It's easy for Madeline to want to give up in the dating scene; every man she comes across is either without a job or too full of himself to see past the nose on his face. Pampered men too interested in their looks to even afford her a compliment, preferring to brag about their accomplishments than actually engage in mutual conversation. Experience after experience has left her bored and feeling unfulfilled, and she wonders if she shouldn't just go steady with her vibrator at home.
Don't get her wrong; it's not that she has a lot of criteria for a potential partner, but each man she meets seems to fail in some area that's important to her. Those that make her laugh are either "between jobs" or seeking to get some ground on a new startup idea... which leaves her feeling wary. She's not exactly made of money, but her steady line of employment could be easily exploited to help these "entrepreneurs" get their feet off the ground, and she's not at all interested in becoming a part of a failing business.
Because when the money dries up, it's safe to assume that these men would move on to someone fresh and new, with deeper pockets to dig into.
And that's why this is the fourth Long Island iced tea she's been nursing, sitting across from one of her best friends from college, Cynthia, in one of their favorite pick-up spots: Club Nirvana. It's one of the more peaceful spots on this strip, providing an opportunity to those who want to go out and be with their friends that doesn't entail loud music and hot, sweaty bodies smashing against each other.
Lucky for Cynthia, she's already found her perfect life: married to a tax lawyer with their first child on the way. Her thick black locks of hair and deep sea-green eyes probably helped too in finding her the perfect guy. Madeline, on the other hand, is a little short for her height, her sandy blond hair cut into a short bob, and her honey-brown eyes hidden behind rimless glasses.
Madeline thought that her best friend would be the best person to go to to help her find a soul-mate, given her good sense of character, but everyone she's set her up with so far has struck out.
"You can't just give up like this, Maddy. Who'm I supposed to have playdates with when my kid pops out?" Cythina places a hand on the barely visible baby bump peeking through her shirt. She's chosen ginger ale as her choice of drink for the night, to help nurse the growing bouts of nausea she's started to go through.
"You're hilarious. What makes you think I even want kids?" Her sheer, lip-glossed lips downturn into a frown as she swirls her straw around the drink to keep it mixed.
Temptation tells her to go for something stronger to help her forget the weight of disappointment on her shoulders.
"You're kidding me, right? You're gonna let me suffer alone with a baby? I'll have to find new friends to talk to, ones with kids." Cynthia rolls her eyes and smothers a burp behind her hand. Her pallor shifts slightly towards the green spectrum, and Madeline wonders if she's going to make another dash for the bathroom.
"Hey, that was your choice. Don't lump me into your lifelong plans without my say-so..." Her voice tapers off and her eyes glaze over as she spots a shock of blonde, almost-white hair from across the room. Pale skin, a beauty mark near one eyebrow, and cheekbones that anyone would murder a plastic surgeon for. Their eyes meet for a brief second, and Madeline swears she sees a... glow? coming from his eyes. It grips her heart, enraptures her in that moment, and something in her mind tells her that she can't let this one get away.
"Did you see that?" she says wistfully, as if lost in her own dream.
"Saw what?" Cynthia turns, but the person is already out of view, lost in the crowd of people chatting and mingling together.
To recount what she'd seen would make her sound crazy or way too drunk, and she doesn't want to lose the small trickle of adrenaline coursing through her to Cynthia's judgmental questions. She can feel her heart fluttering in her chest, making it hard for her to breathe, and she knows she has to chase... whoever this was, before they're gone.
"I'll call you later, alright?" she mutters under her breath as she gathers her purse, tucks it under her arm, and pushes her way as best she can through the crowd. Being this short doesn't make it easy, however, and she's soon found herself lost in the sea of bodies. From behind her, she can still hear Cynthia's calling, but the note of concern in her voice means nothing to her now.
She catches another glimpse of the shocking white hair as she continues past the bathroom, her heart fluttering in her chest now that she's "caught the scent" of her target. The crowd is much thinner at the back of the bar, making it easier for her to pick up the pace and hopefully catch up to the mysterious man with the glowing eyes.
The top of his spiky white coiffure disappears as the back exit of the bar swings open and closes again, and Madeline all but shoves her way through the crowd in pursuit. The door opens with a heavy clunk and latches closed behind her, depositing her into the slightly dark alleyway and denying her access back inside.
Expecting to find a man walking away, she's taken aback by the scene playing out before her: two hulking, fur-covered figures are going at each other tooth and nail, filling the alleyway with feral noises that aren't much different from a pair of wild dogs. Two pairs of glowing yellow eyes stare each other down as they lock jaws, straining against the other's strength.
The one with white fur bares its teeth and sinks them into the other's neck, dark brown fur splaying and catching between its teeth. It emits a howl of despair, its claws seeking whatever soft point it can find to loosen the jaws around it. But the longer it takes, the more strength it loses, sinking to the ground with more whining pants until it stops moving. A pool of blood begins to form around its head, staining its fur.
The white creature howls at the sky, victorious, and drops to all fours. There's a horrible ripping sound as it starts to shrink. The fur starts to fall off, and the muscles of its back and legs start to realign themselves until there is nothing left but a panting naked man, covered in an array of deep scratches and cuts. Bruises mottle his skin, and its only when he whips his head around at Madeline's scream that she discovers it's the man she's been following through the bar.
"Wait, wait, please!" He brings a finger to his lips, hoping it's enough to silence her yell of fright. That same yellow glow in his eyes begins to fade, and he pulls himself upright. Or tries to, anyway. The damage done is more severe than it looks, and he starts to stumble back to his knees.
Before Madeline realizes what she's doing, she's caught his arm, the limb hugged against her chest to help him remain on his feet.
"... thank you..." he whispers breathlessly, and gently pulls himself away so that he doesn't get his blood on her.
"I... saw you in the bar. Your hair's... quite beautiful." After what she's seen the compliment feels stupid as it falls from her lips. Yet she can't help the warmth that washes over her cheeks. "Are you..."
"Would you believe me if I told you?" A smirk tugs his mouth to one side, and it makes Madeline's heart flutter even more.
"... a werewolf."
"Wolf shifter to be exact. There's plenty kinds who are one animal or another, real or mythological." A groan interrupts his light bragging as he doubles over, gripping his side in agony.
"At least let me get you patched up. I took a first aid course in college." She offers her shoulder to help him stay upright, but it's a challenge with their height differences.
"You'd be better off dropping me off at the emergency vet clinic," he jokes as he lays his arm across her shoulder, trying his best not to put his full weight on her.
With his jacket gathered from off the nearby dumpster, she leads him to her car and drives him back to her apartment, glad that her roommate is gone visiting her parents for the weekend.
"Stay there," she orders politely as she lowers him to her bathroom floor and digs around in her cupboard for the tools she'll need.
"You didn't have to do this, you know." He presses a washcloth to one of the deep wounds on his side, wincing at the pain. "Most people would run away screaming."
"I'm not like most people." She slowly peels away the cloth and his fingers from the wound, and cleans it with some medicated gauze. He tries not to yell, but his grunt of pain elongates his canines for a mere second before he regains control.
"You've got that right," he mutters under his panting, as he touches at her chin.
This close, she can't help but get enraptured in the color of his eyes: dark brown with flecks of gold around the pupils. She finds herself staring into them for much too long, forgetting the task at hand, until she feels his hand on the back of her neck.
"Again, thank you..."
Before she knows it, he's nearing until his lips finds hers in a gentle kiss. It's warm and comforting, and the forgotten gauze soon falls away from her fingers to the ground. She dares to shift into his lap, and another grunt of pain halts her progress.
"I'll be fine..." His hands on her hips encourage her further, his grip secure and providing her with little means of escape. Not that she wants to.
Hands roam across his chest, large and solid underneath, careful of his wounds. They continue to drift downward, playing at the happy trail of hair down the middle of his torso until it disappears beneath the belt and slashed slacks he's still wearing. He chuckles quietly against her kiss, his own hands roaming from her waist to her thighs, and testing the edges of her dress. Without a refusal, the wonder upwards, pushing the fabric away until she's bare to him.
"I've never...." he utters once the kiss breaks, his eyes heavy and drunk with hormones.
"Me neither..." she replies, one hand tugging on the belt until the buckle falls away. "First time for everything...?"
"Yeah..."
He helps her with the belt until he's free of it, and shimmies himself onto the pants are gone as well, leaving him bare to her and his behind on the cold tiled floor. But it heats up soon enough with the heat of anticipation as she relieves herself of the dress and settles herself atop him. With a few strokes, she soon has him prepared for their love-making and slowly straddles his waist.
She holds her breath with the tension of his head against her entry, and breathes a sigh of relief on his breaching. Deeper he goes, slowly and almost torturous, until she feels the base of him against her.
The smirk on his face isn't as smug as his early one, and he seems almost bashful as he tests himself inside her. Each veiny ridge curls against her most sensitive of parts, and she finds her hand roaming to his face to cover his smile.
The light shifting of their hips together makes for delightful sensations, and Madeline smothers her keening with a furious chewing of her lip. It's bruised and swollen as she feels the heat and sweat developing between them, coating their thighs and making them stick together with every shift and thrust.
With his hands on her rump, he easily picks her up and carries them both to her bedroom, smothering her neck in kisses and bites that leave tiny bruises behind. They continue down her collarbones and grace the tops of her breasts by the time he has her prone on the bed, giving him easier access to deepen their lovemaking.
Madeline delivers another bruising kiss to his mouth, riding his hips as she starts to feel the first beginnings of her high. His grunts and groans become deeper and more intense, as do his thrusts within her, and it's not long before they ride the waves of ecstasy together, keening together in mutual satisfaction from each other's body.
He collapses onto the bed beside her and curls his large form around her, burying his face against the back of her neck and peppering her skin with more kisses.
"The name's Tobin," he slurs sleepily with a light chuckle.
"Madeline. Nice to meet you." She drags his large arms over her waist and shifts herself until she's comfortably snuggled against his form.
The End :)