Strange Love 31 The Animal Within

Russ watched from the top of the breezeway as jeep pulled up in front of their apartment. A snarl curled the corners of his lips as he watched the a.s.shole from Friday night pa.s.s by the front of the jeep to open the pa.s.senger door. He could hardly contain his rage as he watched the other man's hand linger on Joslyn as she worked her way out of the jeep. Russ sank his nails into the railing of the breezeway as they quickly turned from nails to claws. He watched as the douchebag placed a kiss on her forehead. A loud, echoing howl sounded as he fought his body's urge to s.h.i.+ft. The world bathed in red glared back at him mockingly, taking on harsher shades of the scorching color. He sent the man a hateful glare as he turned away from Joslyn and headed back into his vehicle. He couldn't hold himself back any longer. He leaped over the rails of the third story balcony and landed softly on the ground. His body shook with a combination of rage, excitement, and the barely contained wolf. He stretched his neck and clenched his fists, trying to fight off the s.h.i.+ft. When he opened his eyes, bitter blacks faded into the blistering reds... At least his eyes had s.h.i.+fted, he was well aware of this fact. Joslyn stood in front of him concern written all over her face. She extended her hand out to touch his cheek, but he pulled back away from her.

"What were you doing out with him?" His beast was only barely contained.

Worry contorted her expression, "I'll explain once we are inside, come on up with me." She reached out to him again, but he pulled away again.

A harsh growl escaped his lips, "Don't speak to me like some clueless child, Joslyn." Her name came out as more of a growl than a word. "I was worried you had been injured, but instead…" the sound of bones cracking and s.h.i.+fting cut off the rest of his sentence.

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward the stairs, "Russ! I know you're mad, but you can't s.h.i.+ft out here! Not where anyone could see." She quickly pulled him behind her as she made her way up the stairs. She could feel his muscles knot and jerk beneath her grip. Before she knew what had happened, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her up the stairs taking them two at a time. He kicked the door open dinting the heavy metal and stalked quickly toward his room with her still in his arms. She could feel the bones and muscles continue to s.h.i.+ft beneath her hands.

He dropped her to the floor after he busted through the door of his bathroom. "His sents... all over you…" his words came out in fragments as he fought against his body's natural instincts. He quickly made his way over to the shower and adjusted the water.

Joslyn couldn't help but stare at him. {He's never been this out of control. What does he want exactly, surely he doesn't expect me to…} He turned back toward her his features ridged with the impending s.h.i.+ft, she didn't realize what he had in his hand until he tossed it in her direction. She caught the bottle and gazed down at it. "Bodywash?" She looked up at him questioningly.

"Mine… get rid of his sent…" He arched his back and quickly turned away from her, curling his body into an upright ball as the vertebrae of his spin danced under the flesh of the length his neck and back.

{How many times have I seen him s.h.i.+ft, why has it never looked like this. Is it because he's fighting it?} She glanced down at the bottle in her hand. Without thinking she quickly stripped her clothes off and climbed into the shower. She squirted his soap onto a luffa that had been hanging on the rack. She quickly began scrubbing her body. A high pitch growl brought her attention back to where Russ was standing. In his place stood his wolf form. She pressed her palms to the gla.s.s as she watched him struggle to s.h.i.+ft back. The wolf glared at her and gave another blood curtailing snarl. She quickly turned back to the rack and pour his shampoo out into her palm. She had no sooner began lathering her hair when the shower door opened and he stepped in behind her. She felt his hands glide up her arms and over her shoulders. {Is he in control now?} Before the thought could fully form in her mind a stinging pain shot through her shoulder as Russ ripped the bandage off that cover the area he had marked her. She cried out in pain as the last of the tape pulled loose of her skin. The sting in her shoulder hadn't quite pa.s.sed when an even sharper pain sank in. With his teeth buried into her shoulder, she could feel his hardness press against her backside. He maneuvered her legs apart with his knee. "Russ, wait! St-o-p-! RUSS... Russell, PLEASE! " Her pleading words had barely left her lips when he took her fully and forcefully in one hard thrust. His sharp claws sank into the tender flesh of her hips. Water cascaded over her burning skin as Russ ravished her body. She couldn't fight the tears that trailed down her cheeks as she watched their reflections glare back at her from the gla.s.s of the shower. The pale white of the bubbles slowly became more tainted by the crimson stained water rolling off her body. {This is my fault… I caused the pain that led to this…} A loud sob escaped her lips as his teeth sank deeper into her neck.

{She feels so good… She is mine…} His brain seemed to be stuck on repeat. Joslyn's cry rattled something loose in Russ's brain as the fog began to lift. As his body came violently against her, reality fully sank in. He let his claws retract and removed his sharp teeth from her shoulder. Her body sank limply against his. Blood flowed down over her hips and shoulder from the wounds he had caused. The bandages that remained on her body were now saturated in a combination of blood and water, the wounds there must have busted open. He s.h.i.+fted her against him but all she did was release a pained groan. {What have I done!} He quickly lifted her into his arms with tender care and carried her out of the bathroom, grabbing a towel on his way. He gently set her down onto the bed and bent over her to lick the large bite on her shoulder. When he lifted his head from her shoulder his eyes were met with watery aqua pools, filled with pain and regret.

She reached her trembling hand out to cup his cheek, tears flowed freely from her eyes as she said, "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault! If I would have…" her words broke as more tears flowed down her face, "We should have never…" she set up and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I've caused so much pain." She sobbed against his chest.

Russ shook his head against the confusion and shock that was clouding his thoughts, "Jos, what are you saying? It should be me apologizing to you. I lost control... and hurt you." He tried to pull her away from him so he could look into her eyes, but she buried her face tighter against his chest as more tears streamed down her cheeks onto his chest. "Jos, look at me, I'm sorry. I know you didn't do anything with him, but his smell on you drove me crazy." He laughed nervously, "Literally crazy!" He cupped her shoulders on either side and pushed her away from him so he could look her in the eyes. "I'll do better, I promise. I didn't mean to do any of that. I... I... am still having problems adjusting to the full power of the wolf."

Tears burnt her eyes as she said the words she had been dreading since earlier that day. "No Russ, It's not just you. I'm hurting Sh.e.l.ly and Raven by getting them stuck in the middle." Her voice broke as tears fell faster. She pushed against his chest, staring him deep in the eyes as she continued, "This was a mistake. We should have never… together." It killed her to see realization, shock, and pain play across his beautiful face but she had to finish. "This has to end."

His grip tightened on her shoulders as understanding set in. Hurt filled his words, "What are you saying? Are you…. Breaking up with me?"

She looked away from him, unable to withstand all the hurt on his face. "Russ it has only been two days, but yes… I guess I am." She began to push away from him, but he held on tighter.

Russ pulled her against him tightly refusing to let her leave his side. "No! You can't say this… you can't mean it… you haven't even given us a chance!"

She tried to pull away again but he held tight. Joslyn, instead turned angrily toward him, "I gave us a chance and look what has already happened in such a short time!" She pushed against him with more force, fighting the pain the movement sent shooting through her injuries but he wouldn't budge. She finally gave up and sank against his chest, tears poured out of her eyes, "How much more torture do you really want?" She mumbled against his chest, "I'm cursed in love…"

Russ released her enough so that he could look down into her eyes, "Jos, you're not cursed. That is ridiculous…" he smiled down at her playfully hoping to cheer her up, "Somewhat unlucky maybe…"

She laughed a painfilled laugh and slapped his chest lightly, but her face fell back into a frown as she lifted her hand back to his face and traced his sharp jawline with her fingers. "I love you... too much… and that is exactly how I know this isn't going to work out."

He grabbed hold of the back of her neck and clamped his mouth down hard over hers. He gave her a long lingering kiss before pulling away and whispering. "Don't decide anything rash tonight." He ran his finger over the wet bandages on her cheek. "Let me redress these and then I'll let you get some rest. We can talk about this in the morning, ok?"

She nodded in agreement, as she stared up into his tender eyes. All traces of the wolf had vanished and was now replaced by the loving boy she had always loved with all her heart and soul. He kissed her forehead then stood up. She watched as he quickly shuffled around his room. He tossed her a well-woren t-s.h.i.+rt and smiled as she slid it over her head. "You look beautiful in my s.h.i.+rt." He walked back over to the bed a quickly kissed her lips and sniffed her hair, "You smell great too, you smell like mine." She met his happy gaze with tear-stained eyes, a weak smile barely curving her lips. "I'll be right back, just lay down and relax." He gently rubbed away a tear as it slipped from the corner of her eye, before letting his hand drop and turning away from the bed.

She watched his bare backside disappear into the bathroom. She shook her head as she laid back against the pillows. {What the h.e.l.l am I going to do…} Those were her last thoughts as she drifted off into a restless sleep.

She felt Russ's hands working to replace the bandages across her body sometime later but was too mentally and physically exhausted to do more than watch from lash-vailed lids as he worked. His touch was extremely tender as he soothed ointment over her wounds.

Russ pulled his s.h.i.+rt back down over her body as he bandaged the last of the claw marks on her hip. He placed a light kiss over the material there before setting the rest of the medical supplies on the nightstand and stood back up. He walked back over to his dresser and pulled on a loss pair of gym shorts. As she let her eyes tail the length of his body she noticed his hair was wetter than it had been and beads of water glistened on the contour of the hard to reach muscled areas of his back. {He must have taken a shower himself while I slept.} Her eyes trailed over to the mirror with the intention of catching a glimpse of his heavily muscled chest when she was met with hungry eyes. He had frozen in place as he watched her examine his body l.u.s.tfully. Her face heated fiercely as she stared back into the reflection of his eyes in the mirror.

He grinned down at her before turning and walking over to the bed to gently caressing her uninjured cheek. "Would you like a snack or something?" he gazed lovingly down into her tired eyes, "Something to drink maybe?" When she nodded, he chuckled and placed a light kiss on her forehead. "Ok, I'll be right back." He turned back slightly toward the nightstand and retrieved the remote from the top drawer. "Here, find yourself something to watch so you can stay awake until I get back." Jos nodded again and held her hand out for the remote.

His fingers lingered over hers for several minutes, as if he was afraid to break thier contact... as if by letting go now would be letting go forever... He squeezed his eyes shut tightly as he finally forced himself to break their contact. He didn't glance back in her direction as he slowly made is way out of the bedroom. As he stood with his hand on the doork.n.o.b he whispered in a deep husky voice, "Please don't go anywhere... Stay... Please stay..." With those sad words, he stepped over the threshold of the bedroom and close the door behind him.

She could tell with the depth of sadness echoing in his whispered words, he was not simply asking her to stay in his bed or even the bedroom for that matter, but he was asking her to stay with him... as his... More tears streamed down her cheeks as she struggled to decide what the best solution for this difficult situation would be.