The sun is setting, spilling its orange blaze onto the lagoon’s turbulent surface. Normally the waters here are still as glass, but today a surging tide has thrust itself over the coral reef guarding the mouth of the lagoon.
I keep my gaze fixed on the glow emanating from deep within the center of the pool. It is distinct even from the glow of sunset. Normally it calms me, reminds me of my responsibilities and assures me I made the right choice.
It is one of only three remaining keystones. Far too powerful to fall into the wrong hands. I was born to protect it, as my ancestors have done for centuries. I hadn’t needed Uncle Geoffre to remind me of that when he came to visit me here earlier.
Thinking of him brings a wry smile. It should annoy me that he is so aware of my moods, because that must mean he has tasked someone to watch me. And yet this is only him doing his duty, and being totally brazen about it too.
Uncle Geoffre is always so absolutely sure of what is most important to him. I wish I was the same.
Even at my most melancholy, I find it bitterly amusing that humankind have no idea that otherkind, who many humans so revile, are responsible for guarding the sanctity of life on the two worlds.
I rub my tired eyes. Lately I’ve felt exhausted all the time, and sleep comes only in brief snatches. My tiredness makes me easily irritated and resentful, which I hate.
I should probably apologize to Tyler for being moody with him earlier. He is my brother in everything except blood. I can’t blame him for wanting her because I know exactly how he feels.
I sigh. Even after all these hours here, the image of Lola and Aeron together is haunting me. Seeing her for the first time after all these years, for a moment I had been filled with such intense joy. But then I had remembered her treachery.
And now she is clearly no longer the sweet innocent she had been those years ago. How wantonly she had writhed in Tyler’s arms in the water. She let my best friend strip her, kiss her breasts, and… I don’t even want to think about what else.
She isn’t my Lola any longer. She probably never was.
Despite knowing that, seeing her in the midst of her pleasure, I had wanted to tear her out of Tyler’s arms and take her for myself. But I can’t. My pack needs me to be strong for them. My uncle is depending on me.
I had asked Uncle Geoffre to let me in on his plans for the future of our pack. Helping would keep my mind off other things. He told me to save my energy for the bloodstone. No one else can wear it. But it makes me angry to be of so little use.
I sigh. My uncle is right if course. The nightmares have been draining me, and Uncle Geoffre told me to do what I can to build up me energy reserves. An attack is imminent and he will need the bloodstone’s strength to face it.
He tried to make me feel better, saying that maybe it was fate that sent Lola back to me. That no one would blame me if I took comfort in her. Warning me gently against letting her deceive me again. He’d said it was my choice whether to let her stay on the island or make her leave.
I should make her leave, of course. The trouble is my heart and my body are demanding something different.
I have no desire to indulge in weakness, but I want her badly, and not just because being with her had helped me back then.
Perhaps I should. She is not some sweet innocent anymore whose heart I might break. She is worldly now, as she has so brazenly shown me.
I’ll decide tomorrow, when I am better rested.
I make my way back to my room, dreading another night of broken sleep and awful visions, whose truth I am cursed to never be able to make sense of. Another night of bearing pain that belongs to others. One day it will be my duty to pass these lessons and this burden on to my son or daughter, and then I will be free. That thought brings me no comfort at all.
By the time I get back to my room I am angry again. Angry at Lola for coming here, for forcing me to make this choice, for putting a memory of her into this place where I will have to live for the rest of my life. For making me want her all over again.
I wonder where she is now. Probably in bed with the lout who brought her here. The nightmares that await me tonight will be worse than usual.
Snarling under my breath, I stalk into my room, regretting not instructing security to escort her from the island already. I will do it first thing tomorrow.
And so I am stunned to find her in my bed.
She is fast asleep. The night is hot and she has thrown off the covers. A slinky dress is discarded on the floor. She is wearing the sort of lingerie I have only imagined her wearing in dreams. Certainly in our previous life she would never have worn it.
A tiny black bra made out of lace and almost sheer silk does little to hide her ample breasts. Her perky nipples are clearly visible under the fabric that clings possessively to her skin. From this hangs a bit of lacy material that barely goes to her hips. A thong of the same silken material offers a tantalizing glimpse of her nakedness. It is tied on only with two ribbons on either side.
My heartbeat accelerates. She has dressed herself up and put herself in my bed to wait for me. She is showing me what she wants. All thoughts go out of my head except one. I need to have her right now. I will give her what she came here for. Nothing more.
I make my way to the bed, intending to wake her with a kiss.
But the sound of my tread rouses her. She stretches so innocently and sweetly, and then, when her eyes land on me, she suddenly sits up in bed. Her startled look brings me to a halt.
My eyes narrow. “Expecting someone else?” I growl.
She swallows hard. She shakes her head, and gazes at me with wide open eyes.
“Then why so surprised?” I ask harshly. “Did you think this was Tyler’s room?”
The thought of her and Tyler in my bed infuriates me. The idea that she had worn this lingerie to tempt anyone but me makes my blood boil.
“No,” she whispers. “I was waiting for you.”
“Why?” I demand. “In those temptress clothes you could get any man. All you’d have to do is wrap those legs around him and he’d be happy to give you a good hard fuck.”
I hate the words coming out of my mouth but I cannot stop them.
Her porcelain face turns pink. “I’m not like that!” she whispers.
I prowl closer to the bed. “Aren’t you? Then why are you here?”
Her lips part and her chest heaves a little, showing the effect my words have had on her. Her eyes are fixed on me, and they are full of her need. My blood seems to heat up and slow down in my veins all at once.
I can sense the warmth of her body from meters away. I can smell the delicate scent of her.
“Is that what you want?” I taunt her. “You want me to fuck you?”
She nods as if in a trance. And that is all the invitation that I need.
