Undying Devotion

Shannara found herself having weird dreams that night. Unsure if it was because her mind had been opened up to so many new things since she had last slept, or if she was losing her grip on reality. She couldn’t truly be living this insane existence, could she? Visions of devilish handsome men with wings enticed her to follow them. She’d been swept away into a world of wonder and things turned rather... erotic, rather quickly. Maybe she really needed to lay off the smut for a while.

She found herself short of breath as she rode herself to new heights. Body parts mingled together as she became lost in a frenzy of bodily fluids. The room was dimly lit, so couldn’t see, she didn’t want to. But she could feel it. Every touch set a new fire alight beneath her skin. She knew she was dreaming as it never felt this good, not once in her waking hours had she experienced anything like this never-ending pleasure driving her higher and higher.

She gasped as she felt arms snake around her waist from behind, hands sliding up her abdomen and cupping her breasts. Her body gently moved to the rhythm set by him. Her arms reached behind her as she ached herself into his firm build, taking ahold of his head in her hands. His head dipped to her neck where she felt the slightest twinge of pain, he’d bitten her. His tongue ran a run from her neck up to her ear making her shiver in his hold. Turning her head his red eyes stared into hers and she recognized him.

She suddenly awoke at some point in the night. She seriously wasn’t dreaming about him was she? And that type of dream of all things. She concluded it didn’t matter, it was only natural to have dreams of that sort of nature, no point dwelling on it, she’d forget it by morning anyway. Rubbing her heavy eyes that would barely open, she could see a small light emitting from under her door. Was Arion back already? She tried to reach for her phone, but couldn’t find it. Her mouth was dry, she needed some water. Lazily flinging her legs from under the sheets, she slid herself out of bed.

In her half-asleep state she didn’t even think to just get a mouthful of water from the bathroom, she had to make it all the way to the kitchen to find a glass. Giving up on her phone she fumbled her way to her door. Opening it she could no longer see the light. Licking her lips she didn’t care, she just needed that liquid to quench her thrust.

Stumbling to the kitchen she finally found what she was looking for and filled a glass with the divine fluid. Downing the drink she placed the glass to her chest and sighed. Her throat was no longer itchy and sore, relief flooding through her like a cool breeze. Returning to her room she drifted easily back into her nonsense dreams.

A light buzzing annoyingly echoed near her ear. Her alarm was going off by her head, morning had come already. Rolling onto her side she grabbed the thing and hit the stop button. She stared at it for a moment, then back at her desk where it had been lying... How had she missed it last night? It was in the same spot it had always been, odd.

Shaking it off and blaming her state of dreaminess, she proceeded to get up, shower and dress. The house was filling with the smells of freshly cooked food, she couldn’t help but smile to herself. She hadn’t bothered to put her hair back up into her usual bun yet, it could wait, her mouth was already watering in anticipation.

“Morning!” Arion’s smooth deep voice was like music to her ears.

“Careful Mr King, I might get used to you cooking for me.” She warned.

He chuckled with a smirk. “I don’t see that as a bad thing. Nothing like starting the day with a freshly cooked meal and a pleasant smiling face.”

Cocky as ever. Today’s spread appeared to be French toast with a side of bacon and mushrooms. She dug straight in, picking up a piece of the warm egg-coated bread before spinning around his form and retrieving a cup from the cabinet.

He flipped the tea towel he was holding over his shoulder as he eyed her curiously. “Sleep well did we?”

“Mmmm.” She nodded while she retrieved a tea bag from her neatly organized supplies on the counter and proceeded to boil the kettle. Though she wasn’t about to tell him why, not something he needed to know. As she finished stuffing her face with the food she asked. “Tea?”

When he didn’t answer she turned to find him with a puzzled look on his face. “What is it?”

“Someone else has been in the house.” His friendly demeanor turned stern.

Shaking her head she frowned. “What do you mean?”

Arion was swift as he pinned her against the counter, the sound of the boiling kettle behind her only adding the tension in the air as his grip was tight and slightly hurt.

“Ah! Arion, what the hell!” She tried to carefully pull her wrist from his grip, but he held her firm.

“His scent, it’s on you.” His lips lifted up into a threatening snarl.

“What the hell are you talking about!?” Her heart was pounding in her chest as he dipped his head to breathe her in.

She let out a breathless cry as he yanked her forward, spun her around and bent her forward over her counter. One hand held her arm behind her back pressing her into the counter while the other trailed down her hip over her backside.

“ARION!” She was furious now.

What the hell was he playing at, if he didn’t stop she would retaliate. His hand reached inside her back pocket to retrieve her phone and he let her go, his eyes glaring at the device.

“What the FUCK!” She spun around and slapped him hard across the face. The loud sound of the impact reached through the house.

His eyes bugled slightly as the force threw his head to the side as he let out a sharp intake of breath. He blinked at her shocked, had he never been slapped before? His hand lifted up to the light sting that remained on his cheek. “That... hurt.” He muttered.

“Good, because you hurt me as well!” She rubbed her wrist as she still felt his tight hold on her. She scowled at him. “I don’t appreciate being handled like that, ever!”

She snatched her phone back and glared at him. He responded with a growl. Standing tall she lifted her head, she was done being intimidated by him! Poking her index finger into his chest rather forcefully she snarled back. “Don’t take that tone with me!”

He backed up a few steps as she advanced, pushing him against the center counter. His eyes blinked down at her, his surprise evident.

“Words, Arion. Use your damn words! Don’t growl at me like an animal.” She placed her phone on the counter beside him as he appeared to calm down.

His gaze softened as his hand found hers, he gently stroked the already reddening lines he had caused. “I’m not used to this sort of thing.” He told her truthfully. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You said his scent, what did you mean?” Only a moment ago those hands had hurt her, now they were causing butterflies to flutter around in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t like it. She gripped his wrist and pinned it to the counter behind him stopping him.

His eyes narrowed on her and they appeared to darken as she watched the intensity in his gaze increase. “The killer.” He breathed, though it appeared his mind was now focused on something else. “The device in your pocket, that’s where it was coming from.” He explained.

The finger that she had used to poke his chest had flattened on his shirt while her other hand was occupied with keeping his roaming fingers off of her. She was standing pretty close to him, looking up at him with her stern glare. He licked his licks and she was on the verge of forgetting why she was mad at him. She could feel that his breathing had intensified and he was fighting for control. He was a dangerous man, she knew that and yet the darkness in him was alluring, inviting. She had the sudden urge to want to tame this beast. Images of last night’s dream flashed into her mind, would it be like that? She wondered.

She released him forcing herself to step back, distance was needed on her part to keep a clear head. She retrieved a now cold piece of French toast from behind him and hoisted herself up onto the counter beside the Kettle so she was sitting across from him. “That doesn’t seem possible, you were home last night, you would have sensed something right?”

He tilted his head confused. “No, I only got back just before you woke up this morning.”

“But the light last night, I saw you when I went to get a drink.” She shook her head.

He looked her dead in the eyes. “Shannara, that wasn’t me.”

She dropped her toast as her mouth fell open, her blood ran cold, it had been him. The memory of her not being able to find her phone last night set off alarm bells in her brain. He’d been here in her house, in her room, while she’d been sleeping.