Hideout

T W E N T Y T H R E E

This discussion stayed with me the rest of the night.

Even as people deliberately avoided my gaze or my path, something about what that kind old woman said kept me going with a smile on my face. Plus, I didn't really blame some of the people that really didn't want to speak with me. I was a stranger to the pack that had voluntarily left my original pack, which wasn't usually a great indication of character. I had to remind the part of myself that was angry and hurt by these people that they didn't know me and more importantly, I didn't know them.

Hopefully in time, we could all learn to coexist.

After an hour, I started to notice that I had run out of people to speak to. And Leo must have been watching me and the people I was meeting too, because he intercepted my path, wrapped his fingers in mine, and pulled me away from the group and towards the trees.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To be alone," he answered with a wicked little grin.

Leo paused shortly to kiss my cheek. "I'm not going to have sex with you in the forest," I told him.

He dramatically sighed in disappointment. "I guess we should call the party off then," Leo teased. "I actually just wanted to give you a break from all that. Even though it didn't look like you needed it."

I smiled to myself. "You think I was doing alright? I was trying. But some people still didn't really want to talk to me, I could tell," I responded. "I tried though."

Leo pulled me close so we were walking with our sides pressed together. "You were doing so well. I could tell, I promise."

"Good. I met a super cute old lady-"

"Sherry? Yes, I saw that. After she stopped speaking with you, she came to me and threatened me within an inch of my life," he told me with a chuckle. "She's like everyone's grandmother here. I'm sure we'll be seeing her in a couple days."

Leo paused to help me over a fallen log on the pathway we were walking before continuing to hold my hand. "So... where are we going?"

"Just a little further. I want to have peace and quiet so we can't hear the party," he explained.

A couple minutes later, Leo stopped walking and pulled me into his embrace tightly. I returned the hug and let out a deep breath of relief. "I hate parties," he mumbled into my hair.

I laughed. "Then why did you throw one, you big dummy?"

"I had to. It's tradition. And don't call me a dummy, dummy."

Previously, if Leo had pressed me up against a tree and attempted to kiss me, I would have pushed him away. But there was something in the air that night that had me pulling him closer, wrapping my arms around his neck and moving into his deep kisses.

My confidence in what we had was normally quite shaken.

And yet there I was, making out with the man who had put me through a lot of pain in the past, pinned against a large tree in the darkening night sky. Where anyone who came down the trail could see us.

Maybe it was just the mark speaking but something about that made my lower stomach burn with an unfamiliar feeling.

My fingers crept into Leo's hair and the man hummed in content. He stopped kissing me to trail his lips down my throat and give attention to the mark.

"We shouldn't be away for too much longer," Leo murmured between soft kisses, his hands gripping my hips like he was afraid I'd move away.

My head hung backwards and my eyes shut as Leo gently nibbled on the flesh of my throat before soothing it with his tender, plush lips and tongue.