Marked in Flesh

by Anne Bishop

  “Tess said something like that.” Actually Tess had said if humans didn’t want to eat what was offered in the Courtyard they could feast on their stubbornness and starve.

  Twyla gave Meg’s hand a little pat. “Don’t you let everybody else’s wants get you flustered. Whether it has two legs or four, just because a pup yaps at you doesn’t mean you have to pay it any mind. Now, I’ll let you get back to your work while I put a bit of shine to the back room.”

  Listening to Twyla singing in the back room, Meg put aside the binder and the lists. Yes, she felt flustered, but it wasn’t really about the foods and merchandise people wanted. Worrying about things like cereal was a way to avoid the question that had been in her thoughts ever since she pulled that “romance” card from the drawer.

  How much human did she want? In many ways, she counted on Simon not thinking like a human, not acting like a human. She trusted him because he wasn’t human. Could she count on him not slipping too far into being human if she wanted to explore just a little bit, just enough to see if romance might provide a different kind of euphoria?

  She frittered away the afternoon, signing for a couple of deliveries, but mostly shuffling the lists without doing anything with them.

  Just how human could Simon be without giving up what he was? Was there a way to find an answer without either of them getting hurt?

  Nathan had left for the day, and she was closing up the office when Simon walked in, looking hot and ready to bite.

  “I want to go swimming tonight,” Meg said, not sure if she was making a suggestion or issuing a challenge.

  “With the female pack?”

  Understandable assumption. The female pack would need permission to go to the swimming hole in the Corvine part of the Courtyard. “No, with you. Just us. Not even Sam.”

  Simon cocked his head. “Not with Sam? Why?”

  She swallowed hard. “I want to try skinny-dipping.”

  He was so still, she wasn’t sure he was even breathing.

  “That’s swimming without clothes,” he finally said.

  “Yes.”

  “Both of us swimming without clothes. In human form.”

  “Yes. But . . . that’s as much as I want to try.”

  “After dark?”

  She couldn’t imagine doing it when she could be seen. “Yes.”

  Simon scratched behind one ear. “All right. Are we going home now?”

  He didn’t sound angry or upset that she didn’t want to do more. He sounded . . . baffled.

  They finished closing up the office and loaded the BOW with her carry sack and whatever he was bringing back to the apartments. As they drove away, it occurred to her that she was just as relieved to leave the humans behind as he was.

  • • •

  “Meg wants to go skinny-dipping?”

  That Vlad sounded as baffled as he felt made Simon feel better. At least he wasn’t the only one who was confused. “That’s what she said. With me. After dark. With both of us in human form.”

  “None of us wear clothes when we play in the water unless we’re giving the clothes a quick rinse without removing them.”

  “I know that. But this is important to Meg. I just don’t know why.” Simon growled in frustration. She’d been upset the last time she saw him as a naked human. Why was this time different?

  Vlad took a restless turn around Simon’s living room. “I read a couple of those kissy books before I sent them on to Prairie Gold.”

  “Really? Why?”

  Vlad shrugged.

  “Did the books mention skinny-dipping?” Simon thought for a moment. “Do you think Meg read those books?”

  “Don’t know, but I’m wondering if this is a step in human courtship, another kind of play before the female is ready to mate.”

  “Ruthie and Kowalski weren’t skinny-dipping in the winter before they mated,” Simon argued.

  “But showering together is considered pre-mating play.”

  Simon threw himself on the sofa. “This isn’t helping.”

  Vlad sat beside him. “How much human is the terra indigene going to keep?” He paused, then added quietly, “How much human are you going to absorb?”

  The possibility of losing the Wolf, the essential part of his nature, scared him. But Meg didn’t want, didn’t trust, a male who was a human human. She needed him to retain the Wolf.

  What did the Elders need and want from the Others living in the Lakeside Courtyard? There hadn’t been a new form of terra indigene in a very long time.

  He wasn’t ready to shoulder the weight of that possibility. And Meg certainly wasn’t ready. But play would be good.

  “Are you going to tell Meg that the Elders are curious enough about the howling not-Wolf that they’re going to return to the Courtyard?” Vlad asked.

  “No. I think the skinny-dipping will be enough excitement for one night.”

  • • •

  They drove to the swimming hole. Since Vlad hadn’t been much help, Simon had considered asking one of the human pack about human courtship, but he decided against it. Meg was no more knowledgeable than he, so this was just another thing they would figure out together.

  Her mood had changed as the sun went down. She seemed small and timid, as if she had already used up her allotment of courage for the day.

  “We don’t have to do the skinny-dipping thing,” he said, trying to understand her mood. “We can paddle around wearing clothes. We’ll feel just as cool.”

  “No. I want to do this.”

  You want to do this as much as I want to be stepped on by a bison. But he parked the BOW and pulled the blanket out of the back. Someone had thoughtfully set some of the solar-powered lights around the water, creating enough illumination that Meg wouldn’t be stumbling around in the dark.

  She removed her sandals, then stood at the edge of the swimming hole, looking so unhappy.

  He wondered how to back out of this adventure when Meg suddenly pulled off her clothes and jumped into the water. She went under, then surfaced, squeaking from the shock of water so much cooler than the air.

  He stripped off his clothes and jumped in. Yes, the water shocked the human form more than it did the Wolf, but only for a moment.

  “You okay, Meg?”

  She paddled to the edge and grabbed handfuls of grass to anchor herself, her legs rising to float behind her. “I’m okay.” She floated for a minute before saying softly, “I’m okay.”

  He joined her at the edge. “The water feels good after a sticky day.”

  She nodded.

  Fragile, complicated Meg. What did she want him to do?

  She turned her head away from him just enough for light to shine on the new scar along the right side of her jaw. Winter or summer, she wouldn’t be able to hide that one. And he wouldn’t forget why she’d made that cut.

  He gently kissed that scar and felt something changing inside him—just a flutter of change, there and gone, but leaving its mark.

  She looked at him, her eyes wide with uncertainty. If he kissed her again, she would flee like a bunny.

  So he licked her nose and made her laugh before he lunged for the center of the pool, making as big a splash as he could. A moment later, she leaped on top of him with a joyful yelp that was cut off when they both went under. Sputtering, he pulled her to the surface.

  For several minutes they splashed around, their bodies brushing and bumping like two Wolves at play. Then they climbed out and collapsed on the blanket—she on her back and he stretched out on his belly.

  He looked at her and grinned. She looked at him and laughed.

  Simon listened while Meg’s breathing quieted as she drifted closer to sleep. Propped up on his forearms, he watched her for a moment before he shifted to Wolf and eased closer to her, letting out a happy sigh when she buried her fingers in his fur.

  How much human was left in Thaisia? How much would the terra indigene keep? He didn’t have answers, but he and Meg would figur
e out a way to look after their pack, and they would be all right.

  Simon gave her shoulder a couple of licks. Sleepy now, he laid his head on his paws, still aware of Meg’s fingers in his fur.

  Yes, they would be all right.

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