The days passed by in a blur. Tanner would return to the rooms late into the night, only to leave before Jo woke up. Jethro resumed his position outside of the bedroom door during the times Tanner was not with her. Neither of the three of them spoke about what had happened those few days ago.
Jo stood from the bed. She had not slept well since the strange man had arrived in her dreams. But, he had not returned yet, which struck her as odd given how hell bent he was about Tanner. Shaking her head, she changed into one of the many day dresses that Tanner had had made for her the day before.
Long, flowing, green contrasted with the red highlights of her hair, matching the shade of her eyes almost perfectly. Jo fingered the sleeveless material, staring down in thought before coming to a wild conclusion for action.
She slipped on her black ballet flats she had been given with the dresses and turned to the door. Jethro turned his head at the sound of it opening. "How may I help you, my lady?" His lilting accent reminded her of British but she couldn't put her finger on what it actually was.
"Can you take me to him? Please." The larger man nodded, moving from the doorway to allow her to exit. "You should probably grab a sweater or something. The hallways here can get pretty drafty at times." Jo nodded, turning and picking up one of Tanner's lone sweaters and put it over her head. The heavy knit material hung to her knees, nearly covering the entirety of her sundress. Jethro let out a chuckle and motioned his head to the hallway.
Rolling up the sleeves slightly, Jo closed the door behind her before stepping in line behind her guide and bodyguard. Her eyes studied the back of his head, trying to figure more about the mysterious man.
"If you wanted to know about me," his voice caused her to jump, a blush creeping across her cheeks at having been caught. "You only had to ask."
"How did you know? I mean-"
"It's alright. Some of my kind have special attributes. Your kind would call them superpowers I guess. Telekinesis, Negation, Sensing, Strength; pretty much any attribute you can think of, I know of at least one loup-garou that has it."
Jo nodded, trying to understand as much as she could. Her guide had to be telepathic, that much seemed clear. "And Tanner?" Jethro couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe he should tell you himself. I think it would be fun watching you play twenty questions to get it." Jo scrunched her nose in annoyance. "Nasty brute." She huffed under her breath. "I heard that."
They walked out into the main hall, which was still as crowded as before, but the others did not stare at her as they had upon her arrival. Instead, they offered her waves, bows, smiles, or mixes of all three. Jo returned the smiles and waves as Jethro led her to another set of doors. He ushered her inside before closing the door behind him.
A cold blast of air rushed towards Jo causing her to shiver. She gripped the ends of the sweater sleeves. "Shoot, you really weren't kidding about the cold here." "Nope. It's better for these types of rooms." He pushed past her, stalking to a door down the hall. He beckoned her to him with a finger. "Rooms like what?" She questioned as she took her place beside him. Jethro answered by opening the door.
Hundreds and hundreds of book in floor to ceiling shelves lined the room. There were even books piled atop the few desks that were located in the center of the room. "Go on in, I'm sure he's around here somewhere. And don't worry, I'll be waiting right outside if you need me. Okay?" When he heard her confirmation, he left the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Jo in the vast library.
"Hello? Tanner?" She called out, glancing between the shelves for any sign of him. The sound of something falling, coupled by a loud groan filled her ears. Jo rushed to the location of the sound, finding Tanner kneeling on the floor, rubbing at the top of his head. Books were strewn across the floor around him, as if they had fallen off the shelf in front of him. Jo rushed to his side, cradling his head in her hands.
"Are you all right?" Tanner raised his eyes to meet hers. He nodded in answer, only to wince as pain rushed through his head. Served him right, trying to climb the shelf to reach that one damn book. When he had heard his dove's voice call out for him, his body had reacted to being startled, sending him tumbling, and damn near the entire shelf following after him. "I'm fine, Jo. What are you doing here? Where's Jethro?"
"He's outside the door I wanted to see you. I...um...I was wondering..." Tanner placed his hand against her soft cheek, brushing his thumb gently across her warm flesh. "Well I'm glad you decided to come. I thought for sure that you would ignore me for the rest of eternity." He forced a smile, trying to crack a joke, but his heart just wasn't in it.
At the sight of his mate's horrified face, he had felt his heart shatter. He was certain that she would have wanted nothing to do with him. "Come on," her angelic voice spoke out to him. "Let's get you back into some light so I can check out your head." She helped him to his feet and led him back to the center of the library. Tanner took a seat at one of the desks and allowed Jo to brush her fingers over his head.
"I don't think anything is damaged, besides your pride I mean. But you might have a wicked bruise in a couple hours." The pads of her fingers ghosted over his flesh, pushing aside golden curls to get a better look at his temple. A low growl halted her movements. She looked down, her eyes widening as she took in Tanner's darkened ones. Nearly his entire iris had been covered by his dilated pupil.
Tanner lifted his hand towards her chin, pulling her face down to his. His lips founds hers as they both closed their eyes. He emitted another groan of pleasure as his hands moved to her hips. Jo straddled his hips on the chair, her dress riding up ever so slightly, giving him a better view of the porcelain skin of her thighs. Tanner deepened the kiss, running his hands down her hips, to her thighs, and back up again, roaming under the sweater she wore. Tanner broke away from their kiss to whisper in her ear.
"Take it off for me. Slowly." Jo pulled back, gripping the hem of the sweater. Slowly, as requested, she brought the material over her head, depositing it ungraciously to the floor under the desk. Her lover took in her sleeveless dress, noting her hardened nipples. It would seem that his little dove did not like to wear a bra at times, or perhaps she had just forgotten today. "And now the dress."
Jo lifted up from his lap a little, bunching the material around her hips before removing it as well. The dress slid over her curves, hugging her pert breasts, before she threw that under the desk as well. All she was left in was her lacy undergarment. A soft blush spread over her face as the reality of being nude while he was still fully clothed finally took over her.
Tanner leaned forward, pulling his T-shirt from his chest. "Better? Or would you rather have me remove more layers?" Jo shook her head, roaming her fingers over his chest gently. Tanner gripped her hips gently, watching her every movement to see what she would do next.
Jo's mouth watered as she took in the sight of his perfectly crafted abs and the tattoo that neighboured it. Before she could think better of it, she began sliding herself off of his lap. Her lips kissed a trail from his neck, down his chest, stopping to lave one of his nipples, before making her way to his abs.