Wrap Your Arms Around Me

I concede that you were right about this place
I can make a perfect likeness of your body if I trace
I can hold you until you turn out the light
And I can't see

The whole thing was a mistake. He had known it the moment the words had escaped his mouth. This was not the sort of thing that he should be doing.

Part of him rebelled, of course. The part of him that had made him agree to her suggestion thought that he had every right to do this.

He looked down at her as she led him through the dark alleyway. Her dark brown hair shifted with her movements, each long, straight strand catching the moonlight. She was very beautiful. He wished for a moment that she would turn so that he could take a good long look at her face. The skin of her hand was the color of caramel, her fingers long and tapered.

When she did turn her face to him, her eyes were lit. Her perfect teeth caught the moonlight as she grinned up at him. Looking up at him through her eyelashes, she reached a hand up and pulled him down to her.

Do you believe that we are all innately good?
Do you think that you would love me until tomorrow if you could?
Would you please turn down the radio
So we can speak

He kissed her and she pawed at him with wild abandon. One would almost think that she was an animal. But no. No, he was the animal.

The moon was waxing. In another twenty-four hours, it would be full, and he truly would be an animal. A horrible beast.

How fitting that she was so beautiful, then, he thought. His opposite.

She still kissed him, running her hand up and down his neck and spine, making him tingle. Against his bidding, his own hands pulled her to him as he pressed her against the alley wall. She moaned into his mouth and pulled away for a moment.

"This way." Taking his hand again, she guided him through a doorway and up a set of old wooden stairs. In a blur of time, she used her key to unlock the door to her loft room and led him in. There were no lights, except a single light bulb hanging by a wire in the ceiling. The flat was very drab, but there was a bed.

And a window.

Moonlight poured through the wavy antique glass and glazed the wooden floor with silver. The cursed moon. Even now it would taunt him.

She was pulling him to the bed now. He smiled despite himself. She was so beautiful, smiling there, with her cheeks flushed with color.

"Come here," she intoned, taking a handful of his shirt.

Oh, but he shouldn't. He had no right to. But here she was, waiting, and perfectly willing. Why shouldn't he?

Of course, he would have to take certain precautions. Now, before he completely lost his head.

His wand was in the inner pocket of his jacket. She was a Muggle, so she wouldn't understand. He kept it hidden as he muttered the charms under his breath. One for him, one for her. It would do no one any good if there were long-term consequences because of this.

She was smiling invitingly as she sat on the bed. It was a large bed. Did that mean that she had a husband? Had she lied about not being involved with anyone? Did it mean that she entertained often?

While these thoughts wandered through his mind, he went to her, moving slowly and deliberately.

She took his hand in hers and he prepared himself. He would have to maintain control as long as possible. Lord knew, this close to the full moon that would be hard.

I put my hands around your neck
You wrap your arms around me
Put my hands around your neck
And you wrap your arms around me
I put my hands around your neck
And you wrap your arms around me

It was hard, yes. But it was wonderful. There in the darkness, the two of them entwined their bodies, caramel skin on ivory. Long strands of dark brown hair tangled around strong fingers. Sweat covered every inch of them. Did she realize what she was doing? Did she know the danger that she was in? Oh, but how could any Muggle, beautiful and brilliant as they might be, understand what it meant to be a werewolf?

When they finished, they lay there for a few minutes, not speaking. She was basking in her afterglow. He was wishing that he had a Time Turner.

Finally, she sat up, asking him if he wanted anything to drink. He accepted politely, finding his shirt and pulling it over his head. She returned in a moment, holding two glasses of red wine. They drank in silence. She traced his face with a fingertip; he took in every glimpse of her that he could.

I regret every time I raised my voice
And it wouldn't be that bright of me to say I had no choice
I can kiss your eyes your hair your neck
Until we forget

He stayed the whole night. They ended up making love more than once, until the moonlight was replaced by the tired rays of the sun, turning the floor from silver to gold. He woke with her in his arms. Her face was so peaceful, that he hated to leave it. Whoever had invented the phrase "you'll hate me in the morning" had been all too right. But he had no choice. If he stayed, she would ask to see him again, or she would insist that he stay for breakfast. Or worse still, she would have him stay for breakfast, and lunch, and dinner and then breakfast again.

It wasn't that he feared commitment. On the contrary. He often wished that he could find someone, marry her, and settle down. That would have meant that he was just like everyone else.

But he wasn't like everyone else. Tonight, he would become the wolf. He couldn't let her be involved with that. It was bad enough that he had to go through it.

Gently pulling his arm from beneath her head, he left the bed. He dressed quickly, and went back to where she slept, holding his wand in his hand.

He couldn't make himself do it. He didn't want to be the only one who remembered this last night. It would mean more pain for her, leaving her with the memory; embarrassment, surely. But maybe it would teach her not to invite men she hardly knew into her bed.

Leaning over her face he breathed in her scent one last time, kissed her forehead, and left the flat.

Putting his hands in his jacket pockets, Remus Lupin walked down the London street alone, reliving the night behind him, and dreading the night ahead.

I concede that you were right about this place
I can make a perfect likeness of your body if I trace
I can hold you until we turn out the light
And I can't see
I can't see.

Review, Kind People, If You Would. ^_^