Haunting Past, Haunting Future

“No…please…” Wren started to whimper, and Talon gave up on sleep, pulling her into his embrace.

“Relax, honey, I am right here. I will not hurt you, I promise. Wake up now, okay. Please,” he said.

He knew he was being selfish as he bent and kissed her again, putting more pressure on her lips until she opened her mouth, inviting him in and pressing her body up against his, letting out a sigh of satisfaction.

“More,” she mumbled when their lips parted for air.

“No, honey.” Talon used the last of his strength to pull back. “Not until you wake up.”

Wren came to slowly.

What was going on? Why were the covers at her feet and Talon holding her in his arms, her body flush against his and his very large, very hard member pressing on her sensitive spot through her nightie and…her thong?

Her nightie was up to her waist, and one of his hands was on her bare back, the other tangled in her hair with her arms wrapped around his neck.

What had she been doing in her sleep this time?

The biggest problem, though, was Talon nibbling on her neck.

A shiver went through her body as his mouth played with the sensitive flesh.

She opened her neck to him, and he ran his tongue up and started to play with the spot just behind her earlobe.

She heard herself moan in response to his touch.

“Wren…Wren, please,” Talon whispered in her ear. “Wake up, hon. I will not have any control soon…please,” he begged, unable to pull away from her.

He needed her to wake up and stop him.

“Talon?” she spoke, and he pulled back and looked, realizing that she was awake.

He sat up and let out a long breath, trying to get his body back under control.

“Thank goodness… You are awake.”

“What happened?” Wren pulled the covers over her body and scooted away from him.

“I do not know,” he answered honestly.

His lower body was starting to hurt, and his mind was not fully able to function at the moment.

“You were tossing and turning and calling out to me, and…I am sorry, I did not have enough self-control.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“I will sleep on the couch tonight.”

“No.” Wren put her hand out and grabbed his arm.

She needed his presence to sleep. “Stay. It is all right.” She flushed and looked away.

“I trust you,” she whispered. “Please come to bed.”

If she felt safe enough to want him near her when she slept, then she was going to trust her body, no matter what kind of pain came later.

Talon froze.

No one had ever said those words out loud to him, and to hear it from her, he realized he did not want to refuse.

He slipped back into bed and gently reached out to pull her into his embrace.

“Uh, Talon, what are you doing?”

“Just shut up and let me hold you,” he responded gruffly. “I need to hold you tonight. I promise, nothing will happen.”

He had been making that promise a lot lately. He just hoped he could keep it.

“All right.” Wren was just happy to be in the circle of his arms.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “You were having some sort of dream earlier…”

“I am fine now. It will not bother me again.”

Talon was not sure he believed her, but he was too tired to worry about it right now.

Tomorrow would be soon enough to deal with this development.

***

Wren woke to her alarm screeching.

She reached up and shut it off with a groan.

She had slept hard, but it still did not make it any easier to get up in the morning.

Talon stretched his body and pulled her up against his chest without thinking. He took her mouth with his, pressing her body along the length of his as he ran his hand along her back and cupped her buttocks in his palm.

He felt her struggle against him for a moment before slowly stilling beneath him as he plundered her mouth for a long moment before lifting his head.

“Good morning.”

Wren stared at him in astonishment as he grinned at her.

“I could not help myself,” he said.

He buried his head into her neck as he had the night before and nibbled on it gently, making sure not to leave any marks, waiting for her reaction to his bold attack.

Last night, she had asked him to stay, and he was taking a chance it meant she was starting to realize her own feelings.

“How long will you make me wait?” he asked seriously as he felt Wren’s body start to respond to him.

“I love you, Wren,” he lifted his head to look her in the eyes. “I will marry you and we will eventually have a physical relationship.”

“I… I know.” Wren looked back at him and then away, unable to keep the contact between them.

“I just… It is… I cannot…”

“I am not him,” Talon told her.

“I know that, but still… The things I did… What if…”

“Wren.” Talon lowered his head to hers and placed a lingering kiss on her lips.

He began to trail kisses down her neck to the shallow part of the valley between her breasts, one hand caressing her buttock as the other twisted itself in her hair.

“Let me make love to you,” he murmured into her chest.

Wren could not stop her body from reacting and pressed closer to the part of his body responding to her.

Her hands moved to his hair, and she knew she wanted nothing more than to have a physical relationship with him, damn the consequences.

She was so tired of fighting her attraction to him.

“Talon, I… I think…” She could feel his warm breath on her skin, and she struggled to keep her thoughts in her head.

“I love you,” she whispered.

Talon’s movements froze for a second before he continued his exploration of the top of her breast showing above her nightie.

The hand that had been caressing her cheek moved up her hip and stomach to cup the other breast in his palm.

His thumb flicked over her nipple, causing it to pucker and harden.

“Wren,” he murmured again.

Wren pushed up as his mouth came down to take her nipple, and he started to play with it with his tongue.

His mouth was hot, and his tongue ruthless as it hardened her nipple even more.

Wren let out a moan, and Talon answered with his own.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Talon let out a different groan and lifted himself from Wren’s warmth to shut off the alarm.

“Come on, we had better hurry or we will be late.”

Wren stared up at him. What the hell? He stopped? She was confused. She thought he was…

“Come on, love, we cannot miss work.” Talon pulled her up into his arms and placed a brutal kiss on her lips, pulling back only when oxygen became a necessity. He had said that even when his body was screaming for him to forget work and go back to making love to her.

Wren could only stare at him in shock. She had just admitted her feelings and let him know she was willing to give him what he wanted, and he just… Did he not want her?

“We will continue this tonight, make no mistake about it,” Talon said. He could read the thoughts running around in Wren’s head.

He was not about to let her misunderstand him again.

“Then…why?…”

“Because we have to work, and as much as I would love to throw you down on this bed and ravish you, there is not enough time right now to give you the pleasure you deserve. So we will continue this tonight, when I have the time.”

Wren blushed bright red at the sheer confidence he exuded as he told her that.

“Now. Go shower. I will get our clothes together.”

Wren nodded and hurried to the bathroom, sagging against the closed door. What had she done? Had she really just blurted that out?

What was going to happen now? Duh, they were going to have sex now, that was what was going to happen.

She pulled herself together and took a quick shower, wrapping a towel around her just as Talon came in.

“Good. I will get in the shower now, you go get dressed,” he said.

Wren grinned as she put on the outfit Talon had chosen for her. It was another Chinese cut outfit, only this one had pants underneath and was decorated with red flowers on black with a gold under design.

He had even gotten slippers to match.

She heard the water turn off, and Talon stepped out a moment later.

***

“They are increasing in numbers,” Michael commented as he and Carrie hunkered down in a cave. The two Level IV Zentiths were working to remove the rocks and debris they had placed as a barrier.

“And their language is becoming quite fluent,” Carrie said as she knelt, pushing Michael up off the wall.

“Leave it. You will need all the strength you have to get out of this one.”

“Like hell I will.” Carrie placed a hand on Michael’s back, feeling the cut.

It was deep, but luckily it was not large.

“Your healing sucks.” Michael grimaced as Carrie prodded the wound.

“You will survive.”

“They are plotting something,” Michael commented. “More and more of them are gathering and are becoming stronger.”

“There. I patched you up the best I could.” Carrie stood as cracks in the wall became large enough for one of the Zentith’s upper body to push through.

“We shall exterminate the pests of this world. Starting with you,” it hissed, shooting spikes from its body toward them.

Carrie rolled left and Michael rolled up, coming up on either side of the Zentith.

Michael dropped an icicle through the Zentith’s head as Carrie shot a bolt of energy through the stake, causing it to twitch and collapse in the hole it had crawled through.

“That should buy us some time,” Carrie commented, turning her back to the lifeless form.

“Look out!” Michael lunged just as another pike shot through the lifeless form, aiming for Carrie’s head.

“Michael!”

***

“Is Talon not eating with you today?” the English teacher asked at lunch. It had become a regular thing over the last two weeks to see him wander in and eat lunch with her.

Wren shook her head. “He had a meeting over lunch.”

“I see.” After a few moments, she suddenly took Wren’s left hand in her own.

“What is this?”

Wren pulled her hand back and flushed. “Uh, nothing.”

“It is NOT nothing. Is it an engagement ring? Are you two engaged?”

“What?” The P.E. teacher came over. “Did Talon propose? So soon?”

“Of course, it is not soon. She has been here for almost eight months, even if she has only been working here for a couple of months of that time.” She turned to Wren. “So…”

Talon stood in the doorway unnoticed.

What would she say? Would she deny it?

“Uh, yes.” Wren could not see any reason to lie. Besides, in the end, Talon was right. They would marry. They were to be together for the rest of their lives, so if she wanted a family, Talon was her only choice. “We are engaged.”

“Congratulations, hon. You two are so good together.”

“I agree,” the math teacher spoke up. “You have been wonderful for Talon. Congrats to both of you.”

“Uh, thank you.”

Talon smiled at her shy response to their congratulations and left. He was looking forward to tonight now more than ever.