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.
Pogue stood in the parking lot of Ipswich Creek, leaning heavily against his bike. He smiled when he spotted Kate jogging, her pony-tailed hair bobbing along. Her concentration fully on breathing in time with the music pulsing away on her Ipod earbuds.
She couldn’t have looked more sexy to him. She wore a fuschia sports bra and tiny blush-pink shorts which flapped in the wind, the kiss of Fall already evident in the waning Summer evening air.
Her copper skin shined with exertion and her lips and cheeks were darker than usual, a ruddy rosy-brown.
He didn’t want to alert her to his presence just yet. He was enjoying the view far too much. So he just watched as she stretched and did a quick cool down.
It was unreal to him, that she was actually his girl. Kate was the wealthiest girl in the school; smart, sweet, popular, and so gorgeous.
When she first came to town, the locals didn’t know what to make of her. Her mixed heritage had already made her stand out, and not in a good way to the other girls at the school. Her father, an international banker from Sierra Leone and her mother an American real estate agent of Scotch-Dutch heritage. She was one of only four people of color at the school.
But she let all the jealousy slide off her shoulders.
She killed with kindness. That was a huge change from what he was used to from the other popular girls at school, she was easily prettier, but nowhere near as bitchy.
Pogue wasn’t unpopular himself, with his rugged good looks and bad boy charm.. In fact, the girls constantly tried to get in his pants, (a few of them and one older neighbor, succeeding) but he was selective about serious prospects and Kate was the first, he really wanted beyond the haze of lust... and he was beginning to hope, the last.
Kate was the first to truly have his heart.
She was also the first he really was unsure how to approach. As she’d come to school with a fine upstanding college boyfriend already in tow.
Pogue was gorgeous himself, but pretty didn’t feel like enough compared to her. His grades weren’t exactly the best, while she got straight A’s and was Yale-bound.
And it had been impossible to get her alone, as she was always surrounded by friends. The other Sons of Ipswich knew he was crushing hard and constantly teased him.
“I know. I’m just looking.”
“Don’t we all.” Reid said, biting his fist. “But that just leads to touching... -yourself.”
Pogue punched him in the arm and shook his head. He walked ahead to catch up to Caleb, once he’d spotted him.
“Hey, what’s up man... ” He said, following his line of sight.
“Daydreaming about Kate, again?” He said smiling, while Kate laughed across the way at something one of her girlfriends said.
Caleb lay an assuring hand on his shoulder.
“I guarantee, that will not last.” he said, glancing up at Kate’s boyfriend, a one Warren Ellington, who stood stiffly next to her.
He was conspicuously eying Debbie Turnstile’s ass, while Kate chatted happily, completely oblivious.
Pogue cracked open the cola in his hand and took one large gulp. “I hope you're right, man.”
It was much later that night, when it all began between them. Pogue sat in one of the swings in the backyard, when he heard the yelling.
“Dammit, Warren! I can’t believe you came all the way up here just to cheat on me!”
“Kate! It’s not like that!-“
“-You were kissing her, Warren! Just-, get out of my sight!!”
“I had to get it from somewhere.”
He said as a parting shot, before strolling across the lawn, and unfortunately in front of Pogue.
His eyes briefly flashed black and the lawn sprinkler popped on just as he walked across it, startling him and making him trip into the muddy grass.
He got up flustered and even more pissed, jumped into his car and sped off.
Pogue lifted another cola to his lips and was shocked to see Kate standing a few feet away, her eyes glassy.
“You alright?”
“No.” she said angrily wiping at her face.
“You mind?” She noded at a beer by his feet.
His eyes narrowed. He knew she wasn’t a drinker.
“Sure.” He handed it to her.
She popped the cap, took a large gulp and winced. “Okay. Now, I know I don’t like beer.”
Pogue smiled. “I coulda’ told you that.”
“Really? And how would you know?”
“You’re not the type.”
“And you are.”
He sighed. “Didn’t say that...”
She took a few steps closer to the swing-set, her eyes narrowing. “And what else do you think you know about me?”
Pogue chuffed and brought an uncomfortable hand up to rub the back of his neck. “I know you were too good for that asshole...”
She looked down, her eyelashes briefly forming halos on her cheeks and quietly affirmed, “Yeah.”
“I agree.” She walked around and plopped down in the swing next to him.
“Now, do you want me to tell you what I know about you?” She said.
Pogue raised his eyebrows and nodded. What could she possibly know about a guy she's never talked to?
“I know you’re not as tough as you pretend and I know you care more than you let on. So, I wonder what you’re afraid of.”
“Care.” he said, thinking she might be on to him about his feelings for her...
“Yeah. -About school. That’s why you don’t try. You can’t truly fail what you never try, right?”
“Ah, Kate, professional psychologist.” He chuckled.
“Am I right?” She continued, undaunted.
“Wait a minute, is that any better than trying to please everyone so they like you? ...And failing miserably?” He said, indicating where Warren’s car had been.
“Okay, that’s a fresh wound, Pogue. Classy.”
She got up. “And I’m nice because I like being nice, not because I have to be.”
“-Wait!”
“I’m sorry. I just- ....Didn’t like him.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Really. -And why is that? What’s he to you?” She said, crossing her arms.
“Nothing, he just... Seemed to really be taking you for granted. Even before this.”
Her lips parted a little bit, as if coming to realization. Finally.
“...You would know this how?”
“Because, whenever I saw you with him, he ignored you.”
“...I wouldn’t.” He finished.
“Pogue, -what should I say to that?“
He sighed.
“Take your time and figure it out.” he said, a hopeful glint in his hazel eyes.
She sat, gently swaying on the swing, blinking at him, seeing him in a new light.
Of course, she’d noticed him. How could any girl not notice the Sons of Ipswich. All handsome and popular...But word had it that strange things happened around them.
And Pogue? Her father would kill her if she dated someone like Pogue.
“I’m going for a ride. Wanna tag along?”
And that had been it. He’d given her his helmet. And he’d ridden up to the bluff, relishing the feel of her body pressed against his back, her hands tight around his waist.
Once there, emboldened by the serene look on her face as she watched the waves crash below, he’d kissed her.
And just like that, they became a couple.
+
A few months later, she gave him a gift.
He had visited her dorm-room, as he often did, but this night was different. Her roommate had just transferred out to a boarding school so they had her room to themselves.
They were making out on her bed as usual, but he always seemed to be holding back with her. Never wanting to push, as they’d only just kissed and done some light petting up to this point.
His hands were resting against her hips, his mouth languidly exploring hers.
“Pogue...” She whispered.
And she placed a hand in the center of his chest, gently pushing him back so she could look into his eyes.
“Wait.”
She leaned across her bed, opened her nightstand drawer, and drew out a condom.
“I want to.” She said her eyes steady on him. He bit his lower lip and blinked at her.
“Are you sure?”
In answer, she simply took off the worn Ipswich t-shirt she was wearing, baring her breasts. He stopped breathing.
Seeing the look in his eyes, she’d never been so certain of something in her life.
“I’m sure.”
Meeting her eyes, he said. “Okay.”
He quickly shed his own shirt. Slowly, both sitting up, he scooted forward until her folded legs halfway straddled him. He began to kiss her again.
Gently, he lowered her down to her bed and began to rain kisses across her face, over her clavicle, between her breasts. He took a nipple into his mouth, eliciting a light gasp.
He insinuated himself between her legs and gently rolled his hips, the straining length beneath his jeans rubbing against the sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs, beneath her cutoff sweatpants.
This time she moaned, her eyes fluttering closed at the sensation. He continued this movement, undulating as she instinctively raised her hips to meet him, her hands clutching at his biceps.
“-That feels amazing, Pogue.”
“Good.” He said, his voice raspy.
He leaned down to kiss her again, and his hands drifted down to her waist. He slid down her body, pausing to idly kiss and caress both breasts and her belly.
He paused at her waistband to untie the flimsy string holding up her shorts, staring into her eyes as he did so. She lifted her hips so he could take them off and her panties along with them.
Completely nude now, she trembled under the intensity of his gaze. She wasn’t exactly embarrassed. This was Pogue, her best friend, her boyfriend, and now, her lover. She trusted him with everything. ...But she was nervous.
“God...” he whispered mostly to himself. “You’re so beautiful.”
He scooted down a little further and placed both hands on her hips.
“Kate. Open your legs.”
She obeyed, her shaky legs falling apart. He dipped his head between them. Taking a deep breath as he got close, inhaling her, he licked her slit.
A broken cry escaped her lips and his hardened length twitched. This had been something he’d wanted to do for her, for so long. To taste her. Make her come for him, with his name on her lips. The others he now thought of as practice for her. Everything he'd learned was for Kate.
He let out a deep, pleased, ‘mmm’ against her and sucked her tender bud between his lips, while the tip of his tongue darted against her.
He watched her eyes roll up before falling shut, as he spread her wider. He pressed a single finger against her slick slit and slowly penetrated her.
Another sharp cry escaped her lips, and he could feel her tightly gripping him.
Pumping her with a tortuously slow rhythm, he brought her to the edge and eased back, repeating this a few times, before she began to buck against him, his name escaping her lips as a plea.
“Pogue...Pogue.”
So, he obliged, adding a second finger to stroke against her , while he continued to suck, and lap at her center. He added more pressure to her spot, while he continued to suck.
He felt her body lock...
A high, piercing yelp escaped her lips and she clutched his hand against her hips, her own nails digging into the back of it, begging him not to stop.
“Gawd! -yes!-”
And then it happened, she hit that blinding wall of pleasure, her whole body shaking with it. The unceasing, tingling running in waves all the way down to the tips of her toes.
Her involuntarily movements against his mouth made her feel wanton, keening as he lapped up every drop of her.
+
He rose from her licking his lips. And she took his face between her hands and kissed him, tasting herself, slightly-sweet, but otherwise surprisingly tasteless.
“Are you ready?” He whispered, his eyes wet with deep arousal.
“Yes.”
He undid the tiny foil-wrapped condom and quickly shucked off his pants and underwear, sitting up. After his eager, shaky hands fumbled once, she leaned forward and helped him slide the condom on.
He grabbed her hips and breathing, very hard, with his forehead pressed against her own, their eyes meeting, slowly, slowly, he entered her.
She waited for pain... There was supposed to be. But she only felt a straining pressure and then stretched to the limit, full of him, but not unpleasently so.
“Are you okay?” He panted.
“Yes. I’m fine.” She whispered.
“It doesn’t hurt.”
But then he started to move. His eyebrows were drawn together in concentration
With his bottom-lip between his teeth, his arm propped straight down, his hand splayed out flat beside her neck, supporting his weight.... He wanted to, had to make her come before he would...
But, that was...difficult. She felt so good. So tight and wet around him, every flutter of pleasure he gave, reverberating through him.
“Kate, Oh -Kate...” He chanted.
He was still moving slowly, but she had to have more. Her hands curved at his waist and she gasped two words.
“Pogue! Faster!”
And he obliged, grunting with the effort to both reach and stay far away from that blinding white point.
“O-oh! Kate!” His voice cracked as his moved within her, the bed beginning the squeak beneath them.
“Pogue...Feels so...good...”
He leaned down slightly to kiss her as he moved, their lips and tongues twining in a gentle exploratory dance.
And then he could see that expression begin to cross her features, again...The look of forced bliss. Her eyes squeezed tightly shut, her lips parted...The high, keening yelp forming.
“Kate, open your eyes.”
She did.
“I love you. -I love you, so much Kate.”
He felt her come apart beneath him, her eyes locked on his as she did.
That was enough to send him over as well, her name a whispered litany with his release.
“-kate!-“
His hips bucked weakly a few more times and he collapsed against her, his breathing shallow, his arms possessively encircling her. He kissed her sweaty brow.
Beneath the haze of the afterglow, he was just beginning to worry that he might have said too much.
She was too quiet.
Pogue had always worn a mask of cool disinterest, but that was because he cared far too much, and with Kate it was no different. After they’d made love, he became more judgmental of her male friends, quick to a paranoia that these friends had wanted more from her than Kate knew.
That all came to a head when Chase came to town, a guy he had to have known she was angling for Sara.
...Well, him or Caleb. He wasn’t trying to pick her up, that’s for sure.
But still he ached for an excuse to fight him.
...Something he’d already done to an overzealous suitor before. One she could’ve handled herself. But, he didn’t like her smiling at him, either so...broken nose.
She did love Pogue, but she was also frightened for him. Afraid that he’d get himself into trouble if he didn’t stop hurting people over her. It got to a point where she seriously considered breaking up with him.
And when Chase showed her a good time...She thought, maybe she'd teach him a lesson. But all they’d both learned was just how much they meant to each other.
He told her what he was, and what had happened to her...The spider-bites were a curse by that power-hungry rogue warlock.
And she finally understood, fully what he was so afraid of. His calculated cool head was better than the single-minded addiction Chase had. It was something he could easily also become.
They all could.
The whole nightmare only brought them closer than ever. He’d almost lost her.
+ So it was, late August, one week before she started Yale.
She was jogging late in the evening up the beautiful path at Ipswich Creek, when she looked up from her stretching and saw him leaning against his bike.
“Hey Kate.” He said, a slow smile spreading over his lips.
“Hey baby.” Her own mega-watt smile lighting up her face.
She jogged over and he took her in his arms, kissing her like he was holding on.
...Which he was.
She was moving on. His first love was going away and he had nothing in his arsenal of now substanial powers that could stop her.
Well, nothing he would do anyway.
Nothing to hurt her future or force her to stay. So he savored this small bit of time they had left.
Bittersweet, because she’d indulged him all the more for it.