Youthful Passion

    The hands on the clock ticked loudly while the group stood still.  Outside, the light was beginning to send long shadows as the sun reached its last stretch of daylight.  Dakari yawned.  It had been a long day.  He had been looking forward to getting to know his mate, but now suddenly he had five new best friends.

    Katalea saw his yawn and felt the same exhaustion.  “Why don’t we get some rest, and meet for a late supper somewhere.  Are you all staying nearby?”

    “I have only to dip a toe in the water to be home.” Aquina remarked. Turning to Beecher she chuckled, “I’m sure we can find you a nice den to settle in, pup.”

    “Don’t you worry about me, I suggest you worry more about staying out of the jaws of a hungry shark tonight.”  He turned to Katalea. “I think a little rest is a great idea. Are we all in agreement to meet tonight?  I know a great restaurant off the beaten path.  It would be a great place to sit and brainstorm.”

    One by one they voiced their agreement.  Dakari turned to leave with Katalea and was met by the full force of the security detail at the door.  They were looking very confused and none too happy that their charges had disappeared.  They were looking at the new group of strangers with suspicion. Embarrassed, Dakari called the team off his new friends before their pat-downs became more invasive.

    “We’re fine guys, we just got a little lost.”  Dakari spoke quietly to the captain of the guard.  “We’d like to go to the hotel.  Could you make that happen?”

    “Say no more sir.  Would you be so kind as to follow me?”  The captain spoke with authority, his eyes in constant motion as if he perceived evil to be lurking behind every tree and shadow.  Using hand signals, he coordinated the detail to flank them as they walked to the fortified car.  In less than a minute, Katalea and Dakari found themselves whisked away with no thought of the others.  

    Their thoughts were completely on each other now.  They held hands in the back of the car. More than once, Dakari reached up to stroke her hair, her cheek, her arm.  He had an insatiable need to touch her.  An eternity later,  they arrived at the hotel.

    Before them stood a modern building with little throwbacks to old world charm.  Terra cotta pots overflowed with bright geraniums and carts run by fast-talking locals boasted their wares. The front door was opened with a dramatic bow by the concierge.  Other guests of the hotel craned their necks to see what celebrities were arriving. Neither Katalea nor Dakari noticed a thing. It was as if the world had ceased to exist around them. They were whisked to a private elevator and escorted to the floor that housed their rooms.  Katalea’s werecat, Kaya the black panther, growled low in appreciation.  

    “Down girl” Katalea thought.  “Let’s take this slow.”

    “Any slower and our grandkittens will mate before us!” Kaya hollered inside her head.

    They entered their suite only to find it crawling with security and hotel personnel.  Paolo was lead officer at the hotel, he had made sure that every nook and cranny had been searched before they arrived.  Seeing the oblivious new mates enter the room, he quickly got his team out of the way.  He smiled knowingly as the door closed behind him.  

    Alone at last and suddenly feeling shy, Katalea let go of Dakari’s hand.  She wasn’t really sure how to proceed here.  If she listened to her panther, she would just jump her mate here and now and get it over with.  Katalea had decided to push Kaya and her noisy arousal out of her mind.  It was time to let Dakari lead.

    Dakari felt as if his tongue had enlarged three sizes in his mouth.  No words would come out, no thoughts would form.  He tried to conjure a bouquet of flowers for her.  She giggled as he held out a toy car instead.  He tried again, this time he wound up with a dish towel.  His hands, now shaking, rested awkwardly at his side.  He thrust them into his pockets.  Sweat pooled at the nape of his neck and he felt an icy drip run down his back.  

    “Air conditioning.”  The words came out now in a squeak.  “We need air conditioning.”

    Katalea raised her eyebrows in question as he walked over to the window.  Instead of finding an air conditioner, however, he opened the doors to the terrace and went outside.  She was glad to see he was nervous too.  Maybe there was something she could do to help after all.

    She walked over to the television and turned on the sports channel.  A football game appeared on the screen, and seemed to be at an intense moment.  The crowd could be heard yelling for their favorite team.  Katalea turned up the volume.  Dakari must have heard because he walked back inside with interest.

    “You like football?”  He asked incredulously.

    “I love any sport!” She replied with enthusiasm.  It happened to be her favorite team that currently held the lead.  “Why don’t we just watch TV and chill for a bit?”

    “That sounds brilliant.  How about a pizza?” He said, his heartbeat calming down within his chest.

    They sat together on the couch, cheering their opposing teams until the pizza arrived.  Eating together, teasing one another, relaxing, they began to feel like old friends.  The friendship they had shared as children was still there, it had just been intensified with all these hormones.  

    Dakari’s team pulled ahead by a goal, and he did a victory dance.  Conjuring a trophy, he mimed accepting on behalf of his team.  Katalea picked up the remote and threatened to turn off the station.  

    He jumped at her, grabbing for the remote.  On the screen, her team had just stolen the ball.  They grappled for the remote as if it were the last bite of food and they were two starving orphans.  The voice on the screen yelled “goal!” and Katalea looked away distractedly to see her team tie the score once again.

    Dakari took advantage of her distraction and pried the remote from her fingers.  Marveling at his cunning and angered at her foolishness, she turned on him.  In one move she pinned him.  Her blue eyes looked straight into his.  It was as if time stood still.  Everything froze.  She lowered her lips to his and kissed him.  The temperature in the room rose as the TV screamed about the intense battle being fought on the football field. Neither of them noticed.  

    Katalea pulled back and looked at him again.   He smiled his sexy crooked smile and pushed his way out from under her.  Lying side by side on the floor they kissed again.  Dakari’s hands began to roam to all the soft places he had been dreaming of touching.  

    Katalea ran her hands through his hair and deepened the kiss.  She had the urge to feel his skin and let her hands wander up under his shirt.  His body tensed at her touch, but he did not pull away.  Instead, he replied in kind, and began to unbutton her blouse.  

    As they lay there groping one another on the floor, a banging came from the door.

    “I will personally kill whoever belongs to the hand interrupting us.”  Dakari groaned.  

    Katalea laughed, rising, straightening her clothes as she walked to the door.

    “Wait!”  He cried.  “You can’t just open the door.  Isn’t this why we have security in the first place?” 

    “And where the hell were they?”he thought trying to regain his composure.  

    Katalea stopped short.  He was right.  Instead of opening the door, she grabbed her phone.  Their room had come equipped with an app that allowed them to see the hallway outside their door.  On it, she could see and potentially talk to whomever was out there.  When she finally got the app loaded to the right screen she could see no one.  The pounding on the door had stopped and she could clearly see an envelope lying on the ground.

    She showed Dakari, bewildered but intrigued.  Her curiosity had gotten the better of her before. This time was no different.  They opened the door together and Katalea retrieved the envelope.  “Professor Toma” was written across the front in an elaborate font.  

    “Don’t open it, in fact, drop it.  Let me call Paolo to come take this, we don’t want to destroy any fingerprints just in case this ends up being bad news.”

    He found his phone and turned to place the call.  He got no response.  He tried the captain of the guard from the University and found himself being sent straight to voicemail.  Getting a little worried, he began calling the rooms where the security detail was housed.  All the phones came back with the same message.  No service.  The phone lines had been cut.