"Ride me," he commanded. His hands were on her hips, pulling her down, and her body went along instinctively. He licked, long, slow, licks, and she trembled, her body now moving in slow circles down onto his mouth.
"Oh, Damien," she moaned. "Ohhhh, yes. Yes!"
Her h*ps twitched as his tongue flicked her hard, swollen nub and she gave herself over to the feeling, grinding her h*ps in a rhythm that grew more and more frantic. He sucked her there, and the pressure of his lips and the hard flick of his tongue sent her spiraling out past the point of want and into need. Need. She needed this. Needed him.
"Ahhhhh!"
She screamed as the flash of bliss came through her, riding her as she rode Damien. She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth to muffle the cry, but then she didn't have to—there was no more breath left in her. The waves came fast and furious and she spasmed over and over, Damien's hands guiding her h*ps until she was spent.
Then he licked her, soft licks that verged on tickling. She giggled.
“Now,” Damien said. “Ride me.” He shifted, moving her down, and Julia was careful not to bang into his leg as she eased herself down onto his already hard cock. Despite her slickness, when she slid down onto him she gasped at his immensity.
He moaned, thrusting upwards, and worked his swollen length farther into her. Slow thrusts, out and in. Julia had her hands on his shoulders, bracing herself, and with every motion he made she felt herself clench tighter around him.
Time disappeared as they moved in each other’s arms. It might have been a minute or an hour that they spent rocking back and forth, Damien’s c*ck gliding with a slow friction into Julia’s welcoming core.
She leaned forward and kissed him, and his arms supported her full weight, bringing her close to him. They paused in one upward thrust, Damien’s h*ps raised, piercing her completely. Her lips trembled against his, their breaths mingling between them. Every nerve of hers vibrated in anticipation.
“Julia, I love you,” Damien said.
“I love you too,” she whispered.
He clutched her close as his orgasm came, moaning, biting her shoulder. She felt his shudder and it sent her body into another rolling orgasm along with him, her h*ps spasming with his. Their bodies came together as one, their limbs intertwined, skin on skin.
“Damien! Damien!” She could not stop his name falling from her lips. It was a cry of surrender and of desire, of love and of longing, all at once.
When their bodies slowed and stopped, Julia rolled off carefully and lay beside him, his arms closing around her, enveloping her safely.
“Sleep,” he said, kissing her forehead.
She slept.
The morning of a long journey was always the same for Julia, but this would not be a normal trip. It was dark outside of the windows, chilly from the night air, the grass dewy and the last owls swooping through the tree branches to grab prey before the sun's rays find them out. The sense of anticipation while packing the last few things. The quick beat of breath.
Dee had already shifted into wolf form, and as the pack said their goodbyes, she walked to the edge of the forest and sat there, a pure white wolf waiting at the edge of darkness. Mara went with her and stood in human form, waiting for Julia. The sky had become gray and clouded. Damien struggled to stand on his good leg, and Julia hugged him tightly around the neck, sending her love directly to him and trying to hide the fear she felt.
"Tell Dee thank you," Damien said. "For going with you."
"I will. I'm sure she's just anxious to start. Mara too."
"Be careful. You have the blade?"
"Yes," Julia said. The weight of it in its leather sheath pressed against her hip.
"Come back soon. Come back safe, so that we can ... " Damien's words trailed off.
"So that we can start our family." Julia murmured.
"I love you," Damien said. His hands moved across her face, as though memorizing the contours.
"I love you," Julia said, swallowing hard. The danger of the woods and what lay beyond struck her with immediacy. Before she could change her mind, she turned and crossed the meadow, leaving the pack behind. Leaving Damien behind. She met Mara and Dee, and together the three of them walked into the trees. Julia did not look back, and soon the woods swallowed them into darkness.
They were silent for a long time, walking quickly. Julia was surprised at just how out of shape she was compared to Mara and Dee. Well, it was maybe not the best idea to compare herself to Dee in wolf form, but still! She had to ask them multiple times to stop so that she could catch her breath.
It was a few hours later when the sun was beginning to shine through the branches that Julia's stomach turned over.
"Excuse me," she said, stumbling to the nearest large tree to hide her sickness. She bent over, hands on her knees, trying hard not to retch. Dizziness came over her. They had only been walking a few hours, and already she was being weak. She was ashamed.
"Are you alright?" Mara asked, coming over.
"Fine," Julia said, standing up. She was still dizzy, but the nausea had passed. "Can I have something to drink?"
Mara passed her the water bottle as Dee trotted back, looking up at Julia with questioning eyes.
"I'm fine," Julia told Dee. "Really. Just need something to drink."
"Drink up," Mara said. "We'll be hitting the stream soon and following it up."
"Is the water safe to drink here?" Julia asked.
"Depends where you're getting it from. Near the spring, sure. Down here? Probably not the best. Highway runoff gets in it in places. But we packed enough to last us."
They continued walking as Julia drank, and as Dee moved to scout farther ahead, Mara became more chatty. Julia was happy to talk: it took her mind off of the reason they were traveling and off of her sickness. A light mist fell and Julia raised her head up, letting the light rain cool her face. After so much hiking, it was good to be cold. She lifted the bottle to her lips.
"That mark," Mara said, squinting at Julia's hand. "You'll want to cover it up."
Julia looked down at her hand. The four small red marks looked like claw wounds. Mara reached down and picked up a pinch of moist dirt, then rubbed it onto the back of Julia's hand. The birthmark was obscured. Unless somebody was looking closely, they wouldn't notice.
"Is that if we meet shifters from your old pack?" she asked.
"Yeah," Mara said. She looked up and laughed. "Your hair is bright red, though. I don't know why I didn't think of that." She laughed. "Pretty useless to hide your hand and leave your hair."
"I'm not rubbing mud into my hair," Julia said, laughing.
"Oh well," Mara said. "Gloves would have been better anyway to cover your hands."
"In the summer?"
"Dainty gloves," Mara said.
"Old woman gloves? The fancy kind that go to the elbow?" Julia chuckled.
"This is a very fancy mission," Mara said.
"And a fancy hat with feathers," Julia said. "To cover my hair. If anyone asks, we could tell them we're going to a tea party."
Mara leaned over and spoke in a gruff tone.
"'Pardon me, ma'am. I—ah, I couldn't help but notice you're edging into another pack's territory.'" Julia stifled a groan as Mara clutched her hand to her heart in mock distress. "'Ahhh, how right you are, kindest sir. My utmost apologies.'"
They burst into giggles and Dee appeared in front of them out of the woods, her stare accusing, her eyes crackling red and yellow. She didn't have to speak. Her message was clear, and the two girls closed their mouths. They were outside of their territory now, and would have to stay low to avoid detection.
The rest of the day was spent hiking through hilly territory.
At night, just as the sun's rays had faded completely from the bits of sky overhead, they stopped near a cluster of boulders. Mara tossed her pack down next to one of the boulders and Julia sat down on the ground gratefully. Dee ran off into the woods.
"Where is she going?" Julia asked.
"To scout," Mara said. "She'll circle out a mile or so and make sure there's nobody near."
A mile. Julia was in awe at how fast Dee could run as a wolf. She wondered what it would be like, to run and run and not be tired. The day's hike was catching up to her, and her legs ached. She rubbed them, trying to stave off a strain. Mara walked around the boulder to shift and came back in wolf form, curling up against a boulder. Dee had come back and nuzzled Julia's hand, sitting down. Julia lay next to her grandmother, her head on her pack. Dee's eyes were alert, and Julia realized that she would stand watch. The thought comforted her.
Julia thought she would have a hard time going to sleep, but after just a few minutes she had drifted off.
She dreamt, or maybe it was not a dream, she did not know. All she knew was that the moon was shining somewhere in the trees, and that she must find it. Mara and Dee lay on opposite sides of her, but when Julia got up and began to walk quietly away through the woods, they did not stir in their sleep. Her feet seemed not to make any noise at all, not even the slight crunch of a half-dried leaf.
The moon beckoned her. Slivers of its pale thin light sliced through the pine needles, twinkling over resin-crusted branches. Whenever she thought she had caught it, though, whenever she looked up to where the slivers of moon had splintered through the brush, she saw nothing. Then again, a twinkle! She darted through the branches and stopped cold, arms wheeling in the air to keep from falling into the chasm in front of her. Her toes were on the lip of a sheer drop, complete emptiness in front of her.
She gasped as she regained her balance. The moon shone brightly, full and near. She saw why she had not been able to catch it before—it was just now edging up over the black edge of the mountain, its pale circle swollen with perspective, and the rays of its light broke through the branches sideways on either side of her. She stood frozen on the edge of the cliff.
Dream, was this a dream? Something in the valley called her name, and she strained to see down through the blue moonlit trees. There it was. Julia saw light reflected back at her, twinkling and sparkling like a shooting star. As her eyes adjusted, she saw more of the sparkling lights floating through the woods below, a wide swath of lights carried through the trees.
Maybe it was a change of the wind that brought the rushing sound to her ears, or maybe it was the peculiar taste of the air, but the lights below came into focus all at once when Julia realized what she was seeing.
A stream. Or no, many streams. The light was the moon reflected on the surface of the water, the rippling sparkles moving as the river moved. She let her gaze sweep across the valley, following the lights backward to a single point in the middle of the forest. The wind blew from behind her, pushing her forward and she stepped back quickly, reaching out with one hand to grasp the branch of a nearby tree. She let out her breath, unaware that she'd been holding it while she looked at the moon. A strange chill of fright and disappointment swept through her body. The danger she'd been in, standing right at the edge so high up! And stranger yet—as she'd stood there, she thought that the wind would blow her out towards the streams.