Page 19

By dawn, Nalaila and Ismena have become very exhausted.

"We will call it a night." Ismena looked around, "Or a morning."

She was soaking wet as a result of playing in the lake and she was starting to feel cold too. But even at that, she was still grinning ear to ear, standing beside the wolf. It straightened and shook its big, white body to get rid of the excess water.

Wolfaraine has a smile tugged on his lips when he saw the exhaustion dripping from both parties. He rose from the wood and made his way to them.

He didn't get into their space, instead he stopped a few feet away. "I will walk you back home. You look exhausted. She does too."

"Yeah, we are ready to go home now." She replied, beaming at him.

Home. He feels...things when she uses that word.

He removed his robe and walked quietly to her while gauging the reaction of the wolf beside her. Either it was already too exhausted or it simply did not care because the wolf paid them no heed .

His eyes returned to Ismena, "Remove your dress, it's soaking wet. You will get sick."

"You want me to wear your robe?" She asked, aghast. "It's too tall! I'm gonna step on it and fall flat on my face."

His eyes glinted with amusement, "I am right here, Ena. I will not let you fall."

"Oh..." Her belly flipped over at that promise delivered in a deep growl. When he moved closer, held the hem of her dress, and pulled it over her head, she didn't protest at all.

He removed his robe, took her hands, and carefully slipped them into the sleeves. After that, he drew each side of the robe together and tied its rope firmly in her middle.

Ismena watched his strong hands work all those while, her body so attuned to him that she shivered. And it wasn't because of the cold. He was left in a thin, white singlet that stretch around his torso to accommodate his solid muscles and a pair of gray pants.

The man makes her mouth water. He was exquisitely good-looking. And he was all hers.Ismena couldn't believe how possessive she sounded in her own mind, but she was loving it.

"Here, all done." He stepped back and surveyed his work.

"This is...incredibly heavy. How do you go around wearing something this heavy?" She questioned, incredulously.

He was amused, "It is one of the lightest clothing I own. Come on, let's go."

As they walked back to the tower, the wolf was in front of them while they followed closely behind . When they entered the tower, Wolfaraine ignored the shocked glances of the sentinels they passed. He wondered if it was because of their state of dressing or if it was because of his sister.

When they got to Nalaila's bedroom, the wolf walked in without hesitation. Before the sentinel currently in charge of her bedroom was done placing and hooking all the locks, the white wolf was fast asleep.

"She must have been so tired to sleep like this," Ismena observed, watching the rise and fall of the wolf's furs as it slumbers.

"You wore her out with fun. Come, let's get you changed. You walk like the robe is dragging you instead of the other way round." he turned away and she followed closely behind him.

"Now, you're just making fun of me. I've never worn anything so heavy." She grumbled halfheartedly. The truth is that she can't bring herself to complain, because even though the robe is heavy, it still smells like him. She could wear it all night.

Sadly, when they arrived in his bedroom, he helped her remove the robe and put it away.

"How long have you been visiting her room?"

She didn't try to pretend that she doesn't know what he was talking about. "Two months ," she confessed.

When he didn't say anything, she continued on her own, "After you told me about your sister, I was curious to see her...to know what she was like. I held back because I know how badly she must hate my kind. But when you made that trip to my world for business, I gave in to the urge."

A smile touched her lips as she remembered that very day. "The first day I went to her room, I was dressed in running shoes...well and truly ready to hightail it back to Eline's house if the wolf shows the first sign of attack. "

"Did she?" Wolfaraine asked. It was an effort not to be distracted by her almost naked form. She was clad only in her wet bra and panties. Her beautiful body calls to him.

"No. She was asleep the whole time. And every other time after that.

Whenever I visited, the wolf was asleep, which made it easier for me to just read to her, tell her about my day, and tell her about her brother and the rest of it.

I talked to her a lot, finding it really easy to share my problems, my life, and my situation with her. "

"When was the first time you caught her awake?"

"I didn't catch her awake, I woke her up." she admitted, trying not to look him in the eyes because she was guilt-ridden, "It was one of those nights you slept over in the Elephant's Clan. I was scared that she would want to kill me but..."

"But, she didn't." It was still hard to believe that his sister, who hates humans—even more than his cougar—would be so taken by Ismena. "What did you do?"

"I did nothing special really, I just talked to her. She...allowed me to pet her face that day." Ismena shook her head as if she can't believe it too, "She teared up with me too. Those events gave me hope and enough courage to do what I did today. I am very sorry for making you so worried."

"I was very worried. It was a very dangerous thing to do. You cannot go around putting your life in such danger. What if the wolf had hurt you? What if it had manipulated you into believing that it was on your side, and then, struck when your guards are at your lowest?"

Fear flashed through her eyes as she imagined that scenario in her head. "That would have been horrible."

"It would have been. In our animal form, we are less cognitive and more primitive.

Less civilized. We are mostly instincts before reason.

The rational part of us is our mortal side inside the animal, trying to control it.

" Sadness welled in his own eyes, "Nalaila has not been in touch with her human side for more than eighteen years now, Ismena.

She could have easily hurt you. Just the thought of it. .."

"But she didn't." She moved close to him and settled a comforting hand on his arm, "She could have but she did not. That is what matters, Wolfe. I know I scared you and I am really sorry about that. I promise to be more careful from now on."

He nodded then, her promise reassuring him.

"Above all odds, you still prevailed. You made it happen.

She didn't only go for a run, but she had fun too.

She enjoyed herself. Nalaila has always been a playful child, even at eight, but those monsters forcefully took away everything from her, including her childhood. "

Swallowing tightly, his blue eyes met and held her brown ones, "To see her playing around like that today, made me very happy. Also, I was happier because you indulged her and you enjoyed doing it too."

A smile ghosted Ismena's face, "Of course, I did. It's the most fun I've had in a very long time. If she will have me, we are definitely having more quality time like this in the future. That is if it is okay with you..."

"It is more than okay with me. I want you to spend all the time you can spare with her if you can. Just be careful while you are at it."

She nodded twice, "I will be."

The words didn't leave her mouth completely before he was covering her lips with his. The kiss started slowly, then, it built from there. increasing in tempo with every thrust of his tongue into her mouth.

With a sigh of excitement, she wrapped both arms around his neck and kissed him back with the same fervor. Their tongue danced together in a rhythm as old as time itself .

Slowly, he began walking her back. He walked her a few steps before he lifted her up and she wrapped both legs around him instantly. But instead of the bed, he backed her towards the huge table that dominated one part of his chambers.

"You are cold. Allow me to warm you up." He said into her mouth as he placed her on the table.

"Is that another word for setting me on fire? Because that's what you're doing." She whispered into his mouth, which made him chuckle before he pulled on her lower lip and sucked it into his mouth.

She moaned, her eyes sliding shut. He spread her legs and moved to stand in between them, directly in front of her. Amidst the roaring in her ears, she distinctively heard the sound of his zipper moving.

Before that part could register well in her dazed mind, he shifted her panties to the side and buried himself deep inside her.

They groaned together at the pleasure. Her hand tightened around him and their lips never stopped moving. He rocked into her over and over again, keeping his thrusts short but deep.

"Wrap your legs around me." He ordered.

She didn't need to be told twice, her legs went around his waist, drawing him even deeper inside her. He continued his pace, drawing a low moan from her throat every time he plunged into her.

Every new, strange feeling that manifested itself in him tonight, Wolfaraine poured it into fucking her. All those emotions he was not used to and didn't know what to do with them, how to convey them, he put it all into this intimate moment where she was his in every sense of the word.

"Yes, yes, oh, yes..." She moaned, sensations coursing through her. Breaking the kiss, she threw her head back, overwhelmed. Her body moved with his, matching his rhythm and flaming the burning fire between them.

The urge came to him again, just like it did the last time he made love to her. And the time before that.

He wanted to flip her over and take her from behind. He wanted to set himself loose on her, in her. He arches with the need to put her on her belly, grab her waist and pound himself away into her from behind, going from male form to half-shift, to full shift, and back again.