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Author's Chapter Notes:

A little flirting never hurt nobody.

Thanks for your time and hope you enjoy!^^




Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


Young wolf 5

 

Daniel was careening her way along the serpentine mountain road sitting in butter. The driver, Voda, sat totally at ease in the creamy colored Italian leather seats. Large round sunglasses reflected the road before them while her brown tendrils billowed behind. She shifted to a lower gear as they banked into a curvy. So this was what it was like to ride in a million dollar car. A metallic sapphire vintage 1962 Shelby Cobra to be exact. The top had been removed and she could enjoy the panoramic view uninhibited.

 

And what a view it was! 

 

Low lying trees, pines and brush bearded the mountains and hills. The greenery stood in stark contrast with the yellow beige cliffs and jutting crags. Her first peek at the placid deep blue Danube left her agape in awe. There was no beach just a sheer drop to the water. The Carpathian mountains themselves were plentiful stretching for miles in every direction.

 

Daniel closed her eyes and took a big gulp of fresh mountain air.

 

She had not always been this relaxed, quite the contrary. Back in her homestay with Voda standing over her, she had been more than miffed.

 

~~

 

"Voda, what are you doing here?"

 

"Fetching you of course, as I said I would." Voda placed her fingertips to the crescent of her lips, "I did say I would, didn't I?"

 

"Yes," Daniel grunted.

 

"Then, why aren't you ready?" She thrust her hand toward Daniel.

 

Her eyes narrowed, "how do you know where I live?"

 

Voda waved the question away, "we can talk about this later, no?" In one swift motion she grabbed Daniel hoisting her off the floor. "You must get ready or we will be hideously late. The family is probably driving as we speak."

 

"Voda, I don't think I can go."

 

"Why not?"

 

"I have stuff to do."

 

"You mean like read Faza's book?" She motioned toward the item resting on the floor, "bring it with you." Her finishing flourish had much the same effect on Daniel as the French voilà, that is of amused exasperation. Voda's demeanor changed, "don't tell me you lack a bathing suit."

 

Daniel hesitated a second, "that's it, I don't have one, sorry."

 

"This is not a problem, I have extras," Voda thought a minute, "come to think of it, others do too. What type of suit do you prefer?" She whipped out her cell, "bikini, one piece, unitard. I can have them ready and waiting for you to try on." She became animated, "we could have a fashion sh.."

 

"I have one." Daniel marched over to a chest of drawers. The idea of trying on bathing suits in front of strangers decidedly unpalatable.

 

"But you just said you didn't..."

 

"I lied."

 

"Do you not want to come that much?" She sat down on the super single bed. "Do you dislike us Daniel?"

 

She pursed her lips, "you make it sound so negative."

 

"Dislike usually is." Voda countered.

 

Daniel rubbed her forehead, "it's not a matter of dislike Voda, it's more...apprehension."

 

"You are scared of us?"

 

"No. Okay, maybe not the right word. Caution."

 

"You distrust us." Voda's brow sat low.

 

"You all know yourselves to be upstanding guileless people who take in poor nobodies from nowhere all the time. Try and see it from my point of view." She watched Voda take in her words and contemplate.

 

"Okay," she put out her hand, "I do see what you mean, but Daniel we are good people. We like who we like and we waste no time on who we don't. And we like you. Nothing more, nothing less. So come." A smile spread across her face.

 

Much to Daniel's dismay, she liked Voda's honest straightforwardness. She shook her head and began to put a few things in her backpack. Voda clapped her hands and grabbed The Three Princes, "don't forget what you have to do." A mischievousness alighted her feminine features. Daniel snatch the book away and stuffed it in as well before walking out her room. Voda followed grinning.

 

~~

 

Daniel peeled her eyes off the twinkling sunlight on the water's surface, "so how did you know where I lived?"

 

"Oh that, I called BGU." Voda took another curve, easily manipulating the gear shifter with a smile. She turned toward Daniel who found herself gaping at her own reflection in Voda's sunglasses.

 

"They gave you my personal information? Do they not believe in HIPAA laws in this town?"

 

"Daniel, whether or not you stay on campus has nothing do with United States healthcare laws. Besides," Voda shrugged, "my uncle sits on the board."

 

"Figures."

 

"So," there was a pause, "what's up with you and Kurtarıcı?"

 

Daniel looked back as Voda veered off onto another more narrow road. "Nothing, absolutely nothing."

 

"You get along very well."

 

"He's a rough little pup."

 

Voda laughed, "you make him laugh, one of a very few friends I think."

 

"I wouldn't think rich people had problems making friends." They crossed over a dangerously narrow high bridge. A happy little tributary gurgled and clapped its way toward the Danube underneath.

 

"Kurtarıcı is no ordinary rich person. We're here!" The narrow road ended at a gate much like those at a military compound. It lifted open automatically after Voda manipulated a device in the car. They passed now under tall pines and then dipped into a semicircular parking area.

 

"Is this a villa? I thought we were spending an easy day at the river?" Daniel peered at a very wide dome sitting atop several colonnades. Flora burst from the tree line on either side and a narrow strip of grass sat snug to the parking area. Several cars were parked here.

 

"We are. This is our river villa. We come here to relax. Come." Voda took Daniel's hand and pulled her to the large door, it was opened and she halted in astonishment. The whole back of the villa was windows from ceiling to floor. The view was of the river and the cliffs and peeks on the other side. Out back she could see a patio and then the earth seemed to fall away.

 

They descended stairs that cupped along the wall into the main area, the dome covered only the entrance. The wall itself was flanked by a large tank, it's surface lapped at the floor of the entrance and as Daniel descended so did the tank, down 20 feet(6 meters). Taimen, Nile perch, paddlefish, white sturgeons and sting rays cruised along in their artificial habitat. She couldn't get over how big they were.

 

Everyone appeared genuinely happy to see her again. Mir gave her a warm hug, Sevgili commanded someone take her backpack and insisted she sit on the patio and have parsley lemonade. They snickered about Adonia being the projectile, her accidentally tripping Kurt and why she was hesitant to call him Tawny. She noticed he wasn't around, not that she was looking. She mentioned taking tea with Faza. No one reacted out of the ordinary. They talked a little about Putra's history and she highlighted some things she had read in Faza's book.

 

"How does it feel to be a prince?" She asked Sevgili.

 

He shook his head, "I am not a prince Daniel. I merely try to be a good father to my children and husband to my dear wife."

 

"Do not listen to this Bağlıco." Mir looked at him lovingly, "he is a prince among men my dear. He takes care of us all, this city and our country like his father and those before him."

 

"Here, here!" Glasses were touched.

 

"I believe you Mir." Daniel smiled, "in any case, you are the descendent of a prince, The Three Princes says so."

 

"General Öküz Galip was the first to be recognized as such and only after repeatedly putting his life on the line for the throne. Before his battles, he was the bastard son of a shepard. He would say as much himself." Sevgili recounted these things without shame. As always, he commanded respect but tempered with humility. As always, Daniel couldn't help but feel, a deeper presence one that frightened yet intrigued her.

 

She asked for a brief tour of the villa, which she was readily given and then in a moment of solitude, stood on the edge of the patio alone. It might as well have been the edge of the world. The wind blew around the rocks and pulled at her clothes, tangling itself in her hair before moving on to find amusement elsewhere. She leaned over the cement barrier and imagined tumbling down the jagged decline into the calm water.

 

To the right of her there was a path hollowed out of the bluff leading to a building that morphed out of the mountainside. A pier extended out from it over the Danube. A runabout rested to one side, a lone figure scurrying over it to the pier. There it squatted. On the other side, a pontoon.

 

Daniel retrieved her backpack and headed for the tricky stairway down to the water. She hugged the the rocky wall as she gingerly descended taking extra care at the switchback down to what she assumed was akin to a lake house. Once there she peeked through the windows at the modest yet beautiful furnishings then plodded out to the crouching figure. She went to open her mouth and say something clever.

 

"I thought you wouldn't come." He didn't even turn around.

 

She sighed, "I wouldn't have if Voda hadn't been so charming." She looked out over the water.

 

"You were hilarious coming down the steps."

 

"You saw me?"

 

"Couldn't help but."

 

She looked up, "it's steep."

 

"It's not like your hiking to the Tiger's Nest Monastery in Bhutan." He stayed crouched with his back to her. She'd had enough. She picked up a small pebble and shied it at him. It collided with a plunk in the topmost back of his head. "Ow! What the..." He stood and whirled around.

 

"Oh look, it's his face," she pointed, "unshaven."

 

"...hell is wrong with you?"

 

"Back at you. How can you have a whole conversation with someone without saying hello?" Much glaring took place between the two before he rolled his eyes rubbing the back of his head.

 

"Hello Daniel." His hand dropped and he leveled a gaze on her that made her falter back a smidgen.

 

She recovered quickly, "hello pup."

 

"Daniel."

 

"As long as you keep acting like a pup, you get called a pup. So, whatcha doing?" She leaned to see what was behind him.

 

"Getting the runabout ready for a ride." He gestured to the small mahogany vessel bobbing silently in the water. It's varnished auburn finish gleamed in the sunlight. It was narrow with most of its length in the aft. Four people could sit somewhat comfortably in it, the seats and upholstery were aquamarine while the finishing and hardware where metal.

 

"It's exquisite."

 

"It's a Hacker Boat Company original from Lake George, New York. I went, ordered it and brought it back myself." His animation pleased Daniel. She turned to him.

 

"Is it ready? Can we go?"

 

Surprised, he gathered his equipment quickly, "yeah, sure. Let me put this in the back." He hopped in the back seat and opened two doors at centerline like hatches. "Take your shoes off."

 

"Oh," she sat on the pier and slipped off her sneaks then washed her feet off in the cool water. He demanded her backpack. Next he had her untie a fasting rope astern then forward. He delicately eased it up close to the pier so she could reach then offered a hand as she attempted to overstep starboard. His touch was warm, strong and a bit more callous than she imagined it would be. She held tightly to him as she came to rest. He didn't let go until she was more sure of herself.

 

He slowly eased them away from the pier then increased throttle propelling them out into the center of the water. Daniel lifted her arms into the air then watched the villa recede behind them. She donned her sunglasses and enjoyed the peace and their comfortable silence. After a while he let her behind the wheel to give a quick lesson on the basics of boating. She tried to sink them once sending Kurt into the back seats. She apologized profusely as she reached for him. Once he righted himself, they laugh and relived the moment before he bound back over the backrest into the front seats. He assured an importuned Daniel he was fine and set about patiently continuing her lesson. 

 

As she got the hang of it, he gave her more space and leeway. He eventually took over and they snuggled the waterline examining the sharp incline of the cliffs and the steadfast flora growing out of its crevices. As they returned, Daniel marveled at the villa, like the lake house, it budded out of the cliff. It looked to be much larger than she at first thought.

 

The family was gathered at the lake house preparing to eat aboard the pontoon. She ran for a quick change and joined them as the craft maneuvered out on the water and anchored. An assortment of foods and beverages were laid out and the family took as it wanted. Voda decided it was time for she and Daniel to swim so they chucked their shorts and dived in. They frolicked and swam, even the little ones strapped in floatation devices.

 

A Banana boat was brought out and kayaks. Sevgili guided them as they made their way down river and back pointing out a variety of wildlife. As darkness fell, the instruments were unsheathed and singing accompanied the melodies. Daniel lay on the pier outside staring up at the moon. Someone shuffled near.

 

"Want a beer?" She felt him crouch near.

 

"Sure." She stuck out her hand and a cold glass bottle was put in it. She hoisted herself up and took a thirsty gulp while he settled in beside her. "Thank you."

 

"You're welcome."

 

"Say, do you think we could go out in the runabout one more time?"   

 

"Absolutely." And so they found themselves adrift in the moonlight. Daniel lounged atop the wooden aft, while Kurt slouched in the back seats.

 

"You know, you really have something here." She cradled the back of her head in her hands. A battery of percussion reached out to them from the lake house.

 

"I know."

 

"I would never want to leave." 

 

"We can stay as long as you want." Daniel slowly stretched her hand out. It was immediately grazed by his.

 

"I just told Voda nothing was going on between us." She slid the palm of her hand against his.

 

"Nothing is going on." Their fingers tangled together slowly. The masterful fingering of a guitar pelted the atmosphere.

 

"I'd hardly call this nothing," she breathed. There was silence. The runabout ebbed, the water licking at its fiberglass hull.

 

"This would be something."

 

Daniel tilted her head to see what he meant and found only that she had offered her lips to him. He wasted no time in taking them and there he held them captive. It was a slow painstakingly glorious kiss. No tongue, no pulling or tugging just the arrest. When all the air had left her lungs, he lifted letting them go. She felt his nose cozy to hers and then his heat left her.

 

"But since we aren't doing that, there is nothing between us."

 

She inhaled deeply then let it seep out. "Okay, you've graduated to young wolf."

 

They chuckled together before silence overtook them once more. Their fingers still laced together.







Chapter End Notes:

a little calm - a little storm.

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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.