Deliberate Encounters - 3. Ch. 3 ~ Unleashed: Part I

Richard smiled as he watched Simon lying nestled against him, his chest rising and falling rhythmically in sleep. The past month had been wondrous, but Richard was beginning to feel the need to let his wolf run wild. Unlike most werewolves, he didn’t need to shift that often, but eventually he started to feel unsettled and knew that the time was coming when he’d have to let go and shift. He never risked shifting in the city, always going away for a few days and coming back once his wolf was satisfied. He wanted to take Simon with him this time but wasn’t sure if Simon had developed enough trust in him to go away with him for the weekend, especially once he explained to Simon why he was leaving.

“You look lost in thought,” Simon’s voice commented lazily.

“I didn’t realize you were awake,” Richard answered, rolling until he was facing Simon. The temptation to brush Simon’s lips with his own was too powerful to resist as Simon gazed at him sleepily, a slight smile on his lips.

“Mmm, I like waking up to that,” Simon told him as he pulled away. “What had you so deep in thought?”

“I have to go away for a couple of days,” Richard told him, his voice betraying his reluctance to leave Simon.

“It’s not the first time,” Simon told him, not understanding the reluctance. “I’ve been paying attention to the news and haven’t heard of any kidnappings or anything.”

“This time it’s not work related,” Richard told him as he tried to organize his thoughts. Being near Simon made it hard for him to think, let alone try to explain what he was feeling. Richard climbed out of the bed and grabbed his jeans, shoving his legs into them he paced across the room to gaze out the window.

“What’s wrong Richard?” Simon asked as he slid out of the bed and slid into his own jeans. Some part of him told him that Richard needed some space and rather than walk over and join Richard at the window, Simon sat on the bed as he took in the other man’s tenseness.

“I want you to come with me,” Richard told him, barely glancing at Simon before turning his attention back to the window.

“Go with you? Where exactly are you going?” Simon asked.

“Up into the woods for a few days,” Richard told him, finally turning to face Simon as he began to explain. “Unlike most werewolves, I don’t generally need to shift too often. The vampire part of me keeps the were part of me under control for the most part, but eventually the need to run free gets somewhat overwhelming.”

“Okay, maybe I’m being dense, but what does that have to do with me?” Simon asked as thoughts began to work through his mind.

“I need to go so that I can let my wolf run free, I want you to go with me,” Richard told him. “I feel like you need to see that part of me before you can know if you can totally accept who and what I am.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready for that,” Simon answered honestly. He watched the flash of pain come over Richard’s face and immediately regretted his instant reaction. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but something was telling him that Richard was feeling as though Simon felt he couldn’t trust him. He thought about it and realized that Richard asking him to go was the same as him asking if he trusted him.

“I understand,” Richard replied before turning away.

“I don’t think you do,” Simon told him.

“Yes, I do,” Richard told him. “You think I’m going to be like the characters in your books. The vampire with no soul, the werewolf with no conscience.” He turned to find Simon sitting with a shocked look on his face. “Yes, I’ve read your books, I was curious after you showed them to me, yet you acted weird when I mentioned that maybe I could read them sometime. I got online and found every book you’ve ever written. I won’t lie and say that no vampires or werewolves are like those in your books, there are some that are exactly that way. Who knows, if my circumstances had been different, maybe that’s exactly how I’d be, but I’m not. I had thought that you would realize that by now,” Richard told him before grabbing his shirt and leaving the bedroom.

Simon was too stunned to react as Richard stormed from the room. He had hoped to spare Richard the pain that could be caused from knowing about all of Simon’s preconceived notions about his kind, especially as he had gotten to know him better. Realizing he had never heard the front door open and close, Simon slipped off the bed and headed out to find Richard. He found him in the living room, sitting dejectedly on the couch as he stared at the bookshelf across the room.

“Richard, let me explain,” Simon began as he walked into the room to take a seat next to Richard.

“There’s nothing to explain,” Richard told him sadly. “I had hoped that I could change your mind. Not necessarily about were’s and vamp’s, but at the very least about me.”

“You have,” Simon insisted. “When I wrote those books I didn’t even realize that your kind really did exist, I thought I was just writing fantasy stories, and yes, some of them are horror stories as well. The only reason I didn’t want you to read those books was because I didn’t want to hurt you. Then only reason I am worried about going with you is because I’m not really sure what to expect. Explain it to me, what exactly is going to happen?”

“The simplest explanation is that I’ll shift, I’ll become the wolf that resides within me. Even in wolf form, I have full control over my actions, so you’d never be in danger. Even if I didn’t have full control, my wolf see’s you as its mate, so it would never hurt you. Granted, you’d probably spend a bit of the time by yourself as my wolf ran free, but I generally don’t stay in wolf form for too long at a time, so we’d have a lot of time together as well.”

“And you truly feel that I can’t make the decision on whether I can fully accept you until I’ve seen you in your wolf form?” Simon asked.

“I don’t see how you could, yeah, you see me as a man, but you’ll never know if you can truly accept every part of me until you’ve seen every part of me. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“I think I understand,” Simon told him. “If it’s that important to you, then I’ll go with you. Where exactly are we going?”

“I’ve got a little place up in the mountains that I usually go to. It’s nothing extravagant, just a small cabin I built over the years. I actually bought a hundred or so acres, that way I always knew I could run free without the fear of being shot. Well, except for trespassers, but I don’t usually have too many of them.”

“So we’ll be completely alone?” Simon asked.

“Are you afraid to be alone with me?” Richard asked pointedly as he stared hard at Simon.

“Not at all,” Simon quickly reassured him. “I was just curious.”

“Yes, we’ll be completely alone. I built the cabin as close to the middle of my land as possible. There’s one road to the cabin and it has a locked gate that you have to go through.”

“So when did you want to leave?” Simon asked. In his mind he was thinking of preparations he had to make. Depending on how long they would be gone, he’d have to have his mail held at the post office and contact his literary agent to let him know he wouldn’t be available. His agent usually called him every couple of weeks or so to see how the newest book was coming. The last call hadn’t ended well as Simon hadn’t really even worked much on the latest of the current series, he’d been too wrapped up in what had been going on with Richard.

“I was thinking maybe this Friday, unless you need more time than that,” Richard answered.

“Friday works for me. How long do you think we’ll be gone for?”

“Any specific day you need to be back for? I was thinking maybe Monday or Tuesday. That would give us plenty of time for my wolf to be satisfied for a while plus give us some time just to ourselves.”

“Sounds good,” Simon answered. “So are we good?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” Richard answered, “I know I over-reacted, but a part of me was just afraid that you really didn’t see any difference between me and the characters that you write about.”

“Trust me, I’m already rethinking my portrayal of vampires and werewolves in my stories. I don’t know how the publisher will feel about the changes, but if they don’t like it then that’s tough, I’ll just have to find another publisher who does like it,” Simon told him before leaning over and brushing a tender kiss to Richard’s waiting lips.

***

Friday came much earlier than Simon had anticipated. When Richard had first mentioned the trip into the mountains, Simon had felt a slight bit of uncertainty, but after agreeing to go, his uncertainty slowly began to fade away. As far as he was concerned, he knew who Richard was and he had no real reason not to trust in him.

“You ready to go?” Richard asked as he walked into Simon’s townhouse after loading the last of supplies into his Jeep. Simon had been surprised when Richard had showed up in the black Jeep instead of his Ferrari, but as Richard had explained, there was no way the Ferrari would have been able to make the trip into the mountains. They would have ended up stuck on the road somewhere between Simon’s and the cabin.

“You know, you spend the majority of your time here, when am I going to get to see where you live?” Simon asked. Simon hadn’t really thought about the fact that he hadn’t seen where Richard lived, at least he hadn’t thought about it until Richard pulled up in the Jeep earlier that day.

“What brought that up?” Richard asked. In the time that they had been together, Simon had never shown the desire to see his place.

“I just realized that I hadn’t been to your place,” Simon told him.

“If you still want to see it when we get back, I’d be more than happy to show it to you,” Richard told him. In all honesty, he hadn’t showed Simon his place because if Simon decided that he couldn’t accept him, it would have driven Richard insane to have Simon’s smell in his place. Smelling him but not being able to touch him would have been one of the worst kinds of torture. In his mind, if Simon were able to get through the coming weekend then they would be past the most crucial point. If he didn’t reject him after seeing him in his wolf form, then he probably would never reject him because of his unique genetic makeup.

“Sounds like a plan,” Simon answered as he did a last check around the house before following Richard out the door, locking it securely behind him. He had left a couple of lights on throughout the house to make it look as though he was home. Other than explaining that it would take them a good two and a half hours to reach the cabin, Richard was fairly quiet during the drive up into the mountains. After a little over two hours, Richard climbed out to unlock the steel gate that ran across the road and motioned for Simon to pull the Jeep through. Once Simon was through, Richard relocked the gate before walking back to the driver’s door. Simon started to scoot back over to the passenger side when Richard grabbed his arm.

“Would you mind driving the Jeep up to the cabin? It’s a straight shot from here, no turns, so there’s no way you can get lost. You can find a key for the front door in a little niche on the back of the second stair.”

“I guess I could do that,” Simon answered. “What are you going to be doing?”

“I haven’t been out here since the day I saved you from the guys who drugged you, that’s a lot longer than I normally go and the wolf in me is a bit antsy. I’ll meet you at the cabin, just make yourself at home.”

Simon looked deeper into Richard’s eyes and could see the deep need in them. He could only guess that it took tremendous willpower not to just immediately shift and felt somewhat guilty that Richard hadn’t been out at his cabin since they met.

“Do what you need to do,” Simon told him.

“Thanks babe,” Richard told him before leaning into the open window and pressing a quick kiss to Simon’s lips. Simon was still relishing the feel of Richard’s lips on his own when Richard pulled away and disappeared into the trees lining the road.

Simon shook his head to clear it before putting the Jeep in gear and making his way slowly along the road. There were fairly deep ruts along the road, and as Simon concentrated on keeping the Jeep’s wheels out of them, he realized that the ruts had been dug purposely. They were too wide to have been made from regular tires and too deep. Making a mental note to ask Richard about them later, Simon eased the Jeep carefully around the bends in the road.

Once he thought he was slipping into the ruts but managed to correct his steering in time. He breathed a sigh of relief when after about fifteen minutes the ruts ended and fifteen minutes after that he was pulling up in front of the cabin. Simon glanced around as he put the Jeep in park and climbed out. There was just barely enough room in the clearing for the cabin, gigantic evergreen trees surrounded the cabin on every side and just past the evergreen’s he could glimpse what he thought were white quake trees.

Simon made his way to the stairs and found the key where Richard had said it would be. His thoughts turned to Richard and Simon found that he was worried about the other man. He didn’t know how long it would be until Richard joined him at the cabin, but he hoped that it wouldn’t be too long. He was slightly nervous about being at the cabin by himself. He had gone camping before, but he usually went to areas he was familiar with. There was nothing familiar about the place Richard’s cabin was located. Simon let himself into the cabin and then put the key back where he’d found it.

He wandered around the small inside space and realized it was more rustic than he’d expected. Along one wall sat a wood burning stove, the pipe leading up and through the roof. In one corner was a queen size bed that looked to be made out of rough hewn wood logs, though the mattress that it contained looked to be fairly comfortable. In the other corner a counter and washbasin were put in and on the wall just inside the door sat a couch that was made out of the same rough hewn wood logs that the bed was, and looked like it had something similar to a futon mattress for its cushion.

The whole cabin was one big room with everything against the walls. Wondering where the bathroom was, Simon noticed the back door and opened it to find what he assumed was an outhouse about twenty yards behind the rustic cabin. The other thing he noticed was that there was no place to store cold food. Putting that thought in the back of his mind for the moment, Simon went back through the cabin and out onto the front steps to wait for Richard. He hadn’t been sitting there more than five minutes when he felt as though he was being watched and looked up to see a large gray and black wolf. He met the wolf’s coppery gaze with his own and forced himself to stay calm as the wolf took a step towards him. He could only hope that the wolf was Richard. His hopes were dashed as the wolf bared its teeth as it took another step towards him.