Dark Fate Ch. 03

He didn't have to read Aislinn's mind to know how she saw him, how everyone saw him. He was everyone's infallible idol and because of that preconception he knew Aislinn didn't trust him. The longer he was around her the harder it was to control his desire and she seemed to have seen something in him that frightened her. He would have to work extra hard to convince her that he was the kind of man she thought he was.

Ian's phone rang, breaking the slightly awkward silence that had descended upon the group.

"Yeah we're here, where are you? Okay, we'll be there in a bit."

Aislinn was a little taken back by Ian's soft sing song voice. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Levy scowl a little.

"What?!" Aislinn asked, plainly surprised by his reaction. "Are you jealous?"

"No."

"Really, I'm having a hard time believing you."

"I'm not jealous."

Aislinn burst into a fit of giggles. She was happy. A touch of jealousy was a good sign, it meant that he was, at least for the moment, serious enough about her to want to keep other guys at bay.

"Are you alright Aislinn?" Levy asked, slightly perplexed by her sudden change.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm great! Couldn't be better actually!" Aislinn replied, a huge smile on her face.

She closed the distance between them confidently to take his hand in hers. For the rest of the day he was all hers and she wasn't going to waste this opportunity to get to know him better. Happy that the fragile trust between them had somehow been repaired Levy led her through the maze of parked cars to catch up to Kayan and Ian who'd started off with them.

Levy kept a tight grip on her hand as they weaved their way through the mass of people who'd gathered for the market. Aislinn was on cloud nine following behind him. She barely even noticed all the people who stopped to stare at them as they passed. Levy was a celebrity so for him it was normal to garner people's attention. Aislinn would just have to get accustomed to such attention if she had any hope of staying at his side.

Kayan led them through row after row of venues until they came to a small permanent cafe at the southern end of the market. Aislinn was caught off guard by the two gorgeous women who threw themselves at the twins.

Levy didn't even have the time to introduce Aislinn to the women before they pushed him aside and smothered her in a combined hug.

"Oh she's sooooo cute!!" They exclaimed in unison.

It was awkward to say the least, made moreso by everyone staring. Before Aislinn could say anything they started to circle her, inspecting her as much as she allowed them to. After a few minutes they stepped back and exchanged a glance between each other before grins spread across their beautiful faces. Aislinn looked at Levy hoping he'd be able to give her some insight as to what exactly was going on but all he could do was smile and shrug.

"Introduce yourselves properly for Christ's sake!" Kayan finally commanded as he sat down at the nearest table.

"Heh, sorry about that but you're just so much more adorable then Levy led us to believe!" The one standing to Aislinn's right exclaimed.

It wasn't until now that Aislinn noticed that they were also twins. Good grief! She'd always had a horrible time telling twins apart and now she was faced with two sets of them! They both had long straight black hair and sparkling green eyes. They were taller then she was, probably around five foot six she guessed but most of their height came from then long well toned legs. It came as no surprise that they looked like super models, or was the word goddess a more appropriate term to use for just how stunningly beautiful they were?

"I'm Kaia, Kayan's mate, and this is my dear sister Kayle, she's Ian's mate. We're sooooooooo happy to finally get to meet you!? Kaia, the one to Aislinn's left exclaiming happily, her sister nodding in agreement.

"Finally meet me? Just what has Levy been saying about me?!"

Aislinn raised an eyebrow in his direction. Levy smiled and ran a hand through his hair, a clear indication that he was not the innocent guy he appeared to be. The twins giggled before Kayle took Aislinn by the hand and led her to the table Ian and Kayan were sitting at.

"Levy's so mean, keeping you all to himself!" Kaia pouted as she sat next to Aislinn to leave no room for Levy at the table.

"Come on ladies, its not like I meant to hide her away and you two weren't even in town until a few days ago anyway!" Levy said in his defense.

"You don't mind if we steal her away right?" Kayle inquired, a mischievous grin on her face.

Aislinn could do nothing as they started to bicker over her. She had spent so much time pursuing her studies that she never given herself much time to make friends so it was a little overwhelming to be surrounded by so many gorgeous people all vying for her attention.

"Me and Kayle own our own clothing line, amongst other things, and we're wondering if you'd model for us?!"

"Model for you? I don't think so, I'm really not model material..." Aislinn replied trying to deflect some of the attention.

"What? Nonsense! What rock have you been hiding under? Levy was right, you are gorgeous and its such a waste to hide yourself! Pleeeeeeeease, just model for us a little, we promise we won't make you wear anything weird!"

And queue the double puppy eyes. Aislinn sighed. Guess she didn't have a choice. Perhaps a few outfits would quench their thirst and then they'd let her get back to hiding under her rock. She looked to the guys for help but they all just shrugged as if they had known something like would happen. Ugh. She was totally outnumbered!

"I guess a few wouldn't hurt." Aislinn said giving in.

"Yay! We've got so many awesome outfits that would look amazing on you!" Kayle said, beaming with triumph.

Oi vey what a day this is turning out to be!

Aislinn had expected to sit down and have a meal first but Kaia and Kayle had decided to go full steam ahead with the shopping instead and they weren't about to leave her out. They left the guys at the cafe and ventured out to see the wonders of the Farmer's Market.

It was nightfall before Aislinn noticed the passage of time. The twins loaded her up with clothes, jewelry, and anything else they they found that piqued their interest. Of course she tried to decline having all that stuff bought for her but they made it abundantly clear that they would not take no for an answer. Eventually she'd just given up and followed them around in their search for cute things.

When they could carry no more they finally decided to return to the guys. As they made their way through the crowd a tingle of pain spread its way through Aislinn's abdomen.

Dammit, not now!

It should have been too early for her period but Mother Nature had just kick in the door and wasn't waiting for an polite invitation in. What a way for her night to be completely ruined!

"I need to use the restroom is there one nearby?" She asked Kayle, shifting the weight of the bags on her forearms as the tingle got minutely stronger.

Sometimes it was hard to be a woman. She doubted she would be able to make it to the meeting place before she would be doubled over in pain. She hadn't even thought to bring any pain killers with her. By the time they reached the nearest bathroom the pain was more intense but still not even close to how painful her cramps usually got. Horrible wasn't an accurate word to describe the pain she went through for at least one day out of every month. She exited the bathroom stall but ended up kneeling as a wave of pain radiated throughout her entire body.

"Damn, this sucks..."

Unfortunately there was nothing she could do about this problem other then go home and get drugged up until she was feeling no pain. It took a long time before she was able to stand and wash her hands, the hot water temporarily distracting her from the pain.

When she glanced at herself in the mirror she was shocked to find her gaze reflected in the eyes of an unknown man behind her. He quickly had one had over her mouth to keep her silent and his other arm locked around her waist to keep her from escaping.

The adrenaline brought on by her fear of the stranger dampened her cramps. Who was he and what did he want from her? She hadn't heard him creep up on her and when she'd first walked into the bathroom she'd been the only one there.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I came to warn you..." He removed his hand from her mouth but kept his hold around her waist firm.

"Warn me?" She asked, trying to keep her voice from quivering.

"Those people you're surrounding yourself with aren't human and they will hurt you if you stay with them. Heed my warning if you value your life at all!"

"Not human? What do you mean by that?"

She never got an answer to her question because Kayle interrupted them, coming in to see how she was doing. In the blink of an eye the man released her and vanished as quickly and as silently as he'd appeared.

Aislinn collapsed to the floor shaking. What the hell had just happened? She was dumbfounded. It didn't seem real but she could still feel his cold breath on her neck and his voice in her mind. She shivered as gooseflesh crawled across her skin. Kayle was by her side a moment later, a concerned expression on her face.

"Are you alright?"

"I don't feel so good, I've got to go home now!" Aislinn whispered. As quickly as the adrenaline had hit her and dampened her cramps it was dwindling and they were returning with a vengeance. It was all she could do to keep from crying out when Kayle helped her stand up to exit the bathroom.

Aislinn crouched against the back wall of the bathroom, away from the prying eyes of people passing by until the guys finally made it to their location. Levy had her up in his arms in a the span of a heartbeat and rushed quickly through the crowd to the parking lot.

"Take our car Levy." Kayle said tossing him her keys.

Levy caught the keys and gave Kayle an appreciative nod. He was now glad that they'd come in two separate cars, they wouldn't have to watch Aislinn suffer while they were unable to do anything to help her.

He drove as fast as the traffic allowed, constantly glancing in Aislinn's direction to assess her condition. The steady vibrations of the car actually helped with her cramps but only slightly and every time they were forced to stop they flared up again. By the time they finally made it back to her apartment she was rocking back and forth in the passenger seat in an effort to ease the pain. Levy carried her up the path, using her keys to unlock the front door. He carried her straight to her room. It was a mess from earlier but at that moment neither of them cared.

"Can you make me something to eat, anything, it doesn't matter what it is, just something quick so I can my Norco." Aislinn begged as she searched for her heating pad.

Levy nodded then vanished. A long minute passed before he returned with a sandwich. She ate as much as she could before taking two Norco, something she'd never done before but her cramps were becoming more severe then she'd ever felt before.

She cranked her heating pad up to high before wedging it between herself, a pillow, and the edge of her bed. She prayed the intense heat would be enough to distract her from the worst of the pain until the pain killers kicked in.

Aislinn had almost forgotten Levy was there until he untied her shirt and made her sit up long enough so he could pull it off over her head. Without a word he began to massage her lower back in an effort to help her deal with the pain. Normally she couldn't stand to be touched when she was in so much pain but his cool fingers on her skin made for a wonderful distraction and in no time at all she was barely conscious.

Once he'd helped her to bed, making sure to help her keep the heating pad where she wanted it, he kissed her ear and lay beside her. He continued to stroke her bare skin until she fell into a deep sleep. Aislinn unconsciously snuggled against him. By reading her thoughts he was aware of just how thankful she was for his support and he was happy to have been able to help in her time of need.

"I love you Aislinn." Levy whispered against her ear before kissing gently kissing her shoulder and wrapping his arm around her to protect her as she slept.