His eyes traveled slowly up her form as she passed him, entranced by her long , shapely legs, her feminine hips and narrow waist, then the full swell of her breasts. The darkness hid her well though; he could only make out her sensual silhouette. Her feet entered the water and she continued in until the was mostly submerged. Her invitation was unnecessary; enchanted, he had immediately pursued her after following her example and leaving his dripping pants hanging over a branch.

A rumble of thunder preceded a flash of lightning, which momentarily lit the earth brightly, illuminating her face and his body as he slipped into the hot, steaming water next to her. He spared no time. His enigmatic blue eyes had darkened with excitement and attraction and his hands tangled into her wet hair, pulling her closer till their bodies were touching.

His lips crushed hers in a searing kiss, forcing her to back up till her back hit a smooth, sheer faced rock formation. His hands searched for hers under the water, twining their fingers together, and then he drew her hands over her head, pinning them to the rock, taking the dominating role- at least for the moment. He bent his head and kissed her neck, his tongue tracing soft patterns as his sharp, white teeth gently pressed into her skin.

Lifting his head to look at the wild beauty who had enchanted him, he let out a low, rumbling growl. “You’re playing with fire.” he warned her. No matter how things turned out, he sensed that by the end of it, one or both of them would get hurt. They were a couple cursed. She had already imprinted, and the fact that she denied her instincts and fate had them at odds with the forces. They were never meant to be together, yet they were. Even in their moments of intimacy, there existed a fierceness, an animalistic drive that had nothing to do with fairytale love.

Perhaps he was too cold to love a woman, especially a woman like Nina. She was stubborn and hot tempered and strong. She needed someone dependable and calm and ceaselessly understanding. He was none of those things. And whereas the day before he had thought that perhaps Dante could be, the man’s actions had changed his mind.

Whether or not he and Nina lasted as lovers, he would protect her.

As he entered, Nina felt static building in her chest. The feeling was ten times more powerful than the metaphor 'butterflies' could measure up to. She felt like her body was going to explode the nearer he grew. Her eyes followed his, her lips lit in a grave yet hypnotizing smile.

Surely enough, as soon as Siku was near, his hands were locked in her hair, and her own followed. But as a kiss became tangible, and grew deeper, her arms fell obediently to her sides, slowly reaching out for his waist, tracing patterns over his skin. But Siku dipped his hands into the warm water, and drew her hands over her head. Nina took a deep breath, before he slid his teeth over her skin. Her shoulders rose with the tension, and she seemed to twist as his tongue played over her skin. She turned her eyes down at him, watching as lightning yet again gave them the light to see all.

Nina, for once, had chosen to rest and enjoy Siku in a different way. Her hands pulled from his own, a wiggling struggling pull to let him know she wanted to be released. As so occurred, she was reaching out, nuzzling his cheek and neck, kissing at his lips with a meshed passion whenever the chance arose.

She finally halted, letting something of a purr roll from her chest as she pressed her body against his own. The heat was intoxicating, but she was going to resist it. Her head fell to his shoulder, and she kissed the space there. Tasting every square of this man's sweet skin.

"Siku." Nina purred, kissing at his neck. "I'd like to... I know I'm kind of... rushy..." She grinned, placing her lips back at his. "But I want to know more about you. How old are you... What your life was like before now... It's so many things I want to know, but I hush them all because you are so... addictive." Nina grinned, nuzzling him again as she rested against his body. "Can we just... get to know each other a little bit?"

With difficulty, Siku nodded his head and released her from his hold. Letting her go, even for a moment, was an enormous task, especially when she was so tantalizing. The deep water of the hot spring steamed, the water rising to their chests; shoulders and faces exposed. The rain still fell, almost freezing, a sharp contrast to the hot spring. With the rain and the spring, water was coming at them from all sides. The evening was dim, the sun blotted out by the thick, dark storm clouds that swirled in the sky above.

“We have all the time in the world, you and I…” he said slowly, acquiescing to her request to take things slower. “I would… like it if I got to know more about the fierce female werewolf who dares defy our laws and boldly befriends vampires.”

His eyes glowed with a sense of unease, but also amusement. He felt it wrong that she associated with their natural enemy, yet it was also such a peculiar decision that she had to be commended for her efforts. He swam a small distance away from her, wiping the cold rain water out of his eyes. His black hair glistened wetly and he considered her first question.

He tried to think back, to recall the year he had been born. Among his people, age was not important. Birthdays were not celebrated and age was not marked. The only important time in a person’s life was when they became a full werewolf and transformed for the first time. He frowned for a moment, doing the math in his head. No, surely that wasn’t right, he thought. He had never before been curious enough to figure his true age out. Now that he did, it surprised him.

“The first time I transformed into a werewolf, it was the year Benjamin Harris was voted into office in the United States. Alaska had only been a state for thirty years…”

He paused, looking toward the tree line. “That was 1889. I was… fifteen when I first transformed. I suppose that makes me… one hundred and thirty-four years old.”

His eyes met hers, expression serious. “Werewolves, where I come from, usually live hundreds and hundreds of years. I was one of the youngest in my tribe when I left.”

Frowning, Siku hoped that his age wouldn’t change how things were between them. He certainly didn’t feel old. It was as if he had been trapped inside of a vacuum, his body perpetually stopped around the age of twenty or twenty one. The world around him had changed, while he stayed the same. He treaded water, rejoining her, and took her hands in his, bringing her wet palms to his lips. “ I never realized how much time separated us.”

As Siku parted a short distance, Nina felt empty and cold again. Not on the inside, but on the out. Being nude and bore to him was a great pleasure, even if they did not kiss or touch in ways of passion. Just being near him soothed her. Without boundaries. Without limits. Without rules.
She was without expectations and all the downs of life. Siku saved her.

Nina stepped forward, his words echoing through the short distance with a beautiful sound. His kiss touched her lips and she smiled. Nina came further, pressing her body back against his, laying her head along his shoulder.

"Yeah." She whispered against his throat, smiling as her arms wove around his neck and she couldn't be away from him any longer. Her fingers played gently over his back, reaching up here and there to twine in his hair. The wet texture, the cool touch getting warm as it grew closer to his skin. The steam rising off the two as if they could finally show just how hot their longing for each other was.

"I'm only twenty-four, and my body is either eighteen or nineteen." Nina grinned, sighing and resting her head there before pulling up and kissing his chin, looking up into his eyes. "Guess you're robbing the cradle." She chuckled, moving to kiss him. One meant to be a brief kiss that ended up with her pressing her lips harder to his own and refusing to let go. Their passion was intoxicating. It was a poison that she could never tire of.

Nina stopped for a moment, laying her head back at his shoulder if only to get a good breath.

"So... for all your life, have you lived in Alaska?"

The man nodded, wrapping his arms around her waist, her body pressed intimately against his beneath the water. He didn’t smile, but he looked glad that she did not seem to have a problem with their age gap. Indeed, she treated the matter as if it was a joke.

“Yes, most of my life. But Alaska is a very large place. I suppose I often went into Northern Canada. It’s hard to distinguish boundaries. I mostly only went where there were no people. Or else I would go out with my tribe to hunt clans of vampires that threatened our people. Three years ago, when I left my tribe, I spent time in Canada with a pack of werewolves for a while, but there was too much tension. I… don’t get along well with others. Even other werewolves. I’m sure you’ve already guessed that though.”

He lifted his hands out of the hot, spring water, moving a wet strand of dark hair out of her face so he could see her better. “After that, I came to America. I’ve been roaming the North for about a year, I suppose, trying to learn how to live as a human. I haven’t gotten very good at it yet.”

He had trouble with not scaring people. He also couldn’t seem to control growling, even as a human. Even when not transformed into a werewolf, he still thought like one. He let his instincts guide him too much, often leading to him either offending or confusing the people around him. Humans found him to be strange and intimidating. He found them to be weak and dull. The relationship was not entertained on either side. People seemed to want as little to do with him as he did with them.

“What about you, Nina?” he asked. “I know you don’t really like to talk about it, but what exactly happened to your father? What happened to you? I know that vampire venom courses through you. You don’t smell like other wolves. You don’t smell like them either, though.”

His voice was a calming, serious baritone, and a slight frown showed on his forehead and in the inquisitive look in his eyes.

Nina enjoyed the warmth of his touch. Together with her own, they created the kind of heat that started wildfires, most literally. She reclined her head back to see him though, once he brought up her father. She knit her brows together and sighed. She would not hold back from Siku. Nina would give him whatever truth the man desired.

"Well..." She took another deep breath, slipping down into the water until she could lean forward and kiss his chest, pressing her cheek to it. Beside her face she rested her hand, flat and open against him. This moment was open, and they had shed not just their garments, but their secrets.

"My father and I are the only ones left in the New Mexican territory where we roamed. There were no other wolves, because there were no vampires... But when vampires did show up, it was my father's responsibility to handle the problem... All in all, the vampires had... killed... my dad. After that, I grew angry. Vengeful. Kill the vampires was my only goal. My father was ripped apart, and I had to bury his pieces in the desert... But I, I was a different story. I sought the small clan of vampires alone, and I went to fight them. I chased them long and far across the state, and finally found them. When I did, I attacked..."

Nina shrugged, letting her head soon lift and rest back at his shoulder.

"I lost that day. I was cut into, bitten, and one had even tried to drink from me. But apparently I taste bad... But their venom coursed through me. Burned my skin. I had been bitten so much that I knew I was going to die. For a while, I began to change. Into something... else. Maybe it was a vampire, that is what I believe. But after a while, I began to heal and the burning stopped, and I was just me again. I had survived the venom. My only theory was that wolf blood canceled out the vampire blood. Although the vampire venom is still there, it is dormant. If it awakens, for some unknown reason, I'll either die... Or ... become something else..."

Her head rested against his bare chest, and he allowed himself a momentary, unseen smile in the dark. It quickly faded, but the emotion behind it remained. He stroked her wet hair, and then his hands rested against the small of her back as she told him about her father, the rain pouring down on them.

It amazed him that after her experiences, Nina would still befriend a vampire. Perhaps she was more accepting, more forgiving than he was. He knew that if he had been in her situation, he would have done the exact same thing. He would have tracked the vampires who attacked a member of his tribe, and given his all, even in a losing battle. He couldn’t imagine being left alive, though. Death would have been a mercy, at least for him. Now Nina stood as a strange hybrid between their two worlds.

His hand lifted out of the steaming water, and he ran the back side of his fingers along her cheek, then tilted her head up, kissing her slowly, his eyes closed, yet the image of her was deeply ingrained in his mind as if she had been burned into the backs of his eyelids.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” he murmured quietly, finally gaining some insight into her psyche. No wonder she took mercy on the blood-suckers. Though they had killed her father, their magic, their venom, coursed through her veins, sleeping yet potent.

“Your brother… Was he not with you and your father?” he asked, recalling the much calmer, gentler, more humane Nathan. Siku still preferred Nina’s fire though. Nathan did not seem as haunted by his fathers death as Nina did. But then, it had changed her very being.

Nina shook her head, giving a moment to pass so that she could relax from the slow embers that had begun to build from the fire of Siku's lips. He was an entrancing man. His lips were the pendulum to hypnotize, that was for sure. She was always under his spell, and he under hers. But she had escaped; for now.

"My brother and I were separated when we were little, when our parents divorced. My mother took my brother, and my father took me. Thus Nathan wasn't as affected by the murder of our dad as I was, although because of our connection, he constantly felt my pain and saw the brutal images, so over time it has affected him surely."

Her body pressed closer, her hands sliding down around his waist and tempting to take a playful and yet dark feel of his rear, but she chuckled and refrained. Instead, she smiled and continued.

"My brother is the one that wanted me to befriend vampires. He said that if I could do so with Jayden, since he is not seeking battles, I could more easily get over my hatred with everyone and everything around me. He wants what's best for me, and that- to him- was to get over my vampiric hatred. And because of it, I think I've set myself up to always be questioned by you. You hate them so, and I wish I could undo what I have done because then it would be easier for us. I only wish I could. It's not really even my fault. I tried to kill Jayden, kind of, at once point..."

She trailed off and stared down at the waiter, her hands sliding around his waist absentmindedly.

Siku sighed, resting his chin atop her head as her hands wrapped around his waist.

“Nina, I can never change what you have done and how you feel, and you can never change me either.” he told her, kissing her forehead. “I… don’t want to change you. Your choices, your decisions, are what make you who you are. And despite how infuriating you can be, and how much we fight, I don’t want to change a thing about you… even the fact that you enjoy the presence of a vampire.” he said, though the last part sounded quite hard, as if he seriously doubted his own words. Deep down, he knew they were true though. Vampires would probably be an issue they would always quarrel on. He couldn’t ever see himself conversing with a blood-sucker…

He shivered from her touch, a jolt of electricity running through him even when her caress was quite innocent. Not as innocently, his warm hand slid down her back, disappearing beneath the water and then following the firm, rounded curve of her rear. A small smile tugged at one corner of his lips, creating a soft, lopsided smirk.

“Too bad you didn’t succeed in killing him.” the tall, dark haired man murmured, blue eyes flashing through the rain. “If you had, we would not have quarreled today.” he said, and then paused. “Although, if we hadn’t quarreled, you wouldn’t be here with me in this hot spring, quite tantalizingly nude.”

Her body was covered by the water, but he looked down as if he had already memorized every part of her, an appraising look on his face. “I may have to thank this vampire after all.”

Leon

The day seemed to buzz by, and the class with Ilena came about. It was strange, and he had to try and hold back blushes from her beauty. It almost seemed like he had fantasized their entire time together the day before. Wow, she had been so amazingly wonderful. And here she was. A beautiful goddess.

Here and there the two parted words and spoke slightly, quiet and more so lost in the gazes of one another. He felt like it were a little infatuation growing between the two; but Leon waved off such a nonsensical idea. Why would Ilena- who could be with any handsome brawny guy in Somers- like lanky Leon?

Soon the bell rang and he gnawed gently on the silver lip ring, thinking that he had wasted his time with the beautiful goddess. He walked close to her, almost stalking her, but she didn't seem to mind. Instead, Ilena stayed quite close. He felt a bit more accomplished then. Like yesterday might've been real after all.

Quickly, Ilena took Leon's hand. The feel of her cold limber fingers lacing with his made a shiver run along his spine. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, his cheeks turned a soft red, and his heart began to thunder excitedly in his chest. As if this meant something.

And thank God, because it did.

"S-sure." Leon said quietly, a bit befuddled at first. But in a moment's elapsed time, he pulled her closer, lifting her hand and placing his warm soft lips against her knuckles. "I'd love to escort you to the park." He said a bit more proudly. His rich deep oceanic blue eyes never left her own, smiling brightly as though he had gotten a million dollars- only better.

"Would you mind if we call it a 'date'?" He then blurted, drawing his lip ring back into to chew on contemplatively.







Nina

She wrapped her arms around Siku's body, leaning closer and taking up his vision as she raised herself to press her fervent lips to his- creating more heat than the hot-spring itself. Her fingers trailed over his skin, admiring every curve and muscle. Enjoying him. He was so very unique. So very handsome, because he was as well so very challenging.

Her fingers trailed up into his hair and she moved forward to place a kiss upon his lips.

"And if not for that vampire, I might not have met the most stubborn, hard-headed, sexy, and totally entrancing werewolf that happens to be right here, naked, in this hot-spring with me."

Her lips met his again, and this time, she didn't break the contact. Instead, she let her passion slowly seek release upon him, hands holding him close as her lips danced happily against his own...

Ilena almost thought that her heart had started to beat again, such was the relief and (what was this other emotion that continued to heat her from the inside, almost seeming to drive away the eternal chill? Again, she shoved the thought away.). He kissed her, well her hand anyway, and the feeling expanded, leaving no room for breath. Beneath his skin, she could feel the faint pulse of his heartbeat, but there was no time for bloodlust at the moment.

Ah, so many memories, memories of innocent, blurred quality that meant humanity to her. None of the razor sharp accuracy of vampire memories. She remembered the little boy from the farm down the road and sneaking off to kiss softly in the dark, both thinking themselves terribly naughty and adult. Leon made her feel like that girl again. Suddenly, she registered what he was saying and not just the wonderful heat of his hand.

"A date?" she echoed mindlessly. Deep inside of her, she knew what the answer should be. What she was doing, puttng him in the middle of was wrong, all wrong. They were getting too close, it was too dangerous, there were too many rules trampled in the dust. The balance between bloodlust and attraction, bad choices and good intentions, his blood and his heart was precarious at best and so frigile at the least. Selfish desires will always tip that balance out of her favor... wouldn't they? Could he see the war in her eyes as clearly as she could see the hope and trust in his?

Slowly, as if to give him time to pull away, Ilena leaned even closer, tilting her head up. She had to raise herself onto her toes a bit to reach him, but then, gently, the tip of her nose skimmed across the underside of his jaw. It was there that his scent was strongest and she held still for a moment, contemplating it. 'We are predators. Either indulge or walk away.' Her "father's" voice echoed strongly in her mind. Both options left her dazed with panic.

And so, she smiled. A bit sadly, a bit recklessly, a bit triumphantly, a bit cockily, Ilena smiled. If she did not like the options presented, she would simply create her own alternative. She would make it work. The breath she had been holding slid gently from her parted lips and she kissed him sweetly there, under his jaw.

"I would like that," she answered, her voice more of a sigh. She pulled away then, very aware of the scene they were making. Still, their hands remained entertwined and she squeezed his hand as softly as she could. "I would like it very much." She could do this, as long as she willed it hard enough.

'I like the color of his eyes much more than the scent of his blood, I think,' she thought.

He pulled away from her, hand trailing through her dark, wet hair that hung heavily down her back, framing her bronze face in inky black. Only years of self-control and self-denial even made it possible for him to control himself. Siku’s eyes searched her face and he slowly shook his head.

“Nina,” he said regretfully, voice a deep rumble. “If we’re going to get to know each other, it’s going to be a lot harder if you do that.”

He looked amused and cradled her cheek in his warm hand. “Perhaps I should not have brought you here. It was a bad idea, and I’m sorry, as much as I enjoy being here with you.”

He looked down at the water and took a step back from her, leaving a foot of space between their bodies which had before been intimately close. “You are yet very young, and I don’t wish to rob you of your innocence. You deserve to live and learn and experience things, and I am rushing you. I have been a bad example.”

He caressed her cheek fondly. “And if we keep going, your brother is going to have a reason to try and rip my throat out, and I do not want to fight Nathan. You have seen much, Nina, but it is fractional in regards to what we can see in our lifetimes. I think we should go back and you should put on some clothes. Perhaps then I’ll be able to control myself when I am around you.”

He stroked her cheek and then let his hand fall, hoping she understood why he felt he had to pull away. The realization of their age gap had opened his eyes and he was set on protecting her- even if it was from himself. He looked at her searchingly, hoping the fierce woman before him did not misunderstand him and
think he was rejecting her. The last thing he wanted was another fight with her.