The song that came on had caught her off guard, much like he had with the rest of the evening. First, dinner was an impromptu date, one that he’d gone all out for. Then came the dessert, a shot in the dark that’d paid off. Now he wanted to dance...to a song that, though she’d listened to it before and readily danced to, hadn’t truly listened to the lyrics until just then. Her breath light, she watched as he got closer to her and lifted her up, eyes focusing on the wall to give herself something else to look at, something else to keep from staring unabashed.<br/><br/>But his voice. His voice was hot against her ear and sent shivers down her spine. Those shivers only seemed to continue has his hand slid across her stomach and her waist, spinning her and lifting her as though she weighed nothing at all. Her attention turned to look at him over her shoulder, his chest burning into her back as he lowered her to his thigh. Toes perching, she kicked up with one on the beat and then lowered it, too, crossing it over the first.<br/><br/>She didn’t stop there, though. On beat, her legs lifted again, her weight fully supported by his arms about her, and she slowly lowered her legs to the ground. One on each side of his offered leg, her toes skimmed the ground, her back arched, and an arm wrapped about the back of his neck as her head draped back onto his shoulder. He took a few steps, spinning them in the next direction and her leg lifted a bit, feeling his hand touch down on her leg.<br/><br/>On instinct, she took that hand and guided it up. Higher and higher it skimmed across her thigh, and up over her hip until it rested on her waist. Her eyes head remained rested on his shoulder, eyes looking up at him, half-lidded before closing completely and relishing in the dance. In his touch.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">There was nothing in this world, nothing at all but the two of them and their dance. They moved and complimented one another based completely on instinct. Colt was a man of instinct, born of it, lived in it and could not do anything to get away from it. Now, in this moment, with this dance he was at the peak of instinct and he loved it. When she glided his hand up her leg, then up the rest of her body he growled low in his throat. <br/><br/>A step taken, he placed her down where she looked as if she would walk away, so he held fast to her hand and watched as her leg stretched out before her. On the next beat he spun her up on her toes, though she tried to step away again, her leg was fully extended he reached for her other hand and spun her quickly about. Without letting go of her hands, he turned with her where he then released one of her hands and watched as she extended her leg yet again. <br/><br/>Ever as they moved and danced, if his eyes could be on her they were. A slight jerk of his hand and pulled her toward him while he stepped back. There she lifted her leg up to him and he caught her foot on the palm of his hand, which is where it rested while his gaze bore into her own.</span><br/><br/>The growl in his throat was music to her ears, far louder than the music that play in the background, each working to drown out her inner monologue of how wrong this was. Her mind was telling her not to let herself fall too deep into this dance, feeling more of an attraction than she should have. But her body was already falling and falling hard. Despite the strong hands that caught her, moved her as they seemed to move in sync with no prior direction, she felt like she would hit the floor at any moment. The sensation of lightheadedness and desire that coursed through her veins was intoxicating.<br/><br/>Too intoxicating.<br/><br/>When she tried to take a step to catch her breath, he held her within arm’s length. When she tried again, he did the same. Then, when he pulled her in, her leg popped up and he caught her foot, eyes holding hers...and it was like her breath rushed from her lungs. That contact held, his eyes boring into hers and hers powerless to stop it. So powerless, in fact, that one of her hands reached forward to caress the side of his cheek, head leaning forward a touch before she dropped her hand. As her hand fell, her other arm hooked about his neck and the rest of her body fell suit.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">She fell back and he was there to catch her, his arm about her back he tensed his arm and just a bit of leverage he lifted her up, and held her to him. So little effort was done, so little effort was needed for him to lift and hold her. A small spin as he held her to him, he used the force from the spin to shift her weight in his grasp slightly. Now, his feet planted firmly on the smooth wooden floors he bent down her foot at the back of his head was all that kept her up, save for the strength in his leg which she rested upon. <br/><br/>Hands moved from his sides to grab her at the back of the knee and small of her back, the change in position allowed him to lift her up higher as he stood back to his full height and spun with her in his arms. <br/><br/>Here in this moment, his face was so close to her own, so close that with each breath that was taken their lips brushed against one another. Colt wanted this moment, wanted it to never end and wanted to hold her just like this for however long she would allow him. Her hand shifted to behind his neck, where she helped to support her weight as he slowly, with the utmost control lowered her carefully to the floor, until her back touched down.</span><br/><br/>Something in the way she was interacting with Colt right then felt...more intimate than anything they could have done more. They were dancing so close, so in sync, with their bodies responding to the others, no hesitation in any move they put forth. When she fell, he caught her. When he lifted her, she didn’t fear he’d drop her. And when they lingered close, his lips barely brushing against hers while they shared a breath, while they lingered in that hold…<br/><br/>...She wanted to kiss him. To close the smallest gap that lingered between them and kiss him. Not a kiss born of the need to cause jealousy, nor a kiss born of a character. She wanted to kiss him because<span style="font-style: italic">she</span>wanted to kiss him.<br/><br/>But, instead he was lowering her with care to the ground (the back of her mind wishing he was lowering her to a bed instead), and she lay out on it. She lamented the feel of his hands leaving her form, and took solace in how he gripped her ankle as her back arched, hips lifting from the floor. She took solace in how he released her, only to advance, take hold of her hand and pull her along. Using his arm to pull herself back up, she climbed up the offered limb, feeling the muscles rippling beneath her touch.<br/><br/>Weak. She felt weak. Her hand rose to touch his face again, sliding up into his hair as she allowed her face to move closer...and then she needed air.<span style="font-style: italic">Air...I...I can’t think.</span>So, she allowed herself to drop, to get the distance she needed. Her body went slack, her back falling toward the floor with no arms out to stop herself, trusting, yet again, that he’d catch her.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Catch her he did. His body moved before he could even start to think about what to do. Hand now at the back of her neck, he held her for a moment before he pushed up and out to flip her over where he again caught her by her arms. While she stretched out her leg, he watched his eyes practically hypnotized by the definition of muscle, by her flexibility. A step back, he pulled her up with him and helped her stand as he took up position at her back. <br/><br/>A loving hand journeyed from her shoulder up her, to the side of her face which only seemed to make her light headed once more. Again he caught her, pulled her back to her feet and into a small spin where they swapped positions. Now she stood at his back and the arm he used to pull her back to her feet was draped over his shoulder, her other hand brought up to grip at his chest. <br/><br/>Glancing back at her and his racing heart stuttered as it skipped several beats. Once more, their lips were painstakingly close and that urge to close that gap was there burning at the tip of his tongue, though he still resisted; somehow.</span><br/><br/>The more the dance progressed, the more the urge to stop it before it progressed any further became. And, the more that urge made itself known, the more she squelched it down and continued the dance. Continued to torture herself with the contact, with the closeness, with each painstakingly close call.<span style="font-style: italic">Just kiss me already!</span>her mind screamed as she fell away, only to be pulled back. Her arms held him close, her cheek pressed into his back as her hand slid up his form, eyes transfixed on his lips.<br/><br/>Again, it was her turn to move. She took up a stance as though they were doing a ballroom dance, one hand braced on his shoulder while the other remained in his hand, a leg slowly making its way around. Her eyes glanced up for just a moment of eye contact and then he was spinning her out, a spin that she continued without faltering for several rotations before stepping down. Her body slumped and rose again, restarting the spin she’d only just ended, stopped by his hand catching her own, high above her head.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Just breathe,</span>she coached herself, taking her time to move her leg about before turning to look at him. Another step back and she let her mind go blank, following his lead as her arms rose over his head and he lifted her off the ground; her body now where her head had been for the last several moments.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Up into the air he lifted her, as if she weighed nothing at all. Another slow descent back to ground had their bodies touching nearly every square inch of the other. What had started out as nothing but a simple dance turned into more of an outward expression of whatever hidden feelings they had for one another. <br/><br/>Behind her now, he watched as she crouched low then jumped and spun in the air, straight to him with no needed planning or discussion. In his arms he held her, his face buried in the folds of her dress that covered her stomach. Again, he turned her and allowed her back to slide down his chest and Colt knew that he had to kiss her, at least once. Her feet finally touched down and he bent low, to grab hold of her leg, up and down he moved it in time to her movements as she stood and dropped back down. <br/><br/>An arm was placed about his neck and shoulders, as he dipped behind her to run his hands along her back. Now his hand was at the back of her neck and he used it to pull her up and toward him, before he spun them. Eyes ever on her face, he watched her balance on just one foot and extend her leg out completely. On the next beat of the music he pulled her back to him and caught her leg which was placed along his neck. Once again her palm alighted down his face, the sensation caused him to close his eyes and make another low growl of pleasure. <br/><br/>There was little more that he could take of this dance, where their emotions played out on the floor but had yet to be fulfilled as either would have it. The down beat in the music he spun her about and dropped his head so that her leg would catch on his neck. Now, between her legs he ran his palm up along her stomach before he quickly gripped her side and lifted her up. Legs on either side of his neck, her back hunched it brought his face dangerously close to her own. <br/><br/>“Tempest…” he managed to murmur, then gave in to that desire and kissed her.</span><br/><br/>Nothing about this was right. Her mind was becoming more clouded, more fogged over by the feelings she’d not realized had made themselves at home when it came to Colt. She’d always thought of him the same way: a friend who had a taste for shoe-leather and who didn’t like the only other person she found herself spending time with. Since joining that dance company, she’d been caught in the middle of their warring camaraderie, one minute joking and the next loathing each other. She’d spent more time with Athan and then…<br/><br/>...Colt crept in. They’d always shared laughs during rehearsals, and then they bonded over their accents. He sounded homey to her, and she didn’t feel like she haa to be so formal all the time. They could joke, and she was instantly comfortable in his apartment, despite not having been there prior. She appreciated his honesty. And...he was attractive, a fact that (while she’d acknowledged it when they met) hadn’t been the forefront of her thoughts until recently.<br/><br/>Now, this dance had her heart skipping beats like it once did for someone else. Her body burned wherever he touched, sending jolts of electricity down her arms, down her body from the top of her head to the ends of her toes. His breath on her neck, in her hair, on her face as they lingered close...the urge to kiss him was a strong one, one she was having a harder and harder time ignoring.<span style="font-style: italic">But you can’t!</span>her mind screamed at her.<span style="font-style: italic">You can’t kiss him! You can’t break that rule again!</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">But you <span style="font-weight: bold">have</span> kissed him before,</span>the other part of her mind tried to reason.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">This is different and you know it!</span>the first countered as she continued to dance, her eyes becoming more and more fixed on his face, on his eyes, on his lips. It was getting harder to breathe, to think about anything else but how his lips would feel against hers in a proper kiss. Not one that was part of a dance they had to perform...but a dance they’d begun that seemed to be expressing what words could not. Or, more aptly put, what words she wouldn’t allow herself to express.<br/><br/>As he lifted her easily, her leg about his neck and the other below his arm, her face lingered close, her lips barely brushing against his as she held him close. Eyes bouncing back and forth between his before they dropped to his lips, her name came across his lips in a murmur and it felt like she’d melted in his arms.<br/><br/>The gap was closed, her breath hitched, and they kissed. Everything else around them subsided, the music fading out as she kissed Colt, really kissed Colt. This wasn’t a kiss born of jealousy or a hesitant want. It was a kiss that held no hesitation, that took what he readily gave her. One hand tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck while the other caressed the side of his cheek, eyes having long since drifted closed.<br/><br/>Whatever this kiss was, no matter what her mind had been screaming prior, felt right. The moment felt right and she was happy to lose herself in it for as long as that moment lasted.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">The music no longer mattered, nor did the dance as he walked her back toward something, anything but the empty expanse they had been standing in. His shins touched the couch and he leaned forward until her back was atop the cushions.  Now, he kind of straddled her, his knee between her legs as his formed loomed over her and the kiss deepened with his tongue seeking entrance into her mouth.</span><br/><br/>She didn’t notice him walking her backward, oblivious to the movement. All she noticed was his kiss, how his lips melded perfectly against her own, how his muscles moved beneath his skin and how he continued to hold her as though it were nothing. And, when he lowered her down, leaning over her and straddling her, there was no effort to lower them to the couch; a change she only noticed as her head grew light from the shifting of position.<br/><br/>But her hands held him close, the hold gentle, caring, and yet...somehow needy. Needy in that these feelings she’d been ignoring, these feelings that had crept up, needed to get out in some fashion. This kiss was that outlet. At his beckoning, her lips parted to allow his tongue entrance, her own meeting his and pulling it into a heated dance, a slow dance. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest, threatening to burst out like the rest of her. It was like every fiber of her being was on fire and threatening to combust beneath his touch if the connection lingered.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Just a little longer…</span>her mind cooed at her.<span style="font-style: italic">You can live in this moment a little longer.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">This was wrong, so very wrong on so many levels and yet it was so very right. It felt right and made him feel in a way that he had never felt before. Complete. With so little knowledge of the world he was thrust into and little understanding of what he had begun, Colt was never sure about the companion aspect of werewolves. The only other supernatural being that he knew on a personal level was a vampire and there seemed to be no mating rules or guidelines that they had to follow. Cultural or physiological based, they just seemed to do what they wanted.<br/><br/>To Colt that always felt like such an empty and pointless existence; to go from one to another and never having that true and everlasting connection. Was this what he had with Tempest? There was no way to be sure, but right now her body called out to his and planned on answering it. <br/><br/>A groan left his lips as he lowered himself a bit more atop her body, careful to support the bulk of his weight on his arms. The kiss continued and he honestly felt no need for it to end, anytime soon.</span><br/><br/>As he shifted lower onto her, as more of his weight covered her and his groan met her ears, one of her own joined the fray, her hands clinging tightly to his back as the kiss deepened. Her mind was going blanker by the second, heart speeding up and an ache forming she wasn’t sure that she was ready to take care of. But he felt so good, so right, over her, kissing her. It couldn’t have been wrong, could it? Or, could it be wrong, rushing into it like she had only months before.<br/><br/>This was how it’d started, right? They’d had dinner, gone home and with just a few words, they’d ended up sharing a passionate night together. That night resulted in several more nights, “mornings”, and the like until it all came crashing down around her, ended by the very person who’d started it. Now, here she was, entering the same throes that she’d been in before. Instead of walking Colt back, he’d carried her back until they’d ended up on the couch. He was atop her, kissing her deeply, holding her, exactly what she craved...but a niggling voice in the back of her head was telling her to slow down. To think.<br/><br/>But why think? It felt right, didn’t it? Why did she need to question something that her body clearly wanted? That his body seemed more than willing to reciprocate?<br/><br/>No, more kisses were needed. The embrace needed to last longer, to continue. She wasn’t ready to think about what could happen and what it could result in just yet. But kisses? Kisses, she could do. Holding him, close she could do. Feeling his body burn into hers as her own pressed closer into him...she could do.<br/><br/>The leg outside of his rose a bit, her foot hooking behind his leg as her arms pulled him down atop her more. She realized he was holding up his weight for her benefit, but she didn’t want any space between them. She wanted to feel his body completely aligned with hers as his muscles shifted, as his strong hands held her. As his lips kissed her and his tongue danced with hers. Her head was growing lighter by the second, but it was a pleasant light. A light she wanted to continue, much like the moment, for as long as she could stand.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">She wanted more of him and he was more than happy to give her more. Body lowered that last bit, so that there was no space between them and she was completely enveloped in the warmth that radiated from his body. Their tongues continued to dance with one another and one of his hands moved to caress her face before it tangled up into her hair. <br/><br/>This kiss, could last forever and he would be content with that, at least for the first century or two. After all, there were a few things that they could do in a moment like this. While there was kissing involved it would not be the only thing they did. And it was this thought that sparked him to finally break the kiss and instead focus some attention on her neck; kisses, nips, licks and the light grazing of his fangs along her flesh as he moaned her name.</span><br/><br/>As his body lowered and the last of the space between them disappeared, a quiet, breathless moan of his name escaped from her lips into his, her nails dragging along his back. Her leg rubbed up and down his, her hands searching for some place to focus, to linger, uncertain of where to keep her attentions.<br/><br/>But, he broke the kiss and it had her whimpering, the sound of protest one that couldn’t have been mistaken for anything else, cut off when his lips moved to her neck. The kisses were met with quiet moans, nips caused her body to jump and the grazing of his fangs had her body shivering beneath his. In fact, since they’d started, it was as though her body was in a constant tremble, the motion only becoming worse with the anticipation building.<br/><br/>A finger hooked under his chin, leading him back up to her lips to steal yet another kiss, a passionate kiss...only to have her break for air. Her face turned away from his for a moment, panting though her hands didn’t relinquish their hold on his form. Lip embedded between her teeth, she finally turned her face back, still panting, as a hand skimmed up his back and along his neck, up to his cheek where it lingered, caressed gently; thumb smoothing out over the skin there while she looked up at him, eyes bouncing between both of his.<br/><br/>“Colt…” she spoke, voice barely above a whisper, coated with the heady remnants of a moan that was trying to force its way out. “...We need...to slow down…” The words nearly pained her body to say, even as she pressed into him, body directly refuting what it was her lips were trying to say. “...I want this…” As emphasis, her lips recaptured his for another long moment of kisses, body pressing hard into his as her hands held tightly to him, only to break away again, letting out a sound of her own frustration. “...But we need...I need...to take this slower…”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">The kiss was more than welcomed and he was happy to give it, his body pressed against her. When she broke the kiss, he growled in frustration but that barely stalled him in his actions, instead he lowered down to return the affections once more to her neck and shoulder. It was not until his name was uttered on her lips that he was able to break out of the heat of the moment. Even then, the words that followed he could not immediately understand, especially when it was punctuated by a kiss from her. <br/><br/>At first he only focused on the “want” of it all, his mind and body wondering why if they both wanted it had she stopped them. Then, finally, the words <span style="font-style: italic">slow down</span> registered and he propped himself up. <br/><br/>“Slower…” he repeated more to himself, and then he smiled and nodded.  “Slower. Alright,” he leaned down and captured her lips in another kiss, though this one was far less heated. “We can take this slow, after all only the things really worth keeping takes time, right?” he asked with a grin then lowered his head down for another kiss.</span><br/><br/>Had he continued with the affections to her neck, she may not have been able to hold her resolve. As it was, it was hanging by a thread; a fragile, thin thread that was currently held above the flickering flame of a candle, ready to snap and burn at any moment. Her eyes remained on his, watching the wheels in his mind turn as his thoughts finally caught up with where hers had ended up. Worry etched itself into her features as her dark brown hues stared up at him, hoping she’d not just ruined things or made them worse, waiting for him to say something. Anything. Something to tell her she’d not just screwed up their dynamic.<br/><br/>But, when he finally spoke, repeating it to himself as the smile pulled at his lips, relief flooded her, her body practically melting into the couch as he kissed her once more. The kiss was readily returned, though not as heated, as heady, as the one only moments before, following it up with the next kiss he offered. This was what she needed. And, if he were willing to give her that...she’d be willing to see if her rule could do with some bending.<br/><br/>More kisses were shared, holding him close and relishing in his touch, his kiss, until she finally broke it again. This time, though, it wasn’t as hasty, as abrupt. She pulled back within the kisses, more and more shallow they became as she peppered his lips with kisses, and then his cheeks and even the tip of his nose.<br/><br/>“Thank you,” Tempest breathed out, a genuine smile on her face before lifting her head for one more kiss, a soft kiss. “Now...what do you say to a movie or some cuddling? You’ve turned me into a snuggler, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that just yet.” Her tone was joking, albeit still a little breathless from their heated embrace, but happy. "Or...you could even show me that 'end of the night move' you were saving..." Her eyes lit up with humor, albeit a...mischievous humor that lent itself to something more suggestive. “How would you end a date?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">The peppered kisses made him smile and were readily reciprocated. “Well, If I really just wanted one thing from them I would just do my animal magnetism thing,” he said with a wink. “But, if I wanted to really end a date well with someone I cared about…” he intentionally did not finish the sentence as he sat up and pulled her with him. <br/><br/>Hand in his own still, he looked into her eyes and smiled. “This evening was memorable in so many ways,” his tone soft and sincere before he leaned forward and gave her a single kiss on her cheek. “I hope we can have many more of those to come in our new future together…” he held the hand for but another moment or two before he kissed the back of it and smiled. Then he reached up and cupped the side of her face, his eyes intense as they gazed at her with this heavy sense of longing. <br/><br/>“I think a movie with some cuddling would be amazing,” the tone still that soft and reserved silence.</span>