THE RIPENING (Dark Side of the Moon Book 1) (2 page)

              She herself had her own fair share, and she had to say that she preferred the deeper satisfaction of Luther's company to any quick romp. As long as she maintained the illusion that his ambivalence on the subject mirrored hers, she could convince herself that the little green sliver of envy that worked its way into her side every time he introduced her to his newest conquest was absolutely nothing of consequence.

              “Yuna.” She was pulled from her thoughts by Luther's low summons and quickly returned to the present.

              “Mm?”

              Now that Luther's smile was actually visible, she could take even more pleasure in it. A slow pull of full lips kindled a low heat within her. ”You're thinking way too hard about something.”

              She hoped that her guilty look wasn't too evident in the low light.

              “I'm just a little...tired. I have to shoe the horses again tomorrow and Ed's been calling nonstop about those rockers he's been wanting me to look into for the shop.”

              “Ahhh...and how's the antiquing life going for you?”

              After a string of bad jobs after graduating college, and a dangerous dance on the edge of financial ruin, Yuna had been lucky enough to nab a job as an antiques appraiser with the local shop in town. With her background in history and enthusiasm for renewing objects, it had been a position that she'd slipped into with incredible ease, the very first job that had made her happy.

              It was slightly difficult to balance the farm with the surprising number of appraisals that she did every week, but it was more than worth it to have her finances in the black and be able to stay in the place that she'd grown up in and loved. “It's going great,” she grinned. “Tiring me out, but I'm loving every second of it.”

              “It certainly keeps you busy. You're hardly ever around when I arrive anymore.”

              “Well, that's what your key is for,” she teased lightly, sliding off the counter. “You'd better take care of that thing. You're the only man in the world who has a key to my house.”

              “And I take the responsibility very seriously,” he replied lowly, standing to pick up his plate and carry it to the sink.

              God, he was tall. Yuna's own height was rather mediocre. At a meager 5'3” she could say that sometimes it was a struggle for her to groom the horses. The shadow that he cast over her as he moved around the kitchen seemed gargantuan at times, but when it covered her, she felt safely entombed from the world. “It sounds like you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow.” She looked up to find him standing over her, hands glistening from where he'd washed his plate. “It's probably better if you get to bed.”

              “Are you staying?”

              God, she hoped that didn't sound as desperate as she thought.

              “Where would I go?”

              The young woman relaxed slightly. “Your bed's all turned down. I was expecting you.” His answering smile was worth the two hours she'd spent hand-washing his down comforter. 

              “You're an angel, Yuna.”

              When Luther touched her cheek, the young woman cleared her throat, quickly moving away to switch off the kitchen light. Without it, she was more comfortable. As used to hiding herself from him as she was, it was always better to do it in the cover of darkness. The darkness, to her, was refuge from what he might catch a glimpse of if he happened to see her at the wrong moment. It hid a potential reaction to an unexpected touch. The darkness was protection.

              “I'm just a farmer.” Her words gently rebutted his compliment as she turned to glance back in his direction over her shoulder. “I have to get going early, so I might be gone when you wake up.”

              “Of course.” His deep, slightly accented tones made her stomach clench. “Sleep well.”

              When the swinging door closed behind her, the young woman took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. When he was gone, she missed him terribly. Yet when he was near her, she was nervous as hell. The contradiction had been one that she'd long grown used to, but it was a kind of torture that assaulted her physically and mentally.

              She needed to rest.

**

              Being with Yuna was one of the simplest things in his extremely complicated life.

              After a week of helping her re-outfit horses, polish antiques, and bake pies, Luther was once more convinced that perhaps a life of domesticity wouldn't be the worst way to go. Being with her had always had this effect on him, and it was why he kept coming back.

              Since he'd been young, his parents and brothers had always warned him not to get too close to anyone.  Despite every good intention anyone in his clan had ever had, getting close to someone like Yuna always ended horribly.

              Yet here he was. Against their wishes and against his own good intentions.

              Yuna had been a constant in his life for decades. Ever since her tiny six-year-old face had peeked at him over the rim of a volume too large for her small frame, he'd been intrigued.

              He remembered only vaguely moving to this country. He remembered he hadn't liked it, that he'd begged his parents to let them stay among the rolling hills and green mists of where they'd come from, but they'd insisted it was too dangerous. Places like Scotland, they'd warned, were like small havens for those who hunted them these days. Mind you, those people were few and far between. In the hundreds of years since his kind had first appeared, they'd long since waned into myth and legend. But wherever they were, there was always someone looking for them.

              Looking for proof.

              America had been a good choice. His family believed it to this day. They'd had few difficulties, that was true, but Washington state lacked the magic of the hills of his homeland. Still, he had to admit that if coming here had resulted in his meeting Yuna, it couldn't be all bad.

              She was one of a few with whom he could truly be himself.

              In accordance with his family’s wishes, he'd always kept his own. He'd never participated in physical fights and never let himself get too largely involved in any single situation in town. Anything that risked exposure had to be avoided at all costs. But while his parents and brothers chose to isolate themselves from the world in order to be protected from it, Luther would rather be a part of it. And it was through Yuna that he found that opportunity.

              She slept now.

              The moon was the tiniest sliver, shining through her window and illuminating her face where it lay on lavender-colored sheets. Fondly, he remembered how she'd been as a child. Curious, incessant,  there had been several points when he'd come close to chasing her away, but now he was glad he hadn't. At the tender age of six, she'd worn glasses so thick they'd blinded him when he tried them on, and you could have fit the entirety of her willowy form into a medium-sized bucket.

              God, how she'd changed.

              Formerly unruly black ringlets had grown into soft, pliable curls that spilled over her sheets like silk. She still had the same tiny, stubborn, upturned nose and full, cherry-like mouth, but her eyes, large, green, and entrancing, had been saved by some miracle of science on her sixteenth birthday and were no longer hidden behind thick frames.

              She was no model, as she loved to remind him whenever she had the chance. Of course not. Almost comically skinny limbs had filled out into delightful curves. The work pants, flannel shirts and cotton nightgowns she wore could no more detract from her enticingly plump figure than could her insistence that she ate too much. Indeed, there were few sights that gave him more pleasure than her, up to her floury elbows in her latest kitchen confection or her stirring a pot of her delectable chicken stew. If he had his way, he'd destroy the leagues of DVDs and workout equipment she'd bought in an attempt to tame the luscious angles of her body.

              She was lovely just as she was. And therein lay the problem.

              Luther frowned down at the decadent little figure before him.

              Even asleep, unmoving, she tempted him to no end. He couldn't remember exactly when his innocent longing for her company had turned to something more carnal, but it had been long ago. Since the years of his late adolescence he'd sought the company of innumerable women, none of whose names he could remember, in an attempt to stifle his hunger for her.

              It hadn't worked. He still found himself reveling in her scent, longing for the sight of her, and dying to bury himself deep within her.

              He needed a way to tell her goodbye.

              Luther was entering his thirties. It was a time, in his family, when certain responsibilities had to be shouldered, when the future of their race had to be considered above all else. His father and mother were long been past their years of viable pups. After the death of his eldest brother Elias, and the discovery that his younger brother Liam was infertile, the weight of the line rested on his shoulders. Sometimes, he hated his plight.

              He hated the secrets, the lies, and the idea that he would never be able to do for himself all he wanted. Yes, his race lent one last iota of mystery to the rapidly developing world of man. It was true that the isles of the unknown and the last magics of the word were disappearing, trampled under technology and avarice; and, in many ways, he was very proud to be part of what lay beyond the surface of the modern world's monotony.

              But it meant that Yuna could never be his.

              As he was, it was his duty to find a willing female of their race to ensure their existence for as long as possible. It was what was expected of him - and it was what he should be able to do without question. 

              But he couldn't help but wonder what his life could be like with Yuna. Was it possible that he could get away from the pressures of his clan and contemplate a normal life with normal children? That he wouldn't have to face the long years of teaching his family how to hide and how to survive? That he wouldn't live a half-life bottling another side of him that constantly threatened to escape? It was a temptation that beckoned - right at his fingertips.

              But Yuna didn't want him.

              At least, she wouldn't when she learned the truth. As it was, she shied away from his touch and grew nervous when they spent too much time alone together. Luther had learned over the years that some people, although they couldn't pinpoint the exact reason, could sense what he was and because of that sense, they were nervous around him. He didn't know if it was that reason that drove Yuna to shy away from him or if it was something else, but she'd changed in recent years. The carefree child he'd known had turned into a woman with secrets, and damn if he didn't want to discover them all.

              It was ridiculously hypocritical of him to want to know all of her when it was impossible for her to know all of him - but he could dream, couldn't he?

              At least, he could for the next few weeks.

              Luther had recently decided that after the next full moon, he wouldn't return to her. His reasons were both selfish and selfless. He didn't know how much longer he could face her knowing that he'd eventually have to leave her. Also, the closer she got to him, the more potentially dangerous things became for her.

              Though he'd always been very careful around the time of his change, he'd always feared an accident. What if she found him? What if he couldn't keep himself away? What if he harmed her? Really, it was only a matter of time. It was better, he argued with himself, to cleave himself from Yuna cleanly. Better for him and for her.

              Still...

              Crouching next to the bed, Luther extended a large hand to stroke a strand of hair from the young woman's pale forehead.

              Far from flinching from him as she would if she was awake, her slumbering form leaned into the caress and her lips curved into a smile that plucked at something soft within him.

              He had to leave her.

              Luther touched her cheek briefly, indulgently, before he stood, bound for his own bedroom, and uneasy sleep.

**

              The next few weeks passed uneventfully. With Luther's help, Yuna managed to get more work done on the farm than she usually could in half a year, re-tiling the house, fitting the barn with a new door, and even getting the oldest and grumpiest cow to milk- if not easily. Any difficulties she might have had with the tasks she'd dreaded the most were now nonexistent.

              The hardest chore she had, it seemed, was getting Luther to talk to her.

              When he'd first returned, Yuna had thought that maybe something on his mind was keeping him wound up and as soon the thought passed, he'd relax. But as the days passed, it seemed that he only grew more and more withdrawn. He was still the kind, helpful, and polite Luther she'd always known, but he was quieter than he'd ever been before.

              She'd never seen him this way. It worried her to the point that she began to consider that the problem might lie with his family. Luther had always been very secretive about them and their reluctance to interact with the people in town, let alone with Yuna herself. The Douglases had always been, at best, grudgingly accepting of her relationship with their son. Among the few times she'd met them, she couldn't think of one where they had been warm or inviting. If indeed, the issue had to do with his family, it was the one subject she couldn't help him with, and that idea was close to agonizing.

              Bottling up her apprehension kept the young woman awake night after night. As the moon slowly swelled, she watched it with staring eyes as her mind searched frantically for other reasons why Luther might suddenly be slipping away from her. Had she done or said something to offend him?