© ItalRT4u, 2012

     “You have got to be fucking kidding me!”  I whined as Cane showed me the task at hand.  “And I thought my father was a dictator.”  For the past week, Cane had been running me like a drill sergeant with various physical training exercises.  For the first time since we’ve met, I was seeing a side of him that I was beginning to hate about as much as I was thankful for it.  I knew that it was important for me to build physical strength so that if hand-to-hand combat ensued, I’d be able to handle my own but this was just a bit much.  I cursed his brother for allowing us access.

     Why couldn’t he have a job as a lawyer, even as a garbage man for crying out loud?

     So here I stood in this massive gym, alone with Cane who was trying to polish up my martial arts knowledge.

     “Do it again.”  He repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time this morning.  He put me through a fight sequence with him as the attacker, asking me to defend myself from his assault.  At this point, I seriously wanted it all to end so I made sure to make it count.  With a low round-house kick behind the knees, he landed hard on his back, onto the mats that lined the floor.  Straddling his waist with my feet, I hovered above him gloating.

     “I think we’re done now.”  I tell him with a smirk on my face which he wiped all too soon as he pulled on my ankles and I flew backwards onto my back as he straddled my waist with his knees, putting more than the necessary amount of weight on my wrists as he pinned my arms by my head; acting all smug.

     “Now this is a rather compromising position.”  He smirked down at me.  He wasn’t bearing all of his weight down on my waist so I used my feet on the back of his shoes and pushed my feet, scraping down so his knees were no longer under him, rolling us over so I was back on top of him.

     “We’re done now.”  I looked at him sternly as I sat in the exact pose I had taken him down from but this time, twisting my feet under his knees so as to lock our legs together, giving him a look that told him that I’d like to see him try and get out of that one.

     “Take a break.”  He tells me.

     “Are you trying to piss me off on purpose?”  I eyed him and I knew he wasn’t serious but I wanted to find out just how far Mr. Bright-Eyes-Ninja-Savant was willing to take this.

     “Not at all.  It’s just…  Uh…  Hmm..”  His voice trailed off as I had leaned in to nibble his jaw, his musky scent filling my nose.  I loved the smell of man on him.  Any other man was disgusting but Cane, somehow, managed to intoxicate me with his scent.

     “What’s that?”  I backed away to see the look on his face and gave the other side of his jaw a nip.

     “Okay.  I give.”  He said with a faked disappointed tone.  I chuckled as I released his wrists and got up to walk away.

     “You’re so easy.”  I teased him, saying this over my shoulder as I walked toward the gym’s exit.

     “Only with you!”  He called as I heard the weights clanging over each other behind me.  I knew he was going to release his frustrations on those before calling it a day; he’d been doing that since the day after we had arrived.  The thought of those muscles flexing as he worked out filled me with desire.  Brushing those thoughts aside, I knew there was a time and a place for everything.

     Earlier in the week, I had expected to have at least met Cane's parents but there hadn't been any sign of life from them.  Then again, there hasn't been much of an opportunity for me to have met them.  If I wasn't training with Cane, he had me reading up on Fae history; and when I wasn't doing either, I was eating, sleeping or we were busy getting busy for the lack of a better description.  It hadn’t been until this morning that he had divulged that they were away on some kind of business trip.

     I was delighted when I felt his hands sneak around my waist, massaging my abdomen and slowly gliding down to my core; my back pressing against his front, the lower part of his anatomy telling me I wasn't getting away from him inflicting his pleasuring wrath.  I leaned my head back onto his shoulder, letting his hand have its way with me as we let the hot water of the shower head rain down over our bodies.

     Half an hour later, we were finally dressed, in our room.  Cane announced that his parents had called before he so delightfully interrupted my shower and asked to meet them.  I was finally going to meet the parents and I was petrified about as much as I was excited.

     “And here I thought you were ashamed of me all this time.”  I joked.

     “Ashamed?”  He says, approaching me.  “Never.”

     “What if they don't like me?”  I bit my lower lip with worry.

     “That'll never happen.”  He tells me.  “They were over the moon when I told them about you.”

     “You did what?  You said no one knew of us.”  I reminded him.  I guess my blush must have really showed because he rushed to give me a nice slow kiss to soothe my nerves.

     “Feel better now?”  He whispered over my cheek, tracing his fingers over my jaw and wrapping his hand behind my neck as I arched it back to gaze into his eyes.

     “Mmm.”  I managed.

     Walking into a large den that doubled between an office and library, I noticed an older gentleman sitting behind a desk.  Looking closer, I could have sworn it was Cane, only, twenty to twenty five years older.  Cane cleared his throat which caused the man and the lovely older woman sitting on his lap, to turn toward us.  Squeezing my hand tighter and soothingly rubbing his thumb on the top of my hand lightly in a circular pattern, he gave me a quick wink and pulled us over to his father's desk.

     “Cane!  And this must be Payton.”  The older woman smiled sweetly at me.  The sparkling look in her eyes made me feel like I was staring at my mother.  She walked over and grabbed my hands, pulling me into her arms for the warmest hug I haven't had the pleasure of feeling since before my mother had passed.

     “My goodness child!  You've changed so much over the years!  You’re gorgeous!”  She tells me, looking back at her husband who nodded in agreement.  I looked up at Cane who stood beside me only to find a look of confusion on his face.

     “W-we've met before?”  I asked her, only to receive a nod.

     “You and Cane were so young that I'm not surprised that neither of you are able to remember; though that meeting was more in passing than a real visit.”  She explained.  I felt Cane's hand slide back into mine.  “I hope my son's been treating you the way I've taught him.”  She smiled.  I giggled as I looked up at him.

     “Yes.  He's been amazing, Mrs.-” I began but she cut me off.

     “Spare me the Mrs. bit and call me Sandra.”  She chuckled.  “And this handsome man is Will.”  She pointed to Cane's father.

     “So pleased to see you again, Sweetheart.  I'm so sorry about your parents.”  He said after he had gotten up and come around his desk to take me into a strong hug.  There was a lot of love in this family.  After a year of being alone, it felt great but also a little off-putting.

     Cane's parents weren't all that different from Cane himself.  He had inherited quite a good mix of his parents’ characters; there wasn't a doubt about that.  As hard as I tried to find the eccentricities that he had spoken about, I found none.

     Maybe it was a way to express their Fae abilities?

     The rest of the day was spent with me getting acquainted with his family.  I was thrilled at how natural it felt to be around them; as if I was a member of their family.  As large as this mansion of theirs was, it couldn’t have felt warmer, joyful, bursting with laughter, but most of all, like home.  Not much like my house as of late which felt cold and unlived in.  I learned that Will was the owner of an architectural firm and that Sandra was a writer of children’s books.  All in all, they were the perfect all-American family plus the Fae bit.

     “Where are Andy and Pat?”  Cane asked when he came into the room with a tray of refreshments.

     “Who are they?”  I wondered aloud.

     “My brothers.”  Cane looked down at me before taking a seat beside me.

     “They should have been here by now.”  Sandra told him.  “Hopefully without their lady friends.”  She added with a less than enthused tone.

     “Now, now Sandra, there’s nothing we can do about those two.”  Will told her, patting her leg lightly in reassurance as they shared a smile.

     “They’re still up to their same old tricks?”  Cane looked at his mother.

     “You bet!”  We turned to see a blonde version of Cane standing there, surely, a few years younger but, aside from the hair color, there was no mistaking who his family was.

     “Patrick!”  Cane exclaimed in a motherly tone which made me giggle and Patrick’s face scrunched up at the mention of his full name.

    “Why you can’t be like everyone else and call me Pat is beyond my comprehension.”  He said and stopped in his tracks, eyeing me up and down.  “And who’s this hot little number?”

     “Manners!”  Will said boisterously.

     “I’m Patrick.”  He held his hand out to me.

     “I know.”  I took his hand and smiled awkwardly.  “I’m Payton.”

     “My girlfriend.”  Cane made sure he threw that in for good measure and I couldn’t help the warm blush that flushed through my body as he snuck his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side.  It was odd to hear the word girlfriend seeing as we hadn’t made anything official as of yet.  Then again, there wasn’t a need to do so.  For us, it was just he and I and no reason to justify our being together.  It was what it was and that was that.  Everything felt easy – natural.

     “That’s great!  Mom always wanted a daughter.”  Andy said from the doorway.  A brown-eyed, brown haired man who looked more like his mother than the rest of the Nottingham clan walked up to us and pulled me into his arms for a large hug. 

     “Payton, is it?”  He sized me up as I nodded.  “I remember you.”  He said shortly after he released me.  “You’re the girl from my dreams.”  And I had to chuckle and look over at Cane who was rolling his eyes.

     “Are these two for real?”  I laughed, pointing my index finger and motioning between the two of them.  Cane nodded with a slight upward curling of his lips evidently happy that his two idiot brothers had no effect over me.

     After a few minutes of chatting and getting acquainted with Cane’s brothers, Sandra linked her arm around mine and began escorting me out of the den.

     “Let’s leave the boys be and go enjoy some fresh air.  We have so much to discuss.”  She gave my arm a quick loving squeeze.

     “Pay?”  Cane walked up to his mother and me.

     “Yeah?”  I paused and turned to face him as he gently grabbed my face and gave me a quick kiss.

     “Don’t let my mother pepper you with too many questions.”  He smiled.

     “I would never!”  Sandra teased and Cane looked over at her.  “Fine.  I would but can you blame me for wanting to get to know the girl that you…”

     “Mom!”  Cane gave her a warning look.  I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped my lips.  Life here definitely was far from boring.  “Be good, Mother.”

     “Cane, leave your woman be and get back here.  We’ve got work to do!”  Andy winked at us ladies making me roll my eyes and Sandra tisk at him.

     “Well, I’d say you’re a hit with everyone, Payton.”  She pulled me to the French patio doors and took us out to the garden.  I was relieved at her statement.

     “You all make it so easy.”  I smiled at her.  It was true; I didn’t feel like I had to force anything at all around them.

     Sandra and I had a wonderful conversation.  I had learned a bit more about the Fae world from her.  Nothing that pertained too much to this war that I’ve been hearing so much about; but more about the Nottingham family tree.

     “And this is where I pry, if you don’t mind.”  She tells me, leaning forward.

     “I’m an open book.  Pry away.”  I laughed at my overt statement.  There was simply something about this woman that made me feel at peace – she wouldn’t judge.  She had made me feel like I belonged.  She was so much like my own mother and perhaps that was the reason for it.

     “As a mother, it’s in my nature to worry.”  She began.

     “I can only imagine.”  I agreed with her.

     “How have you been since your parents’ deaths?”  She asked me.  “It couldn’t have been easy on you, Sweetheart.”

     “It hasn’t been.  It’s been Carly and I and that’s it.”  I tell her.  I spilled my guts about everything that had gone on for the last year; from Gage, to my small circle of friends, the money troubles, work, the nightmares, and the lack of familial support.  Sure, I had Carly but she had her own battles to contend with.  In truth, Carly may have been a few years my senior but we were very much still kids, thrust into an adult world far sooner than our time.  What I didn’t get was that Carly had the Nottingham’s to fall back on when I was left with only her seeing as the rest of our family had disowned me for some unknown reason.  Sure, it was a feud as I had been told but with regards to what, I feared I would never know.  It wasn’t until I had met Cane that things began to feel right again.  Sandra smiled at that remark.

     “He does have a way, doesn’t he?”  She searched my face for an answer I softly delivered, moments later.

     “That, he does.”

     “Does he know how you feel about him?”  My eyes snapped up to hers, nerves knotting in my stomach.

     What the hell do I say?

     “Relax Payton.”  She smiled reassuringly.  “Your eyes are saying it all and I couldn’t be more thrilled.”  I felt myself relaxing a bit more, but only slight.

     “W-we’re matched.”  I stuttered a little and just when I thought her smile couldn’t get any larger, it did.

     “Cane told me.  I’m so happy to hear that at least one of my sons has found his match.”  She held a hand over her chest, covering the area where her heart was.  Something about the way she had said that made me think that this whole killing off matches thing was worse than what I had initially thought.

     “Are there more than one match for a Fae?”  I asked her somberly not being able to fathom another Fae not being able to feel the amazing pull and instant chemistry that radiates between two matchedindividuals.

     “Sadly, there’s only one.  There are plenty out there that have found love without finding their match but it’s not the same.  The bloodline gets diluted and then the powers eventually fade and cease to exist altogether.  The bond between two matched people is the strongest that you’ll ever encounter.”  She told me.  I couldn’t help but wonder if she could explain why it was that I had felt like my soul wouldn’t survive if I had let Cane leave without me.  But that was a conversation for another time.

                                          *************************************

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