Nathaniel popped up a gin bottle while he opened the pages to one of the book desperately searching for a way or a tool which could aid him to use the powers of the Temhos in broad daylight, "It says here that, through dark magic, the grand magi of Susa was able to gift Xerxes with a necklace by which he was able to use his powers regardless of the time, weather or location." He turned the page, "The magic, however, has long been lost since the practice of dark magic has been limited severely after the end of the civil war. Ahh, what about the damn necklace?!" he yelled angry to the empty room, taking a sip from the bottle.
He hopelessly turned the pages and read as much as he could to find more information, "Surely there has to be a way to get my hand on the spell or that damn necklace. Am I cursed to use the Temhos only in the shadows?! What am I, a vampire?!" he shouted to the book, continuously turning its page for a tail or a piece of information that would relive him of the hopeless feeling he was going through.
After several hours, with the gin bottle fully empty, he gave up, "Perhaps I might be able to find more on the other books…" he stared sadly at them laying on the table.
He looked at his watch; it was 9:30 p.m., "A little late to call Sarah…I guess I could wait a few hours and check on her in the morning." He mumbled, turning off the light and laying in his bed not so peacefully with a million thoughts running wild in his mind. Eventually, he managed to fall asleep after several days of unrest.
Early in the morning he was awakened by a phone call "Jesus, I can't have more than 24 hours to myself before being disturbed by someone, can I?" he mumbled to himself realizing the phone number was yet again unknown. He hesitated to pick it up for a moment but his curiosity got the best of him hence he answered, "Nathaniel's residence, who has the sheer audacity to disturb me so early on in the morning?"
"Oh, well aren't you a charmer! My most humble apologies Nathaniel, my name is Anna Evans, I am the leader of the Guild of the Scarlett sun." Said the tender voice on the other side of the line.
Shocked yet annoyed, he cleared his throat. He knew he had to play the nice guy and be polite and respectfully, sharply remembering the words from Guthullu about the covenant's relationship with the guild, "But of course, where are my manners, greetings me lady, it is an honor to, umm, hear your voice for the first time?" he said still dizzy and confused.
She laughed, "It is an honor to meet you Nathaniel. I am calling to introduce myself and to see if there is a special need you have that has to be taken care of during your stay at our mansion?" she continued tenderly with a light British accent.
He rubbed his eyes and sighed, thinking for a few seconds about the many requests he could ask but atlas he said, "No, ma'am. As long as we arrive safe and stay out of trouble in your mansion than I won't be needing anything else."
"Very well then. I will see you on Sunday! Goodbye Nathaniel!" she hung up the phone with a light laughter of joy.
"God, I was so nice I almost barfed all over the floor here. I hate to pretend to like someone or to be extra polite---that's Daniel not me!" he rose up from his bed, rubbed his eyes with one hand -while the other was fix on his hips and got curious. He quickly picked up the phone again and dialed Daniel the do-gooder's number.
"Please tell me that she also called to annoy you too, it would make me feel a lot better if you have suffered as well." He said sarcastically.
"Matter of fact I have, brother. Sadly, for you, I was already awakened. Lea and I had a lot of catching up to do." he said caressing her arms who was sitting next to him having breakfast.
"Gross, I did not need to know that!"
"Not that---kind of…catch up you----"
"Oh thank God because I already had a huge reason to barf and you were giving me a second one….anyways, when are you picking up your suit? We could grab coffee together."
"I already have earlier today; we can still grab coffee if you want though. The store is close to Stephanplatz, I'm sure there are plenty of Cafés we could grab some decent coffee from."
"And here I thought Daniel wanted a full day by himself and his dear Lea, and yet again his sense of duty gets in the way. Alright, I'm gonna get dressed and pick the suit up as soon as possible. Let's meet in front of Saint Stephan's cathedral say 12ish?"
"Knowing you, that means 1 p.m."
"When was I ever late recently? I do everything so fast lately that no one even realizes I'm there!"
"That is exactly what she said!" Daniel high fived Lea, laughing profoundly.
"Are you being serious right now?!" he lashed.
"Alright, alright, you're such a crybaby! See you in a bit."
Nathaniel hung up the phone and changed into a black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans and with a blazer in hand, left his flat. As he walked down the hallways of his apartment building a brilliant idea hit his mind, he checked his watch, it pointed at 10:15, "Well what do you know, guess I'll be paying a visit to that one special girl after all!" he said with a genuine smile, his heart began raising. Just the idea of seeing her again gave him goosebumps which filled him with joy and terrified him to the bones.
A few hours later, after his little visit to Sarah, noticing the sun shining bright and the time slowly running out, he called a cab to the city center and arrived somewhere close to his destination. He rushed inside the tailoring store and the first thing he noticed were glowing symbols and runes on the walls. He touched one, a person walking by him stared at Nathaniel awkwardly. What was this young fella up to, touching the blank wall so obsessively like that? "And no one else can see it huh?" he muttered before he was interrupted by one of the stores' clerks, "Hi how can I help you?"
He took a good look at her. A pretty looking brunette with blue eyes and perfect teeth; he could not help but notice her soft, kissable lips.
"Oh my, what would I do to kiss those lips of yours." he mumbled before he quickly gathered himself and with his usual charming, devilish attitude he said "Yes indeed you can, miss! I'm Nathaniel King here to pick up a very special, deliquiate suit designed just for me---and my little brother."
"Oh you are Daniel's brother; he was here earlier this morning. Such a gentleman!" Said the store clerk with a wide grin.
He rolled his eyes, "Of course he was. So, can I wear the suit first, I mean apart from the measurement there was nothing for me to see miss? What was your name again? I tend to have a troublesome short-term memory as of late." He said in a deep voice with his typical smirk.
"It's Chiara, nice to meet you Mr. King." She threw her hand.
He firmly shook her hand, "Oh please, my friends call me Nathaniel. So, I would rarely say that to a woman but lead the way me lady."
They strolled together to the dressing room. Chiara opened a wardrobe labeled special orders in German and showed him his suit and an empty dressing room. Nathaniel changed into his new suit; it was almost as black and dark as the suits wore by Guthullu but something about it was different. It was more elegant and unique than Guthullu's suits and he could not put his finger on it. As he came out of the dressing room, Chiara blushed but quickly hid her expression.
Nathaniel looked so handsome and dashing. He added his trademark smirk which hypnotized everyone present at the store while staring at himself in the mirror. As he bashed in the attention, he was interrupted by Daniel leaning towards a wall right behind him.
"Well, well comes as no surprise from you to keep me waiting so you could try the suit here! You know you could have taken it home and done that there to save some time…."
"Ohhh of course, typical of you to ruin my fun, Daniel! Last I checked you were not the king of England so don't play the victim here." He slowly turned to him, the expression on his face one of annoyance.
Chiara looked surprised and joyful to see Daniel again----as her eyes widened and she very excitingly said "Daniel!! It is so good to see you again, how are you? Is your headache any better?!"
"It is good to see you too dear Chiara, I'm feeling fantastic, thanks for asking. How about you?"
"You see, it is this type of fake niceness that makes me wanna beat the crap out of you every time I hang out with you in a social situation. I'm probably going to barf a lot on Sunday at the ball. Why can't you be authentic and real for once brother?" he said in a whisper only Daniel was able to hear.
"It is called being polite and a decent human being, something our mother realized was lacking in you too early on and probably the reason why she gave up on you! Well, at least the suit really suits you" he mocked.
"Thanks for a quick reminder of my traumatic childhood and our wonderful, cold-hearted bitch of a mother. Now let me change real quick and get the hell out of here; I could really kill someone for a decent cup of coffee right now!"
Seeing the awkward expression on Chiara's face; Daniel quickly said "of course my brother can be very insensitive when it comes to his sense of humor."
He finished changing back to his casual clothes and got the suit bag in his hands but before they left, he turned to Chiara and said: "hmmm, I really wanted to get to know you better; however, Daniel being Daniel really ruined it for me. We should hang out sometimes."
"I don't really go out with customers. It would be unprofessional of me." She said shyly but with a smile of interest on her face.
Nathaniel gave an angry look to Daniel who quickly walked out of the store and continued, "Oh please, you can always make exceptions. I'm not like anyone you have met before. Here put your number on my phone." He persisted.
She seemed a bit relentless but eventually after looking around and noticing no one paying attention to her, she caved in and gave her number.
He strode out of the store and the two began strolling the city streets in sync, "So, how do you feel about our first official mission? By this time on Sunday we will be on the skies of England; dancing with some hot English girl who, fingers crossed, doesn't have messed up teeth, drinking Champaign….the King Brothers are finally open for business, baby!! Who would have thought that working and killing bad people could be so much fun?"
"Oh, it is all shits and giggles for you, isn't it brother?! The stories I heard from the pasts harbingers were terrifying to say the least. It is not going to be all rainbows and sunshine…not for long. No wonder this thing inside us has been imprisoned for thousands of years or a couple of centuries….I keep forgetting which story I should believe in…"
"Who else can point out all the negative things and completely ruin the mood but you brother. Can you for once in your life be positive and happy!? I mean please, when was the last time you genuinely smiled? 5 years ago?"
"Not everyone can give up on being an adult and ignoring the truth all the time Nathaniel. And to answer your question the last time I genuinely smiled was this morning next to my Lea as I kissed her tenderly several times and held her in my arm."
"Ahhh, too much detail; see, you can't even distinguish sarcasm from a real question. Please keep your romantic relationship and all the goodie details to yourself." Nathaniel looked away with a feeling of cringe going down his spine. The two got inside a local Café and ordered the strongest coffee they could find.
"The downside is that we have to wake up at 4 in the morning, I mean what is the point of renting a private jet if you still have to wake up at an appointed hour." he talked annoyingly taking a flask out of his blazer and pouring it into his coffee cup.
"A little too early to drink don't you think?" Daniel said his brow arched judgmentally.
"When you are the harbinger of such a powerful being that should be able to heal you in mere seconds, there is no better timing to drink." Nathaniel carelessly poured half the flask inside the coffee cup.
"Any how, Guthullu told me why the flight is taking place so early on in the morning. We are not in the best terms with the guild."
"So?" Nathaniel casually said sipping from the cup.
"So, they won't send us an escort or anything among those lines. You do know that the main reason why the covenant is renting a jet is because the guild refused to send theirs right?" "Shocker!" Nathaniel remarked sarcastically.
"This freaking guy….Anyhow the only weird thing is that the ball is taking place in broad daylight---at noon?! I just don't get it." Said Daniel rubbing his chin and wondering while staring at the picture he took of the guild's invitation.
Nathaniel chuckled, "Danny, Danny, Danny, isn't it obvious? The Temhos is at its weakest during day light."----He quickly checked the weather forecast in England----"And what do you know? The weather is going to be all sunshine and sunny for the whole country which, in case you have missed, will make the Temhos even weaker. They are giving us a free hall pass of sorts...that or they are releasing us like two adorable little rabbits into a field full of wolves."
"I mean have you met you, Nathaniel? Do you blame them?!"
"Oh, come on now! I simply stole a wee bit of clothing that no one is going to even notice or miss! I got no blood on my hand---not yet!" he said sarcastically, checking a girl passing by.
Daniel also turned a little to check her out and then continued, "Well, Guthullu predicted that you will eventually succumb to the Temhos and kill a lot of innocent and guilty people in the future; seeing your temper and thirst for power, I'd say he is right I'm mean you were a monster long before we were transformed into this." He teased, trying to intimidate him.
"Oh, bite me!" he Growled and chugged the whole cup down.
After a little back and forth, they strolled around the city, "So, what did that old pedo wrote for us to do on our to-do-list?"
"Nathaniel, please have respect for our mentors!" he stopped and said strictly, his eyes narrowed, staring at him.
"Shut up, he is a priest and hasn't had sex in like forever, he is definitely a pedo."
Daniel controlled his laughter, "God, we are both going directly to hell." He did the cross, took out his phone and the two stared at its screen. "Today's task include, picking up our suits," "Check!" "Roaming the city and identifying potential evil."
"And do nothing about it….what a joyful task." They strolled around for a bit when Nathaniel remembered the symbol at the tailor store, "By the way, um, did you also see the weird symbols and runes on the tailor store's walls?"
"I'm sure if I had then you would be the first to know. What type of runes and symbols are we talking about?"
"Some pre-historic stuff, it didn't seem to be representing letters of an ancient alphabet. At least nothing I came across during my research."
"Oh yeah, I totally forgot your obsession with finding the Temhos and your endless research into the ancient world…and oh look, we are now both its harbingers now---for all eternity!" he said sarcastically while making fun of his brother's many obsessions.
"Comments dully noted…in that case it might be because I am the Alpha of our little duo! Tisk tisk what a shame Danny is the little beta here!" Said Nathaniel trying to come back at him.
Meanwhile On the other side of the city, inside the covenant's headquarters, Guthullu and Alonso were making the necessary preparations for the harbingers to take a safe trip to England. "Well, this is a fine pickle we got ourselves into; are you sure these two chuckle heads are ready to travel alone with only one instructor. They seem like adults but act like 7-year-old boys all the time. I'm severely worried about things going south once they step a foot in England." Said Guthullu while packing a few books and journals for his pupils.
Alonso looked at him with an almost enigmatic expression and said calmly, "No need to worry so much Guthullu, it is not good for your health. I have chosen one of the best instructor the covenant has. Ms. Evans also knows that the boys have been very erm---recently trained and will have his people go easy on them. And to make things even better, the ball is taking place in midday. The two of them will be weak and won't be able to create a lot of trouble."
"Yes, in spite of that, I cannot stop thinking about a loop of scenarios where things go terribly wrong. I'm not worried so much about Daniel. His will is very strong. The one I am really worried about is Nathaniel; his air of naiveté and carelessness makes him a very dangerous man and the fact that he is emotionally unstable and unpredictable makes matters even worst. He will be a huge challenge for us in the future." Said Guthullu still gravely concerned about the matter, however, he was convinced further by Alonso, "In time, old friend. Nathaniel will also become a responsible man. He could lead the covenant to greatness, I know it!" Alonso put his hand on his shoulder with a wind smile.
"Alright, I shall---" a knock on the door interrupted their conversation.
"Yes, who is it?"
"It is I, Artemis, Master Alonso, can I come in?" she said in a British accent.
"Yes of course come inside."
She trudged in, a mature woman in her late 30s with brown eyes, darker than the night and raven black hair, Guthullu instantly felt an attraction that was hard to hide, "Greetings Master, I hope I'm not interrupting anything urgent." She said in a tender yet confident tone.
"Oh, you arrived earlier than I thought. Wonderful! Of course not my dear come give me a hug. It so good to see you again!" Alonso felt a sense of relief by seeing her reporting for duty.
He let go of her and said in a hurry, "But where are my manners; this is Master Guthullu. He and I found the boys, transformed, tested and trained them."
"My goodness, it is an honor to finally meet Master Guthullu. Your impeccable skills are constantly praised in our realm." She said with a polite smile and a gaze of admiration throwing her hand.
"Please, call me Guthullu the title master is a bit too much for my taste, the honor is all mine my lady. If you are tasked with looking after those two chuckle heads then you surely are one of the best in our realm." He said, grabbing her hand and gently kissed it.
The three had a long conversation. They discussed, in details, how she could handle the Kings and go through impossible situations and solutions if things got out of hand.
As they continued to talk strategy, their call projector kept boozing…someone out of the covenant's headquarters was trying to contact them but who could it be? No one had access to their numbers or communication devices other than their own members.
They looked at the call projector boozing in awe and after a minute or two Guthullu finally pressed the answering button. As the screen opened to answer the video call, George Mason's face appeared on the screen with a devilish smile, "Well hello there Father Alonso…it has been a while, how have you been---oh my Guthullu the boaster is also here, what are you boasting about now you sniveling prick?!"
"Good to see you too, big, fat loser. I see you are still hurt from being banned and kicked out of the covenant indefinitely now aren't you?!" he smirked in response.
"Don't try to trigger my insecurities you twat, I'll have you know that I am holding a lot of secrets about you from the heretics…I am simply waiting for the right moment and price to reveal everything to them just as I have with the book of the lost mages."
"Foolish as ever naïve little Georgy; but the book you stole from us was returned safely to zone-0 it was all but a cruel ploy to get information out of you about the heretics."
"Oh, that notebook? I left it in my room on purpose and so did I the book of the lost mages. You really think I am stupid enough to leave a precious and invaluable book on the end table of a hotel room just like that??" he laughed, "I had already sent pictures of all the pages to the heretics and I have been rewarded handsomely of course. I simply called to make sure you fools knew what you were up to…the information found on the notebook is somewhat reliable since the heretics will try to end me for not fully joining their pitiful cause. I really never cared about either one of you or your foolish causes to begin with. It was always about me and me alone."
"And that is why you will never be able to join another covenant---forever cursed to roam our realm as a nobody." Growled Guthullu exchanging look with Alonso.
George sighed and continued, "Whatever you say, friend. As said before, I simply called to inform you fools of what is actually going on. Fingers crossed, maybe they will get to the mansion of the guild of the Scarlett sun and kill everyone. The guild members are not fully on their guard, tisk tisk that would be a shame." he said rubbing his chin, "Or maybe they will sabotage the plane you rented for the Kings so they can never arrive in England in the first place." He chuckled deeply looking into the eyes of his former comrades for their reaction.
Guthullu ended the meeting, leaving George hanging while he gazed upon Alonso who looked very concerned, was all hopes gone regarding finding and exterminating the heretics? "Do not worry Father, I already knew through some of my people that not everything on that notebook was true, however, this old rat did leave quite a bit of valuable information regarding the heretics we could still potentially find their new hideout. My team is already working hard on tracking them and ending this endless war for once and for all."
He sighed and looked back at him with a tight smile, "We should take his warnings more seriously! We should warn the guild!"
"I doubt they are foolish enough to pull an attack on the mansion. No matter how low their guards are, the Guild of the Scarlett Sun will not tremble with the cave-men like people." Guthullu scoffed and continued, "I will, however, have some of my people check their plane for extra safety."
"Very well dear Guthullu. I trust in you and your erm—resolve."
Back in the city center, the Kings continued to roam the streets as Daniel began to wonder. "By the way did you manage to make it up to your lady friend? I know with your little patience and obsession, you probably already found a way to make it up to her and bring her back om track, haven't you?"
"Ohhh I sure did, little bro. I paid her a little surprise visit earlier this morning before heading to the tailor store." He said with a devilish smile, remembering what had occurred at Sarah's office so very vividly.
"What was her name again?"
He rolled his eyes and reluctantly said, "Sarah!" his head drifted into vivid memories of what had occurred between them.
Earlier that day Sarah had just gotten inside her office, ready to work on her first official project as the new supervisor of her sector "Welcome to your new office Miss Schneider, the team will be ready for our first meeting in 45 minutes." Her secretary said.
"Thank you, Julian and please call me Sarah I'm more comfortable with that." She said with a smile preparing her mindset for the meeting ahead when out of the blue she received a text from Nathaniel with the simple words "Hey, what you doing? I'm watching you!" She smiled but ignored the message until she saw the reflection of someone outside her office glass door. Curious, she trudged to the door, "No way that's him!" but lo and behold, it was Nathaniel standing with a single red rose in his hand.
Nathaniel had managed to text her the night before and received news of her promotion and after asking her out for a celebratory date, she left him on seen, she was obviously mad but relived that he was, at least on the surface of things, not messing around and maybe had good intentions.
He always got what he wanted whether with the aid of his newly gained powers or not. His arrogance, carelessness and audacity were testament to his success, however he was never satisfied and always looked for more and Sarah seemed to be exactly what he could entertain himself with for a while since she was one of the very few girls who was able to captivate him and keep him tamed for a while.
She stared into his eyes and soft lips and bit hers a little before he opened his mouth with his charm and captivated her even further, "Well, I'll be honest; no one has ever made me wait this long to see them for a cup of coffee and flowers. Bravo Miss Sarah! I have to confess I'm delightfully impressed!" he said with his usual smirk.
"Nathaniel! You could have texted me before showing up so randomly at my new office!! There is so much I have to do and I am not ready for you and.."
He interrupted her, "Oh dear, if you're talking about your looks; you have never looked any better, now how about you let me in your office and we can finally get the drinks you owe me?"
Relentless, she looked around the hallway, fully opening the door to her office and dreadfully pulled him inside. She blushing from touching him, "Oh, someone used a little too much make-up on their gorgeous cheeks this morning….oh wait you are blushing miss Sarah! I'm intrigued."
"Stop it you; let me concentrate and make coffee---now where did I put the coffee capsules."
"Here you go---I bought you some; vanilla is my favorite." He said with a wink, putting his hands on her hips.
"Nathaniel can you stop being all over the place?" she pushed his hands away.
"Sorry for trying to help, gorgeous!"
As she tried to take out the coffee capsules out of the boxes he moved closer and gently put his hands onto hers, helping her while staring deeply into her eyes and her luscious lips. All she could do was to stare back at him in an almost hypnotized state as he reached inside the box and took out two capsules.
He put them inside the machine and waited for it to heat up and moved closer to Sarah and grabbed her by her waist so very gently and slowly from behind, touched her so ever sensually "Nathaniel; we shouldn't be doing this we are in my office and I have a briefing in a couple of minutes." She tried to resist him but who was she kidding, she missed his touch so very much.
"Relax sweetheart! It won't take long. I missed you---I just want to please you so you are less stressed for your first day in this position." He whispered seductively into her ear while licking and kissing it.
"You missed me? Am I the one to blame? You were the one who disappeared for several days not to mention that you stood me up on our date last week and simply texted me from a burner phone that you were in a convention out of town; acting all shady and suspicious right after the very first time we made love! I honestly thought you simply used me for sex and then ghosted me." She said putting her hand on his shoulders while moaning very gently and quietly.
"Ohm gross that is not my style! I did tell you the truth about the little convention trip out of town though. No lies on my hands I swear, scout's honor. After all a man got to do what a man has to do, darling." He whispered seductively, moving his lips to her neck and caressing her body. As the kisses got longer and more passionate, Sarah fully gave in to the temptation and allowed him to maneuver all over her body.
He slowly reached for her breasts groping them gently at first and then going down and reaching for her underwear, "Nathaniel no!?! Please you know how that makes me shake; I cannot stop moaning when you go down on me." She closed her legs and resisted his efforts while holding her hand on her mouth.
"Oh please; I will make it worth your while, just cover your mouth and it will be all over soon." He commanded. She obeyed, reluctantly opening her legs and allowing him to go down. Nathaniel continued to stare deep into her eyes, he took down her panties with his bare teeth while she kept staring back and this time, she would not cover her eyes in shame. This time she would watch him do his thing. She craved for this for so long and now he was finally here, down on his knees pleasuring every part of her lower waist.
He threw away her panties to the side, staring into her sex with excitement. He began to breathe into it while kissing it so very gently. Sarah loved it, so much so that she began moaning lightly. The kisses gently turned into licking. He sticked out his tongue and began licking it at a leisurely pace while wetting his own fingers and slowly rubbing it too. "Hmmm baby you taste amazing, your juice is so tasty…" he whispered seductively, eating her out while staring deep into her ocean blue eyes. She smiled devilishly, staring back at him with bedroom eyes.
She put her hands on his hair, stroking them but he grabbed her hands and locked his within them, asserting dominance and showing her that he does not need her help. As Nathaniel kept eating the pace slowly became faster and faster, "Take your time my beautiful Sarah, there is no rush baby…you have all the time in the world to finish."
He continued, the pace getting faster and faster by the second and she couldn't stop moaning so she tried to cover up the noise by turning on the TV in the office but after a short while, she reached orgasm and finished in his mouth.
He licked his lips covered in her juice, "Now that wasn't that hard was it? This was part of my present for your promotion. I would have taken you out for dinner to celebrate in a more decent way but as God is my witness; you declined by leaving me on seen last evening."
She quickly put her underwear back on and tried to freshen up in front of a mirror praying no one heard them. While she was busy, Nathaniel quickly rushed around the office and mesmerized every single employee to forget everything they heard to save her from the possible embarrassment. He quickly rushed back into Sarah's office and trudged right behind her.
"Nathaniel what if they heard us? How can I ever live with the embarrassment? I have to change my name and move to another city or worse---another country."
He grabbed her by her waist once again, looked calmly into her eyes and with a relaxed and loving tone of voice, with a smile on his lips said, "Relax baby; I took care of everything."
He kissed her passionately and held her in his arms for a short while, "Everything is going to be just fine. You will be protected while I'm with you; you are my girl now." She smiled excitingly before it turned into a nervous look, her hands began shaking as her eyes met the clock, it was almost time for the briefing and she was very edgy, constantly fidgeting and trying to get away from him. His eyes turned red, the veins underneath them black as he grabbed her face gently and whispered, "Now listen carefully; your stress levels must have dropped and you should be able to easily handle this little briefing. I however, have somewhere else to be I will text you when I'm done." He said as he kissed her on the forehead, she shook her head for a bit, confused for a few seconds before she came back to her senses and said, "Fine but don't go disappearing on me for too long, I cannot be your girl and know nothing of your whereabouts or when we are going to see each other next." She crossed her arms and pretended to look mad, giving him a hard time.
He smiled and held her tight, "Oh sweetheart, I'll make sure my work will get less in the way of us. I promise; after all I'm known to be a man of my words."
"Sure, we'll see about that." Said Sarah rolling her eyes, she still had a lot of doubt in her mind about Nathaniel and his intentions.
"Oh silly me, there is one last gift I got for you that I want you to wear; I'm not particularly superstitious but I really believe in the power of the attraction and between us, what better to represent that than this necklace." He said presenting her with a tiny onyx box. She opened it; it was a ruby stone necklace.
He anxiously looked at her for a reaction, "Please tell me you like it? I really put a lot of effort into finding something unique it is not one of my best traits---nor is buying gifts for people."
Her eyes widened and she almost jumped from the excitement, "Nathaniel; it is beautiful I love it!! How much did it cost you?"
"Wow, you don't really receive a lot of gifts, do you? The price does not matter; what is important here is the sentiments----the meaning that I am trying to telepathically send to you, here---let me help you with it."
He took out the necklace and put it around her neck; while he kissed her shoulders a few times, "Stop, you know how sensitive I am."
"Touché; that's why I keep doing it; that and also your perfume, I love the smell of it mixed with your body's natural odor. You should definitely put it on the yes pile on our next date."
"Yeah you wish." She said shyly looking away with a smile.
Nathaniel casually gazed at his watch, "Ok, I really have to go now and leave you to your business and get into my own thing but I'll talk to you soon darling." He kissed her forehead one more time and left.
As the last words of the memory of that morning left his mouth, Nathaniel came back to his senses; the Temhos had done it again and had sent him into a vivid episode of his own memories while he recounted it to his brother.
"Truly sad to see you going back to the path of promiscuity brother! I thought you and this Sarah lady were becoming seriously involved." Said Daniel with a look of disappointment in his face hard to ignore.
"Yes, we are serious. She is, sort of, my girl now. However, as the alpha it is only fitting for me to go behind her back sometimes." He proclaimed arrogantly.
"Don't you think that is cheating Nathaniel? What if she also went behind your back and cheated?"
"You really don't get it, do you? Ah of course, when we were younger and you were wasting your time being the captain of our school's football team, bashing at the glory of being super popular, your dashing older brother was studying and experimenting with women. And it comes to no surprise that men and women are not the same and are wired very differently brother." He said confidently, looking back at him with a smirk
"Oh great, another one of those hour-long conversations about biology; you know what? Do as you please. I'm tired of getting you back in track." He said annoyingly as they finalized their city tour.
"Typical of you Daniel, always so annoyed and impatient, ignoring scientific facts when it suits you; not to be sexist or anything; God knows I love women more than anything but this is a very feminine trait."
"Oh great, and to think that I'm stuck with this guy for two days straight, may the Creator grant me patience for your nonsense shall drive me to the brink of madness."
"You are stuck with me for eternity Daniel. Through hell and all the way back we shall stick together." He said laughing, as they got into the local subway.
"Did you tell Lea about the ball held in our honor? Can't wait to hear what weird stories you invented to keep her poor, innocent soul intact from the evil you have become."
"Wow, you are really fit for this role. I get the gut feeling that one day the Temhos will take hold of you permanently and not in a good way Nathaniel. FYI I did not lie to her; at least not directly. Yet another business trip-----."
"Oh Daniel you are such a loving boyfriend and human being; what would man kind ever do without you."
"Shut up, you evil bastard."
"Oh I'm the evil bastard who keeps your boring life just a little more interesting else you would have probably died of boredom by the age of 5."