5. Talia

5

Talia

T alia tried hard to hide her smile as he shifted. She saw his hard shaft in response to seeing her naked. After all of these years of having a crush on him and Sebastian not knowing that she was alive, he now noticed in a big way.

I didn't know those things got so big, she thought as she shifted. Then she realized that she needed to hide her thoughts because, although it would be rude, he could intrude and read them since shifters communicated telepathically.

Sebastian wasn't the only one who had a reaction. He had the sexiest body of any man she had ever seen. He had always been hot but now – Sebastian took her breath away. It was obvious that he worked out, but he wasn't gross like the professional bodybuilders whose veins stuck out all the time. His hard, muscular chest made her fingers itch to explore him. Fire coursed through her and a warmth flooded between her legs. An aching need consumed her and she imagined what it would feel like if he wrapped his thick arms around her and made love to her right on the forest floor.

She shook her head and reminded herself again that he could read her thoughts if he chose. That would be the last thing that she needed.

The sun shined down and dotted the forest floor through the leaves on the trees. There was a cool breeze that kept her from getting too hot as they loped through the woods. Birds were singing and insects were chirping as though to welcome her home.

It felt good to stretch her muscles. She hadn't had a lot of time to run while she was in school and working. Talia never seemed to find the time. There was also the fact that it was very hard to find privacy and a safe place to go. Not even her closest friends knew that she was a shifter. Darius sure as hell didn't know, although if he had ever physically hurt her as he had threatened to a couple of times, he would have found out with a quickness.

After a couple of hours, they headed back to their clothes, shifted, and dressed. Talia noted with amusement that he shifted with his back to her.

It's a good thing that a woman's arousal isn't as physically obvious as a man's, she thought. Of course, he can probably smell it because all male wolves know when a female is in heat.

His scent wafted in the air. It tickled her nose and permeated through her, drawing her to him like a magnet.

Damn pheromones.

After they were dressed, he asked, "Do you want to grab a bite to eat at Howlers' ?"

Her stomach rumbled and she laughed. "That sounds good."

Several other Griffins were already hanging out at the long counter toward the end of the room. As Sebastian and Talia sat at a table, they came over in groups of two or three to introduce themselves. Apparently, they were all extremely interested in meeting the first woman Sebastian invited out for dinner.

Two of the Griffins were twin sisters who looked as though they could have been models for Glamour magazine.

Sebastian said, "Talia, meet Willow and Hazel. They might look like Barbie dolls, but they are two of the toughest people on the face of the Earth. I'd rather meet Hulk Hogan in a back alley than either one of these two. I'm pretty sure that they could have taken the entire rival motorcycle gang that we faced a couple weeks ago by themselves."

They smiled widely as they shook Talia's hand. "It's very nice to meet you," they both said and then went back to the counter.

"Everyone seems very nice," Talia said.

"They are. We all have a shared love for riding motorcycles and seeing the country with the wind in our faces – and sometimes a pop-up rain shower, sleet, or hail storm, which can sting."

"You had a feud with another club?" she asked.

"Yeah, a couple weeks ago. We have strict rules about our members' behavior, but other clubs don't so much. The rival gang was just that – a gang of thugs. They were comprised of shifters who had been exiled from their clans or packs. They were involved with drugs and broke into people's homes and hurt them. We got into a fight when they started hurting people in Angel's Creek. They lost the fight. Then I dug up a bunch of dirt on them, and they either went to jail or were sent to Charred Cove Island."

Charred Cove Island was a remote, barren island close to the Arctic. Shifters who were deemed to be dangerous were sent there. They were forced to do hard labor for eight hours a day, six days a week. Food and other supplies were flown in. The guards were paid extremely well to keep order.

"We hated having to fight them because that's not what we're about. We just want to hang out with others who have the same hobbies as us."

"I can certainly understand that," she said. "It's nice to be with people who enjoy the same things that we do."

After dinner, Sebastian walked her to her door. He wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her close to him. She looked up and stared into his chocolaty brown eyes. He moaned and leaned down, pressing his lips against hers. It was a very gentle kiss at first and then it became more insistent. His tongue pushed against her lips, asking for entrance. She opened and his tongue swept in, dancing with hers.

His hand held the back of her neck, tangled in her hair. Her hands were splayed out on his back as the kiss intensified. Their breaths mingled and fires exploded through her. Her chest pressed against him and Talia wanted, more than anything she had ever wanted in this world, for him to walk inside her house with her so they could make love. She could feel his hardness pressed against her belly, so she knew that he wanted her, too.

After a couple of minutes, he lifted his head. "I'd better go. Make sure you set your alarm." His voice was husky and filled with want, but Talia didn't have the courage to invite him in.

She nodded and went inside and took a shower, pleasuring herself with images of his sexy body. It wasn't the first time that she had masturbated to fantasies of Sebastian and it likely wouldn't be the last time.

Talia got to school early the next morning. Today was open house, and she still had a lot of work to do. She wanted everything to be perfect, although she was fully aware, that as the school year passed, it wouldn't always be.

The open house started at four and ended at seven. Parents and students wandered in and out of the classroom all afternoon. Some of them knew Talia and were excited that she was back in town. A lot of them were happy that she had taken the place of the old teacher because now real learning could happen.

Around five-thirty a tall man, with dark brown hair and brooding dark eyes, walked in. He was dressed in a security guard's uniform.

"Hello. My name is Joe Ellis. I'm a security guard at the prison," he said. "This is my son, Joey."

"Nice to meet you," Talia said. "I'm Miss Delaney. I'm excited to be working with you."

"Nice to meet you," Joey said shyly.

Joe held her hand a little longer than was necessary, and Talia thought that he rubbed his thumb across her hand. She jerked it away and unconsciously wiped it on her pants as though to erase the creepy feeling.

He grinned. "I know that we will both look forward to working with you. You are a lot better looking than the old teacher we had."

"I'm not here to win a beauty contest," Talia said, feeling very uncomfortable.

Joey looked uncomfortable too and tugged on his father's arm. "Let's go, Dad. We have other teachers to meet.

The tall man started to protest, but then another set of parents walked in with their daughter. He nodded and said, "It was very nice to meet you."

A cold chill went down her spine and an involuntary shiver shook her for a minute.

Talia was grateful that the rest of the open house was uneventful. Everyone came in, got the syllabus, and chatted for a few minutes. Her homeroom students got their schedules and their school planners, and talked about their classes. She was very tired and happy when the principal announced that the open house was over and that everyone should go home.

After locking her classroom, Talia visited Sadie in the library.

"How did it go?"

Sadie laughed. "These things always go great for me because most people don't even think about me unless they owe fines from last year. Then, they avoid me even harder. The only people who come in here are underclassmen who hand in permission forms to be allowed access to upperclassmen books. They are separated because of content. How did it go for you?"

Talia briefly considered telling Sadie about her awkward, weird encounter with Joe Ellis but decided not to. She didn't want to make a big deal out of nothing.

"It was good. I have no idea how I will memorize all of their names," she said.

"You will. It helps if you have a seating arrangement. Seeing them in the same place at the same time will help you remember who they are. Before then, though, just address them as sir or ma'am. They'll never know the difference."

"Good advice," Talia said.

"I know. I always give good advice." Sadie laughed.

She locked up the library and they walked together to the office where the other teachers were gathered, waiting to be dismissed for the night. One parent was left in the building, talking to the English teacher. Finally, Mrs. Wright managed to shoo the parent out, and the principal dismissed them.

Talia felt good about how the evening went, despite the hiccup with the weird father, but she was exhausted. It had been a very long day. She made a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches and grabbed a bottle of sweet iced tea from the fridge.

"I should work on lesson plans, but I'm not going to. I am entitled to a little bit of downtime."

She poured a glass of wine and picked up her book. Talia thought about going out front to read and wait for Sebastian, but she didn't want to seem desperate and make it too obvious that she wanted to see him. With a heavy sigh, she went out back to read. Talia realized that she wasn't focusing on her book, though, when she reread the same page three times and still had no idea what was going on in the story. Her mind was on Sebastian. She hoped that he would come out back and they would talk – or kiss. Much to her disappointment, he never came outside.

Finally, she had to give up her wait and went back inside to take her shower and go to bed. She couldn't stop thinking about Sebastian, although she told herself that she was acting like a seventh grader consumed by her first crush.

She was confused. Was what she felt nothing more than the continuation of a young woman's crush on the boy next door or was it something more?

Does he like me? He kissed me and it knocked my socks off. He was affected, too – it was obvious. However, some men just like to have sex and will take it where they can get it. So, did he kiss me because he likes me, because it was a full moon, or because I was there?

Aggravated with herself and her obsession, she told herself to go to sleep because she had a big day tomorrow. However, she pulled one of her pillows against her body and pretended she was snuggled against Sebastian.