by Hazel Hunter
One of the canaries chirped, drawing his attention. His own familiar was ensconced next to them, cooing.
“Yes,” the commandant said, and Hugh came back to the moment. “This afternoon. You said ASAP as I recall.”
Indeed he had.
“And when can we expect you back at–”
Hugh hung up.
* * *
• • • • •
* * *
Nix silently crept back into bed, as she watched Hugh’s sleeping face. It was basically the only time she could get up––when he was sleeping. Otherwise it was chicken soup in bed, or breakfast, or tea. If she needed anything, she had barely to think about it before he was up fetching it. But the one thing he couldn’t do was wrap his own Christmas present. Although she’d never had the chance to shop, she really hoped he would like it. Almost under the covers, she paused. Maybe it was too much.
Hugh made a little noise. He was dreaming. His hands were loose fists and his legs jerked. Beneath his closed lids, his eyes were moving furiously back and forth. Noobie got up. As Nix watched, he went to the foot of the bed and nosed into Hugh’s feet.
“No,” Nix whispered. She sat up and tried to shoo him away. “Noobie, get back.”
Hugh jerked awake. “No!” he yelled.
Nix flinched at the sudden sound, but Noobie put his front paws on the bed and stood. Though Hugh’s eyes were a little wild, he raised his head, saw Noobie, and blinked.
“You were dreaming,” Nix said.
Hugh’s head sank back on the pillow as he ran his hand through his hair. Though he drew in a deep breath and exhaled, he didn’t look at her.
“Oh,” she said. “The Professor.”
Hugh grimaced a little. “Yeah,” he said.
“I didn’t know you were having nightmares too.”
“You have your own to worry about,” he said, finally looking at her. His roamed over her body. It was strange how quickly she’d gotten used to that. He gently eased her back, and pulled under the covers.
“Actually,” she said, “it helps to know I’m not the only one.”
There were a few moments of silence. Hugh tucked the blanket under her chin.
“I never killed anyone before,” he finally said. He snuggled close as they shared the pillow. “I guess…I still can’t believe I did it.”
She turned to him, wrapping her arms around him. “There was no other way,” she said, though her own memory of the warehouse was hazy at best. “You saved my life.”
“I’d do it again,” he said with new energy in his voice. He smoothed a few strands of hair from her forehead. “I wouldn’t hesitate.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about Wicca, and Templars, and immortality and all that? Why did I have to learn about it from the pastor?”
Hugh grimaced. “I should have told you, and I tried. But…you were so happy that morning. I didn’t want to spoil that.”
She only nodded, and for several moments they simply held each other. She sighed at the warmth radiating from him, and closed her eyes. Despite the dreams, and everything they’d been through, nothing had ever felt so right.
He reached behind her and slowly stroked her spine. She marveled yet again at how soft his fingers were.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” she whispered, relaxing against his chest.
“I hope not,” he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. “But give it a few years.”
His fingers stopped. There was a new tension in his body.
She looked up at him, to find him staring into her face.
“What?” she said.
Chapter 23
Hugh had been thinking about this for two days, and still couldn’t find the words. He decided to just say it.
“I want to initiate you,” he said.
Phoenix went still. “No condom?”
“It’s sudden, I know. But…” He thought of the warehouse and the Professor. Frankly, he’d thought of little else. “I can’t lose you, Phoenix. I won’t.”
“But I might get pregnant,” she said quietly.
“It’s the possibility of life that makes the union so sacred. It’s what makes us immortal.”
“Immortality I can deal with.” The matter of fact tone brought him up short. She drew back to look in his eyes. “But pregnancy…”
“Being a parent is a big step. But I can examine your chi. Depending on your ovulation cycle–”
“It’s not being a parent that worries me,” she said.
He blinked at her and had to stare. This whole conversation wasn’t quite what he’d planned. “It’s not?”
“I’d want to be in a long term relationship, you know? Something stable. Something–”
He caressed the side of her face. “You are in a stable relationship.” Her lips parted but she didn’t say anything. “I know we haven’t known each other long, but…” How could he explain it? Maybe there was no explaining. “I love you, Phoenix. I think I have from the moment I met you.”
She looked relieved. “Well that’s good.” Hugh stared at her. That wasn’t exactly the reaction he’d expected either. “I mean, obviously.” She must have seen the look on his face. “Haven’t I said that?”
“No,” he said cautiously.
“Really?” she said, looking confused. “Because I thought it.” She looked into his eyes. “Seriously. Are you sure I didn’t say it? Because how could I not? I–”
He laughed a little under his breath. “Consider it said.”
He lowered his face to hers and kissed her, muffling her words. Unlike their first tentative kiss, he didn’t hold back. His mouth engulfed hers, ready to take her that very instant. His erection throbbed against her belly, and in response, her hips pushed against him.
Moving with pent-up demand, he quickly rolled to his back. Their mouths separated with a small smack, and she was on top. He was moving too fast. He had to slow down. But as Phoenix straddled him and pushed up into a sitting position, slowing down was the last thing he could do. He sat up partway and captured a nipple in his mouth. He ran his hands down the silky smooth skin of her back. He gnawed, and licked, and sucked, as his hand found her other breast. He plumped the tender flesh in his hand.
“Oh my god,” she gasped. “Oh my god, oh my god.”
Her fingers gripped his hair and tried to tug him away from her nipple. He clamped down with his lips. Her hips squirmed on top of his erection until the delicate folds of her entrance found the tip. He growled with satisfaction and released her. As he lay back, he took both of her breasts in his hands. He would never tire of looking at her, of feeling her soft flesh in his grasp. Her lithe body rocked on top of his, and the moist glide along his member was incredible.
“That’s it,” he whispered harshly. “Yes.”
He gently massaged and molded her plump breasts, making her whimper. The breathless sound was intoxicating. He needed to rise up into her, and fill her very core. Her entrance stroked him until he felt like he might explode. He reached down between them, and fingered her swollen clit. Her entire body shuddered and a surprised “oh” escaped her lips.
“That feels…” she gasped. “That…” He rubbed her clit again. “Oh my god.”
She bowed her head, eyes closed, and ground herself on top of him. Her thighs gripped his hips hard. He pulsed upward, under her, shifting her back, until the tip of his cock nudged at her entrance. He squeezed his eyes shut, reveling in the luxurious feeling. It was the moment he’d envisioned for days. But as her warmth drew him in, his shaft suddenly throbbed. He needed to be inside her, fully inside her. He couldn’t wait another second. With a long, steady thrust, he slowly sank himself home.
* * *
• • • • •
* * *
Nix squeezed her eyes shut as Hugh entered her. The glide of his hot flesh was incredible. He pushed upward into places she didn’t even know that she needed filled. And he had never stopped fingering her cl
it. The sensitive nub throbbed and pulsed, aching with the need he had stoked.
As her hips responded of their own accord, her hands landed on his abs. His muscles mounded under her touch, hard and yet warm. She smoothed her hands over the solid ridges, mesmerized by the feel, working her way up. But as her palms brushed over his nipples, his hips bucked hard underneath her. She gasped with the penetration. Her mound thrummed at the sudden connection. And without thinking, she did it again.
Her palms scraped across the tight beads of his pecs, and he bucked again. His abs crunched, lifting her with his swollen shaft. He pushed at her inner walls until she thought she might burst. And though she knew she could hardly take any more, she couldn’t help herself. She grasped his sensitive nipples with the tips of her fingers and twisted.
“Yes,” he cried out as his hands flew to her hips.
He pinned her there and began thrusting. It was all she could do to stay upright, but she rode him, and clung to his narrow hips with her thighs. They locked into some ancient rhythm, going faster. A new pleasure blossomed in her mound. She gasped as her hips whipped into a frenzied grinding and the tension in her belly spiraled out of control. Her breathing became ragged, as pleasure flooded through her. Hugh’s thrusts became erratic, and he groaned.
Out of nowhere, her climax peaked. She clamped down so hard that his rod felt like steel. He drove into her so deeply she thought she’d split. Together they cried out as his hot seed shot upward, and her body milked it from him. Delicious heat erupted in her core. Her flesh and his melted together, as a dizzying shower of lights filled her vision. Silky warmth washed over her skin.
As quickly as the climax had claimed them, it was over. With Hugh still inside her, she collapsed onto his chest. For several seconds, maybe minutes, they simply lay there, his harsh breaths matching hers. Eventually his fingers drifted up and down her spine, but she didn’t move. She couldn’t let the moment end. But finally he brought his arms around her, and slowly rolled them to their sides. She clung to him, before he could let her go.
“I love you,” she murmured against his chest. “Just so you know.”
He hugged her fiercely in return. “And I love you.”
She smiled against his skin, content to let the words hang in the air.
From the living room came the sound of a knock on the front door. She raised her head.
“I’ll get it,” Hugh said.
Chapter 24
Nix was just zipping up her hoodie as Hugh opened the door. Mrs. M. stood there, plate in hand, smiling up at him. Though Nix waited for her to say something, she seemed perfectly content to keep looking at Hugh.
“Are those for us?” he said, nodding at the plate.
It was a red paper plate with green cellophane that covered at least a dozen gingerbread men.
“Oh!” she said, looking down at it. She extended it to him, as Nix came to his side. He took the cookies with one arm, and looped the other around her waist. For a moment, Mrs. M only stood, hands folded in front of her, taking the two of them in.
“Those smell great!” Nix said.
“And they’re still warm,” Hugh said, a little wonder in his voice.
Mrs. M grinned and nodded. “It’s good to bake again. I didn’t know how much I missed it.”
“Bake?” Nix said.
Of course Mrs. M would have had to bake the cookies. But her oven didn’t work. No one’s did.
“But how…”
Mrs. M stepped back and looked toward her apartment.
As Nix let go of Hugh and leaned out, she realized there was Christmas music playing. A boombox was sitting next to the wall in the hallway. A man wearing blue coveralls stood on a ladder only a few feet away. He was replacing the burned out bulb in the ceiling fixture.
Hands over his head, unscrewing the long glass tube, he smiled at them. “Merry Christmas,” he said. He looked directly at Hugh and nodded. “Dr. Colmain.”
Nix had to blink. They knew each other?
“Merry Christmas,” Hugh said, nodding back.
Another guy in coveralls, at the far end of the hall, backed out of an apartment wheeling an old, discolored refrigerator.
“What’s going on?” Nix said.
“It’s Christmas,” Mrs. M said, grinning. “And I have to get to baking. I have a lot of neighbors.”
Hugh pulled Nix back inside the apartment and closed the door.
“I can’t remember the last time I had fresh-baked cookies,” Hugh said, unwrapping the cellophane as he took the plate to the kitchen counter.
“Hugh,” Nix said. “What’s going on?”
He turned back to her, offering her a cookie. She shook her head. He shrugged and took a bite. She put her hands on her hips.
“Oh, the repair guys,” he said, around a mouthful of cookie. “They’re guys that the Magus Corps regularly uses. They’re getting triple-time for Christmas.” He swallowed. “Though it’s really Winter Solstice that we celebrate.”
“Okay,” she said, as Noobie padded past her and sat at Hugh’s feet, gazing up. “So the Magus Corps is fixing ovens in my building?”
“My building,” he corrected. He broke off an arm of the gingerbread man and gave it to Noobie.
Now she was really confused. “Your building?”
He nodded. “I bought it.”
“Okay, wait.” Her head was spinning. “Those guys work for the Magus Corps, and you bought the building.”
“See?” Hugh said, grinning. “It sounds so easy when you say it like that.” He turned back to the counter. “These cookies are amazing!”
Nix gazed at the shut door. Hugh had bought the building. Her mind flashed on the Mercedes, and then on Hugh’s long life. He was rich. She stared at his broad back. Hugh was rich.
The muted chorus of “We Three Kings” drifted through the door.
And the Magus Corps? Her eyebrows flew up. It was full of Wiccans like Hugh. It had to be rich too. Extremely rich.
She turned in place and gazed at the shabby living room lined with animal cages and bowls. Her face flushed hot at the sparse Christmas tree in the corner. What must he think?
His big arms slowly entwined around her from behind. Though one arm gently wrapped around her middle, the other held a tiny, rectangular present.
“Merry Christmas,” he whispered in her ear.
“You…got me a present?”
“Of course. What kind of–”
“I got you one too!” She bolted to the tree, snatched it up, and ran back. “Here.” She thrust it out, all smiles. “Open it.”
Hugh laughed a little under his breath. “Okay,” he said, taking the equally small present from her, as he handed her his. He put it to his ear and rattled it. “It’s not a baseball bat.”
“Just open it,” she insisted, bouncing a little. “Hurry!”
Noobie barked.
“Okay, okay,” he said. He easily tore the red paper, revealing the simple white box. He took off the lid. “What’s this?” he asked, picking up the key.
“It’s my key!” she blurted out. Hugh looked at her quizzically. “I mean,” she said, trying to slow down, “it’s the key to the apartment. It’s…um…” She hadn’t rehearsed what to say. “It’s…”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her close.
“It’s perfect,” he said, smiling and gazing into her eyes. “I couldn’t have wished for anything better.”
Something clunked in the little present that she still held in her hands. They both looked down at it.
“I guess I better open this,” she said.
“I think that’d be good,” he said, not letting her go.
As she peeled off the bow and paper, she knew she was grinning like a fool, but couldn’t stop. But as she took the top from the little silver box, she stopped.
“What’s this?” she said, picking up the key.
He gave her a crooked smile. “I’ve already had the lock changed.” He tilted his
head toward the door. “It barely worked.”
As she stared at it, the irony hit her. She started to giggle, making Hugh laugh. In moments, they were laughing together.
“I guess you can throw that other one away,” she said, still laughing a little.
“What?” Hugh said, his laughter dying as well. He cleared his throat. “I would never. It’s the first Christmas present you ever gave me.” He pulled her even closer. “I’m keeping it.” He paused, looking at her lips, and then deep into her eyes. “Correction. I’m keeping it forever. Like you.”
Her heart jumped a little.
“Forever,” she said, trying the word out. Still holding the box and key, she wrapped her arms around him. “That’s a long time.”
“Oh not really,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “You’ll see.”
And as she kissed him back, she thought about forever––and couldn’t wait.
* * *
THE END
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