In Her Eyes

by Jeanette Lynn

  You have to appreciate that about him.

  He makes a joke out of a situation or feigns unconcern to make all parties more at ease about it.

  However, I would guess, William, at the same time, could also be the one pushing people’s buttons, in a good natured way of course, like a ribbing, escalating things if he wished.

  I like William, I decided, and winked back, causing him to laugh again.

  I don't know why my grumpy Cyclops didn't want me to meet him, but he seems like he'd be a lot of fun to have around.

  "I didn't know that, Will. How come you never told me?" Ben asked, once he‘d recovered.

  He looked a little hurt that he had been left out of the loop.

  "It never came up." William shrugged and then clapped his hands, rubbing them together vigorously.

  He made his way to the kitchen and tossed over his shoulder, "I know you too would rather be humping like bunnies... but I'm hungry. So, feed me and I'll leave you two to your own devices, deal?"

  He went straight to the cupboards and started rifling through them, dismissing our previous conversation in search of nourishment.

  A bewildered Ben was still trying to digest what William had just confessed and I was going to say something to him about it when I noticed Ben's robe on the opposite side of the island counter on the floor.

  My eyes almost bugged out of my head.

  The white stained hand towel from last night was sitting on top of the robe and I elbowed Ben frantically, motioning discreetly to the items on the floor.

  He nodded and went over to them without a word, balling the towel up in the robe and leaving the room quickly to put them in the laundry.

  William hadn't turned around yet and I breathed a sigh of relief.

  There was a knock at the door, out of nowhere, and I glanced around.

  Are we expecting somebody?

  The knock came again, so I went to answer it.

  I opened it and there was a woman standing on the front porch.

  A very pregnant woman, with thick black hair that went down past her waist and big green eyes.

  She smiled friendly at me and I just stood there in my borrowed, oversized outfit, waiting to see what it was she wanted.

  "Hello," she greeted, holding out her hand. "I'm Katarina Lupenstein, your neighbor. I was close by and thought I'd drop in to say hi."

  She grinned at me as I shook her hand.

  She glanced around, trying to surreptitiously peek around me, waiting me out, it felt like.

  What does she want? I wondered. And why isn’t she just saying it?

  After that, we just stood there for a minute of solid awkwardness, just smiling at each other, neither one saying anything.

  Okay…

  "Uhm... won't you come in?" I said after a moment, motioning for her to come on in, figuring that's what she wanted in the first place.

  “Thank you,” she said congenially, beaming at me.

  She is totally up to something, I thought as she eagerly waddled inside, excitement and anticipation dancing across her face, wearing the cutest maternity outfit I had ever seen.

  I wonder if she's different somehow like William and Ben…

  I studied her, looking for any outward signs of something, anything different about her.

  Hmmm...

  How can you even tell?

  It's not like they run around wearing a sign around their neck stating what they are.

  She looks Human to me, I thought, taking her measure. But there's an eerie quality to her that gives me pause, telling me I'm not quite accurate in my assumption.

  Katarina looked around the room, searching for something, I guess, and sighed contentedly when she saw William's back.

  Ahhh...

  Guess she was looking for someone, not something.

  "Well, hello there, William, fancy meeting you here!" Katarina tittered excitedly, waddling over to William, smiling at him sweetly.

  A little too sweetly, if you asked me.

  I wonder if she's his girlfriend.... or ex-girlfriend.

  Definitely not his wife, though, pretty sure she had a different last name.... Loopy something or other.

  I sure hope she's not loopy… I thought a little distractedly and grimaced.

  William swung around, his mouth full of chips.

  He choked a little when he saw Katarina, but recovered quickly and chewed hurriedly, then swallowed.

  "Katarina! What are you doing here?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

  "I didn't know I needed your permission to visit my neighbor," Katarina sniffed at him.

  "You followed me, didn't you?" he questioned gently, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

  "Well, you wouldn't tell me anything," she huffed a little, rolling her eyes. "And I just wanted to see..." she said sheepishly.

  "See what? You just wanted to see what?" He frowned, confused now.

  "I just wanted to meet your new lady friend," she said happily, gesturing at me.

  "You're so secretive sometimes, I just assumed it was a lady friend," she explained and smiled at me, a triumphant look on her face.

  "See! I was right. I told Alfred you had a lady love, but he wouldn't listen to me. I knew it! I just knew it!" she squealed happily and William gaped at her.

  "Oh, I'm not..." I started, but she steam rolled me.

  "I'm sooo happy for you, William! I just knew you'd find a special someone, someday! And she's so pretty!" she gushed.

  I turned beet red and tried to stop my mouth from gaping like a fish's.

  Pretty, huh?

  I'm wearing clothes too many sizes to count too big on me and I look like a hot mess.

  Hate to see what she thinks is ugly...

  "I'm so sorry! How rude of me, I didn't even get your name." She gave me a winning smile, turning all of her attention on me now.

  "Erm, Penelope," I said awkwardly as the gleam in her eyes turned calculating. "Penelope, uhm..."

  "Ochulles," Ben cut in, coming into the room, pulling me into his side, his arm wrapping proprietarily around me, his hand coming up to curve just under my breast.

  "My wife," he said possessively.

  I squealed happily on the inside at him claiming me.

  I'm his, he says.

  I pictured myself mentally high five-ing myself.

  Whoo hoo! Baby, you tell her!

  Claim me, honey!

  It made my insides sing and I wrapped my arm around his waist, resting my head on the side of his thick chest.

  "Oh," Katarina said after a moment and I almost laughed at the disappointed look on her face, how tiny her voice had gotten.

  Her little balloon of happiness had deflated.

  Looks like William's friend was trying to find him a lady friend.

  Does he have trouble in that department?

  I glanced at him.

  He looks so embarrassed.

  Is it because of the misunderstanding?

  Or is there some truth to what she's saying?

  Poor guy... and he seems so nice too.

  It's a shame.

  "The pregnancy hormones have made you nutty, Katarina, my sweet," William spluttered, exasperated, but I could see the amusement gleaming in his eyes as he regarded her.

  So maybe it’s the latter and he has lady troubles.

  I could get why she'd want her friend to be happy.

  "She's not your... and you two aren't...Oh, dear," Katarina sighed heavily and it looked like she was going to cry.

  Oh, boy, I thought and hurried to grab her a tissue.

  I handed it to her right as the tears started to fall.

  "Thank you," she sniffled, dabbing at her eyes.

  I guided her gently and brought her around to the couch to sit down.

  "I don't know why I'm so weepy!" she cried, hiccupping a little.

  I rubbed her back and kept up the tissue train.

  Poor woman's a hormonal mess and she looks like she's about to pop!


  I wonder how far along she is?

  The doorbell rang and I raised my brows at Ben.

  "Expecting company, husband?" I asked him curiously.

  "Hell no," Ben said emphatically, a scowl on his face.

  I motioned at him, but he didn't move.

  "Ben," I said impatiently, making him smile.

  "Yes, sweet wife?" he asked, playing dumb, ignoring the second chime.

  I laughed at his carefully neutral expression.

  "Go answer the door."

  He sighed heavily and trudged off to go answer it.

  He didn't seem happy at the idea.

  "I haven't had this much company in years," Ben muttered and I tried not to grin.

  Bennard

  I opened the door and found a man with glasses and black hair on my doorstep.

  He had luminous green eyes that gave away his status as a creature of Mordenne.

  If I had to guess...

  I sniffed the air.

  Hmm... something plant like.

  Cyclops' noses are not as advanced as other creatures are. Better than a Human's sense of smell, that's for sure, but we have a hard time distinguishing creatures by just smell alone.

  "What do you want?" I grumbled and stepped towards him menacingly.

  He put his hands up and chuckled.

  "Whoa there, big fella, just helping my friend find his pregnant mate. He came home and she was gone. Now he's freaking out... so, here I am. Tada!" he said and made jazz hands for a minute.

  I'm guessing it was his attempt at humor, but it just looked... sad.

  I glared at him, hoping this wasn't some odd plant thing...

  Yep, I decided as he stopped and coughed a little, then shuffled from foot to foot awkwardly, his hands shoved into his pockets...plant people are weird.

  "Benny Boy, who's at the door?" Penelope asked curiously.

  "Someone for the pregnant lady," I called back, still standing in front of him, glaring at him.

  I think I make him nervous.

  I chuckled inwardly.

  This is kinda fun.

  Penelope poked her head around me and looked at the man on the doorstep.

  "Hello, I'm Penelope," she greeted the stranger and gave him one of her dimpled smiles, holding out her hand for him to shake.

  I took her hand in mine, before he could shake hers, and narrowed my eye to a slit.

  "She's my wife. You gonna collect the 'watering pot' and leave?" I asked curtly, bluntly, hopefully, hitching a thumb behind me in the pregnant lady's direction.

  "Ben!" Penelope gasped, elbowing me in the ribs. "Just ignore him, he hasn't eaten yet, makes him testy" she rushed to assure him, smiling sweetly.

  That's two smiles she's given him... those were my special smiles... if he wasn't here, I thought a little jealously, they could have been directed at me, not... plant boy.

  "Ben, let him in. Ben... Ben!" Penelope exclaimed, exasperated with me, whacking me in the gut.

  I laughed at her.

  She made an adorable little growling noise.

  So cute, my wife.

  I sighed as I glanced back at plant boy.

  "You can come in... I guess. But none of that weird hand waving crap, makes you look like a fruit cake, plant boy," I warned and moved out of the way.

  "Plant boy?" the stranger grumbled indignantly, walking inside.

  "Hey, Green," William greeted from his seat on the sofa, waving happily at his friend.

  "I'm a Man of the Marsh, not a plant boy," the man, Green, or whatever his name is, grumbled.

  "Sure, you're a marshmallow, whatever." I snorted and walked into the kitchen, ignoring his indignant huffing at my insult.

  These people need to go, I thought, ready to give everyone the boot.

  Penelope stopped me and pulled me into the hall.

  "What is the matter with you, caveman? You're being a terrible host!" Penelope complained.

  I glowered down at her.

  God, she looks so cute when she's in a snit.

  Her lips are all pursed and she has her hands on her hips, sassy attitude firmly in place.

  Mmmm...

  Sexy.

  "If they weren't all here taking up space in my house, I wouldn't be such a terrible host, little wife," I grumbled, unhappy with the impromptu party in my living room.

  "Those people are your friends, Benny Boy, so play nice," she clipped, poking me in the chest, eyes narrowed to slits, mouth pinched in irritation.

  "No, they aren't. Beyond William, I don't know any of them!" I huffed back, irritated at the whole situation.

  She made a little growling, frustrated noise in the back of her throat, but I could tell she wasn't really mad at me, not really.

  "This isn't how I'd planned on spending my morning," I muttered grumpily.

  She looked at me curiously and raised a brow in inquiry.

  I shifted restlessly and muttered a few choice things under my breath.

  A small smile tilted her pretty pink lips.

  "How did you plan on spending your morning?"

  I glanced around, just to double check we were alone, and pulled her up, lifting her and pushing her against the wall, pressing our bodies together intimately.

  "Like this," I growled quietly and kissed her, our lips meeting eagerly as we grabbed at each other simultaneously.

  She gasped as I grabbed a handful of her ass and squeezed.

  "This, little wife, this is what I planned on doing this morning, and I had planned on being inside of you for most of it," I murmured huskily and thrust myself against her.

  She gripped my shirt, pulling at it, sliding her hands underneath it, rubbing her hands all over me.

  I groaned and sucked her tongue into my mouth as she moved her hot little hands lower, undoing the top button of my jeans.

  There was the sound of a vehicle pulling up, the screeching of tires as it stopped suddenly and then the slam of a door.

  Reality set in and I set her down, reluctantly, both of us panting to catch our breath.

  "Did you hear that?" Penelope asked, hands still half way down my pants.

  I looked at her, surprised.

  My house is well insulated and I didn't think Humans had that good of hearing, especially over the racket coming from the living room, but what do I know.

  "You heard all of that?" I asked, righting my clothes, giving her a quick once over too before we went to the living room together.

  We'd made it back into the fray just as the front door banged open.

  "Where the hell is my woman!" yelled a deranged Werewolf from the front door.

  He looked very pissed off, his body twitching as he fought his change, snarl firmly in place.

  His hands had claws protruding from his fingertips and his eyes looked wild and glowing.

  He was getting ready to shift any second now.

  The Werewolf started to stalk towards Katarina, who seemed completely unaffected by this, wiping the tears from her eyes quickly, but Penelope, my sweet Penelope, jumped in front of Katarina, as if to protect her.

  The Werewolf growled at my little Penny and snarled.

  "Move out of my way. My Mate. Mine."

  She stood her ground, her pretty grey eyes round as saucers beneath her glasses.

  He growled again, then leaned over her and I saw red.

  I stalked towards him, eating up the space with my quick, purposeful stride and picked him up by his neck.

  "Nobody growls at my wife, but me!!!! Got it, dog?!!!!" I boomed out, my voice a loud bellow that carried, rattling all the windows on the house.

  It was deafeningly quiet in the room as I finished and I glanced over at a wide eyed Penny.

  "Are you okay, little wife?" I asked, concerned for my sweet Human wife.

  She nodded her head reassuringly and Katarina tugged at her, then whispered something to her worriedly.

  Penelope nodded at whatever it was she'd said and smiled at me.

  "It’
s okay, Ben," she coaxed gently. "I think it’s okay to put him down now, don't you think?" Her voice was calming, cajoling.

  Some of my tension left me as she walked over to me, hand smoothing down my arm soothingly.

  I glanced at the Werewolf in my grip.

  He was turning purple and grunting at me. He looked completely normal now though.

  I let go of him and he dropped onto the floor with a jarring thud.

  "Ben!" Penelope yelled at me.

  "What? You said to put him down," I said reasonably, an innocent expression on my face.

  She pursed her lips and stared me down.

  "You didn't say how," I muttered under my breath and went over to the couch to sit down, pulling her onto my lap, wrapping my arms around her protectively.

  The Werewolf coughed and sputtered, trying to catch his breath from his sprawl on the floor.

  William smiled gleefully at him.

  "Alfred, Bennard. Bennard, Alfred," William introduced, chuckling at Alfred.

  Alfred glared daggers at William.

  "Some friends you all are," the wolf grumbled, glaring at Green and William, a hint of an accent as he spoke.

  He smoothed his hand down his shoulder length, reddish blonde hair. His deep blue eyes stared at Plant boy and William accusingly.

  William just smiled, truly entertained.

  "Freaking Billy Goat, thinks this is sooo funny. A regular damned comedian," Alfred muttered, eyeing William balefully, then looked to the plant guy and raised an eyebrow at him.

  "Hey, don't look at me. The dude's a Cyclops and he's a big bastard. I'm not touching that, if I don't have to. Don't look so glum, Alfie... I'm sure your little Witch would have stepped in, if need be. Used some of her mojo for you," Plant boy or Green- whatever- said seriously from his perch on the arm of one of the couches.

  "And you, my little Kitty Kat, why didn't you blast him with some of your Air, sugar? Something..." he grumbled, waving his hands around in the air in her direction.

  She watched her mate patiently, waiting until he was done.

  "He was choking me, darlin'," the wolf complained, mock glaring at his pregnant mate.

  I could tell he didn't really mean it, no real heat behind it, and I think he was pleased she hadn't interfered.

  Air... hhhmmm... I sniffed the air a little.

  She smelled like her mate.

  You know, a hint of dog and a tad something else, something hard to identify...