In those few days before their third date, Leas had visited often around lunchtime to take her out to eat. Leas eventually started to take lunch from his house after the third outing, saying how he enjoyed it better with her company. She didn’t argue, finding that his cooking was way better than any diner. They will eat on the folded-up futon since it has a table they can use. She failed to keep her compliment to herself one time and it led to a frisky make-out session that ended only because Mrs. Rombart came around to complain about Leas and his parking.... Translation: give me more money .
Whenever she could, she woke up purposely before the radio host got on air. In wolf form, she would visit Leas just as he poured himself a cup of coffee and every time she managed, he would always be delighted to see her. Calling her by her dog’s alter ego, ‘Jenna!’
It’s embarrassing but she did miss him too much to care for anymore...acting just like a dog the whole morning. She thought it could enlighten her on her path to ending things, but the mundane motions he goes through every morning just made her care more about this idiot. Even feeling her heart filled when she noticed the pictures that he took at the concert were already framed around his workstation and kitchen.
She would catch him peering at one photo, the one of him kissing Idonea on the forehead. Another cute experience was when he was going through the photos, he noticed the one that she took of him sleeping and purposely put that in an envelope to give to her personally. If he was embarrassed, he didn’t show it which begs the question that he might give this to her out in the open to embarrass her instead. Nea is going to have to watch his next moves.
One very strange experience did happen, and she so conveniently was nearby to witness it in her wolf form. Leas was taking a package from the delivery man, and one of the tattoos on his wrist started to glow. The exchange he had with the delivery man seemed very scripted. Leas said a few choice words, the delivery man responded with a face curling in what looked to be disgust. When the delivery man walked away, she could hear him muttering something about, “That poor man....and his horribly disfigured face.”
Leas only waved on, seemingly unbothered by the insensitive comment. Once the delivery man drove off, Leas finally recede back into his mansion with the box. Idonea stopped visiting afterwards, both confused and alarmed that what she had just witnessed was his magic making the delivery man see a very different person. Was he using magic to trick people all this time?
She started to suspect the wrong things about him, even mentally accusing him of making her heart so weak to his charms. But that is ludicrous, his tattoos only shone like that on two occasions. One to hide and the other to trick a man....
There is no proof that he used any of it on her.... Then what is he?
That question swirled in her mind, and she almost felt dread when he called her to remind her that he would pick her up for the third date in the next hour. She had to go for a week-long date with a man with mystic secrets.
He lied about the time it would take him to be at the apartment, showing up twenty minutes earlier and knocking at the door as she scrambled to tie her hair up.
“DAMN IT! Hold on!” She tied her shoulder-length hair loose and moved to open the door. She didn’t expect to see a well-groomed Leas at the other side with a gift bag in hand, her jaw dropped at the gleaming visage. He wore a dark tux, so well fitted that it made him look slender and hid his muscles. His dress shirt is the same purple as his eyes and the black bow tie neatly holding his collar in place. Cuffs are lighter than the main body with purple stitching along the edges. His hair was brushed back, and he made sure to shave this morning. He looked straight out of a fantasy book, and he played the part.
“My’lady, may I come in!’ His Icelandic accent was pushed down to be replaced by a more British one and it took a second for her to realize that he was teasing her...again. She slapped her hand over her face, already tired that she did not dress anywhere near as fancy as him. A very dark temptation shook the hand that held the door, one ready to slam it in his face.
“Fine... leave the accent at the door” She snarled, hearing him snicker as he threaded inside her modest apartment. He even looked so out of place here!
“If I had known-” She slammed the door, gesturing to the plain t-shirt and cargo pants she had on right now. “I might have made the effort to find...a dress.”
“Ah my lovely elskan! I have something for you to wear tonight...and packed more for you in my bag!” He closed in on her offering the big gift bag with polka dots to her, almost shoving it into her hands when she tried to push it back.
“H-hold on! I can’t accept all this! You are paying for way more than I am comfortable with!”
“Nonsense! Money isn’t something I struggle with. Or are you just being stubborn because you... want me to dress you myself?” His eyes raked over her body, and the lust wafted from him heavily. Even daring to lean in, noses only inches away. “Maybe add more hickeys in places you wouldn’t imagine possible?”
Their last make-out session may have been too close to be having sex. She remembered how his tongue and mouth worked magically on her breasts, resulting in more little bruising decorating on the most private parts of her skin. Thankfully, nobody could see those after her pressing that he must choose markings far away from where it is visible. He granted the request with a lot more vigor than she bargained for and her whole body reddened from memory. She finally grabbed the bag from his hands, nearly ripping the glossy paper. The words said between clenched teeth, “I GOT IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH!”
He beamed at her, a halo of innocence shining around his head, but she knew better. He was a beast, hungry for more of her. She is in danger of having just as many hickeys as there are freckles on that man’s face.
Her memories of their raunchy adventure were shoved away in the back of her mind, escaping into her tiny bathroom to try on the dress. The one he picked out wasn’t what she expected. It was a soft velvety black dress, neckline to the collarbone and very short sleeves. It was small, meant to fit around her bosom tight to leave nothing to imagine. The tightness followed along her waist until the skirt began. The skirt end flowed and stopped just above her ankle and had this glittery sheen to it. There were a pair of long black gloves she put on, noticing how they were a bit tight around her fingers. Tempted to rip the finger portion of these gloves, she only stopped, being reminded that Leas bought all of these....
Meaning he spent more money than humanely allowed. She tried not to think about it, now putting on the shoes that he picked out for her. Dark, red-heeled boots, although she does not commonly wear these kinds of shoes, she isn’t incapable of walking in them. The worst pair of shoes she ever wore were the wooden clogs made in Sweden. Its popularity eludes her.
Glancing at the mirror, she nearly gaped at how it all fitted her. It shaped her muscular frame, giving her arms freedom from unneeded binds and made her look strong. The color made her look slim, with the added benefit of accentuating her curves and breasts. Showing femininity beneath the muscles and the scowl. The only thing left to do was to decide what to do with her hair. She let it down, making a dissatisfied face that it didn’t seem to change anything.
Forgetting she had a new outfit on, she walked right out of the bathroom ruffling her wavy red hair. “Leas...I need some help with what to do with my-”
She froze when she noticed the way he gawked at her, the way he studied every part of her like this was the first time he had ever seen it. His ogling made her self-conscious, hugging her torso as if she was so exposed.
He is looking at me so strangely...
“Sorry...” He cleared his throat, stepping towards her with one hand in his pocket. He had this kind smile, fingers grazing along the side of her face. So handsome he was, she couldn’t fathom that his attention was only on her. He deserved more than some she-wolf with baggage. “I thought I could handle seeing you in this dress for the second time...but you look even more beautiful.”
Beautiful!? She choked, leaning into his touch anyways. Loving the attention that he gave her. “So... it’s one of the dresses that you had me try on in Dublin.”
“The very last two, more in my luggage for the next few days.” He rubbed circles on her cheek with the pad of his thumb, the other pulled out an interesting accessory. It was a black feathered hair clip and in the center was the metal shape of a wolf with bright yellow jewels for eyes. “Just like this accessory, anything on you that day I brought.”
“You...are teasing me, right?” Her heart stops, feeling him part her hair in a way to retain this hair clip. It weighs heavily on her head. This wolf figure that he brought showed how attentive he was to it, accepting the tattoo that she had. The first day back, he had mentioned that he was more intrigued by her tattoo, finding it just as beautiful as her. A compliment that shaved her earlier anxiety. Ever since then, she has been thrilled to have anything that he picked out. Even the dress, the affection he gave her. Even the way he touched her.
“Nope. This is me being honest, I want to give you everything.” He kissed the corner of her lip, then her lips and deepened this kiss. She hummed in pleasure, wrapping her arms around his neck to keep him close. The way they handled each other, it was like they never had a relationship in their entire lives. And a part of her believes so, nothing as passionate and as growing in trust as this one. Nothing that felt so real to her.
But what is he.... This thought invaded this sweet moment, and it made her slow down their kissing, pulling away first, but he didn’t let her go. His one arm secured her close to him, resting his forehead against her head. “I’d like to finally show you this special place...”
“What place?” She raised a thin brow, staring right up at him. Expecting him to answer her deepest-rooted questions then and there, and some about the date that they are going.
“It’s a secret~!” He chirped, nuzzling his face into her temple. The giddiness from receiving his affection, even the ones that are a bit bratty, brought a smile to her face. He noticed and kissed her brow, “You will like it...”
And she would have to take his word for it. After that statement, he did not add to that anymore and dragged her and her backpack out the apartment building and into the MR2. He said something about needing to drive an hour to get to their destination and he picked a few collections to listen to all the way there. But that whole time she wondered where he was taking her for a week, and even more what kind of creature he was to be able to influence how people perceive him.
Every once in a while, on the car ride, her yellow eyes studied his sleeves to see any otherworldly glow but no such thing happened. Besides, he wore sleeves, he could very well be using magic but hid it beneath his clothes. His tattoos never glowed through the clothes from what she had seen. Its glow was faint, but the only reason she noticed was the sudden change of color from black to light blue.
And whenever she gets her chance to see him shirtless, all his tattoos are as black as expected. Like there is nothing otherworldly about it. It was strange for a man to get tattoos of Norse runes, but who was she to judge?
Her anxiety was obvious for him to notice, pointing it out with a very concerned look on his face. “Are you okay?”
“Just nervous...how can I rightfully take a local star from his fans for a whole eight days? Cruel thing for me to do...” She grumbled, trying to deflect him away from her suspicion. The last thing she wanted was for him to suspect that she knew he had magical abilities. And he had been oddly perceptive, calling out her prolonged staring at his tattoos or when she asked odd roundabout questions.
Does it hurt to have them done? Do these tattoos glow when you don’t want them to?
“Sure...they will be fine. This is more important.” He sounded so confident, clenching the steering wheel with one hand. The other shifted the gears as he drove on faster. She could feel the speed and her body felt all jittery once more.
“A-are you.... driving the speed limit?”
“Oh! Cute! Speed limits are just a suggestion, my elskan.”
If she drove more often than she might’ve realized that he was just matching the other drivers. But she was nervous the whole way there. Her regenerative ability and immortal life are a gift, but it cannot stop death caused by a vehicular accident.
He only seemed more amused the more she asked him to slow down.