by Quell T Fox
“Just because I wanted to.” I grin at his words and press another kiss to his lips. The sweet cream flavor still lingering.
“Thank you for showing this to me. I think cooking is just a little bit more exciting now.” I crinkle my nose at him.
“Glad I could help.” He takes off his apron and pushes his glasses up his nose.
He is so damn adorable.
CHAPTER 22
Friday
-MONDAY-
I’m up early, earlier than I should be because I want to see Callan and Alec off. I’ve been worried about them leaving ever since last night. One, because there is someone actively trying to kill us (we think) and two, I’m worried about how I’m going to feel with them being gone. I don’t know if I can deal with that ache in my chest all day.
Callan looks handsome beyond words. He has on grey dress pants, a light blue button up shirt with a navy-blue sweater vest and a white with blue polka dot tie. His hair is perfectly swooped over, and he looks absolutely delicious. He finished his ensemble today with a very expensive watch and shiny shoes. He should dress up like this for me in the bedroom… just sayin.
Alec is looking the complete opposite, and I don’t mean the opposite of hot in anyway. His clothes are ripped and dirty, and smells of grease and oil. Something about the “mechanics” clothes send shivers up my spine. I think the relates to all types of uniforms. Why is that?
I made breakfast and I’m quite proud of it. The guys are grateful, which makes waking up at the asscrack of dawn totally worth it. Not that eggs and bacon are anything extravagant, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
“Normally I grab food on the way. This is a nice change,” Alec’s deep voice sounds from the dining table and I smile inwardly.
“You’re welcome. I also packed you and Callan a lunch.” I’m singing inside my head and doing a little dance as I wash the dishes. I keep sneaking looks at the guys from over my shoulder, because really, I just can’t get enough of them.
Alec looks up at me from his plate, his stare causing me to blush.
“What? Are we in elementary school?” Maddox adds, sitting at the table shirtless and extremely distracting. It’s a good thing breakfast was done before he came downstairs or I would have burned the eggs.
“What? I thought it was cute… and thoughtful.” I defend. “And that remark just earned you no lunch whenever you find a job.”
“I have a job.” He states insistently.
“Mhm,” I mumble quietly, not sure if he heard me. I look over my shoulder and he’s shoveling food into his mouth happily, so he mustn’t have.
“It is cute and thoughtful. I want to go to work just so she can pack me a lunch,” Lenny says before kissing my cheek and taking a seat at the table. Callan is the only one who is finished and ready to leave, he has to be at work before Alec, so I know he’ll be leaving any minute.
“I’ll miss you today.” Callan whispers into my ear, stepping up behind me. He reaches his arm around and picks up the brown paper bag with his name on it. I don’t miss the close contact, and I’m liking his confidence. “Thank you for this. Normally, I do it myself, but it was sweet of you to pack it for me.” I cup his face between my hands and pull him down into a kiss. He tries to pull away, but I don’t let him, not at first. He laughs into my lips before I finally let him loose. “See you later?”
“Yes.”
I sit at the table with the other guys after making myself a plate. I watch as Callan walks out the door, his butt looking scrumptious in those pants. I really need to talk to him about this role-playing thing. “What are the plans for us today?”
“Plan? I thought we were just going to fuck all day.” Maddox says after swallowing a mouth full of food. He washes it down with a long sip of his coffee, that is probably cold by now.
“As much as I would enjoy that, I think we should do something a bit more productive. I think you guys should help me find a job.” I get a glare from all three of them.
“You’re still on that? We already told you that you don’t need to work.”
“I can’t sit around all day and mooch off you guys.” I sip my own coffee, that is thankfully still nice and hot.
“It’s not mooching if we want you to do it. Let us take care of you.” Lenny says, standing to help himself to another plate.
“As much as I appreciate that, I can’t. I need to work. My ex took my job away from me and I’ve realized how much I miss working. Doing my own thing. I need this,” I plead. I’m playing with my food more than eating it at the moment, suddenly losing my appetite. I know they mean well, but this is frustrating. I don’t want to not be able to do things, it’s unfair.
“And how are you supposed to work with one of us being with you? You won’t be going alone, that’s for sure.” Maddox says firmly. He finishes the food on his plate, pushes it forward and then finishes his coffee. Alec is eating his food, minding his business. I’ve learned that he doesn’t say much, but he doesn’t miss a thing.
A car horn sounds outside and Alec stands, placing his plate into the sink and grabbing the paper bag filled with his lunch. When he passes me, he pauses for a second, a questioning look on his face, but then continues on. “Later.”
We mumble good-byes at him.
“He’s making progress. He’ll get there.” Lenny says, obviously realizing the same thing that I had. He’d thought about kissing me, but chose against it.
“Do you guys get this weird ache in your chest when I’m not around?” Needing to change the subject from the job thing. That is going to go around in circles forever and I have a feeling that I’m never going to win, but I won’t give up. This is something that I need, and besides that, it’s something that I want.
They look at each other questioningly.
“No?” Maddox says, narrowing his eyes at me.
“I noticed it ever since I left that first time. Ya know, when you… well, anyway. Every time one of you is away from me, I get this ache in my chest until you return. It’s worse when more than one of you are gone. It’s mostly tolerable, just annoying more than anything. Do you think it has something to do with the bond?”
“Now that I think of it, I’ve heard about this before. Yeah. I think it is part of the bond, but because our Circle isn’t closed yet. Pretty sure that once it’s closed, it’ll stop. Does it hurt now?” Maddox stands to bring his stuff to the sink. He washes his and Alec’s dishes before placing them on the drying rack. There is a dishwasher, but I’ve never been a fan.
I shake my head. “No. I don’t know if it will, I’ve just been worried about it since last night, knowing that Callan and Alec wouldn’t be here. I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with it all day.” I sit back and cross my arms over my chest. “Really though, what are the plans for today?”
“Honestly, I planned to just hang out here. Plus, it is Monday…” Maddox dries his hands on the towel and leaves it on the counter. Lenny gets up and scoops the rest of the food onto his plate before sitting back down.
“Oh, right.” I say quickly. Offering my half-finished plate to Lenny. He shrugs and takes it, emptying it onto his plate. I finish my coffee, because it’d be a sin to waste that.
“Callan did ask me to make an appointment with the Prophet. To see what kind of information we can get about you and what kind of Paranormal you are, and if she knows anything about what’s been going on and why someone is trying to kill us.” Callan never forgets a thing.
“Good idea. So, living room then? Let’s be lazy and watch movies all day.” I suggest. Lenny nods happily, taking his last bite of food. He narrows his eyes at me and slowly pushes himself from the table and jets into the living room with me hot on his heels. I grab onto his shirt and plop onto the couch before he can.
“I win!” I raise my arms above my head in victory, a proud smile on my face.
“You guys are children,” Maddox snaps as he strolls in and sits beside me.
“You love us, so shut it.” The words leave my mouth before I realize what I’ve said. I look at Maddox and his eyes go wide for a split second, but he quickly shakes it off. “What are we going to watch?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Let’s find a funny movie,” Lenny says. I lay down with my head on Lenny’s lap like I normally do and put my feet up on Maddox. If Callan were here, that would be his job, but unfortunately, he isn’t. I half expect Maddox to shove my feet off, but he doesn’t. Instead, he rests his arms over my shins and settles in.
***
I’m sitting on the couch watching TV, Lenny is on the other side of the couch, snoring. I think he ate himself into a coma. It’s amazing how much this kid can eat. It’s barely dark out. I remember being his age and wanting to stay up as late as possible. Not this one.
A creaking sound comes from the front door, so I mute the TV. Someone is coming in. I stand and walk to the kitchen, not wanting to wake Lenny. The door opens and in walks my mother.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, more defensively than I should.
“What the fuck do you mean what am I doing here? I live here, that’s what.”
“But what are you doing here now? Don’t you have another two weeks left at rehab?”
“I’m done with that, Maddie. I’m golden, all set to graduate.”
“No, mom it doesn’t work that way.” I shake my head.
“I’m fine. Stop your worrying. I was there long enough, plus I missed you. Trust me, the pills are in the past. I’m a changed woman. You just wait and see.”
She never changes. It’s always the same. She comes home, she’s clean for a week and then she’s not. She gets bad and then worse and then even worse. Until she gets put into another rehab, either by me convincing her or her stupid sister convincing her. Her sister actually works for Child Protective Services and allows this shit to go on, can you believe that?
Mom is here now, and she’s clean, but it won’t last.
People don’t change.
“Okay mom. Whatever you say. Just be quiet, Lenny is sleeping.”
“That damn boy is still here, Maddie? When you gonna give him back to his mother?”
“I told you, she asked if he could stay here while she went away for work. It’s not that big of a deal. I’ve been working extra and putting food in the house. Don’t worry about it. I’ll work more if I have to. I don’t mind.” I’ll say whatever I have to, to keep Lenny living here. To keep him safe and taken care of. And to keep her from mentioning it to anyone. If she brought it up to a neighbor, they may blow my story.
“Whatever you say, son. Did you make dinner? I’m starving.”
“In the fridge.” I tell her as I make my way back to the living room, mentally preparing myself to start this whole scenario all over again. It’s always the same, which in a way is helpful. I don’t bother getting my hopes up anymore. That stopped long ago. She’d killed all hopes and dreams for a normal childhood years ago.
She’ll wake us up super early in the morning, make breakfast and drop us off at school. Lenny included. She’s nice to him when she isn’t high, he’s only an inconvenience when she is, because she knows he’s another mouth to feed, which means less money to supply her addiction. After a week of this, she’ll start getting bitchy again. Then she’ll start smoking weed or drinking, it’s always one or the other. Then it’ll only be a day or two before she upgrades to the pills – just needing to take the edge off, that’s what she’ll say. Once that happens, who knows how long it’ll take her to get into rehab. It’s always been different. The last time was easy, but the time before that was a huge fight. It took Aunt Harriet to come here and threaten to take me away. I’m not sure why that works, she doesn’t care enough about me to stop doing drugs, why does she care if I’m here? Oh, that’s right. Money. I’m her money supply, between child support and my jobs.
Sometimes I wish my mom had done what Lenny’s mom did. That she would just leave and that’s it. I wouldn’t have to deal with her drug habit, her stupid boyfriends or the drug dealers. Plus, I have to start hiding the money again. And in a place that she doesn’t know about. I’ll have to see if Alec will let me keep it at his house.
I have half a mind to go squat in Lenny’s house and make believe that I ran away. She probably wouldn’t care, or maybe wouldn’t notice at all. The reason I won’t is because I don’t want Lenny to run into Charlene. She came back once, and promised she’d be back again once she’d straighten things out. Hasn’t happened yet.
“It feels so good to be home, you know? It’s like a breath of fresh air being out of that place. All those crazy druggies in there. It’s stifling.”
You mean, like you? I think.
I wish I had the gall to say that to her face, but I don’t. She’d probably slap me and kick me out and I just don’t want to deal with something like that right now. So, I sit back, I watch TV and I pretend that I’m happy to see the one person I wish would disappear for good.
CHAPTER 23
Lenny
It doesn’t take Friday long to fall asleep. I knew it would happen, she woke up way too early and went to bed too late to stay awake. It’s amazing how much sleep she needs and how she can fall asleep in random places like this. I guess I take it as a compliment, that we make her so comfortable that she can just snooze.
It’s kind of adorable. Except for the snoring. That is not so adorable. It sounds like something that should be coming out of a grizzly bear, not the tiny, red-head in front of me.
We get halfway through the movie before Maddox nudges my arm and points to the upstairs. I lick my lips before nodding my head. He moves Friday’s legs first and then I get up slowly before placing the throw pillow under her head. I take the blanket that is hanging over the back of the couch and drape it over her. She doesn’t budge, she just keeps snoring.
I place a soft kiss on her forehead before following Maddox up the stairs, knowing what we’re going to do. I’ve done this with Maddox every week for years, so why am I now suddenly feeling nervous? Why now? He probably wants to get it over with while no one is around. I’m surprised he doesn’t want to feed from Friday again, from what I heard they had a great time.
“I want to do this while Friday is sleeping. I think she’ll ask me to feed from her again, but I don’t trust myself to do that.” He says as we enter the bedroom that we’ve been sharing.
“Why not? What’s going on?” I ask, closing the door behind me. I thought they had a great time. I hope that wasn’t just bullshit they fed us to make us feel better about this relationship thing.
“Her blood, man, it’s like a drug. It’s been so hard this entire week. I thought about feeding almost every day. I haven’t been this bad in a long time. I don’t know what it is, but I can’t let it get that bad. I need to feed from you to see if it’s me, or if it’s her blood specifically.” That’s a bit frightening. Thinking about Maddox becoming blood thirsty. That hasn’t happened in a long time, and it was awful when it did. I was young when it happened, and didn’t fully understand what was going on, but when we were older and made the deal of weekly feedings from us, it all suddenly made sense to me. When he gets blood thirsty, he’s like an addict without their fix. He does all kinds of crazy things to get what he needs.
The guys told me when it all started to happen, they tried animals, you know, because that’s a little bit better than humans. Didn’t work. He’s never actually killed anyone, but he’s definitely scared the shit out of quite a few people, us included. No, we definitely don’t want him to get like that again.
“No problem, Mad. You know I’ll help out anyway I can.” I give him a full-toothed smile. He gives me a look, like he wants to add something but decides not to. “The bed?”
He nods.
I mo
ve to the bed and lay down like I normally do. It’s more comfortable for me this way. The butterflies start to go crazy in my stomach. Why? What is so different about today? Why does this time feel different? When Maddox leans over me to get into position, placing his forearms by my sides. I turn my neck to the side, to give him better access to my vein. He brushes my hair away and my cock twitches in my pants. After that fight we had, it’s like I can’t get enough of him, but that doesn’t explain my nerves.
“Ready?” His voice is deep, and husky. It’s such a nice fucking voice.
“Yes,” I breathe the word out, feeling extremely turned on in this moment. My cock is rock hard in my jeans and I feel like I might explode at any second. When Maddox sinks his teeth into me, I let out this garble of a moan – it’s almost embarrassing. He pulls away quickly and looks at me with wide eyes.
“The fuck? Are you okay?” He’s concerned. He never shows concern.
“Yeah, fine. That just felt… different.” I reassure him. “You can continue.”
“Different how?” He raises an eyebrow. He’s so close to me, and I’m tempted to reach up and kiss him, no, not just kiss, but devour his mouth. My cock is throbbing painfully, and I need a release.
“Like really fucking good.” I look down at the bulge in my pants and Maddox follows my eyes. He smirks and leans down again. Another moan leaves my lips when his teeth enter through my skin for the second time, only this time he doesn’t stop. This time he sucks from me slowly and his hand drags over my erection, rubbing it through my pants. He unbuttons them with one hand, I arch my back up to press my cock into his hand, needing more. It doesn’t take him long to free my cock and when he does, he squeezes it tightly, then strokes it slowly.
“Oh, fuck.” The spot where he pulls blood from is warm and pulsing. The feeling travels down and spreads throughout my body. I feel as if I’m in the throws of an orgasm, without all the extra stuff. Like the come and the need to stop. “Keep going. Don’t stop.” I tell Maddox as he pulls away from my neck, licking over the holes to close them up, taking extra care with his tongue. I grip his hair and pull his lips to mine, greedily sucking his tongue into my mouth. The coppery taste of blood takes over my senses, but I don’t care. He continues to stroke me, and I know I’m not going to last long at all.