The Dark Beast's Love

As I rounded the big oak tree, one hand grabbed my wrist while another grabbed over my mouth, preventing me from making any sound whether it was from surprise or annoyance. However, I felt my breath hitch when the hand from my wrist snaked around my waist and the feeling of cold lips pressed against my collarbone. It sent a shiver down my spine, the warmth against the cold spring air, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. "You found me," His lips brushed over my ears as he spoke.

I turned around to face the icy blue eyes I was so familiar with, his expression mischievous but soft, always soft.

"You shouldn't sneak up on me," I said without heat. "One day I'll accidentally mistake you for a predator and stab you."

He chuckled and then pecked a kiss on my forehead. "No, you won't," He gave me another peak on the lips. "You knew that I was here. You always know."

Now my gaze softened. He was right of course, I had known that he was close. I always knew how to find him, a perk after spending so many hours in the woods using him to improve my tracking skills. He would get a few minutes headstart in order to disappear in the woods, and then I would hunt, using whatever I could see as a clue to where he could have gone. It got easier after a while, I'd learned his pattern, learned his way of thinking, learned what to look for, and now, I always know when to expect him and his wonderful eyes.

I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him into a soaring kiss, letting everything around us dulled into nothing, everything except for the heated feeling of his lips against mine. His hand found my jaw and rested gently there as the other went into my hair, pulling my head back lightly so that he could deepen the kiss even further. We both let it go on for a bit, until we were both out of breath and only our survival instincts pulled us apart. But we remained in the same position, hand against jaw, another one in the hair and forehead resting on each other.

"The cottage?" Nathan asked even if he knew my answer.

He took my hand and led me down a familiar path until a cottage appeared in our sight. Despite my many hours in the woods, it had taken me months before I stumbled upon the cottage, and one can imagine my surprise when I saw a boy lurking around doing almost nothing of use. I had hated Nathan at first, not only because he was invading the one place where I could be myself but also because he reeked of wealth. I had tried to ignore his existence, tried to leave him and his cottage behind, but he was too delighted to meet another person to get the hint. He'd tried to converse with me as he followed me, told me about his home where chandeliers lit up the mansion and of the many maids that filled the house simply to satisfy the masters. At first, I thought he was simply bragging, showing off his fancy life with the knowledge that the poor girl would never have anything close to it but then he told me of how that life dulled him, and how he missed the feeling of freedom away from his father's watching eyes, and it was like seeing a part of myself in the story he told.

From that day and onwards, no matter how many times I tried to stay away from the cottage, I kept returning. And he was just as happy to see me every time. I had told myself that a friend wouldn't hurt, that a companion to help me collect the berries or manage the traps would be useful in many aspects. It wasn't until he kissed me one summer day that I realised that I didn't want to be just his friend, and Nathan had felt the same way.

Now, months after that first kiss, the cottage was like our home, where the people we kept hidden from society were allowed to roam free. It had originally been Nathan's, he had stumbled upon it one day after escaping from his father's mansion and been determined to repair it until it was stable enough to be liveable. Calling it a cottage, however, was an exaggeration, it was more of a barn with a loft where Nathan had stocked blankets and pillows as a sleeping place while leaving the ground floor wide open and empty from any objects, but we had gotten used to calling it a cottage after months of misidentifying it and now the name was impossible to change.

"I got us food," Nathan said as he opened the door with a key identical to the one I wore around my neck. "Not much, but enough for you to keep your energy up."

I squeezed his hand to show my gratitude before letting him climb the ladder, me just some steps behind. As my eyes landed on the small bag in the middle of the floor, my senses were hit by the wonderful smell of bread and something unfamiliar but just as lovely. My stomach growled before I'd even gotten close to the bag and Nathan threw me a knowing look as he handed me the bag of food before dragging me to his lap so that we could both sit comfortably. "I wish I could do more for you," Nathan said as I took the first bite of the somehow still lukewarm bread, an involuntary groan escaping my lips as the taste filled my mouth.

"This is more than enough," I leaned back into him. "This is more than I could've asked for."

"It shouldn't be," He hugged me around my waist, the grip tight. "This should be the least you have the right to."

"Nathan," I put down the bread and repositioned myself so that I could get his face in my hands. "We have been over this. We live differently. We knew that from the start, but here, it's just you and me, no one and nothing else." Nathan sighed, not in agreement but not in protest either. "One day, Liliana, you will be the death of me." He said it so carefully that my heart ached to soothe him. "I'll turn this world upside down to make sure that every diamond belongs to you and you alone."

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"I don't want any diamond," My voice was barely over a whisper. "Just us to be okay."

This time he initiated the kiss, and it was slow and longing, just like the conversation before this. It was like a dream separating this moment from every other and I leaned forward just to force him down against the covers we used as a mattress on the cold wooden floor. I could feel the smirk on his lips as his head hit the ground and how his hands started travelling lower. I was just about to kiss his jaw when my stomach grumbled, and his hands stilled. "No," I said in protest when I realised what he was about to do.

"Sorry love, but who would I be to let you get any hungrier than you already are," He sat up despite my protests and turned me around so that I sat on his lap again, the bread and the rest of the food still in its place.

"You are horrible," I muttered as I took the bread again.

"You'll get what you want," He assured. "Just not today."

I sighed but said nothing more.

"Be good and I see no reason for us to not pick this up tomorrow night," He unexpectedly purred in my ear and the drop in his voice sent a shiver down my spine. I almost asked him why not tonight, when I remembered that it was a full moon tonight, and the entire village expected an unwanted visitor tonight, not sure which house would fall victim this month.

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"I hope I'll catch a better glimpse of it tonight," I said as nonchalantly as I could. "I just need to know what it is in order to know where it can possibly hide."

Nathan stiffened under me. "If it is a curse, it doesn't need a place to hide."

"But if it's a beast, one only needs to figure out its habits in order to understand its path," I explained. "Perhaps if I can catch it off guard I can finally kill it."

"I know what this means to you," I could hear it in his voice that there was more coming to this. "But you can't let that be the death of you. You can't do anything stupid only because you think it'll get you closer." "Nathan..." We have had this conversation before.

"I'm not saying that you should stop training to defend yourself," He insisted. "I'm just saying that you can't run towards something you have no idea what it is."

"That's why I'm trying to get a better glimpse of it," I argued. "I know better than to just run towards a sword with my eyes closed. But I still need to try to see it for myself. Right now I'm working with an impossible creature with wings, a tail, horns, fangs, claws and that supposedly is made out of mist or perhaps solid iron or maybe Mrs Beverlyn's theory which was that it was a creature made of only hair. Nathan, I need to see it for myself to paint my own picture, at least as much as I can."

Nathan sighed, but rested his chin on my shoulder in surrender. "Okay, but just promise to come back to me tomorrow?"

He made me promise this every month.

"You said it yourself, I'll always find you."