CHAPTER FOURTEEN || ELI
It wasn’t lost on me that Nicolas was intent on providing me with exactly what I said I needed. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise. After all, he had already demonstrated he was willing to go to great—and insane—lengths to be near me.
What was surprising was how good he was at it.
Over the next few days, we fell into a routine.
On my days off, we cooked together and watched movies on the couch.
Sometimes we went on walks instead. We started picking out recipes together, which was definitely an improvement for both of us.
Nicolas even accompanied me to the grocery store and helped me shop—though he flatly insisted on paying for everything.
We tried out recipes for all the cuisines we both liked: Italian, Thai, Mexican, and even a few French dishes.
We stayed far away from soufflés, though, which was absolutely for the best.
And each day, I noticed something inhuman about him.
Occasionally, he would forget himself and move too quickly.
Or his eyes would gleam strangely in the light.
Mostly, he didn’t seem to realize he wasn’t breathing unless he spoke.
It made me wonder how often he’d actually been around humans before he met me.
Regardless, I never said anything about it.
Sure, it had been alarming in the very beginning, but now it just seemed like a part of who he was.
Was he also wry, arrogant, funny, terribly strange, and surprisingly sweet?
Definitely. Was he bamboozled by modern kitchen devices but always pretended not to be?
Check. Did he show up at my job every single night without fail so I’d never need to drive myself home dead on my feet?
Always yes. Was he guilelessly peppering me with a seemingly endless list of questions about myself? A very big yes.
He was Nicolas. And, it turned out, that was what ended up mattering to me.
It was very hard not to realize that I was falling for him—or maybe that I’d already fallen.
For a guy with so many initial neon-red warning signs, he sure as hell seemed like a walking green flag now.
My version of it, at least. Still weird—but weird in a way that was oddly… endearing.
He might be hiding things—like the fact that he wasn’t quite human—but there were things I hadn’t talked about either.
For instance, Eric’s ominous text messages were becoming a daily occurrence: Who is he?
mixed with You know I can’t stand the idea of you with someone else.
Or my personal favorite: I won’t let him have you.
Sorry, buddy. He’s already got me.
I didn’t reply to a single one of the messages. Instead, I blocked the sender as soon as they came in, but I was pretty sure Eric was spoofing his phone number somehow. Unfortunately, there was definitely an app for that.
But apart from him, things were kind of… perfect. Being with Nicolas in a domestic context was surprisingly easy. Despite his obvious strangeness, it felt—well, normal.
“Did you enjoy your meal?” Nicolas asked about a week after our disastrous attempt at creating a soufflé.
Tonight, we’d done something much easier: a creamy Tuscan chicken dish with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach.
He sat across from me at the small dining table in his kitchen.
The expression on his face seemed oddly thoughtful, almost distant.
“It was amazing,” I told him honestly, flashing him the smile that was hard to keep off my lips. I’d fallen for him, human or not. “We’re getting way better.”
Nicolas inclined his head. His bright blue eyes searched mine, no longer distant but instead suddenly intent. “We’re getting better at listening to each other. It’s been a very long time since I’ve attempted to work with someone else. It’s strangely satisfying.”
He seemed uncharacteristically… serious.
I took his hand, hardly even noticing the lack of pulse—or the fact that his skin was warm when it probably should’ve been ice cold. It wasn’t really strange anymore; it was just him.
“Nicolas, what’s on your mind?”
“Are you happy?” he asked suddenly, his eyes searching mine.
“Yes,” I said immediately, without even having to think about it.
Something relaxed in him, and he returned my smile. “Good.”
I hesitated. “There is something I want to talk to you about.”
“You can talk to me about anything,” Nicolas said firmly. He wagged his eyebrows at me, lips twitching. “No matter how strange, unusual, or depraved.”
“Actually, that’s sort of what’s on my mind.”
“Depravity from the good doctor?” Nicolas teased. “I’m reasonably certain you’ve taken oaths that preclude you from going too far down that rabbit hole, I’m afraid.” He paused, studying me. “What’s on your mind?”
“Well, I’m usually a bit more… physical… when I have a boyfriend.”
“A boyfriend?” Nicolas said, his tone suggesting he was testing the word out. “Hmm. It seems that I may like the direction this conversation is heading in, after all.”
“Are we—do you want to—” I broke off and tried again. “We’ve been seeing each other for weeks now and you haven’t tried… anything. With me.”
Oh wow. Talk about a crash-and-burn moment. More like a slow-moving train wreck, with me at the wheel. The moment the words were out, I regretted them.
“Ah.” Nicolas’s eyebrows shot up, and he let out a soft chuckle. “Doctor De La Cruz, are you referring to sex?”
“Err—” My cheeks went hot with embarrassment. “Yeah.”
“I see.”
“If you don’t want to, we don’t need to,” I said in a rush. What if he couldn’t have sex? After all, he didn’t have a pulse. Though I had seen evidence to the contrary—but that was just the once. Grimacing, I added, “I just figured that we should talk about it. That’s all.”
“I do want to,” he said seriously, hunger in his eyes. “Very much, in fact.”
I hesitated. “Are you sure, because—”
He rose from his chair and came to stand in front of me. Gently, he took my hand and placed it on his groin. Beneath the thin fabric of his pants, he was rock hard.
“Oh,” I said weakly.
My own cock started to stir to attention.
“I usually am, when I’m near you,” Nicolas explained. He took me by the hand and pulled me to standing. “I think we can leave the dishes for a few hours. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes,” I said immediately.
Nicolas led me into his bedroom and, practically the moment I was over the threshold, he slid his arms around my waist, his blue eyes peering into mine. “Would you like to make love to me, Eli?”
My cock fully hardened. I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I nodded instead. He kissed me, crushing me to him with surprising strength. His lips were soft and warm against mine and my cock began to ache in my pants.
When he pulled back, I found myself breathing hard.
“Foolish of me,” he muttered. Then he hesitated, biting his lower lip. He raised his gaze to mine and his eyes were filled with sudden, uncharacteristic worry. “Eli, I need to tell you something before we do this. It’s about me.”
“No, you don’t,” I said immediately. “I’m not doing this blind, Nicolas. You can tell me the specifics later, but whatever it ends up being, it won’t change how I feel.”
Something went molten in Nicolas’s expression at my words, and he nodded sharply.
I stripped his shirt off and slid my hands around his waist, pulling him against me. I began kissing his neck again, causing him to lose his words in a gasp of pleasure.
He wanted me inside of him. I wanted that too. I wanted to claim him and make him mine.
I unbuttoned his belt as I moved up his throat to his lips and kissed his lips. Slow and sweet at first, then more demanding. He seemed every bit as eager as I.
Next, I undid his pants, and they pooled around his ankles. He broke the kiss to step out of them, now naked except for the underwear he wore—a skimpy satin number, so dark red that it was almost black. His cock was bulging beneath it.
I dropped down to my knees. Without hesitation, I put my mouth on his hardness, tasting his precum through the fabric.
“Eli,” he gasped out. “Holy hell.”
I pulled the underwear down, freeing his gorgeous cock. I palmed it with one hand, stroking his shaft. Then I opened my lips and swirled my tongue around the crown, before swallowing him down to the hilt.
He let out a keening sort of groan, and bucked once, rutting deep into my throat. “You feel so fucking good.”
I cupped his ass with my hands, causing him to shiver again. With gentle motions, I guided him to rut into me, down my throat.
“Eli, I’m getting close,” he warned me, his voice strangled. “I don’t want to, yet.”
I hummed softly in agreement. No, he wasn’t cumming yet. Not until I was buried deep inside of him, taking him apart one thrust at a time, and showing him exactly who he belonged to.
I pulled off of him.
“On the bed,” I said, rising to my feet. “On your hands and knees.”
He arched an eyebrow at that, but did as I asked, moving much faster than a human would have been able to do.
“Not saying I’m eager or anything,” he said over his shoulder, his eyes hooded with desire. “But if you don’t fuck me, I might lose my mind.”
“Good,” I said, pulling my shirt over my head and throwing it to the floor. I undid my pants and kicked those off too. “I need you to be good for me and wait just a few moments longer. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes,” he said, still watching me over his shoulder, his gaze landing on my body—naked except for my underwear—and drinking it in greedily.
I crossed the room and pulled a bottle of lubricant and a pack of condoms from my bag.
“We don’t need those,” Nicolas told me.
“No lube?” I asked, meeting his gaze and blinking in surprise.
“No, we need the lube,” he grinned. “I was talking about the condoms. Not unless you want them, of course. It’s impossible for me to catch or transmit a disease.”