The Final Hunt

Chapter 10 - Kyle

Kyle circled his arms around her waist, lifting his hands and pushing them against her skin; burying his face into her neck and inhaling a good dose of her, he breathed out and blew away all of his anger. He knew he wasn’t angry at her, but he couldn’t believe she’d try and leave him.

How could she?

“Maggie?” he breathed out, determined to fix this before she tried to leave him again. She sobbed into his chest and all he could feel was the light of her dim spark, pulsating through her and stabbing him in the heart as her pain radiated from her soul into his.

He really was a prick.

She shuddered against him as his breath tickled her neck; he wrapped her ever tighter and pulled her up to sit in his lap and pulled them both to the floor, letting her cry it all out before he spoke again.

After ten minutes of sniffing, sobbing and coughing, Kyle trailed kisses across the side of her face and she was unresponsive to them; her breathing became deep and heavy as she drifted into an exhaustion fuelled sleep. Kyle reached for the blanket that he’d had over her earlier and lay her down on the floor, laying himself behind her and pulled the blanket over the both of them.

When she woke up and wriggled to get free, he stirred and sat himself up, pulling Maggie closer into him and onto his lap again.

“Please,” she whimpered, “Please let me go.” Her words stabbed into his heart and caused ripples of fear and sadness to cascade through his soul.

“Maggie, listen to me.” She tried to pull herself free again but he held tighter, “Please, love, please stop fighting me.” He urged, pleading with her to hear him out. She wriggled a little but turned to face him, eyes wide and full of pain.

“I swear, you misunderstood what I was saying to Paul.” She snorted at him and rolled her eyes; the girl got sass quick. She’d never acted this way; but then, he’d never upset her in this way before.

He sighed, “I mean it baby,” he poured as much sincerity into it as he could, “I love you, how could you ever doubt that?” when she went to speak he closed the space between them with a kiss, taking her completely by surprise; she tried to fight him but then delved into the kiss. His tongue entered her mouth and searched for hers, massaging his against hers and pulled her as close as he could without squeezing her too tight.

When they pulled apart, her cheeks were flushed and a small smile played on her lips, she shook it off quickly and looked at him, sad again.

“That girl, she came onto me, I told her I had a girlfriend and reached forward to grab my beer; when I sat back she just leapt onto me.” Maggie huffed and he stopped her, “I know how it sounds baby, I promise you.” He cupped her chin in his hand and pulled her face up so that their eyes met and his eyes bore into her, through her eyes and past them into her soul. He spoke the next words slowly, “I love you Maggie, and I will never not love you. I do not regret our life, I do not regret being tied to you, in any way. I. Will. Never. Leave. You. Do you understand me?” she eyed him speculatively and raised her hand, he placed his palm against hers and watched as she closed her eyes, a gust of wind that came from nowhere flew her hair back behind her and she gasped as she became the sun; light flooded her, him and the room as she opened her gasp into a smile that spread across her face, sat straddling her mate, she collapsed into his chest and breathed quickly for a few seconds, taking it all in.

“I believe you,” she said as she kissed him lightly, on the lips.

A few minutes passed as they sat, wrapped in each other’s’ arms, Kyle twirled her hair around his fingers and smirked into her hair, she pulled away and c****d an eyebrow, as if asking him what was so funny.

“Baby, when did you get so feisty?” he chuckled into her ear and he felt her face flush with heat.

“I have never acted like that in my life,” her response was small and shy, almost reserved, before he whispered in a low grumble, “I love it.” She swatted his shoulder with her hand and he laughed along with her.

“Well don’t get used to it; it scared me and I could have hurt you. Since when did you talk to people like that also? You became very erm… dominant.” Maggie’s face flushed a brilliant red and he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, shifting uncomfortably.

“I just couldn’t bear it; you were going to leave me. It was like a mist covered me. At first, when I saw your car speed off I felt like I was suffocating from the inside out; I couldn’t breathe and I grabbed the first cab I could see. Then I saw you ready to leave and it turned red…” he trailed off and looked away, a hint of fear back in his voice. Maggie reached to cup his face, kissing him gently on the lips.

“Let’s get some dinner sorted,” she kissed him again, “then we can shower, put on a movie and veg out while we make a plan for what’s next.” He nodded and kissed her softly, pulling them both to stand, he wrapped the blanket around her and led her into the kitchen, pulling his clothes on in the process.

They settled on grilled chicken salad with a simple dressing for their dinner; working seamlessly alongside each other to put the meal together. Maggie wasn’t a big drinker but had meandered down into the basement and grabbed a bottle of wine from her Nanna’s reserve and brought it up with two engraved glasses. It was Latin, or Italian, something he couldn’t read, but it looked fancy; she grabbed some candles and set the table as he was dishing the food up onto their plates, bringing it over with a corkscrew in between his teeth.

After they’d finished eating, Kyle cleared the table and kissed the top of Maggie’s head as he passed her; “Go up and run yourself a bath baby, I’ll be up in a few minutes.” When she tried to protest and help he hushed her and gently nudged her in the way of the stairs, urging her to go on without him, reluctantly she did so.

Kyle finished the dishes and, as he was heading upstairs, heard something outside; it was a small noise, like one of their metal garden chairs had been moved slightly. He called out as he headed back into the kitchen, opening the back door and looking out into the evening summer light; it was still glorious out, the sun was still shining but it had dropped a degree or two; enough that he’d need to put on a jacket but not enough to warrant it whilst out there briefly.

He scanned the back yard and, when he saw nothing out of place, decided it must have been the fox that had been leaving little presents all over the back for a couple months now.

“Damned foxes,” he whispered, heading back inside. He could hear Maggie moving around upstairs, the water was running and he wanted nothing more than to climb into the bath with her.

He closed the patio doors and turned his back to them, getting a shiver right up his spine as though he knew someone was watching him; his pulse started racing, his breath quickened and he turned on his heels quickly and discovered what he was hearing; he watched as a burnt orange tail ran into the plants to the left of the garden. Laughing, his heart beat began to slow down and his breathing regulated as he cursed again, “Damned bloody foxes.” He shook his head and sauntered upstairs, heading for his love and a romantic, chilled night before they started their serious work tomorrow.