Chapter 24 #2
I smiled as I carefully maneuvered the dazed human into a comfortable position.
Today, he hadn’t been sneaking in a cigarette, he’d been getting stoned.
Amazing. He’d probably think his weed had hit harder than he’d expected.
Still, I checked that he was safe where he was.
I didn’t want him to accidentally fall off the fire escape and hurt himself.
Calling Bennie and getting Finn his dinner took a little longer, but I was back in front of Finn’s apartment within about half an hour, a plastic bag filled to the brim with boxes of Chinese takeout in hand.
Finn opened the door and immediately made grabby hands for his food, his stomach growling as the smell wafting off the bag hit his nose. He groaned, the sound so indecent it went straight to my cock.
“That smells soo good,” Finn said, rubbing his flat stomach. “I’m starving. I totally forgot to eat, like, anything today.”
I frowned, my heart aching. He’d forgotten to eat something because he’d been too upset. Which was my fault. Because I hadn’t told him the truth about me and had let him discover it on his own.
I’d had way too little trust in my mate. That needed to change. It was more than obvious that he was stronger than I gave him credit for. Feistier.
I followed Finn into the apartment but made a quick detour to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I wanted that kiss.
“The red toothbrush is for you,” Finn shouted from the kitchen area.
Smiling, I looked at the display. He’d gotten everything ready for me while I’d been gone. A glass holding my toothbrush sat next to a small towel on the vanity, a bottle of mouthwash right next to it.
Yeah, I definitely hadn’t given Finn enough credit.
Then again, it was hard. For so long, I’d only ever seen him from afar. He’d only ever been the na?ve, barely eighteen-year-old to me. The precious kid I wanted to protect at all costs.
I’d failed to recognize how much he’d grown up. And maybe I’d failed to recognize that seeing someone from afar was not the same as actually getting to know them.
Finn wasn’t na?ve; he was sharp as fuck. He was precious, but he was brave. Strong. Capable. And his anger—while I never wanted to have it directed at me again—was hot as hell. The way his eyes had blazed over, the fury on his face…
“I said I wanted you to brush your teeth. You don’t have to scrub all the enamel away, you know?”
I grinned at Finn’s snark and put the toothbrush away, then headed out to the living area.
My mate was curled up on the couch, the same blanket I’d been sleeping under now thrown over his legs. In front of him, he’d spread the takeout on the living room table.
“I already picked a movie. If that’s okay?”
“Sure.”
Finn grinned at me, his smile easy and relaxed. He truly wasn’t afraid. He was just…Finn. My Finn.
I quickly sat down next to him, but left a bit of space between us. How did I do this? The situation suddenly felt awkward.
If nothing had happened, I’d probably pull him into my arms. But what if that was a step too far for today? Maybe waiting was the best option. Letting him take the first step.
But then again, I didn’t want to put everything on his shoulders.
Finn started the movie, then grabbed a fork and a box of chicken-fried noodles. He leaned back and dug in, a low moan escaping his throat as he started chewing. His eyes rolled back, and an expression of pure bliss flashed over his face as his stomach rumbled demandingly.
I was mesmerized. Maybe his eating shouldn’t be sexy, but he didn’t just eat the food. He devoured it. Savored every bite.
And the small noises certainly didn’t help.
I shifted, trying to get a bit of pressure off my cock.
Look at the screen, I told myself, but I was acutely aware of the way my mate happily wiggled as he grabbed a different container and took a bite.
“This is seriously good. Where did you get it from? I don’t think I’ve ever ordered from there.
I’d surely have remembered,” Finn said, his tongue darting out to catch a drop of sauce that was about to run down his chin.
“Do you want something too? This is more than I could eat in, like… three days.” But the way he smiled happily told me he wasn’t mad about having plenty of leftovers.
I might’ve gone a bit overboard, but then again, I still felt like I needed to grovel and make up for, well, everything.
“Wait, do vampires need food?” Finn knitted his brows, then accusingly pointed the fork at me. “Is that why your kitchen looked like you never use it? Because you don’t?”
I rubbed the back of my head and nodded. “Yeah.”
Finn nodded, ate another bite of his chicken, and chewed slowly and thoughtfully. “But your fridge was full.”
My cheeks felt hot. I wasn’t sure how that was possible for a vampire, but I was sure I was blushing. “Bennie bought groceries as a cover-up.”
Finn snorted. “Of course he did. But you can eat food if you want to, right? I mean, you and Bennie ate pizza yesterday.”
“We can. We usually don’t eat at home because it’s not worth the effort to cook and clean. If we feel the urge to eat regular food, we mostly go out.”
Finn kept eating, but I wasn’t sure he was actually paying any attention to the food or the movie. He hadn’t complained about it once, and even though I wasn’t really watching either, I’d already noticed three different inconsistencies that should have set Finn off.
“And Bennie is a vampire too. Right?”
I nodded again, reaching for the fried rice. Fuck it. I needed something to do. Might as well be chewing.
“Yeah. He’s actually my sire.”
“What is a sire?”
While I was starting to eat, Finn put his food down, reaching for a water bottle instead.
“He’s the vampire who turned me. My sire.”
Finn slowly inched closer until he was close enough to rest his head on my shoulder.
“Why did he do it? Did you ask him for it?”
I let out a laugh, but it sounded hollow.
“I definitely didn’t.”
Even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t have. I’d been unconscious. Bleeding out in a dark alley because my misguided hero complex had me running towards the gunfire, not away from it.
A slender hand caressed my back, rubbing over a tense spot below my shoulder blade, and then started massaging the back of my neck.
“What happened?”
I swallowed.
“I told you about being shot, right?”
Finn nodded against my shoulder.
I put the rice down, my stomach suddenly feeling like I was filling it with lead instead of rice and veggies.
“That wasn’t a lie. I can’t lie to you.” I laughed.
“I can be vague, but I can’t lie to you.
So… uhm. Three years ago, I was heading back home after meeting a couple of friends at a club.
I should’ve taken an Uber, but I was short on cash and thought nothing of it.
It was a sketchy part of town, yeah, but I’m a fairly big guy and usually don’t even get noticed.
Anyway, I was on my way home when I heard it.
Shots. I’ll always remember the pop, pop, pop.
It wasn’t like on TV. It was so much louder.
And then someone screamed, and I… was an idiot.
I figured I could help, so I ran to where the screams were coming from.
It was a dark alley next to a pizza shop.
I didn’t know it back then, but the shop was a front for a drug ring. ”
I took a deep breath to steady myself. The memories were still so vivid in my mind. I could still smell the yeasty notes of discarded dough from the dumpster. The metallic tang in the air. The stench of piss from people who’d taken a leak in that damn alley.
Finn’s head wasn’t resting on my shoulder anymore. He’d straightened up and turned so he could look at me. But I couldn’t meet his eyes. Not right now. And he didn’t try to make me. He just reached for my hand and pulled it into his lap.
“I rounded the corner, and it was…” I shuddered.
“There was someone on the ground, holding his leg, rolling around, screaming. Someone else was laughing their ass off. I know I skidded to a stop when I realized that there were several people holding guns, but it was too late. The last thing I remember was fire in my shoulder and chest, and then… nothing.”
“What happened? Did Bennie come along and save you?”
I snorted.
“Bennie was part of the group of guys with guns.”
“What?” Finn shouted, his hands tightening around mine.
I looked up and gave him a wry smile. “Hard to believe, huh?” Bennie wasn’t a violent guy.
He never had been. The fact his sire had used that against him…
I shuddered. “He wasn’t there because he wanted to be.
But his clan was involved in drug trafficking, and his clan head—and Bennie’s maker—had ordered Bennie to get a bit of real-life experience.
Bennie was usually the IT guy. The money guy.
Hiding the clan’s fortunes behind offshore accounts and stuff. Money laundering.”
“We’re talking about the same person, right? Your jokester friend?”
“Yep.” I nodded. “He’s… truth be told, I only ever experienced the way he was around his clan for like…
two to three weeks, right after I was turned.
His maker—that’s another word for sire, but it’s less like an honorific, and more like you’d use the term sperm donor instead of father—wasn’t happy that Bennie had turned me.
Apparently, it’s against the rules to turn someone without your clan head’s permission.
But Bennie had turned me when a member of the drug ring had shot me.
He always says that I was innocent and he couldn’t let me die. ”
“Soo… you’re telling me I need to thank him?” Finn joked, squeezing my hand again. “That I’d never have met you if it wasn’t for him?”
I let out a laugh, but it caught in my throat, coming out a bit wet.
“Do it. I certainly wasn’t as grateful in the beginning. I was mad. Especially because his maker treated me like trash. I had no idea that Bennie had broken any rules. And neither was Bennie.”