Havermouth, Present TimeOn their way back to the house, Heath pulled in at the Havermouth’s farmer’s market for produce. Whilst he debated over the menu for dinner, Aislen drifted the nearby stalls, buying things that caught her fancy but that had no practical value. Soy candles, little lavender bags to scent drawers, and twisted wrought iron candle holders. She was examining an antique painting of a still life and trying to decide whether she actually liked the image, or just the age of the image, when someone cleared their throat behind her.She turned and looked up at Mr Graynor, immediately mentally reverting to the almost eighteen-year-old caught smoking at the bottom of the oval. “Oh, hi, Mr Graynor,” she stuttered.“Hmph, I thought it was you, I had heard that you were back in town,” he snorted through his nose in amusement. “I’m not going to put you into detention, Ms Carter.”She laughed uncomfortably. “Yeah, I guess not, but deprogramming the indoctrination hasn’t caught up
Rideten, Five Years Before The mood in the house was vastly different than it had been over the week, with music pumping out to greet Aislen as she walked up the path after her last class for the day. In the kitchen Helena and Christine were making margueritas, the whir of the blender barely audible over the music. Both were semi-dressed, mid-preparation for the night out. Aislen made her way up to the room that she shared with Bianca, who was styling her hair and looked up as she entered. “Happy Friday,” she saluted Aislen with a cocktail. “You’d best hit the showers quickly and get yourself glam. We’ll leave in an hour or so, just as soon as it gets dark.” “Okay,” Aislen hurried to grab her toiletry bag and took it with her to the bathroom. As she showered, she debated what to wear. She had the dresses that she had bought with Tiffany, however, due to Dr James and the rush to leave, Tiffany hadn’t altered them. In the bedroom, she posed with the options before the mirror. “That
Havermouth, Present timeAislen headed to the master bedroom, despite all the furniture being pushed together in the center of the room and the strong smell of the gloss paint that they were using on the skirtings and edges. Tyler having slept in the single bed the night before made it feel like an intrusion to go into the smaller bedroom.Talen set his bags to the ground and scooped her off her feet, carrying her over to the bed and sitting on it with her on his lap. “They do not see the damages that they have wrought,” he said softly into her hair. “They only see that which they have wanted hovering at their fingertips, without understanding that in order to possess it, they need to repair that which they have broken.”“They are impossible,” she said in frustration, turning grief into anger. “Heath will defend the pack beyond all logic, and Cameron thinks that sex cures everything and that we should all go back to the river house and play happy families right now. As for Rhett, well
Rideten, Five Years Before Rideten, like Havermouth, was a historic town, and many of the original houses remained along the tree-lined streets. The house which Bianca led Aislen to held shadows of the same architecture as the river house in the ramshackle roofline with dormer windows peeking out, the wrap around veranda with intricate and ornate ironwork like lace edging, and sandstone brickwork. It was set behind a hedge that had to be as old as the house from its height and denseness. The garden was framed by roses, within which was arranged what seemed from a distance to be a vegetable garden, however, close up, Aislen realized that the plants were not vegetables, but rather herbs and weeds that were planted with deliberation and careful labelling. “I know it looks weird to people, but you have to understand that many weeds aren’t actually weeds,” Bianca told her. “We are taught here that as the role of women in the home and community changed, women’s knowledge and magic was str
Havermouth, Present TimeTalen’s hand cupped the back of her skull, bringing her mouth firmly to his, and kissed her, his tongue sliding against hers in the most tempting way. She pressed herself tightly to him, her fingers in his chest hair, her nails indenting his skin. She could feel the press of his nipple ring against her and wondered if he could feel her piercings too.He rolled her under him without breaking the kiss, and her hands splayed out and slid up around his neck as she wrapped her legs around him.He kissed along her jaw to the pulse point below her ear, letting her feel the points of his teeth pressing against her skin, before dragging them down, the sensation sending sparks throughout her body, pebbling her nipples and raising the hair along her arms and back of her neck. He had triggered an instinct that recognized the danger of a vampire’s teeth, she thought, although she was unafraid of him. She threaded her fingers into his hair and pulled him closer, encouraging
Rideten, Five Years Before A women’s circle involved a gathering of women of all age groups, backgrounds, shape and size. They arrived alone, or in groups of friends or family. Grandmothers, mothers and daughters, aunts and nieces, childhood friends, schoolteachers and home makers – women from every walk of life. They entered carrying with them wine which they added to the communal table and drank out of vintage teacups as they giggled, and chatted, and shared the news of their week, their family and friends. They accepted Aislen’s presence with warmth and curiosity, and she was passed from group to group, repeating the same information about herself – where she was from, where she was studying, how long she had been in Rideten, and whether she liked it. As she and Bianca circulated, Aislen soon determined that there were three different types of women present – those who came for the socialization and did not truly believe in magic, those devotees that believed passionately in magic
Havermouth, Present TimeHeath backed her into the bedroom and closed the door behind him. “I just…” He said against her lips. “I just… I want to… make love…” (make love, not f-k, but actually make love, like we did, that time on the balcony…)She melted at the memory, at the realization that what she had felt in that time had been shared and was the reason for the intensity of that encounter.“Should I leave?” Talen asked. He amused to find himself trapped.“No,” Heath said immediately, glancing up and laughing. “No.” (This involves you too.)“Well, then,” Talen stepped forward. “Little demon, undress, please. I will help Heath out of his clothes.” He turned Heath towards him and stroked his hands down Heath’s torso as he reached for the hem of Heath’s t-shirt. “I am… proud of you,” Talen murmured into Heath’s ear as he began to draw the fabric up, his knuckles grazing Heath’s skin.Heath lifted his arms complicitly. As Talen cast the t-shirt over the chair behind him, Aislen’s daddy
Rideten, Five Years Before There was a lot of noise in the background, many voices talking and laughing, with the occasional girlish shriek interspersed. Aislen was certain that she could hear Rhett’s voice, and then Cameron’s, and that almost brought her to her knees. “Hello?” She said again. “Aislen,” it was Heath. There was static on the line. “Are you there? F-k this,” he said with an irritated sigh. “I’m here, I here,” she garbled out hastily. “Heath - ” “The signal is bad tonight,” he told her, interrupting. “I can’t move from this spot, or I will lose it, so you’re just going to have put up with the background noise.” “Heath,” she fought back tears, pressing her hand to her mouth. “I… Well, I am…” Bianca made a small noise of sympathy and reached out, placing her hand on Aislen’s back. (Poor thing. What sort of jerk-off would…) “Aislen, you need to stop calling the Edisons,” he said tightly. “You’re causing problems. I can’t believe that you can cause problems and not eve