Talia's Crucible

                Talia couldn’t believe it had been a year already since they had been married.  They had gone through all the red tape to getting her reinstated as a living member of society and had finally been free to start a life together.   Yeah, they had been given a cryptic note by a person who seemed to be even more twisted than Laurent, if that was even possible.  Telling them that their days were numbered and they had no clue as to what that number was, but dang it she was not about to let her life live in fear any more.  She was done with that s**t and she and Tanner were going to get to live the life they never thought they would get.                 As the sun began to sift through the curtains and land on her arms Talia stretched and adjusted her position so she could look at her husband as he slept.  She couldn’t believe she was still able to say that word, husband, it still made her heart speed up and joy fill her.  Now she was looking at him as the sun slowly crept across his skin and couldn’t believe what they had fought through just to get to this moment of peace.  Both of them had their battle scars from the gauntlet they had trudged through and it had forged their fledgling relationship into a sword of the purest steel.                 She lifted her hand and softly traced it down the side of his face, skipping over the skin like the wings of a butterfly.  Many people had stared at them since they had begun to truly live.  I mean the scars were definitely something that caught attention.  She had tried to cover them up at first but Tanner insisted that she had nothing to be ashamed of and that the people who judged her without knowing her were not worth her concern.                 He had a point, but sometimes she still felt a pang of guilt when it came to his.  Tanner’s face now held scars from when Laurent had taken him before the end.  That monster had been obsessed with the amazing depth of green in Tanner’s eyes and had sought to make them a center piece in his twisted art display.  Leaving Tanner with a burned scar on his cheekbone right under his right eye that resembled either an angel wing or fire depending on whose opinion you asked.  One thing that Talia knew, it drew a lot of stares when they were first going out around the town nearby.                 While some thought it was edgy, Talia had been saddened by it at first.  Tanner however, had explained that she had no reason to feel that way.  That he would have gotten a thousand more of them from that monster if he had known that holding her in his arms now would have been the result.  She smiled a little as she thought about the beach they had their honeymoon on where he had given her that little gem to hold on to.  One thing was for sure, her man sure had a way with words, and his tongue was probably silver tipped with the way he could make her swoon with just a few sentences.                 “You know if you wanted to touch me I could think of better places for you to put those hands of yours.”  Tanner’s words caused Talia to jump a little.  She hadn’t realized that he was awake as she was lost in the sensation of his skin and her own thoughts.                 “You know, if I didn’t love you so much, I might just shove you out of this nice warm bed for comments like that.”  She was smiling as she stared into his green eyes.                 Tanner feigned hurt as he grabbed Talia and pulled her to him before kissing her lips.  “You wouldn’t do something so mean, it’s winter after all and you know how much I don’t like being cold.”                 He wasn’t joking.  It had taken her some time to get used to the fact that he had so many comforters in the cabin.  The man practically had a collection of the darn things in every room; you couldn’t go five feet without being able to find one.  It was a serious hoarder moment, honestly.  She had mentioned packing some away once and you would have thought she had suggested getting rid of that old hound on the porch. He was that serious about his blankets.                 Now that the nights had gotten colder though Talia could understand his desire to have a big comfy cloud within reach in every single room of the cabin.  When it got cold here it got super cold.  She could swear a couple of nights she had seen her own breath form in front of her as they talked on the porch swing.   Tanner had also had to make a few adjustments when Talia had moved in.  As much as he hated the cold, she hated being hot.  It was a living example of opposites attracting.                 How silly it was that they were brought together by circumstances beyond their control, but the bond they had was one so strong you would have thought they had known each other for lifetimes.  She looked into Tanner’s eyes and wanted to stay in bed with him forever, but life was not that kind and they both had work to get to today.  Talia had started working with Tanner in the self-defense company he had built.  They had come across many women who were looking for self-defense classes after having been through trauma and dealing with a man had been uncomfortable for them no matter how much they wanted the lessons.  Now, with Talia as a partner they were able to offer classes with a female instructor for those who would prefer it.                 This had left them with a few instances of men booking classes thinking that they would be able to get a free grope out of the lessons as a gag or a fun time for them.  Talia had quickly put those few in their place and eventually word had spread that they were a serious training group and the non-invested bookings soon stopped.  Tanner had wanted to step in the first couple of times they had clients who had booked with Talia simply because they liked the way her body looked.  Talia had insisted that they knew this was going to happen and she needed to nip it in the bud herself for it to actually work.  Bless his heart it had been hard for him to just let her do it, but he had let her do it her way.  It was one of the many things she loved about that man of hers, he understood that it was important to her and never stood in her way.                 Even with all of their joy and success right now, Talia couldn’t help the sense of unease that would sometimes weigh on her.  Tanner wanted to start a family and move on with their lives after everything that had happened to them but she found herself holding back.  She wanted a family, that wasn’t the issue, she just didn’t know if she could bring herself to start one right now knowing that there was another threat out there.  She was worried that if they did end up creating a little bundle of joy for their lives that this hidden threat would come barreling out of the shadows to snatch their happiness away with deadly accuracy and heartbreaking results.  Little did she know that the threat she feared was nearing closer and it didn’t need a reason to sink it’s fangs into their hopes and dreams.  It was planning on stripping away their happiness already, and it was closer than she thought.