Freedom of Flight Ch. 06

"I will not hurt you, let me in... you might like it." He whispered in short breaths before capturing her lips again.

Her body tingled and started to ache at the promise, his tongue touched her lips again and this time she opened her mouth slightly. His tongue slid in and brushed against hers gently. She groaned gently as he tasted her, his tongue returned and he needed little prompting to get her to taste his mouth as he had done hers. She quivered beneath him as his tongue slid back into her mouth to explore her teeth and mouth, his hand stroked her jaw and through her loose hair all the while.

He gently broke the kiss, "I have wanted to do that since I met you." He confessed, his desire-laden eyes searched hers as she considered whether or not she should be afraid of his confession or be delighted instead. Her wolf was pushing for delighted as she ran around in circles, her tongue lolling out of her mouth as she panted. She didn't want to think about it too deeply and gave into her instincts, which were screaming for more. She tugged on his shirt urgently and tiptoed to bring their lips back together.

He willingly obliged and rested both of his hands on her hips as he bent down to be on better terms with her. He broke the kiss again; "Trust me?" He asked tenderly. She nodded with no hesitation and he lifted her and sat her on the balustrade, one arm hooked around her body to keep her from falling back. He stepped between her legs nudging them apart so that he could hold her more closely. He leant down and started to suck and nibble on her lips.

SMELL HIM!Her wolf demanded. She was still after a decent go at his scent but her human had always been too shy to ask him as his scent clung to his skin and never left him. If she wanted to get a good smell of it, she had to press her nose against his skin. His scent would be strongest in three places: his under arms, his neck and his groin... which left her really with one option.

She gently broke the teasing kiss and panted, "Tarval..." She felt herself going red and wondered again how much he knew of Were culture. Asking to smell someone was personal as most only did it when searching for their mates or to recognise the scents of those closest to them.

"Yes?" He prompted, also panting gently.

"Can... can... can I smell you?" She requested her voice almost a whisper.

He frowned and dipped his head closer to hers, "Pardon?"

"Can I smell you?" She repeated a little louder.

"Why?" He was baffled. Of all the things she could have asked, she asked to smell him. At this point in time too!

"Your scent had always intrigued me but I've never managed to get a real good smell of it." She said trying to side step the minefield of mating and knowing your mate by their scent.

He smiled in understanding, "Of course." He indulged her, thinking that it must be a Were thing. He hesitated as he didn't know what to do, "How do you want to do this?"

"Lean down a little... I can get your scent from your neck." She was glad he couldn't smell her, as he would then know that she was aroused merely at the thought of smelling him. He did as she asked and she leant in, pressing her nose against his skin and inhaled deeply which resulted in liquid fire immediately racing through her body. If she didn't already know he was likely to be her mate, his scent was a deal sealer. It was everything she had been looking for and everything she hadn't known she wanted. He was spice, rain, and ozone, an irresistible mix to her sensitive nose.

She ran her nose up his skin wondering if it got any better, gently brushing her lips against his throat as she went. He felt his member start to harden and slowly pulled away to avoid giving her cause for flight. She growled gently and tried to pull him back instead. He turned his head and captured her lips again, hoping to tamper the desire running through him.

He gently broke the kiss and smiled, knowing that she had almost made up her mind. "So, does this make us... more than friends?" he asked teasingly.

She blushed and pressed her head to his chest to cover her blush. Both his arms wrapped around her loosely, surprised at how much he was enjoying just holding her and having her hold him back... even with a raging hard-on that he knew wasn't going to be appeased just yet.

"I like this." He told her.

She smiled and glanced up, "So do I." She said softly.

He returned her smile and leant down to whisper in her ear, "Can I smell you?"

She was stunned but nodded and tilted her head to the side to give him unhampered access. He used his fingers to brush her hair from her neck before he ran his lips over her neck, her eyes went wide but he found a sensitive spot below her ear that had her closing her eyes and moaning. He exploited her sensitivity to that particular spot for many moments before finally breaking away.

"We better head in before people start to talk." He said reluctantly, not wanting to leave here but he knew if they didn't stop now, he would push her too far. He stepped back, his hands on her hips to help her down and helped her right her dress than offered his arm to her, which she took.

Her wolf was pacing as they went back to the party; she wanted to stay out here with him. In fact, she wanted him in her den doing much more than kissing. She wanted to shift and howl in fierce joy. She had found him... he was THE one.

****

Alanna knew she was dreaming. She and Tarval were dancing in a grand ballroom with her resting her head against his chest and with closed eyes. Her wolf appeared in her mind. She was on her back with her neck and belly exposed in trust to this man. He tilted her head up and slowly lowered his head to kiss her; she arched her head up wanting his passionate embrace.

The pleasant dream suddenly shifted. Gone was Tarval and the ballroom, gone was the comfort. She was back in the one place she knew she could never be, Roberto had torched the place then tore it down before finally turning it into a park. She looked at herself but again she was a child of no more than ten years. She heard the heavy fall of steps and glanced around the room. This wasn't just a dream; it was a memory. It was almost bare except for the bed. The bed he used to rape her... again and again and again. She ran to a window and gave it a powerful shove.

Gus stormed into the room, a nearly empty bottle of rum in one hand.

'So... little bitch trying to get away from me again. Come here!' he slurred drunkenly.

She shook her head even though she knew it would enrage him. All thoughts that this was just a dream and she could stop it fled her mind, as he lunged at her, his hand wrapped around her throat. She panicked and tried to kick and scream her self-free. Her nails dug into his face, leaving deep furrows. He roared and backhanded her sending her on a one-way trip to the floor.

'Stupid cunt.' he grabbed her by the hair and cruelly dragged her from the room as she twisted and struggled, not caring about her hair and what pain she was feeling... but perhaps that is precisely the point.

'No... not the box.' She cried out fearfully.

He paused and turned evil eyes on her. 'You don't want to box, huh?'

She sobbed and nodded. He released her hair. 'Assume the position then,' he demanded.

She watched him, knowing that even if she let him do what he wanted, she would still end up in the box. She had denied him but her punishment would be less severe. She felt herself move onto her hands and knees even though she didn't want to.

Gus chuckled. 'You belong to me.' He slid his belt free and started to beat her with it. She tried not to cry as the leather strap struck her. 'SAY IT.' He roared as his hits landed harder.

'You.' She cried.

'Not good enough...Who do you belong to?' He paused in his beating.

Tarval's face flashed before her eyes. She didn't respond as her mind started to tick over.

Gus knelt behind her, he jammed two fingers into her dry, tight bottom. 'You better answer, girl. Who do you belong to...?' he asked with a twisted look on his face as he lined his rigid member up to take her tight womanhood.

'I belong to...' she started to say, four white feathers appeared before her and in desperation, she reached out and grabbed them as she felt Gus press against her. The feathers glowed brightly and everything went white.

Alanna's eyes snapped open. "Tarval!" She yelled into the room as her whole body was wracked with shivers. Tears poured down her face as she came completely out of the dream. She sobbed into her hands and quivered. Just once, she would like to sleep without a cursed nightmare, without reliving some painful memory. Just once without the aide of sleeping pills or draughts.

She pulled Bounce close and quivered as she tried to get back to sleep, hoping she wouldn't have another nightmare that night.

****

Sage crept up to Alanna's bed and pounced on her. "Wake up, oldie. I want presents!"

"Go annoy, ma." Alanna complained and tried to push Sage off her as she hid her face beneath her pillows. Between the party last night and the nightmare, she felt as if she had gotten no sleep at all.

"Ma said I can't open my gifts until you're up! Besides, everyone is waiting for you." She complained.

Alanna pulled her head out from under the pillow and frowned at Sage with bleary eyes, "What time is it?"

"Tenth toll, sleepy head."

"I didn't leave the party until second toll after midnight." She complained and tried to pull her blankets up to block out the light. Sage jerked the blankets from her hands and tugged them off Alanna then jumped off the bed and tried to lift the mattress and dump it on the ground.

Alanna scrambled off the bed while grumbling, "I'm up, you little monster!"

Jewel chuckled from her spot at the door. Alanna rolled her eyes and went to her bathroom to wash her face and change out of her sleeping clothes into breeches and a shirt. She yawned as she sat on a chair and pulled on socks and boots. Sage grabbed Alanna's arm and dragged her from the room the second she finished.

Sage dragged Alanna into Dominic's study and true to her words, everyone was gathered and waiting. Amy glared at Sage, "I told you to let her sleep."

Sage shrugged, unabashed and her mother rolled her eye at her daughter.

"Since she's here, we may as well get on with the gifts." Dominic slid in.

Amy nodded in agreement. Alanna sat with a sigh and was jumped by Serenity.

"Happy birthday from us." She told her older sister. Alanna smiled and took the small gift.

"Thanks, tiddly-peeks." They smiled and waited for Alanna to open the gift, their blue eyes watching her intently with their heads tilted to the side. Serenity then jumped into Sage's lap, her black shoulder length hair falling freely and gave her the other gift. Alanna smiled at the small-carved wolf. It was carved out of a beautiful green-grey stone that looked like a kind of marble. She ran her fingers over the details; the wolf was a she-wolf with a single cub at her feet. The little cub had little wings that hugged its small body. Her eyes turned to Thais, his blue eyes sparkled but he didn't say a word, the girls would have found the marble or created it but he would have carved it. She doubted that she would have noticed the cub's wings had her fingers not picked up the gentle lines that marked their outline.

Sage smiled when she saw the sword with wings carved out of white and grey marble. "You guys are too cute." They grinned, happy that their sister appreciated their effort.

"Our turn." Wolfgang tossed a small box to Alanna and another larger box to Sage.

Alanna pulled the ribbon from the box and flicked it open: inside was a key and chain. "A car?" She guessed excitedly.

Wolfgang smiled and nodded, "A silver Volvo XE."

"Awesome."

Sage tore her gift open and frowned. She had been hoping for keys as well but what she got was a new iphone and she had been pestering them for one. She smiled and fiddled with it but she put it back in its box so it could go back, she would play with it when she got home. She tried to hide her disappointment.

Next year.Amy told her and she brightened up.

Tarval stood and offered one of the gifts in his hands to her. He stood by and watched as Sage tore open the box and smiled as she pulled out the chain mail-belt with phoenix belt buckle.

"Awesome, it'll go with my sword." She turned. "Thanks, Tarval." He smiled and offered the other box to Alanna.

"You didn't have to." She said as she took the offered box.

"But I wanted to." He smiled at her and waited. Especially after last night, he was actually glad he had found her such a great gift. She smiled and flicked the catches open before lifting the lid, her jaw dropped as her eyes traced the solid gold torque*. It was big enough to survive the change in either form. Her fingers gently traced the wolf heads: in their opened jaws were blue diamonds that had been cut into faceted balls.

"Are you going to show us?" Michelle demanded, curious as to what Tarval would get her.

Alanna glanced at Tarval then back at his gift, "want a hand to put it on?" he asked.

Amy stood and walked over to see why Alanna was stunned. She glanced into the box and smiled before returning to her seat. Wolfgang sent her a probing thought but she refused to answer.

Alanna nodded and Tarval smiled as he lifted the torque. There were collective gasps from the people who had not seen it as it was a beautiful piece of jewellery. He undid the lock, which allowed the torque to hinge open to allow it to put on easily. She gathered her hair up and he slid the torque in place and clipped the lock, locking it in place. She let her hair go and smiled up at Tarval as her long plait fell back in place. Wolfgang glanced to Amy as he realised the double meaning attached to the gift. It was a beautiful gift, without a doubt, but it was also akin to a collar like what he and Amy wore a symbol of love and commitment. Amy smiled softly and glanced to him then back to their daughter choosing to ignore the other meaning.

"Thank you." Alanna offered quietly, also understanding its importance.

"My pleasure." He returned to his seat with a big, contented smile on his face. Michelle stood to give out her gifts.

****

Amy crept into Alanna's room and crawled in next to her daughter. Alanna mumbled incoherently and wrapped her arms around her mother's body. The party had been two nights ago. Last night they had stayed up and played card games, laughing and having fun like they would have if they were home.

Alanna opened her eyes and stretched lazily. Today was a rest day and she didn't have to get out of bed if she didn't want to.

Amy smiled. "This is the first time we've been alone since the party." She started and waited a moment before continuing. "So what did you and Tarval get up to out on the balcony?"

Alanna rolled her eyes, sensing a mother-daughter talk coming on. "We kissed ma... you know we did."

"Want to talk?" Amy asked, knowing her daughter's thoughts would be troubled.

"No... I'm just afraid..."

Amy stroked Alanna's ear. "He would never hurt you."

Alanna nodded, that she knew. She hadn't been able to get straight to sleep after her nightmare, she had stayed up thinking. Wondering why Tarval's crest had appeared in her dream, why had it helped in getting out of it. She had come to the conclusion that he might be able to stop the nightmares: her wolf was right he was the one. "Ma, he's the one."

Amy smiled and kissed her temple. "I thought he might be. You wanted to bite him at the lake and like I told you, the wolf is never wrong." She reminded her.

Alanna closed her eyes and breathed, deeply happy to just have her mother with her for a while. Amy stroked the torque that Alanna still wore. Amy had a feeling that Alanna would never take it off, not for the rest of time, "he has great taste."

Alanna blushed, "I didn't expect a gift, let alone this."

"He really cares about you."

Alanna nodded with a small smile on her face.

"So what are we doing today?" Amy asked, although she was content where she was. She had been anxious to see if Alanna was okay. Dominic had been getting Remus to deliver letters weekly but much could be hidden in letters, she had no fear that Sage would have sailed through the whole ordeal leaving only physical scars. However, Alanna was different; she might not admit it to anyone but she was fragile, her constant nightmares meant she was still not completely over what had happened to her. Like all three women, she was still healing and no one knew if they would ever fully recover.

"The markets are here today, we can go explore." Alanna answered after thinking.

"That sounds like fun."

There was a gentle knock. "Enter." Alanna called out.

Wolfgang popped his head in and smiled. He walked in and closed the door before joining them in the bed. He snuggled up to Alanna and wrapped his arms around her. He brushed his lips against her temple.

There was another knock. "Enter."

Dominic walked in and smiled. "Thought this is where I might find you if you weren't in your rooms. The markets are being opened early this week. You have to eat quickly before getting into your good clothes."

"Good clothes?" Amy asked.

Alanna nodded and got to her feet and walked over to a rack covered with cloth. She removed the cloth. "Good clothes often meant house clothes, the clothes that show your affiliation."

Amy got up and went to inspect the rack and the clothes on display. Her hands gently stroked the breastplate in surprise.

"I had armour made for you and Wolfgang, Keira has a mail sash as does Bastion. Vivian and Rhiannon have their own sashes." Dominic explained.

"Then we better go eat." Amy started to walk out.

Alanna had already pulled on pants and shoes, she walked into another room and tugged off her sleeping shirt and scooped up her breast band. She walked out minutes later tucking her shirt in. Amy, Wolfgang and Dominic were gone. Jewel was already at work making her bed.

"One hour Alanna then be back. Everything should be ready then."

Alanna nodded. She left the room and walked down into the great hall. Her parents were eating quickly as they had been told to go back in half a rotation to get dressed. She sat and served herself. Tarval sat next to her and leant over to gently brush his lips against her temple. She smiled up at him in response.

"Morning," she greeted.

"How did you sleep?" He asked while taking the seat next to her.

"One nightmare."

"Good or bad?" He wanted to know... as if there was such a thing as a good nightmare.

"Bad but not bad, bad." She started to play with her food, not wanting to explain why her nightmare hadn't been bad. His crest had popped up again, only a lot sooner than it had the time before. He rested a hand on her back and rubbed it gently. She turned to him in response and pressed her face to his shoulder. She had made a few decisions last night while she waited for sleep to reclaim her: the first was to relax around him even further. He gently kissed the top of her head, sensing her need for reassurance.

"Eat your breakfast." He ordered playfully.

She gave a wary smile then lifted her head as she turned away from him and started to eat. Amy smirked at her daughter then quickly finished her juice. She stood and nudged Wolfgang to his feet. He quickly loaded a piece of toast with jam and followed her while eating it.

Alanna finished eating her breakfast. Tarval had finished before her but had waited for her, wanting to spend some time with her. "Want to go for a walk before you have to go get dressed?" He invited.

She nodded. They stood and walked out of the hall and down one of the many galleries. Suddenly, he pulled her into an alcove and tilted her head up to kiss her deeply like he had wanted to do every time he saw her since the feast. At first, she stiffened in shock but quickly realised that this was what she needed as well so she moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, tip toeing so she would be taller. He slid his hands gently down her back to her behind. She broke the kiss as he was doing something new but he squeezed her firmly then lifted her up. She smiled when they were finally eye to eye which was a mean feat for them as they stood at such different heights.