“Before, when that woman trapped you here, did you have sex with her?”
For a moment, he doesn’t react, just stares at me. And then he lifts his chin.Yes, I did.
That answers a lot of my questions about his sexual experience where human women are concerned but not all of them. “Did the woman…I don’t know…do something weird?”
He seems to shrink in on himself a little, like he’s trying to make himself smaller.I’m not sure what you mean. Weird?
I’m starting to wonder about this woman. What did she do to Gabriel to make him react this way?
“Listen, I met someone in town who told me that if you have sex with someone, it could bind you to them forever. Do you know anything about that?”
His eyes look past me, like he’s thinking through things, and then shoot back to mine.But if that was true, I would be bound to her, the one who tied me to this place.
Obviously, I thought about that, too. “Did she do something maybe before or after the two of you slept together? Something out of the ordinary?” This time, when his eyes leave me, they fall to the ground, and I see that sadness in them that I saw before. “I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I hate to ask. This is clearly–”
It’s okay.The words burst into my mind, and then he sighs. I just want to see him all spread out with joy again. This is agony.It’s hard for me to talk about. It was…quite a difficult time. Her name was Julie. She was kind and beautiful. I was passing through, and I stopped in the woods while she happened to be outside, watching the sunset. She didn’t seem to be afraid of me. It was almost like she was waiting for me.
I didn’t show myself at first. I stayed hidden, but then she called out to me. She said she knew I was there and that I didn’t need to hide. So…I didn’t. I came out. She invited me to sit with her. She spoke to me like I was a real person. I’ll admit…it was intoxicating.
“Youarea real person,” I say, taking a step closer to him.
His eyes shoot to mine, and a little shimmer goes through him.We talked for hours, and then eventually, we ended upin her bed. I had never been with a human before, only other Shadow People like myself. It was…amazing. So, so lovely.
He stops talking for a moment, his eyes looking far off into the distance, and I’m surprised when a burst of jealousy flashes through me. I don’t want to think of him with some other woman, especially not a woman who hurt him.
We made love, and I could feel that something shifted. It was like…I don’t know, it’s so hard to explain. It’s like I suddenly needed her so much that I felt I would die without her. It was like she was food, and I was so hungry I would waste away at any moment. And then she, well, she tied me to the bed. I don’t understand how she did it, but when she put the chain around my wrists, I couldn’t become shadow. I was completely solid, unable to move. And then she left.
“Oh, Gabriel.” I take his face in my hands, shocked to find that his kin has gone cold. This woman, whoever she was, wounded him, and her betrayal clearly still has a hold on him.
He doesn’t meet my eyes.I don’t understand it, but I think that when she left, the bond broke somehow, like it was corrupted, and I ended up tied to the house instead. That’s the only way I know how to explain it. If I’m honest, I didn’t think the sex had anything to do with it. I thought she put some kind of curse on me.
I can’t rule that out, but there’s really only one way to know for sure.
“If we have sex, there’s a chance that we can break your tie to the cabin.”
He looks at me with that confused expression of his again. His hands come up to settle on my waist, and suddenly his shadows are reaching around me, covering both of us like some kind of midnight bubble.
But then we would be tied to each other. You would have to live your life with me in tow. I can’t ask you to do that.
“You’re not asking me. I’m offering. This is the only way you’ll be free. That is, if that’s what you want. I don’t want you to be tied to me against your will anymore than I want you tied to the cabin when you don’t want to be.”
A slight shimmer goes through him again.I don’t think I would mind being tied to you. I would like to go where you go.
I shrug, trying to hide the pleasure I feel low in my stomach at his words. “Maybe it won’t be so bad, being followed around all the time by someone who can make me come with just his mind.”
A sly smile spreads across his mouth.I can make you come with more than just my mind.
Heat flushes all the way down to my toes, and I lace my fingers through his, pulling him toward the cabin. “Come on.”
He doesn’t fight me. As soon as the door is shut behind us, I turn Gabriel and press him to it. Pushing up on my toes, I find his mouth with mine. Just like this morning, just the touch of my lips seems to send him into a frenzy. He takes my face in his hands and kisses me deep, sweeping his tongue into my mouth.
It’s comforting to know this won’t be his first time. The last time I had sex with a virgin, I was still a virgin myself. And really, with a situation like this, I’m the one who has no clue what they’re doing. It’s not like I’ve ever been railed by a Shadow Person before.
When I wrap my arms around Gabriel, his shadows stretch around us, like they did before, covering us in darkness, like we need privacy, here in this empty cabin. I can feel him growing hard between us, and I’m beginning to feel desperate to see it, to hold it, to feel it inside me.
I pull back, looking into his black eyes. I can’t believe anyone could ever be afraid of him. Looking into his eyes, all I feel is…safe. “Can I touch you?” I ask him.
He gets this look on his face, like I’ve just surprised him with some kind of gift, and then nods.Yes.
