Part 24 (1/2)

”You have no idea. Tell me again why I was persistent in going back to college?” I joked as I reached out to take the hot Simpsons mug off her. I looked down and blew on its perfect mix of brewed tea and milk.

”Oh you know, Education, Job prospects, oh and don't forget, throwing a square hat in the air when you've finished!”

”Mmm, my favourite part.” Libby looked at me as if she still hadn't got used to seeing me in such a good mood these days. I had overheard her one night talking to Frank about it. She ended up in tears and I was just glad that now people had exchanged tears of sadness for ones of happiness. I had spent too long feeling guilty about all the problems I had caused, well at least now I was making up for it. For now, I had never been happier!

”You working tonight?” Libby asked as she pulled her coffee coloured sweater straight that was stretching thanks to the b.u.mp showing.

”Yeah and I'm staying over so don't expect me home,” I said with a wink as today was finally the day I had come off my period. She laughed and said, ”These days I never do.” And although she had said it in a light hearted way, I heard an underlying hint of regret. Alright, so the guilt thing hadn't left me completely. She had turned around and was making her way to leave when I had an idea.

”Hey Libs, I was meaning to ask, do you have any free time next week? Cause you know, I could use some help shopping.” At this she whizzed round like someone had lit a rocket up her backside, only one that would make you smile, 'cause she looked like a child did when they found out they were going to a theme park!

”Yeah, I would love too but wait, you only went shopping last week.”

”Yeah I know but it wasn't the same, you remember me telling you about the designer shops right?” She laughed at the memory of my reconstruction of my famous shopping experience with Sophia.

”I would have loved to have seen you in Gucci!” She laughed until tears glistened in her luscious, green eyes.

”Never going to happen.... But hey, I wouldn't say no to the Gap.”

We arranged a day that I was lesson free in the afternoon and giggled a little more over my day with Sophia, when this made me remember something vital that had almost slipped my mind. It was a promise I had made to myself about the day when I was no longer held restricted to just heavy petting and intense kisses. I got up from my computer chair and walked over to my closet. I leaned down and reached at the back for a stripy pink Victoria Secret bag.

I pulled out its contents and Libby wolf whistled. It was perfect and made me blush. She had always been able to do it since being taught by my dad when my mum wasn't around. The last time I had heard her exercise this talent, was after a few too many at a family BBQ party. The flames had set the fence alight and when the Fire service was called, they met their match in Libby, fuelled on too much Pinot Grigio. My embarra.s.sed father had to apologise for his daughter's behaviour and send her to bed. She was twenty two at the time. I smirked at the thought, then quickly replaced it with hot cheeks as I looked down at the mixture of satin and lace in my hands.

”Well... won't somebody be having fun tonight?” She said before giggling her way out of my room. I sighed heavily, wondering how I was ever going to pull it off. My idea when buying it, was surprising Draven by wearing it under my uniform and going to bed early. There I would slip into the matching gloves and lay seductively on his bed waiting for my body to be discovered. Of course now that the actual day had arrived I was starting to get cold feet.

I arranged the corset on my bed with the matching items and stood back. I was trying to imagine his reaction to finding me in this perfect example of s.e.xy, seductive underwear. I bit my lip at the thought.

I knew the last week had been particularly tough on him to keep his urges under control. A few times we had come close to crossing the messy line but the thought of my embarra.s.sment later was what gave me the power to stop. I still found it hard to believe that Draven was as consumed with me as I was with him. He explained one night after an extreme kissing session how he felt.

”The obsession I have over you can't be explained in words and I fear there are no greater actions that can do my feelings justice. But when I say that I had never imagined happiness like this was obtainable for me, making this the one and only thing about human life that I envied, trust in these words. I had lost all hope believing that the G.o.ds had created a soul mate to belong to me but now I have you here in my arms, I know it was worth all my lifetimes in wait.”

At this point I had difficulty in holding back the tears that materialized in the corners of my eyes and was just thankful the only light had been the low glow from the moon, which cast a bluish tint to the furnis.h.i.+ngs. It had been the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me and I wished I could have responded with an equally beautiful response but in the end knowing I couldn't find the word, I spoke with my lips. He smiled under my touch as he could feel my wet cheeks and there is where he found his feelings reciprocated.

Even though we hadn't made love that night it was still one of the most perfect nights of my life and one that will stay with me until the day the G.o.ds decide to take me back. These thoughts were what changed my worried frown to an excited smile. I was going to go through with my plan and play the temptress for a night. After all that was the name of the outfit and tonight I would do it justice!

I picked my mug back up and went back to the computer to try and retackle my own revolution. That was my rebellion with History. I looked down and saw even Homer Simpson was mocking me, with his speech bubble saying ”Mmm... Donuts” making me think more about food than French royalists. Draven had offered to help me, of course, but I felt that asking him about dates that were past too many lifetimes to comprehend, does somewhat const.i.tute as cheating. Not only that but I think his version of the past would contradict the written word, even though there was no doubt his account of events would be more reliable, however, there was no getting around the fact that I still couldn't use any of it.

History is made up of a collective narrative of the dictation of the men and women that lived through those times, whether it is through words or codes of pictures and symbols. I don't think history would have been told in quite the same way if the world knew about how much Demons and Angels had to do with the outcome of how we live today. I could just imagine Mr Reed's face when reading my report that stated how Demons and Angels were responsible for the fall of world leaders because it wasn't beneficial to the Underworld's balance on this fragile earth's plane. It was almost worth doing to see his head spin 360 degrees.

It took me a while to get my head round the fact that one can't live without the other. We needed them as much as they needed us to survive. They feed from our emotions and we needed their protection from ourselves. Of course, this doesn't mean that some of the world's problems hadn't slipped through the cracks. Bombs still exploded, wars still battled on and terrorists still held the upper hand in their fearless ambition to destroy the western world.

If I thought the world had its problems before knowing Draven, then I was surely mistaken. However I still couldn't decide which was worse, being blissfully unaware and putting my sightings of the other kind down to an over active imagination or knowing the unbelievable truth had suddenly become believable. When I really thought about what I had learned and witnessed in just a few weeks, then any normal person would be in therapy for the rest of their days but no, not me, instead here I was thinking life had never been so sweet!

It didn't take me long to give up on history and concentrate on other things, getting ready for work being one of them...ok, ok, the only one! After spending enough time in the bath to make the tips of my toes wrinkly, I decided to get out of the deeply scented water and dry my newly scrubbed, shaved skin. I then smoothed over some of Libby's fancy moisturizer until it felt fully soaked into every inch of my body's surface. I did this feeling almost giddy at the thought of what was to come. I found myself wondering what his reaction would be. Would he be expecting it or would he first just stand there in shock, before taking me in those solid arms of his.

We hadn't talked about my period again after the weekend, so I gather he didn't want me to think of him as impatient but considering when we were together, we couldn't take our hands off each other, I think his impatience was a bit obvious. So tonight was a big deal. I wanted things to be perfect but as I had never done this type of thing before, I was still a bit nervous.

Back in my room I found my seductive outfit screaming out at me like some s.e.x fuelled beacon and I couldn't help but blush. I knew I would need help tightening the corset and the thought of asking Libby didn't help with my over sensitive reactions. After taking some time to put it all on and tying the ribbons to the thong, that was already starting to feel like cheese wire, I called down the stairs for my sister.

”Hey what's up...WOW! Holy s.h.i.+t, you look fantastic!” She then stuck her fingers in her mouth and wolf whistled for the second time today. I rolled my eyes and turned round to show her the part that I was having a problem with and she started tugging like a woman possessed at the cord. I nearly lost balance a couple of times so she motioned for me to grab the desk for support. If I had known it was going to be like a mission to get me secure in this thing then I would have just opted for a bra! Once she had finished strapping me in, she stood back and said.

”Voila!”

”I'd say thanks if you hadn't have broken most of my ribs already.” I gave her a cheeky grin before going to look in the mirror. Thankfully I had the foresight to put on my black trousers before Libby had come to my rescue so she didn't have to see my naked behind. This however made me look like some kind of dominatrix!

”Go get 'em tiger!” Libby said before leaving me to continue getting ready for my big night. I frowned as I heard her making cat meows as she made her way downstairs. I took one last look at myself as I reached for my black and grey striped top that I was planning on wearing for work. I gulped as the corset under it had made my curves all that more...well curvy! It had forced my body into a perfect figure of eight, making my a.s.sets seem all that more accessible. I tied my hair up into its damp twist and added a touch of mascara to my dark blue eyes that were already starting to show their doubts about tonight. Would I really go through with this?

”Yes...Yes I would!” I said out load as I grabbed my bag and made for the door.

Club Afterlife was buzzing with its usual Friday night energy as the band was playing their first set and the early signs of drunken Goths were starting to show. I had been working behind the bar for about an hour and already I was regretting not just changing into my s.e.xy lingerie at the end of the night. The thong at least, because in my opinion these were only meant to be worn when there was a very high chance that they would be taken off again soon, like ten, twenty minutes tops!

I must have looked like I had piles because I couldn't stop fidgeting with my behind. It was even more embarra.s.sing when Mike even asked me if I was alright. Why I didn't just nod that I was fine I don't know but for some reason I had lost all normal functions and thought that saying 'Bug bite' then motioning to my a.r.s.e was a far better explanation! One word...Idiot!

I had to suppress the urge to smack myself on the head. Thankfully it didn't take him long after that to act like I had scabies and forget the question he'd asked. Unfortunately it didn't take me long to forget my shame and start fidgeting with the thong again. All I could think about was how thankful I was to be working tonight downstairs and out of the eye line of my watchful boyfriend. I had looked up a few times to see a figure standing there but considering that they could see much more of down here than we could up there, I could never be quite sure if it was him or one of his guards.

For a short time RJ and the gang had taken my mind off my unusual circ.u.mstances and for the first time tonight I forgot about my a.r.s.e! Jack displayed the same boyish charm that had you smiling at just the sight of him when coming to order drinks from the bar. When I helped him take them to our usual table he asked me to join them. I told them I would after my s.h.i.+ft and didn't think Draven would mind me having one with my friends before going upstairs to join him. Plus it would give me a chance to get some liquid courage down me before my time to do the dirty.

It was then that I saw something that couldn't have really been there. I was walking back to the bar when I saw someone staring at me in the crowd. His tall strong body stood out from the ma.s.s of jumping Goths. The band was playing their last song which was the one everyone knew. 'Stunned in to thunder' was the name of the song and it turned out to be quite fitting as now there I was stunned into the very core of where my feet wouldn't move from. The lights flashed in and out of darkness for effect and every time they came back up, my eyes would blink to find him still there staring at me, with intense eyes burrowing into mine. It felt like I was standing there naked, with nothing to protect me from his luring smile. One fang exposed from deadly lips and he winked one serious eye at me, which struck me as more of a warning than anything that a wink generally implies.

”Lucius!” The name escaped in a whisper but as soon as I said it, the lights went off and when they illuminated the club once more before the song ended, he was gone. I shook my head and whispered ”Couldn't be,” as I walked behind the bar to finish my s.h.i.+ft. The image of Lucius standing there in a long, black jacket that reached the floor and hair sleeked back, enhancing the hard features of his face, stayed with me until I heard my time was up.

”What did you say?” I asked in a rude way, as I could have sworn I heard it being said in the same voice that has started haunting my dreams.

”I just said times up, you know, time to go enjoy life?” Mike had a confused look which was quickly turning to concern.

”Oh, yeah...life. Sorry I guess I'm just tired.”

”That Reed been working you too hard?” He smiled at me like I was some lost girl he had just found at the mall.

”Yeah, but that's nothing new,” I replied before ordering a drink from him. I grabbed my bag from the back and found my drink ready and waiting for me to take over to my friends' table. As soon as I sat down I felt better. I could quietly listen to everyone's stories about their week at college and RJ was never short of distracting conversation. She talked about what everyone was doing for Christmas vacation and how she wished that she had a family abroad to go to visit.

”So how about you Kaz, you going back to England for Chrimbo?”

”Umm, I don't quite know yet,” I said half heartedly, which she took for something other than nerves.

”Oh I get it, now you're with the G.o.d Draven, you don't want to lose sight of that fab bod of his! Hey, not that I blame you, if that was me I wouldn't let him out of my sight for a second.” At this point Jack punched her on the arm and gave her an evil look, and for such a sweet guy, he really did dish out the dirties like a pro!

”Sorry Kaz, my sister is a little slow when it comes to stopping the nonsense from sweeping from that swallow little head of hers...It's all the holes!”

”Hey! What'd I say?” I laughed while rolling my eyes and downing my drink.

”Its fine, but I better go. Oh before I do, are you guys all coming here tomorrow night?”

”h.e.l.l yes, you did say that there was a hot surfer dude coming right?”

”I didn't say hot!” I said feeling the heat reach my cheeks, which made Jack smile at me.

”Yeah but that's how I know he's hot, because when I asked you on Monday, you couldn't say yes when Sophia was around.”