The Darkness We Hide

When Michelle opened her eyes the next morning, she found Gareth’s arms still wrapped around her holding her tightly to himself. Gently she tried to extricate herself, but he woke with a start, scrambling away from her, his hand searching for a weapon.

“It’s okay,” Michelle breathed, seeing the confusion in his eyes. “It’s just me.”

“I’m sorry,” Gareth said quickly, sweat forming on his brow, his eyes coming into focus. “I forgot where I was for a second.”

“I’m going to take a shower,” Michelle breathed, not knowing what else to do.

Hurrying from the room, Michelle pulled the bathroom door closed behind her wondering if she should lock it or not. Gareth hadn’t tried to hurt her, he was a soldier, and she’d startled him. Reminding herself that he was not Richard, that he’d been nothing but kind to her, she slipped into the shower, letting the soapy hot water wash her fears down the drain.

Michelle hoped that by the time she was done Gareth would have collected himself and they could start the day over again. As she shampooed her hair, she was shocked to feel hands caressing her back.

Turning, she found Gareth standing naked in the shower with her, his hands roaming over her body.

“Are you okay?” she breathed as his fingers began to explore between her legs.

“Yes,” he replied in a husky voice as his finger found her nub, gently rubbing it, sending shivers through her body.

“Gareth,” Michelle gasped in pleasure, her hands grasping at his chest to steady herself.

He simply grinned down at her, his finger still working it’s magic on her.

Unable to articulate another word, Michelle leaned into him as he brought her to orgasm.

Seeing stars, she slumped against him, letting the water run over her shaking body.

“Oh god,” she breathed sharply as he slowly drew his hand away.

“Not quite,” he purred into her ear as he pulled her towards him.

Michelle could feel his pulsing erection against her stomach as she shuddered in the afterglow of climax.

Lifting her, as if she weighed nothing, Gareth slid her moist opening over himself, relishing the little sounds Michelle made as he moved her up and down on his shaft.

“Don’t stop,” she gasped, her teeth digging into his shoulder.

“Hadn’t planned on it,” he purred, his hands cupping her buttocks as she rode him to another mind blowing orgasm.

After their shower, Michelle collapsed back into bed, too exhausted to even think about getting dressed.

“Hey, Michelle,” Gareth called from her tiny kitchen. “How do you take your coffee?”

“Uh, two sugars and a little cream,” Michelle called back.

Sitting up, she could smell the nutty aroma of coffee being brewed.

“I think I love you,” she called from bed, laughing.

“We’re a little early for love,” Gareth commented, walking into the bedroom.

“But,” he added, offering her a steaming mug, “it’s never too early for coffee.”

“Amen,” she replied, pulling the blankets over her bare breasts.

“Want to have dinner tonight?” Gareth asked, sitting down next to her.

“I can’t,” she replied sadly, “I have to work today, in fact I’m scheduled from five o’clock tonight until closing. It’s like that for the next five days.”

“Want to have lunch instead?” he asked.

“Sounds good,” Michelle agreed.

“But what about your schedule?” she added, a thought having just occurred to her. “You’ve never told me where you work.”

“I’m not really committed to anything. One of my buddies from the Marines runs a construction company here in town. He calls me whenever he needs an extra pair of hands,” he admitted. “I’ve been concentrating on my recovery. I have my disability and some savings.”

“Oh,” Michelle replied, not sure what else to say.

“It’s not that I don’t want to have steady work,” he added quickly. “It’s just, like you saw earlier, I still have problems sometimes.”

“What is it that you like to do?” Michelle asked, searching her mind for ways to help.

“I don’t know,” Gareth replied honestly. “I haven’t given it much thought.”

“Well,” she sighed, placing her hand over his as it rested on the bed, “when you figure it out, I might be able to help. There are a couple regulars at the bar who owe me a few favors. Maybe one of them could help you find something.

“It wouldn’t be much,” she added thinking it over. “Probably just day labor or construction like you're already doing, but on a more regular basis.”

“You really are amazing,” he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek, his eyes sliding to examine the mark his beast had made.

Thankfully, he'd thought to hide the mark under a series of very generous hickies hoping that by the time they faded, his mark would be invisible to the human eye, and only visible to someone of the were community.

The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent talking about Gareth’s interests and what he thought he might enjoy doing, interrupted by energetic love making.

By the time Michelle had to leave for work they hadn’t gotten very far on Gareth’s list of jobs, but her bed had been moved back to the other side of her bedroom.