A Scolding Turned Good…

Really Good

I walked to the river, rubbing the last traces of sleep from my eyes. I sat down, leaning against one of the many long flat rocks bordering the river. I was so close that I felt a slight steam rise and meet my face with a warm wet welcome.

I peered at my reflection as I fingered at my eyes curiously. I didn’t know what they meant although I knew it was something important. I wished I could contact Hope to ask her. She might know.

I stayed there for a few minutes gazing peacefully at my new eyes. I meditated; it was something I had learned from stolen books in the AMA. I decided that I should tell Alex and Yalla the truth soon.

When I felt ready to face them I got up slowly, brushing the ashes from a dress that I borrowed from Yalla. I glanced up and froze. A few rocks away Orestes was sitting beside the river. It wasn’t that that had made me freeze. It was the fact that he had his hand over the river. I could almost see his fur burn away from his beautiful hand.

I felt uncontrolled anger flare inside me, almost as hot as the river that had saved my life. I wasn’t even aware of my feet moving. One second I was standing there and the next second I was next to the unaware Neralk and snatching his ruined hand away.

“Orestes,” I said in a deceptively soft voice. He didn’t hear me. This time I let part of my anger seep into my voice. “Orestes!”

He finally looked at me. I felt like I would fall into his eyes once more but my anger had me anchored. I glared at him.

“What were you fucking doing? You scared the shit out of me!” I yelled at him. He looked at me sadly and then looked at his burned hand in mine. I looked down at it and my anger left me as suddenly as it came. It was replaced by sadness. I felt like crying.

“Why?” I asked, my voice trembling.

He was silent for so long that I was afraid he wouldn’t answer. Then he asked, “Does it disgust you like it disgusts your friends?” He sounded like a lost child.

I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say. Suddenly the anger came back. I struggled to control it as I said, “You did this because you thought that Alex and Yalla were disgusted?” Okay, I admit it. I lost control. “Yalla is not human! She loves your kind and Alex is Alex! He doesn’t show any emotion in front of anyone except Yalla! You thought I hated your hands? They are the most beautiful things I have ever seen. What the fuck were you thinking! You caused yourself pain for something like that? Damn! Wha—?”

I was caught off by his warm lips against mine. They felt like nothing I had ever felt before. Orestes pulled me closer to him as the soft sensual kiss deepened as I responded.

I felt his heart hammer against his chest with the same beat as mine. I could barely tell them apart. His burnt hand was still in mine as my fingers kept stroking the burned fur and the lightly burnt skin underneath. His other hand was on the back of my head.

His burnt hand moved my hand to rest around his neck and I put my other hand around his neck to lock around the back. I was vividly aware of when he moved his hands so that they rested on the sides of my face. Everywhere we touched felt like it was on fire. A longing I was not even aware of roared up inside me, abolishing any anger that I had felt toward him. It felt so good. It felt like nothing I had ever experienced.

It ended way too soon, leaving us both breathless. We did not move our hands from their current positions. I let myself fall into his eyes once more. The little brown they had had left, leaving molten gold in its place. I felt fire in his gaze. It warmed and comforted me. Our foreheads leaned against each other as I looked into his beautiful feline face. His furred hands stroked my cheeks. I closed my eyes, savoring his touch, feeling a light purr start in his chest.

“Are you okay with this?” he asked in his oh so soft voice.

“Hmm?” I asked. I opened my eyes when his hands stopped its course on my cheeks.

“With me falling for you?”

I could only smile softly. I felt his unease melt away as he saw my dreamy smile. Just to prove it to him, I leaned in to kiss him but he beat me to it. Before long we were at it again. It felt so good. I felt loved. I, the grand and powerful Allenda, felt loved.