Cynthia's Moon Ch. 04

Song lyrics: Fall Again by Glenn Lewis.

A small orchestra tuned their instruments while people were still gathering. Catering tables lined in white were along two walls of the grand patio, and round dining tables were layered in white and blue cloth with a candle centerpiece placed between four place settings. They were found scattered to the opposite side of the patio. A dance floor was right before the raised stage of the orchestra, found beneath a pergola that was decorated with lights and a disco ball that illuminated the area with blue and white.

The rest of the patio was well lit with the buttery glow of ivory and blue lanterns strung from the corners of the patio posts and were hung from support beams overhead. People wore blue, white, and black, signifying the colors of the first moon of spring. Now Cynthia understood why Markus wanted to choose her attire.

Cynthia felt the rush of hundreds of eyes staring over her, giving her a full sense of awareness that she was suddenly in the spotlight of several werewolves. Her hand released Markus' when she felt a familiar gaze looking in her direction. Through the sea of unfamiliar faces, she spotted Valefar and held his gaze until he looked away. He dipped away from the crowd, unwilling to see her standing next to another Were.

With her gaze holding little to no shame or embarrassment among being the center of attention for those few moments, the crowd stopped staring, and the orchestra began to play. Conversations were now overlapping on the patio that continued to fill with guests.

As a server passed by with a tray of champagne, Markus lifted two glasses from the tray and handed one to Cynthia. She gathered it expertly to her grasp and tipped the edge to chime against his and took a light sip. He was nervous and drank a little more than two full swallows. She lowered her glass with a grin and gazed up at how sweet he looked with that nervous edge.

"What's the matter?" She said with an amused chuckle.

"I was concerned how you'd adjust to a gathering like this."

"I'm fine. Same old boring routine. You should know that I only came here for you." She assured him of this by reaching her hand to fit into his. He usually was the one who had to calm down his date, not the other way around. She had such a grace about it that he didn't even feel one moment of humiliation in her assurance. He leaned in and kissed her champagne-flavored lips, whispering softly.

"And I wouldn't enjoy tonight without you. I'll be back, however."

He dipped away from her when she nodded for him to leave her side. She stood casually where he left her and took occasional sips of her champagne watching Markus approach the security guards that were on duty. Her eyes would occasionally drift to movement at her side when males passed by her. She showed them little attention at all, guessing that they were only interested in her because she was in heat. She saw the Alpha in tow with a gorgeous woman and offered a nod to them respectfully as they approached.

The female, not much older than Cyn, parted from the Alpha with his blessing and came up to her. She wore a midnight blue silk dress that hugged around her breasts and flowed to the floor with a round train, and the whole dress was overlapped with black tulle that was stitched with tinsel-thread roses that shimmered in the soft lighting. Her hands were gloved up to her biceps in white, and a tiara crowned a mess of raven curls that spilled behind her neck and overflowed onto her right shoulder. She was so beautiful that Cyn took a moment to admire her.

"Good evening, Alpha Sara."

"No, Cynthia," she corrected, "please just call me Sara. I can't believe it's been over a year since you first moved here. I'm happy to see that you attended this year's Hunt." Sara's hands stretched out to Cynthia, and a server passed by just in that moment to take her glass.

Cynthia set her hands into Sara's and the two women fell to the traditions between status. Cynthia kissed her cheek, and Sara did the same, showing an equal respect to her. Every woman on the patio with status now glared daggers at Cynthia, who was being shown the highest respect from the Alpha's wife. It was the first female that Markus had brought to the Hunt that was acknowledged at all by either Alpha.

The gossip started early.

"I'm glad to be here. It reminds me of home, except that I'm not on display this time." The two of them chuckled, Sara nodding lightly.

"Believe me, I can relate to that." Sara's eyes looked over to Karus, lust filling her body with a deep hunger while her hands were still clasped in Cynthia's. "But don't be so sure. I haven't seen Markus this happy in almost two years, and all eyes are on you."

Sara's knowing eyes cast over the congregation pretending not to watch, seeing many of them direct their subtle stares away from them before she looked back to Cynthia with a proud smile spreading the lips of both ladies.

"I'm perfectly fine with that for now."

"Good. Excuse me, Cynthia." Sara offered a wink to her and dipped away as though she knew that Markus was approaching on her left side to return to her. His arm wrapped around Cyn's waist, firming his embrace as though it'd been forever since he last saw her. Pressing a light kiss to her temple, she leaned against him comfortably.

"Did you miss me?"

"With every bone in my body," Cynthia commented softly.

"Every bone except mine, right?" He teased her, and felt her body burn beneath that blue dress. He smiled, taking in his reward with her immediate understanding of what he implied.

"I am going to eventually call you out on all of your teasing," she said softly.

"I certainly hope so."

A slow song started the evening out; a female vocalist took the stage wearing a narrow white evening gown with black sequins in patterns at the hem of her skirt. Markus looked to the small dance floor and guided Cynthia there with an interest in dancing with her for the first time. Surprised at how bold he had become when the R&B beats slowly set the mood, she smiled.

"You don't strike me as the type to dance," she said playfully.

"I don't, but this lets me get away with holding you for a while."

As the music blossomed into the full song, Markus placed his hands at her hips and Cynthia set her hands at his biceps for a couple minutes until she mildly chuckled at the space between them.

"What?"

"Are we in eighth grade, Markus? This is not how you dance with a woman."

"Well, then why don't you show me?"

Cynthia looked around at everyone on the floor while the two of them were still figuring out their own motion. Cynthia looked back to him, and gently stepped into his frame.

"Hold me like you're never going to let me go," she said softly.

He guided his hands once more, moving one to wrap beneath her shoulders, and the other around the small of her back. As he curved to compensate for his height, she leaned herself against his chest and held him around his back beneath his own arms.

"That's it...just like that, Markus," she whispered as she closed her eyes.

"Feels like a fire that burns in my heart,
Every single moment that we spend apart.
I need you around for every day to start,
I haven't left you alone."

The beat of the music was all that came to the ears of Cynthia and Markus as the two of them swayed and rocked in each other's arms to the perfect vocals from the woman echoing about them. They were oblivious to the stares, to the murmurs, to one of the spotlights falling upon them in the middle of the first verse before moving away. Markus could only feel her heart beat in unison with his own and it felt right.

"There's something about you, I stare in your eyes,
And everything I'm looking for I seem to find.
All this time away is killing me inside,
I need your love in my life."

"He looks happy doesn't he?" Sara's voice traveled only to Karus, following Markus on the dance floor with that deep sense of pride in her to see him so content.

"Happiest I've seen him in a long time. I'm glad for it." Karus answered, taking a drink as his eyes followed Cynthia with a different gaze from what Sara might have approved. He seemed tempted to cut in with his right to dance with any lady at the formal.

Not tonight. Not her. She belongs to Markus. My brother deserves her. Karus thought to himself. Sara glanced up at him and smiled gently.

"Oh, I wanna spend time till it ends,
I wanna fall in you again.
Like we did when we first met,
I wanna fall with you again."

"Don't you think it's time you told him?"

"Not yet. I don't want to give him an unexpected surprise like that on a night that he deserves to enjoy himself." The concern of telling Markus about his true family filled Karus' eyes while watching the two of them dance. The rest envied the couple's nearness now, yet none present at the party had the audacity to pull them away from each other.

"Karus, what are you afraid of?"

"Not what you think, Sara. I know he wouldn't want what I have. I fear... that he'd never forgive me for keeping it a secret."

"I'm sure he would, in time," she tried to assure him.

"For once, my love, we're not the focus of the party," he brought up with a hinting tone, trying to pull away from the topic of discussion. Sara caught this and smiled at him.

"What were you thinking? We sneak away from our own party?" Her hand softly rubbed his shoulder in a suggestive manner.

"Ten minutes. I'm certain I can get into plenty of trouble in that amount of time," he whispered. She downed her glass of champagne and set it to the ledge of the patio. Looking to Karus, she stared at him intently, then turned her attention to another area as though something of importance distracted her. Immediately, Karus followed her gaze, removing his eyes from her. At that moment, she slipped away. When he looked back to see her running into the garden, Karus smiled and took up the pleasure of giving chase to his beloved mate.

The song carried Cynthia's and Markus' moment until the very last chorus was sung. When the last note had been played, the congregation clapped approvingly at the vocalist, who took a bow and moved off stage to give pause. The orchestra played a more uplifting song, one that allowed for conversation to stir among them.

Cynthia and Markus finally pulled away, and for a long moment they said nothing to each other. Lust was in their eyes, and desire was spinning the both of them on the same thought process as the other. They both wanted to mate, and they could read it in their eyes as clearly as if they had confessed it not even a second ago.

The hive of people watching Markus and Cynthia since they arrived eventually pulled apart. Three women, scantily dressed, would meander over towards Cynthia and Markus.

"Oh shit," he said under his breath.

"What?" Cynthia looked up to Markus' displeased expression.

"Nothin', just brace yourself," he whispered lowly.

Cynthia turned around to see the three women lined up and approaching with wicked smiles across their faces. Of course, the closer they got, the more innocent those smiles became. Two of them approached Cynthia.

"Hello, dear. I'm Tia." The brunette stretched her hand out for Cynthia to hold, and she obliged, keeping with the niceties for now.

"And I'm Eva." A sultry tone slipped from the redhead, who of the three of them had the most sensual looking eyes and smile. She could have been mistaken for a succubus if one didn't know better.

"Pleasure to meet you both. I'm Cynthia." Cynthia looked over toward the blonde who had approached Markus first, who eventually looked over at Cyn.

"Oh, I'm Bridget," she said passively to her before walking in a subtle manner to stand between Markus and Cynthia, stepping into Cynthia's comfort space.

"May I steal Markus for a moment?" She asked with a sickeningly sweet tone, ending it with a fake smile. Cynthia returned a polite smile.

"Well, that's not up to me, Bridget. If Markus is alright with speaking to you, that's his decision." Her emerald gaze looked to Markus, who gently set his hand to Bridget's bicep with the intention of pushing her to the side so he could speak to Cyn first. Yet, Bridget's hand was swift with taking up his own and leading him away. Cynthia watched Markus depart alongside of her before picking up a glass of champagne to drink.

"Tsk. They're still so sweet together after all this time," Tia commented to Eva.

"Oh, I know. If they'd only get back with one another. They'd have beautiful pups." Sharing the enthusiasm to destroy Cynthia, the two girls drifted off from her and left her wondering about Bridget and Markus. That was when a soft baritone voice from behind her startled her once more.

"Cyn."

She spun around, and saw Valefar. Swallowing the small amount of champagne in her mouth, she collected her wits. He was wearing a suit of the darkest black, with a cobalt blue tie. His hair was tame and straight all the way down to his lower back and his bangs were recently trimmed to frame his lean and gorgeous face.

"Yes, Val?" He was very insistent as his hand reached out to her.

"Will you have one dance with me?" Her eyes glanced over to where she last saw Markus and Bridget, and both of them were gone. Searching the crowd for him, her body tensed, wondering if he had stood her up. Valefar watched her body clench with nervous energy and recalled just how wonderful her body tightened when he had her passionately. For a moment there, she had forgotten that Val was even standing in front of her.

"What do you want, Bridget?" Markus was no more than twenty feet away from Cynthia when he started the conversation, but Bridget insisted on luring him out one step at a time from view.

"You. We deserve to be together, Markus. Can you honestly tell me that this interest of yours will even make you happy? I mean come on, you bring some bitch in heat to a party and that's supposed to mean something to all of us?"

Swiftly and harshly, Markus led Bridget forcibly off the patio, walking down the steps out of view with his arm closed around her bicep. She growled and struggled with him, but not too much as she didn't really want to escape.

"What the hell? What the fuck's the matter with you, Markus?!" She snapped.

"Nothing. Nothing's the matter with me. It's you that has the problem. There's not going to be anything between us anymore Bridget. You had me, and you decided to fuck around until you got caught. I'm not wasting my time on you."

"Oh really?" She chuckled deviously. "How do you even know that this Cynthia girl even likes you? She's in heat, all she needs right now is a dick. I know that yours would suit her needs."

"Good, I hope so." He whistled for a cab and told the security guards to dismiss Bridget from the party. She scoffed at his answer.

"Hell, if you wanted to be used like that, why not call a service, Markus? Less complications for you in the end."

"No, if I wanted just that I'd call on you. Don't come back to the party, pet. Good night." After he left her standing there in rage and unable to return to the party, Markus immediately returned to where he last left Cyn.

"Yea, well I didn't ask to be turned, did I, Markus? You're always thinking about yourself and what you want! Do you even know what Cynthia wants at all?"

Markus ignored Bridget. He followed Cyn's scent when she wasn't by the tables, and discovered her outside the patio, down the lit path leading to the cane field. As he stood there watching by himself through a veil of people and party decorations, anger burned through him. Violence and the most depraved acts ran through his mind as he continued to watch, feeling every muscle in his body burn with a seething hatred that grew. He didn't move to collect Cyn until he saw Sara enter the picture.

"Cyn.."

Catching her attention, she finished the flute of champagne and set the drink on the ledge. Removing her stole and purse, she set them to a random table, then nodded lightly.

"Just one dance," she said softly.

He then led her over to the dance floor, where a few couples were already swaying with one another to the soft orchestral tune that was playing. When he had her on the floor, he continued walking beyond the patio. Cynthia could feel her heart sinking into her stomach, and her breath clench in her throat when she didn't see Markus anywhere on the patio. She couldn't imagine that he'd really leave her behind.

It wasn't until the scene of the patio was falling away that Cynthia realized Val wasn't taking her to dance. She attempted to pull her hand from his, but he held onto her with a firm resolve.

"Val, what are you doing? Aren't we going to dance?" She said with an annoyed tone.

"Cyn..." Valefar turned around to face her.

"What?"

"I want you back."

She sighed and closed her eyes, lowering her chin in her reply.

"If this is why we're out here, I'm leaving."

"No," he clenched his arms around her, crushing her against him and he leaned down to whisper into her ear, "I needed to hold you again. Remind myself of what I had before I threw it away."

"Valefar, I mean it. Please let me leave." Her voice held tremor as it transitioned from annoyance to worry. She could feel the heat rising between the two of him, which prompted him only to keep his hold around her strong.

"I don't think you want me to, Cynthia. I can feel it. I feel your need burning through you, sweetheart." He continued to tickle his soft words against her ear, and every strain of willpower she could demonstrate was being thrust to the surface to try and maintain her composure.

"Don't make me hurt you, Val." Her warning was breathy, and wasn't convincing to either of them.

"I've never felt you this hot before. Tell me that the thought of throwing you down on the ground and fucking you right now makes you want to run away, and I'll let you go."

He tested her with a kiss to her neck, and her entire body flooded with arousal. Her lips parted to open in protest, but all she could do was shudder as her heartbeat started to pound in unison with his. Her hands closed as his kisses drifted further down onto her shoulder, her eyes closed as the area around her suddenly started to drift away, and all she could smell and feel was how aroused Valefar was with her. He knew her body. Even when she left him, a part of her still craved the touch that he seemed to master over her skin.

Her mind was battling for her to run and find Markus, but she felt weak in the knees against Val's rigid form, and defenseless against every kiss that sent small shocks of pleasure through her body. One after another until he could smell that damp heat he was familiar with and smiled triumphantly. Gently, his hand slipped up her outer leg, drifted across the top of her thigh, and under her skirt to her womanly region. She gasped sharply as his fingers discovered that her sex was exposed, slippery and hot against his touch.

"No panties?" Val was more than eager to hold her tighter to his embrace as Cynthia dipped her waist back to halt his rubbing touch.

"I... planned to get lucky tonight."

With Markus. With Markus, you fucking idiot! Run Cynthia! Run, god damn you, run!

"I think I can make that happen." He whispered against the shell of her ear, and drifted his hand from her pussy to his pants, finding it difficult to unbuckle his belt with one hand. He wasn't going to let her go. He knew if he did, she would run away from him, and he wasn't going to let that happen twice in his lifetime.

"Val, may I have a word with you?"