Last call

[Lovely]

May 1, 2010
2:30am


Last call had come and gone along with the last of the customers stumbling to cars or cabs and leaving a mess to be cleaned up.. typical night. Tessa had help with the bulk of the cleaning and then let the others out to go home while she finished cashing out. A glance across the parking lot reassured her that Jason was there in his car waiting for her - she was safe. She waved and pulled the door closed, making sure it latched before she went out back. She had another twenty minutes or so before she'd be done, but it was easier to count and enter the numbers without the noise of the others. When she finished, she double checked that the safe was locked, all the doors and windows too, then put the deposit in her bag and headed out front. Jason's car was still across the lot, in the darkest part - of course. He'd probably laugh at making her walk over there, because she'd be creeped out or flash the lights and rev his engine like he was going to run her over. He was such a child sometimes even though he was five years older than she was. She pushed and pulled on the door of the bar to make sure it wasn't going to pop open and then started toward the familiar car, rubbing her neck at the chill she got.. it was worse tonight than any other time and she couldn't shake the feeling, like something was out there in the darkness.

In the darkness of the lot, the driver's door sitting open might not have been noticeable at first, or the fact that the car wasn't revving like someone trying to keep it running while waiting. Jason's car idled but Jason wasn't in it and hadn't seen her come out by herself. The door had been dented, not inward, but bent as though it had attempted to close on something inside, or something had pried the door loose somehow. Beside the car were the shattered pieces of what had been Jason's phone and a pair of sunglasses that appeared to have been knocked from the sun visor that was flipped toward the window.. at night?... and bent, clearly caught on something as well. The edge of the lot where the car sat was the deepest point of shadows from where the lights did work and near a drainage ditch and a small field that the developers never developed and let grow high with weeds. Over the hum of the engine she might not have heard the rustling.

Her somewhat hurried steps brought her closer to the car and into the shadows where it sat, the first thing she noticed was the door being open and that the car was running. "Haha.. funny." She called out in a low voice, somewhat scolding him for messing around, the headlights weren't on so it wasn't until she was nearly to the car that she could see how odd the door looked and the visor was down.

A few more steps revealed that Jason wasn't sitting in the driver's seat and that the door was actually bent.. "What the...?" She whispered, taking another cautious step and looking around to see if her boyfriend was anywhere to be seen, at the same time her hand reached into her bag to pull out her phone. That was when she glanced down to notice the shattered pieces of Jason's phone. "Shit." She barely spoke the word, her fingers trembling as she tried to dial the police. She started to walk backward away from the car, then turned to run for the door of the locked bar.

[Lovely]

She turned to get away from the car but in the next step she was suddenly toe-to-toe with a very tall, very lean man who reached out to slip the phone from her hand. "I'm so sorry. I don't think you need to do that, miss," he said, sounding calm and looking as though he might be a detective, himself.

She nearly collided with the man who seemed to appear out of nowhere and her gasp was clear as her eyes widened, she tried to reach for her phone back and stammered a moment. "I think I do!"

He frowned and pulled her phone out of reach. "Hmm. Won't work out here," he said, twisting it open and snapping it apart. "No signal. I suppose you could scream.. hah, but apparently that doesn't do any good either. They've all gone home Tessa."

"Hey!" She protested as he pulled the phone out of reach but then he broke it and her cheeks flushed, her eyes showing fear and anger though more fear as he continued on with his comments. "No.." She shook her head slowly. "Ja-Jason was out here.. " It clicked that he'd called her by name though she didn't recognise him. "Who are you?"

"Was that his name?" The man looked toward the car and the field beyond it as if searching to correct her. "He tasted more like a Dave, actually. Someone much more common than a Jason. Who I am isn't important, really. Not at the moment. That's what getting to know one another is about, isn't it, Tessa? Or is it just Tess? That's far more elegant, I think."

So many things went through her mind at the things he said, did he really mean he tasted Jason!? Did he eat him or drink his blood or ugh, none of that was anything she wanted to think about. "It's Contessa, actually." Her voice was a strained whisper and she took a step back as her hands came up between them. "I don't think we should get to know one another."

"Contessa," he corrected himself, a little more impressed by it and her as he pronounced it with a french flair. He looked back to her as she stepped away. "It isn't about what you -think- anymore, Tess. It's about what you feel and what you know. Tell me. Where was I just now, hm?" He took a step toward her, questioning her as if she should have known the whole story that unfolded before she arrived. He took a deep breath and frowned again, looking around the otherwise vacant lot. "I'll tell you. You looked right at me, but because you limited yourself and your senses, you didn't know I was there. Or did you? What frightened you? What you saw... Jason's car and what had been done to it? Or, was it what you didn't see, but already knew... that he was gone and he was somewhere in that field?"

She continued to back away from the man, she had no phone to call for help and no one was close enough to hear her if she screamed, except Jason if he was alive by some miracle. Tessa didn't know much about this man but she believed with little doubt that he had killed her boyfriend. "What does it matter? It doesn't! It's not going to change a damn thing.. he's not here.. and I'm not playing your game, you psycho!" As she said the last word she swung her leg in a kick as hard as she could, aimed right for his groin.

[Lovely]

His reflexes were faster than most could imagine, bypassing her deftly flying leg and diving upward into the darkness as if his legs were made purely of springs. He appeared behind her. "You want to know what's funny? I'm completely sane. Are you?" He laughed, challenging her to prove herself if she was.

"Sane enough to know normal people can't do that." She whispered, talking to herself more than him. She didn't turn, knowing he was behind her and though she was scared, she started walking toward the bar, counting the steps in her head. One.. two..

"You won't make it. Let me guess. You run back inside, slam the door, call the police and wait under the bar with the roaches and cigarette ashes until they tell you you're safe and it's time to go home?" He could sense the pause and feel the heat rise in her torso. She was going to try to outrun him. "Go," he suggested calmly, almost whispering, giving her the green light to try.

"I believe you.. but I have to try.. only someone who isn't sane would just give up so easily." She kept walking as she answered him, then she broke into a full on run, her hand slipping into the pocket of her bag for the keys.

He shrugged, giving her credit for the remark and smiled. He was on her heels then gone again. She would hear no boots or hard bottomed shoes as he followed behind her. Did he leave? As she came to the door, she'd find him stepping out of the shadow in front of her, not at all winded and shrugging as before. "I don't think that's a very good idea."

She couldn't help the gasp as he once again appeared before her as if out of nowhere, though she had expected the entire time that he'd catch her. Her lips twitched into a smile, faint and barely there for a few seconds as her eyes sparkled. "Well.. it's not about what you -think-.. it's about what you feel." Her hand came out of her bag, the keys jingled but her fingers were wrapped around the pepper spray that was on the keychain, she pressed to dispense it as her hand came up toward his face.

His hand was just as quick as it had been with the phone, knocking her hand and the bottle upward though not before it hissed out its blinding spray. A little of it still got to him enough to sting and he snarled, unable to control the contortion of his features for the moment. His eyes flashed a fierce red in the light closer to the building and his face appeared to melt and curl. He tried to grasp her hand and smash the dispenser from her fingers.

The contortion of his face and the flare of red in his eyes was just as unbelievable and frightening as the speed in which he moved and Tessa did let out a cry in reaction to that. She tried to keep him from getting the spray from her but he was a little taller, alot stronger, and faster, the small can came loose and clattered to the ground with her keys. That didn't stop her from swinging with her free hand and kicking at him with her legs... heck she'd even bite him if any part of him came close enough.

[Lovely]

His face was normal again in a breath and his hands moved to block and grab any strike against him. He expected her to fight and seemed to encourage her to try, though getting himself KO'ed wasn't on his agenda. He kept going as long as she tried to disable him and he began to laugh. "We'll make quite the team, Tess."

She didn't give up or slow down until he was laughing and she was breathing heavy from her efforts, his laughter is really what made her stop for a few seconds to stare at him in disbelief. "We'll what? We're not going to anything. Go screw yourself.. whatever your name is!" She went for a bite to his hand that held one of hers from her previous swings at his face.

"It's Marcus... darling," he said, gnashing his own teeth together as she tried to actually bite him! "And I warn you... I do bite back." The guttoral sound that came next was unmistakably that of the deep rumble of a dog trying to keep his bone from being taken away. The contortion was not brief this time, nor was it incomplete. The hand she bit at had become a heavy, mauling paw that released her hand and came flying out toward her as he tried to knock her back to the ground, snapping and snarling.

Her cry was sharp, shocked and the level of her fear spiked as she was knocked to the ground, her eyes wide and staring at Marcus.. whatever he was! Her arm, shoulder and cheek hurt from the fall and were likely scraped or bruised, probably both but she didn't take her eyes off him to check. "Holey shit!" The breathless exclaimation flew from her mouth as her legs tried to find some leverage and she hissed at the pain her knee, she felt the night air against the scrape and also realized she was several feet from where she thought she'd been standing.

The creature that had given her its name was clearly now in the shape of a wolf, slinking toward her with its snarling maw drooling thickly over the concrete. The snarl seemed to curl on one side and the sound like the man's taunting laugh hissed out with the steam from its nostrils. The first part would be over quickly enough. Then she'd belong to him. The process for her to understand all the steps in between, however, would take some time it appeared. She wasn't one to go down easily - all the better for her to be his mate. He moved slowly, smelling her panic and pain in the air around her and expecting the adrenaline to push her to fight even harder. He hoped so. He appreciated how warm and fast the blood flowed when they were excited.

Her heart was racing, beating hard against her chest, her breath heavy and quick, her mind raced for some way to fight off the very large wolf that was moving slowly toward her. He was stronger, he was faster, and now he had large sharp teeth and was drooling.. she couldn't outrun him. Her fingers curled against the pavement a little as she pushed herself up, she would not give up. If he wanted her, he better want her badly, she was going to give him all the fight she had. Jason's car was still idling.. could she get there? She was about to find out! A few rocks found her hand, they were littered around the lot, tracked in from cars and people walking. The rocks were flung at his face as she kicked off into a limping run toward the car.

[Lovely]

The toss of the stones was enough for him to turn his face to shield his eyes, but not slow him down. She headed toward the car and he was behind her, letting her get to it and try to get in to drive off. The door would not close since it had been bent. He could still take advantage of that before she'd put her foot on the pedal. She would feel the steam of his breath at her back this time as he followed closer.

He was playing with her, she realized as she felt the warm breath but he didn't pounce.. very similar to how he'd let her get to the bar door before showing up in front of her. "f*ck you!" She snarled herself, spinning just before she got to the car with the hope that her fist would connect with his 'face' since he was so close.

She spoke over her shoulder and the scent that carried with her tone was tremendously enticing. The outburst was enough to make him adjust just as she turned, though he was not stopping. He leapt, but forward, not up, coming directly at her this time. He was too close not to plow into her. The decision had been made and the time was now. The weight of him striking her full force or landing beneath him could possibly kill her and that was also not on his agenda.

She'd tried to spin to hit him and he leapt.. it wasn't a perfectly played out strike and Tessa cried out as she was hit, she ended up on her back, staring up at the wolf. Her breath was knocked from her and she suspected that she had a broken rib or a few, she could add more bruises and scrapes to the list of injuries. The pain and fear shone in her eyes but despite the weight of him pressing down on her and her injuries, there was still some fight in her. She didn't struggle for now, the pain keeping her still as she waited for another opprotunity.. if she'd get one.

Marcus looked down into her eyes that were widened with fear and pain. Good, he'd only knocked her wind out, though he was sure he'd heard the snap of more than one bone. Those would be harder to fix, but the scratches were easy. Pinned beneath him she could not move far. He licked at the cheek he'd cut with the first swipe of his paw. It was a test, something to show her and let her know how the pain would feel first, then the swab of relief as the healing began. The scratch was only a small test. He licked again, enticed by the taste of her skin and spurred on by the spice in her blood that was her desire to keep fighting.

She made a noise of protest at first, trying to turn her face away from the sting of his rough tongue but trying to struggle hurt her and he kept licking. The next couple of swipes felt different and she stopped squirming, better to save her strength. Pinned and not able to move much forced her to stay and notice more.. like how he wasn't growling or biting.. it almost seemed like he was trying to soothe the mark on her cheek. Maybe he just liked how she tasted and wanted to eat her slowly like some sort of meaty ice cream cone? The thought made her chuckle and that made her whimper from the pain in her ribs.. Was going a little crazy while being eaten alive really a bad thing?

[Lovely]

He licked her cheek again, teasing and toying a little as she laughed. The twinge from her rib was enough to make him stop. Ribs being broken was common enough. The scratch was sealed and already a healthy pink but he licked again, this time where there had been no scratch, further over her shoulder as far as her top allowed it. The numbing would help the surface pain, but the moment his teeth sliced into the deeper tissue, only time would soothe the ache while the transformation tuned itself to her metabolism and enhanced her natural strengths. Marc's own abilities and immunities sped the healing he provided her. He hoped she was as healthy and strong as he was to withstand the horrific burning as her very blood changed. He bit where he numbed the skin.

Once her cheek was healed and he licked over it again, it was a different sensation and she was confused by how the skin didn't feel ragged and torn and how the swab of his tongue was kind of nice. He went over her shoulder and her eyes closed, what was he doing? She felt a little.. numb in her shoulder. The sensation was short lived as he bit her and her eyes flew open. The scream that ripped from her was sharp and short, her need to fight renewed with with the pain that rippled through her. With the opposite hand she reached up to hit and claw, going for his eyes, ears, and even trying to rip at the thin flesh around his mouth. "Ahhh son-of-a.." She wasn't one who was much for cursing but a string of them came rushing out, she twisted and tried to kick, hurting herself more in doing so.

His jaw clamped harder and one paw clawed at her hand to keep her from striking too hard. He closed his eyes against the strike of her fingernails. He wasn't trying to maim her hand, or her shoulder, but trying to tell her this was right, that everything would be fine. Her struggling was making it worse. He wasn't trying to rip her apart. He let the wound take in the air and then began the closure of the wound, sealing his poisons within. She was claimed and soon she'd be deliriously ill in the throes of the transformation.

She tensed and grunted through the clamping of his jaw, feeling his paw swat her hand down, the pain and shock was enough for her hand to fall away from clawing at him. There was this strange feeling she got from the way he tried to hold her still, like he was somehow trying to say this was right.. how could it be? Her answer came when he released his grip and began to lick over and seal the wound rather than tear more or simply kill her, she still didn't understand all of what was happening but knew he didn't intend for her to die. She moaned and whimpered quietly as he tended to her, she had fight and strength left in her but didn't use it against him, she saved it to survive. Her eyes started to blink heavily and stayed closed longer with each one, the hand that had tried to claw and strike him now curled to clutch at his fur, trying to hold onto him, life, and consciousness. She lost out on the latter, her eyes no longer opening as she passed out, her chest rose and fell with breath and her voice in soft noise let him know he'd not lost her.

[Lovely]

***************


Several hours since the bite and the first enticing taste of her, Marcus was still swabbing with his tongue and nipping, but now it was his own fur he licked clean as he waited for her to wake up again. The toxins were changing her already, making her strength and stamina improve rapidly. He just needed to make her conscious self and subconscious agree that what he'd done was real and she was changed forever. He licked a paw that changed back to a hand as he transformed himself when her eyes began to flutter slightly. She'd already bitten him, scratched and kicked him impressively hard on all counts and he winced joyously as he moved with every ache to lay beside her again. His neck and chest were deeply scratched and his arms showed the prints of her fingers where she'd pushed and pressed against him to try to get him away. Her exhaustion and gloriously tainted scent were the awards of his victory and inhaled deeply.

Tessa was having the strangest dreams, some more frightening than the others but none of them were what she'd call pleasant. Her eyes began to flutter as she struggled to pull herself free of them and wake up, she moaned quietly at a number of aches she started to feel as she slipped out of dreams. She felt as though she'd been suffering from a fever, that finally broke and now she had to deal with the after effects. She finally came to enough to be aware of where she was and that not all of her dreams were dreams.. unless she was still in one. She was not in her bed or Jason's.. and that wasn't him beside her, though confused for a moment she knew who was there.. Tessa licked at her lips, the past few hours playing back through her mind in broken pieces much like her dreams.. except she now realized her dreams were memories of what had happened to her. She felt the softness of some sort of cushion beneath her and was grateful for it against the aches. She'd done this before, the waking up and figuring out where she was, knowing what happened and that was where everything usually went hazy again as she lashed out and fought with every ounce of strength she had. This time was different, she didn't launch another attack, perhaps she'd finally learned not to after what happened the other times. Marcus would know she hadn't lost her fight but chose not to use it against him right now. "Where are my clothes?" She whispered, knowing quite well that they hadn't been on her for hours and why she wasn't currently wearing anything, but she couldn't recall them actually being taken off, which left her wondering what had become of them.

He leaned up on one elbow and stroked his cleaned fingers over her arm. "In the fire, at least what's left of them," he told her smugly. They'd been stained with her blood and were torn too badly to keep. "What do you need them for?"

She glared at him for a moment, having heard the smug tone of his voice, but she didn't spit, hiss, or claw at him. Her gaze was diverted to his fingers on her arm and how that felt, how he made her feel despite how much she wanted to hate him. "I was just wondering, trying to put everything in place in my head." She explained her question, her lips turning down in a pout. "Was my favorite shirt."

"Would have been mine, too, but there's nothing left of it now. Sorry," he said, leaning closer with his apology. He chuckled at the irony of her reaction. "You're pouting over a shirt? You're worse than Azarius. I think there are bigger things you're concerned with now. How is your shoulder, hm?"

[Lovely]

He leaned closer and she could smell him, it wasn't just that she could but how strong the scent of him was and what it did to her... all of her thoughts jumbled and seemed to scatter for a moment. Something 'pulled' inside of her, like being yanked from within by some unseen force that wanted to be closer to him. Her fingers curled to the cushion and the other hand came up to push him away as her mind fought with her body and instincts which were drawn to him and his strength. "I'm trying not to think about bigger things." She managed to get something of a reply out.

He laughed and rolled to his back. His fingers danced on her arm still. "You.. are a terrible liar. You're trying to find a way to deny that you are thinking of much bigger things.. and wanting them so very badly your mouth is even watering as you think of it."

He laughed and touched her and teased her with his comments, the worst of it was that he was right. She surprised herself with the soft growl that was much like the pout over her shirt and tried to brush his fingers off her arm. "I hate you." She said weakly, not even able to convince herself that she did - though she wanted to.

He laughed a little harder and brought his hand back under his head and pillow, making himself comfortable while she still suffered. "Tell me, Tess. How well did you sleep, dreaming of hunting and wanting to taste the blood on your own tongue? Have you ever watched your pet sleep, knowing when he's chasing a squirrel up a tree? Your dainty little fingers twitch ever so nicely when you dream of running wild."

Her eyes narrowed and her glare was sharply focused on him. "Is that what I am.. your pet?" Her lips twitched, not quite smiling as she spat the next at him. "I wasn't dreaming of running wild.. I was dreaming of killing you in your sleep!"

He lifted his head up and frowned, looking at her and her spiteful expression. "No, you're not my 'pet' and you're nowhere near ready to even try killing me, yet. There's too much to teach you first. How is your shoulder? You didn't say."

The glare faded with his reply and she looked away from him for a few minutes, not saying anything. She hadn't really been dreaming of killing him, but told him that out of spite for what he'd said to her. The wall wasn't nearly as interesting as he was and her gaze was drawn slowly back to the 'bed' they were laying in. Tessa still tried not to look at him, watching her own hand and gently flexing her fingers, which he'd called dainty and little.. did he mean that as a compliment or was he making fun of them? "What do you care how my shoulder feels?" She finally asked him, moving her gaze from her fingers to him as she lifted her hand to feel along her shoulder where he'd bitten her. It didn't feel as raw or as deep as she thought it should, though it was still tender to the touch like a wound that had healed to a pink scar but was still sore. "You can probably see it better than I can.. so you tell me?" It seemed to burn faintly beneath the surface and she recalled feeling feverish and near delerious as that same burning flowed through her whole body only much stronger and more painfully.

"I've been admiring it for several hours already," he grinned. "It looks beautiful - nearly healed. You've taken very well to it, it seems. But I meant how does it feel to you? The pain? How quickly is the room spinning now?"

[Lovely]

He confirmed without her having to ask, it seemed, how long she'd been there with him.. at least it wasn't days and she'd lost larger chunks of time. Hours fit with the broken pieces of her memories, coming in and out of consciousness at least a few times during those hours. "It feels like I got bitten by a big wolf." She spoke with some sarcasm in her voice at first but sighed and continued more softly. "The room isn't spinning anymore. Just speaking of my shoulder and not everything else that hurts.. it's not bad.. tender when I touch it and there is this sort of faint burning tingle beneath the surface, but other than that I wouldn't even notice it."

"Good. You're already through the worst." He sat up and began to lean over her again, though he was smelling her skin, not intending to push her back beneath him. He kissed the shoulder lightly. "I want you to do something. Close your eyes and take a deep breath, then listen to the room and the cavern beyond. Can you hear them?" If the burning was slowing down, her metabolism and the rest were adjusting and keeping up, now. The changes, the definition of previously too-faint sounds would be starting to come her along with the scents she would never have noticed before. One or two of his brothers entertained privately in their own rooms while conversations continued out by the fire. He personally had to tune them out.

"The worst of what?" She asked, she didn't want to think about it, about the bigger things, there were so many things out of place in her mind. She was confused by the scents and sounds she already picked up on, ones she knew she shouldn't be hearing or smelling. What his scent did to her in a normal breath and now he wanted her to take a deep breath with him hovering so closely? "Are you trying to drive me insane?" Her voice trembled and her hands came up, clenching into her hair near her temples. "I can hear them.. men's voices.. several at least." She whispered this, almost like it was a defeat to do so. "Can they hear us?" How could they not have heard her cries when Marcus.. took her so roughly and repeatedly? "Please.. I can smell you with every breath.. you're everywhere in here.. in the mattress, in the air around me, on my skin... even down there mixed with me.. I swear I can almost taste you in every breath.. please.. I don't think I can take more.."

"You're more sane now than you've ever been. You're -aware-, Tess," he scolded softly, curling his hand around one of hers and kissing her temple behind where it had been curled. "You're ready and you're no quitter. You're curious. I can smell that on you, too. Yes, of course they could hear you clearly as I can now, almost as clearly as you hear those voices down the hall. Hone it and listen closer."

She untangled the one hand from her hair and clasped at his fingers instead, holding tight to his hand as she gazed up at him. "What did you do to me?" She asked him in that soft tone again. She tried to relax and leaned back against the mattress, keeping his hand in hers. "What am I ready for?"

"I made you ready for me," he said, watching her eyes and the panic in them. "I made you like me, ready to take on the world and rip it apart if it gets in your way. You're so worthy of that gift, I cannot begin to tell you."

[Lovely]

"Ready for you?!... ready for you! You.. you.." She gestured down below her waist to indicate what she was trying to say, what he'd done to her. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I didn't want you..?" The slight panic, fear, and anger made her voice shake as she brought her hand up to hit his arm, yet she never let go of his other hand.

"It occurred to me the moment I broke your phone," he chuckled. She didn't know the rest of the story, though, did she? "Did it ever occur to you that Jason made that choice for you? Oh, he was the monster, Tess, not me."

His reply silenced her for a couple of minutes and she pushed at him to try to get him away from her. "No.. that didn't occur to me.. I was too busy trying to get away from you and wondering if you'd killed him or if he was left in that field half dead and suffering." She stopped struggling and glared at him. "How can you say you're not a monster after what you've done to me? You even admit that you thought I might not want you.. How could Jason have made that choice for me?"

"The minute he took part in killing my pack brother, he signed his fate and yours. Take something of mine, I take something back," he said coldly. Red truly flared in his eyes as his anger was spurred to life again. "What he couldn't have known is just how luscious and exciting I would find you and that I'd want to keep you the moment I caught your scent. Then, catching sight of you... well, how could I let you go?"

Tessa was silenced again, by what he told her about Jason and what he said about himself. She saw the red flare in his eyes and his scent changed, something inside her told her that he wasn't lying about any of it and that he was still angry but she didn't think he was angry with her. "He killed your brother? I.. I'm sorry.. I had no idea.." She reached for his hands again, she hadn't wanted to know the bigger things but they were being revealed anyway and it was helping her to understand. "So.. Jason is dead?.. What did you intend for me.. before you caught my scent and saw me?" That was something she wasn't sure she wanted to know but it was better for her to understand everything.

"The last you'd have seen was the open car door and nothing else," he shrugged. He took her hands and kissed one. "Lucky for you, I'm a good judge of character... even if you did try to mace me. It takes much, oh so much more to keep me down, though," he said, suggesting a little more than just backing down from a fight.

"I was right.. that wasn't very comforting to know." His anger faded from the surface as quickly as it had come up and she was comforted to know she wasn't the only one with quickly changing moods or emotions. "So you were going to kill me because of what Jason did.. and the reason you kept me instead and spent hours.. with me, had nothing to do with him. You know I only maced you because I thought you were trying to kill me.. or.. well the stuff you did after."

"Proves you're a good judge of character, too. That's all the more reason to keep you," he grinned. "Even without the aide of the enhancements you now have, you were very quick. Stung a little, too, I'll have you know," he confided, though he knew quite well the bite he'd given stung considerably more.

"I'm glad it stung.." he'd know she was completely sincere in that comment as she reached over to take his pillow and prop it behind her own head to try to make herself more comfortable. "I have quite a few 'stings' thanks to you."

[Lovely]

He followed her to her pillow, looking down into her eyes before kissing the mark on her shoulder again and helping the healing to continue with another light drag of his tongue. "Do you? I should take care of them, then, shouldn't I? You should notice, in the time we've chatted, many are already less painful. A little help, though, is certainly in order," he said, kissing up to her neck and then licking his own arm to show her that where she'd left a hefty scratch was nearly clear and it had been mere hours.

Tessa was captivated by his stare, lost in his eyes until he moved to kiss her shoulder. She whimpered softly as he licked and kissed, her body trying to curl into the far too pleasant sensation, she didn't want to enjoy it.. she didn't want to like him.. at all. "Damn it." She murmured softly, he'd changed her and she was fighting the insticts of the animal within that wanted him badly. She reached to his shoulders to try to push him away but as she did he moved his attention on his own to his arm. Tess watched him lick the scratch and she thought about when he'd bitten her and how he'd done that to her shoulder. "You're right.. some of the aches aren't as bad now.. you said you made me like you.. so.." She shifted and curled to another mark on his chest, lightly running her tongue over it.

He sighed with delight and surprise as she took the initiative of hands-on, or lips-on training and worked her way over the marks she'd dug into his chest. His own healing had begun to seal the scratches, but she'd already learned that the magic ran deeper through her veins and through every part of her, just like in himself. He couldn't help the chuckle, "A-haaa, see she's brilliant and already passed her first lesson."

"First lessson? So what was all the.. rest.. the past several hours?" She asked him but didn't stop the attention to his marks on his chest until she'd lapped over each one a few times. She shifted back to rest against the pillow and looked up to his face, her fingers brushed over his cheek.

"Study hall," he laughed, leaning again on his arm beside her as she laid back to rest herself. "The past several hours were building on inspiration and preparing your canvas for the most amazing piece of art you are and you're only about to get better."

"I'm not sure I understand that.." She shifted her shoulder and was pleased with how it felt, that it didn't hurt her as it had earlier. "I am I going to be a big drooly psycho wolf now.. since you said you made me like you?"

"Ha! Funny girl, you are. No. You'll be a sleak and elegant creature, quick and merciless. You're too sophisticated to drool," he said, almost pouting that she saw him like that. "How crazy you are is entirely up to you. Works for some. You'll see," he snickered a little and shook his head. He could sense her relief as her arm moved more freely and he looked as pleased as she felt.

"Well, I'll tell you, I feel pretty crazy right now.. This is certainly not the night I thought I would be having.. it's probably closer to morning now." She sighed softly as her thoughts started to run off on her. "You.. said you weren't letting me go, that you were keeping me.. what does that mean? Can I go home? Will it be like it was tonight.. you know earlier.. the way you were with me?" She had questions and many discoveries yet to make, now that she wasn't fighting it all she could sense more. Smells and sounds from the others and of the caverns themselves, the slight dampness of the rocks, the rustling of her movements and Marc's as well, it seemed everything sounded so much different to her.

[Lovely]

"No, it won't always be like that. I have my moods and I'm sure you'll discover your own very soon. Hunger...takes on a whole new quality, but I think you'll enjoy it. Keeping you is just as it sounds, to have and hold, until death. Or can I make that more clear?"

It bothered her that she had enjoyed what he'd done on some level, it was the animal within her that craved the strong dominant male and responded to his forcefulness. It had been what had eventually calmed her enough to stop fighting him to where she was able to listen and voice her questions. "It's clear.. I understand. Jason took your brother from you and you took me from him.. just not quite in the way you first intended." She nodded to herself, placing the different pieces in her mind in a way that made sense to her. "What about going home.. will I be able to?"

"For a time, yes, but truthfully, this is your home now and what you're familiar with will become strange. Being closed in will wear on you and the neighbors will likely talk when you bring your fast food home on two legs. If you want to be there with your own bed, your clothes...," he sighed a little, looking over the fine woman with him. "Though it will be a shame to use those."

She pouted and looked away to the wall, curling one arm around herself to cover her as he sort of pointed out her lack of clothing at the moment. "But you were wearing clothes when I first saw you... weren't you? Why will familiar things be strange? If this is home.. can't I bring my things here? Why wouldn't I want them? Will I stop loving music.. will I be so different from who I am that I'll no longer be me? Why do I have to change so much? I don't want to.."

"Not in the slightest. You'll be a much faster, stronger, nearly immortal you. Unless you worry yourself to death," he teased her. "You can bring some things. I'll even take you home, but when the taste of the hunt hits you, you'll want to be anywhere but in those walls. I'm giving you more consideration to warn you than most here would. They all want to do everything for their mates. I want you to learn and excel on your own. A better mother to our litter, that way."

The things he was saying made sense and she started to uncurl a little and glance at him as he explained things. His last comment is what made her head snap toward him and her eyes widen, her mouth hung open in shock for a few seconds. "A what to our what??" She asked her mind reeling with the words mother and litter.

He grinned. "Lesson two - raising young. I told you you were ready, though not quite complete. Don't take any more of your little pink pills, darling," he suggested, lifting his finger to her chin to close the gap if she hadn't frozen that way.

Her mouth closed and she stared at him, she probably seemed a little pale with the thoughts running through her mind, she looked up to the ceiling and her hand lifted to brush at her hair. "What if.. if I did take them?" She asked, curious to what his answer would be but knowing she didn't even take them now.

"I suppose then I'd have to keep trying harder. After all they're not completely foolproof despite what medical science thinks it knows, right? But you smell scared... Ah, Tess, imagine it, though. Your smarts and beauty, our shared strength, reflexes any boys' basketball team would eat with a spoon?"

[Lovely]

"If I can't live in a house.. how are our kids supposed to go to school?" She countered with a half smile but he was right about her being scared. "I don't take the little pink pills.. I have some weird allergy so I never could.. Jason and I always wrapped the package.. which I'm sure you didn't bother with earlier."

"See? Smart girl. Unless you really want to wait until you're fully changed and you go into heat. Personally, I'd rather neither of us withstand the caterwauling and begging... it's nearly prostitution and you're too elegant to endure that. It's so embarrassing."

"Excuse me?"She was lost, she liked that he said she was smart but had no idea what he meant it in regard to what she'd said and then he got into catewauling, begging and the rest and she had no clue what he was talking about. "What is like prostitution? ..and what begging.. I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."

"A feverish desire to the point of demanding to be conquered and fulfilled repeatedly over several days, darling. It's beyond all reason. Though, as quickly as you're healing and responding to me, I may have to wait for that show to begin, now," he smirked, picturing in his mind her being the one to come after him as mercilessly as he'd begun with her. He sighed. "Good things to those who wait, I suppose, but I do hope you strut only for me."

She visibly paled now with the thoughts that she would act that way and not be able to stop herself.. that she'd beg for him.. She didn't want to accept her desire and attraction for him now, what would she do if she went into this feverish state he described? "How do you stop it? How do you make it so you don't go into that state? Allergy or not I'll take every little pill there is!"

"You won't," he hissed now, trying not to be angry with her. Her scent told him one thing yet her mind still fought him. "You don't stop it, not unless we conceive. Besides the pink pills are meant for normal human metabolism and won't work for you any longer. They could even kill you," he said, actually unnerved and worried that telling her such a thing might make her try to leave in that unsavory fashion. Her new-found awareness would begin to tell her that he wasn't being a brute for brute's sake, but that his emotions were in turmoil with that panic barely masked beneath the stone exterior that he might yet break her before her transformations were complete.

He hissed at her, telling her she couldn't stop this crazed fever, that she would go into it and find no relief until she concieved. Her jaw clenched against the low scream that sounded angry and frustrated, her hands flexed and clenched, she did the only thing she could, which was claw into him. "When do I get a choice in anything? When do I get to decide? It's my damn body! It's my life! I had no choice in you biting me, in you turning me into this.. this.. you took me away from everything. I didn't get a choice in you spending hours screwing me.. and now you tell me I'm going to turn into some crazed sl*t who'll beg and demand and screw anything with a prick till I concieve? I don't want to do those things.. That's not me! I was with Jason three years before we made love.. he was my first! The only man I've been with..." Her angry rambling trailed off for a moment and her voice got quiet. ".. until tonight.. until you took me.. I want to hate you and I can't.. I don't even get a choice in that.. something inside, something that's changed.. it won't let me hate you.. it wants to be right here with you.." Her voice broke at the end and she started to cry, she was angry, frustrated, confused, and a little scared of all the things she couldn't control.

Where he had been smug he was now gentle, trying to console her as her tears fell. These were the human emotions still remaining for her while the ferocious storm of new ones were beginning to form based in instincts and sensations that were still foreign to her. He scolded himself for pushing her to accept too much too soon and shushed her softly while offering his embrace. "I don't want you to hate me of course."

Tessa curled herself into the embrace he offered, whatever had changed inside her pulled her to his comfort and told her that he was the safety she needed now. She closed her eyes and rested her damp cheek against his chest, one hand near her face and over his heart, she took a deep breath and continued to take in his scent with every breath after. She was comforted and calmed as he held her though the tears continued to slip down her cheeks for a few more minutes. "I don't hate you." She whispered after a short time, she half smiled and shook her head. "What I feel is much the opposite and I don't understand how I could love you.. I barely know you."

[Lovely]

**************************


At least a couple hours had passed, maybe more, Tessa had lost track of time with everything that had happened since she'd locked the door of the bar the night before. She lay beside Marc now, in somewhat of a tangle, catching her breath after another forced joining. She'd given up fighting him, fighting the changes she couldn't stop and the things she could no longer control. That's what had sparked this last session, her trying to fight those things and lashing out at Marc. She'd all but told him she loved him though she couldn't understand how and she should hate him. She couldn't hate him even after all he'd done and it made her angry, frightened her and she'd snapped.. declaring that she really hated him, that she would not love him, she thrashed and swung, her sudden fury sparked his recently cooled temper and the struggle for control and dominance began. They went at each other with Marc coming out as the stronger of the two, his dominance displayed and acted out though both their tempers had simmered by the end. Once again she'd stopped pushing him away and seemed to accept his desire to be close to her, though she hadn't said anything since she'd ceased in spitting her anger and false hateful words at him some time ago.

As if he'd had the final word, Marc sighed contentedly, both of them relaxing for a few moments. He was content, but still far from satisfied. He could sense everything in her scent that made a complete lie of her declaration. She hated him? Hardly, he chuckled softly, leaning over her now as she lay still, neither fighting nor fleeing from his attention. She was truly remarkable and worth every bite and scratch - those given and those received in return. She was a fair opponent, he granted, licking his arm over the recent gouges. Once she learned what strength she truly possessed and how to use it well, he had no doubt she would be more deadly than himself and he awaited that realization eagerly. He stroked her hair back from her face and shoulder again, trailing down her arm where she had it resting. His touch was light now, almost endearing, not challenging an angry battle, but quietly declaring his own adoration as he 'petted' her.

Tessa closed her eyes, rather than flinch or shift herself away she enjoyed the gentle attention and let out a slight sigh herself. She didn't hate him though she had every reason to, he'd killed her boyfriend, attacked her in the bar parking lot, bit her to make her like him, and forced himself on her several times since bringing her to this cave. Even after all of that, what she felt was not hate and she quietly gave up fighting whatever instincts inside her were drawn to him beyond any reason she still held in her human side. She loved him, she wanted him.. and she was fairly certain she needed him. "Damn it." She whispered under her breath.

"Damn it?" He questioned with a chuckle. "Forget something? Or was that the sound of complete surrender?" He traced down her side, resting at her hip where his fingers curled gently around the scratches.

[Lovely]

Her mouth twitched into a small smile and she shook her head a little bit. "You're such an ass." She commented with a slight chuckle of her own, realizing that knowing he was didn't change the way she felt about him. Why didn't it change anything? Why couldn't she fight the way she felt? It was frustrating but it was useless to continue to try to resist. She sucked in a breath as his fingers curled over the scratches on her hip, even the sting was pleasant.. it was like craving whatever attention he gave, his touch welcomed anywhere.

"Aaahhh, now.. you -know- you love me," he contested, his fingertips dancing lightly over her hip and tender thigh. He smile was altogether smug as he took a deeper breath himself. Even the slight elevation in her desire from such a light touch was enticing enough to want more of her attention.

She tried pulling her lips into her mouth to keep herself from smiling at him but the chuckle fought it's way out and her head shook again. "Yeah.. well you don't have to be so smug about it." The chuckle this time was like a small bubble bursting around her and she laughed a little more, feeling herself relax even further in his company and in knowing how she felt. Her eyes sparkled as she watched him and she reached to smack him in the arm for his comment.

"Don't I? You'll soon find I adore being right as much as I adore... hmmm," he paused, wondering how to put into words exactly what he envisioned as his fingers traced over her leg. She'd had time now to begin sensing more in sounds and scents she'd never experienced so clearly before. Perhaps she could identify the desires in his scent, at least find them now, even if she couldn't exactly understand what they told her. The heat of his breath as he leaned to kiss her and the near-giddiness in his sigh were ever so slightly increased with his amusement.

She'd been experiencing the increase in the scents for hours now though she didn't understand them all fully yet. There was something in his now that she tried to place as she watched him inch closer. She didn't know why the kiss came as such a surprise to her, after she got over being surprised by it. Her mouth responded with gently parting lips and her face tilted as she began to return the affection, her hand lifted to his cheek. She was smiling as she pulled away, her eyes lit with an ember of the desire he so wanted to ignite in her. "You love me too... so there." She teased him with a show of sticking her tongue out at him as she rested back against the pillow. She may have joked but she knew it was true in the same way she knew how she felt for him, deep and instinctual with no sort of logic to support it.. it just was.