Checkmate

Black and White

It can't be. 

It was.

Him. 

Standing opposite me, an amused smirk on his face, those unforgettable ocean eyes gleaming in the dusk light. 

I didn't imagine their vivid colour then, I thought, feeling strangely off balance. 

In the months that had passed since our run in, I'd moved on from our encounter, putting it down to nothing but passing ships, a fleeting memory that I'd relegated to the back of my head. I'd convinced myself that the attraction hadn't been so strong, that I'd neglected my body's needs too long and so anyone would have been appealing. Just as I'd convinced myself I was wrong about those eyes.

I was wrong.

Wrong on both counts.

Because the bright, moving blue-green gazing back at me now was far, far more intense than I remembered.

And so was the desire that surged through me.

"We meet again." He said, quietly, as he moved out of the trees slowly. 

He looked different, his blonde-white hair was shorter, making the angles of his face more defined, his deep blue and black robes contrasting with his colouring, making him look sombre and edgy. I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry, my heart pounding, much to my annoyance. 

Calm down. Get this under control. NOW.

I found my voice.

"This is a surprise." I said, glad that I sounded calm, betraying nothing of what I was feeling. 

"Indeed." He stood a few metres away, his intent gaze steady on me. 

"One of the delegations?" I said, enquiringly.

"No." He watched as it dawned on me. The fair hair and light eyes. Of-course.

"Ah. Vargan."

"Clever Wolfman." He said, a slight smile on his face. "You're on my territory now."

That didn't sound predatory at all.

"Is this private?" I glanced around me, choosing to interpret his comment this way, and to take a breather from that gaze. "I didn't mean to intrude."

"It's not private." He said. "But it is guarded."

"I didn't see any Guard." I said, frowning a little.

"No." He smiled faintly. "Nevertheless, they are there. So expect a visit if you enter."

I must have triggered something when I crossed into the forest, I realised. I should have known. Way to stay under the radar, Lio. 

"It's for safety." 

"Wildlings?" I hazarded a guess.

"Something like that."

I nodded slowly in response, then noticed that I still had my daggers out, pointed at him. I slipped them back into their wristguards and moved around from the rock I'd been sitting on. 

"Still no scent." He said, inhaling deeply as he stepped towards the rocks, looking out at the lake. "You're not here on a mission, I hope. That wouldn't be very smart."

It was on the tip of my tongue to point out that I wasn't the only one, he had no scent either. Then I stopped myself - he was on his own territory after all, he was entitled. I'd be equally wary of visitors without scents on my home ground.