by Rue Volley
“Mmmm.” He said as he reached in and grabbed the washcloth, letting it touch the inside of my leg. I moved a little and he smiled.
“In Valon… the women were bathed, mostly by host families.” He said.
“Oh I know… was there, remember?”
“Oh so you were bathed by a girl then?” he asked as he dipped the cloth in the water and then let it drip as he lifted it to my shoulder and placed it on me gently.
I took a staggered breath as he moved it across my collarbone and stared at my skin.
“To bad I didn’t get to witness that.” He said.
I looked at him and grinned.
“It wasn’t like that.” I said.
“Uh huh.” Josh said as he moved the washcloth back into the water and reached in between my thighs. He brushed the cloth and his fingers across the inside of my thigh and the water vibrated a little like a train had barreled down the tracks next to the house. I gripped the sides of the tub, pulling my legs together and took a breath. Josh leaned into my ear.
“Let me.” He whispered.
I took a breath again and my lower lip quivered, Josh sighed as he raised his free hand and touched my lip, not helping me out in any way. He grinned, not the grin that tells me that he is proud of his sarcasm, but the one that is his true grin… the one he only gives to me in these moments. I love his mouth, I always have and I focus on it so intensely that I lose track of things when he gets me going. He took his hand from my lip and held it out to his side and I felt him, his body trembling as he gathered his energy to release to me. I looked up and small sparks of light started to pulsate in the room, little flashes of white light, swirled with black… popping and then slowly drifting downward as they continued to hold their light and his light swirling inside of them. He moved his hand and I felt a small jolt of electricity pulsate in between my legs and I gritted my teeth as it ran waves of feeling up my stomach and across my chest.
“I have never given you this.” He said as he continued to draw the energy from the room. I looked over and the plants vibrated and color started to leave their leaves.
“What… what are you doing?” I said as I tried to steady my breathing but it was so hard to do. The water continued to vibrate on the surface, not really showing how much it churned under the surface. It rolled and caressed my skin as he continued to keep his hand in between my legs.
“I love you.” He whispered.
I nodded and my eyes became glossy as the waves of energy rolled through me, becoming more intense with each pulse. My heart beat hard in my chest and I let my head fall back.
“I love you… I do… I ah!” I said as I felt him press against me with his hand and suddenly all the pulsating light in the room came racing at me and hit the water, sinking into to me so deeply I couldn’t move, not one inch. I cried out and squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to suck in air…but quite honestly I didn’t care. Didn’t care about air, or the water… or the world. Didn’t care about Johnathan or even why we came to London in the first place. All I could see was white, behind my eyes… warm waves of his energy flowing through me in all the right places. I screamed out one last time as it hit me all at once and grabbed the sides of the tub and looked straight up at the skylight, Josh pressed his mouth to mine and shoved his tongue in my mouth and dropped into the water on top of me and we both shuddered as the energy released causing me to feel like we had just disappeared… away from the world. There was only us.
I shook as he held me in place and then he started to laugh, I did too. That was the craziest thing I had ever experienced… ever and for an immortal that in itself is huge, a strange thing to be able to say. He leaned up and placed his shaking hand on my face.
“Cool huh?” he said.
“Cool?... Holy shit Josh.” I said.
“It is the water; it causes the energy to be a thousand times more intense.” He said.
“Yeah… yeah, I agree.” I said as I started to move but my legs felt like rubber as well as the rest of my body.
He pushed himself up and out of the tub and looked at me.
“God damn, I could totally go for round two right now.” He said as he looked at my body.
“Uh huh… no.” I said as I tried to pull myself up, I slipped and he caught me and steadied me as I stepped out and swayed on my feet.
“I feel dizzy and hungry.” I said.
Josh smiled at me. “Normal.” He said, like he knew. I looked at him and tilted my head.
“You did that before?” I asked him.
“Had it done to me… that’s how I found out about it.” He said.
I bit my lip. I guess knowing that he had done it with someone else was a no biggie. I mean how could it be? Truthfully I was glad he had been shown.
“K.” I said.
“What?” Josh said as he leaned in to look at me. I picked up my robe and wrapped it around myself.
“It’s cool.” I said.
“Really?” Josh said.
“Yeah…I mean I am not going to get all pissy about the fact that you didn’t only do that with me.” I said.
“Okay.” Josh said as he walked towards the closet and swung the doors open. I watched him, I know he probably expected me to be mad, but I wasn’t. There were a lot of girls before me and I can’t fault him for it.
I stepped up behind him and hugged him. He rubbed my hands and turned around, cupping my face in his hands.
“I think that you are growing up on me.” He said.
I crinkled my nose.
“No… just wiser.” I said.
“That is growing up.” He said.
“No, I just can’t be mad… not about stuff that happened before me.” I said.
“Oh.” Josh said as he turned away from me.
I leaned and looked at him as he tried to ignore me.
“That was before me, right?” I asked him.
He turned and had the look… you know the one… the one that tells me that he did that after me. I raised my eyebrows and stared him down.
“Spill it.” I said.
“It was Clytie.” He said.
I tilted my head. “The nymph?” I asked him.
“Uh huh.” He said.
“When?” I asked him.
“Memory.” Josh said.
“Oh okay… did she look like me?” I asked him.
“Nope.”
“WTF?” I asked him as I stepped back from him.
“It just happened, I couldn’t really stop it.” He said.
“Did you try?”
“Kinda.” He said.
“Define ‘kinda’,” I said.
“I said ‘stop’… yeah, I totally did.”
“Just ‘stop’?”
“Well, it came out more like… “OH MY GOD STOP!” he yelled and it echoed in the closet.
I blinked from the sheer volume of his voice.
“That sounds like you were, you know.” I said.
“I was.”
“Oh! And up to that point it never occurred to you to say stop?” I asked him.
He shrugged his shoulders and Johnathan stepped in, I looked at him.
“Umm, dinner is ‘being served’ according to Lily.” He said.
I looked at Josh and he grinned as I shook my head. Johnathan lingered for moment and rubbed his neck.
“Okay then.” He said.
I looked at him and tried to grin.
“We are getting dressed, be down in five.” I said.
Josh grinned and turned back to the clothing he was eyeballing.
Johnathan grinned and looked at him and then at me.
“Okay, see you downstairs.” He said and he left the room.
I stood there and decided to drop it. I know not normal, but the conversation was going absolutely nowhere. I felt Josh wrap his arms around me and leaned against him and looked up.
“You suck.” I said.
“I could.” He said as he let his hand wander under my robe and bru
shed his fingers against my breast. I sighed and pushed off of him.
“Don’t.” he said.
“Don’t what?” I said.
“Be all Rue.” He said.
I laughed and snorted at the same time.
“Oh okay.” I said.
He turned me too him and looked at my face.
“You know there is only you, all that I see, all that I feel.” He said.
I rolled my eyes.
“Yep…unless some whore has you in a tub.” I said.
“Not fair and old news.” He said.
“Not old enough.”
“I am never going to do that with anyone again except for you… and seeing that we live forever I would think that would make you happy.” He said.
“Thanks for the sacrifice.”
“That’s it.” He said as he spun me around and kissed me, this kiss making my head light and my knees buckle. If one thing is true, Josh is an amazing kisser as well as all the other stuff and things that come after and during the kiss. He is as good at the you know as much as he is at using his blade and let me tell you, that is something that is beyond amazing… beyond anything you could ever hope to have, almost too much to handle in large doses. I moaned as he lowered me to the floor and not unlike me… he got his way… round two. A hell of round too, let me tell ya.
***
Lily and Jonah sat at the long table, looking beautiful as ever. Johnathan sat there and kept looking at the high ceiling as the rock vibrated and small poofs of dust floated down. Some of the dust landed on his plate and he picked it up and wiped it with his hand. He looked at Lily and smiled.
“I told them that dinner was ready.” He said.
“Seems to be a delay.” Jonah said as he grinned and ran his fingers over the mouth of his wine glass and made it hum.
“Well, we can start without them, I am sure they will be along when ready.” Lily said.
Johnathan sighed and a young girl walked up to the table and filled his wine glass. He looked at the deep red color and leaned in to smell it.
“It is not blood.” Jonah said.
Johnathan glanced at him and grinned nervously, hoping he had not offended him.
“No… no I wasn’t.” he started to say.
Jonah smiled and held up his hand.
“We do drink blood in this house, if you would prefer to have it.”
Johnathan picked up his glass and drank from it. He felt the sweet flavor on his tongue and let it slide down his throat. He placed his glass on the table and cleared his throat.
“No, I’m good.” he said.
“We do not kill, we share.” Lily said as she looked up at Johnathan and smiled.
“Oh I know.” He said.
She looked at Jonah and Jonah nodded to her.
“Would you like to talk?” Jonah asked him.
The girl returned with a young boy and started to fill Johnathan’s plate with vegetables and meat. He looked at the half cooked meat and picked up his fork.
“About what?” Johnathan asked.
“Why you feel different now.” Jonah said.
Johnathan hesitated and then picked up his knife.
“I don’t know what you mean.” He said.
“Oh, come now.” Lily said as she placed a tiny piece of meat in her mouth and started to chew.
Johnathan looked up at her as he chewed and then dabbed the napkin to his mouth, catching some of the leftover blood from his meat. He looked at it and placed the napkin back on the table.
“I am upset.” He said.
Jonah took a drink and Lily looked at him and nodded.
“Johnathan, your energy is displaced, static. You are more than upset.” Jonah said.
“I didn’t realize.” Johnathan said.
“Well, seeing that you lost a mate… it is almost believable.” Jonah said.
Johnathan touched his glass and watched the wine move in it; he then took another large drink and placed the glass back on the table.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked him as he leaned back in his chair.
“Does Rue know how you feel about her?” Jonah asked.
Lily coughed on her wine and placed the glass back down, spilling a little on the white tablecloth.
“Jonah.” She said as she glanced at him.
“What love? We all feel it.” He said.
“Rue is…we are good friends.” He said.
“But you would like more.” Jonah said.
Johnathan adjusted in his chair and stared him down.
“When did you decide that it is your business?” Johnathan asked him.
“I mean no harm; I simply thought I would give you the opportunity to discuss it.”
Johnathan stood up and pushed his chair back quickly.
“Well you have a strange way of approaching the subject.” Johnathan said.
Lily stood up and looked at Johnathan.
“Jonah loves you, as do I… he simply wanted to help. I apologize for his lack of manners.” She said.
Johnathan relaxed a little and looked at Lily.
“You are the charm between the two of you.” He said as he smiled at her.
Lily returned the smile and looked at Jonah.
Jonah sighed and raised his hands up.
“I am sorry.” He said.
Johnathan looked at him and slowly sat back down, looking at his plate.
He picked up his glass and jiggled it.
“I think I will have some blood, if you don’t mind.”
Lily looked at Jonah and he nodded. Lily picked up the bottle by her glass and walked over to him. Johnathan looked at her and shook his head as she started to pour it into another glass.
“I would prefer it fresh.” He said.
Lily stopped and glanced at Jonah. He sat up and looked at Johnathan.
“As in feeding?” he asked.
Johnathan cleared his throat.
“I would prefer it.” He said.
“Okay then.” Jonah said. He flashed from the room and came back with the young girl who had served him his food. She looked young, but legal. Not nervous at all. Jonah walked her over to Johnathan and Johnathan looked at her and cracked a small grin.
She looked at Jonah and he nodded to her and placed her hand in Johnathan’s.
“Would you prefer…” Jonah started to say.
Johnathan was at her wrist, biting into it before Jonah could finish his question. He stepped back and held his hand out to Lily and she took it.
“Privacy love.” He whispered to her.
Johnathan held his hand up and took his mouth from the girl’s wrist, blood staining his lips. He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and then opened them, light shimmering off of his pupils as they glowed slightly red.
“I am okay, you can stay.” He said as he swallowed and released the girl’s hand. She rubbed her wrist and Jonah stepped up to her and placed his hand on her wrist, a light glowed under his hand against the wound Johnathan had inflicted. When he pulled his hand away the cut was gone and the girl grinned at him as he touched her face.
“You can go love.” He said.
The girl nodded and walked away, glancing back at Johnathan who watched her go.
“Better now?” Jonah asked him.
“Much, she tasted sweet.” Johnathan said.
“I wasn’t aware that you practiced feeding Johnathan.” Lily said as she moved back to her chair and sat down.
“Occasional hobby I guess.” Johnathan said as his hunger set in and he started to eat. Lily looked at Jonah and he stared at Johnathan, a little surprised at his apparent feeding habit, one he would have never guessed he had picked up.
“Well… now that we feel better, eat as much as you like… we have plenty, I would guess enough for an army since our young cook tends to over prepare.”
“I will eat… no worries.” Johnathan said as he drank and ate resembling a Viking more than himself. He swallowed after the fifth huge
bite and sighed.
“I apologize for the emotional outburst.” He said.
Jonah lowered his fork and looked at him.
“No need to apologize.” He said.
Johnathan smiled and looked up as Josh and I entered the room, me dressed in my light pink dress and Josh wearing a dark gray shirt with an off white vest. He had decided to forego the jacket when we delayed the ‘getting ready’ process with more fooling around. I sighed when I saw the meal laid out before us… being with Josh makes me hungry…more than usual and the smell of the delicious food filled my nose and made my stomach growl loudly, kind of echoing in the room. Josh grinned at me and I rolled my eyes as I walked to the chair and he pulled it out for me as Johnathan stood, acting as if he was about to do it himself. I glanced at him and smelled blood and my teeth ached for a moment. I shook off the feeling and sat down, letting Josh push my chair in under me. He leaned down and kissed my hand as he looked at Johnathan and Johnathan looked back at his glass and started to play with it.
“It looks amazing… I am sorry for being late.” I said.
Johnathan grinned and shook his head as I glanced at him and narrowed my eyes.
“Why do you smell like blood?” I asked.
“Probably, because I just fed.” Johnathan said as he stood up and walked out of the room.
“What?” I asked him as he ignored me and continued to walk. I looked back at Lily and she shrugged her shoulders.
“He fed?” I asked her.
“He wanted to, right here at the table… with my lovely girlfriend.” Lily said.
I looked at Josh and he shook his head and grinned.
“He is fucked up.” Josh muttered.
I bit my lip and looked at the table.
“Well… it looks fantastic… thanks.” I said as I cleared my throat.
“Thank you for dropping dust on the table.” Jonah said as he laughed.
I crinkled my eyebrows and looked up at the high ceiling overhead and it hit me…we had just and they could feel… oh crap.
“I ah, I am sorry.” I said as I adjusted myself in the chair and looked down.