Taming The Lockwood

Twenty

Fixing Gabriel with an expectant look, I rest my shaky knees onto the bed, pulling them up taut against my chest, and tuck my chin onto the bone.

His large figure fills up the width and length of the mirror behind him and he leans back against it, folding his arms over his torso with an air of faux confidence. I could make out the nervousness swimming in his profile and it did nothing to ease mine.

"Spit it out." I snap when the silence thickens immensely.

His face twists into one of surprise for a split second then his steely, cold frontage takes over.

"Do you trust me?" He visibly swallows.

Do I trust him? I trust him enough to not kill me, I guess. And he's had plenty of opportunities to fulfil that wish.

"Yes." I murmur, eyes meeting his steadily.

"Close your eyes." He commands, a no-nonsense attitude lacing his words.

Rather than refusing, I acquiesce, burrowing my face into my thighs and close my eyes tight.

My ears perk up when the sound of fabric tearing consumes them and I hunch my shoulders uneasily at the sounds that follow. Something thick and solid hits against the lush carpet and a tinny sound of metal clanging reverberates throughout my surroundings. Those sounds are followed by that of bones cracking and I grimace, feeling the sound rush to my sensitive areas.

Tense, I open my mouth to speak, frowning as a soft, furry, live thing strokes my foot. I muster every bone in my body to keep from moving away in fear and whisper, "Are you trying to seduce me? Because I'm not really into all that, err stuff."

When I fail to hear a response, I open my eyes, defying his previous order.

The sight that meets them makes my heart drum louder and louder in my chest, expressing my fear at the impending doom which lies at my fate.

A dark, black wolf or bear, I can't make out the difference because it's too big, stares back at me with pitch green amber eyes. The clean fur which coats its huge body stretches across for metres and beckons me forth to stroke its surface.

How on Earth did he manage to get a bear in his bedroom that quickly?

I've never heard of a trust test like this.

Its snout wrinkles as I take a cautious slide back until my back hits against the headboard. 

Considering the vastness and largeness of its limbs, it moves with stealth, pairing my backward movement with its own forward one.

"Gabriel?" I call out, glancing towards the still closed door. "Hello?"

A fat paw lands on my thigh and I stiffen considerably, looking down at it. "Hey..." I let out a shaky breath and take the paw into my clutch, shaking it. "Nice to meet you. I don't mean any harm." I add on, reassuring the poor creature.

Looking back up at its face, I still at the expression which meets my gaze. Its mouth widens out into a cheeky grin and its jaw drops open, tongue lolling out to the side. I blink and blink again, but the sight remains as it is.

"Wow, you're responsive." I comment but scowl when its prior expression drops. "Good boy." I pat the creature on its head and stroke the flesh which lines the top of its head to the back. A grunt leaves its mouth and I continue my admissions, looking towards the door desperately.

Where has that moron gone? I'm not pet sitting.

Just as I turn my eyes away from it, it moves away from my hand and whines, moving back before leaping up onto the bed next to me. One of its feet drops onto my leg and I cross them out underneath me, inviting the creature to continue.