owls' nest for her, letting her know in a very small, but yet profound way, that their lives would go on after last night. Because part of her feared that now that his interest in her had been satisfied, he would be finished with her. But he was not.
Taking her coffee with her, she peered out the front window to see who was there before opening the door. President Bord, whom she recognized right away, stood on the front step.
“Good morning,” she said as she opened the door to allow him inside.
As President Bord looked her up and down, taking in her sleep rumpled attire, she realized that it had slipped her mind until now that she still wore one of Shadow's white undershirts.
“Shadow's not here,” she said, tugging at the hem of the t-shirt awkwardly.
“Actually, I'm here to see you,” the older man with a dusting of silver at his temples said as he stepped into the living room. His booming voice echoed throughout the great room of the cabin.
Too late Bethanie questioned letting him come inside while Shadow was out, but surely, she could trust this man. After all, he was responsible for the entire school. Spending the past three years on campus, she knew that he was a very well respected leader. “Please, come in. Sit down.” She followed and gestured for him to take a seat in the living room. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“No, thank you. What I have to say will only take a minute,” he said sitting down on the couch across from Bethanie who was busy pulling the t-shirt she wore down to cover her knees. The older man cleared his throat. “It's come to my attention that your... friend, Shadow, is asking questions of the police.”
As he spoke, Bethanie could see the resemblance now between father and son. It was remarkable how much he looked like her student-adviser, Henry Bord, Jr.
“Understandably, he wants to
identify the party responsible for these girls' disappearance. We all do. But it's not his place.”
She nodded, knowing that he was trying to do what was in the best interest of the school. “But Shadow doesn't work for you anymore. So, I would think that...”
“Precisely why I'm speaking with you, Miss Hutchinson,” he interrupted.
“I think you misunderstand my relationship with Shadow.”
He cleared his throat again and looked pointedly at the t-shirt she wore. “Be that as it may, Miss Hutchinson, I do understand one thing, and that is how important your scholarship is to you. I don't need to remind you that you'll be in danger of losing it if you were to break even one,” he held up his index finger, “school rule.”
Bethanie nodded again, this time turning a bright shade of crimson at his blatant threat to her only source of livelihood. If she continued to assist Shadow in identifying the skinwalker, it meant that she would lose her scholarship, her birds, and would not graduate. And if she did not graduate, getting a job with the Barn Owl Conservatory, would be impossible and that would ruin her chances of a future.
“You know, you're very different, Bethanie, from the other girls I see here at this school. They're all the same. Dress the same, talk the same, act the same. But not you. For one thing, you're not always on your cell phone, texting. I'll bet you even read from books made of paper, don't you?” He chuckled at his own wit. “You're a part of a dying breed, young lady.” He shook his index finger at her. “You're smart. Independent. And you're not so superficial. You can carry on an actual conversation with another human being, just as we have been, without the aid of technology. The only problem I see is that you've got yourself mixed up with Shadow. And let me warn you, he's in over his head on this one, playing detective. He's perfectly content to live here and work the land. And that's where he'll be until his dying day I'm afraid. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Shadow like a son. But I would hate to see you throw yourself away on the likes of him.” He stood up and walked to the door. “On the other hand, I know someone who could offer you more. Much, much more. And… could take the heat off of your friend, Shadow, in the process.” He opened the door to let himself out. “Think about it,” he said and walked out.
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