by C. M. Owens
“If you get your closure?”
I sigh out at his hopeful question as he puts all his dignity in a bucket and sets it on fire. What man loves a woman the way he loves me? What fool girl stays unsure because of her fucked up ex?
“I don’t know. I’ve never had it before. I guess we’ll find out soon.”
Sooner than I had planned.
“I hope it means you’ll be in my arms like this more often.”
I smile lightly, and the heavier effects of the blood fuck begin lifting lightly. I start to stand, but he snakes an arm around my waist to pull me back in.
“I don’t want to leave. I’ll have to share you over there,” he grumbles.
I giggle a little, and then I kiss his cheek sweetly before forcing him up.
“We’ll be alone in the bed. No one will be holding me but you,” I murmur, and his lips instantly fold over mine.
“You won’t be embarrassed to walk in there in my shirt,” he says while grinning.
“I think they all know what we’ve been doing for so long, and my clothes will never again be worth wearing,” I chuckle. “Besides,” I sigh, “I already fought in front of everyone after my underwear had been ripped off. I only hope my skirt covered me up the whole time.”
He grins deviously, and his perfectly light cheeks almost blush.
“I didn’t think about that,” he snickers out.
He takes my hand in his, and the longing to be in his arms brought on by the blood intimacy is still so strong.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be as powerful without you biting back,” I murmur softly as we walk out his door.
“I was,” he smolders, and his lips press lightly against mine as he wraps me up to make me walk backwards.
I smile against his kiss, and then my back presses against my door momentarily before it opens. I turn around while still holding onto Brazen’s hand. Nicholas is slumped against a chair, and Angelica is holding the dropped hand of Grayson hanging off the couch. I almost wince when it makes me think back to the first time Hale and I found out who we were to each other.
“Can you please tell me what’s happening to her? We gave him blood, but he’s still asleep,” Nicholas exasperates.
I sigh lightly, and I walk over to my closet to pull out several blankets and pillows.
“In the morning, I’ll tell you everything. Right now, just rest. She just feels connected with him. Think of how you felt about Angela, and then multiply that by ten. It will subside soon, and she’ll be able to think more rationally. Right now she feels protective, worried, and a little scared. Believe me, I know.”
He looks at me curiously, and then graciously accepts the bedding. He only makes one pallet on the floor, and then he motions for me to follow him to the kitchen. Brazen grips my hand as he follows me, and then Nicholas begins whispering.
“I have to go back to my place. I’ll have officers coming in and out all night and all morning to deliver me updates, and I don’t think it wise to bring them up here after what that boy showed he could do. Is my daughter in any danger in any way?”
“She’s the safest person in this room as far as he goes. I can assure you of that,” I say to relieve him of his worry.
He sighs out loudly, and then he walks over to give her a kiss on the head.
“I’m going back home, but you can stay here if you behave,” he almost growls, and Brazen stifles a grin I don’t understand.
Behave?
“You know I will, Daddy. I just want to make sure he’s okay when he wakes up. Araya will be here.”
He purses his lips at me, and then looks to Brazen.
“Did you have parents?”
“Yes I did, Captain Hawkins.”
“Then you understand a little better about what a difficult situation this is for me. I’m sure your parents preached on the subject, and you’re a man. Imagine how this feels for me to leave her behind,” Nicholas grumbles.
Again Brazen has to stifle a grin, and I’m still completely lost.
“I understand. We’ll have the door open, Sir. No one will be doing anything here, including us if that’s a concern of yours as well.”
What?
He can’t promise either of those things. If he wakes up, he could relapse and bite her without permission. Oh please don’t fucking do that.
Most blood fucks don’t end in one fuck either. He has to know that. Maybe it’s different with full bloods, but I don’t think I can stop at one.
“Thank you,” Nicholas breathes out in relief, and then he pats my arm on his way out.
“You can’t say stuff like that,” I scold.
“He’s a father leaving his daughter here alone with a guy she can’t stay away from. I can give him peace of mind.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” I mumble.
“I know you don’t,” he coos while pulling me in for a sweet kiss. “That’s why he spoke to me. No father likes to think his daughter is growing up.”
“Well it happens. Hybrids grow up just like full bloods. I’m not sure I see what the big deal is.”
He laughs lightly even though there’s a bit of sadness in his eyes. It’s as if he’s pitying me for reasons I can’t understand. The pallet Nicholas made is far away from the couch, and Angelica slides it over so that its directly beside Grayson.
“We’ll move that back over in the morning,” Brazen says in a whisper.
“Why?” I ask bemused, and he laughs again.
“You’re getting on my nerves,” I grouse, and he pulls me to his body.
“Let’s go to sleep. I still want to hold you, and I know you still need me because you haven’t let go of my hand yet,” he murmurs softly, and his lips brush over mine as he starts carrying me to the bedroom.
“Goodnight, Angelica,” I murmur against Brazen’s lips.
“Goodnight, Araya. Thank you for letting me stay here,” she offers very respectfully, and I turn to see her stroking Grayson’s hair.
I almost frown when I think back to one of Hale’s savage episodes. I sat up all night just running my fingers through his hair and kissing his chest. When he woke up, he had no recollection of the havoc he had wreaked, and all he wanted to do was be with me. We stayed in for weeks just being together.
“You still hungry?” Brazen asks, and my memory switch flips back off when I come back to the present.
“Yes, but I don’t feel like eating. I know you like doing what I do though,” I murmur, and my lips cover his.
He lets out a weak groan before jerking my hips to meet his, and then he pulls back grumbling.
“We can’t. They’re just kids, and I promised Nicholas.”
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I seduce, and then my lips begin strolling over his chest where my teeth threaten to break the skin.
“Araya, please just let me hold you.”
“What happened to wanting your chance to show me how you fuck?”
His eyes darken, and his lips cover mine more fervently as the door slams to the bedroom. He grips me tighter, and then he slides my shirt up to reveal my still bare body beneath.
“Fuck,” he breathes, and then he pushes me to the bed before falling on top of me - his hand holding mine in a binding position as he undoes his pants with his free hand.
“Are you okay?” I hear Angelica ask.
Fuck. No. Not now.
Our torrid moment halts as we both listen, and his lips dangle just above mine as I thrust my hips up to meet his halfway undone pants. He starts to resume our moment when we hear Grayson’s voice.
“Did I hurt anyone?” he worries, and that sours the moment instantly.
I do understand that - losing yourself, and then worrying about the damage you’ve caused.
Brazen pulls me up, and I pull his shirt back down to cover my body once again. I grumble in frustration as he walks out with me to face the newbie with a lot of power.
“You didn’t hurt anyone that wasn’t trying to hurt you
. Call Nicholas, Angelica. Tell him we’ll have this conversation tonight after all,” I assert.
She pulls out her phone and steps away. Grayson’s eyes follow her, and I smile lightly at the way he watches her when she’s not looking. Brazen’s hand takes mine as he pulls me down into the chair with him, and Angelica returns to the room to take a seat beside Grayson.
“Dad is on his way up. Before he gets here, I need to know why I feel like I can’t leave his side. My father is not going to understand,” she urges.
“You feel it too?” Grayson asks in disbelief.
“That’s why I’m still here,” she murmurs softly, and his lips find hers before Brazen can stop it.
“You might not want to do that when your dad gets here,” he finally manages to grumble.
Grayson smiles, and then he takes her hand in his before turning his attention back to us.
“How old are you?” I ask, and he shrugs.
“I’m either eighteen or nineteen.”
“You don’t know?” Brazen muses.
“It’s kind of blurry,” he murmurs hesitantly.
“Why aren’t you marked? All gifted hybrids have sparrow tattoos to warn others of their talents,” I interject.
“I don’t know,” he lies, his eyes shifting away from my glare.
Brazen and I exchange a look, and then I sit up a little better in Brazen’s lap to speak to the scared hybrid.
“No one here is going to get you into trouble,” I offer genuinely, and his eyes flash to Brazen to advertise his mistrust for the full blood still clinging to me.
“You’re United officials. You have to divulge any and all information pertaining to hybrids.”
He’s a runaway. That’s the only reason he would be so scared.
“I’m not here to get you in trouble. I’m here to help just like Araya. I only uphold the laws I agree with, and I use my own personal morals for everything else. As you can see, I’m not opposed to the company of hybrids,” Brazen kindly states while kissing my shoulder, and I can’t stifle my foolish grin that follows his deliciously chilled touch.
“The last full blood I let my guard down around tried to have me arrested for blood rape. Then another full blood went against Araya’s instructions to bring me to safety. He told me he’d make sure justice was served one way or another,” Grayson mumbles, and Angelica’s hand takes his.
“They’re just bad people. It wasn’t their blood that made them that way. Why are you so judgmental about full bloods?” she asks so innocently, and Brazen leans back when my body tenses.
He begins running his fingers up and down my back to try and calm the storm within, and Grayson looks at her as if she has lost her damn mind.
“Is that a rhetorical question?” he muses, and she tilts her head curiously.
“She doesn’t know the world the way we do. It’s another story for another time. Brazen is good though, and you can trust me on that. You know I wouldn’t put you in jeopardy. Tell me where you ran away from and how old you were,” I say divertingly, and Brazen’s lips stroll over my shoulder again to thank me for my kind words.
He sighs out, and then he leans back as Angelica scoots in closer to wrap her leg around his waist. He smirks at her, and his hand falls to rest on her knee as he finally gives in.
“Heddlebrook. It’s not a United compound, but they still have to follow the hybrid laws of schooling, training, and turning in gifted students. It was absolute hell. I received thirteen lashings in one day, and I finally decided I had suffered enough when I was ten. I hated to leave the others behind, but everyone else was too scared to go. I escaped despite the odds. I ran until my body couldn’t stand any longer. I lived off of insects and edible plants for weeks until I ran across a couple of hybrid loners living far outside all United walls and unaligned walls. They fed me, bathed me, and then they found me a place to hide in secrecy. Since it’s against the law to adopt hybrids, they could have lost their lives for just knowing about my existence - let alone harboring a hybrid fugitive.
“They would bring me tons of food once a week, and they would check me over really well each time to make sure I wasn’t ill or getting ill. The food stopped suddenly when I was fifteen or sixteen. I went to check on them, and I realized their house was no longer standing. I ran and hid for a couple of years, and then suddenly I’m hitting my change. The first attack I encountered during my change, I accidentally incinerated the men. After that, it all goes blank for a while,” he murmurs shamefully.
“Your savage state took over, and you had to come down on your own. Be thankful it didn’t get worse. Heddlebrook burned to the ground, but all the hybrid children made it out safely if it makes you…”
My voice trails off as he stares at the ground, and I realize why Heddlebrook burned. He really, really lost control. Fuck.
“I see,” I continue, and Brazen’s eyes are widened in disbelief. “It happens every time you use your gift, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah. Is it that way with you? How did I come down this time?”
“It’s different with me. I’m emotionally bound to my savage, but there are others like you.” Hale. “We can usually stop it when we feel it or even if we know it’s coming. There’s a medicine used to sedate newly transformed and changed full bloods. I’ll teach you more about it. You ended up here after another blackout, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how long, but when I came to, I was close to here. I signed in under my old hybrid caretakers’ last name, and then I went to the visitor section just to breathe for a while in the safety of walls. I felt like this was a good place to be for some reason, and then that girl followed me into the bathroom. She threw herself at me, and I got carried away. I should have known better when she wanted her blood taken from her throat. No one likes that big of a mess,” he grumbles, and Angelica’s leg slides off him.
She crosses her arms in front of her chest, and she looks as though she’s just taken a bite of something disgustingly sour. He’s a little confused by her reaction, but he melts her icy shield when he pulls her over to be in his lap. She can’t suppress her grin, and then his lips fold over hers.
“What’s happening to us?” he asks while holding onto her.
“It’s a long story, so I’ll start at the beginning. You’ll need to be careful with her until she changes though. Right now she’s still much too fragile for you to blood-”
“You can’t do anything with her in that sense without her father’s blessing,” Brazen quickly interjects with a stifled grin.
I feel as though he’s somewhat making fun of me, but I’m not sure why.
“Her father?”
“Yeah. Angelica was raised by her full blood father. Sit back. There’s a lot you need to know, and there’s something we’ll have to do in the morning.”
My phone buzzes, and I lean over to grab it.
“Nicholas?”
“I’ll be there in the morning. I’m sorry, but I’ve got a mess. Can you just explain it to me on the phone?”
Brazen smirks as he stares at the newly bonded couple as they continue devouring each other, and then he answers, “I think that’s a really good idea.”
What’s his problem?
“Yeah. I’ll explain it right now.”
I take a deep breath to prepare myself for the lecture which will change the two early hybrids’ lives, and I work my way down to the present while answering the numerous questions along the way. After a few long, grueling hours, I finally drop the biggest bombs.
“Angelica is destined to be gifted, and I have to take them both to the commander of the United tomorrow at first light - which is just a few hours away now.”
“How do you know she’ll be gifted?” Nicholas asks while walking in the door with his phone still attached to his ear.
Angelica quickly disengages from her close contact with Grayson, and then Nicholas goes to sit between them, his pale eyes burning into Grayson’s newly changed blues.
&
nbsp; “Gifted hybrids are only drawn to other gifted hybrids while in their savage form. As you saw, Grayson is indeed very gifted, and Angelica and he are drawn to each other very obviously. Tomorrow I’ll drive them out to Seminole to introduce them, and they’ll both have to be marked.”
“No,” Grayson objects in a worried panic.
“You have to,” I comfort. “Things are different when you’re all grown up, and our commander is now a hybrid,” I say reassuringly.
“How the hell did that happen?” he scoffs in disbelief.
“Another story for another time,” I mumble while glancing at the clock, and Brazen stands to pull my hand in his.
“Will you go with me?” I ask hopefully, and his lips cover mine as Angelica stands with her father and Grayson.
“I can’t tomorrow,” he grumbles against my lips. “Clay text me while you were speaking, and they’ve bumped up my detail date. I’ll be leaving in the morning around eight. This will be a chance for you to get closure though, and then maybe we can start working toward the future,” he seduces, and then his lips lightly tug against mine until a throat clearing interrupts us.
“I’m sorry, but Grayson has agreed to come back to my place. I’ll have them ready in the morning, and we’ll meet you at the gate,” Nicholas interjects, and Brazen smiles into our kiss.
I turn back to face him, while nodding in agreement. They quietly disperse, and Brazen scoops me up to pull me to his chest. I laugh loudly when he twirls me around, and then I feel the bed beneath me.
“I’m still feeling it,” he breathes.
“Are you?” I murmur while sliding my hand up his back.
“Very much.”
I smile as his tongue begins exploring my mouth, and then I hear his pants slapping the floor as he slides the shirt I’m wearing up. He jerks my hips to meet his, and I smile daringly while rising up to find the soft, cool flesh hiding the warm blood. My teeth start to press in, and he groans as he waits.