He knew beyond any doubt that Auli had won when she grabbed his wrist and ever-so-sensually set his hand on her backside, and he did not move it away after she removed her hand. But even that realization was drowned by her as she overpowered him with the raw energy of her touch and her kiss, and he found himself surrendering to her willingly, eagerly, wanting to accept the delights that she offered. The thought that they were in a public place, that almost anyone could come down those stairs and catch them making love in the bathing pool, that Jesmind was going to try to kill her when she found out, and then she was going to kill him, that this was a terribly bad idea, all of them were wiped away, and there was nothing left but the desire to finally experience what part of him had imagined and fantasized over the days.
To give in to Auli and let her do whatever she wanted.
It was both everything he imagined, and everything he feared it would be.
Tarrin didn't feel quite so good about it in the morning, after Auli was gone. She had taken him in that bathing pool, and if that wasn't enough of a blow to his pride, she had convinced him to take her back to his room, where she was about ten times as aggressive and almost shocking in her behavior. He never imagined a girl could act like that. She had been-even thinking about it was both wildly exciting and somewhat unsettling. He had been overwhelmed by her raw sensuality, her overpowering feminity at first, but it was nothing but his own weak will that had caused him to bring her back to his room afterwards, when he had a chance to think rationally. He had wanted to make love to her, and there was no way to excuse it. Despite all his bad feelings about it, he had thrown all of them aside and abandoned himself to the moment.
Despite beating himself over the head for his own shortcomings, he had to admit the fact that it had been very enjoyable. Auli was a very aggressive girl, but she had never once forgotten his needs or wants. She had been exquisite, and just thinking about her, about holding her nude body, about finally being able to touch all those places only his eyes had enjoyed before, it was almost intoxicating. Auli was so beautiful, so sensual, so free with herself, and so fearless, even in bed, to make love with her was almost like satisfying one's deepest fantasies and desires. It had been nothing like he had imagined it would be.
And that was one of the dangers he could comprehend. Just as he feared, the night with Auli made him want to have more of them, and that was going to upset all his plans for making an unbiased choice. Not unless he backed off, tried to forget about her, and moved on. Auli had had her conquest, and he decided that that had better satisfy her curiosity. He'd give her her victory this time, but there couldn't be a next time. If there was, he was going to fall more and more under her spell, and he knew that that would be a very short road. Auli didn't love him. He was pretty sure that she didn't really care too much about him. He was nothing but a toy to her, a thing, a conquest. And when she was bored with him, she would throw him away, regardless of how his feelings for her may evolve. And she was definitely the kind of woman a man could find feelings for, despite knowing exactly what kind of woman she was.
It wasn't that Auli was cruel or evil, it was simply that she didn't understand. She didn't understand what kind of an effect she had on human men, men not raised in the same society in which she had been raised. Tarrin would gain feelings for Auli if he slept with her enough times, and he knew he would. He knew himself enough to understand that, because Auli was already a very good friend. He liked her. And if she kept seducing him, kept getting intimate with him, he would invariably make that leap and decide that he loved her. Auli, on the other hand, thought everyone would be like her, and that making love was something fun, something enjoyable, and something to be done with anyone she fancied. That was all it was to her, a fun night of pleasure. That it had any kind of lingering emotional attachments was a completely alien concept to her. Tarrin equated sex with love in his mind, where Auli didn't. It was a clash of culture, and it was going to cause him some serious problems if he didn't put a stop to it quickly.
A flash of memory, an echo of the past, a beautiful woman with flaming red hair… and bat-like wings. Something about her was similar to this, to Auli, but he couldn't remember anything more than that.
In any case, he was certain that he'd better stay away from her. What she could do to him was nothing compared to what Jesmind or Kimmie might do to her if they found out what happened last night. Auli just didn't understand that he was staying away from her as much to protect her as it was about him not wanting to get involved with her. Jesmind especially showed a great deal of possessiveness over him, almost jealousy, and she was alot more hot-tempered than Kimmie. If Jesmind knew that Auli had seduced him, she'd march off, find the girl, and turn her inside out. Literally. He was sure of that. So he had to keep what happened secret.
The first step to doing that was to get her scent off of him. He'd had enough experience with the Were-cats to know that that would give him away faster than anything else. Auli's scent had to be absolutely all over him, and probably permeated the entire room as well. He had to get it scrubbed off of him, and if at all possible, change the linens on the bed and turn over the mattress after soaking it in something like vinegar, something to either cover or destroy the scent of Auli.
He moved quickly, knowing that any of the Were-cats may show up at his door any moment. In their unpredictability they were predictable. He threw open the windows and stripped the bed of its linens, then dressed in the same clothes he wore the day before and rushed down to the kitchens for some vinegar. He realized about halfway into his boots that using vinegar wouldn't work, he'd need something to completely pull out the scent. Fortunately, just such an agent happened to be next door, and at least from Dar he could expect the secret to be kept.
It took a few knocks to get him to open the door, and he looked half asleep when he did. His black hair was dishevelled and sticking up in all directions, and his eyes were sunken into his head in a very odd manner. "What's the matter with you?"
"I have a hangover, but I can't for the life of me remember drinking anything," he answered blearily.
Tarrin's suspicions went wild immediately. "Did you happen to meet Auli last night, Dar?"
"Yeah, as I was leaving the baths. She gave me-she didn't!"
"I'd say she did," Tarrin nodded grimly.
"That little-just wait til I get my hands on her!" he said angrily. "She drugged me!"
"That's not half of what she did to me last night," he admitted.
"She caught you, didn't she?"
A bit contritely, he nodded. "I never had a chance. She caught me in the baths. I had nowhere to go."
"You could have said no, you know."
"Look me in the eyes and say that again, Dar," he said seriously. "I don't think there's a man in the Tower that could say no to Auli when she's all up against you like she was me. I mean she had me dead to rights, Dar. Alone and naked in the baths, and she managed to sneak up to where she got a hold of me before I realized she was there. I couldn't have said no in that situation."
"I guess not," he sighed. "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"
"No, actually, I need your help," he said. "She managed to get me to bring her back to my room, and I need to purge her scent out of it before one of the Were-cats finds it. If Jesmind finds out about this, she'll kill Auli, so I need to get this done before Jesmind comes around."
"I don't really know how to do that, but Kerri does," he answered. "Don't worry, Tarrin, Kerri can keep a secret. Let me wake her up, as soon as I find my amulet."
Though Tarrin could tell that Dar was a little amused by the situation, he took it seriously enough. So did Keritanima, to his surprise. After waking her up by calling to her using the amulet, she rushed down to his room wearing nothing but a nightrobe, with Binter ambling along behind her, an eternal presence. Wherever Keritanima was, one of the Vendari was as well. "Alright, now what's so important that you'd wake me up at the crack of dawn, Dar?" she demanded as she shuffled off the staircase and towards them.