Winter's Fury - Volume Two of The Saga of the Twelves (61 page)

Anthony smiled, a little
surprised he did not feel the least bit embarrassed. “I couldn’t
help myself, Sophie,” he breathed and kissed her on the tip of her
nose. He continued to her chin, no more than brushes as light as a
feather falls. “I’ve never held a beautiful woman in my arms
before.”

She giggled a throaty
giggle and kissed him back on his chin. She paused to hold the
tight flesh there between her teeth before she let go. “I never had
a man make me shake in his arms before.”

He moved his hand to her
back, wrapping them around her and hugged her to him. He turned his
head to the right to kiss the top of her earlobe few times as soft
as he could manage. Beneath the moistness of his lips, he felt the
fuzzy hair that grew there.

She hugged him back,
kissing his collarbone through his shirt, tracing it with the tip
of her tongue. “I am falling in love with you, Anthony,” she
whispered as she began kissing his shoulder. A moment later, she
laid her cheek upon it, resting in his embrace.

He trembled in spite of
himself, stricken senseless by the stark simplicity of her
feelings, unfettered, pure. He blinked a few times. His own
emotions began to rise to the surface of his mind, starting to
coalesce into something he could understand. Like the rush of heat
he had felt earlier, he warmed in places the space heater at his
feet could not reach, certainty snapping into place.

He knew.

“
I think I already have…
Sophie. I think I am in love with you,” he confessed, feeling of
the trepidation he carried lift from him. The air about him seemed
to brighten.

She came away from him,
gazing into his eyes, back into the depths of his mind.

Under normal
circumstances, he would have shrunk back. Or, he would have masked
himself behind a casual or funny expression, but this time he did
not. He just stared back, honest, open, his metaphorical chest bare
before her frank examination.

“
You do?” It was not
pleading or needy or even a question per se, though she had framed
it as such. It was as near a statement as one could
make.

“
I do.”

She sighed and peered down
at their bodies still pressed together.

Their hearts beat to a
biorhythmic symphony that only nature could compose.

Anthony followed her gaze
and saw her breasts budding against him. He flushed again,
stirring.

She looked up at him once
more. “Kiss me, Tony. Kiss me. Let me tell you with my lips that I
love you, too.”

He placed his lips on
hers.

She parted them with her
tongue, eager now, clinging to him, her actions fervent.

He could taste the
feminine sweetness, the warm moistness of her. He smashed her to
him again, feeling powerful urges infuse him once more, before he
knew what he was doing. He ground his hips into hers and she
responded in kind. He filled and lengthened between them in
seconds. He kneaded the solid curvature of her rear end.

Again, she mashed her
pelvis into his.

He groaned in
ecstasy.

Of a sudden, Sophie opened
her eyes in amazement and he felt her go rigid with
comprehension.

He looked into her eyes,
coming back to himself, no longer lost in a dream.

“
Anthony!” she gushed,
breathless. She pulled back a few inches. “W-what…?” was all she
could manage.

“
I know… I know,” he
mumbled through a clouded mind.

She swallowed hard. “I
was… I was…”

“
I know, so was I.” He
gulped as well and moved his hands to the small of her back, a
safer place.

“
Baby, I
lost it. I mean… I -.” She was looking at him half-terrified,
half-astonished over the bawdy sensations rampaging through her
body. “I wanted to… I
wanted
you
that
way. Oh my, I never have wanted it like that
before. I was willing to go all –.”

“
I know. It was good. And,
I… I wanted you too. I swear it felt like I was in an oven,” he
blurted out, interrupting her, the words tumbling from
him.

She titled her head back
toward the ceiling of the store and laughed aloud. She shook her
head back and forth, her hair streamed below, waving in unison.
“What’s wrong with me, Tony. It’s not like I’ve never kissed a boy
before,” she stated more to herself than to him.

He chuckled and held her
at the sides, making her wiggle in his grasp. “Same here, it’s
just… I’ve just never had a girl kiss me back like you just did. I
mean with more than just her lips, but with... other things.” He
was blinking rapid, embarrassed to admit he had felt her sexual
response to his body.

Through the darkness, he
could see her eyes squint. She smiled. She went a little limp in
his grasp. “I told you, my love, I’m lost in your arms.”

“
I felt it and was
pleasantly surprised myself.”

“
I know
I felt
that
too!”
she countered, sly, tilting her head to the side and peering at him
from the corner of her eyes.

He was not sure if he was
ready to mess around over a topic as personal and serious as the
one they were discussing, so he stayed quiet. He was content to
nod, letting her know he understood.
Better to look shy, then to look like an
idiot
, he thought to himself.

“
My kiss had intent behind
it,” she muttered, leaning forward to whisper into his ear. She
relaxed again and rested her head against his shoulder. She had
accepted what had happened, accountable for her actions.

He stroked her hair,
running his fingers through it.

She looked up at him, her
face full with sincerity. “I don’t think I’ve ever done that with a
boy to tell you the truth.”

“
I believe you.” He smiled
above her head, thankful he had been the first recipient of such an
intimate act.

“
You do?” her voice was
hopeful.

“
Of course, I do.
Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been as shocked as you were there at
the end. You wouldn’t have stopped and kept on going. The whole
thing would’ve been familiar and we would’ve… well, you know…,” he
explained. He blushed at the idea of them having sex. In his heart,
he hoped she would not catch on to the notion that he would not
have minded if they had indeed continued. Having Sophie Reed would
be a prize beyond reckoning.

“
Please don’t think that
I’m some type of hoochie-mama or something like that, ok? Because,
I’m not. I usually have to push boys off me,” she sighed again, her
eyes searching, squinting when she realized the obvious. “It’s just
different with you, Anthony. I can’t explain it. Maybe it has to do
with this place or our ‘situation’. It’s just… I don’t know. I just
can’t explain myself. I mean. I liked it. I was comfortable enough
with you to want it. I just had not expected it so soon, I guess. I
just don’t know, sorry.”

He brushed off her apology
with a shake of his head. “Well, just for the record, I don’t think
you’re a hoochie-mama. I think you are wonderful. I’m the luckiest
guy in the world to have you in my arms right now,” he cajoled,
wanting her to feel at ease. It was natural, after all, to be
physically attracted to someone, right? Sooner or later, it was
bound to happen.

Her smile was broad. “Do
you always have that way of saying the right thing to a girl at the
right time or what?” She frowned, abrupt, a new thought coming to
mind. “Wait a minute…”

“
What?”

“
Come to think of it,” she
continued, serious now. "There are few guys in this world at the
moment, so you might be in this position by default more than
anything else. Maybe luck has nothing to do with it, ever think of
that?”

He laughed, light,
good-natured. “Well, whatever it is, all I know is it is strong and
compelling. Which could be dangerous you know…,” he trailed off, an
ominous extinguish of sound.

“
Yes. It is dangerous,”
she agreed with a cute nod of her head.

“
I mean, we could lose
complete control of ourselves. We could become helpless against our
own desires…” He was smiling now, a gleam in his eye.

“
Oh really?” she said with
her eyebrows raised. She was being playful now.

“
Yeah, girl. You’re
dangerous,” his voice had dropped to a whisper once again. He bent
down to kiss her once more.

She was about to respond
in kind when they both realized that they could see each other. The
shadows had retreated. They were now surrounded by
light.

They both turned toward
the source, blinking, trying to adjust to the newfound brilliance.
Yet, they did not let go of one another. It only took a moment to
see it was Joaquin, holding one of the many battery operated
lanterns before him.

He let the device fall to
his side, some of the brilliance of the light diminished. He
cleared his throat, looking awkward. “I’m sorry if I’m
interrupting, you guys. It’s just that I need to talk to Anthony,”
he said. He shuffled from one foot to the next, not looking at
them, in obvious discomfort.

“
Sure, man, don’t worry
about it. We were just talking…,” he trailed off, then yelped like
a startled puppy when Sophie tickled him along both sides of his
body.

Joaquin shook himself,
abashed.

“
What’s up?” Anthony asked
when he was able, pushing the girl’s hands away.

“
I need to speak to you…
alone,” was all Joaquin said with an apologetic shrug in Sophie’s
direction.

Anthony stared at him for
a while.

The other boy stared
back.

“
You’re serious?” queried
Anthony.

“
Yes, I am.” Then he
looked back at Sophie. “No disrespect, Soph. It’s just necessary
that I talk with him in private right now.”

To Anthony’s discontent,
Sophie disentangled herself from him, stepping to the side. “It’s
ok, Joaquin, I understand. It has something to do with your Gift,
right?” she asked, trying to pry some sort of clue from the large
teen.

Joaquin smiled in relief,
some of the tension in his body dissipated. “Yeah, you could say
that.”

“
Ok, you guys talk. I will
see what the others are doing.” She wrung her hands, turning to
leave.

At the last second, she
turned back to Anthony and gave him a quick hug and a peck on the
lips, saying, “When you can, tell me, ok?”

Anthony gazed down at her
pale skin, into her sharp, blue eyes, nodding. Before he could
think of anything else, the sight of her overwhelmed him.
Regardless of Joaquin’s urgent request, he wanted nothing more than
to her kiss her until his lips hurt. He wanted to feel her body
against his. If he could, he would never stop.

Sophie backed away, her
eyes faceted on Anthony. She mouthed a silent, “I love you.” Then,
she turned and half-walked, half-trotted toward the back of the
store and the rest of the group.

Both boys watched her
leave – one staring at her with open admiration, the other filled
with dreadful knowledge.

Joaquin had the
indomitable task of telling her boyfriend that soon he would have
to sacrifice his life to save them all.

Being the Kring-Hël was
not entirely without a downside.

The large teen
grimaced.

There was no other
way.

~~~~~~~<<<
ᴥ
>>>~~~~~~~

~ 36 ~

A Stab in the
Dark

Day Four, Sunday, As Soon
as Sophie was Gone…

“
So what’s up?” asked
Anthony, the moment Sophie was out of earshot.

Joaquin looked from the
lithe, athletic form of his newfound friend’s girl with a heavy
heart. “Come on, dude, let’s go sit down by the heater. It’ll be
warmer,” he replied without answering.

They both moved closer to
the space heater. It was churning along on full power, trying to
keep the cold outside the building from coming in and gaining a
foothold. Even at close proximity, it was not one hundred percent
successful.

Joaquin sat and looked out
at what he could see of the storm. It did not seem like weather at
all. It was too insane, too angry. It was like a living organism,
monstrous, unrelenting. Hearing the periodic protestations of the
doors was worrisome. The wind was pounding at them without mercy.
He wondered if would crash through them given enough time.
That would be bad
, he
though. They might have to leave. But, where would they
go?

He realized with a start,
Anthony had not sat down with him. Rather, he stood above him with
a frown etched across his face, hands in the pockets of his new
jeans. He was implacable, stern.

“
What’s going on
Joaquin?”

“
Just sit down, man.
You’re making my neck cramp.”