Cynthia's Moon Ch. 02

It was warmer outside than it had been all week. It was a sign of hope for Markus, and for Cynthia, it was the only reason she considered meeting this mystery rescuer.

Cynthia still wasn't sure of this meeting. Standing at the glass entrance of her building, wore black pants in which the fabric hugged against her toned thighs, and a dark purple short sleeve blouse that covered her chest and was held in place by an accessorized gold belt that was loosely hanging off her hips. Grooming herself took the same amount of time that it normally did for work, but she hesitated to leave. It was five minutes after ten am, and she wasn't ever late for anything.

Markus was waiting patiently at the cafe already, and had checked his watch every five minutes when it had neared ten o'clock.

It was now a quarter after, and both Cynthia and Markus let out a soft sigh at the same time. As Cynthia pushed the door open to her building and started down the sidewalk to the bistro, Markus was folding up the newspaper he was pretending to read and finished his coffee. Just as he was rising to leave, Cyn came around the corner. From the way their movement was halted when seeing each other, they both knew they were there for one another.

Cynthia approached the table, and she swore she had smelled him before, but couldn't remember where from. It certainly wasn't her attacker from two nights ago, which eased her mind. She didn't let him wait any longer and when she was settled in, he spoke.

"Good morning. I didn't think you were coming." His voice was thick and deep, and that alone made her muscles shiver as she looked him over. His age was starting to show on his face, with his long black hair secured back in a low pony tail. His skin was rigid and muscular, tanned as was expected of his Pacific island heritage.

All in all, Cynthia tried not to stare so hard or think about how long it'd been since she had been with one of her own kind willingly, and the assault had alarmed many primal urges she had ignored since coming here. He wore a simple white button down shirt, and black cargo pants. Cynthia felt at ease when he talked, and even his militant appearance doused any doubt of liking him, but she still voiced her concern.

"I didn't know what to think. You know where I work and where I have breakfast. You probably know where I live too." She said with a defeated tone. Markus nodded just lightly to confirm all that for her, and her nose wrinkled again to his musk.

"Your scent is very familiar, but I can't place where we've met before."

"When you first moved here from the mainland, I was present in the room when you met the Alphas. My name is Markus and I am the head of their security." He explained.

"Oh, I don't remember seeing you."

"Those who are presented before the Alphas usually don't meet me, or know that I'm even there."

She softly nodded and let her mind go to that day, and faintly recalled the scent looming behind her. He found it hard to keep his composure when she looked back at him. Her animal scent was driving his inner wolf mad with aggression to mate. But his restraint won over for now, letting his blood boil while he enjoyed her company.

"Were you watching me the night I was attacked?" Markus raised an eyebrow to this question. He sat forward, letting his eyes level more with hers and show his concern when he answered her.

"Would that comfort you to know, or make you nervous?"

"I'm already nervous." She confessed. Both of them grinned and laughed a little bit at that, breaking the tension between them.

"You don't need to be." He said softly. "I happened to see you walking when I was driving home, and I was fortunate to have seen you needed help that night. As for knowing where you work and where you live, it's my job to know for the Alphas. I had known this information when you had first met them. The cafe just happened to be a guess. It's on your way to work."

It would only scare her to know how much he desired her, and that he had spent close to a year's worth of mornings and evenings assuring her safety, and had gone out of his way to know these little details about her. She might have even called him obsessed.

She accepted his explanation as the truth, and when the server came over to take her order, he smiled and recognized Cyn. Knowing exactly what she'd order, he went back inside to place it and Markus ordered another coffee.

Nothing truly exchanged between the two of them while waiting on their orders. Markus knew she was still adjusting, and did very little to to try and make her uncomfortable. Only now, did he wish he was more of a conversationalist. He slid the paper forward, folded up.

"Would you like to read while we wait?" She grinned and took up that paper, nodding just lightly.

"Sure. Mahalo."

Opening the centerfold, she caught her eye on a story she looked forward to reading, and did so for about three minutes before their orders arrived. Markus, at this time, took more than one opportunity to stare at Cynthia, and let his imagination wander to the most lewd places in his mind. Every expression, every soft sound or hum that she made while reading that paper tightened every muscle with trapped heat that seared through his skin at the thought of claiming her. Even with her state, he reasoned their children would be beautiful, if making her his had come to that. That was when he looked harder, wondering just what mix she was.

It wasn't in her file.

Cynthia lifted her gaze more than once to see him staring, and it wasn't only until he had that pensive expression that she spoke up.

"You look like you have something to say."

"I wouldn't ask, but, it's itching in my mind. Are you a gray?" Cynthia debated how to answer that question while the server arrived to their table. In the time it took for him to set the table with both orders, Cynthia considered her response. After taking a drink of her cafe mocha, she looked up at him with a calm and collected gaze.

"I am a dire black; a pure blood."

Markus paused in drinking his coffee and stared at Cynthia. It was a bold thing to admit that she was one of the few pure bloodlines on the first meeting. It had never been confirmed by any known database that any pure black packs still existed, likely as a means to protect them. As she waited the response, her hands gently rested around her cup, and she went on to explain.

"My husband was a dire black as well. We consummated our marriage, but, I was not in heat. So we were never mated." Markus hadn't known she wasn't mated, but knew why they married outside of it when he read her file. Yet, he still feigned confusion on this part.

"Why would you wed outside of that?" She lowered her mug from her lips.

"He was called into active duty over in Iraq. He wanted to be married before he left so he had someone to come home to." Cynthia's features softened into sadness, shaking her head softly.

"But he didn't return alive. He was a good man, and he would've made a great Alpha."

Markus did not have to pretend to show sympathy towards Cynthia's tragedy, and reached his hand out to touch on top of hers. She felt the warmth of his blood when their hands met, and those rough fingertips from years of hard work made her thighs pulse with damp heat at the thought of feeling them exploring over her body. It had been far too long since she had been with a man. She felt her heart begin to pound, and a blush of pink warm across her cheeks, and he noticed that her body was beginning to respond to him pleasingly. He knew that he had to see her again.

"Cynthia." He gently slid his hand around to open hers, and she let her hand close inside of his own, which elevated his confidence three-fold.

"Yes?"

"There is a Hunt happening tonight near the beach. I normally attend for reasons of security, and do not usually participate. But if you would accompany me,"

"Yes." She interrupted him, smiling. "I'd love to."

At a loss for words, Markus returned the smile and brought her hand up to softly brush his lips across her knuckles and rose unceremoniously from the small cafe table, leaving cash and a tip for their orders. Cynthia never got to eat her croissant.

She followed his lead with her hand resting in his as he walked her down the sidewalk toward her building. Even when they passed the alley that she was attacked in, she felt an unyielding sense of being protected. She used to feel the same way with her husband when he took her hand.

"Who will be there at the hunt?" He turned to look at her.

"Many of the werewolves from the inner city, as well as the Alphas. The Aristocrats, the businessmen, and so on. Most of them are.. eccentric."

"Is that a nice way of saying they're all pricks?" He laughed, amused by her ability to see through his kind veil when speaking of the rest of the society he protected.

"Yes. I am not allowed to admit directly what I think of them."

"Well, I'll do my best to blend in." At the front door to her building, he stopped and turned to face her, placing his hand to sweep softly across her cheek. His thumb softly brushed over her lips when he responded.

"You couldn't blend in if you tried. I wouldn't want you to, either."

He made her heart throb and she drew her body near to him, letting her chest and stomach press against his front, lifting herself up on her tiptoes. He let his hand sweep through her hair and rest at the nape of her neck, then leaned himself down to let their lips touch for the first time. Their hearts began to pound fervently and respond to one another while they were kissing, and their eyes closed when his mouth fit upon her own, sweeping his tongue softly over hers for seconds that seemed to last forever.

Luring herself away with a soft suction noise when their lips drew apart, Cynthia could not stop smiling while Markus held the door open for her, following her inside and to the elevator. When the doors had closed, she walked to him again, unable to draw herself away from the feel of his soft lips during the slow ascent to the penthouse. He felt more free to envelop his hands around her waist, feeling just how perfectly each cupped around the slope of her curves.

The fabric of her pants was slinky, making it an irresistible feat to clench at her ass when her arms tightened around his shoulders. The heat between them rose, and he could hardly hide from her now just how she was making his body react. Feeling him stiffen against her lower belly, she brushed herself side to side to encourage that growth, and his hands roamed further up her back to pull her tight against his body. He leaned against the elevator wall, deepening the passion of his kiss against her mouth when he started to feel that primal urge rise in wanting to claim her.

When the bell of the elevator rang and the doors slid open, Cynthia slowly moved backwards into the hall that led them to one of two condos at the very top, trying to keep them locked in that kiss. Luring him to the east wing of the hall, she hadn't even reached into her purse yet for her keys as Markus pressed her between him and her front door.

His hands grasped at her thighs and raised her effortlessly to wrap them around his waist. She closed her limbs around him, and he could feel her molten center settle over the swell of his erection. He had never felt so hard and thick before in his life with any woman; human or werewolf. He wanted to mate her. His body was demanding it, his werewolf form was howling within him to do it. Slowly, he pulled away, leaving a soft kiss to her bottom lip before he gently spoke near her ear after nipping at her lobe.

"Should I come inside?" He smiled deviously, letting her decide what he meant, as his mouth continued a wet trail down her neck, which she allowed by the softest tilt of her head resting against her condo door. Considering her answer with a soft smile, she knew he wasn't making it easy on her to say no.

"Anytime you want."

"Don't tease me like that." He responded under his husky breath.

"The key is in my purse."

From her bag, he found her key chain and picked out the key that was brass, as the other two were small, silver, and meant for her mailbox. Sliding the key in, he looked to her.

"Perfect fit."

She giggled as he pushed them into her condo and closed the door behind him, with one arm still strongly wrapped around Cynthia to hold her in place and pocketed her keys. The smell of sandalwood and jasmine filled his lungs, having seen two glass oil vases with scent sticks reaching out of the mouth of the bottles that were the source of the woody scent. The Jasmine flowers were on that coffee table, nearly overpowering the oils with their bloom. He carried her across the light wooden floor over to her soft black couch that was centered in the main room across from her television.

Lying her down against those cushions, he followed, laying on top and resumed kissing her sweet lips. He urged his hips down against hers, grinding until he made her moan against his mouth. Rising heat was sheathed beneath their clothes which became rather troublesome barriers in letting the two of them take things further. That animal urge within Markus continued to slide himself against her, savoring every moan he could taste and hear, and moved his arms to rest on either side of her wanton body.

When her own hips began to grind up into his waist, he growled gently in his throat and nails hardened at his hand, digging them into the cushion. Her little gasps of breath sent his claws raking down the fabric, cutting it open as opposed to her clothing. Her body being in heat drove him mad with desire, grinding over and over in a rhythm that she followed almost immediately, moaning toward the ceiling as his teeth and tongue were exploring her neck.

He knew that technically she had just met him, and despite Markus had waited for this moment for over a year, he couldn't have her now. Cynthia had not known him as much as he knew her, and the last regret he wished to make was to mate them with little knowledge of one another.

"Markus..." He knew now that had a decision to make when she was already whispering his name passionately. Removing his lips from her neck, he met her emerald stare with his dark gaze.

"Not so soon, my Love." He said in a soft whisper, while letting his body crush down against her, halting both of them from stirring each other any further. She felt her heart spasm painfully with having to stop, and his face twinged lightly as though he felt it. She nodded lightly and set her hand to his smooth face.

"Alright." Their heartbeats were nearly in synch with one another while he lay upon her and she smiled, softly grinding her hips up just once more to see the bliss invade his features.

"I know stopping at this point is difficult."

"That is putting it mildly." he grumbled. "I have never wanted to have a woman more than I want you, and that's why I am stopping it. I want to know you before I have you."

Her smile brightened when he spoke with that honeyed tongue of his, and used it to taste her neck and lips once more before finally drawing himself away from her. Under such will power, he let his mind try to be removed from the beauty lying on the couch. She had one leg propped up over the top of the couch backing, while the other was dangling off the cushion, letting the ball of her foot touch the floor. God, the things he wanted to do to her that were running through his mind. It ended, thankfully, when she slid her feet together on the couch and sat up, and asked him a question.

"When will you pick me up tonight?" He grinned, gaining his composure and felt his hard-on slowly softening the more he focused on tonight's event and less on bucking into her until her screams filled the condo.

"Around five. It's an hour out from the city limits." He started heading for the door, and she leaned up to look over her couch and let her bright green eyes watch him walking away.

"What should I wear?"

"Let me worry about that." He said as he opened her door.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

He didn't answer her, closing the door just behind him. She pouted her soft lips and dropped back down against her couch. With her hand softly rubbing back and forth over her thigh, she took a moment to recall how soft his lips felt, and the way his strong body crushed down against hers. Her eyes closed and she turned her head just lightly, smelling his scent heavy upon her skin and blouse. If he didn't stop them when he did, it was possible he would have claimed her.

She knew she was in the first few days of her heat, and it was mild enough to control, but it was enough that he could have mated himself to her. She lightly bit her middle finger knuckle between her teeth to control the urge to please herself. No, not now. He wasn't done with her, and she wouldn't let that be the last time they felt each other in such a way.

Her father would disapprove, but she didn't care.

Upon leaving her building, Markus' instincts tried to sharpen while he glanced down both ways of the street in walking to his car, trying to resist the urge to run right back up to Cynthia's apartment and have his way with her. There would be time for that. Her sweet taste lingered on his lips as he softly licked them, and her perfume was a faint signature on the wind that picked up from his shirt when he slid into his truck.

What plagued his mind next was the werewolf he had stopped the other night. He had already made bail and vanished. It was a small island, and it wouldn't be hard to find him after checking with his sources. However, to pull the disappearing act that he did, Markus knew two things; one, he was military, and two, he was being helped. He sighed and started his truck, listening to the engine growl as he thumbed through his contacts in his phone.

"I should've killed him." He said under his breath. As the number he found was selected, he rolled out of his parking spot and placed the phone to his ear.

A woman was seen sitting on the bench about three hundred feet from Markus' truck. She lowered the newspaper and glanced down the street at his silver Chevy turning around the corner. She was wearing a casual coral colored shirt, and white cotton khakis. Her hair was tucked beneath a brunette wig that was secured into a ponytail.

Removing it from her head once Markus was out of sight, she shook out her long blonde curls and sighed lightly. Her skin was a toasted honey color that was perfected at a salon, her nails were perfectly manicured, and her teeth were white, straight, and accented by perfect pouting lips that shimmered with soft gloss that gathered sunlight. Her breasts were cupped in lace, and were shaped by the best plastic surgeon in California into 34C cup. Her beauty was manufactured like the airbrushed models in a beauty magazine, and her allure was just as skin deep as the pages that she swore her life to.

"What's the matter, peaches?" A dark voice asked her.

The man sitting next to her lowered his sunglasses and glanced down at her when Markus was out of sight. He had a fresh cut that started at the corner of his eye, which was blood red from pressure, and ran down his face. There were teeth marks embedded into the back of his neck on either side that looked like horrible bruises. Those nerve points controlled consciousness in a werewolf's anatomy. When bitten into, the wolf will either go limp and surrender or black out if the bite is firm enough. This was also the way werewolves resolved fights and challenges.

His hair was short and black, and the half inch length to his bangs were spiked forward over his prominent forehead. He looked to be in his late twenties, with a muscled physique and an aura about him that was uninviting to most people.

"Well, the plan was for you to kill her so I could be Markus' mate. If you had just kept it in your pants, it would have happened." The woman retorted.