Dance of the Moons

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

            “There is something seriously wrong with your whole childhood,” David commented lightly as he stroked the skin on my back. “I mean, you’ve never seen Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or The Matrix.  You haven’t even seen most of the Disney movies!”

            I smiled at him, draped over his body as he lied on his back on the forest floor.  One hand was wrapped around his, and the other was doodling invisible lines over the panes of his chest.  We were still naked, but the chill of the night didn’t bother us.  I warmed the air around us with magic, and David’s own heat kept me warm.

            “I never even saw a TV until I was eight.  First time I went to the movies was with a friend when I was twelve.  My mom was pissed.”

            “That’s ridiculous,” he mumbled. “What did you do with all your time?  No video games, no TV or movies.  Did you sit around reading or something?”

            I shrugged. “Or something.  I wasn’t really allowed to leave my house until I was nine.  My earliest memories are in the basement.  I don’t think I went upstairs in my own house until my seventh birthday.”

            He sat up slightly, his eyes bugged with shock. “That’s a twisted form of child abuse,” he said lowly.

            “No,” I argued, “they were protecting me.  If I had been exposed to the outside world I would have drowned in my own mind.  All the auras and minds of the people around me would have driven me insane.”

            David’s hand traveled from my back to my cheek. “It’s still sad,” he said seriously, “that you lost out on so much.”

            I shrugged. “What you see as restricting, I see as protecting.  Witches view Shifters as careless savages for letting their children roam unaccompanied at a young age.”

            David’s eyebrow lifted. “Careless savages?”  A slow, mischievous smile grew on his face. “I’ll show you savage.”

            Growling, he flipped me over so he was on top and grazed his teeth along my shoulder.  I squealed in surprise and a shiver ran through me.  David pulled back and hovered over me, our eyes locked and energy cracked at my fingertips.

            Of all the faces in the world, it was hard to imagine one better than David’s.  His straight nose was all smooth and monochromatic except for one little freckle right above his nostril.  His jaw was strong but not too wide.  And his eyes were the purest brown, speckled with every emotion he ever felt.  I couldn’t read it aura well, but I could read his eyes.

            I wrapped by arms loosely around his neck. “You know,” I commented lightly, “for a savage, you’re not so bad.”

            “Not so bad?” He repeated, theatrically appalled. “Excuse me, I believe you are down-playing my savagery significantly.  I am mighty!  Fierce!  Terror of these vast forested lands!”

            I laughed wildly, taken by David’s dramatic flair.

            “Terror?  I think I’m more terrified of a large squirrel than you.”

            He growled. “I’ll show you how a squirrel can’t comp—”

            David cut off suddenly and all mischief and lightness slipped from his face.  He stared ahead into the forest for a second and breathed deeply, tension tight across his body.