by C. T. Adams
“I guess I fared pretty well against your bite, Kho. But let’s see how long you can hold your breath, shall we?”
Bobby’s powerful muscles began to constrict Asri’s ribs. I could smell her panic, but she smelled different, too. To Bobby’s tongue, Asri didn’t smell like moldy lutefisk. Her scent was complex and enticing. Jasmine and sea salt, with rich humus. It smelled far too much like home for his taste. He was having a hard time concentrating.
But Asri was concentrating just fine. In a brilliant defensive move, she suddenly turned human. Her smaller body size slid easily between his coils before he could react and squeeze down. She propelled her naked, sweat-soaked form across the room like a rocket, and then stood and assumed a martial arts stance.
“I can hold my breath for over three minutes, Mbutu, just for your information.”
He also turned human in a burst of magic and laughed. “Perhaps this will be more of a challenge than either of us expected.”
Blurs of sounds, scents and movement passed by me faster than I could follow. They spun and bounced and kicked and punched. But they seemed equally matched. Soon they were both sweating freely under the heat lamps, but Bobby was actually enjoying himself, and it seemed Asri was, too.
Asri’s fatal mistake was doing a spin kick to his face. Being taller, he grabbed her leg before it connected and lifted her off the floor. She tried to recover by kicking out with the other leg, but he pushed forward and toppled her to the ground so that she was on her stomach on the thick mats.
What had never occurred to me was that Bobby might retain his fluid flexibility while human. Apparently, Asri didn’t realize it either. She was startled, and then panicked, when each of Bobby’s legs wrapped around her legs multiple times until she couldn’t move them. Then he did the same with her arms.
“Bet you didn’t know I could do this, huh?” he whispered in her ear once she was completely immobile. “It only lasts for a little while after I change. Then the bones harden. But I have plenty of time left to finish you off. Now…” he lengthened his neck and slid his mouth under her chin. “Submit!”
She shook her head, not speaking. Her heart was racing and she struggled mightily to free herself.
He bit down on her neck but then froze. The taste of her—my God! It was like nothing he’d ever experienced. He suddenly couldn’t think. He could only feel the softness of her bronze body under his, the scent of her silken black hair as it flowed over his skin. Her struggles felt amazingly erotic.
“You smell…different,” she whispered.
His body was suddenly aroused in ways he’d never felt before. “So do you.”
He stretched his neck farther and brought it around so he could look into her eyes. The reptile slits in golden pupils reminded him of women long lost to him. He couldn’t seem to help himself. He turned his face and brought his lips against hers. She opened her mouth to him and kissed him long and deep. He realized that his body was positioned over her so that if he moved even a little, he would be inside her. He desperately wanted to be inside her.
Okay, this was way more information than I needed! But I couldn’t free myself of the scent of her body, the feeling of her struggles under me. It was beyond voyeurism. It was more like an orgy and I was being forced along for the ride.
Bobby moved back from the kiss. “You realize that in both of our cultures, I could—I would be obligated—to take you, and mate with you, by right of conquest?”
Her voice was barely audible. “Yes.”
Bobby’s voice was stern. “But we are in a different time, and we are the last two of our kind. We may make our own rules. So I will tell you that I would very much like to be with you—here, now. But I will leave it up to you. Do you want me to finish? I can make you feel things that no mammal ever could. You know it.”
She closed her eyes, and Bobby could smell her fear, but the desire, the hunger was stronger.
“Nikoli would kill us both, Mbutu…”
His voice was a whisper in her ear that made her whole body shudder. “I am Robart—only for your lips. I want you badly enough to taste it, Asri Kho. I have not been with a woman so close to my own species for nearly a hundred years. I am not willing to risk your wrath if I give in to my desires. But I can smell you. I know what you want. I know what you need. Say yes, Asri.”
Her voice was close to panic. “He will kill us. I am his mistress, Robart, not just his enforcer.”
Bobby’s eyes widened, and then closed. His breath and heart both stilled for a moment. He hadn’t known. He put his lips to her neck…one last time before he let her go.
But the taste made desire tighten his body. He slowly unwound one arm from hers and placed it close to her mouth.
“Tell me you can taste me and then ignore this feeling, Asri.” He slid his sweated skin across her lips. It was as though an electric shock ran through her when she flicked her tongue from her mouth. Her heart jumped and pounded like a caged animal.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever…I…I can’t…think, Robart.”
“Nor can I. Right now, all I can do is feel.” His voice lowered even further, to a hiss that raised the hair on her neck. “Some things are worth dying for, Asri.” He put his lips to her throat, and then bit the skin lightly. She gasped and then whimpered. With a sudden movement that surprised him, she pushed backward quickly and he slipped inside her.
Their combined moan filled the room. Time stopped as they moved together. I could feel every thrust, hear her cries as he wrapped himself around her. She raised his weight until she was on her knees and then met every one of his movements until they were one body, one mind, one immense sensation.
Her cries as she climaxed hit him in the chest. I recognized the sensation, but it was new to him. He had hoped to hold out, to savor this experience, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. When she went over, so did he. He thrust hard once, filling her, but it started another orgasm in her. His mind spun in a haze of pleasure as they climaxed together over and over, and the scent of the deepest jungle filled the air.
The memory, because that’s what it had to be, fast forwarded to the bedroom. Bobby was miserable, waiting on the chair while Asri showered. She was terrified, angry with herself, and they were now late to pick me up and get to the airport. She was scrubbing with peppermint soap to try to erase the scent of their sex. He could smell it. Bobby knew he should, as well. He knew he must—for a thousand reasons, none of which made much sense to him at the moment.
He heard the water turn off and movement as she stepped out of the shower and shut the curtain. He steeled himself and walked in the bathroom to take his turn with the peppermint soap. Asri had just finished combing her hair and she turned suddenly. She didn’t notice him in the doorway. She hit him full in the chest with a grunt. The moment froze as their startled eyes met at the same moment their naked bodies did. Then the sheer power of physical need hit him once more and there was no thought, no words. He only remembered touching her waist with his hands, and then she was in his arms again. Her mouth found his. It was hot and hungry, taking his tongue inside and biting lightly. He lifted her up onto the countertop and was inside her before he could think, his arm…” “…arm, Giambrocco. LET GO OF MY ARM!”
Bobby’s voice filtered through the haze in my mind, shredding it into curled ribbons of sound and motion that fell away slowly.
I heard Lucas speak. “We’re going to have to break the fingers if we can’t bring him to, Bobby. You’re losing circulation in that hand.”
I was back in the car, which was now stopped at the edge of a park. Bobby was trying to pry open my grip, and Lucas was helping from over the seat. They were as surprised as me that it hadn’t worked so far.
I was very glad that Asri was busy holding onto whatever necklace she had under her shirt and sitting as far away from me as she could with wide eyes. She was crammed between the steering wheel and the door. Her knees were on the driver’s seat and her back was pressed against the
instrument panel. I really didn’t want to touch her—ever. I so didn’t want to see that same scene from the other side. Her eyes were wide, as though she was thinking the same thing. I would never look at those eyes the same way again, and it pissed me off. I let go of Bobby’s hand like it burned me. I knew my eyes were wide and a little panicked.
The entire car reeked of hot and sour soup. My breath was coming in short gasps anyway from the…whatever the hell it had been, but the smell didn’t help any.
“You had a vision, didn’t you, Tony?” Lucas’s voice was calm, but Bobby reared back so fast he hit his head on the car window.
I shook my head, trying to get the images out of my mind. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”
I turned my head as Asri was muttering something over and over. She was shaking her head with tiny little movements. Her eyes showed too much white.
“Dukun santet!” She said it louder this time while staring right at me. I knew an accusation when I heard it. I just didn’t know the language.
Lucas shot an angry look at her. “Stop it.” he snarled. The sound echoed through the car. Asri’s mouth closed, but the fear didn’t go away. Lucas closed his eyes briefly and when he spoke again, his voice was gentler. “He’s not a black magician, Asri. Tony is an attack victim—that’s all. His talents are probably just now becoming apparent. We already know he has second sight, so it shouldn’t be any surprise to us that he could have foresight or some other gift—should it?”
Asri stopped her muttering and released the object under her shirt. She looked at me suspiciously, but her scent was the thick antifreeze of curiosity. “So you are saying he is a seer—a mystic?”
I winced, because a lot of things suddenly made sense. I prayed that Lucas would say no. I don’t want to be some sort of freak.
Lucas sighed. “It looks like it. Sorry, Tony. I know it’s hard to accept, but you’ve had a ton of magic thrown at you in the past few days. I guess whatever latent abilities you had decided to come out all at once. Maybe psychics run in your family. Either way, I’d say you’re stuck with it.”
“Is there any way to make it stop?” I was afraid I already knew the answer, but what the hell…it couldn’t hurt to ask.
The three of them looked at me with something approaching pity, which didn’t make me feel any better. I was also starting to realize that some of what the Duchess predicted was already happening. Just frigging wonderful.
Lucas took a deep breath. “There are people that can help you control the visions. But stop them?” He shook his head. Then he looked at me very seriously, with an edge of danger as though he knew just what I was thinking. “I’m going to send someone to see you in the next few days to start your training. Don’t even think about ditching them or skipping town.”
Damn. That was just what I had been thinking.
“Try not to touch anyone until then. You could be a danger to people until you get a handle on this. Don’t worry about Sue, though. Oh, and don’t tell anyone about the subject of the vision until you talk to one of the other seers. Just know that if you saw something that is yet to happen, the future is fluid. Sometimes things happen the way you see, and sometimes they don’t. But people get weird, and there’s no need to worry them unnecessarily.” He turned and looked strongly at Bobby and Asri. “As for you two—don’t touch him for the rest of the night, and keep him protected from other people for a few days.”
“I think you can count on that,” said Bobby, who was staring at his hand. It was still a little off-color from the rest of his arm. Asri only nodded.
“But…,” said Lucas, turning around in his seat and opening the door. “We have other things to do right now. Moonlight’s burning, folks. Let’s put on the feed bag. Bobby, Asri, see if you can take down an extra deer. I need a tribute for Nikoli. We’ll put it in the trunk.”
Asri turned to him and said indignantly. “You will do no such thing! I will not have blood soaked into my carpeting. The stain would never come out.”
Again, Lucas’s voice lowered to a deep rumble and he stared at Asri through narrowed eyes. A flow of magic headed Asri’s way. It stopped right at the edge of her own aura. She couldn’t help but feel it hovering. The hairs on her visible skin raised and the whites of her eyes showed once more. “You will do what you are told. I don’t have time to argue with you. If you don’t want to help Bobby hunt, you can wait in the car until we arrive with the game. I know that your people don’t have to feed during the moon.”
Asri forced her way past her fear of both Lucas and me and held up her chin. “If you hunt—I hunt. We must be quick, though. The snake and I do have certain physical limitations in the snow.”
Oh, so now he’s the snake. Guess they had a spat sometime before they got to my place. Or maybe I imagined the whole thing. Yeah right.
Asri left our group and found an ancient pine tree with boughs that draped to the ground. She parted the branches and stepped inside to undress. Good plan. I never again wanted to see her naked. I noticed that Bobby was staring after her longingly. I almost told him to go ahead and follow, but that would reveal what I had seen. I wasn’t sure how he would handle knowing.
I had barely removed my socks and tucked them in my shoes when I heard a noise behind me. Lucas had already changed into a wolf. I was a little amazed that a four-year-old Sue had no fear of this animal. He was indeed pure white with blue eyes, but he would have towered over her. He stood to my waist.
“Were you even wearing clothes?” I held up my hand before he could respond. “No. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Let’s just get this over with. This has been a really bad day and I want it to be finished.”
He smiled, a baring of sharp white teeth and pink gums. “Don’t look so dour, Tony. It’s not the end of the world. Let’s just forget about how we got here and run under the moon for a bit.” He shook himself, and the light dusting of snow on his fur filled the air like glitter. “We both need to eat and you have to admit, it’s an amazing night.”
That was one thing I agreed with him about. I took a deep breath of clean, cold air. Arctic wind blew snow from the tree branches through my hair. I felt the moonlight slather over my skin like thick oil and smelled the trees and the animals that waited in their depths. A thrill of excitement made my neck hairs stand on end.
I shivered with anticipation and whispered, “Let’s do it.”
Lucas removed his shield with a small movement of one paw. I saw the blue-white aurora disappear from around me and then the moon ground me into the snow. My scream became a howl as fur finally erupted from my skin and magic twisted my body. I felt Sue in the back of my mind again. She was at Pamela’s house, and was laughing at a joke she was telling. The rush of magic gripped her for a moment and I could feel her shudder. A moment later, the world turned into a 50’s photograph as color faded from my sight. I shook my head.
A crashing of panicked animals in the undergrowth made my eyes focus and heart pound. I fought not to chase down whatever had fled in fear from the sound of my howl. Lucas was staring in the same direction. Without even realizing we had communicated, we both took off at a run toward the noise.
Are you hunting? Oh, Tony. It’s beautiful!
I followed Lucas across the sparkling carpet of white. Bobby and Asri headed the other direction, on separate paths, forcibly turning away from the prey we’d all heard.
With Sue seeing through my eyes, I soared across logs and skirted trees like I had with the pack. Sue was finally running with the white wolf, so many years after they’d first met, and I could feel her joy radiate through me. It made the snow sparkle brighter, made the sound of our paws racing over the snow more intense. I called out to Lucas as we passed the blackened log where I’d waited just two nights ago. “Have you hunted here before? You seem to know the way.”
He turned his head briefly so that I could hear his response. “Oh, a long time ago. It wasn’t a manicured park back then, just a small forest.”<
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I heard a scurrying sound to my left and broke off. The prey was too small for two, and I figured that Lucas was perfectly capable of finding his own dinner—protocol be damned.
A swift flash of white dove into the undergrowth and I followed. I saw that Lucas had caught his own scent and was split off in the other direction. The jackrabbit was wearing his winter coat and was nearly invisible against the snow. My nose found him anyway, and I dove straight into the brush. It darted and zigged across the landscape, but I followed effortlessly. I could have caught it with Sazi speed, but it was more fun to chase it. Sue was exhilarated even with this slow speed. I skidded and bounced off rocks and stumps, my legs barreling across the snow. When I finally caught the jackrabbit, its body was still warm from the chase, and the scent of fear, and adrenaline gripped my mind like a drug. We both struggled to suppress our human reluctance to eating raw meat that was still twitching. But once my teeth broke through the skin, there was no more thought. The smell and the taste chased away any doubts. Soon there was only a pair of ears, three feet and some various entrails left to tell the tale of the hunt. But it wasn’t enough. I was still hungry. I heard a noise and smelled another wolf to my right. I thought it was Lucas, but I couldn’t tell for sure with the scent of the prey still filling my brain. I growled and stood over my kill protectively.
When the white wolf appeared, he had another rabbit in his mouth—this one a brown cottontail. He tossed his head and the rabbit sailed in an arc to land at my feet.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“I found a nest. Go ahead and have this one, too.” I smelled black pepper in a burst. Why would he lie about that?
“After you eat, we can start to look for a deer for Nikoli. I haven’t heard the other two for some time. They’re probably eating, too.”
I hoped they were just eating. Maybe I should take my time with the rabbit. I concentrated on the taste, instead of just wolfing it down—pun intended. I couldn’t decide which one tasted better. Probably the cottontail. Sue was loathe to admit I was right. She hadn’t minded eating the jackrabbit. They’re not as cute as cottontails.
