Object of My Affection
Page 20
“What are you saying exactly?” Kat asked.
“Charles Xander has not been a werewolf for very long.”
“And?”
“And he’s either a fast learner....”
“Or?”
“Or he was faking it.”
“That’s it!” Kat yelled, pointing at Marco. “He doesn’t get to talk anymore.” She looked at me and her eyes were wide.
“Lilith, please tell me what the hell is going on.”
I did my best to explain what I knew. Once Kat had calmed down a little Marco asked, “When did you meet him?”
“He came in the shop looking for some picture frames.”
“After he’d seen the pictures of Lilith in the window?”
“Yes. Son of a bitch. He came in because of you,” she said to me.
“I’m sorry,” I replied.
“Don’t be. I’ll deal with his ass,” she snarled.
“Maybe we should all have a word with him,” Marco suggested.
Kat stormed outside to get Charles and Marco turned to me. “Could you help me please? I’m dying of thirst.”
I decided that a glass was too small and filled a large vase with water instead.
“So, how long did it take for you to be able to control the beast?” I asked.
“Are you asking how long it took for me to gain the level of control needed to become alpha, or how long it took before I didn’t transform during sex?”
“Both.”
“Most will never have the level of control that I possess, in either area,” he added the last with a wink and it looked odd to see Marco’s facial expressions on a werewolf.
“But you partially transformed that night in the tub.”
“You truly have no idea what your presence does to my control,” he growled seductively.
I held out the vase. While Marco lapped at the water I said, “I don’t mind helping you, but why not just change back?”
“Because it takes a lot of energy and the night is young.
Once I change, I try to stay in wolf form for at least a few hours. I’ll change back somewhere in the woods before I leave.”
“That makes sense.” I sighed. “Want some more water?”
“Yes,” he panted.
There we stood, Little Red Riding Hood holding a large decorative vase for The Big Bad Wolf to drink. We were standing like this when Kathryn came back with Charles. He cringed at the sight of Marco and hit the floor, abasing himself in the wolf king’s presence. I’d never seen anything like it. I also wasn’t used to seeing how other people reacted to Marco. I began to understand what he had meant when Marco suggested I was allowed to take many liberties with my treatment of him that others did not enjoy. Charles’ reaction said clearly that we were in the presence of a king.
Marco didn’t really have to ask for an explanation. Charles rolled his eyes upward from where he crouched on the floor and took one good look at Marco. He spilled the whole story.
He had come into the shop and asked Kat out in order to spy on me for Bade. However, when Bade gave up on obtaining a sample of my blood, Charles stuck around. He insisted that he cared for Kat and that’s why he had stayed. Charles also insisted that no harm had been done. But from the look on Kathryn’s face I knew that wasn’t true. At the end of his lengthy explanation Kat said to Charles quietly, “I think you should go.”
He looked to Marco and when the king did not object, he backed out of the room, still abasing himself.
“You feel like company?” I asked Kat.
She just stood there for a moment, clearly still in shock.
“Would you like us to stay for a while?” Marco asked gently.
She nodded, but seemed incapable of speech for the time being. Kat sat back down while I fixed her a drink, looking numb. Marco propped against the door frame that opened into the living room, looking like the most unusual bodyguard I’d ever seen. The party went on outside without us. Most everyone had been there before and would disperse on their own near dawn. Marco excused himself after hearing that Kathryn hadn’t eaten yet and returned with a large vegetable tray and some sandwiches.
Kat had started to talk a little now, but still remained strangely non vocal about what had just happened. The mood was finally lifted when I helped Marco get a bite to eat. He was trying not to make an animal of himself, but could not grip the veggies or the sandwiches with his large clawed hands. Those hands were meant for destruction, not parties that provided finger food.
“Let me help you,” I offered with a smile.
“You don’t mind?” he rumbled, sounding like he never would have asked.
“No,” I answered as I took a seat on the living room floor beside him.
I really didn’t mind. While Kat got up to fix herself another drink, I ran a large chunk of broccoli through some ranch dressing and dangled it above Marco’s mouth like a treat. I almost withdrew the offer as he opened his mouth, giving me a really good look at his long, sharp teeth. He took the broccoli from my fingers hesitantly.
“My, what big teeth you have,” I gasped, trying to make light of the situation.
“Careful, Red. Surely you know the next line?”
I did know the next line and, for a moment, I forgot that there was a werewolf sitting beside me. Just for a minute, it was only Marco, and I wanted nothing more than to hear him threaten to eat me.
“How about some meat?” he asked.
“What?”
“Meat, I am a carnivore, you know?”
I blushed dark enough to match my crimson cape. It was obvious where my mind had been and Marco laughed at my embarrassment.
“Get your mind out of my pants, Red. I’m hungry.”
I heard laughter from the direction of the kitchen and turned to see Kat standing in the door. “Thanks for staying guys. You really didn’t have to, but I have to admit I’m enjoying the show.”
She put her drink on the coffee table in front of me and walked toward the back door, “Actually,” she began, “I’ve got something you might find more satisfying than picking the meat out of those sandwiches.”
We both watched as she stepped outside, and I turned to Marco, “Thank you.”
“For what? Not eating you?” he teased.
“For staying. She’s my friend. You didn’t have to.”
He placed one large hand against my cheek, gently cradling my face with his long fingers. “You don’t owe me thanks. I wanted to stay. I care what happens to you, Red, and I care what happens to your friends.” He sighed.
“Besides, I can’t help but feel that what happened with Charles is somehow my fault.”
“What? How can you say that? He’s a grown man. His actions were his own.”
“But I should have paid closer attention. I knew you were a target for some of their plans. I should have realized your friends were also in danger.”
“You can’t be all things to all people, Marco, and I’m sure Kat never expected you to be her bodyguard.”
He withdrew his hand from my face, slowly so as not to scratch me, and placed it on my knee. The contact was casual, yet intimate. Being close to Marco had never seemed awkward. I thought that would have changed, especially considering it was not merely Marco who was near me, but a clearly recognizable wolfman. But his presence was the same.
The hand that gently touched my skin gave me the same feeling as if he weren’t covered in fur. And when I closed my eyes, it was not a monster’s voice I heard, it was Marco.
Before anything else could be said, Kat came back in holding what looked like more than half of a large ham. “Is this enough meat for you?” she said suggestively.
“How did I miss that?” Marco asked.
“It was behind that gaudy talking candy dish. I don’t think many people saw it.”
She sat the platter with the ham on the coffee table and scooted it toward Marco. “Here,” she said. “I owe you something for the show I got to see tonight.”
“I’m not talking about how much fun it is to watch you two try and resist each other. I’m talking about how Charles reacted to you.”
Marco and I exchanged a look. We were both hesitant to comment, but Kat continued.
“I enjoyed seeing that lying bastard eat the floor.”
“It’s good to be the king.” Marco half grinned and I smacked his arm.
Kat however, burst out laughing and seemed to genuinely feel better. Marco still had reservations about tearing into the ham in front of us, so I fed it to him in strips while Kat launched in to a surprisingly entertaining rant about how much of a bastard Charles was.
I think it did her good to just talk without having to worry about being judged. In the middle of this display, she began to strip her costume. As she walked down the hall she yelled, “You want to borrow some pjs, Lil? That corset can’t be comfortable.”
She was right, it wasn’t and since it looked like we’d be staying much longer, I accepted her offer.
“Can I watch?” Marco asked as I got up to follow Kat.
I just smiled, but he was only teasing. Marco clearly wanted to finish the ham while we were gone. As it turned out, Kat still had a pair of my pajamas in her closet where I’d spent the night with her after her last horrendous breakup.
She’d called me crying and I came running, equipped with a good bottle of wine and a shoulder to cry on. She changed into a pair of hot pink pajamas with matching fuzzy slippers while I put on the red silk ensemble I had left behind from the last ‘lying bastard’ incident.
As I walked back up the hall, I was painfully reminded of the last time I had worn red silk pajamas. They had been Marco’s. Kat had gone to the bathroom, leaving me alone with him again. When I walked back into the living room, he’d already cleaned up.
“Would you help me wash my hands?” he asked.
We went into the kitchen and I turned on the water after putting some soap in Marco’s palm. I looked up and caught him smiling down at me. Even with the wolf face, he was clearly thinking wicked thoughts.
“I’d forgotten how good you look in red silk pajamas,” he said softly.
“Marco,” I sighed.
“I’m sorry, Red. But you have no idea how much I’ve thought about you, how many times I lay awake staring at the phone hoping you would come to your senses and call me.”
“Don’t, Marco. Please, don’t. I can’t take it.”
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “Looking at you here tonight, it isn’t hard to imagine that just for a moment ... you’re mine.
Maybe the beast is just getting the better of me.”
“We should stop this line of thinking, before it gets the better of me.“
He raised one eyebrow and I clarified, “Don’t misunderstand. I have no desire to have sex with a wolfman.
But once you change back, if we’re still toying with these thoughts....”
“Yes?” he prompted.
“Marco, I don’t want to do something I’ll regret.”
“And I would prefer to wait until sleeping with me is not something you would add to your list of regrets.”
After our conversation, Marco and I had decided to stay with Kat the rest of the night. Once we were both fairly certain she would be alright, though, we decided to leave.
Marco went to find Luther and I went to find my car. I had just opened the door when he called over the tops of the other vehicles, “Red?”
“Yes?”
“If you ever feel like shoe shopping, give me a call.”
I smiled at him and got in my car. As I drove past, I waved goodnight to The Big Bad Wolf, Goldilocks, and one of The Three Bears.
“Turn on your radio,” Luther yelled.
I flipped the switch to my favorite local station. They were having an all request Halloween party. When I reached the end of the driveway, the smooth voiced DJ announced, “This one goes out to Red from Marco. He says, at least he didn’t wear a sheep suit.”
I started my drive home to the sound of Hey there Little Red Riding Hood. I couldn’t help laughing.
Epilogue
After that night Kat said Charles had wanted to stay together, but she broke things off. She said she wasn’t in love with Charles, but had really liked him. She was disappointed, but Kat said she just couldn’t be with a man she couldn’t trust.
Richard had been a bit distant since the incident with Mallory, but he seemed fine otherwise. It would most likely just take some time for him to be able to deal with everything he had seen. There had been no further trace of Dr. Bill Williams, but last I heard Bade was still looking for him.
As for me, I was in a daze after seeing Marco again. Once that wore off, I felt positively shaken. All of my emotions had been mixed together, and I fought for perspective. It was like driving in a heavy fog with your lights on. You know there’s a road out there somewhere, but the only thing you can see is fog.
I just wanted to be loved. I wanted someone to see me for all I was and all that I might become ... and not be afraid of what they saw. I need to be touched, to be held, to be alive. I longed for a love that time and my insecurities couldn’t erase.
It looked as though I might have found what I was looking for with Alfred.
As for Marco, he said he was content to be my comfortable old shoes. We shall see if that’s enough.
—
Marco’s proposal for the enactment of the werewolf code was approved on planet Terra. Werewolves would no longer be killed on sight and were returned their legal rights. Earth followed suit.
On New Year’s Day the announcement was made on news stations all over the world. The broadcasts acknowledged the existence of the lycanthropy virus, but it was not told where this virus originated. Of course world leaders knew, but they chose to keep the existence of planet Terra from the public along with the origins of the virus.
Some places celebrated, others thought the broadcasts must be a joke. In many locations there were riots in the streets. From one extreme to the other, Alfred and I watched it on the news.
However, it was the President of the United States who finished his public address with the words that Alfred had predicted would be used, “Werewolves are real, and they are among us.”
The End
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