Crave

by Serena Simpson

  “We can live with the bare minimum, like water but no milkshakes. That’s a cold hard life. When you love someone or even care just a little. You want to give them every good thing you can think of. That’s why Ryan needs more than he had.”

  I nodded and finished my milkshake. No one ever tried to show me love. Except, Noah did. He made sure I ate and introduced me to milkshakes. What was I going to do when he left? He would leave; they all did.

  We were standing in line with a shopping cart full of items for Ryan. He would think it was that earth holiday Christmas. I thought it was.

  “Are you sure he needs all of this?”

  “Wait till you get him home. He’ll need so much more.”

  I was beginning to think there might be more to taking care of an earth child than I knew. I’d have to talk about this with Aran. His child was half human.

  Once I paid for everything the drive to Aran’s house didn’t take that much longer. I looked over at Noah when we went through the mist that kept Aran’s property separated from the humans. I never understood how it worked since it let some humans through before they were ever mated to the created.

  It let Noah through. I was going to have to spend some time wondering what that meant later. Now I filed it away.

  “Aran and his mate Rena live here. Their son Alexei and his mate Amber were going to stay and help with Ryan.”

  “I’m looking forward to meeting them.” Noah got out of the car and grabbed several of the bags.

  I took the rest and led him to the front door. It opened when I knocked. They were expecting me. We walked in to hear laughter coming from our left.

  “Aran?”

  “In the kitchen.”

  I turned and followed the sound of his voice. Rena was at the stove. Amber was getting drinks out of the fridge. Aran was looking arrogant as ever as he watched his mate. Alexei was doing the same as Amber bossed him around. Ryan was sitting at the table with a perplexed look on his face. Probably the same one that was on mine.

  “Hey Cole, have you eaten?” Rena asked me without turning around.

  “No, he hasn’t,” Noah answered before I could.

  I glared at him. I hadn’t intended to stay.

  “Hi, I’m Rena.” She stopped to look at him.

  “I’m Noah.”

  “Noah, you’re with Cole?”

  “Yeah.” She grinned, and I knew I wasn’t going to like it.

  “Have a seat. We’re having an early dinner. Both of you are invited.”

  I took a seat not sure what to do.

  “Hi, Cole,” Ryan said. His eyes were hooded.

  “Hi.”

  “What’s in your hands?”

  I looked down to see a big box that was gift wrapped. Noah told me that Ryan would love it, but I wasn’t so certain. Now that he was sitting in front of me without that haunted, hungry look on his face. I wondered what I had to offer a human child or any child for that matter.

  “I saw this and thought you might like it. It’s okay… I mean if you don’t like it. You don’t have to pretend to like it or anything. It’s just…”

  Noah placed his hand over mine. Which stopped the verbal diarrhea. Ryan’s hands were outstretched. I placed the gift in them and waited. I wasn’t holding my breath because it didn’t matter. It was the feel of Noah’s hand rubbing circles on my back that reminded me to breathe.

  Ryan tore into the gift like he had never received one before. He turned to look at me, but his eyes were shuttered.

  “Is this really mine?” I nodded. My heart was crumbling.

  “What do I have to do for it? I can… you know.”

  What? My eyes lit up as I realized what he was saying!

  “No! Never again. I want you to have it. You don’t have to do anything for it not even make good grades.”

  His head tilted back to look at me. I was standing now. I was too agitated to sit still.

  “Do you mean it?”

  I jerked my head. I wished I could go back and kill Anders. I was too nice; I made it too quick.

  “I mean it.”

  He put the remote-control truck down carefully. Then he hugged me around the waist. I was so surprised that I went still. He was doing the same thing Noah did for me but differently. When he touched me, I knew I had done something right. I would kill anyone who hurt him.

  The hug was fast, then he was sitting down with the truck in his lap. I looked over at Noah his head was turned to the side. I could still see his lips as he fought to keep a smile off them.

  Alexei was challenging Ryan to a race to see who operated the truck better. Amber was volunteering to keep it honest. Rena was standing with a smile on her face as she watched me. Aran was looking like he was the patriarch of the family. I wondered if this was what it meant to be human or created.

  “Love, we made it in time to eat.”

  Aran rolled his eyes.

  “Nicolas, Janis take a seat.” Rena told them.

  “Noah this is my brother Nicolas and his mate Janis. My brother has perfect timing. He comes right as the food is done.”

  Janis was nodding her head and laughing.

  “Our son has decided it’s time to find his mate. He thinks that staying close to home has been the problem. I explained to him; it doesn’t work like that, but I’m just his mother. That has led us to spending more time here.”

  “Janis, Nicolas this is Noah.” Rena introduced him.

  “Hi. Do you only have the one son?”

  “Yes. When Nicolas and Damon finally found a way to break the created cycle for children, it didn’t seem like the right time to have another.” Her eyes went to Ryan and lingered.

  “Do you have any children?”

  I turned to look at Noah. I just assumed he didn’t, but I never asked.

  “No, I always thought there would be time for that.”

  Janis nodded like she understood. Maybe she did. Even though she was mated to a created, she was human and would always retain her humanity.

  “Nicolas, I was hoping to talk to you.”

  “Sure, what’s up.”

  “There’s a young man in Shady Grove. His name is Seth Hill, I was wondering if you and Damon would examine him.”

  “Human?”

  I nodded my head. Nicolas knew he was human, but he was making a point. One that Noah missed. We were careful not to change the lives of the beings around us, unless we had no other choice. I ignored his pointed inquiry. He finally agreed to see him. I refused to look inside to find out why it mattered to me.

  Chapter Eight

  Noah

  Cole had been silent ever since we left the Dare household. Now we were back in the too small motel room. Tensions were running high, and all I could hear was his voice telling me he didn’t love me. As if I loved him or would welcome his love. I wonder if that was what he was thinking about. Unable to take it any longer, I grabbed a pair of pajama bottoms, my shaving kit, slamming the bathroom door behind me.

  I didn’t need this shit. Hopefully, by the time I came out, he would have picked up whatever he brought with him and taken it to a new room. There was no reason we needed to bunk together. This wasn’t summer fucking camp.

  As soon as my temper calmed down, I realized I had a much bigger problem. No pun intended. I chuckled, which made me feel a little better. I was standing straight up and how was I supposed to deal with the issue when there was an alien right outside the door. It’s not like I’m quiet. If you can’t make a sound, it makes the experience less intense. My teenage self might not agree. Since I wanted to touch myself every couple of minutes back then, my teenage self is not invited to the conversation.

  I hate cold water; I cursed whoever came up with the concept of cold showers as I froze and prayed for my dick to play dead.

  I thought I was good until I got out the shower. Then Cole’s fuck me scent slammed into my nose. It must be an alien thing. I just needed to keep it together until I got in the bed. Right, cause
I could hide my erect dick under a sheet. It won’t look like a tent pole at all.

  I put on my pajama bottoms, cursed up a storm about how I wasn’t putting on a T-shirt and walked into the other room defiant.

  Cole ignored me. Of course he did, the asshole. He grabbed his stuff and disappeared into the bathroom. I sighed, climbed into bed and tried to remember what I did to piss someone off so much that I deserved this. God, I was sick. All I could think about was Cole, naked in the shower. The water sliding over his skin the way my hands longed to.

  I stood behind him, my tongue running over his neck and shoulders. I would nip at him just to hear that sharp indrawn breath that made my dick kick and my stomach drop. My arm snaked around his middle and pulled him back to meet my body. It was a hard, forceful. I never moved when he slammed into me. His voice broke on a whimper, the sound taking me higher.

  Damn, there was that tent pole. I tried to turn to the side before Cole came out the bathroom. He stepped into the light-filled room. I should have thought far enough ahead to turn off those lights. He was beautiful. You would think that the harsh lights would make his skin pale or his eyes not sparkle. You would be wrong.

  Whatever I thought a couple of minutes ago couldn’t compare to the reality. He stood there in a pair of pajama bottoms that were slung low over his slender waist. I could see his thighs through the material they were layered in muscle. He didn’t have a happy trail made of hair. He had something better. It could have been a tattoo. It was black and red and looked like a swirl that started where I expected to see his happy trail making its way past the waistband of the pants he was wearing.

  How the hell did I miss this last night? Thank god, I missed it. He was towel drying his hair. When he was done, he dropped the towel on the chair and went to stand next to his bed. That’s where he hesitated. If I didn’t know any better, I would think he was nervous.

  I was nervous.

  I stood up, my arousal trying to punch a hole in my pajamas. My hands were shaking, but I got them to reach down and take the cover. I pulled it back in invitation. Our eyes met. It was a challenge from me to him. His eyes reflected the same challenge back at me. I couldn’t have one without the other. Look away, that voice that always kept me from getting too deeply involved whispered in my ear.

  Not this time. I don’t know why, and I don’t know why a man, especially this man was calling to me. My running days were over. He might crush me, but I wasn’t leaving.

  His shoulders squared before he walked over to me and climbed onto my bed. There was a fierce sense of elation. This was right. I laid on the outside as I acknowledged I would protect this male, my male, from any danger. Even the danger he brought to himself.

  This was worse than my first time. Yeah, this could be considered my first time. Cole was lying on his stomach; his head pillowed on his folded arms.

  The cover was pulled up to his waist, and I could see the same tattoo on his lower back disappearing once again into the waistband of his pajama’s.

  “Can I touch you?” God my voice came out rumbly and hungry.

  “Yes.” His voice sounded kinda surreal. Like he didn’t believe he just gave permission. I would have thought I was crazy, or this was a dream if it wasn’t for the fine tremor that went through him.

  I licked my lips. I couldn’t stop myself, then swallowed. It felt the moisture in my body either disappeared or relocated to my aching length.

  My hands were trembling. I raised them anyway. There was something about his spine. The way it curved with a masculine beauty that was calling to me. I needed to trace it. My breath came out in a sigh as I settled my hand on his back. I started at the base of his neck slowly working my way down his vertebrae. His breath was blowing out in little puffs as he tried not to shake. Every small move from him made me want to go off the deep end.

  It was the ragged sound he made when I pushed a little harder that almost did me in. I never push, never, but right now I wanted to. I settled for tracing his spine down before I caressed it up. The need to see where that tattoo ended was riding me hard, but I ignored it to trace the marks on his back. I knew what they were even as the food in my stomach soured. Someone abused him. My painfully hard cock deflated like a balloon with a pin in it.

  I moved to the half circle on his shoulder blade. There was an identical one on his other shoulder.

  “That’s where my wings come from.”

  “I thought I was dreaming.”

  He gave a laugh that made my dick twitch. The male was a menace.

  “How do your wings fit in such a small space? It doesn’t look like you have any.”

  “I may look like you, but I’m made differently. My wings absorb into my body. They are part of my bones and flesh making them denser. When I’m not using them, they help to protect me. When I’m using them, they make my body light enough to be lifted from the planet’s surface.”

  “There’s so much wrong with what you just said to my way of thinking. I’m amazed to realize that, so many different aliens can look like me, but be so different on the inside.”

  “Isn’t that how it is on earth? You all look the same on the outside but are different on the inside.”

  For a minute, I wanted to bristle, to puff up and challenge him. How dare you say we all look alike? Then I found the humor in it. How many times have I heard someone say, ‘you know they all look alike.’ Too many.

  My fingers were soothing the scars on his back. They called to me.

  “Will you tell me about these?”

  “No.”

  Cole turned to his side. His dick brushing my thigh. I was so grateful I wasn’t alone in my attraction.

  “You have to give to get.”

  I knew what he meant. I made sure he ate, but I really hadn’t told him anything about myself. He shared the Dare’s with me. He allowed me to meet Ryan. He intervened on Seth’s behalf. This is where I normally ran as far and fast as my car would take me. This was my normal breakdown in communication.

  Cole didn't promise me a future or even a one-night stand. He was saying if I wanted to play I needed to buy in with something that would cost me. It had to be personal. His hand traced the scar over my heart.

  Chapter Nine

  Noah

  I could do this, but since I was conditioned to run it wouldn’t be easy.

  “If you want to understand the scar I have to start from the beginning.”

  He nodded his hand slightly caressing over the raised skin. I took a deep breath in before I started my story.

  “When I was sixteen, I still looked like I was fourteen. My dad would always say that I’d go to bed and wake up one morning taller and thicker. I was tired of waiting for it to happen. There was this girl her name was Paula Prescott. I know what kind of name is Paula? It was a beautiful name just like her. I would say it every chance I got, and I would write it down. She was my best friend. We met the first day of middle school. I always dreamed of taking her to the prom.

  “I had just turned sixteen; I was going to ask her out on a date. My father was teaching me to drive, and I was tired of waiting for my muscle and height to catch up with me. She had these dark blue eyes and straight black hair. I was sure that every time she looked at me; I saw my future. My dad would say to me ‘Noah, Paula’s a looker. You better catch her before some other boy puts his rod in the water.’ He would make fish comparisons.”

  I could feel the smile creeping up my face as I thought about my dad. I missed him and his uncomplicated wisdom.

  “I was going to do it. I finally had enough courage to ask Paula out. She’d been coming to my house for years. Everyone knew she was mine. I sound like I owned her, but I don’t mean it like that. They knew we were best friends. Ask anyone they would say Noah and Paula will be together one day. I don’t know why he did it. I don’t really care what his reasons were. Harold Conley asked Paula out. She said yes.

  “She was so excited when she came to my house after school and told
me. It was her first date. Someone wanted to date her. Things I regret. Not telling Paula how much I cared about her and not pleading for her not to go out with him. I thought after it’s over, and he doesn’t want to date her anymore I’ll tell her all I ever wanted was her.

  “I tried to be happy for her. I swear I did. She called me before he picked her up on their date. It was landlines back then. Cell phones were a thing, but parents weren’t giving them to kids then. I don’t remember what she said all I remember is that she was happy. I do know I asked her to call me after she got home, and she agreed. I waited because even if Paula and Harold went steady, or she went to the prom with him. God forbid she married him; I was still her best friend and would always care. I watched the clock as the minutes, and hours ticked off. The television was on low, and I’m begging her to call me.

  “That’s when the excuses start. Maybe she was home and forgot to call me in her excitement. I broke down and called her house. She’s not back yet. I heard the worry in her mother’s voice. Her dad worked nights, so he wasn’t home. Her mom knew I was dying, so she agreed to make sure she called me when she got home. Then it happened. It was like a burden being rolled away. I grabbed the phone expecting to hear how happy she was. She was sobbing on the phone.”

  I sat up. The trip through my past was killing me inside. Noah Kemp this is your life. Can you pinpoint the minute it all went to hell? Why yes, yes I can. When I heard the then love of my life begging for me to come get her. Every minute, every experience after that was wrapped in bubble wrap so no one would ever touch my heart. I didn’t live after that I was just a passenger in the car that was driving. Cole, no last name was ripping every bit of insulation out of my life and forcing me back into the driver’s seat. I was raw.

  Paula was now Cole and Cole was Paula. I had one of those moments you get. The perfection of clarity when your life is going to hell. If I walked away from whatever was happening between Cole and me, I would be in pieces. I bowed my head in acceptance then stood. I could no longer stay still.