Of Love and Lycans

Chapter 5

    By the time Nevaeh and Levi found Ofa, the song was already halfway through, yet they were able to dance for a few minutes before the DJ cut the music and made an announcement that their hosts would be sharing a few words. The crowd didn’t move; instead, a low chatter hummed throughout the foyer as they waited and mingled where they had been dancing.

    Fanning her neck, Nevaeh took a few breaths trying to cool herself off. There were too many bodies stifling the air around her and generating enough heat to contend with Global Warming, or maybe it was just her unnatural wolfie body heat that was attempting to sweat her out. But seriously, her dress fell to mid-thigh, and simply spaghetti strapped around her shoulders, so it had plenty of ventilation.  How am I already this hot?  She shouldn’t be dying right now after maybe two minutes of dancing.

    Nearly excusing herself from her cousins to go grab a water bottle, which she thinks she remembered was in a large tin bucket of ice in the kitchen, a booming voice assaulted everyone’s attention overhead. It came from the balcony that bowed out in a semi-circle of decorative silver filigree balusters and black banister. Heads jerked upward and clapped as they cheered at the speakers above, one of which lifted his hands to shush the crowd so he could speak. 

    Nevaeh was star-struck as she followed everyone else, looking up at the birthday boy, which turned out to be plural. Twins. Two mouth-watering, gorgeous men who look nearly identical except on how they chose to style their hair. The one who stood nearer to the edge of the balcony, his strong hands gripping the banister, wore his hair a little longer, with a tease of curl, tousled in a black mass haphazardly laying across his head, while his brother, who was planted at his side, had more of trimmed, slicked back pompadour. Dressing nearly opposite in a casual choice of clothes, one wore completely white while the other black: cargo pants, shirt, and unzipped hooded jacket. The only thing that strayed from the color scheme was the belt that looped around their waist, being the opposite color.  

    Not that she was paying any attention to the twin who was wearing black, even though they were identical. The one who was wearing all white, who was speaking to the crowd, had drawn her in like an old song that came on the radio. The familiarity, the heart-tethering link, the undeniable connection to the soul. So, here she was, mouth opened, which may or may not have been drooling, staring like a stalker-i***t at this delicious stranger whose voice kneaded her stomach into so many knots. 

    And she thought she had felt hot before...

    His voice was accented with something other than British, deep, loud enough to capture the room, luscious enough for any hot-blooded animal to salivate. “I hope you’re all having a good time?” The crowd cheered in acknowledgement. He continued after the noise settled. “Although sharing my birthday with Sébastien is tiresome,” he looked at the man standing beside him, who smirked with a noted eye-roll as the crowd chuckled, “we appreciate sharing this day with you. I can see you all definitely brought your plus one with you… and then some,” the crowd laughed.

    His mouth opened to perhaps follow up his jibe with something clever, but as his eyes swept the crowd, they caught Nevaeh, and whatever he had planned to say had choked up in his throat. Arrested for endless seconds that seemed like an eternal moment, they stared at each other. Her chest pounded so aggressively, that she feared it would make her permanently deaf and burst out of her body like that morbid alien movie.

    Before the stare became noteworthy to the crowd, the birthday boy audibly cleared his throat, blinking rapidly a few times before his attention swung back over the throng of people. Simply,  “Thanks again! Please, enjoy the rest of your evening.” The crowd hailed in applause, and as the DJ hit the play button nearly immediately, the horde didn’t miss a beat as they began to dance once more.

    Amid the throw of bodies, Nevaeh continued to watch him, unable to rip her eyes away. He, too, found her again and for another mindless moment, the world melted away; it was only he up on the balcony, and she in the center of his foyer below. But as he pulled from the edge of the mezzanine, she could no longer see him, and the enchantment severed. Though that feeling from earlier lingered there, just sitting over the lip, out of sight. Shifting attention to the stairs, she had hoped he would be shuffling down and joining his party. Joining her.  But her stake-out was interrupted by Levi bumping his hip into hers.

    Shooting him a questioning look, he laughed. “Come on, Nev. Dance with us!” He prodded as he swung his body again into her. She laughed, giving him a hip-bop of her own. "There you go! Get that body moving. Feel the music." Feel the music? The one pumping in her ears courtesy of the DJ at the turn-table or the one thundering in her chest courtesy of the Romeo on the balcony?

    Nevaeh caught herself looking at the stairs again, but their vacant steps held no promises. Turning back to her cousins, she smiled and willed herself to sync with the excitement of everyone around her, which turned out to be easier than she had thought. Ignited by the wild pulse of music and the raving crowd, and perhaps the lull of strawberry liquor still eddying away her inhibitions, Nevaeh became one with the mob.

    Slave to the intoxicating cadence of the song that was designed to make girls throw panties if a man played his cards right, the sultry rhythm provoked her body to writhe and sway. Lost within a mind-numbing haze, Nevaeh moaned as she closed her eyes, hips gyrating as her hands slowly moved up her sides, glazing over the edge of her breasts, and continuing upward until they cupped her face. 

    What the hell was making her so hot? 

    Why couldn't she think straight?

    Her solo dance was short-lived when large hands gently braced her hips, pulling her back until she hit a solid body. Nevaeh did not turn to look to see who it was, didn’t need to. She could feel who it was. It was him!  Blindly accepting the invitation, she placed her hands on top of his and marveled at the strength she felt in them with just a simple touch, feeling something like pins and needles stirring just under her skin like they were on fire. Nevaeh shuttered, exhaling at the excitable energy flowing between them. His hands tensed under hers, his fingers digging into the dress at her hips, and she could hear his breath hitch against the side of her head when she touched him. Submitting, she let him take over the dance, one of his hands sliding up from her hip to the center of her lower abdomen, then pressing her back fully against him.

     An audible sigh licked from her lips as she was pressed back, now flush on his hard chest, her ass grinding into his groin as they gyrated, synced in perfect rhythm. The friction caused a fast spreading wildfire to burn throughout her body and smolder at her core.

    Lost in the sensation that pulsed through her in wicked array, Nevaeh’s head fell back, resting at the crook of his shoulder. Inhibitions abandoned, her face turned into his neck, lips grazing over it as an insatiable need to taste him conquered better judgement. Sparks whirred between them and her lips hummed when their skin touched, giving him an intimate kiss.

    He groaned, “Oh, s**t!” White-knuckling, his hands bunched her dress where he held it, inadvertently causing it to raise a little further up her thighs. Unaware that he had stopped their dance, Nevaeh remained swooning against his shoulder, licking her lips in the attempt to still taste him there.

    In a swift movement, he turned her around to face him, his hands gripping her bare shoulders, which propelled the same shared sensations of when she had kissed him. She felt his fingers shaking, or was it her own body that trembled? Everyone else around them seemed to melt away again into white noise as she and he got caught within a stare once more, words were lost but the unspoken, unseen, undeniable energy pulsed; talking was not necessary.  

    His eyes were green but haloed in a burning gold that flashed as they fled over her face and caressed down her body in a gentle sweep. And she couldn’t help but do the same, gawping over his beautiful visage which was much more exquisite up close with a strong jaw that had hints of stubble slightly hiding an adorable cleft chin.  Her attention glued to his perfect kissable lips for a moment before flashing back to his mesmerizing eyes, realizing, as a blush inflamed her skin, that those eyes had locked back onto her face as well.

    Without another word, his fingers laced hers and pulled her through the crowd and to the winding staircase on the right. Wedged within the haze that was strawberry liquor, the haze that was him, she didn’t remember climbing up to the second level, didn’t remember the hallway, didn’t remember entering a bedroom and closing the door behind them, but her mind snapped to attention when a pulsing energy sparked its way down her spine when his hands gripped her head as he pulled in for a fervent kiss.

    “Why don’t you smell right?” he breathed between a battery of kisses. “You don’t smell like you should.” His tongue dipped into her mouth, seeking hers, making it impossible to answer any of his questions as the delirium rose within her and seared her core. The kiss was hot and her whole world was set on fire when he braced her fully against him, feeling his own arousal pressing into her abdomen.

    In an effortless sweep, his arms engulfed Nevaeh, picking her up off the floor, and instinctively, her legs hugged around his waist. Enthralled, their mouths could hardly bear the absence of one another, he shuffled toward the king-sized bed, crawling over the large mattress with her tucked against him until they found the center. Gently, he laid her down, never once letting their bodies separate as he lowered himself atop of her and continued to assault her lips, cheeks, throat in lust-driven caresses.

    “I’m Aron,” he struggled, his heated breath feathering over her lips. “What’s your name?”

    She heard the question but her mind muddled the words as the s****l sensations over-powered all coherent thought. What is my name? Oh s**t, his lips feel so good. Why are we still wearing clothes? Sliding inside his jacket, her hands skated up his chest to his shoulders where she pushed his coat off. For a moment, Aron pulled away from her as he shook it from his arms and discarded it quickly; but only a moment. Within seconds, he reclaimed her, his contact rejuvenating the rapture of electricity to course through her body. She panted against his lips; his own gasp also choking the kiss for a second before he dove his tongue in, seeking hers.

    Grappling his shirt and lifting it over his head within seconds, Nevaeh melted even more as she drank in his expansive, muscular chest. “s**t,” she marveled.

    Drawn like a magnet, her hands couldn’t help but touch, trace, knead over all the curves and peaks of it, continuing to flee downward and crossing the border of his v-line, causing a release of his own shaking, pleasurable groans. Driven to explore further, her fingers fled to his belt, and he pushed himself up a little to allow her access to work the clasp. When she had it unbuckled, as she worked the button of his pants, Aron’s hands also began to wander, flooding down her body and resting on her thigh, shaking her senses enough to nearly forget what she was doing.

    “Name, please!” He begged as his hand continued, trailing up her thigh, bringing her dress’ hem along with it. Even before he reached her sensitive area, her stomach spun in anticipation, gasping as her body arched, begging him to touch her.

    “I’m…” she huffed against his mouth as his fingers worked around her panties, finally finding its destination. “I’m… I’m yours!” Nevaeh nearly shouted amid the frenzied butterflies within her stomach. A low growl rumbled deep in his chest as he ripped her panties completely off, giving him complete and undeniable access. His fingers played in delicate touches, which grew to meaningful caresses as Nevaeh’s groans intensified.

    “MINE!” He barked as he crashed onto her lips in a bruising kiss.