Here and there along the walls were bookshelves packed full of books, some that struck me as being...a bit odd. As I walked towards the center of the living space, it dawned on me that this didn't cover the entire second floor, for all that it felt like it; the open-air plan really threw my senses off. It was almost as if I HAD been able to somehow alter my perception though, I could see the rest of it, whatever I was using the second floor for. My silent musings then broke harshly as I realized I wasn't alone between one moment and the next. Whirling into a crouch, my fingers flexing, I prepared to throw myself into a fight only to draw myself short, my breath catching.
The beautiful, ebony-skinned woman gazed about the room slowly, as if not seeing me at all, nor at the shock of recognition plastered on my stupid face. Stupid was certainly the word for it – stupid I felt, and wool-headed, and all at once a series of incredibly personal and intimate memories flooded me and my Voice, damn near overpowering me as much as her presence had.
The woman wasn't that tall, perhaps five-foot-five, but her shoulders spoke of a quiet strength and her aura was gigantic, her presence breathtaking. Her hands and ankles were slim, I knew that, and her back and buttocks were strong - her hips were somewhat wide, having aided her in giving birth multiple times even as she could use them for stability in a killing blow. What little makeup she wore was either nonexistent or so classy that I couldn't tell - those lips of hers, though, they stood out full and a dark raspberry color. Her breasts were shapely and sweet, and her breath - my head swam with the flavor of strawberries and cherries, cheerfully shared with artistic passion.
Passion. I could feel my libido kick into overdrive and, for once, I was glad that my Voice hadn't chosen now to try and butt in with a stupid joke or comment.
Her neck was strong yet slim, her limbs graceful yet full, and her face...my god, how many poems had I written about her beauty? The fullness of her lips, the sweet shape of her face, the soft chocolate brown color of her eyes that...that...
“Wait, didn't her eyes change color or somethin' like that?” My Voice asked me breathlessly, even as her eyes did indeed darken in a whirl of black. I frowned, wondering at how he...it...I?...could know that. Her eyes were definitely dark now, and they moved about the room with a strange, patient power, a knowledge that I somehow lacked.
For whatever reason I found that slightly galling and, hanging onto that emotion, was able to find my angry side again. Puffing myself up to prepare for a verbal attack, full of questions, like why this woman was in my house, she instead cut me off with a strangely familiar manner, her speaking patterns even and without betraying a hint of emotion beyond that thinly-veiled sense of hidden knowledge.
"Thomas, why aren't you answering your phone?" Though her eyes were busy taking in the room in that slow, devouring manner, I somehow knew she was talking to me despite the name that clearly wasn't mine. I was Frank Todd, wasn't I? I zoned back in as she continued, "I've tried calling you all day. Daniel said he hasn't seen you since yesterday evening, and Abbacus has foreseen great danger to you. The bones warned me to come here," her eyes finally settled on me with a strange weight, as if her very gaze had a gravity all of its own, "and I'm starting to understand why."
After pulling my own gaze away from those raspberry-red lips of hers, I realized that she was wearing clothes - it was only those weird memories that made me think she was nude. Black leather pants, a long purple sleeveless shift with gold lace (no buttons, only those laces - some strange kinda old style?) that ended in a hoodie which she currently had up over what I knew would be dark, long cornrows. I could see the iron buckles at the tops of her collared boots, and tight gloves of black leather - the shift itself was barely a scrap of cloth, revealing interesting peeks at her well-shaped sides. A wide, black leather belt at her waist brought the long shift in tight against her luscious curves.
"Your aura is full of holes, Thomas."
I blinked, the desirable scent of her clogging my nose. I shook my head slightly and patted the back of it with the heel of my palm - something was up, and even as everything about me screamed to feel her in my arms, her lips against mine, the taste of her in my mouth, something equally as primal was telling me that she was as dangerous as they come.
A brotha could seriously fall for someone like her, and I was getting the sinking suspicion that brotha was me.
"Thomas, what's wrong? You haven't reacted like this since...well," she wet her lips with the tip of her tongue, an unconscious act, as she gazed back at me with slight confusion in her sweet eyes. My god, the look did adorable things for her, "Ever. Why is your aura so full of holes?"
I took a deep breath, centering myself in more ways than one and began my tirade, "Look, lady...I don't know who this Thomas guy is, but I think you've got me mistaken for someone else. Lucky bastard, whoever he is. I don't know who any of these people you're speakin' of are, but I'm certain that there's someone out there who can help you - I'm, sadly, not the guy for ya. Sorry. And my aura, or whatever, feels absolutely fine thanks - I'm just not who you think I am."
As I spoke, her eyes betrayed nothing until I mentioned that I wasn't the guy for her. For a moment quite a bit of hurt flashed through those dark eyes of hers before returning to their normal mode of grave consideration - it dawned on me suddenly that I really, REALLY wanted to be Thomas, if anything just to see that she didn't feel that kinda hurt again.
She frowned and suddenly the considering look turned into a disapproving one, and I bit back the urge to gulp as she growled in that velvety voice of hers, "Thomas, this isn't funny. Daniel is worried sick about you and besides - you left your gloves at the Hold. I came by to drop them off and find out what's going on myself only to find you gazing about the Shop as if you've never been here before!"
When did she draw so close to me? When did I think it was okay to let this strange woman get close to me the way she did, her legs moving her luscious form about as if on coiled springs?
Her arms came up around my neck and my body relaxed; she drew me down to her and kissed me deep, my eyes closing naturally even as she melted into my arms. Time stopped, completely and utterly, and I knew what was wrong.
