by JJ King
“I’ll follow you anywhere.” His simple words and the truth that rang in them mended another of the holes that Maxwell’s death had punctured in her heart.
“Then let’s run.” She jumped into the air and landed softly on a bed of moss that grew conveniently in the shadows of the great forest around them. Without looking back, she sprang forward, her feet connected with the earth yet still able to fly agilely along its surface. She could hear Quinn’s footfalls just behind her and the adrenaline that accompanied any race roared to life in her chest and filled her with bliss. She threw back her head and laughed aloud, the sound echoing off the evergreens, and kept running for the sheer joy of it.
The muscles in her legs began to ache eventually but by then the sun had fallen and the moon was on its ascent. Quinn loped by her side, showing no signs of fatigue though she knew that he must have felt some.
She recognized the hills and trees around her and knew they were close so she slowed to a walk and reached out for Quinn’s hand.
“We’re almost there.” She looked up at him, the light from the moon making the shadows of his face even longer. She squeezed his hand.
The trees gave way to a small meadow in the middle of the forest that was bathed in the light of the moon. A small brook ran through one edge of it, the water tinkling over rocks quietly. She let go of Quinn’s hand and walked toward the brook, kneeling beside it to trail her hand through the water. It was cold, frigid, and pure. The water came from the mountains and never warmed, no matter the heat of the summer, or froze, regardless of the winter’s chill.
“Maxwell brought me here the first day we met.” She could remember the day in perfect clarity. They had just arrived from France and her father had been in the middle of building the first structure of what would eventually become Wild River.
“He was so young then, all wild hair and flashing eyes. He showed me a book he was reading and asked if I wanted to see the prettiest place in the whole world.”
Quinn hunkered down beside her and watched the water intently. He didn’t speak.
“He was such a geek,” she laughed. “He loved comic books, which he called Graphic Novels, pretentious twat, and he loved writing. I was with him when he came across that quote you know. William Blake wrote it. He loved William Blake for some reason that I could never figure out. That man was batshit crazy. I understood, though. “My business is to create,” it’s kind of perfect, or was, for Maxwell. All he ever wanted to do was write and read, maybe own a bookstore like he did after…” her voice trailed off.
“After?” Quinn prompted her, knowing that she needed to get this out more than anything.
She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold. She stood. “After I was too chicken shit to come home and tell him in person that he wasn’t my soul mate. After I sent him a letter telling him that I wasn’t coming home anytime soon and that he should move on. After I took the love he offered me and threw it back in his face.”
When Quinn wrapped his arms around her she bucked him and turned away, feeling for the first time the true loss of her friend, the boy she had loved and the man she hadn’t loved enough. Tears rolled down her face. She let them come.
This time, when Quinn took her in his arms she let him. His scent wrapped around her, reminding her that he wasn’t Maxwell, that Maxwell’s scent had never been as seductive to her as Quinn’s. The guilt was overwhelming.
“Katherine, look at me.”
She did.
“How do you feel about me?” His voice was firm yet somehow needing.
“I’m drawn to you. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I…” she stammered, “I think I love you.”
He smiled and brushed his lips against her forehead. “Do you believe in soul mates?” The question was a big one, a huge one, and one that she knew was hard for him to ask. The tension around his eyes and mouth made that obvious.
She nodded. “I didn’t before but now… yes, I believe.”
His voice was soft now, almost a whisper. “You’re my soul mate, Katherine. I love you.”
Katherine felt her entire body go soft, as though she was relaxing into an overstuffed mattress after a lifetime of constantly moving. Her too logical mind was silenced for the moment and she allowed herself to simply be in the moment with Quinn; with her soul mate. “Mine,” she whispered in an emotion roughened voice, and then she raised herself up to brush her lips against his.
Relief swam in his gaze. Determination and resolve filled his voice, “Then, Maxwell could never have been your soul mate could he? If you had stayed with him you would have been lying to him. You did what was right, what you had to do. You have nothing to blame yourself for.”
The words made sense, the sentiment was right, but Katherine knew that she would never rid herself of the guilt she felt. It would fade, yes, and her love for Quinn would heal her heart, but she would always feel that she could have done something to save Maxwell.
Still, hearing Quinn tell her it wasn’t her fault that she’d had no choice in who her soul mate was, resonated with her and she felt her heart begin to heal. She lowered her head to his chest and listened to his heartbeat. She let the tears fall onto his shirt and he let her.
♀♀♀
Katherine woke gradually to the sounds of small animals finding their breakfast and the water of the brook trickling steadily, a sound that made her need to pee like a racehorse.
The sun was high overhead; high enough for it to be sometime around 11:00 am Katherine had no idea how they’d both managed to sleep for such a long time even though they’d not gotten to sleep until well after 4:00 am
Her natural body heat and Quinn’s enveloping arms had protected her against the cool night air but the damp from the earth had still managed to seep into her bones, making them ache when she moved.
Quinn lay beside her, breathing heavily with his luscious mouth hanging slightly open. His hair lay against his forehead like Shaggy from Scooby Doo and she barely resisted the urge to smooth it with her fingers.
She rose to her feet, suppressing a groan so as not to wake Quinn, and walked toward the trees. A few minutes later she emerged, zipping up her pants, and headed straight for the brook.
The cold water felt refreshing on her hands and shocking against her face. The alert sent loud signals for food and coffee to her brain so she padded back to Quinn and reached into the small backpack that they’d brought along to retrieve two cans of Pepsi that she’d thrown in before they’d left. Caffeine was caffeine after all and she didn’t feel like taking the time to light a fire and watch water boil.
Quinn moaned and rolled over onto his back, opening his eyes into slits that were, in her opinion, adorable. She squatted by him and pulled the tab on her Pepsi can, watching his eyes open wider as he realized what treasure she was holding. He sat up in one swift motion and reached for it.
“This one’s mine.” Katherine was only half serious but gave in when she saw his face fall like a sad puppy dog. She laughed and gave the can to him, “Here, you big baby.”
She popped the other can open and took a long drink of the cool liquid. It tasted like heaven.
“No Coke?” Quinn’s face screwed up as he swallowed. She didn’t respond because she was too busy downing the rest of hers and absorbing the caffeine from it to chastise him for questioning the source of the goodness. She did notice that he followed suit and finished off the entire can.
When he was finished, he got up and stepped on the can, returning the smashed aluminum to the backpack. Like any good wolf, he was reluctant to leave trash in the forest. Only humans would be so crass as to desiccate the very land they lived on. Katherine followed suit and put hers in the pack back too, then took out a few granola bars and a big bag of trail mix and opened them.
“Breakfast time, darling. Look, I cooked!”
Quinn’s smile brightened his face and the meadow and made Katherine’s heart light up. God she loved seeing him smile. S
he wished she had been able to enjoy spending the night with him instead of taking that time to grieve Maxwell. She’d fallen asleep exhausted from crying, with her head buried in Quinn’s shoulder while he stroked her head and whispered soothing sounds.
It was a new day. She felt the ache of Maxwell’s death deep within her soul but the physical weight of the loss had faded. She had allowed herself to grieve and was now the better for it. Today would be about love and life. She would allow herself that much.
Katherine finished off her granola bar and nuts while Quinn went to relieve himself, taking the few minutes to stretch out her muscles.
When he was washed up, he shrugged on the backpack and they headed into the woods again, this time heading southwest. It wasn’t time to head home yet but Katherine also didn’t want to head too far away from the safety of Wild River. There was still an insane wolf and a crazy old hunter to be wary of.
There was no urgency to their hiking today, no need to violently shed emotion on the sharp edges of nature. Quinn kept up a running monolog for a while that Katherine only interrupted every once in a while when he took a turn for the ridiculous. The sound of their laughter filled the air and echoed off the trees and rocks.
More than once Quinn stopped to take her hand or bend his head to brush his lips against hers. Every time they touched Katherine’s skin would flare up as though she was sitting too close to a raging fire but couldn’t stop herself from reaching into it.
She became aware of him, of his body, of his breath and his scent. A feeling like a balloon swelling inside her chest and raising to her head occasionally filled her and caused her breathing to hitch.
Quinn wasn’t oblivious, thank the Old Ones. She noticed him breathing heavily when he had no reason to several times and he inhaled sharply whenever their skin came into contact. The frustration was delicious and terrible all at the same time. All she could think about was changing with him and finally showing him her wolf, sharing with him her full soul and making love with him in the wild.
The hours passed with excruciating slowness or so it seemed to her, but soon enough they were eating again and the sun was on its way down.
Katherine breathed deeply and looked up at the man sitting in front of her. “Quinn?”
His head jerked up, his eyes wide with awareness. They had ignored the obvious sexual tension between them all day long but it seemed as though the time had come to get it out in the open.
“Yeah?” The one word he spoke revealed everything he doubtlessly wanted to hide. His voice broke in the middle of the one syllable like an adolescent boy talking to his first romantic interest. His face heated up and she felt it, though she couldn’t see the blush that stained his cheeks because of the darkening sky.
All traces of nerves left her immediately. He was nervous too and that fact alone released her from her own shackles. She put down the apple she’d been munching on and moved forward onto her hands and knees then crawled across the grass to kneel before him.
The sound of their heartbeats filled the air and seemed to be the only noise in existence. Quinn dropped the granola bar from his hands and reached out to stroke Katherine’s face.
The rising moon lit her face so that her skin shone like silver and her eyes became deep wells of the darkest blue.
“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered the words now, unwilling to break the spell that held them in this moment.
“I’m ready to be with you.” Katherine began unbuttoning her shirt as she spoke and watched as Quinn’s eyes went wide, following her every movement. She paused and laid her hand on his chest, over his heart. “Show me your wolf, show me your soul.”
He rose above her and offered his hand. She took it and rose with him then they began to disrobe, each silently watching the other.
The moonlight lit their bodies to perfection, creating shadows and highlighting in all the right places. Mother Nature knew exactly what she was doing.
Katherine smiled at Quinn and then threw her head back and looked skyward. She called to the magic and let it surge through her body. Fire and ice raced through her blood as she shifted and changed, the pain significantly less than the last time she’d become her wolf.
She could feel the magic swirl around her and she knew that it was Quinn, changing beside her. The nearness of him, the knowledge of him, filled her mind as human and wolf. She felt their beings intertwine and all that she was became his.
When the pain subsided Katherine turned to look at Quinn. He stood before her, amber eyes flashing with liquid heat and something eternal, with his dark chocolate fur luxurious. She studied him for a moment before she moved forward to nuzzle him with her nose. He was so soft.
It was Quinn who moved first. He lolled his tongue out and jerked his head toward the trees then, not pausing, leaped forward and began to run.
Katherine followed eagerly.
Chapter Seventeen
The night air was crisp but their bodies knew nothing but unadulterated heat. Together they ran over hills and through rough patches of thick forest, continuously challenging each other for the lead.
Katherine knew that Quinn would give her no quarter in any race, be it for fun or for the gold. It was just another aspect of his personality that Katherine loved.
When they finally stopped, drinking in gulps of oxygen, their bodies gave off such heat that, combined with the cold, created a small contained world misted in fog.
Katherine stood with her head raised to the full moon. It was clichéd beyond belief to howl at the moon but that is exactly what she felt like doing, so she did.
Beside her, Quinn watched with gleaming eyes as she threw back her head and gave into the primal pull of nature.
Katherine could feel his appreciative gaze on her. It made her feel bold and wild.
Quinn pressed his nose into her neck and nuzzled, bringing her back to the moment. She looked at him, noticing the gleam in his eyes as he brushed the tip of his nose against her fur and took a playful nip at her ear.
The quiet sounds of the forest settled around her and one word filled her mind with complete domination.
Finally.
The thought was so loud that Quinn had no choice but to hear it inside his own mind. He lowered his head and bumped her neck, then threw himself bodily onto her, rolling her to the side and down a slight mossy incline.
Katherine felt all the sensations she’d felt in her human body as they groped on the ground, playing with all the urgency she’d felt during their previous tussles.
When she could finally take no more play, she bit deep into his shoulder. His eyes previously filled with heat and laughter, now lost the laughter. He trembled and bit her back.
The pain and pleasure that coursed through her body turned the ache that had been building in her chest into a ferocious storm of animalistic need. She wanted hands to grasp him with and a mouth to press to his.
The change was painless, or the pain didn’t register. She didn’t stop to let it happen but rather threw herself into Quinn’s embrace. She didn’t want to be separated from his body, whichever form it took, for even a second.
Her bones shifted as they rolled together, consumed with passion, and she felt her face become human even as the rest of her worked overtime to catch up.
His change was occurring simultaneously but not as quickly as hers. Her mouth searched for his and found only fur and canines, her hands pulled his still lupine body closer. Her claws scored his back and his teeth drew small traces of blood along her neck as he tried to get closer to her, be one with her.
The feel of fur and sinew was replaced with hot skin and gripping fingers and Katherine finally found the mouth she had been looking for.
“Finally!” The word burst from Quinn’s lips, voicing the urgent thought that still filled both their minds.
In between biting and licking Quinn’s naked chest, Katherine growled her approval and kept moving lower. Quinn moved his fingers into her hair and grasped hard, g
etting a gasp of pleasured pain from her, and then pulled her slowly upwards until she lay completely on top of him.
Their bodies moved in synchronization, hers rising in time with his heavy breathing. The fog generated by their body heat and the cold of the night brushed around them, cutting them off from the world around.
Katherine’s mind quieted as she stared into Quinn’s eyes in wonder. He was looking at her with moist eyes that seemed to radiate love and awe for her entire being. A rush of emotion surged through her, washing over her body like a tidal wave. The pain of Maxwell’s death floated away along with any other negative emotion and thought she had ever had, leaving her with a feeling of purity she’d never known before.
His mind touched hers, soft as velvet, and she felt as much as heard him whisper, “I will love you forever,” as he moved his body to fill hers in one swift motion that had her gasping and clinging to his arms. She closed her eyes and hung onto him as he rolled until he was on top of her, still inside of her, moving to a rhythm as old as time itself. It was all she could do to hold on as the waves of pleasure took her to a place that she had never gone with anyone else.