Talia reached out and grabbed onto Cedric's shoulders to steady herself. By the look in his eyes, it didn't look like she would get much sleep.
"Wait, Cedric." She breathed. "This is a very open train. The staff walk in and out constantly."
"And?" With a couple of long strides, he reached the bed and gently placed her down.
"We shouldn't do anything that would be—"
"They know we're mates, Talia."
"But—"
"If we didn't do anything, they would think it was strange."
"Cedric, Devin is in the room with us."
He smiled and pulled the curtains that separated the bed area from the rest of the car. Then he turned down the lights until they were so low, they were both drenched in shadows.
"He can't see anything since it's so dark in here. And besides, his eyes are shut and sleeping."
Just for emphasis, Cedric pointed to the curtains.
"And there is a curtain that separates us. As long as we keep a little bit quiet and not scream and shout, he won't be startled awake."
Talia bit her lip. "But we just did something two days ago."
"That was two days ago." He said with a straight face. "I need you again."
"See?" He took her hand and placed it over his manhood.
Sure enough, he was rock hard yet again.
She pulled back her hand in slight panic.
The memory of the first time he had done the same thing when he was in werewolf form began to explode in her mind. That memory was replaced with the second time he had placed her hand on his hard member.
He was also a werewolf that day too.
With a gentle sigh, Cedric lowered his head and pressed his warm lips onto hers. The first kiss was gentle, as if he didn't want to startle her.
And then, as if he could not hold back any longer, Cedric began to devour her lips.
Like an animal, he ground into her mouth, licking and sucking her tongue with ferocity, as if he could barely hold back his need.
His hands roamed all around her back, touching, feeling, squeezing.
Snap. Her bra strap separated. In one swift motion, he tossed her pajama top and bra onto the floor.
"Wait. Wait." She held up a futile hand in front of her body to shield herself.
"What are we waiting for?" Cedric gazed upon her body with hungry eyes. "You're my mate. I'm hungry, woman."
"I'm not—not used to this yet."
"Why? We've done much more than this two days ago."
"Yes but that was…" she turned away blushing. "You were a werewolf at that time."
Cedric furrowed his brows.
"And?" He pulled off his sleep shirt.
"I'm—I work in an animal hospital. I'm used to handling animals of all sorts."
She glanced at his naked torso. "I'm not used to being around men."
Cedric leaned over towards her and pressed a kiss onto her forehead.
"Are you telling me you won't let me do anything with you unless I turn into a werewolf?"
"That's not what I—"
"Are you telling me you're only turned on by my wolf form?"
"No, no!" She waved both hands in protest. "That's not it!"
"Then what, pray tell, are you trying to tell me, woman?"
"I'm just a little shy, okay? When you're in werewolf form, I could—" she turned her face away. "I could hide my face in your fur if I got embarrassed."
Cedric was still for a moment. Suddenly he began shaking.
She looked up.
He was laughing at her! His eyes were crinkled and his chest was rumbling.
Scowling, she turned away from him. It wasn't that funny, was it?
"Come here, woman. I promise, I won't do anything tonight. We can just hold each other and rest, or sleep if we can."
"Really?" She turned back to him.
"What did I say about you not believing my words?"
She glanced at him. "You said I would get punished."
"Yes. Your punishment is you have to kiss me once, each time you doubt my words."
She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
He raised an eyebrow. "Was that painful?"
Talia shook her head.
"Then it's not a punishment, now is it?"
She grimaced. She should have said it was painful.
"What—what kind of kiss do you want?"
"One that will make you remember forever that you need to trust in your man."
She pressed her lips together and reached out for his face. Holding both his cheeks in the palms of her hands, she leaned over and pressed her lips to his.
One, two, three, four, five. She mentally counted, and then pulled back.
His golden ambers eyes gazed at her as she leaned back enough to be able to focus on his face.
"You call that a kiss?" He pinched her nose. "Am I your brother?"
Talia's face fell. That wasn't good enough for him, obviously.
She was still very much aware that they were sitting on the bed without shirts on. For him it was not a huge deal, but for her, having her fairly large breasts hanging out in full view was very disturbing.
"I'm a little cold." She grabbed the comforter and slid her body under the covers. "Can I kiss you under the covers?"
Cedric gave her a look as if he was suspicious that she was trying to pull something, but he acquiesced and joined her under the covers, settling in among the pillows.
Talia took a deep breath. Reaching out for him, she slid her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer.
She closed her eyes and puckered up her lips. If she moved forward by five inches, she would reach his lips. This should make him happy.
"Talia." Cedric's voice was soft and gentle.
She opened her eyes. He was so close to her she could see the throbbing of the vein on his neck.
"Let's go to sleep. I've been up very early today and have been running around trying to get everything settled for us to be able to leave on tonight's train."
He leaned forward and rested his head on her shoulder.
"Haaah. I'm so tired, woman. I can barely keep my eyes open. Just let me hold you like this and sleep."
"But I haven't kissed you yet. We haven't done anything…"
Cedric sighed as he buried his face into her neck.
"Raincheck…" he mumbled, and fell asleep in her arms.
As the train rolled onward, a crack of lightning split the night sky. Another storm cloud began to burst overhead, drenching the train as it plowed forward on its track.
The train continued shrieking forward through the thick Louisiana bayou filled with thick-trunk cypress trees.
Up ahead there was a train tunnel. It was a beast with a dark mouth that was opening wide, waiting for the train to enter.
The train barreled through without hesitation, slipping through the dark maw. Within minutes, the entire train had been swallowed, effectively silencing its roaring shrieking clackety-clacking sounds.
Blessed quiet once again settled over the land. It was quiet enough to hear the rain splashing down onto the dark watery bayou in rhythmic syncopated staccato.