As summer drifted into longer, hotter days, Kane decided to take full advantage of Tamsyn's decision to step down from the duties of Templar to take her on her first ever vacation. His beautiful little blackbird had been working so hard for almost all her life without really taking time to just enjoy life without responsibilities. She had worked hard as a General for the Armada, then immediately was thrust into motherhood, then the duties that came with running the Hallows with her mate, then shouldering the burdens of her struggling family and ultimately assisting Ulric as a Templar. The poor girl didn't know how to slow down and relax, so as soon as she'd told him that she was stepping down to take more time for herself and their relationship, Kane began to plan a getaway for the two of them.

From his time with her, Kane had learned of Tamsyn's wanderlust in her younger years and how she had loved to travel and explore. Some gentle probing and conversations with other pack wolves had revealed a perfect location for them to go together: an island off the eastern coast of Auster covered in tropical jungle and old ruins. After having gone to scout out the island from the opposite shore, Kane returned home and told Tam that he wanted to take her away for a little while, just the two of them, on a surprise vacation. He hadn't told her where, not until they arrived on the golden sands looking out across the thin strip of surf that separated the mainland from the island.

"Well, here we are!" he declared with a wide grin to his lover once they'd swum the short expanse of ocean, giving her a playful bump with his hips while his wet fur dripped on the warm sand. "What do you think? Can your man pick a vacation spot or what?" Still grinning like an excited pup, Kane couldn't help but let his eyes roam over Tam's slender light frame, accentuated by the way her wet fur clung to her sexy curves. Her fur melted across her form like jet black silk and had the brute speechless as he gave her an appreciative grin.

"There's so much to explore, I figured we'd stay for a few days or however long you'd like. You deserve a break," he said again while nuzzling the side of her neck. "So what would you like to do first? Dry off on the beach, explore some of the ruins, find a place to relax and nap, get something to eat...?" Although he was here to enjoy a vacation and spend time with her, this trip was really for Tamsyn. Whatever she wanted, he would make happen.

"Kaneonuskatew"

As his mate, Tamsyn may enter his threads not marked as Private.
____________________

Tamsyn was so incredibly grateful for the fact that Kane was always so supportive of her and her decisions. It was easy for her to sadrifice herself for the betterment of others and it was something she had done time and time again for several years now. Making the choice to step down from Templar to give herself real time to heal and relax and simply enjoy this new relationship she had found had been a difficult choice for her to make, but with Ulric's agreement and Kane's encouragement it felt like the right choice to make. She was glad that she had the experience of being the Armada's general, she wouldn't trade her chance to be a mother for anything in the world, and she had been proud to lead The Hallows alongside Resin, but keeping the Templar role after Ulric took over the pack had purely been out of respect for her long time friend. She wanted to support him as he took over the pack and show her support for his leadership. Now that he was more established and on his own feet she didn't feel like it was out of place for her to make more time for herself.

Kane's surprise of a get away for the two of them felt like the best gift he could have possibly given her. Just the decision to step down had put a lot of stress on her on its own, but with everything that had gone on with Sirius and then knowing that Artorias would be going to stay in the Armada for this training... She just wanted to escape from it for a while, even if it was just for a few days. She didn't care where they went or what they did, she just wanted to enjoy herself and explore like she once had before responsibilities forced her to put that part of her life on hold. When they reached the shore of the island that Kane brought them to for their vacation, she grinned happily and chuckled as he bumped her shoulder. "I never had any doubts," she told him, reaching up to place a kiss on his cheek. He truly spoiled her with his thoughtfulness and attention and it made her wonder what she could have possibly done to deserve this sweet, thoughtful man.

She nodded in agreement to the idea that they could spent a few days out here and as she let her mint gaze roam over the scenery in front of them she could easily see how they could find a few days worth of exploring here - and that was only if they managed to keep their paws off of one another long enough to do some real exploring. Even now as she shifted her gaze to look over at him with his wet fur forming tightly to his toned, masculine form she was already letting her mind drift off to other things that had nothing to do with the island. He had let her explore all kinds of sexual things that she had never had a chance to explore before him so she was throughly enjoying all of them with him. "Lets at least explore enough to find somewhere to set up for the night and then maybe we can look for something to eat," she suggested, smiling up at him as her shoulder leaned lightly into his. Truthfully, as long as she got to be here with him she didn't care what they did. He had already made this the best getaway simply by doing this for her.

Tamsyn Carpathius

A happy smile stretched across the hunter's face when Tamsyn reached up to plant a sweet kiss on his cheek, glad that she seemed to be happy with his surprise vacation. He had put a lot of thought and research into finding something he thought the former world-traveling fae would really enjoy and it looked like his efforts had paid off. Turning his hazel eyes back to her, Kane caught Tamsyn's eager eyes roaming over his body where his damp fur clung to his muscles, seeing that familiar hunger in her mint jewels.

His smile grew into a suggestive grin and he swatted at her rump with his tail again while a low, throaty chuckle rumbled from him. He knew what his little blackbird was already thinking about and craving, and yes, he had planned a lot of physical, sexual activity for the two of them to enjoy during their days and nights here. It had been part of why he had looked for the most remote location as well. He didn't need the whole world hearing what he was going to be doing to his beautiful lover, nor did he want anyone else disturbing them mid-coitus.

Tamsyn suggested they scope out a place to spend the night, then look into finding something to eat. "I think I've already found something I'd like to eat," he teased and nipped at her ear while striding past her, chuckling again low in his throat. "The wolf that told me about this island mentioned a lot of the ruins near the beach had rooms with beds like your castle does. Maybe we can find one there to stay in." Taking the lead, Kane began to walk down the length of the beach, the combination of time and sunshine drying out his coat as he walked and making him fluffier than normal as his coat poofed up around him. No doubt Tamsyn would get a kick out of that.

Walking past a few smaller structures, Kane spotted a large rundown resort right off the coast and veered off to go check it out. He walked past a large empty pool with dozens of chaise lounge beds left out for their mattresses to become sun bleached and weathered. Following a path that led around to a series of bungalows, Kane stepped up the porch and pushed open the front door, stepping into a common room and open kitchen. The house was quiet and private, and the shutter blinds kept the room cool and shaded. Moving down the only hallway that branched off from the common room, Kane stepped into a large master bedroom, gazing at the canopy bed with sheer fabric sheltering the mattress and providing a small bit of privacy. The far wall of the bedroom was made up entirely of glass windows, all of them open to allow the cool coastal breeze to ripple through the room, and opened out to the beach and the seafront view.

"How do you feel about an oceanfront room, little blackbird?" he asked while turning back to face Tam, letting her explore and inspect the bungalow to make sure it lived up to her expectations. This could be their sanctuary for the next week, their own little hideaway from the world and all its problems. And if they liked it, this could be theirs permanently; their own private little abode away from home that they could retreat to whenever they wanted.

Moving over to the bed, Kane slipped past the silky canopy and climbed up onto the downy bed, inspecting it for comfort as he flopped down across its surface. His body bounced on the mattress a couple of times before he settled with a heavy sigh. Oh yeah, this would do. "This bed is sooooo comfy!" he called out from where he lay, lifting his head to peer out at the faintly obscured form of Tamsyn just outside the veiled canopy. "Think this place will do for us?"

"Kaneonuskatew"

As his mate, Tamsyn may enter his threads not marked as Private.
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Tamsyn grinned and giggled at his comment about knowing what he wanted to eat, her mint gaze shooting him a teasing glare as he nibbled at her ear. She was already beginning to doubt the amount of exploring they were going to do in comparison to the amount of time they were going to spend wrapped up in each other. Not that she was really complaining either way - this was her escape and as long as all she needed to think about was this island paradise and this man that she had fallen so head over heels for then she was more than satisfied. She nodded and followed along at his shoulder when he mentioned the beds that were supposed to be here in the rooms in the buildings she spotted in the distance. "Sounds like a good plan to me. We can spend some nights out under the stars too, if you want. I know how much you like that." She smiled up at him and gave his neck a teasing kiss as they walked, feeling happier and lighter than she had in a long time on their little vacation get away. As they walked down the beach and they both began to dry with the help of the warm sun, her own coat was given a bit of extra wave and texture thanks to the salt water, but she noticed how his fur seemed to fluff up and poof in response and it was difficult to not point it out, biting back a few giggles as she noticed it getting more and more poofy.

She followed him as they approached a large building that was once a resort, eyeing the beds of sorts that were lined up along a big, empty pool that had a shallow pool of rain water collected in the bottom of it. Her mint gaze took it all in, looking around the unusual outside area in front of this house, while Kane pushed the door open and let them inside. Stepping into the shade of the building, she blinked to let her eyes adjust to the change in light and noticed how much cooler it was in here than it was outside thanks to the shutters that kept out most of the light. It was lovely here in this little tropical paradise. If it wasn't for the fact that she could never dream of leaving her children that still remained in The Hallows she might have considered retiring here permanently. As they moved down a hallway and into a beautiful bedroom, her resolve to stay in The Hallows began to waver, a smile pulling at her lips at the amazing view this room had. Oh to be able to just hide away with Kane here forever... "This is gorgeous," she insisted, as she lifted her gaze to his with a bright, thankful grin when he turned to get her reaction, her tail wagging gently behind her. He had a habit of completely blowing her expectations out of the water and this was no exception. Pleasant surprise or not, this took her breath away.

She stepped over to the wall of windows for a moment while Kane went to inspect the bed, looking out over the beach and listening to the pleasant sound of the waves with a content smile on her lips. For a little while anyway she didn't think about responsibilities or worries or Sirius or anything really. It was so peaceful here and she loved it. Her ears perked when she listened to him flopping onto the bed behind her and she chuckled at his exclamation that the bed was so comfy, grinning at her silly man. She turned away from he windows to come to the side of the bed just as he was asking if this would do. "Hmmm, I dunno..." she replied doubtfully before slipping past the curtain as well, giving him a teasing grin. She hopped up onto the bed, coming over to lay with him and falling easily into his familiar embrace as she snuggled into his chest. "Yes, this is perfect, Kane. Thank you for bringing me here."

Tamsyn Carpathius

Kane watched from his position on the bed as Tamsyn inspected the cabana, moving over to the wall of windows that let in the cool, delicate coastal breeze. Through the sheer canopy of the bed he watched her move, the graceful, willowy motions of his beautiful lover. Tamsyn was such a sight to behold, regal and bewitching to a fault. How no other wolf had managed to snatch her up was beyond him, and he thoroughly considered himself amongst the luckiest wolves alive to be able to touch her and hold her and love her the way he did. She looked stunning silhouetted against the bright sunlight streaming in through the windows, her fur gently rustling on that salty breeze while she gazed out at the beach and the ocean that was their backyard. A slow smile crept its way across his face while he watched her with enraptured hazel eyes sparkling with adoration. He wanted to go over and scoop her up, hold her tight to him, swing her around and make her laugh as he covered her in kisses. By the moon and stars, how hard he had fallen for his little blackbird!

His heart skipped a beat when she turned to grin at him, then sauntered over with a subtle feminine sway to her shapely hips that he doubted she even knew she carried herself with. By the time she reached the bed, Kane had already rolled onto his back, belly up like a playful puppy. Tam teased him, acting skeptical about the suitability of their lodging, but slid up through the sheer curtain so he could see her in all her splendor, his smile widening further to flash every tooth alongside his saber fangs. He shifted and scooched over to catch her in his arms when she climbed onto the bed, both wolves sinking into the mattress together, concealed from the rest of the world and isolated with one another.

As Tamsyn snuggled closer to him, Kane wrapped her up in his embrace, nuzzling the top of her head and placing affectionate kisses and licks across her crown and between her ears. A warm smile touched his features and he brought a big paw up to tilt Tam's muzzle up to catch her lips with his in a slow, gentle kiss. "You deserve all the greatest things in life. This was the least I could do for you giving me a new lease on life, Tam," he whispered to her as if anyone else could hear them in their private island paradise. His paw slowly trailed up her cheek to trace delicate claws along the edges of the scars around her eye, gazing at her as if she were made of diamonds and stardust. "You're so beautiful, Tamsyn..."

"Kaneonuskatew"

As his mate, Tamsyn may enter his threads not marked as Private.
____________________

Tamsyn curled comfortably into Kane's chest as his embrace wrapped her up in his familiar warmth, relaxing into him with a contented sigh. More and more his presence alone felt like home and whenever she was with him it felt like she could escape from the world. That feeling was even more pronounced in their little island get away with the breeze gently swaying the sheer curtains that hung around their bed. She couldn't help the wide smile that pulled at her lips as he nuzzled and kissed the top of her head, lifting her mint gaze to his as he pulled her muzzle up to his. She returned that gentle kiss with a soft murr, looking at him with an appreciation and adoration that she didn't really think she could properly explain.

She chuckled softly and gave him a look that silently said "you silly man" when he told her that this was the least he could do for giving him a new lease on life. She wondered if he really understood how he had saved her from herself. She had kept herself alive after Resin's death for her children, but he had brought life back into her heart and pulled her out of a depression that even her children could scarcely touch. Without him she had no doubt that everything that had happened with Sirius would have finally broken the last of her resolve, but he had been there to keep herself from doing something stupid and put the pieces of herself that she had left back together so effortlessly. She was the one that should be thanking him.

Tamsyn leaned into his paw as his claws traced her cheek and the scars that cut across the skin there, looking at him lovingly as her much smaller paw came to rest over his on her cheek as she leaned her head into his paw pads. She gave him a bashful smile at his compliment, glancing away from him for a moment. She had never really believed that she was that beautiful, even back before she was scarred and tattered from this life she had been placed into. She had begun to grow her confidence with Resin. The markings around her eyes appeared and gave her otherwise plain appearance some sort of interest, all of the time she spent on her training helping to tone her muscles and emphasize the natural curves of her body. Resin's love and attention helped her flourish, but once that was gone and once these scars tore through one of her rare markings most of that confidence had evaporated. But just like everything else, Kane seemed to know exactly what she needed and craved and made her feel beautiful even when it felt impossible. He made her speechless with the affection and care he showed her that she didn't feel like she deserved, but was grateful for anyway.

Unable to find words to express how she was feeling, she gave up trying and relied on her affections to speak for her instead. She let go of his paw just so she could slip her paws around his neck, pressing her lips to his once more. Her kisses were tender and slow at first, but each kiss that followed was a little firmer, a little more passionate, a little more insistent. Her eyes closed as she kissed him, easily getting lost in the feeling of his lips on hers. He made her feel like she was far younger than she actually was and made her feel like she was making up for all the years that she missed this kind of constant attraction. She knew she had fallen for him and fallen for him hard, but there was also just a physical attraction and enjoyment that she felt like she hadn't gotten to fully enjoy before him. It wasn't something she had really known that she wanted and that made her wonder how much of this lust that she always felt for him was because of how she felt for this man and how much of it was just the freedom he had offered her to enjoy all of this as much as she wanted.

Tamsyn Carpathius

While the two wolves lay quietly in bed in their tropical island paradise, Kane allowed himself to drink in this moment, savoring it like a fine wine and committing it to his memory. The gentle coastal breeze making the sheer curtains dance around them, swathing them in their own little world, the smell of the sea just outside the windows, the sounds of the waves and the gulls and nothing else. And Tamsyn—his beautiful, incredible Tamsyn... He stared into her mint-green jewels, caressed her cheek while her paw captured his against her face, matched her loving smile with one of his own. Her luxurious black fur draped from her slender body across the bed, her form tucked neatly up against his while he regaled in everything she was, everything she meant to him. For years, Kane had accepted that his life would be nothing but a quest for vengeance, a story of heartbreak and bitterness that held no happy endings at its conclusion. He would hunt down his mortal foe, slay him, and then quietly fade into nothingness.

But Tamsyn had changed the story, flipped the script, given him a chance at another life. Suddenly there was another ending: one where he got to live happily ever after, where his life meant something to someone again and he could learn to love once more. After Tiva's murder, Kane had felt as if his heart would never be whole again. Perhaps it was a combination of time, solitude, or aging—or maybe it was all Tamsyn's doing—but now he saw a future where he could be someone for someone else again. From the moment he'd met Tamsyn in the castle infirmary, he'd known she was a special kind of wolf. But never in all his days would he have guessed how deeply she would impact his life. She accepted and loved him for who he was and what he believed, two traits he hadn't found in a single wolf in forever. She brought out the best in him, made him smile, made him feel like he was making a difference in her life and the life of her family. Tamsyn had given him a purpose again, and he'd never be able to repay her for that.

When he felt Tamsyn's paws move to wind around his neck, he let his own massive paws slide down the curve of her side to loop around her waist, keeping her held tight to him. He loved the warmth and softness of her coat mingling with his, the feel of her taut, powerful muscles beneath exploring paw pads as they roamed over her hip and side. His mouth eagerly found hers as she pulled herself closer to him, returning each and every kiss she gave him. The affections started gentle and slow, gradually building in length and intensity. Hazel eyes disappeared behind heavy lids as Kane returned the passion to his lover, his paw dipping to caress around the base of her tail and lift a hind leg to drape over his thigh, keeping as much of Tamsyn's body pressed to his as possible. Strong heart hammered against his ribs, his pulse turning to quickened fire, a hunger growing deep in the pit of his stomach that he hadn't felt in years before he found Tamsyn.

As much as he wanted to behave and respect her wishes to explore the island more on their first day here, Kane was having a difficult time keeping his paws off of his lover. He was hopelessly addicted to her, his mind intoxicated by her presence and body burning alive under her touch. He deepened their kiss, tasting her on his tongue, low grumbles of lust and desire echoing in his chest. His paws squeezed her body in his grasp, wanting to make more of the sounds he loved to hear come from her. Only once his lungs ached for breath did he break their kiss, eyes flickering open to gaze at her with a heavy bedroom gaze and a sly grin. "We're not getting out of bed, are we...?" he whispered against her lips, gently brushing his against hers while he spoke.

"Kaneonuskatew"

As his mate, Tamsyn may enter his threads not marked as Private.
____________________

Tamsyn was absolutely lost in the kiss they shared, completely forgetting all about her original plans to explore the island. She had kind of known that those plans were only a lose guideline at best. If there was one thing that was undeniable about the two of them it was that they were always going to find a way to be all over one another. There was rarely a day that went by since their relationship began that they didn't at least make out heavily or pleasure each other in some way. It almost felt like they were making up for lost time, both of them insatiable for one another and ravenous for all of these sexual pleasures they enjoyed together. From the first day they were together it felt like she had known him all her life instead of just a few moments and that hadn't changed. She took advantage of every opportunity she could to savor this man that made her so endlessly happy and swept her off her feet.

When their lips broke apart to relieve their aching lungs, she panted lightly, blinking her eyes open so that mint could find rich hazel and she returned his grin while her paws moved through his scruff and her body pressed even tighter to his. "Not a chance..." she whispered back when he asked about the possibility of them not getting out of bed, chuckling as she pressed her lips to his hungrily once again, murring into his mouth as her tongue met his again. He made every nerve along her skin feel alive while her blood ran hot through her veins, their hearts beating hard together with their chests and stomach's pressed tight together. Her hind leg hooked around his waist, pulling his hips to hers while they continued to make out, acting more like horny young wolves discovering sex for the first time rather than middle aged adults. At some point she turned and rolled with him so that she was on her back and his massive form was held over hers and in heavy, heated passion they became one again, gasping as her head tipped back against the bedding and pillows, filling their little slice of paradise with her moans and cries.

-- fade --

Tamsyn Carpathius