Reapers Kiss

GAVIN

The leaves have all fallen. The frigid kiss of winter is biting at my skin. I walk towards her slowly.

“Lily.” She is slouched over, hugging herself. I must try again.

“Lily,” I say gently.

She looks at me. I step back, the abyss of her eyes threatening to pull me in. Casting her eyes upward to the starless sky, she arches her back knowingly. I’m taking in every inch of her

“Why have you come, Gavin?” she rasps, lingering over my name making it more of a statement than a question.

I go to her, and she is covered in blood, from her pale skin to her ink black hair. I push away my desire to focus back to the here and now. I knew she would be like this. My anger with her makes me want her even more, just as she is. I want... I shake myself and try again to focus on what I had found. She was being reckless, endangering us both. My fury flares once more as I practically shout, “What have you done?”

“Do not distress yourself, I can taste your fury like the most exquisite delicacy...on the tip of your fancy,” Lily teases as she licks her lips.

My God, she is chuckling to herself. This time I do shout at her, “What have you done?!”

“I could taste their fear like a sweet treat, just within my grasp. I lost control, but only for a moment.” I watch her shiver and know it is not from the cold.

Barely controlling my temper I snarl, “Have you gone mad?! You are an Araanea, Lily, and not just any Aaranea-- you are the Highest! The purest blood! YOU. Can. Not. Afford. To. Lose. Control.”

“Oh, Gavin, why must you always lecture me?”

“Someone must,” I bluster, “to keep you safe, even if it is from yourself.”

Lily’s head snaps towards me. She glares at me, her eyes like daggers. She likcs her lips I know I should stop, just walk away this will only end badly for me. Lily is a foot taller than I am, in her present form which at the moment she looked like a very tall women, you could not see much else in this suffocating darkness.

My mind was elsewhere that was my first mistake, that would not have mattered though she shifts so sudden that I had no time to react. Her strong leg slams right into my gut, I am hurled at a tree I hit hard enough that if I was not made of sterner things I would be dead. there was no getting up, She’s on me in a flash, The moon peeked through the clouds gave way to some of the darkness as damned as I may be I can’t help myself as I take in every bit of her, Eight elegant, long black legs. snarling down at me. The back half of her body is beautiful, black, and strong, with a red swatch on her underbelly. The top half is all woman, and beautifully terrifying. Right now, she is enraged, pinning me down with those wonderful legs. This was not the first time this happened.

I must remain calm. I already know she will misinterpret anger and excitement for fear. As I look up into the chasm of her eyes, she gnashes sharp teeth at me and I realize that her canines have not come out. Her bite could kill a man in less than a minute. I let a breath ease out that I didn’t realize was being held.

I look up at her again, with calm eyes and see that her eyes are returning to the color of new spring grass as the blood lust and anger fade. We both detect something in the distance, and I curse under my breath as Lily turns to face the unknown. Straining to reach, I caress her cheek and gently hold her chin turning her face to mine and bringing her focus back to me. Urgently I remind her, “Control yourself. We must go. We must go NOW!”