by L. L. Ash
Chapter Twenty-Six
Waking up in the cool, dimly lit box was easier the second time around. Instead of being alone I felt strong arms around me, and for the first time in a long time, I felt contentment and peace.
In the shadowy light I looked at his face. It had been days since he’d shaved his cheeks, and his hair was freshly cut, shorn close at the sides and left longer on top. I missed his shaggy hair but the new look made him appear older, which was good considering he was passing for 21 instead of the 18 he’d been going for when we’d met.
It seemed like an eternity ago, and yet in reality it had been less than a year.
I smiled, unable to keep myself from touching him. Moving my hand slowly, slipping it between us I touched his lips, barely parted as he slept. Running my thumb over his bottom lip, they pressed together and he sighed, pulling me tighter to him as he shifted.
“I almost forgot what it’s like to wake up next to you,” he whispered in a rough, sleepy voice.
I grinned.
“Annoying?”
“Wonderful.”
One of his eyes opened as he woke up, looking at me.
“You awake yet?”
“Mmm...no.”
His eyes closed again and he cuddled closer before I wiggled against him.
“Wake up,” I whispered, touching his cheek and kissing his lips.
“If I pretend to keep sleeping will you keep that up?” he asked, the corners of his mouth tipping upward in a smile.
“Yes, but you’ll also miss out.”
His eyes shot open and his mischievous smile made my stomach quiver in anticipation.
“You’ve no intention of waiting until you’ve healed, do you?”
“I’ve been waiting long enough, Clee. Stop making me.”
“As you wish,” he sighed as if I’d asked a great favor from him.
“You poor thing,” I said sarcastically and he laughed.
“Shall we leave the bed?”
“No. I prefer you in bed.”
Clarence shifted, his head bonking the lid gently as he hovered over me.
“You’re sure?”
“I’m not ready to join the world of reality yet.”
“Then let me give you a moment of fantasy,” he smiled sweetly, brushing his finger down my forehead, nose and over my lips to my chin.
“I think you kind of are my fantasy,” I admitted, feeling silly for saying such.
“Which part?”
I laughed.
“Not your vampire part. Don’t worry, I’m not a fan of those books.”
“Ridiculous childishness, fantasizing what it’s like to be a creature instead of a human.”
“But don’t you sparkle in the light?” I asked him, batting my lashes at him before we burst out laughing together.
“I’ve missed you so much, Addie. Those months apart nearly killed me. Ask Mason.”
“I imagine you two were a grouchy pair.”
“You’ve no idea...” he sighed, brushing his lips against my forehead.
Choosing not to ask if he’d been with someone in the interim of those 3 or 4 months, I just kissed him instead.
His fingers brushed down my arm before he slipped it between my arm and side, sliding down my bare side until he palmed my hip. Our kiss opened and our tongues touched hesitantly, then firmly, confident. It’s like we were simply picking up where we left off.
Hand swept down my hip and behind my thigh, pulling it over his hip, moving us closer together.
“Are you sure you’re ready, Addie?” he asked me, his breath caressing my neck. “I don’t mind waiting.”
“Are you saying you don’t crave me back?” I asked, guiding my hand down his chest until I reached the bulge in his underwear.
He grunted and exhaled before gasping out, “That’s a stupid question, Darling.”
I grinned and flicked the stretchy band against his stomach, making him flinch before digging my hand unceremoniously into it.
“Good God...Are you sure the werewolf has worn off?” he asked with a laugh.
“Pretty sure,” I nodded, shifting my hand to get a better grip.
He grunted again and helped me get the underwear off with his one free hand. Mine followed not a second later.
“You wouldn’t prefer a better place to…?” Clarence started but I shushed him and wiggled my hips into his, begging him silently.
He smiled at me and finally seemed to understand that I meant what I was asking for. Again, we were back to my begging for sex.
“Why do you always make me beg?” I asked and he froze.
“I don’t mean to make you beg,” he said in a low voice.
“Yet you’re always finding excuses and I’m always pushing you into it.”
He huffed.
“I’m just trying to be a gentleman.”
“I don’t want a gentleman in bed.”
With that, he seemed to understand.
“Well, if I have your permission...”
“Please...” I whined.
He didn’t leave me hanging. Quickly he positioned my legs around his hips and sank in with no more fanfare.
My eyes rolled into the back of my head with the force of his entry, realizing this was the roughest he’d ever been with me. I liked it. I liked it a lot.
His arms circled around my head on the pillow as he rested against his elbows, back brushing against the lid of the bed as his hips pumped. My lips sought his out and we shared a kiss unlike any before. For the first time he demanded instead of gave, and I was happy to finally be the recipient of his deliberate affection rather than careful handling.
“Hurry it up kids!” we heard Mason’s cockney lilted voice outside of the box.
Clarence froze mid-stride as Mason knocked on the top.
“I need to speak with Addie sooner rather than later.”
We stayed silent and still until Mason’s sigh broke the silence.
“You’ll never finish til I leave, will you?”
His footsteps could be heard as he left the room, closing the door behind him.
Clarence and I looked at each other, then burst into fits of giggles.
“What are we, teenagers sneaking around?” I sighed, grinning up at him.
“It’s a little exciting, sneaking around in my own home.”
I laughed at him then choked on it as he started to move again. My chest cinched up and my stomach quivered at the quick and unexpected movement. He pumped quickly and with a purpose until the friction built and I was panting.
“I’m not letting my prick of a brother stop us,” he said between breaths, huffing with the effort of moving so efficiently in the small space.
He grabbed my hair in his hands that were framing my head and dipped his head down, kissing my neck gently as his abs and hips contracted with each thrust.
“You’re beautiful,” he breathed. “So beautiful… I missed you so much.”
My eyes tingled with unshed tears but no moisture came.
“I love you,” I whispered back, my lips against his ear.
“I love you,” he said back before shifting his hips and moving my legs a little. Suddenly the drag back and forth hit some magical spot and it sent warmth through me.
I gasped and panted, chest bumping his as he lowered forward even more, pressing together fully.
How he managed to stay inside and still lay out with me was beyond my comprehension, but I didn’t really care at that moment. All I knew was that it felt good, right, and that I never wanted it to end.
But of course, as all good things do, he finished just as my womb was seized with throbs. Fingers brushing my hair out of my face, he looked into my eyes as I floated down from ecstasy and back into my body.
“Beautiful,” he said again with a smile, kissing me gently before pressing open the lid with his back as he pushed up onto his hands.
Sex with Eddie had been wild and sweaty and fast paced, but this… lovemaking with
Clarence was otherworldly. I would stay there for eternity, just lying in his arms, sharing his bed and watching him sleep like a total creeper.
Or was it still creepy if you were in love? I don’t know. Maybe if you love each other it’s romantic.
He held his hand out to me and I took it, standing up wearing nothing but my bra.
“Would you like a shower?” he asked, heading for the door.
I nodded, but looked down at myself.
He grinned and pulled a robe off the back of the door before tossing it at me.
“Don’t you need it?” I asked as I slipped it over my arms and tied it across the waist.
He laughed.
“Literally every person in this house has seen me naked. I’m not shy.”
It was little moments like that when he let his guard down that I saw the boy who became a kept man. He was careless in a thoughtful way and cared nothing for others’ opinions unless they affected him or his, directly.
He opened the door and led me to the bathroom before shutting us in. Nobody opened their door and peeked out at us, and that at least, made me feel better.
Turning on the water to cold-cold, he turned back to me and brushed his fingers across my collar bones, opening the robe until it dropped to where I tied it around my waist.
“Sometimes,” he said, brushing off the bra straps now. “I thought that I’d lost you forever. Especially when you were bitten. I mourned for days, unable to get up and do anything. It drove Mason nuts. But I didn’t see the point in living if I couldn’t have you with me.”
“I didn’t think you would want me,” I admitted, reaching behind me to unhook my bra.
It slid off my arms with his gentle ministrations before both his hands cupped my face and he tilted my face up to his.
“I would want you even if you’d been bitten, chewed up and spit out and could only live in a jar for the rest of your life.”
I burst out laughing at the vivid and disgusting image.
“I don’t just love your humanness,” he said, stroking my hair once before fingering the velvety lobe of my ear. “I love your smile, your sense of humor, your strength and your ability to adapt. I love your adventure and your acceptance. I love your humility and your sweetness. I love everything about you, Addie, only a few of which have to do with your physical form. I’m ashamed in myself that you truly didn’t believe that I could still love you as a werewolf.”
“But how could you? You hate them.”
He shrugged.
“I don’t hate them individually, but collectively. Not all wolves and dens are as welcoming and law abiding as Eddie’s. I dare say very few are. He seems to have managed to keep his humanity and leads his men according to his conscience instead of giving his mercenaries to the highest bidder.”
I gulped. Was that true?
Clarence would never lie.
“I guess I got lucky then.”
“Don’t forget he was following you in the first place to make a pretty penny. Fortunately for you he grew a heart before deciding to kill you. It seems heartless creatures grow hearts around you. Not a bad coincidence, if I do say so myself.”
I gave him a half smile before untying the robe belt and pushing Clarence by the chest, backing him up a step.
“Enough of this talk. You promised me a shower.”
He grinned, then it melted.
“One last thing, Addie. Since it seems we’ve bourn ourselves naked this day, in more ways than one, I need to tell you something.”
I nodded, gently stroking the soft blonde hairs on his chest.
“I have finally learned why you begged me, all those months ago to save your mother.”
My eyes shot up to his and he looked riddled with guilt.
“When you were dying in my arms...I knew there was no other choice. I either had to let you go or I had to touch my blood to your blood. I couldn’t do it… I couldn’t let you die. I need you, I love you… I understand now why you were so angry. You felt the same desperation. To turn her so that she may live, or to lose her forever. I’m sorry, Addie. I’m sorry I wasn’t more sympathetic to your plight.”
“Would you do it differently now?”
“No. I still believe I did the right thing, but before I didn’t understand the pain you were going through. I understand that now. I’ve never lost someone I’ve loved before, not until that day, anyway. And I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t strong enough to let you go. Instead I’ve committed you to this life of hell. Feeding off others’ suffering… I’m so sorry for my selfishness, Addie...”
“You’re sorry for saving me?” I asked, seeing the pure distress on his face.
“No. I would do it again and again, every time if it meant having you.”
“Then what are you sorry for?”
“For committing you to this life without your permission.”
I sighed and touched his cheeks, feeling the scratchiness of unshaved shadow building there.
“Well, if you need my permission, then you have it. Even if it means drinking...blood...for the rest of my life and hiding, going from one place to the other. I would have chosen it for myself if my only other option was death. Obviously you know I wouldn’t ever chose death over life. Especially life with you.”
He sighed in relief.
“I do now.”
“So there. Ease your guilt my man. I’m grateful for you and your quick thinking.”
He finally smiled again and pressed a kiss to my lips.
“Ok. I’ll try.”
“Now, I think our shower’s getting warm.”
Clarence barked out a laugh and got into the tub/shower combo first, catching the icy spray with a sigh of pleasure.
“You coming?”
“Already did.”
His smile turned into a grin as he made room for me.
Clarence hopped out of the shower first, leaving the bathroom to gather some clothes that we’d forgotten in our hurry to be naked together somewhere else. He brought back a t-shirt for me to wear and the stretchy shorts that I’d been dressed in the day before.
No underwear accompanied it other than the bra that sat on the tiled floor, so I did the best I could and dressed, attempting to remember not to bend down and give everyone a look up my shorts.
Clarence was in the kitchen when I was dressed and looking for breakfast. He was sipping on a glass stained with red and another full glass sat on the counter beside him.
“Hungry?” he asked me when he saw me, holding out the glass.
I took it and spun it in my fingers for a moment before looking back up at him.
“What kind of… whose is it?”
Clarence exhaled slowly, as if trying to think of the best way to tell me. But instead of speaking, he motioned me to follow. Opening the fridge door, I saw cases of red blood in little plastic packages.
“We don’t exactly get it legally,” he said in a gentle voice, as if trying not to frighten me. “But it’s safe and it doesn’t harm any humans.”
“This is human blood?”
He nodded.
“How do you get it if you don’t hurt humans?”
“We have a contact,” he said cryptically. “A couple, actually. One works at a blood bank and they tell us when trucks will be transporting blood. We intercept and take what we need.”
“And the other?” I asked, getting queasy.
“The other works at a mortuary. It’s not the best quality, but some humans depend on blood bank blood for their lives so we try not to use that unless we have to. The mortuaries have decent quality and though it’s not the freshest, it works. It nourishes us just the same, but it’s just not so appetizing.”
“How do you get it from them?”
“They bleed the bodies when they get them. The only question is whether the blood goes down a drain or down a throat.”
I nodded, still feeling sick but not AS sick.
The whole idea was disgusting and I had to put the cup down.
“Every vampire has their particular tastes. I prefer b- when I can get it, Mason is an O man. You’ll figure out yours eventually. It’ll get easier and soon the idea of drinking someone else’s blood won’t make you want to vomit.”
“Yeah,” I rushed, feeling bile running up my throat.
“But you need to eat, considering you almost died just days ago.”
I looked at the crimson stained glass and shook my head.
“I don’t think I can, Clarence.”
“When I first turned I started on fresh blood, straight from the vein. Is that what you would prefer?”
Gag.
“I don’t think so. I wouldn’t want to hurt someone.”
Clarence chewed on his lip as if contemplating something.
“And how’s our little happy couple this morning!” Mason said happily as he entered the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge.
Without even taking out a cup, he grabbed a bag and bit off a sealed tube and spitting it out before sucking it down like a Capri Sun.
“Starting the morning off with a little exercise, aye?” his eyebrows bounced.
Clarence glared at him but remained quiet as he thought to himself.
“Why aren’t you eating, Sweet Pea?”
“I’ve lost my appetite this morning.”
He hummed in understanding.
“You need fresh blood to get a good taste for it. We should bring her to Safe Harbor club, buy her a dame for the evening.”
My chest tightened.
“The where?”
“It’s a vampire club,” he said cheerily, pausing to take a sip of his blood. “They got blood from every type you can imagine, even the rare and exotic ones. And they keep dames there for fresh eating. Though they’re expensive.”
I gasped in horror.
“Hey, before you start judging, those girls all know what they’re doing and they get paid well for it. And it’s part of the deal that they get some of our blood in return, so it doesn’t affect them but only temporarily.”
“Mason,” Clarence groaned. “Addie’s not ready for that part of it yet.”
“Well the girl obviously needs a fresh draught. Either that or get one off the street. I thought this would appeal to her sensibilities better’n kidnapping.”