Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Lenora followed me to my room, her little skip was strangely suspicious. We had left the two vampires on the lower floor as we went up the narrow stairs. They expressed they needed to be heading into darkness before it was too late and Lenora had used it as an excuse to join me up the stairs, not fearing the sun as they were.

“Orrin told me how you all met, horrible way to do it,” she said behind me as she bounced up the steps, dress in hand to keep it from dragging on the floor. “I wished that didn’t have to happen to you in that way. It is miraculous how you have your sense though! We’ve never heard of anything like this before.”

We hit the top of the stairs and she wrapped her arm under mine as we walked toward my door. I didn’t have friends, much less other women in my life. I kept mostly to myself. People always wanted something from me and I wasn’t about to get used again.

“Honestly, even though it is a miracle, I’m glad it worked out this way for you two,” she said in a voice that seemed almost lyrical. “He was never going to make himself a hollow. Being forced to deal with one that could talk back to his grumbles was the only way it was going to happen.”

I tried to force a smile at her discussing the dramatic change to my entire life. “He does have a bit of a grumble habit.”

“Oh dear, you don’t even know. Try knowing him for decades! He is quite dour to be around sometimes. Although, what I’ve seen of him this evening is entirely out of the norm.”

“Really,” I said as I unlocked my door and motioned her to join me inside. “I thought maybe he would have been more full of humor and life with Orrin. Your… what do I call him? Your sire? Your Husband?”

“He’s my mate. Technically, he’s my lord, but I say we are fated to be together as destined mates. He refers to me as his beloved wife, but honestly, he’s just my one true love! You can call us whatever you want, as long as it’s positive and nice!”

I couldn’t help but let out a huff of a laugh. She was so whimsical in nature. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but someone so full of life and light was not it.

She looked around my little room and nodded at the clean sheets on the bed. “I’m surprised you got this room as clean as it is. I don’t even know why he put you over here. The west wing still has usable rooms that are clean and the bedding is newer. That’s where we all stay, that’s where he stays! Oh, you probably know that already don’t you.”

“I… actually didn’t know that.”

“Oh, but I thought you two were…” her words trailed off as she looked around awkwardly.

I shook my head and said, “this is a very new change for the two of us.”

“How new?”

“Like this evening new?”

“Ohhh.” She pinched her lips together as she tried to stifle a smile. “That new. Wow, that’s a surprise he’s already acting so enamored then. I guess decades alone will do that to a guy. Or you were just that good.”

I covered my head in my hands, my cheeks on fire in embarrassment. She laughed and threw herself backward onto the bed, arms spread wide. She let out a long sigh and shook her head, smiling as she did so.

“It’s nice. He seems happy. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him that way. You must be a lovely girl if you can bring that out.”

Twirling my fingers together I looked down and said in a quiet voice, “I didn’t know that’s what I was doing.”

“Do we ever? These things just seem to happen to people like us and our entire world changes. It’ll be okay. You’ve got a lifetime with him now, it’ll have to be okay!”

I let out another huff and shook my head at her. Sitting up quickly she continued, “at least you know what you are getting into now. It’s not like you were mindless and suddenly woke up damned forever. You get a choice in the matter… well kind of…”

I looked away from her. I didn’t have a choice in the matter, not really. This life was thrust upon me by accident. They left me to die, not join their world. Now I didn’t have a choice. The options were to live eternally, but need to consume life to do so, to live longer in servitude to the former, or to actually become a mindless ghoul. My options seemed quite limited when living a normal life wasn’t one of them.

“Anyway, I best be getting out of your hair. You are probably exhausted from your evening,” she said with a wink. “We can talk more this evening. You can tell me all about your business! I’m dying to hear about all the cool plants you grew! In a former life I knew a thing or two about growing plants.”

I gave her my thanks, and she quickly skipped out of the door, leaving the room a bit more empty and cold in her absence. It was no wonder Orrin liked her so much; she brought a bit of sunshine with her everywhere she went. I didn’t know how to feel about such a friendly and candid relationship with someone I had just met, but being around her felt easy.

Letting the cloak fall off me, the cold air nipped at my body and soul. The fact that he wasn’t close by was felt deep in my chest, the hole being emptier than I’d have liked. The evening didn’t go at all like how I thought it would. I was already missing his touch, his body being close to me. I was longing for that hole in my chest to be filled with his presence.

Setting my foot on the edge of the bed, I examined the spot where he had bitten me. There was a definite mark on my thigh but it already looked like it was healing. Running my finger over the wound, the silver scar tissue was already present, his bite already forgotten by my body. Another scar for my legs. At this rate every man I was intimate with would be leaving their mark.

I shook my head at the thought, willing the negative thoughts to disperse and went to draw the curtains more tightly, blocking out any of the sunlight that would invade the room. Lenora and I could survive in the daytime, but the light was already making me ill now. I couldn’t imagine how she actually felt during its peak after so many years as a lightened hollow.

I didn’t bother putting on a sleeping gown and crawled into the bed naked. Pulling the blankets tightly around me, I tried to warm myself as best I could. The cold ache was still open in my soul. Why him being near me caused me to feel so full still confused me. I should probably ask Lenora about it, maybe she felt it with Orrin too. Maybe she could illuminate the reason why he makes me feel so warm.

The cool air still filled the room, the sun not having had a chance to warm the day up. I curled up into as small of a ball as I could to let my chest warm my limbs. The night had been cold, and the ride had been cold, but the ride back had been even colder. My cheeks flushed as I remembered how he tore my dress right off my chest, letting my bosom bounce free.

Squirming under the sheets, I ran my hands across my chest trying to remember his touch. My breath felt shorter as I remembered how he grazed his hands down my body to pull my thighs open. I couldn’t help but let a goofy smile cross my face as I reveled in the evening’s memory. Running my hands down my body as he had, I found my slit. I told myself in an obvious lie that I was just trying to warm myself up.

Moving my fingers slowly in a circle around my clit, I licked my lips as my hips moved around. My breath was quick as I rubbed myself. The heat in my chest grew. Just as I moved my hand lower to let my fingers enter, I heard a growl of a familiar deep voice. “You started without me.”

My head snapped up as I saw Altyr just as he started crawling into the bed with me. He had already dropped his trousers and his shirt was nowhere to be seen. Pulling himself underneath the sheets, his hands already wandered across my body, massaging my skin. He pulled me into him, my back pressing into his chest. His hips pushing into me from behind, I could feel he was ready to play.

“Shouldn’t you be in hiding,” I squeaked out as his fingers replaced my own, pushing into me.

“I got a feeling you needed company,” he said in a musky tone. “Your body was calling to me.”

I gasped as his fingers entered deeper, thrusting into me. His breath was hot on my neck as he nuzzled his face into me, eager to have me once more. My body squirmed as his fingers moved in and out, pushing and pulling at my desire.

“Please,” I whispered.

“Please? You need to tell me more than that.”

My voice came in quick breaths as his fingers continued inside me. “Please take me.”

“No, I need more than that,” he said as he nibbled on my ear, sending waves of small pleasure down my body.

Letting out a deep sigh, I said, “I need you to fuck me… again.”

I heard him snicker as he pulled his hand away and pushed the head of his shaft at my wet entrance. Arching my back, I pushed myself against him, causing him to enter me with little effort. My body stretched around him, accepting his cock as I gripped him. A soft groan escaped his lips as I rotated my hips against him, pushing him further into me.

He took my offering and began thrusting inside. With his hand on my hip, he pushed and pulled himself into me as we laid there under the sheets. He tugged my body into him harder and faster as I heard his deep breathing behind. He was entering me with force as he plunged in and out, in and out. His pace was hungry for my body, desperate to consume my essence. There wasn’t much I could do as my body clenched down against him, a wave of pleasure taking over.

Tossing my head back, pressing into his, I pushed myself further into him, arching my back more as the pleasure rolled over me, clenching and releasing as he thrust quicker. I felt him twitch inside as he gripped my hips, holding me in place.

Both our bodies eased into each other. I felt him pull himself out of me, liquid dripping down my leg. He let out another chuckle before pulling me into him, holding me close. His body was warm against my back. Together, the hole in my chest was raging a passionate fire and I no longer ached.

He continued to hold me tightly, his powerful arms wrapped around my body and I was content. I was finally happy in the arms of a vampire of all things.