Totem (32 page)

              “Let’s start the questions and I will see if I can answer them,” replies Ty.

              “Well, I am the only girl you let hear that story, correct?”

              “You are the only outside girl, correct.”

              This throws me for a loop. I continue walking flawlessly as if nothing out of the ordinary was said. He is with me now and that is all that matters.

              “So is our relationship similar for the people before you? Did they have to ask to let people in?”

              “Most of the Totems before me married women who were part of the tribes. So they were raised on the legend. They knew the legend to be true so it was never a question of having to introduce them to a new concept.”

              “Would they know they were dating a Totem?”

              “Most of the time they would not.” Even through the darkness I can see my question makes him smile. “Most of the time they would find out later some time during the dating process. Hopefully before marriage though.”

              We arrive at the little pool house. Ty lets go of my hand as we walk up the spiral staircase. He types in the code and we walk inside continuing our conversation.

              “So have there ever been any girl Totems?”

              “No,” replies Ty.

              “Why?”

              “I don’t know. Just the way it is.”

              “Can there ever be a girl totem?”

              “It’s definitely feasible,” replies Ty.

              Now it is time to ask the question that has been weighing on my mind all day. It is a question that I have had for a while now, but was always too scared to ask. It is time to ask the million dollar question.

              “So why did you choose me?” 

              Ty looks at me puzzled.

              “What do you mean?”

              I feel a lump rising in my throat. My emotions start to bubble up. I pause to regain control of my thoughts, myself and my body. The words to say escape me.

              “I don’t know,” I reply. “I mean, there are girls that know the stories and I am sure it would have been ten times easier.” I quickly swallow the giant lump gathering in my throat. “Just why ME?”

              Ty looks confused. To fill the silence, he walks into the kitchen and pulls out a wine bottle. His lean muscular arms reach up into the cupboard retrieving a glass. There is nothing but silence. The only sound is the liquid hitting the glass as Ty fills it. He sits the bottle down on the counter and slides the glass over to me. Then he grabs an Abita beer out of the fridge for himself.

              “I wanted you to hear the story the way it was meant to be told,” replies Ty. “When I approached the elders about it, I told them it would be safer for you to know. They knew the vampires saw you as a target and you needed to know everything. It is part of being in a relationship with me. They agreed…”

Ty peels the label off his bottle of beer. He looks down at it for a while. I know he is not finished with speaking so I stand patiently waiting sipping on my wine. I watch as he picks at the corner of the label. Finally, with the same resolution he had the day of our first kiss, he looks up. His eyes meet mine.

“I also told them that I wanted you to know the truth because I love you.” There is no smile. There is no joking tone. His words are spoken from the heart. “Of course, they were more inclined to tell you for the first reason. It was the more rational reason was what they told me.”

My heart leaps at the sound of Ty saying ‘I love you.’ It is the three words that are more romantic than the time on the beach. Not only that but it is the first time a boyfriend has said it to me. My heart begins to race quicker as I realize how much I want to say it back. Ty smiles at the sound of my racing heart.

Damn my heart for giving it away. I think. Play it cool, Kimber.

“So you love me?” I ask as I walk into the kitchen and look him in the eyes.

Ty places his beer on the counter. He turns around, rests his arms on my shoulders and begins to gently play with my hair. He pauses doing nothing but stare deeply into my eyes.  I smile at him hoping to coerce him into breaking the silence.

“Yes, Kimber, I love you.”

Then he kisses me. I kiss him back. He pulls away and looks at me as if expecting something in return.

“That’s all I wanted to hear,” I reply with a sly smile as I pull away from him, “time to take a shower and wash off this smoke from the fire.”

I walk quickly away leaving Ty hanging in the kitchen. I grab my bag and head for the bathroom. I smile back at an astounded Ty. I throw my bag on the bathroom floor closing the door behind me. I know exactly what I am doing. With a mischievous smile, I fling the door open and run out jumping into Ty’s arms knowing he will catch me. Ty will always catch me. I give him a huge kiss.

I probably should have thought this out better I think feeling beer splash on my shirt and trickle down my back. The liquid is really cold, but makes the moment more real. Little imperfections that happen during special moments that are supposed to be flawless sometimes make things in life real. I kiss him again, this time deeper and harder. He adjusts my body shifting all the weight to his one hand. I hear the distinct clink of his bottle as he sits it on the counter. Then I feel his hand on me again. Both of his hands grab my thighs and hoist me up to his level.

Finally I release those three words back to him. It is the three words he gave me to hold and it has so much power over him. I cannot stand it. I want him to have the same power over me.

“I love you.” I whisper to him as he holds me there against his body. My feet wrap around his waist. A smile crosses his face as he turns me around and sits me on the counter. Then he kisses me. He kisses me deeper and with more urgency than he has ever kissed me.

His hands begin to travel from my thighs up the contours of my body with each little kiss he gives me. My own hands begin to slowly find his body. Slowly he works his fingers up to my neck. Leaning down, he kisses me just above my collar bone sending shivers down my spine. All of a sudden he grabs my hair and his kisses are back on my mouth. I cradle his face in my hands holding on to this beautiful man as our mouths become greedier for each other. I kiss back with even more urgency. Our mouths become more passionate as we express physically the three words we spoke verbally.

I feel something growing on Ty. In response, I push my hips quickly forward against his groin. I know Ty’s wishes are to go slow but his body betrays him. I only hope to quicken the process as I press against him squeezing my legs around him.

Immediately the kisses stop and the animal within Ty growls. I open my eyes and look at him. His head is lowered, but his eyes stare at me with raw animal instinct. For a split second, I swear the color of his eyes are different. The light chocolate brown is replaced with golden yellow. If I had more time to scrutinize, I would have sworn they are glowing. I blink my eyes to get a better look. Just as quickly as they turned yellow, they are back to brown.

“You’re trouble,” Ty states.

He takes a step back to regain composure as his hands rub up and down my thighs. I feel myself getting a little insecure. I know he wants to go slow, but I am ready. For once in my nineteen years of living, I feel truly ready to take that next step with a guy. I let out a deep sigh and look down at his hands rubbing my thighs.

“Hey,” says Ty as he lowers his head to my line of vision. “It will happen. There are just some things I want to prepare you for.”

‘Prepare you for’ sticks in my mind. Those are the words that no lady wants to hear. Usually they mean something bad. Usually they mean there is something wrong. I let out a very deep, long frustrated sigh. I want to say something, but know the words will come out wrong. So I drop it and gave him one more kiss.

“Can you help me turn on the shower?” I ask.

“Of course,” replies Ty as he lifts me off the counter. We walk towards the bathroom hand in hand.

In my haze to make an entrance to my ‘I love you’ for Ty, I did not get a chance to take a good look at the bathroom. The sink and toilet contained the same stainless steel and granite theme of the kitchen. The shower, however, is completely different. The corner circle itself is made completely of glass opaque tiles that are designed to let in light from outside. They are all dark now matching the night reflecting only the light from inside. On the same wall of the opaque glass is a bench of black granite. On the back wall is something I have never seen anywhere in real life. It seems to be only a thing rich people would do. There on the back walls set in the black tile are three silver shower heads extending out and pointing down to the ground. They are waterfall showers. All of this can be seen through the clear glass wall framing the shower. It is the most luxurious shower I have ever seen. Inside I jump for glee at the anticipation of trying this out for myself.

“That is an awesome shower.”

“That was my only contribution to the setup of this place.”

I give Ty a look. He shrugs his shoulders.

“I like showers,” states Ty defensively as he opens the glass door to the monstrosity in front of us. “Here is hot and here is cold.”

Ty turns them on and begins messing with the nobs. I watch him as he adjusts it to an appropriate temperature. I unzip my jacket revealing my bathing suit top and throw it on my bag. Jokingly, Ty pulls on my bikini strings as we he walks past me. He goes to a closet and retrieves a fresh towel.

“The water should be fine now.” He states handing me the towel.

I look over at the big shower. Steam rolls off billowing over the top of the glass.

“Thank you,” I reply.

Ty nods as he reaches for the door to leave the bathroom. Immediately, I grab his hand. I did not mean to. I didn’t do it on purpose, but something deep inside makes me. Ty looks up. I do not meet his eye contact directly.

What are you doing?! I think to myself. I am acting on impulse. I started it now I just need to say what I am thinking. I look up into those beautiful brown eyes.

“The shower is big enough for two,” I say with a coy smile.

My new plan is to wear him down. Eventually he will have to give in. Ty looks at me doubtful. The word NO is written all over his face. He seems resolute to keep me chaste for as long as he can. My heart begins to sink as I let go of his hand. Slowly my thoughts turn inward as the problem being me comes to mind. I know he said he loves me, but for a brief moment, I feel rejected. Dejected, I turn my back away from him and face the shower.

“I’ll be out there soon,” I state. I let out one deep sigh as I hear the door click open. I feel the cool air from the other room creep in and hear the door close. I stand there a few seconds. I tried.

I cannot let this get to me. He is just being a gentleman. I reach up and begin untying the strings around my neck. Suddenly I feel a tug on the lower strings of my top. I jump straight up in the air and quickly turn my head around to see Ty smiling. He is concentrating on untying my top. I feel the whole thing loosen and then fall to the ground exposing me to the air in the bathroom. Ty rubs his hand on my bare back caressing my skin sending shivers down my spine. I melt in place. This is a very pleasant surprise. He leans in and kisses my shoulder.

“Just a shower,” states Ty, “No funny business. You got it?”

His voice is soft but stern. I nod my head to agree. Slowly, I turn around. Like all guys would, Ty’s eyes immediately look at my bare chest.

“Damn,” replies Ty.

I let out a giggle then lean in and give him a peck on the lips. My hands find the bottom of his shirt. Slowly, I lift up peeling it off of his body allowing my hands to run up the contours of his etched torso.  He lifts up his arms helping me to pull his shirt off exposing his broad bare chest. I stand staring at Ty. I am familiar with the upper part of his body, but it is like looking at an amazing painting. No matter how many times you see the painting, you can’t help but stare and speculate finding something new to look at that your eyes previously missed. Today’s speculation is how it would feel pressed up against my bare chest. A small smile comes across my lips at the thought. I stare in admiration letting his chest and abs become something increasingly familiar to me. It is the region below the waist that still holds mystery.

Ty places his hand on my hips. I look into his eyes. They are staring back into mine. He leans in and kisses me with soft tender kisses. My nipples brush his bare chest sending a whole new sensation through my body. Slowly I reach in and untie the string on his swim trunks. They fall to the ground effortlessly resting lightly on top of my toes.

Now a new feeling comes over me. I have never seen a fully naked man before. Excitement mixed with pleasure shoots through my body. Shyness begins to build up inside as the magnitude of this momentous event comes to be realized. Hesitant, my eyes stay closed as my lips remain locked on Ty’s. His hands on my waste move down ward finding the strings on my bikini bottoms as we continue to kiss. He tugs at the knot with the one hand struggling with the strings. I laugh and begin helping him. Not claiming defeat over a bikini, Ty immediately pulls my hands away. He presses his palms on my hips between skin and material to slowly move them downward. My breath hitches as my bottoms shift and stretch making room for its two new occupants.