Kindred of Lycaon

Part Six


He was used to the fact that people would stare at him. In fact if someone asked him how he felt about it, he would tell them it gave him a high…to be stared at…to be admired…

He knew that his long platinum blond hair, streaming down his shoulders, small braids holding the ends…his steely gray eyes…his tall stature…his wide shoulders, narrow waist…his milky skin and his straight nose…his pale, full lips and beautiful smile would attract attention from male and female alike. He was a beautiful man, dressed a pair of tight black slacks, black motorcycle boots, black peasant shirt and long black pea coat, walking down a crowded city street, causing heads to turn as he walked slowly…

Pollux Lachance was gorgeous in a way the most humans dreamed to be…and could never be. He was not ordinary…almost unreal… The tinted lights, the flashing lights of Broadway made him seem as if he had stepped off a billboard for a high priced designer… He could not help but smile at the people who stopped to watch him walk by…Japanese tourists, Americans, Europeans…all awed by his presence…

It felt so good…

And as he turned, going toward the East Side, away from the lights of Broadway, the eyes watched him…sighing. He was heading to his temporary home for the night, for rest…

He had been in New York for three weeks, taking in the sights, sounds and scents of a city that never slept. It was overwhelming at first, but Pollux soon felt at home. There were not many Lycans in the big city, only a few here and there, lone wolves like he was, looking to fit in the human world…Lycans who had been cast out of their ancestral homes to fend for themselves. But Pollux was not one of them…he had a home…he had a family…he had a Clan.

New York was just one of many cities he had passed through in three years to gather information…to search out…to find the ones responsible for upsetting his life so many years ago.

Pollux walked up Fifth Avenue…up into the richer districts of the East Side. No one was following him now, and not many people were on the streets. Cutting across a street, he headed toward Central Park. The flat he was renting was one of those old apartments that reminded him of the flat that Mia Farrow had in Rosemary’s Baby…in one of those old Gothic looking buildings.

As he neared the door he could feel someone watching him from a parked Jaguar in front of the building. And as he stepped into the light of the door, nodding to the doorman, named Gus, the door of the Jaguar opened.

“I told Gus that I would wait here all night, if you did not show up soon,” a female voice sounded from behind Pollux, an accented voice, demanding and rich.

Pollux turned slowly, his steely eyes running up and down the body of his latest bedfellow… Marian Fulton, a middle-aged heiress to a shipping empire, recently divorced, no children, long red hair, sleepy brown eyes, a vicious red painted mouth, decked in a black pant suit, white silk corset peaking through the low collar, pushing her large breasts up to her ruby necklace that she said had been given to her by Elizabeth Taylor on her twenty fifth birthday…

“Marian… Won’t you come in?” Pollux said kindly, his eyes flashing, taking in the scent of her subtle perfume and the anger rolling off the wench in waves.

Marian Fulton was no fool. In fact she was one of the ‘intellectual’ women in her billionaire’s circle, but she did not play the uppity type. Marian Fulton was disliked to a certain degree by her peers, the other rich bitch wives and mistresses of New York…all because Marian spoke her mind and had a power over men that most other woman saw as a threat.

“I have been waiting for two hours here…bribing Gus to let me park here…so yes, I will damn well come in!” the woman growled, her dull eyes never once leaving Pollux’s face. “Gus, have someone valet my car…” she said as she passed the dumpy doorman and grabbed Pollux’s arm. The doorman nodded as he pulled the glass door open for Pollux.

Marian had latched on to Pollux with a strength that he did not think possible for a mere human woman. And as they walked to the lift, she smirked. Entering the lift and pressing the button for the top floor, Marian leaned back against the wall, staring at Pollux as he watched the lights on the elevator.

“You haven’t called me for four days, and I was starting to wonder if you needed any more assistance or if our little arrangement was over. You did not return my calls…bother to tell me what you were going to do… I hate being put off, Lux…you know what happened to my husband when he found another woman more important than me.”

Pollux sighed, “You had him killed?”

Marian laughed aloud, her laughter like that of a woman who had spent too much time smoking…throaty, deep, attractive. “No…I had him fixed, permanently and the woman killed… You silly idiot, I took all his money, made him a pauper and then made the mistress my maid… But don’t test me.”

Pollux hated it when Marian thought she had power over him as if he were some human playboy, with a reputation to destroy… She did not know what he was and it was better that way. Granted, Marian was a fierce, satisfying lover, a good confidante and source of information, but she was not first rich heiress he had seduced and she would not be the last…of course, in all fairness, of all the women he had had, Marian was the most interesting. She did not talk about herself too often, except when she was angry…which was at that moment.

The lift stopped and opened, Marian pushing ahead of Pollux, smoothing her long tresses that fell over her shoulder as she walked down the corridor to Pollux’s number seventeen door. Pollux pulled his keys from his coat pocket and unlocked the door, letting Marian inside.

Marian walked in as if she owned the place, switching on lights, kicking off her stilettos and walking into the kitchen. Pollux slowly removed his coat, pulling out his cell. He slipped out of his boots and socks and locked the door behind him. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night…and Marian would not leave until morning.

Needless to say, Pollux had forgotten to call her back…even though she had said she had more information for him… Pollux had been restless the past few days and had taken to walking around downtown in the evenings, waiting for Tobias to call him…whenever the Alpha received the package he had sent earlier that week. It was only seven in the evening, but the sun had seemed to set early the autumn day…making it feel later than it really was. Pollux walked through the sitting room of the apartment, noticing that nothing had been disturbed…the dirty whiskey glass sitting on the edge of the ebony coffee table, the half open bathroom door or the open windows overlooking Central Park…no one had been inside…

“Have you had anything to eat?” Marian called from the kitchen; the sound of a cork popping telling Pollux that Marian was in the mood to drink that night. It was often like that with Marian…always drinking…but she was not a lush…just fond of champagne…

“Downtown…”

Pollux sat down on the velvet-covered couch, throwing his long platinum tresses over the back of the seat, sliding down and resting his feet on the coffee table. He was about to turn his cell phone off…when it rang.

Marian poked her head into the sitting room, two glasses of champagne in her hands. Pollux waved her away and she frowned, walking back into the kitchen.

Pollux read the number on the screen and smirked… Finally…


After the fourth ring, Tobias heard Pollux pick up.

“About damn time…I was wondering if all the buttons on the phone had totally confused you.”

Tobias rolled his eyes, standing from the desk chair and walking to the above his bed, kneeling on the mattress to open the window with one hand.

“I am not completely inept with cell phones, Lux…”

Lux, the silly nickname Tobias had given Pollux Lachance when they were children…and it stuck…

“I was beginning to wonder… How are things?”

Tobias sighed, letting the cool autumn breeze blow through the window, the sky gray and dark…

“It’s her. She doesn’t remember anything, but I have the full cooperation of the Clan here. It’s only a matter of time before I can take her home.”

“Good. Is she well?”

“For the time being. It does not seem that they did anything to her physically…but mentally, obviously. But there is a lot more to tell you.”

“Such as?” Pollux’s voice sounded over the line, just as deep and steady as Tobias remembered it. Pollux was never one to get angry or excited, his voice was almost monotone…

“A Lycan…from the Kindred… I suspect that it is…”

“Castor…” Pollux finished.

Tobias closed his eyes. “How did you know?”

“Some new information from a friend of mine…she tells me that the face of the Kindred is my twin…someone who looks exactly like me, but is as cold as ice… A certain Thaddeus Bruce.”

Tobias grit his teeth. “Shit…” he muttered angrily, resting his head in his hand.

“He was the one, wasn’t he?”

“Yes.”

Tobias could hear Pollux sigh distantly. “I am risking a life here, Tobias, to get close to ‘Thaddeus Bruce,’ if he knew, he would kill her. I was very lucky when I came here, Toby…”

“I understand. Have you found their territory?”

“There is no territory.”

Tobias opened his eyes and stared at the dimly lit floorboards under his feet. “What do you mean?”

“They have no need for that…they do have an operating base in upstate New York…some properties scattered about the country, but it seems the majority of the Clan stays at the operating base. And guess what it is called…”

“The Bruce Estate…”

“Exactly…a sick joke, if you ask me. Has she said anything about it?”

“Only in passing.”

“I see…and no one has been around?”

“Not yet. I am starting to wonder though…why haven’t they moved yet?”

Silence fell for a few moments and then Pollux said, “From what I understand there is some internal conflict at the moment…between the Alpha of the Kindred and some of the lesser members… I do not know for sure, but I’ll let you know.”

“Anything else?” Tobias asked.

“Just hurry…the faster she remembers and wakes, the faster she can help up get our revenge.”

“That sounds so cold, Lux…it is not just about us…she lost her family too.”

“I know,” Pollux said softly, sighing. “How does she look?” he asked.

“Good…just like she did the last time we saw her…more grown up though…and beautiful.”

Pollux chuckled. “I am glad…I am glad for you, Toby… I love her very much, she was a great friend, but I know how you feel about her…and I won’t say anything more about that…”

Tobias smiled, laying back on his bed, letting his feet dangle off the edge. “Thanks, Lux… It’s only a matter of time now. Just keep safe, alright?”

“I’m trying. I’ll call you if I have anything more later.”

“May the moon shine kindly upon you, Lux,” Tobias said in almost a whisper.

“And you too…”

Tobias hit the end button and closed the phone, staring up at the darkened ceiling of the gable. He wished Pollux was with him instead of in New York, several states away… The fear was growing, and Tobias knew that it would be anytime now that the Kindred would realize what was happening and take Lydia away again…


“Business?”

Pollux sighed, “Something like that.”

Marian walked into the sitting room, reaching Pollux a glass of champagne before seating herself on the opposite end of the divan. She sipped on her glass, looking at the marble fireplace, devoid of fire.

“You know I’ll never ask about your ‘business,’ but I am getting the impression that you are placing yourself in a dangerous situation, Lux,” she said soberly, never taking her eyes from the carved marble mantle.

“It is not your worry, Marian, and let’s just leave it at that.”

Marian sighed. In the few weeks since meeting the mysteriously beautiful Pollux Lachance she had felt like she had finally met someone on her level…someone who appreciated her… She knew that Pollux was using her influence; her name to find out more about the Bruce Syndicate…but it did not matter. After a loveless marriage, a nasty divorce and the cruel title as New York’s Ice Queen, Marian was up for a little danger and intrigue…

Pollux Lachance had shown up for a benefit concert and reception…for children who had been injured in terrorist attacks all over the world. Marian had never seen the young man before, neither had many of the others in her circle. Pollux charmed his way through the throng of millionaires, billionaires, protégés and mistresses…all his way to Marian’s side.

“You seem to be the only sensible person in the room, Madam,” he had said, his gray eyes glinting like silver in the chandelier light of the ballroom…

“Why? Because I have not fallen all over you since you are new to this spectacle of greed, prestige and decadence? Tell me, how many millions do you have to your name? Or are you lost? The ‘boy toy’ section of the party seems to congregating on the terrace…”

And then he laughed, a throaty chuckle that made Marian’s heart skip a beat. Of course she had noticed him…how could she not? He had moved about the room like some fallen angel…dressed in a ebony suit, his hair plaited in platinum waves, his face like that of one of those beautiful youths in an Italian allegory of Cupid… He even smelled good as he stood in close proximity to her…like musk, only wilder, something more exotic.

“So you are not a new fashion accessory?” she asked finally as his laughter had died away and the many eyes upon him had turned away.

“No, I am simply a charitable soul, new to this city, seeking information and a beautiful woman to while away my idle hours…” he said quite frankly, his eye meeting hers.

And that was how it began…the sex, the conversations, the favors, the money and alcohol… Marian smiled to herself as she finished her flute of champagne. Pollux was watching her, she realized as she turned to him. He had only drank half of his glass and smiled as she placed her glass next to the empty whiskey glass on the table before them.

“What were you thinking about?” he asked softly, placing his glass next to hers, smiling in the darkness of the room and the few lights that penetrated through the windows.

“The first time I saw you…”

“Oh?” he whispered, leaning toward her, his lips running across her left cheek.

Marian shuddered at the sheer sensation of his lips upon her flesh and moaned softly in consent to his question. She turned toward him, her narrow, dull brown eyes studying his lounging form on the divan, the way his leg was tucked under him, his hair falling in silvery torrents down the back of the divan, over his shoulder and the silvery hairs on his chest where the peasants shirt had come undone.

Moving slowly she crawled toward him, his eyes watching her in the darkness. Her breasts were heaving, her eyes began to sparkle, the red of her lips almost a pink where she had licked them repeatedly… When she pressed her lips to his, Pollux sighed. Marian was not one of those superficial, fake women…her beauty was genuine…no plastic surgery…no implants. She was in no way perfect, but she was beautiful.

His hands ran through the silky red tresses, over her collarbone as they kissed, the taste of champagne on their tongues and lips. Pollux moaned in her mouth as her fingers found his nipples through the opening of his shirt, pinching them gently.

Marian could feel Pollux unwinding his body below her, his arms pulling her closer as they kissed. No one had ever made her feel the way Pollux did…never her husband or her past lovers…just Pollux.

They lay on the divan, Marian balanced upon Pollux’s hips, her fingers pulling at the shirt he wore, helping her lover shrug it off his shoulders. Lips trailed down his chest, over the light hair, over tiny scars… She loved the way his skin felt under her cheek as she moved over him, her lips dipping lower to his belly…

Pollux watched her pale face in the dimly lit sitting room as she licked at his skin, her hands moving her own body to pull away the top of her suit, like a snake shedding its skin, she soon leaned over him in only a corset and panties… Her hips were rounded perfectly to suit Pollux’s taste…he did not like stick thin women…he wanted a real, fleshy body, something that would not break so easily in his hands. He watched her as her painted pearly nails moved to the buttons on his pants, and he caught her wrist, grinning.

Marian smiled seductively, her now glassy eyes pleading with him to let her continue. But he would not let her…not this time… Pollux snatched Marian up in his arms, and as she gasped and began to protest, he flipped her over his shoulder, holding the backs of her legs.

And as he stood, walking from the sitting room, past the kitchen and into his bedroom, he ran his fingers up the insides of her thighs, inching toward the delicious heat between her rounded, toned legs. Marian was still young enough to bear many healthy children and her soft, flushed body seemed to call to Pollux to be filled…it was unfortunate that she was human…

Kicking open the doors to the bedroom, Pollux growled as he felt Marian dig her nails into his lower back, struggling to be released. It was all part of their game, but tonight, Pollux was going to let his inner desires out…and he grinned in the darkness of the bedroom.

Marian squeaked in surprise as Pollux dropped her on the bed, but she had no time to think as he pressed his body against hers, affectively pinning her to a large bed. It was a four poster monster of a bed, with velvet hangings, expensive sheets, mahogany posts…and as Marian lay under Pollux, his hips pressing against hers, she barely registered the fact that he was tying her down, splaying her limbs in opposite directions. She flexed her wrists and ankles, wincing as leather straps tightened about her flesh.

“Lux…” she breathed, unable to convey her surprise…

Pollux pulled away, and Marian watched his silhouetted form move around the foot of the bed to a table across the room. She could only listen as a drawer was pulled open and something soft was withdrawn…Marian tried to move, but the straps would only tighten, not too much to cause pain, but a slight discomfort… Pollux moved to her left side, pushing wild strands of hair from her face.

“What are you going to…?” Marian started, but stopped as she felt silk move over her face. She smiled as Pollux lifted her head and tied a scarf about her eyes… Pollux adjusted the straps to give a bit and Marian’s arms and legs relaxed only by an inch or so. Pollux stood from the bed and studied the woman on his bed, spread eagled and much too over dressed…

Pollux unbuttoned his pants and let them slide down his legs, his fingertips running over his right hip to a scar that Marian had wanted to kiss…he knew he too well and she knew that kissing the horrible looking scar would send him over the edge…

Running cool fingers over his hip again and then to his already turgid member, he stroked himself slowly, flipping a silvery braid over his shoulder. He could hear her breathing, the rapid pace of her heart and smell a tinge of fear and waves of arousal coming from her body.

She said nothing, as she waited. Pollux found that Marian’s silence annoyed him, he did not like silent lovers, but he also knew that a mere touch would illicit the most wonderful of throaty cries… And so he knelt upon the edge of the bed, releasing his erection and lowering his face to hers, his hair falling about his chest, tickling her shoulders. She gasped quietly as his hair tickled her skin, bit her lip as his breath was hot against her cheek.

“I am going to take you, Marian…I am going to take all of you…” he whispered, his voice strained. Her breath caught at his words…and he grinned.

Marian wanted to scream in pleasure as she felt Pollux rip her panties roughly from her hips. She could not see him at all through the thick silk scarf, but she knew…he was sniffing her panties, licking at the wetness…a prelude to the act itself.

Pollux threw the scrap of fabric aside and moved over Marian, kneeling between her open thighs. The trimmed red hair was glistening with wetness. He sniffed at her entrance, the corner of his lip turning up at the trace scent of blood…she was about to start her menses. Pollux stretched a pale hand forward, opening the lips of her swollen labia. Marian whimpered at his touch and shuddered as his breath ran along her slit. And with the first flick of his tongue she cried out, her back arching.

The taste of her was like heaven to Pollux…her juices, intermingled with small amounts of fresh blood. She had not realized she was lightly bleeding, or had not cared, but it suited Pollux…it was forbidden for Lycan to take the blood of a human unless to turn or kill the human…turning a human was a difficult matter and to kill a human was to damn oneself…but to taste human blood… Pollux was very pleased with his lover.

His tongue lashed out and Marian cried out again, straining against her bonds. Pollux growled softly in warning, he did not want her to injure herself… Pollux concentrated again, his tongue delving into her, tasting, sucking, licking… Cries, moans and screams came from her as he lifted her hips slightly to press his lips against her. She was nearing climax and Pollux could barely wait to taste her nectar…

Marian felt as if she were falling as she came, stars bursting behind her eyes, electricity running through her on a spiking current. And she screamed, a terrible voice ringing out to proclaim her climax and she felt Pollux take in the flood…

He released her gently, licking at his lips, pulling his hair back from his face, tasting her juices in his hair… She was panting, her face turned into her outstretched arm, open mouthed, convulsing.

Body humming with arousal, Pollux felt his claws grow from his fingers, his hair cascade down his back, longer than ever, his fangs painfully extending from the root. It had been so long…and it was painful…painful to maintain the façade of a normal human being. He felt the muscles in his back and arms tremble, nearly unable to maintain his form, threatening to turn him into his true self at a moment’s notice. Pollux fought the urge, if he took her with so little self-control he knew that he might kill the beautiful woman who trembled before him… No… He enjoyed and respected Marian too much…

Instead he shredded the corset she wore, careful not to pierce her skin and make her bleed, any more blood and he knew he would not be able to control himself…at all… So he threw the offending fabric aside and leaned down to take her full breasts in his large hands, causing her to moan and press her forehead against her elbow. She was moaning, open mouthed, struggling against her bonds to be free and press her body against his. Pollux removed one hand from her creamy breast to run it down her body, pressing his fingers inside her, his claws retracting slightly as not to hurt her.

“L…Lux, please…” she muttered, trying to rub the blindfold off her eyes… He took her right nipple between his teeth and bit gently as a warning. Pumping his fingers inside her, she moaned in time. She was close again, and she sobbed his name, pulled at the straps. Pollux bit into her breast again and she came, screaming his name into the darkness.

His hand was coated with her, and he licked it slowly, pulling away from her. Pollux could feel his erection bumping against his belly as he stood and carefully removed the bonds from her ankles. Marian was too far gone to notice him moving about the bed, too far gone to hear the opening of another drawer, too far gone to smell the acrid scent of matches lighting candles, too far gone to notice that Pollux had moved her body so that her arms were pulled over her head and she lay on her stomach…

But as she felt his heat behind her, pulling her hips upward, Marian gasped. Pollux grinned in a type of self-satisfaction as he rubbed the tip of his cock along the wet and hot flesh of her body…along her slit from the puckered flesh of her anus to her clit… Pollux’s leaking member was aching for release, and he groaned loudly as Marian tried to push back and impale herself upon him. He slapped her rounded bottom, receiving a squeak from his lover. He knew how much she liked this position…the situation…

Finally, unable to wait any longer, Pollux thrust into Marian, roughly, causing her to scream in pain and surprise. He could smell blood…stronger this time, along with her arousal and he moved inside her, unrelentingly… She was screaming from agony and intense pleasure, his claws digging into her hips, his prick penetrating deep. Marian let her face fall into the mattress below her, sweat dripping from her chin…she had half the mind to tell him to stop…she could smell blood as well…her own blood, and feel the ache in her womb. But she said nothing, only moaned and sobbed into the sweaty sheets, her throat dry…

Pollux narrowed his eyes, listening to Marian’s muffled cries and slowed his pace and depth. Letting his left hand roam down her sweaty spine to her rounded buttocks, he sighed softly, feeling that she was trembling violently. He grit his teeth as her vaginal muscles squeezed him, urging his body to fill her…but he did not, instead he parted her and began stroking the puckered flesh above their joining. She gasped at his touch and then moaned, turning her head slightly as if to glance back at him, but her blindfolded eyes saw nothing.

He grinned and reached for the item he had procured earlier, a bottle of lubricant…and he opened it with his teeth, thrusting roughly into her. Marian was overwhelmed, near to hyperventilating…and barely felt the cold lubricant drip down to her flesh, to her wet nether regions.

Throwing the bottle aside, Pollux could feel the lube leak down her slit, the coolness of the liquid strange against his pulsing cock. He began pounding into her again in earnest, using his left hand to open her puckered petals, thrusting a finger inside. Again, she struggled with her bonds, feeling her raw skin begin to crack open and bleed. Her throat was parched from screaming, her lips dry… It felt as if all the liquid in her body was being pooled at the apex of her thighs…and Pollux felt twice as big inside her than before. She wanted to say the word…stop…but she did not, the pleasure and pain of it all had her entranced…begging for release…like a rubber band pulled taut and about to break, but too sturdy to break so soon… It was suffering and heavenly at the same time.

Pollux could feel her imminent release and pulled out of her, the head of his cock audibly popping out of her, coated in her juices and blood… He almost wanted to taste her again…but he too needed release. As nice as it was to thrust into her all night, it was driving him mad… Marian groaned, feeling suddenly empty and sore…but as Pollux maneuvered two fingers inside her backside, the empty feeling faded.

His breath caught as he pressed the tip of his cock to her body, seeking entrance, seeking release. Marian tried to relax and took a few deep breaths as he pushed in, little by little. It was painful to say the least, but as Pollux thrust inside her, it was excruciating…and slowly not… Marian grit her teeth at the initial jab, but was panting again, feeling incredibly full.

Pollux gasped her hips again, every movement slightly lifting his lover off the bed. Leaning over her, Pollux pulled away the blindfold. Marian’s eyes slowly adjusted to the candlelight in the room, blurry from the pressure of the blindfold. But when her eyes finally adjusted, she looked back at her lover and smiled. His eyes were shut in concentration, his lips parted as he panted, his hair hanging limply in sweaty strands of silver, his milky skin glistening, muscles rippling with dampness. Marian came…hard. Just the sight of Pollux was enough…

Spiraling down to earth, Marian felt Pollux freeze behind her, and then thrust shallowly. Pollux could take no more…she had milked him as she came, her muscles coaxing out his hot seed. He grunted once and thrust three more times…his eye flashing open to see Marian’s own eyes watching him. Falling over her, he filled her. A hoarse groan came from his lips as he pulled away from her, the last stream of his seed spilling over her buttocks. And he fell to the bed beside her, panting, wanting so badly to taste a rush of hot blood on his tongue…to fulfill all the urges he had held back.

Marian slipped slowly downward, her face turned away from her lover’s. She could feel her own juices and Pollux’s seed seeping down her thighs to the sheets below. The last remnants of her climax were still flashing through her body, but she could feel pain more clearly than before…

“Lux…” she whispered, “My wrists…”

Pollux heard her distantly, her voice pained, small and very fragile. He rolled to his side, facing her and could see in the candlelight that her wrists were bloodied…her hips bruised, her ankles… Her hair was a mess; tangled and sweaty, semen was beginning to dry on her skin and a tinge of blood colored the insides of her thighs. He wondered suddenly if someone could look so beautiful and so mortal at the same time…

Slowly he untied her wrists and watched as she curled up on her side in a fetal position, cradling her wrists and closing her eyes… And he frowned. He had not wanted to make her hurt…no, not like she was at that moment. And so he sat up, crawling out of the bed to move around the foot and come to the side that Marian faced. The auburn haired woman looked like a child as she began to doze, her eyes slightly open, her breathing slowly returning to normal…but she shivered, partly from the cool air in the room and from the aftereffects of their lovemaking.

Willing his body to move, Pollux walked slowly from the bedroom to the adjoining bathroom, his preternatural eyes moving about in the darkness to the sunken bathtub. He moved to the edge of the tub and opened the taps, steaming hot water filling the large bowl. After adjusting the temperature of the water and adding a little bit of bath powder, he moved to the vanity sink and gazed at his shadowy reflection in the mirror.

His hair was matted and damp with sweat, his body still glistened from his physical ministrations and his member was still somewhat hard. Pollux frowned at himself and turned back to the tub which was filling up quickly, steam rising up into the room and beginning to fog every glass surface in the bathroom.

When Pollux returned to the bedroom to look down at Marian, she did not seem to notice him, and when he took her up in his arms, she said nothing, but pressed her forehead into the side of his neck. Marian was like a fragile doll in his arms, shivering and limp. And when he sat himself down in the almost scalding water of the tub, with his lover still in his arms, she only stirred enough to pull away slightly and open her eyes.

He watched her in the dark as she turned and rested her back against his chest, her body, seemingly small, sitting between his legs. She said nothing and Pollux began washing her shoulders with a soft sponge that had been sitting in a shallow dish at the back of the tub. After dipping the sponge into the water a third time, Marian leaned forward to let Pollux scrub her back, pale and soft. She sighed as he moved behind her, wiping her neck and pushing her hair aside to wash her nape and down her spine.

The ritual of washing took a long amount of time, but soon became another, much more intimate ritual… Marian had seemed to recover in record time. She knew she would have to have her wrists bandaged and take it easy when sitting, but as Pollux wiped the dried sweat from her face, she smiled. Such a passionate lover, so attentive, so kind…he was almost bestial in bed, but afterwards…

“You have effectively removed my prior thoughts from my mind,” she whispered, turning in the bath to look at her lover.

“Have I?” he murmured, soothing a few stray strands of damp hair from Marian’s face.

“But they are slowly coming back to me.”

Pollux grinned. Yes, she had had some information for him…always she had information for him. He had asked her in no uncertain terms to inform him of all the trivial to seemingly silly movements of the Bruce Syndicate. To Marian it would be trivial but to Pollux it was a totally different matter. Lycans never did anything without a purpose…

“The Syndicate is busy…besides buying a lot of acreage around the country, it seems that the internal mess has been dealt with… The president of the group is leaving his estate day after tomorrow on an extended trip. And in a month a gala has been set to take place in the city, and word has it that I have been invited.”

Pollux read Marian’s expression and felt something tighten in his chest.

“Why you?”

Marian shrugged and leaned back into Pollux’s arms. “A courtesy, perhaps? I did sell them some property recently.”

“Which property?”

“Oh, a tract of land I have in Virginia. I had been sitting on it for ages, not really sure what to do with it, and they gave me a good offer.”

Pollux let his eyes shut slowly. If he remembered correctly, in his own research about the lover in his arms, the said piece of property was wooded, mountainous, and only a few hours from Lydia and Tobias in Sweet Spring.

“I thought you said you did not want to get involved with these people,” Pollux said softly, not wanting to let Marian know that he was worried about her welfare. She had become too embroiled already by her association with him, and now with the Kindred by dealing with them in the financial and real estate realm.

“I know…” Marian said, trying not to yawn. “But one has to take risks to make money, Lux. And besides, I am not planning to meet these people face to face…that is why I have assistants.”

“But still…you know what these people are like, Marian… They are criminals.”

“Criminals, perhaps; well connected? Absolutely. They are edging out some of us old money, Lux, and we old money have reputations to maintain.”

Pollux scowled into the back of Marian’s head, wrapping his arms about her shoulders. The bath water was slowly getting cold and he could sense Marian’s weariness.

“You should get out of the bath, Marian…get some sleep.”

The red headed woman nodded slowly and began moving to leave the bath. Her slow movements and her weary face betrayed her sleepiness and as she wrapped a large towel about her body and left the bathroom, Pollux slipped down into the water, heavy in thought.

Castor was leaving the Estate. To go where? To Sweet Spring? And what of the property Marian had sold him?

Pollux threw water into his face and growled deep in his chest. He would have to let Tobias know. Castor might ruin all of their plans after all…

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A.N.: Been a while since I updated, and I apologize. This year has been hectic with me finishing up my degree, real life interfering, realationships, etc. But I have no abandoned this fic. There is more to come, and please do pardon any errors you find. Also, review, review, review! It is a morale booster when folks review!
ciao. m.fate