The Fall

The Dream

CLAIRE POV

My head was cushioned against a soft, firm chest. The world was black, but strong arms cradled me through the abyss. I could hear every part of his heart beat, four distinct sounds, as well as the whoosh of life filling and retreating.

"What am I going to do with you little freak?" That voice. The one that sounded like sex and honey reverberated through me. I heard it and felt it and was hypnotised by the sensation.

A finger traced a delicate pattern on my thigh, each figure of the pattern sweeping higher up my leg, and further into my thigh. It was everything. It was torture. Something was building. Something nice. More than nice, that something felt right.

The finger disappeared.

My eyes flickered open, still hallucinating then, I was cradled in The Chocolate Cake Thief's arms. 

"Did you follow my soul across the skies again..." I asked the dream man, and sank back into the velvet abyss.

THE PLAN

XAVIER POV

Curled into me, I studied every little thing I could about the goddess in my lap.

She had blonde hair pulled into a braid, except for a crop of little yellow ringlets that had escaped bondage. Smooth skin the color of blushing ivory stretched to cover her cheekbones, marred with purple bags under closed eyes twitching every so often. 

I did that to her. Though in all fairness, I wore a similar mask. In the normal course of events you find your mate and seal the bond fairly quickly. The longer the untied ends hang loose, the stronger the pull. Muscles ache, the mind swirls a chaotic tornado of obsession, sleep hovers just outside of reach as exhaustion pulls you down. 

I was scared of what having Claire would mean for her. I was scared of what losing her would mean for me.

Could I get her through this alive? I didn't even know anything about her. Why was she whiling her days away working at a cafe? What were her hopes? Her dreams? Did she have a family? Why weren't they here? How did she and Sally become so close?

I traced patterns on her leg absentmindedly and noticed the catch in her breathing as the sweep of each pattern travelled up her thigh. Even now. She craved me as I craved her. Nothing had satisfied me for more than a moment since the moment my bare skin had met her bare skin and the Moon Goddess had woken our bond.

My absent minded fingers were not even remotely close to anything.

This felt a little creepy though, so I took my hand off her leg. It would have been normal for were creatures with an unsealed bond to continue, but normies had so many more rules and restrictions around that kind of release.

Sapphire blue eyes flickered open - I could have sworn they were azure - and she asked a question that sent shivers of lightning through my heart "Did you follow my soul across the skies again..."

Dr Avery opened the door gently.

"Claire is going to wake up soon, you can hear the changes in her heartbeat and breathing. A little faster than I would have expected, but her owl is craving to seal the bond. Do you have a plan?" Dr Avery whispered from the doorway with an amused, affectionate expression marred by a concerned twist.

"Yes, no, sort of. This isn't the type of problem we learn how to solve at court." I lay Claire down on the table and resisted the urge to kiss her. In spite of what we had just shared, that was too intimate. It would be crossing a line I could never take back. But still.. walking away without brushing my lips to hers took every ounce of everything that I had left.