Shadow Knight Saga: The Shadowlands

Chapter Twenty-Two

Shayne stretched out in bed, her back arching as she works out the knots from a surprisingly restful nap. Her face hurts from smiling so much and she can still taste his mouth when she licks her lips. The feeling of his hands moving over her body, the tenderness in his touch...but the raw emotion in each caress was mind numbing and it left her wanting more.

She doesn't know why he kissed her in the first place, and she really doesn't know why she pulled him into her room and pushed him back up on the bed, practically pinning him down, and continued kissing him. It was a struggle for control. Neither was yielding, and their position changed many times. First Shayne was on top and then Vee, somehow Shayne again followed by Vee. She shuddered when she pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it across the room. The feeling of his muscular chest pressing against her barley clothed breasts was more than she could have imagined and it took her breath away.

Was it hours or minutes? She doesn't know, but tasting his mouth, the feeling of his tongue as it snaked around hers, the strange sense of unyielding devotion in his touch.... It made her forget about the impending war and the severity of the situation at their doorstep. For a brief moment she felt human, like a normal teenage girl that was in the arms of a normal teenage boy that wanted to hold her because he wanted to, not because she told him to or because he felt obligated to. For a brief moment she felt at ease, mentally and emotionally, but more importantly, spiritually.

Shayne fell asleep in his arms, purring on his chest as he continued to hold her. Through the windows Vee watched the sky darken, only to be illuminated by countless lights littering the buildings, skyscrapers, bridges and streets that make up the metropolitan play-land known as New Amsterdam. She doesn't know when or how he slipped out of her bed, she understands why he did, but she would have liked to have woken up in his arms.

"Maybe tonight we can steal a few moments to ourselves," Shayne mused to herself and rolled out of bed and hurried to the closet to get dressed for patrolling.

While the stubborn young woman struggled to stay awake, the feeling of Vee's calloused fingers caressing up and down the length of her back was the most calming feeling she's ever experienced and she mumbled that she'd like for him to patrol with them tonight. His answer was a small smile before kissing her on the top of the head. That answer was more than acceptable to her.

Carefully she adjusted the silver buckle around the neck of her armament, her large violet eyes studying her reflection in the full length mirror. There's something noticeably different about her but she doesn't know what that is. Perhaps it's only noticeable to her since she's seemingly seeing herself in a new light. For her entire life she thought that there was something wrong with her, and that being different was a curse and would ultimately be her demise. Even after meeting Zeke, another violet-eyed child, she still felt alone in a sense. And then another walked into her life and somehow into her soul, not her heart but her soul, and as much as she was trying to keep him out and push him away she found him wrapped around her spiritually and that's completely okay with her.

"Stubborn boy," she mumbled under her breath with a smile, pulling her long, straight mane of hair over one shoulder. She never wears her hair back, or straight, but she feels the needs to make an effort tonight. Vee's worth making an effort for. The thought made her smile and she exited the closet and headed for the door with a skip in her step and gleam of excitement in her eyes.

Shayne quickly pulled the door open and the soft sound of metal hitting wood was the loudest thing she's ever heard and it made her face drop. "No," she whispered, struggling to keep the tears back. Reluctantly she looked to the doorknob and she choked. Hanging from the knob was her necklace. "Please no," she whispered, her violently shaking hand wrapping around the furled wings. "No!" she yelled and ran down the hall and stairs to the second level.