Creatures
Chapter 13

Talon turned and put Karen in the car and headed home. He was fully aware that they could have gotten killed, but he had not been able to stop it. At least her emotions had finally calmed down once she had fallen to sleep. They were going to have to figure out a way to handle this new connection, the sooner, the better.

He carried her into her room and laid her on her bed, trying to decide if he should undress her or not. He would not wish to sleep in that state, but to undress her would mean that he would see her, well... he could not invade her privacy like that and he was too tired to struggle with a sleeping figure. He had sat down on the bed as he debated what to do. So when he heard her speak right next to his ear, it was only natural for him to jump, right?

“Take off your shirt.”

He turned to see Karen looking at his back.

“What?”

“Shut up and take off your shirt. I need to see your back. It is still bothering you right?” She was kneeling on the bed behind him. She was exhausted, but she would not be able to sleep until she knew that he was really all right and she knew he was not since she could still feel bits of pain coming from him.

Talon sighed and removed his shirt, too tired to argue with the lady right now. If she wanted to see, fine. It was not worth the effort.

He felt Karen trace the wound that was still visible down the length of his back. He shivered at her touch, and although he was tired beyond all belief, his groin responded ever so slightly to the caress.

“It did not heal all the way.”

“It was too deep.”

“Lay down. I will clean it for tonight so it does not get infected until you have the strength to heal it yourself.”

“Do not trouble yourself. I will take care of it when I go back to my room.”

Karen tried to push him down onto her bed. “Shut up and do it. I am too tired to argue with you right now.”

Talon sighed and slipped off his shoes before laying down on her bed. It smelled of her and he took a deep breath in, relaxing in the warmth of where her body had just been laying. He could stay like this forever, he thought as he closed his eyes.

Karen came back out of the bathroom to see Talon asleep on her bed. She shook her head and went over to clean his wound, taking the opportunity to caress the muscles of his back to her heart’s content, only stopping when he moved and let out a sigh. She did not want him to wake up to that. She finished cleaning the wound and went to clean herself up. She could barely stand, but she needed to be clean before she would be able to sleep.

She came back out and sat down next to him, wondering if she should try to move him to his room. She was not going to take his room and her couch was not a comfortable place to sleep. Besides, he looked so relaxed and peaceful, she did not have the heart to wake him. She let out a yawn and curled up next to him, closing her eyes and burying herself in her blankets. It was only one night and they were too tired and he was too much of a nice guy to try anything if he did wake. She trusted him.

Talon rolled over, pulling the warmth and softness closer to him, letting out a sigh of satisfaction. He wrapped his arm securely around the warmth and took a deep breath in before falling back into a deep sleep.

Karen stretched and buried herself back down into the warmth that enveloped her, pushing up against it securely before falling back into a deep sleep.

Talon slide is hand over her heavy breast, allowing his finger to tease her nipple for a few seconds before moving down her side to her hips where he stopped a moment to enjoy the soft skin. When he was satisfied there, he moved his hand lower, slipping it between the nice warm legs... What a dream, Talon thought as he slowly gained consciousness.

He moved his hand and felt coarse hair and wet heat. He moved his fingers over it, trying to wrap his foggy brain around it. What the hell was... Oh shit. His hand was...well... it was resting, quite happily, between Karen’s legs and his fingers moved over her sensitive spot once more. She let out a sigh and moved her hips, causing his fingers to slip further down and dip into her folds.

She pushed against his hands and he felt his fingers slip further in. He froze, his member jumping to life and twitching in anticipation. He quickly withdrew his fingers, now covered in the sweet-smelling wetness and pulled away from her. Karen followed him, rolling onto her back, trapping his other arm underneath her head.

Talon froze, trying to figure out what to do next. He slowly started to move his arm out from underneath her inch by inch, not wanting to wake her. If she woke to this situation he would... He kept Sliding towards the edge of the bed, eventually able to remove his arm and sit up.

What was going on? He looked down at the hand that had just violated her. It still glistened from the moisture of her core and he could smell the sweetness.

His member twitched, reminding him that it was still there. He put his head in his hands and let out a soft groan. How was he going to handle this if she woke up? He tried to stand, but a sharp pain went through his back and he had to sit back down.

“Let me.”

Talon jumped at the sound of her voice. He looked back to see Karen once again kneeling behind him in a skimpy little nightie. He colored and turned away when he realized she was not wearing a bra. He felt her slowly run a finger down his wound, finishing the healing process. When she was done, she knelt away from him.

“Better?”

“Yes.. thank you.” he stood. “Sorry.”

“For what?”

Talon could not look her in the eyes as he gestured towards the bed.

Karen waved him away. “Do not worry. Nothing happened so there should be nothing to apologize for. We were tired and needed rest.” She could not tell him just how turned on she was right now from him sleeping next to her. There was something seriously wrong with her when just his presence could make her so randy.

“If anything, it is my fault for not removing myself once I realized that you were asleep, but I was too tired and selfish to try sleeping on the couch.”

“No. I should have left.” How was he supposed to handle this situation? He had slept with many women, but he had never stuck around for the morning after scene. This was awkward.

Karen climbed out of the bed, walking to the bathroom.

“I am going to shower. I will see you later.”

Talon watched her close the bathroom door before heading to his own room.

It was only after he had entered his bathroom and stepped into the shower that he realized that he had left his shirt in her room. He shrugged, it was no big. He would go back and get it later. It was ruined anyway.

The hot water felt good against his sore muscles and he closed his eyes, letting the water relax the pain. The outdoor pool would have been better, but he just wanted to get clean, there were bits of dirt and blood on him from the fight yesterday. He could not believe that he had fallen asleep in that state.

He let out a sigh and looked down at the hand that had invaded her body. His body reacted to the memory of her warmth and he let out a groan, what was he going to do about this? Should he tell her what happened and beg for mercy from her? No, if he did that, he would not live long enough to apologize, let alone be forgiven. It was best to put it from his memory, but how?

Damn, what was wrong with him? When had he become so emotional? Wait, Talon’s eyes snapped open. It had to be the bonding. He reached out, trying to feel Karen through her emotions.

Karen climbed into the hot shower. She had just spent the night in the same bed as Talon. she had sworn that she would never get that close to him, Talon, who was hot and sexy and warm and gorgeous and so many other adjectives that made her all wet and needy to think about.

She let out a groan. What was wrong with her? She could still feel his skin under her fingers where she had healed him and she just wanted to climb back into bed with the man and do the nasty. When had she become so focused on sex? This had to be the bonding, it was messing with her head. After all, when she had woken this morning, she had somehow known that the man was confused, but why? Should she ask him?

“Good morning. “Talon grumbled as he entered the kitchen.

“Morning? I think you mean afternoon?” Eric chided him. “We just sat down for lunch, have some.”

“Thanks.” Talon sat down. The others glanced at each other then back at Talon, but he refused to look at them or speak.

“How are you doing?” Lily asked, but Talon remained quiet. She decided to take another approach.

“How is Karen?” Lily asked.

Talon shrugged. “She is fine, just tired.”

“Speaking of Karen,” Evan spoke up. “She will be working with you at school starting tomorrow right?”

“She may be at the same school, but she will have a different schedule and be in a different building as me. We will have little to no contact so do not get any ideas.” Talon growled, concentrating on his food. Just speaking about Karen was enough to make him remember what had happened upstairs.

“That is a shame,” Carrie spoke. “Just think of all the gentlemen that will want to get to know Karen better if they think she is single.”

“What?” Talon looked up, confused. What was she talking about and why should it concern him?

“You should at least try to eat lunch with her. She will not know anyone there at first.” Lily commented.

“No.” Talon shook his head. “I do not eat with anyone at work and it would send the wrong impression to the other teachers.”

Lily ignored his remark and continued. “Perhaps we should say she is his fiancee.” She spoke to the others. “That way there will not be any misunderstandings.”

“Like hell!” What were they trying to do to him?

“Watch your language,” Eric commented with a grin. They had finally ruffled Talon’s feathers. They had never seen him so riled up over a simple comment. It was obvious that he was opening up and it was nice to see that he was human after all. Things were looking up.

“I will not have her as my fiancee. Period.” Talon froze, she was here. He could feel the sadness that was coming from her as clearly as if it was his own. What was she getting from him?

Karen leaned against the wall outside of the kitchen, suddenly having the urge to cry. What was wrong with her? She should be glad that Talon did not want her in that way. She could feel the anger radiating from him. She gave herself a mental shake. It would be best if she just focused on what she needed to do and not let herself get attached to him, it would make their relationship go more smoothly.

“It will happen sooner or later,” Eric commented harshly. “You have already gone through the second bonding. The third will come and speaking of that... What the hell were you thinking last night? You could have gotten her and yourself killed pulling a stunt like that! Do you know how dangerous it was to do your bonding when you were both injured, four stories high on a six-inch beam? What the hell were you trying to do?”

It was Talon’s turn to tell him to watch his language. He no longer cared what Karen heard, he had already hurt her, what was a bit more?

“I know just how dangerous it was thank you very much and I already told you, I did not plan it and I did not know how to stop it. If I could go back and stop it from happening, I would. I did not want it, it is a pain in the a... behind having all of these emotions thrown at me all over the place. You would think she would know how to control her emotional state better.” God, he hated himself right now.

The others stared at his outburst. More than the fact that he had just spoken more to them at that moment than ever before, the fact that he would speak so honestly was shocking. Talon did not discuss personal matters... ever.

“We know you could not control it, honey.” Lily was the first to recover her speech. “It is just that we worry about you two. You are both so closed off to everyone and everything around you. We are only trying to show you that we care.”

“Do not worry,” Carrie spoke up. “It is completely normal to be a bit emotional during the first couple of days. Your body is finishing the bonding process and you are learning how to control this new stage.”

“Yeah, in a couple of days you will be back to normal... mostly,” Emerald added.

Talon let out a sigh. He knew that what he was doing was from the bonding right now. Still, he was using it as an excuse to distance himself from her. It was bad enough she was stuck with him for the rest of her life, but for her to fall for him now would only hurt her more in the end. Right? Too bad he did not believe all that bullshit himself. He was an idiot.

“Still...” Michael peered out from behind his paper.

“It should not be too strong right now since she is not here with us, right? Is it that strong?” he asked carefully. Talon was not telling them something.

Talon could not tell them that she was just outside, hearing everything from the way her emotions were changing.

“No. Just an annoyance.”

Karen stiffened. Was it a pain? An annoyance? What could she do other than... that was it! She knew what she had to do now. She would just have to shut down all her emotions so she would not be a hindrance to him. After all, he obviously did not want her around if she was feeling his emotions right. He was angry and frustrated and there was... self-loathing and loneliness too? What was up with those?

“Good morning.” Karen waited until everyone had fallen silent before stepping into the kitchen and pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

“Good afternoon. How are you feeling dear?” Lily asked.

“Fine thank you.”

“Won’t you sit down and eat?” Eric asked.

Like hell she would, not with this atmosphere and not with Talon’s mood right now. If she stayed, she just might kill him.

“No thank you. There is much that I need to do before tomorrow. Thank you though. Have a good day everyone.” Karen took her cereal with her as she left the room.

Everyone turned towards Talon.

“What?”

“Well, what was she feeling?” Emerald demanded.

Talon did not want to answer their questions at the moment. Just before she had entered, all emotions seemed to have drained right out of her and that worried him. What had she done to do that? She did not have that much control, right? But what to tell them? He thought for a moment.

“Nothing.”

“Uh?”

“There was no emotion coming from her.” He clarified. May as well tell them the truth, maybe they would know what was going on, he sure as hell did not.

The others looked at each other.

“She must be pretty upset with something if she is trying that hard,” Eric commented. The other agreed.

“You had better figure out what is going on with her. This cannot be good. It would take a lot of self-control to hide all of her emotions from you right now. Something is wrong.”

“She is fine. Let her be.” Talon picked up his dishes. “I have things that need to be done.”

Talon went to leave the room, wondering what was going on. The others were right of course, something was wrong. How was she shutting down all of her emotions like that?

Talon stopped, colliding with Karen as she re-entered the kitchen.

“What the...”

“Sorry.” She looked up at him. “Do you know an ugly looking man that carries an old fashion Tommy gun with him?”

Talon looked at her. “What do you mean by ugly?”

“What do you mean by Tommy gun?” Eric asked. The others standing immediately. How did someone get into the house without their knowledge in the first place?

“Let’s see... Short, bald, round, scars covering parts of his body that are visible with a really big ring on his finger.”

Talon stiffened as she gave them the description.

“How would you know about him?”

“He is in the main hall asking for you.” Karen turned and started to walk away before stopping and turning back towards him.

“Oh, I was not going to do this, but since you might not be alive in a bit...” The man had frightened her. His eyes... they scared her. There was nothing there. She worried for Talon, but she could only think of one way to show him that. So...

She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek and placed a kiss right on his lips, before pulling back and slapping him across the face.

“What are you, bi-polar?” Talon asked. Damn, he had been taken in by her kiss.

Karen glared at him, letting loose on her emotions for just one moment.

“The kiss was for taking care of me last night and the slap was for your earlier comments. I may not be the most beautiful, or even the nicest person you know, but if you did not like me, you should not have bonded with me.” Karen took a deep breath, going for broke.

“But since you are a self-righteous, egotistical, I would not insult a dog by calling you an SOB, snob, you can go back to the hell you came from.” She turned and left, leaving everyone staring, open-mouthed, at her proud back.

“That would be from trying to control her emotions,” Lily explained.

Talon rubbed his cheek where she had slapped him as he went out to greet his guest.

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