Creatures
Chapter 8

A new pattern emerged over the next week. Talon would walk Karen back to her room each night and then lose the battle with himself and masturbated to her body each night. By the end of the week, he was short-tempered and disgusted at how weak he was, but he would be doing it again tonight, he was sure of it.

“We are leaving in the next hour so you need to get moving Evan.” Carrie stood in the doorway of the parlor with her hands on her hips.

“What is going on?” Karen looked up from the book she had borrowed from the library. She was doing some research for her tutor.

“Oh, that is right.” Emerald appeared with a bag in her hand. “I knew I forgot something. We are leaving for our bi-annual trip.”

She leaned forward, “We are allowed to leave for a weekend every six months. It's our time off for good behavior. You do not need to worry though.” She headed back out the door. “We will be back by supper on Sunday and Talon will be here with you. He never goes with us.”

“Huh?” Karen was still at a loss.

“Hey Carrie, why can’t Karen go with us. It would be so much more fun if she came.” Emerald asked.

“You know that she is not allowed to leave the premises until her training is over. It is too dangerous. Do not ask stupid questions.”

“How long is that?” Karen asked. She had lost track of how long she had been here now that she had found her groove. Three days with no one but Talon...

“Three weeks.”

“That is stupid. She should get to come.” Emerald started to pout.

“Would you get moving, and you too Evan, or we are going to miss the flight.”

“Geez. We are going.” Emerald and Evan left the room.

“I am sorry that you cannot come with us. I hope you do not mind that we are leaving you all alone with only Talon for company, but it is the only time that it would work for everyone.”

“Oh, that is all right.” Karen smiled. Two days of un-interrupted piano time here I come, she thought with glee.

“But why don’t you all leave any laundry you have in the laundry room and I will get it washed while you are away.”

“You do not have to do that,” Carrie exclaimed.

“It is okay. I want to. You will not have time when you return and it will not be an issue for me, I have the time and was already thinking of doing some cleaning while you were away. So leave them and I will get them back to your rooms when you return. Just please... put your porn and toys away.” Karen joked as Michael and Eric came into the room at her last few comments.

“Porn? What kind of conversations do you ladies hold when we are not around anyway?” Michael asked.

Karen shook her head. Of course, they would come in at that moment.

“I was just telling Carrie here that you need to leave your laundry out so that I can get it washed. I will even put it away, but I do not want to see any of your naughty habits.”

Michael laughed. “Sure thing sweets.”

He winked at Eric.

“Let’s go. We do not have a lot of time. Thanks!” They turned and left the room and Karen had a distinct impression that she just might eat her words.

Within the hour they were all gone and Karen could finally take a deep breath. She was not worried about Talon intruding on her time so she could do as she pleased. She could already feel herself relax now that everyone was gone.

“What was that for?”

Karen turned to see Talon coming down the stairs.

“Shouldn’t you be at work? I know the others have the time off, but if you are not with them, shouldn’t you at least go to work?” She replied a bit on the testy side. She had hoped he would not be around as well so she could really have some time alone.

“Nope, no school today. That is why they took this weekend.”

“Why could you not have gone with them then?”

“Trying to get rid of me as well?” he asked innocently.

“Absolutely.”

He stepped in close. “The reason I did not go with them is that I do not care to watch them being all lovey-dovey. It is hard enough to deal with it here, but it only gets worse when we take a vacation. I do not need to spend three days as the fifth wheel and you are not available to come with us and entertain me.”

Karen flushed at his close proximity and his comments.

“I see.” She replied stiffly. She turned and headed for the door, calling over her shoulder, “Enjoy your weekend.”

She opened the door. “Oh and leave your laundry out. I am doing everyone else's so I might as well do yours at the same time. It will save time and energy.”

Talon stared after her.

“Laundry?” He spoke to himself. “I think not.”

Still... she had just offered to do his laundry without batting an eye if he was not mistaken. It seemed that even though they would be in the house alone for the next three days, she had no plans to interact with him. He should be grateful, but he felt disappointed instead. This was a new experience for him.

He headed towards his study. He had work to do.

“So you are really going to do all of their laundries?”

Talon was in the door of the laundry room with his laundry. He did not know what he was thinking, bringing it here, knowing that she would be around. He was an idiot.

“Yup.”

“Why are you mixing them? Won’t you put them back wrong if you mix them? Why not just do one at a time?”

Karen stopped and looked at him. He was such a man.

“Couple of reasons.” She went back to her sorting. Picking up one of Carrie’s bikini bottoms and throwing it into a pile before moving onto a pair of Eric’s slacks and putting it in another pile.

“First, no one has enough to do their own loads without wasting lots of water and second, if you would observe, I have only mixed the couples and since they are boy/girl it will be easy to sort back out.”

She went to work on Evan’s and Emerald’s clothes next.

“So you have decided to cooperate, uh.” Karen continued, not looking up from her sorting. “I thought I might actually have to enter your room and take it from you.”

Talon gave her a scathing look and looked around the room, letting out a sigh.

“Where is your laundry?” Choosing not to make a comment.

Karen pointed to a pile. “Over there, why? Planning on looking through it?”

“Since you are doing it by couples, I should go ahead and put mine with yours, duh.”

He dropped his clothes on top of hers and shook his head.

“Let me help.” He rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. What was he doing, letting her do his laundry, let alone offering to help? He bent down and started to separate their clothes.

“I assume that we are doing lights, darks, and towels? Any other piles I need to make?”

“Nope.”

She was surprised that he knew that much about laundry.

Talon stopped suddenly when he picked up a bright red, string bikini thong. He could only stare at it, dumbfounded, before realizing that she must have worn it at some point if it was in the laundry.

He colored and his lower body started to move as he stole a glance at the woman next to him. This was what she wore underneath those too big, plainclothes she had on? He would never be able to look at her the same.

“Does it bother you to touch others dirty clothing?” he asked, wondering what pile to put it in.

“Nope. I did my family’s laundry for years before I moved away. It is not a big deal.”

“I see. Umm, where would you like this put?” He asked, turning even redder. He refused to look her in the eyes when she glanced over.

“Goes with colors.” Karen went back to sorting and then stopped, turning to look at him again as he started back up.

“Does it bother you to touch my undergarments?” She asked, taking in his red face and averted eyes.

“Of course not!” He blushed even more and refused to look at her.

“It’s just that...” He did not continue.

“Yes?” Karen asked, enjoying watching him squirm. She really was trying not to laugh at him, but he was just too cute, trying to cover up like that.

“Well... Good lord above woman, it is a thong!”

“So?”

“What are you doing wearing things like that under your clothing?”

“I can wear whatever I like, thank you very much, and I happen to like thongs.” She forced herself not to smile as she continued. She could tell he was very uncomfortable with this.

“If you have a problem with it, go replace something else to do. I am sure that you have many things you would rather be doing then sorting through my dirty laundry. You never know, I might have a teddy or, heaven forbid, crotchless panties in there as well.”

Talon could only stare at her in shock. Karen could no longer hold it in. She started laughing as she went back to work.

“By the way. If you are not going to eat anything. Make sure you tell me. I did make enough for you yesterday, but it went to waste.” She had spent most of the day in training or at the piano, but she had made supper for him last night.

“I do not eat with others.” He commented, knowing she knew that.

“So I noticed, still, it is a common courtesy. You should learn it.”

Talon went back to sorting their clothes. As he sorted he picked up a sheer black bra. He went to throw it in a pile only to stop and really look at the size of it. He snuck a peek at her chest. How had he missed that? Damn those clothes really did hide a lot. He took a peek at the tag. DDs! No way. He threw it in the pile with the rest and moved on.

“What is for supper tonight?” He asked as she unloaded the dryer and reloaded the washer after they had finished sorting the last of the clothes.

“I have not thought about it. What would you like?”

You, he thought and then stopped himself. He should not be thinking thoughts like that. Damn, those panties had him all tied up with naughty thoughts now.

“How about we order in? It is just the two of us and you have been cooking almost every night since you got here.”

“Can we do that?”

“Of course. We just choose not to. Is that all right with you?”

“Will you actually eat food you don’t cook?” She asked skeptic.

Talon sent her ‘the look’, before answering. “Yes.”

“Will you be dining with me or...”

“Do you really want my company that much?”

“It is lonely,” Karen admitted sheepishly. He had been honest so she felt she should be as well.

“I see.” Talon watched as Karen finished the last bit of folding. “I will order. Anything in particular?”

“No, not really.”

“6:30 then?”

Karen nodded as Talon left the room. Was that a yes or no to her question, she wondered.

‘It is lonely’... does that mean that she misses the rest of them that much? Was she not alone before she came here? Would anyone do to eat with or did she really want to eat with him?

Talon did not know what to think of the situation, but those three little words had him confused.

He decided that he needed to work off some of this confusion. An image of the red thong popped into his head. Definitely needed work some of this tension out as well.

At 6:30 Karen walked into the kitchen, but Talon and the food were not there.

Where was he? She knew he had said 6:30. She suddenly got a sniff of something that smelled like Chinese in the dining room. She peered through the door and there he was sitting at the table with two plates and wine glasses and Chinese takeout spread out all over the rest of the table.

She smiled. It looked like they could eat Chinese for the next month before they ran out.

“There you are.” Karen stepped into the room. “Chinese?”

“Is that all right? I love the stuff, but Carrie hates it and will not allow us to order it.”

“You let her make that decision?”

“Hey, even I am afraid of that woman when she is angry, just do not tell her that.”

Karen smiled at his confession.

“No, this is great. I love it as well and have been wanting some for awhile now.” Karen sat down. “Thank you.”

Talon shrugged. “No big. Now eat before it gets cold.”

“But do you not know, day-old Chinese food is just as good.”

“I would not know. I never have any leftovers. I get to eat it so rarely now that I finish it all in one sitting.” Talon flushed a bit at his confession. “That is why I got so much this time.”

Karen laughed at his honesty. He did not speak much and it was always business so it was nice to just hold a normal conversation with him. She was glad to know that he was not secretly a robot.

Talon stared at her. He had never really heard her laugh.

“I do not think I have heard you laugh.”

“There is not much to laugh about here. Everyone trains and works and works and trains.” Karen started to eat her supper, a bit embarrassed at her outburst.

“I like,” Talon spoke softly without looking up from his plate. “You should laugh more.”

They ate the rest of supper in silence then cleaned their plates and headed out of the kitchen.

“Thank you for eating with me. I know you do not like the company.” Karen finally spoke.

The silence had been weighty, but not in a bad way.

“It was no big deal. I do not care to eat alone all the time either.”

“Then why do you?”

“I guess for the same reason you did at first. I do not belong.”

“You mean you do not feel like you belong.”

“No... I do not belong with them. I never have.”

“Then what are you looking for?”

They entered the library and Karen went in search of a new book to read as Talon stared out the window. She did not know why she was pushing this issue right now, but she wanted to know and he was not running from her.

Talon thought about it as he looked out at the darkening sky.

“I guess... I am looking for a home, family, and someone to love that loves me as I am, with all of my faults.” Talon spoke after thinking for a moment.

Karen stayed silent, feeling that he was not done speaking and not wanting to startle him.

“Before coming here I spent my time in an underground fighting circuit where I was taken in by a mob boss as a... protector you could say. I basically fought for the highest bidder.”

Talon thought back to the fighting and the fear that had followed him where ever he had gone.

“The mob boss... he had promised me a home and family if I would swear my loyalty to him and I finally agreed. In the end, though, it was every man for himself... though once you were in, you could only leave by death’s hand.”

“Ouch... What about growing up? What about your family?”

“I was left on an orphanage doorstep. Once I became old enough to take care of myself I took off and never looked back. There were too many mouths to feed there already so one less made the sister’s job easier.”

“I see.”

Karen looked at the back of the man that was in the room with her. She could not imagine the loneliness that had to have followed him through life, but it seemed that he had already found two of the three things on his list and she told him so.

“It seems to me that you already have two out of the three,” Karen replied softly.

“What?” Talon turned to look at her, not sure he had heard correctly. It was obvious that he just did not realize what he had in front of him and, although she was not sure she could help, she wanted to try, for his sake.

“What is your definition of a home?” Karen asked coming up next to him slowly, not sure if he would let her near... in more ways then one.

Talon looked back out the window. Not moving away from her approach, but tensing up, wondering how close she was planning on coming.

“I guess...” He started, trying to distract himself from her. “Home is more than the place you eat and sleep. It is the place you think about when you travel and the place you work to get back to at the end of the day.”

Talon continued, thinking about what he really wanted to have as a home. “It is the place that you let your hair down, so to speak, and you can act and dress any way you wish and no one minds.”

“Seems to me you already have that. That is if you would just stop and look around.” Karen commented. She had stopped at the couch when she had seen him tense up at her movement. So she stood there and waited as Talon digested her comment and thought about it.

“I guess... I guess you are right. I never thought of this place as home, but it fits all of my criteria. I cannot imagine what I would do if something happened to it.”

“Which brings me to a family.”

“How does that bring family into it?”

“Would this be home without the others?”

“Of course not.” Talon was quick to reply.

“What about them? Would you miss them if something happened? Would you fight to protect them? Also, think about this. Do they accept you as you are?”

Talon just stared at her. He had had no idea that she was so insightful. When had she become so smart?

“Talon?”

He took a deep breath. “I just... I have never had one, but I have imagined what it might be like.”

“Will you tell me?” Karen asked, taking a few more steps closer to him.

“Why?”

“Because I want to know more about you... Is that all right?”

Talon did not respond. Instead, he answered her question. Not sure what to say to her last question.

“I guess, a family is, if you think about it, a family is the people that you care about more then anything and want to protect. I mean... how do I put this? A family is the people that accept you for what you are. All of you, the good with the bad and they do not care what your faults are, they still love, care and protect you.”

“That is what I have always thought family to be.” Karen agreed, coming up next to him and leaning against the other side of the window and looked out, holding her book to her chest.

“Do you have a family?” Talon asked, suddenly wanting to know more about her past. He had not spoken to anyone about his past and it was nice to have someone know.

“Yes, but we are not close. They did not care for what I chose to do with my life, but they love me and I know that. Just as everyone here loves you and wants to protect you. Though... you try to stop them from doing that.” She added.

After a short pause, she interrupted the silence again.

“Do you not wish to protect them?”

“Of course I do. Why would you ask such a pointless question.”

“Well... how are they supposed to help you if you do not let them? They do not even know how you feel about them and it makes them worry even more about you. I think that you have found yourself a wonderful family.” Karen gave him a bright smile. “See, I told you, you already have two of the three things on your list. You just did not realize it.”

Talon sat down on the window sill and looked at her. He felt his knees go weak when she smiled at him and what she had said made him realize that he had been so afraid of losing a home and family that he had not noticed the one he already had.

Karen gave him a smile and stepped up, almost touching his knees with her own.

“Thank you for supper and the conversation. You have a lot to think over so I will say good night here.” She reached up on impulse and laid her hand on his jaw.

“Good night Talon. Welcome home.”

Talon watched her leave in shock. She had touched him, no more than that, she had somehow managed to break down the wall that he had put around his heart all in one night. What the hell?

Karen headed for her piano, her hand still shaking from where she had touched his jaw. It had been a bit scruffy, but smooth and she could not believe that she had just done that.

She thought back to their conversation and could not believe she had been so bold. What had possessed her? What had she been thinking, telling him ‘welcome home’ like that? Now he seemed even more appealing to her. She had just wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him tight, letting him know that he had not been alone.

What had happened to her? No one had ever affected her in this way. Why him? Was it just because of the bond or was there more to it than that?

Talon spent the next couple of hours replaying their conversation in his mind. No matter how he tried to spin it, she was right. He had a home and a family, he was just not accepting them and he needed to accept them or he just might lose them for good. He sighed. Damn that woman, she was making it hard for him not to fall head over heels in love with her and then what would he do? Have all three of his dreams come true? No, he did not deserve that kind of happiness.

What would he do if he did achieve his dreams? What next? A family of his own? Was he ready to be a father? Oh hell, he was in trouble.

“What about my third wish?”

Karen stopped walking for a second before continuing towards the house. He had appeared as she left the building, heading back to her room for the night.

“Only you will be able to answer that one when the time comes.”

“But the woman that I will be with for the rest of my life is standing next to me.”

Karen stopped and turned to face him full on. The moon was full and she could see his face clearly in the moonlight.

“No one knows what tomorrow brings or how long they have to live. There may be other women for you, even if I am alive. Just because we are partners it does not mean that your heart will be mine as well.”

Talon spoke, looking straight into her eyes. “There will be no other woman for me. Just as there will never be another man for you. You may only bond once and there is no other after that. Look at the president and Mr. Lee.” Talon looked down at the woman before him, taking in her small stature and loose, plain clothing. Could he really fall in love with what was before him? The answer came to him without hesitation. Yes.

“So that means, that in order for my third desire to come true, you are the one that I must fall in love with.”

“Thought that the bond made us feel this way.” Karen retorted. He was spouting nonsense now. “How can you know that it is you that will fall in love and not the bond?” Karen asked.

“The bond does not create, it only enforces.” Came his reply.

Karen took a step back from the intensity that he was radiating. He was serious.

“Only you can decide that.” She turned and continued heading towards the house.

Talon followed her. “You know, you are just as guilty as me.”

“What do you mean?” Karen asked, continuing to walk away from him.

“What are your desires? You did not tell me.”

“You did not ask.”

“I am now.”

Karen paused for a moment before continuing.

“I guess that I am looking for the same things that you are,” Karen replied, stopping next to the outdoor bathing house and staring at the steam that rose off the water.

It was late spring, but the nights could still have a bit of a bite to them she guessed.

“Do you wish to bathe?” Talon asked, watching her watch the water.

“Oh no. I was just thinking.” she took a step back and headed to the little side garden.

“You have not used the outside bathing house yet have you.”

“I like my privacy.”

“So why do you not put your piano in your room. It would be easier and you would not have to walk so far. It would also allow you the ability to play it at any time.”

“I do not mind the walk and I would not wish to disturb the others with the noise.”

“Now who is avoiding everyone,” Talon commented dryly. “Besides, why would they think it as noise?”

“Let it go.”

Karen took off once more, heading back into the house.