Chapter Twelve

I dozed in and out, too tired to trust myself, and way too tired to consider why Charlemagne would lie to me. He'd never lied to me before. He had his secrets, so did everyone, but he'd never lied.

"Charley?" My sister's voice floated through my head, but I kept myself tucked against Charlemagne's chest. Opening my eyes would require energy I didn't have right then. "You care about her, don't you?"

"More than anything." He said softly, the timbre of his voice vibrating against my ear. "I want to care for your sister as long as she will let me."

There was a small pause. "That's good. She deserves to be cared for. She deserves the best." Miranda replied. "If anything happened to her..."

There was another small pause, Charlemagne brought one of his hands up to touch my face. "Nothing will happen to her as long as I am around." He promised.

"Good." Miranda repeated. "I'd have to stake you if it did." She added, sniffing.

"I expect nothing less."

My heart warmed and I snuggled deeper into Charlemagne's chest, into his scent, and into exhaustion. I didn't stir again until the car came to a smooth halt. I made a little noise, starting to shift around in Charlemagne's lap to climb out of the car when he grasped my hips and tutted at me. "Still." He rumbled, squeezing my hips briefly.

I obeyed happily, dropping my head back onto his shoulder. "Whatever you want, baby." I said, the words sleep-slurred.

"Don't tempt me." He teased, opening the passenger door before he carried me out of the car. He shifted me around easily until my arms were around his neck and my legs dangled over his hips. He slid one arm beneath my bottom and opened the door to the backseat to grab the handle of Frank Langella's carrier. "Would you like to come in, Miranda? I have ample guest rooms."

I opened my eyes to peer at her over his shoulder. "You wanna stay?"

Miranda swept her gaze over us. "Maybe some other time. I have to be at the clinic in a few hours." She leaned against the sedan's open door. "Call me when you get up? And make sure to put something on those cuts, okay?"

"I will. Text Charley when you get home, I'll have him send the number." I mumbled, waving at her. "Love you, M."

"Love you too." Miranda sighed. "Take care of her, vampire man."

"Always." Charlemagne said, inclining his head to her before he started up the front porch.

I watched as Miranda slid in behind the wheel and drove towards the front gates. Charlemagne carried me inside, the door shutting before I could make out the last glare of her brake lights. I shut my eyes again, a rush of air slipping across my face before the three of us were standing in Charlemagne's bedroom. He finally put me down on the edge of the bed and settled Frank's carrier next to me.

He opened the front of the carrier and Frank slipped out, stretching, and blinking up at me wearily. My heart swelled at the sight of him, and I reached for him, pulling him into my arms to nuzzle into the top of his head. He smelled faintly of antibacterial shampoo and cat. "I was so scared." I mumbled, kissing the top of his little head.

Charlemagne reached out to slip his fingers through Frank's fur. "I am sorry I wasn't there, Abigail." He said softly, meeting my gaze. "It will not happen again."

My features softened as I tilted my head at him. "You can't promise that." I mumbled, lifting one hand from Frank's fur to touch his hand. "Unless we're going to sew ourselves together at the hip, sometimes some things will happen. And I might be alone for them, or you might be, but you showed up when I needed you. And I'll do the same." I said, tilting my shoulder. "I can't tell if that makes sense, I'm very sleepy and hurting."

Concern softened Charlemagne's features. "It makes sense. Though, if it were up to me, I would tuck you into my coat pocket and simply never let you out of my sight." He said, raising his hand to let his fingertips brush over my bruised temple and then down to my jaw. "Your pajamas are ruined."

Blinking, I glanced down at myself. The knees of my PJ bottoms were completely gone, the legs soaked through with blood, the flesh of my knees red and raw, starting to swell. The scrape along my forearm had ripped through my coat and some blood and gravel had stained my shirt. With the last dregs of adrenaline circling the drain with my cushion of exhaustion, I was actually starting to hurt. Really bad. "Ow."

"May I?" Charlemagne held out his hands to take Frank from my arms and place him on the bed beside me before he reached for my coat. I nodded, wincing as I shifted to let him take it off me. He dropped the coat behind him and reached for my hand.

I hissed through my teeth as he straightened the arm to run the tips of his fingers along the skin. The blood had already started to coagulate, but there were pieces of gravel embedded in the flesh. Charlemagne put my arm down, his mouth bending into a deep scowl. He bent to reach for the waistband of my pajama bottoms. His eyes flickered up to mine, questioning.

Swallowing, I tilted my hips for him to pull them down my legs. He was beyond gentle working them over my knees as he crouched down in front of me. He touched the back of my calf, starting to straighten the leg when I whimpered. A bolt of pain rippled from the knee all the way up the length of my thigh to my hip. "It hurts." I choked out, catching myself on my palms as a dizzying wave of nausea nearly bowed me over.

Charlemagne bared his teeth, his pupils expanded until there was only a thin blue line around them. "I'm sorry, mon coeur." He murmured, exhaling. "Let me make you feel better." Waiting until I nodded, he bent his head to brush his lips over one knee and then the other before his mouth trailed up thigh.

My breathing hitched, fingers curling in the comforter, as I watched him trace my stretch marks with his mouth and the tip of his tongue. My abdomen tightened, and heat blossomed along my skin. "Charley?" I breathed out.

He lifted his head. "Do you trust me?" He murmured, holding my gaze.

I studied his eyes. There was still only a thin blue line around his pupils, a depth of hunger that unwound me. Even with all his secrets, I still trusted him. "More than anything." I said softly.

Charlemagne leaned up, closing some of the distance between us as he raised his hand. He kept his gaze on my face as he pressed the tip of his nail into the center of his tongue. The flesh bound open, filling his mouth with blood. He reached for my chin, his gentle fingers like iron. "Trust me." He whispered, bringing my mouth to his.

I made a noise when he slid his tongue between my lips. I expected to recoil at the sudden taste of blood, but what filled my mouth tasted hot and sweet, utterly like Charlemagne. I leaned into him, whimpering as I sucked at his tongue. My aches and pains drifted, drowning beneath the much more immediate urgency that had started to sweep through me. Molten hot desire pooled between my legs.

He grinned against my mouth as I started to squirm, a deep, sharp ache at the center of my body. "Can I clean you up?" Charlemagne murmured into my mouth.

"Mhm." I sounded out, coherent sentences long gone as I opened my eyes to look at him up close. "Please."

He kissed me again, clearing away the last of the fog in my head. He kissed my chin before suddenly dropping back into a crouch between my knees. I blinked down at him. I'd been expecting him to pick me up and carry me into the bathroom for a shower, but instead he took my calf again and bent his head. I stared at him, my lips parting, as he dragged his tongue along the skin under my knee that was stained in blood.

Oh shit. My heart thumped against my ribs. All I could do was watch as he licked along my calf, the hinge of my knee, and my knee, itself. The flesh had healed, leaving behind only a pink patch of skin. His tongue felt hot against my skin, sending spirals of unbearable heat through me. A tremor had started in my thighs by the time he finished with one knee and turned his head to the other. I squirmed, pressing against the edge of the bed. "Charley." I breathed out, my brows bending, as the ache deepened.

Charlemagne ran his tongue along the path of blood staining the side of my knee as his gaze flickered up to mine. They were heady, blackened by desire and hunger, and they scorched me all the way down to my bones. "I can take care of that too, ma cherie. Just ask." He murmured, his voice rolling across my skin and sending a tremor through my lower abdomen.

I swallowed hard as I studied his face. It'd been such a long day, and I wanted to feel good, I wanted release. "Please." I mumbled.

He shifted between my legs again, his hands slipping up along my thighs to curl his fingers in the ends of my panties. He kept his gaze on my face as he gave them a tug, slipping them down my hips and off my legs. My heart throbbed in time to the ache between my legs. Charlemagne leaned forward to kiss my lower abdomen. "Lean back."

I did as he said, leaning further back on my palms while keeping my eyes on him. There was a part of me that wondered if I was ready for this. If I should just stop—He dipped his nose along my lower abdomen to kiss the mound of my sex. My lips parted, sparks erupting along my nerve endings.

Oh. Shit. I curled my fingers in the sheets, a tremor going through my thighs. His eyes flickered up to my face as he lowered his chin and ran his tongue along the seam of my sex. I made a noise, dropping my head back as Charlemagne nuzzled between my legs, reaching out to drag my knees over his shoulders. Oh my god.

When his tongue slid into the wet heat of my—okay, it's a pussy, let's call it a pussy—my pussy, I dropped down onto my elbows and tilted my head all the way back. A ripple ran down my abdomen into my thighs. Whimpering, I started to squirm again, wanting to feel more of him. I wanted him to lick the ache away. My brows bent, it was almost painful how badly I wanted it.

Groaning, Charlemagne reached up with one hand to press his palm against my abdomen, holding me still. I made another noise, the pressure of his palm adding to the balloon of pressure building inside of me. He swept his tongue through me, the tip of his nose brushing up against—

"Charley." I cried out, dropping to my back as it arched. No one had ever touched me there. At that bundle of nerves that sent a spark of lightning through my entire body.

And then his tongue slid against it. The bubble burst. Spirals of pleasure started at the center of my body and curled my toes. I came undone. Unwound. Unthreaded. I'd never managed to give myself an orgasm like this. Fuck. Slamming my eyes shut, a deep clench rippled through my lower abdomen and my sex. Wet heat flooded my thighs, and he kept going. He licked at my slit like a cat licking up milk. When he slipped his tongue into me again, it sent another rush of wet heat through me, extending my orgasm into something that had my hands coming up to curl in his hair.

"Charley." I mewled, raising my head to look down at him before dropping it back into the sheets. Tears filled my eyes. "Fuck, fuck, Charlemagne." I groaned, the tension unwinding from my body and leaving me breathless. My heart throbbed against my ribs.

Charlemagne chuckled against my inner thigh, kissing my little bundle of nerves, before he lifted his head. I watched him from beneath heavy lids as he dragged his fingers through his hair, a little wilder now after my hands had been fisted in it. "Mieux, ma cherie?"

I nodded slowly, still flexing my toes, as the last of my orgasm ebbed through my body, chasing away the last of the tension in me. "Better." I breathed out.

He ran his tongue over his lips as he settled my legs on either side of him and straightened to his full height. The blue ring around his eyes had been completely eaten away by desire. They raked over me from head to thighs. "Beautiful." He exhaled the word. "And now you're mine."

Swallowing, I pushed myself up onto my palms, aware of the slick wetness between my legs. "Yours?" I mumbled, tilting my head back to look up at him.

Charlemagne bent his head to brush his nose against mine. "I'll never let anyone else taste you, mon coeur, that is for me alone." He said, pressing a kiss to my mouth, giving me a taste of myself.

A hot shiver went through me. "Oh." I sighed, kissing his bottom lip, and raising my hands to fist them in his shirt. I dropped my head against his sternum, looking down the length of his body at the way his slacks strained around him now.

I dragged up his shirt to press kisses along his abdomen before dropping one hand to his belt. He tutted at me, slipping his fingers through my hair to tilt my head back up. I blinked at him, heat warming my cheeks. "Don't you want me to take care of you?"

Charlemagne lifted his other hand to slip his thumb along my cheek. "Do you even know how?"

"You can teach me."

A rumbling purr vibrated through him as he swooped down to kiss me hard. "The only way I want to satisfy myself is between your legs." He murmured against my mouth.

I leaned in to kiss him before tugging at his shirt and jacket, leaning back onto the bed to pull him down on top of me. "Okay." I said, dropping my head back to look up at him. "I want you."

Charlemagne slammed his mouth into mine to kiss me deeply, he shifted his hips slightly and I felt the friction of his slacks against my bare sex. I whimpered into his mouth before lifting my hips to press against him, wanting more of that delicious feeling. "Wait, Abigail, wait." He said softly. "Not yet."

I blinked at him, lifting my heels up to place them on the edge of the bed, opening my knees for him. "Why?" I mumbled. "You don't want me?"

"I want you more than anything." He said, setting more of his weight against me to slip his fingers through my hair. "You're exhausted, ma cherie. You need to rest. And you need to be sure." Charlemagne kissed my lower lip. "It's been a long night."

"But… are you sure?" I asked softly, still feeling his desire pressing between my legs.

"Oui." He kissed me again gently. "I can wait for you. As long as you need."

It was sweet, and maybe I would be relieved later, but right now, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I wanted him now.