The Lady and her Shadow

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don’t own Prey. I’m just borrowing it. I’ll give it back when I’m through. I’m making no money on this. Warner Brothers and William Schmidt own prey. Tom, Sloan, Ed, Walter, Ray, Mark and Lewis belong to Prey; everything else is mine. Read and enjoy.

He moves to the other room and sees her on the bed. The room is dark and she moans softly, he can feel her pain. He sits beside her on the bed and rubs her arms. They are stinging from being held above her for so long. "Tom, what happened?"

"You passed out when the blood went into your arms after they were above your head for so long. The tingling will stop soon. It’s like when your foot falls asleep, you’ve got to get the blood circulating again." He had seen her clothes and the hand cuffs by the door. It was a warning if things didn’t go right.

He slowly massages her arms from shoulder to fingertip. He feels the muscles relax and soon the pain fades away. "We have to talk about what happened. I have decided I must cooperate. She won’t release you, but she won’t harm you. She said it was a package deal, both of us or neither of us. Sloan, why don’t you lay on your stomach and I’ll give you a massage."

She turns over and asks "Tom, what happened to my clothes?"

"Lewis took them. It was a warning to me, what would happen if things should go sour." He pulls the sheet down and starts to rub her back in slow, deliberate strokes. He was going to have to keep her calm while he explained her position now. "I own you now. I declared my intent before them and therefore you are mine."

"Tom, what do you mean ‘declared your intent’, and what do you mean ‘you own me’?

He slips over her legs and holds her down as he whispers into her ear. "Sloan, calm your self. Listen to me, it’s something I need to explain to you." He gently rubs her shoulders and loosens the tenseness there. He nestles his face into her hair and realizes his declaration wasn’t just a formality, it wasn’t only for show. It was what he actually felt and believed. She was his body and soul whether she wanted it or not. He’d never leave her but he’d never let her leave either. The realization shook him.

He holds her down and continues the massage. "Among my people, humans can be owned as property. There is no better way to put it. I was told if I own you, it would be no concession to let you live. I said I did not wish to own you. I wanted more." She had become very still listening to him. He felt her apprehension at what he was saying. He shifts so she can turn underneath him. She has forgotten she is nude. His eyes travel over her and return to her face.

 "What DO you want, Tom?"

He swallows and wonders what her reaction will be. She had said she loved him, would that be enough? "I want you for my companion, my partner…for my mate, now and forever. I don’t know the right words to say what I mean. When I was working I knew how to say many things but mean none of them. I don’t want to do that to you."

Her hand comes up to his cheek and she pulls him close. She kisses him gently and looks into his eyes. "Yes, it’s always been yes."

~~~~~~~~~~

Lewis returns to her and stands before her, waiting. She nods to him signifying he may speak, but this time he has questions so he waits. "Very well ask your questions. I may not answer them."

"Why did you accept his declaration as a mating? I doubt they have consummated their relationship."

"I need her alive to control him. With her in my hands I need a reason not to kill her. If she is his mate, that is reason enough. He is mine to do with as I wish, and now I wish him to live. You have more questions?"

"Why do you wish him to live? He can only be a danger to you to allow him to live. What plans do you have for him? You would not take him as a lover; he would not suit you. You have another goal, another purpose."

"True, I do. Shadow, why did you allow him to live? Do not answer, I don’t want to know. He is far too valuable to be squandered in a fit of pique. He has skills and talents that are unique. You know this. He has embarked upon a new path, one that is foreign to our people. It must be explored. I doubt it is one that I could follow but he must be allowed to follow it to the end."

"Then what is his ultimate fate? Will you release him to follow this path he is set upon? Or will you confine him to do your bidding?"

"It depends upon many things, the wheels I have already set in motion, how well he performs under the pressure I will put him under, what his friends do and not in the least, you, my shadow. Did you think I would leave you out of this? I waited many years to have you returned. I will not give you up again easily."

"I will regain my position. Someone will need my skills again. And then I will be gone. I will not stay with you. I will not remain here and be treated thusly."

She rises from her seat on the couch and comes forth to face him. "How have you been treated poorly? No one who works for me should give you anything but the utmost respect. What has been done or said to you?"

His voice comes out harsh and angry, he lowers his shields to her so she can feel him. "I know my responsibilities as your shadow. I know that I should be servicing you. In all these months I have never been in your bed. And you tell Tom you would take him. I know there has been discussion about this behind my back and behind yours. I could do nothing about it because you had not given an order about it. I will not allow myself to be disgraced in this way. When the time comes that I may leave, I will not look back. This time there will be no regrets. I will be free of you."

"Lew…Shadow, I will not order you into my bed. If you wish to be there you are welcome, but I will not order you there. There should be no talk of this among my people. Do you know of anyone in particular who has been talking? An example must be made. I will have discipline, and no one may defy my orders."

"No one specifically. Slipped shielding and an aura of ridicule. I have become an object of pity and scorn. When I came here, I had respect. I was merely being disciplined. Now I have almost none."

"Shadow, you may give any measure of discipline you wish to anyone of my people who do anything you deem less than respectful. I will not have it, not now, not ever."

"I accept. I will regain my respect. Do not interfere with what I do. I will keep you informed. If I depend upon you to stop this, what little respect I have will be gone and I will never regain it."

She nods at him. The look she gives him says this conversation is over. He returns to his place behind her as she leaves the room.

~~~~~~~~~~

Tom starts awake at the sharp rap at the door. He had not meant to fall asleep but the past few days had been very taxing. His face is nestled in a mound of red curls and he pulls her closer. Lewis was on the other side of the door and had let Tom know he was there. Tom could smell the odors of food and knew that their meal had arrived. "Sloan, wake up. Our food’s here. I guess it would be dinner. Come on, wake up." He brushes the wayward curls out of her eyes.

"I don’t want to wake up. I like it right here."

"Lewis brought us food. We are expected to eat. We’re still prisoners. We have to cooperate."

"Birds in a gilded cage. Ok, let’s get up."

Tom slips out of the bed and puts on his jeans. He goes to the bathroom and checks. He was right, behind the door there were robes. He brings one of them to Sloan. "Here, put this on. Lewis and his people just left but I think you’ll be more comfortable with something on."

They go into the living room. The small table in the corner had been set up with their meal on it, steaks, salad, vegetables, rolls, and cheesecake for dessert with fresh strawberries and chocolate shavings. "Tom, this doesn’t look like a meal that one of your people would serve, especially the dessert. Cheesecake is my favorite."

Tom nods. "They’ve probably been watching you for months. As I watched you when you were my target. I think that’s when I realized that something had to change. I didn’t want to be like that anymore. And now I may have to return to it."

Sloan plays with the food on her plate. "If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t be in this position. You could have walked away and been free."

"No, they don’t let anyone walk away. I would’ve had to run, and keep on running. And still I could’ve ended up here. She is a powerful force within our society. She is tenacious. If she had said she would get me she would travel to the ends of the earth to do so. What I’m wondering about is if I’m under a death sentence, why didn’t they just tell her to kill me? Why give me to her?"

They eat in silence for the remainder of the meal. Sloan bites into a ripe strawberry and looks at the solemn man across from her lost in his own thoughts. "Tom." He looks up at her and smiles. "Close your eyes."

"Sloan, what are you up to?"

She puts a finger to his lips. He puts his fork down and pushes his plate away. "OK. I’ll close my eyes."

She picks up a couple of berries and comes over to him. She shoves the small table out of the way. He jumps a little at the sound but keeps his eye shut. She carefully sits on his lap, her thighs holding on to his hips. He holds on to her, his hands sliding up her legs to hold her still. "Sloan, this is not a good idea." He says inhaling her scent.

Her lips come close to him. "Yes, it is." She brings a berry to his lips and he feels the cool touch. "Open your mouth" she says, her lips so close he can feel her breath, and smell the strawberries she had been eating on it. He opened his lips knowing what would come next. She puts the strawberry in his mouth and he bites down tasting the sweetness of the berry. He chews and swallows, savoring the taste, and the closeness of her. He opens his mouth again expecting another bite of the berry, instead feeling her lips on his, and tasting her unique flavor mixed with the berry. His arms come around to hold her close and deepen and lengthen the kiss. He continues to kiss her along her jaw line until he comes to her ear.

"Sloan, I told you this wasn’t a good idea. I thought you wanted dessert."

She kisses him gently on his neck and shoulder. "Oh, I think I’ve got it." With that he picks her up to carry her to the bedroom. Their meal is over.

~~~~~~~~~~

Lewis enters her private quarters, this time without being called. He stands across the room watching as she brushes her hair. He much prefers it down instead of up. It falls in soft waves and makes her look much younger and softer. She had never been soft, not with anyone but him. He walks over, takes the brush from her hand and starts stroking it through her hair. The only sound in the room is the soft swish of the brush.

He knows he will have to speak. He cannot do this all night. Eventually he places the brush on the table in front of her. As he runs his fingers through her hair he speaks. "You were right. They are mated. He had to admit it to himself. Had to admit that he would have to do something about what he wanted. How did you know?"

"In many ways he is like you. You raised him, he is not a copy of you but there are many similarities. You have never admitted to yourself the things you want. You still won’t."

He stood still, unmoving, his hands still entangled in her hair. He knew exactly what she was referring to. The reason he had left long ago, the reason he could not stay, and he could never stay. "I never wanted to leave. It was not permitted. It will never be."

She looks at him in the mirror and nods. She opens herself to him and lets him know what she could not say. They stay there unmoving for many long minutes. He has not felt her for so long he lets her wash over him and sink in. The long years they were apart drift away and for a short time he is much younger. When she closes herself again he remembers the pain that hardened him and made him what he is today.

"Lewis, I will stop this. It cannot continue. We are few, they are many. Each one of us would have to kill thousands to accomplish the goals set. It cannot be done."

"That is your goal? Do you long for death so much you would set yourself on such a path?"

"I do not wish for death. Look at what has happened. We are seen as a major threat. Humans attack what they don’t understand. Now we are the focus of such an attack. In an out and out war we will lose. There must be another option. At least what you do is prune. Take out the most dangerous of them or put them on another path."

He turns her and kneels down to look into her eyes. "They could decide to eliminate you for this. I do not want you to die. If they order your death, I will be the one to carry out such an order."

"I know. It will not come to that. I promise. I would never put you in that position. I have other options. I always have other options." She covers his hand with her smaller one.

"I’m staying tonight." She only nods.