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Post by Ventia on May 12, 2023 0:22:29 GMT -5
He barely flinched while Quill told him the whole story, to be honest he never truly looked into her case. At most, he glanced through it or listened absentmindedly as someone back then told him her issues or specifically her cousin's. But it hadn't mattered to Keith how she had come to him, only that she was now unmistakably stuck with him. At first, she had just caught his eye along that sad and pitiable lineup of broken girls already sobbing their lives away.
No, Tranquility had been brave. All fire. All hate. Those bright blue eyes of hers holding a promise.
He liked the change and sensed a challenge in the air, one that he hadn't had in a long time. Not since Ventia at least. So he decided she'd be his toy for the night, maybe a week or less. Before he gave his men his sloppy seconds as she would have proved dull to him by the end of the week. That had been the plan, that was always the plan, but it hadn't happened that way.
"Do you remember me being surprised when I felt the tingles?" He licked his lips, remembering the way he had freaked out and demanded some explanations.
"I'm sure you thought I was stupid. What wolf-no, what shifter-wouldn't know what those tingles meant. Mates." Keith chuckled at the word, closing his eyes as he sucked in a sigh of a breath, he shook his head, his hand coming to rub at his neck where her mark still laid.
"Do you know how long I've searched for my so-called mate? Years. Almost all my life. Women who I think we're a good match and yet when I touch her? Nothing. Why not? They attract me. They bring these emotions out of me. I feel protective over them. Why aren't they mine then? Maybe I need to break them in? Maybe I need to train them to love me, adore me, as I do them."
Keith opened his eyes, the gold licked at the darkness in the room, making everything tunnel in for him, centering on Quill's face.
"Never worked, let's just say that. Someone once told me I would never have a mate, that I would be cursed for all eternity, that I was sick in the head and no one could ever grow to love me." His lip curled over on its own accord, showing his teeth that looked more sharp than it was supposed to in that moment.
"I was shocked that day, to think I would finally find you, in such a situation. Of course in that kind of situation. You would always hate me, she was right, you would never love me. And I was already interested in you even before I touched your skin. Your flare of life in your eyes. That rebellious nature. The promise of sweetness when you finally caved into me, when you'd willingly surrendered yourself to me. You were different from the moment I laid eyes on you, some part of my brain recgonized something in you that wanted you around."
"That only grew in time, every touch, every smart word coming out of that mouth, every kiss, each night that I sank myself into you and found myself sleeping peacefully for the first time in years? Who knows if you being my mate had anything to do with it, all I knew, all I cared about, was keeping you by my side."
"I wanted you to like me, I wanted to make you happy, even in that crappy situation, even when countless people around me, because of me, were dying and being made into sex slaves, I didn't care. I had you. I had all the money in the world. I had power. Power to do whatever the fuck I wanted, and you were still where I left you. I liked you being up there, waiting on me. I liked restricting your contact with the world, why? Because that meant I had you to myself. I could spend my time figuring out just what I felt for you, just what you meant for me, and what I meant to you."
"Is it wrong of me to have wanted to believe we could be real mates to one another? That you could love me? Maybe even change me to be a better man? My mother always told me, one day, the right woman would come into my life and see me for who I truly am. And when that happens, I would finally become the man she knew I would be." He smiled and let go of his shoulder.
"Don't feel guilty. Blame me. It was, everything was, my fault. You are amazing Quill, sacrificing yourself? Feeling guilt when nothing was your fault? That's, you are," He breathed out, shaking his head, "You're everything I want. Everything I need. I thought I could break you in that little time? You broke me, you touched every single broken and mad and sane part of me, and I fell for you. You opened my eyes. You could never wash away all the bad in me, or the sins trailing behind me, but you have made me crave for another life."
"A life with you. With our son. With more on the way if I'm lucky enough. I want to watch you be free, even if I desperately want to cage you up for myself, it's not worth it because you look so much happier when you're doing things your way. And I'll keep trying to have that kind of life. Unless you really hold no feelings for me, unless I'm absolutely sure, I won't stop."
"But I would like it if you could at least tell me if I still have a chance...throw me a bone here." He chuckled again, but it barely felt funny, for his chest was tight and his hands were balling into fists, and he felt tired and hopeful and more emotions side by side as he laid out all he could at that moment while awaiting her response.
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Post by Thea on Jun 5, 2023 20:40:03 GMT -5
There it was. The feeling of panic that she should have had when he first dragged her in here. It came slowly, starting with the shortness of breath. Quill did remember the day they found each other. Yes, it had been strange that he seemingly didn't know what the tingles meant for two werewolves. She had wished for the same blissful ignorance. Yet it was like fate was a cruel mistress, reminding her of the onslaught of emotions she felt. Disbelief, confusion, and despair. What had she done to have such a monster as a mate?
Her head shook slightly as if she could dislodge this growing panic. Logic knew that the walls weren't closing in. That the bond they shared wasn't so spectacular that he could sift through her thoughts to see he still very much had an effect on her still. That if it hadn't been for Ian she would still be up there, caught up in her own little fantasy because, in the end, the monster became the man she wanted. Wholly and completely obsessed with her. Even now, he was saying the things she selfishly wanted him to say.
You're everything I want. Everything I need. I fell for you.
Her fingers found their way into the hair at the base of her skull and wrapped themselves up in the roots. There, they tugged in her way to ground herself into reality. The more he spoke, the harder she tugged. Her nostrils flared with the breath she forced her lungs to take. Quill never broke down in front of Keith before. She didn't want to do it now in this space. But damn it, she was so close. Why was it so hard to hear this?
Because he wanted her. He wanted Ian and more. To live the life she had always dreamed of having. It was so much easier when he was begging through their shared link, his letters, and gifts of money and toys to tell him no. That despite what he said before they parted ways a year ago, she was not his. Now? It took all her power not to get sucked into his golden eyes. They scared her before. As they do now, but for a different reason.
He looked like a starving man staring at the only person that could end his hunger.
"Fuck! Stop looking at me like that," she barked, finally getting the courage to look up at the ceiling. Or past his head toward the door. Hell, she even turned around and gave him her back. "You can't -" Her breathing hitched, causing the hold on her hair to tighten so much that tears stung her eyes. If she had half a mind she would have taken one of these push brooms to whack him over the head. "You can't say all of this shit and -" Her hands moved from her hair to her face, and she pressed her heels into her eyes to keep the oncoming tears at bay.
After what felt like hours, but at most were minutes, she scrubbed her palms down her face and turned back around to face him. Thankful that he didn't try to console her. "I'll think about it. Now let me out. Ian's probably wondering where we are."
***
And he was. Along with her parents, Lydia, and Vincent who acted as if he was about to lead a search and rescue party. Quill expected this, so when her father demanded in his politically-nice voice where they were, she had an excuse at the ready: "I left my phone in his office." Ignoring his disbelieving eyebrow raise (ever since she was rescued her phone was glued to her at all times) and Vince's not-so-subtle attempts to keep Keith away from her, Quill stuck to Ian like Velcro through the night.
So was Keith. In fact, they moved like a unit through the pack house. Wherever Ian went, they followed. They ate lunch together as Ian was promised. Despite the wide berth the other pups of the pack gave Keith, he and Quill sat cross-legged by their son on the floor to watch the puppet play about the wolf prince who saved Christmas. They watched as Ian guzzled his mug of hot chocolate and the rest of theirs. Then finally, in the midst of a Christmas movie marathon, Ian's sugar high dropped. He passed out before Sam the Snowman sang "Silver and Gold", despite his vow to stay up for Santa Claus.
That was Quill's reason to retire for the night as well, citing Ian's inability to sleep thoroughly if she wasn't there beside him. No one protested, and for that Quill was grateful. She had enough of having two men breathe down her neck and her family's watchful eyes.
In bed, she tucked her son against her side, hand on his belly as a subconscious way to make sure he was still breathing while the other supported her head under her pillows. She stayed like that for the next two hours in the dark, trapped in her own mind, unable to move lest Ian woke up. In the bond, she felt Keith's proximity, his intensity. The first time since the compound burned down. She was fully prepared to not sleep for the night. How could she in these conditions?
But she managed, only to be punished for it.
When she woke next, it was by Keith's hand, wiping at her sweaty brow. She felt her heart hammering in her throat, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion. Then they relaxed as she came back to reality. In the glow of his eyes, her own latched on to something on his chest. Just above his left pec was a series of scars. No, not scars. Deep grooves that resembled letters. Letters that made a word. She had to blink once. Twice. Three times before her brain registered what it said.
QUILL
"What am I seeing right now?"
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Post by Ventia on Jun 7, 2023 16:56:50 GMT -5
It had taken him everything to not touch her for the rest of the night, instead he clung to her and Ian hogging up their personal space so that the others had no choice but to sit elsewhere. He knew he was using his role as a father to his advantage, with both Quill and her family, not to mention Vince, but he had no shame in that department. Being able to even be near them made his whole soul feel at peace, any crazy tendencies he used to have before almost seemed nonexistent in these moments.
How could he when Ian was giggling so cutely or even when Quill made the mistake of catching his gaze and holding it longer than she should have if she truly hated him, from what she had shown in the room, Keith was already feeling better about his chances of winning her over for good this time. He barely noticed the time slip by as the play and movie went on, only when he noticed Ian nodding off did Keith start to feel panic settling in, knowing his mother would soon notice and runoff.
It happened almost as soon as he thought it, and he could do nothing but watch as she excused herself. Just like that, his peace of mind fractured into tiny pieces and the urge to stalk after them persistently echoed in his head. Instead, he played the good host role and exchanged pleasantries with everyone until they decided to call it a night as well. Luckily for him, no one seemed to want to be in his presence for that long so within forty minutes of Quill leaving, everyone was already in their rooms as well.
He used some time after that to tend to any Pack business that he'd been ignoring for most of the day, and besides checking up on a few things outside the house, there wasn't much to do. Still, in that little time, he managed to make a mess of himself outside, the crazy onslaught of snow successfully soaking him down to the bone. A younger pup or even some of the adults would have felt the chill but his unique condition kept his body temperature warm enough to keep his teeth from chattering. Either way, a shower was in order so after checking the boundary, an extra precaution since his guests came in today, he made his way to one of the backdoors that led directly to the master bedroom.
It was his own private entrance so as soon as the door closed behind him, Keith began tugging off his shirt as he climbed the stairs. He was dripping water everywhere but he didn't care and finally opened the door to his room, the lights were off casting the room in darkness, what little light came from behind dark curtains but with the blizzard still going strong, only flashes of light streamed into the room every now and then. It was a good thing Keith was most comfortable in the dark, and he's been in this room for years prior that he made his way to his bathroom undressing as he went with easy fluid movements.
Flipping the bathroom switch on, he finally allowed himself to stare at himself in the mirror mainly at the brand mark across his chest. He had needed to get it done quite a few times until it finally stuck, curse his abnormal resistance to silver. Still, for him, it was all worth it. He touched the letters fondly, and because it was her name, Keith felt that same peace clinging to him again, relaxing his tensed muscles that he had gotten from restraining himself in all day.
Sighing, his eyes began to spark with gold as he continued to stare at Quill's name over his chest, heat flared and he let out a annoyed groan as he turned and finished undressing. Water hot enough to sorch, Keith eased himself underneath its spray, letting it wash off the somewhat cold chill from his body until he slowly began to wash his hair. He ended up lingering under the water even after he was finished, there wasn't much else to do this late at night and Keith knew sleep wouldn't come and the warmth from the water was as close as he'd get to the real thing.
It wasn't until he heard soft banging's on his front door and the sound of Ian's crying voice, that Keith snapped back to reality and shut the water off, the sound of his door opening caught his ear as he grabbed a towel, wrapping his lower half and striding out of the still open bathroom.
"Ian?"
"Dad? It's so dark where are you? Mom is-" he sucked in a sudden gasp of air and Keith turned the corner, seeing him standing by the still-lit hallway staring into the darkness that was Keith's room.
He could have kicked himself, "I'm right here, give me a second. It's alright, your Mom will be fine."
Keith finally reached the door, he flipped up the switch for the lights and smiled down at his son. There were definitely some tears in the young boy's eyes, and Keith reached out cupping his cheek hoping the warmth in his hand will calm the boy down. He took the next few minutes to get Ian comfortable in his room, turning the television on and letting Ian pick out what he wanted to watch, while promising he'd come back and get Ian just as soon as he helped Quill.
Still wet and only wearing his towel, Keith paused for a second to decide whether or not he should put something else on before going to check up on her, but his growing worry to what had scared Ian made Keith walk with quiet footsteps back towards the hallway and towards the room right next to his. Securing the towel on his hips, Keith slipped into Quill's and Ian's room sliding his fingers through his hair sleeking it back so that he didnt drip down on her too much.
Her scent smelt strong in the room and his body responded according, chest warming, eyes dripping gold, his muscles began to tense up again, already trying to cage in the beast that was now licking his teeth in anticipation. Rounding the bed, he stared at her as she seemed to be in the middle of a nightmare, guilt instantly made his stomach drop and Keith swallowed hard before sitting carefully by her side on the bed.
He cupped her cheek much like he had just done with Ian, hoping his warmth would cast away whatever haunted her, before stroking her hair back from her sweaty brow, the feverish touch of her skin seemed hotter than the scolding water and it made his fingers shudder just a bit as he touched her. Before he could go for another stroke, he watched as she came to and went very still, his fingers still touching the sides of her face.
At her question, Keith cocked his head to the side, before he followed the direction of her gaze and stared down onto his chest. His lips curled into a smile before he could stop it, and with hungry golden eyes he glanced back up at her.
"Do you like it?" He asked in a low seductive voice, before very gently he let his fingers slip down her face to pause under her chin, where he lifted it just a fraction so she was staring into his eyes and not at her name.
"Are you okay?" He asked just as softly, worry for her coming first.
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Post by Thea on Jun 7, 2023 23:12:11 GMT -5
Did she like it?
She should say no. No, she didn't like her name branded into his skin, a perfect compliment to the "K" stamped under her breast. She should say that it appalled her - made her want to vomit - instead of it causing her stomach to flip and her chest to squeeze with possessiveness. She needed to roll her eyes and make a snide comment about how if this was his attempt to weasel his way into her heart this wasn't it.
But Quill was tired of lying. So when he tilted her chin up so that she could look into his eyes, she ignored his first question and answered his second. "Am now." Her voice was husky-thick with sleep. Yet gone was the hope of getting sleep for the rest of the night. Her heart no longer hammered in her ears, and her next deep inhale stored Keith's freshly showered scent deep in her lungs. Vaguely, she wondered what he saw. Did her baby hairs stick up at odd angles? Were her night clothes rumpled with her tosses and turns? Eyes haunted from what her subconscious conjured up every chance it got?
A blush made like an ivy and crawled up her neck to spread to her cheeks. She knew she had been sweating because she felt it cooling at the small of her back. Everywhere else was hot; the she-wolf had to stop herself from smelling her underarms to see if she stunk. Her thought process led her to wonder how Ian was faring. With gentle fingers, she grasped Keith's wrist to hold him still as she turned her head to where Ian was supposed to be sleeping.
"Where is he?"
"In my room. Don't worry, he's fine."
So he must have fetched Keith. Despite the shame she felt - this wasn't the first time Ian woke up to her nightmares - she had to chuckle. "My grandma would say he took to you like stink on shit." Finally, she let go of his wrist so that she could get off her elbow and sit up straight. In the process, she had looked down into his lap. Just as quickly she looked away. "I hope he didn't interrupt your shower." Regardless the image of what was under it caused her mouth to water with desire. Months ago she would already have had it off and her hand around his cock.
But now was not the time to think about sex. Nor was it appropriate. It sure as hell didn't help her bid to hate him. With a nearly-inaudible groan scrubbed her hands down her face before throwing them in her lap. "I have a ... thing that helps me sleep at night. I haven't used it lately. But it's a lavender pouch. That's what the doctor that delivered Ian said. Doctor Constantine." Her mouth moved of its own accord, words spewing forth in her ever-present need to explain. She was never a good liar growing up because of it. "I planned on bringing it just in case. Found out earlier that I forgot it at home." She snorted with bitter humor.
"It's not the first one. The same one, though. Well," she backtracked, face scrunching into her hard-thinking expression. "It varies slightly. The main premise, though, is that ... you're in it." She felt the bed move slightly. Probably he was trying to get comfier. She was definitely aware of his gaze on her. Out of her peripheral, she could have sworn the glow of them grew brighter. "My colleagues and I are at a dig site. Don't ever remember why or what we were looking for. But I always end up digging a grave. And every time I ..."
It was then Quill paused as if she realized what she was saying for the first time. Was she really telling him of her nightmare? Her best friend, a psychologist that could tell her why she was having it in the first place, didn't even know. Not even in her dreams could she hate this man. During the day, she wanted to believe the lies she tells her family. To him. But in the dark of her room, it was too easy not to confess. "I find you. Dead. No eyes. Instead they're like twin black holes."
Quill's chest shuddered with her next in-breath. The out-breath was smooth, foretelling what a weight she released. "By the third or fourth time I had it, I knew what was going to happen. I'm never able to rush through it or force my eyes open. Not until I open the grave." Without looking at him she shrugged one shoulder in an attempt to show it was nothing to worry over. Even she knew it was bullshit.
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Post by Ventia on Jul 29, 2023 10:21:43 GMT -5
"I won't die."
He told her in a cool tone, despite knowing one day Death would catch up to him as it did for everyone. But it wouldn't be anytime soon, he decided as he watched her as he listened to the small tremor in her voice. Fuck, he just wanted to touch her, pull her to him and show her how alive he was. How hot she made his flesh burn for her, how hard he was and how soft she would feel melting into him. The bath towel was starting to feel incredibly tight, and Keith kept shifting his hips away so that she didn't notice and think him a bastard for getting turned on in such a situation.
"I'm sorry I'm the cause of your nightmares, Tranquility. If I could, I would steal them all away from you. I'll have to see if there's any lavender around and bring you a vase full of them. Hopefully, your nights here will be a bit better that way."
Keith reached out and touched the ends of one strand of her hair, soft and delicate in his fingers he watched her face. "Look at me." He whispered it, twirling the strand around his finger, leaning closer to her feeling the warmth between them, the pull that made him just want to gravitate toward her.
When she finally did look back at him, Keith told her one thing.
"I won't die, Quill. You'll never find my dead body lying around somewhere. There won't be any empty dark eyes. Look at me, look at my eyes, see how bright they are, do you see the gold wanting to devour you?" He came a breath closer, their faces dangerously close together, "I'm not going anywhere sweetheart, I'm not leaving you, I'm not leaving Ian, there is too much to live for, so I'll cheat even Death if I need to Quill. I hope your nightmares go away darling, and you only dream of sweet sweet things." He lifted his finger, still curled in the ends of her hair, and pressed a kiss to the soft strands before letting it slip and curl away from him.
"Why don't you enjoy a nice bath and then come to my bedroom, maybe the three of us could watch something until you grow tired again. A late-night snack too?"
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Post by Thea on Jul 30, 2023 22:50:53 GMT -5
Death came for everyone. She stared it in the face as her main source of income. Her best friend was her grandfather's reaper. And for a time she believed that this man - her mate - would toss her at its feet with no care in the world. If anyone knew how much of a bullshit lie he was spouting, it was her.
But the thing was ... he didn't say it with hubris. He wasn't strutting around the room with his chest puffed out and declaring this as some decree of defiance. No, he was reassuring her and apologizing to her as if it was his fault that her subconscious had it out for her. She felt his words as truth, warm and sincere against her skin. Her eyes were glued to his, gut filled with a knowing of his desire for her in all ways. The way he said sweetheart and darling had her vaguely wondering if he did, in fact, know of her fantasies but nonetheless made her believe he would cheat Death for her.
The spell she was under broke when he let go of her hair, and she leaned back as her eyes cast downward to the raised skin on his steadily-drying chest. Quill knew his resistance to silver, so she couldn't imagine how many times he's had to do this in order to make sure her name stuck on him. She wanted to touch it. The urge was so demanding that she nearly sat on her hand for fear that it would move on its own. Instead it touched the lock of hair he kissed and tugged gently, bringing herself back down to Earth.
"You make me wish I never called Vince," she said instead, as if she didn't hear his suggestions. Quill never could get into baths like she used to anymore. In fact she hated being in the bathroom more than necessary. And she didn't think it was really appropriate for her to be in the bed of someone she was supposed to despise. "What would have happened if I told you that I was pregnant back then?" The question her mind has been wanting to know the answer to, despite her soul's more-than-likely correct guess as to what he would say. "Do you know why I didn't? You said that you would make it into a whore or kill it."
Before Ian was born, her father didn't understand why she wanted to follow through with the pregnancy. Even begged her to get an abortion because there was a very high chance that any offspring of Keith's would turn out to be just like him. But she couldn't. Maybe it was because she knew that Keith's behaviors toward the very end told a very different story than what her father was saying. Or it was probably because of her own delusional thinking that she could teach Ian not to be like his father.
And yes, she was absolutely terrified that when Keith found her and kidnapped Ian he was going to kill him. But how he was with their son made her wonder how different - or the same - everything would be if she hadn't called Vincent that day at all.
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