Justin ran his fingers down Marradith’s back.
She smiled. His touch left a trail of warmth against her skin. The house was silent around them, except for the sound of the fan whirring above their bed.
“I hate that you’re leaving for New York tomorrow,” he groaned.
“I know,” she replied. “I’m gonna miss you.”
He leaned forward and kissed her mouth. “You’ll do something for me?” he whispered.
“Yeah,” she said. “Anything. What?”
“Just… be careful. Whatever took Rafael….”
“It had to be powerful,” she said, raising up on one elbow. “I wouldn’t be honest if I said I didn’t have … well, doubts.”
“No, I don’t want to instill fear. Only caution. ”
“Alright then. Subject change,” she said. “Though I don’t know if you’ll like it.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
She paused, and turned onto her back. “You know, I get curious sometimes. Everything happened with us so fast. And,” she paused. “You’ve got a lot of history.”
This made him laugh. “I guess that’s a kind way to put it, Mary. At least you didn’t call me an old fuck.”
Justin was the only person that ever called her Mary, and he didn’t use it often. She smiled, and nudged his arm.
“Well, come on. Your history is very long, and mine is short. Sometimes I wonder what your life was like before. You told me about how Leighton turned you. But its been a long time from then until now.”
“That’s true.”
“You were married before,” Marradith prompted.
“Yes.”
“So. What was she like? How long ago was that?”
“You are my third wife,” he replied, running his fingers through her hair. “You want to know about the others?”
“Yes. I mean, I am curious. I don’t need to know about random hook ups. But women you gave your name to? I’d kind of like to know, seeing as I’m in that category.”
“My first wife was Olivia. She was a girl I’d known all my life, from the island . We dated on and off in our teens. We married about three years after I’d been turned. I wanted to try to have an ordinary existence. And it worked, for a time.”
“Until…?”
“Well, I didn’t tell Olivia that I was a Wolf. I’d disappear for stretches of time. She thought I was cheating. But she was the kind of woman who’d been brought up to expect her man to wander. There were a lot of things that I couldn’t explain to her. I wasn’t happy with that, but I wasn’t so unhappy that I wanted to give her up. ”
“So, you stayed.”
“Yes, but Olivia died young. She had just turned thirty. Pneumonia.”
“That’s sad. I’m sorry.”
“One learns to deal with loss,” he said. “We had a good life together, so that’s what counts.”
“You two didn’t have kids?”
“No. Olivia couldn’t have children. Which was alright with me, because I wasn’t sure I wanted a child if they were going to be a Wolf. Not then. I was still struggling with accepting that life for myself.”
“You never had any children, after Olivia?” Marradith asked.
“Well, none that I know of. Don’t look like that,” he said, smoothing the crease between her brows with his thumb. ”Women don’t always tell you these things.” He paused. “You know I would love to have kids with you,” he said. “But that’s not going to happen for a long time. And not a moment before you’re ready.”
“We talked about it before,” she replied. “But don’t get me off topic. We’re up to wife number two. So Olivia was from Kitanya. What was your second wife’s name?”
“Soraya.”
“And where did you meet her?”
“Spain.”
“Okay. So how did you meet?”
“ I was living there, in a small town called Basima. I had two friends in town that knew I was a Wolf. I was the local enforcer, the person that the police came to when they wanted someone gotten rid of - quietly.”
“And Soraya?”
“She was visiting. Soraya had extended family that lived there: an aunt and uncle, and a house full of cousins. She grew up with her father’s family in Central America. That summer was her first trip to Europe.”
“So. She fell for you hard and fast.”
He grinned. “How would you know?”
She shrugged. “It figures. So, were there problems?”
“Mainly, her uncle didn’t like the idea of his niece taking up with a Negro, as they called us back then. It would mean Soraya was marrying beneath her station in life.”
“Well that’s just crazy.”
“Those were different times. That was 1910.”
“Well, obviously Soraya knew better.” Marradith replied. “Were you married very long?”
“No.”
Marradith paused. She knew she wasn’t going to like the answer, but she had to ask the question. “What happened to her?”
“Soraya’s family hired some men to get her, and send her back to her country. I looked for her for a couple of years, but I never saw her again.”
“Justin. That must have been awful.”
“That’s the past, a very long time ago. I have all that I need . I love you,” he said, putting a finger to her lips. “You’re leaving tomorrow. We have better things to do than…talking.”
___________
©2010 Lori Titus
After a brief hiatus, Lori is currently having fun whipping her wayward Wolves into shape. For more wolf/vampire/shapeshifter debauchery, check in every Wedensday for The Marradith Ryder Series.
Lori’s book, Green Water Lullaby, is available here: http://www.sonar4publications.com/green.html
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Tags: Lori Titus, The Art of Shadows, The Marradith Ryder Series
July 7th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Cool Lori - wonderful dialogue : “Well, none that I know of. Don’t look like that,” - delightful. I should read this more often.