Moonlit River

Chapter 2: Afternoon Ride

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Her eyes grew to the size of saucers as his hand lightly brushed her face. She pulled the silver protection around her so that he couldn\'t see her and she slid back as far from him as she could. She felt his hands lightly brush her sides through the fur. \"Little angel, don\'t be afraid, I\'m just here to show you the place I love.\" She muted a gasp as his hands slid up to her shoulders. He tugged down the fur to her neck and looked into her beautiful midnight eyes. He smiled and leaned towards her, his lips a mere inch from her own.

She couldn\'t move, her body tense and unsure. She looked back into his own eyes, the blood red which had been so frightening moments before rather a beautiful pool of crimson. She shuddered. \'Even worse... in a good way.\' She hiccupped suddenly and then blushed a bright pink. He let out a quick exhale that substituted for a laugh. She tensed even more, as she felt his warm breath brushing her face. It smelled like peppermints. She gave a quick happy smile, it reminded her of her garden at home. He took it another way.

He leaned forward, moving his lips over hers, holding them together, her eyes wide and shocked as she looked at his beautiful eyelids, there looked to be a slight line of red on them. She snapped back to the kiss, she fell over backwards in an attempt at escape. He followed her down, his teeth nibbling at her lower lip and his hands gently pulling at the fur. She yelped and he looked down at her, his lips curling into a grin of confusion. \"Something wrong my angel?\" She let out a half angry, half amused laugh.

\"Wrong!? Wrong!? Are you seriously laying on me and asking me if there\'s anything wrong with me? What the hell is your problem, I have no idea how I got here, I don\'t know who you are, I\'m not wearing any clothes, I\'m about to be nearly raped by a beautiful stranger, and you\'re asking me if there\'s anything wrong!\" She scowled her eyes becoming bright pools ferocity. \"Jerk!\" She kicked him in the groin in a fit of anger and pushed him over, he yelped and rolled off of her, his eyes glazing for a moment.

She gasped. \'Oh... shit...\' She watched as two dark black leathery wings spread from his back and wrapped around him, pushing him from the ground into a standing position, as he regained his composure. Her eyes met his and she sensed the anger building beneath the surface of the calm exterior. She backed up, unintentionally dropping the fur as it spread and pooled beneath her. \"Please forgive me, I didn\'t mean to, I just you know, well, I just, you scared me and I didn\'t know what to do I-\"

He moved so quickly she couldn\'t see him, and she was suddenly pressed against an unseen wall, his knee between her legs, his eyes focused on hers, and his wings enclosing them both into darkness. She screamed in terror as her body was pushed flush against his own.

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She heard herself scream and then felt the cold grass beneath her, the chilled air and the occasional flick of water brushing her body. She opened her eyes uncertainly and looked up, the moonlit river was rushing behind her and her necklace lay on the ground, as well as her damp blue dress. Her sweater lay heaped against the tree and was still thoroughly soaked. She stood up shakily, her body afraid to move. She reached forward grasping her clothes and quickly clasped on her necklace, she pulled the blue nightgown over her head and looked across the river. She was close to home, she had pulled herself to safety on the right side of the river, and she had been returned to the same place. She shuddered. She couldn\'t quite comprehend what had happened. She ran home as fast as she could.

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She kept to herself her nighttime encounter and acted as if life had been completely normal since the day before. She walked into the stables, her fathers horses whinnying at her, awaiting their oats impatiently. She lifted the buckets to each one, giving them a quick pat on the head, and occasionally a scratch behind the ears as they ate. She made her way to her own horse, the last one at the end of the barn. Her hand lay on his nose for a moment and then she raised the oats to him, as he hungrily munched away.

Her mind wandered to the man from the night before. His crimson eyes before her, his beautiful claw-like nails, and his sway as he had walked towards her... and... peppermint. She dropped the oats.

The horse whinnied at her in frustration. She blushed and laughed a little nervously, lifting up the oats quickly from the ground and resumed feeding her horse.

Her stable boy came out from the side of the next stall and laughed at her. \"Something on your mind?\" He chuckled as she blushed at him. He watched her turn towards him, her beautiful profile matching the beauty of her mind. She was on her winter break from school and had been here since yesterday evening. She would be staying with them for a week until she returned to school. He smiled and walked towards her, handing her a saddle, \"Want to ride with me?\"

Her blush faded and she gave him a beautiful grin, \"I would love to.\"

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They headed out towards the far end of the fields and cantered from the woods to the house and back. She out rode him with ease and watched him trail behind her, her magnificent horse flexing beneath her as his forelegs brushed the ground like the wingtips of angels. She gave him the signal to speed up and they rushed into the forest, the thick umbrage arching above her blocking out the sun which would have naturally fought away the chill.

She rode out into the open and reveled in the warmth of the sunlight. She pulled her horse up and they stood there waiting for her comrade. She looked around recognizing where she stood. She looked out over the rushing river and surveyed the area for any sign of her previous abductor. She turned her horse to leave and knocked her heels into his sides, giving him the signal to go, when she felt sharp tips trail along the small of her back. She screamed and turned around, to see the branches of the same low hanging tree brushing her. She glared at it intently as her friend rode up.

\"Something wrong?\" he asked a little winded. He smiled at her as she glared at the tree, her black hair pulled back and her heart shaped face more obvious than when her hair was down. He leaned back in his saddle and looked at her smiling.

She sighed and straightened up. \"No, it was nothing.\" She looked around quickly and watched again for any movement.

He looked up, \"Huh, looks like the bridge is out, that\'s too bad, it was getting old anyway though,\" his voice was rather blasé as he moved away from the river. \"We better get back, the ball\'s going to start soon, and you know that Abigail is going to want to dote on you. Let\'s be off.\" He headed out from the river with her at his side.

Two crimson eyes watched from afar and a smile slid onto his lips, \'wonderful.\'

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Hope you liked it, the 3rd chapter won\'t be up as fast as these two were. Thanks