Till We Meet - Oct 06

Till We Meet
Written by sheepish

Thanks to Twolf for helping me with the title *hugs*

Shannon glanced around the ballroom slowly, letting her eyes rest briefly on the other occupants. Werewolves, vampires, clowns, and “creatures” of all sorts filled the room. They were laughing and dancing, enjoying each other’s company. She was not. Shannon sighed to herself and shifted uncomfortably in her seat, running her idle fingers along the base of the wine glass in front of her. She hadn’t been thrilled about the prospect of going to the party to begin with, but had already agreed to go because it was a fund raiser. To make matters worse, the man she lovingly once called Sir had ordered her to wear a plug and thong under her costume.

She had agonized over her costume, debating which side of her personality to let loose that evening. She had been thankful when Sir had decided she would go as a pirate a month before. Shannon hoped that she looked presentable enough as a pirate. She had intentionally downplayed the potential sexiness of the costume, not desiring unwanted attention. She was not yet ready to let go of the feelings she had for her Sir.

Shannon had spent weeks looking and had finally settled on a pair of tight green and white striped breeches that tucked neatly into her black calf high boots. She’d found a flowing frilly shirt, which was buttoned up to the throat, but was also long enough to cover her rear. A green sash encircled her waist and hung down to just above her knees. She had curled her hair till its normally straight lengths were long brown curls streaked with blonde, finishing off with a green and white tricorne tipped back on her head. A short dagger peaked out of the top of her left boot, and a falchion tucked into the sash at her waist completed the look.

Her mind drifted as Shannon’s eyes glazed over, thoughts of her former Sir caused her heart to beat erratically and painfully in her chest. She had never met him face to face, yet he had consumed her entire being. She had detected a connection with him early on after first talking to him. As brilliantly as the sun, he had stood out among the others, drawing her towards him without meaning to. A warm expression spread over her face as she sat there, oblivious to the others in the room, her heart swelling as she pictured him in her mind, her lips curling into a sorrowful smile.

She was supposed to have met him that night for the first time. Shannon had received word only the week before that he had been killed in a freak accident. The building where he’d worked had collapsed, trapping him inside. His best friend had told Shannon that the rescue team had worked for hours trying to free him from the rubble, but in the end it had all been in vain. The night she found out, Shannon’s heart shattered into a thousand pieces. How could she continue when the man she loved with all her heart was gone?

Shannon was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t see the man approach her until he stood looming over her. She looked up in surprise and blushed briefly as she appraised him. He was dressed as a pirate like herself. His tight purple and white striped breeches showed off his muscled legs as he moved to sit down next to her. Her eyes quickly took in the rest of his costume from the white frilled shirt which was unbuttoned just enough that dark chest hair peeked out, to the scimitar tucked into the thick leather belt strapped around his waist.

She choked back the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her and smiled halfheartedly over at him once he was seated, “Ahoy there matey.”

He gazed at her, but said nothing. Shannon looked confused as she inspected his face, or tried to. The lower half of his face was hidden by a long black beard, which was obviously a cheap costume piece. His brown eyes, or rather, eye, as the right one was hidden by an eye patch, gazed steadily into hers. She shivered, despite the room being warm.

As they sat there staring at each other, the music in the room changed. The deejay had been playing upbeat dance music all night up till then. An instrumental piece poured out of the speakers now, perfect for slow dancing. The pirate reached over and grabbed Shannon’s hand as he stood. She gasped at the coolness of his touch and recoiled. Her heart felt as though it was breaking anew as she saw the sadness in his eye as he held out his hand to her again.

She stood and accepted his hand, trying to ignore the cool clamminess of it. He led her out to the dance floor and grabbed her other hand, pulling it up so that it rested on his shoulder as his gripped her hip. As they danced, his gaze never broke from hers. Shannon shivered again as he pulled her closer. There was something familiar about him that drew her in, a feeling that made her heart ache.

As the song ended and another instrumental piece came on, Shannon smiled up at him, and tried to pull away so that she could leave the dance floor. Her knees were weak and wobbling. He shook his head at her and pressed a cold finger against her lips when she opened her mouth to speak. He pulled her even closer, so that her head rested against his chest, his masculine scent filling her senses. As they danced Shannon fought back her tears of longing and misery.

Her heart pounded in her ears as his hand brushed against her cheek. He touched her in such a loving way that her tears finally did spill forth, sliding down her cheeks onto his shirt. As she cried, he held her tightly, their dancing forgotten. She cried till the tears would no longer come, standing there clinging to him tightly.

As she tried to compose herself, Shannon nuzzled her head against his chest, the hair tickling her skin gently. Just as she had started to calm down, fear struck her heart. She pressed her ear against his chest tighter, praying it was just her imagination. It wasn’t. He had no heartbeat.

Shannon’s heart dropped into her stomach and she backed away quickly, looking up in fear. He opened his mouth as to speak and raised his hand as though to stop her and then paused himself. Shannon stood watching him, her body trembling with fear. He was looking at her sadly as he slowly lifted the eye patch and pulled the fake beard off. She cried out as realization washed over her, and her legs buckled, falling to the floor.

He rushed over to her and knelt down, gathering her in his arms, holding her so tightly that she yelped in pain. He released his grip on her a bit and cupped her chin, tilting her head so that she was forced to look in his caring eyes.

He started speaking softly, “Shannon my dear…”

------

Shannon jerked awake; her face was damp with tears and in a daze she fumbled the phone as it rang persistently. She clicked it on and sleepily mumbled “hello?” into it.

“Hello my dear, did I wake you?”

“Sir! You did, but I was having such a terrible nightmare.” Shannon choked back the tears as she told him about her dream. He was consoling her, reassuring her that he was not going anywhere when someone knocked on Shannon’s door.

“Gah, hang on a minute Sir, someone’s at the door.” Shannon cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder as she unlocked the door and opened it.

“Can I help… Oh my god!”

The phone clunked to the floor as she threw herself into his arms. He held her against his chest and gently spoke to her.

“I couldn’t wait any longer. I know we were supposed to meet next week, but something was pulling me to come see you now.” He smiled down at her and caressed her check softly.

Shannon beamed up at him as their eyes locked for the first time face to face.

-------

They had just finished a leisurely breakfast and Shannon was curled up at his feet while they watched the news. She lazily fingered the collar that now encircled her throat, lost in feeling completely submissive to his desires, when the newscaster’s voice broke through her thoughts.

“And this just in, a freak building collapse has left no survivors. Only one employee is unaccounted for, and sources so far say that he was not in the building at the time of the collapse.”