4. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Aiden
T here’s no way in hell I’m tired right now, especially with just how aroused I am watching Calder strutting around in his low-hip-hugging pajama pants. I keep shifting on the stool trying my best to hide it. However, it’s beyond obvious so I guess it’s a good thing that Calder is on the other side of the counter.
My brain draws a blank as Calder continues to stare at me with a look of anticipation. I feel like if I told him what I really wanted to do he would find a way, and right now all I want is more of him. Do I tell him that? Hell no, you gotta make them work for it. Plus, I don’t even know what the hell that would look like.
I swear, Calder needs to put on a fucking shirt or maybe a snowsuit because I’m half tempted to jump over the counter that’s currently separating us. That may not help even then. He’d probably just look like a sexy snowman. Wait, snowmen don’t where snowsuits… okay, like a sexy snowboarder. I mean, I could get into sports if I get to watch him talking off the snowsuit.
Great, now I’m just talking myself into being attracted to a Calder in a damn snowsuit. His abs flex as he turns forcing my attention back to the perfect specimen of man right in front of me, and I bite down on my bottom lip. My gaze once again got stuck on his glorious body. He is… gods he is beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as beautiful as he is.
I didn’t even think someone like this could actually exist except for like maybe in the movies. And that’s all fake anyway. Concealer does wonders. No man should have the right to be that freaking delicious. I just want to lick his abs. I wonder if he would taste like strawberries. Fuck, I hope he does.
“Aiden,” Calder murmurs with a small smug little smile and knowing eyes when he catches me staring at his stomach.
“Huh, what,” I ask like a complete idiot because my brain is short-circuiting. I’m positive it’s currently leaking out of my ear into a puddle on the floor beneath me. I hope I wasn’t drooling. I discreetly swipe the back of my hand against my mouth just in case.
“Do you have something in mind,” he asks in that rough voice of his.
My cock twitches in my borrowed pajamas but I try my best to ignore it. I have so many damn things in mind right now, but I doubt they would be safe for public assumption. I did catch the mood shift in his demeanor which had me cocking my head to the side as I ran through our conversation so far.
I tend to say a lot of shit because most days I don’t have a filter. Sometimes I don’t even notice that I said something wrong. So, a lot of the time I say things without thinking them through and usually end up offending someone. I personally think it’s my own little fucked up coping mechanism.
Eve, my only friend, just simply puts up with it. She calls it my “artist vibes”, whatever the hell that means. I think she just likes the crap that flies out of my mouth as long as it’s not directed toward her. Fuck, I need to get ahold of her. She probably thinks I totally blew her off.
My eyes drift back to Calder like I have no hope in hell of ignoring his presence. I don’t even want to ignore him like I do with everyone else in the world. I find that strange. My fingers itch to start drawing, but I have nothing with me. Figured that a vampire would end up being my muse. A little huff of frustration escapes me, but I try my best to cover it up with a cough.
As I think about what must have set him off my eyes catch on his body causing me to get distracted once more. Even though he has a slightly bigger build than me, his muscles were defined. He’s also about half a foot taller than me making me feel small in a good way.
I’ve always liked taller guys. I’m not even sure why. Maybe it’s the cause of my overactive imagination and the fantasies I have about being tossed around. I bet Calder could lift me and slam me against a wall. You know, in like a consensual manner.
His abs flex causing my gaze to travel down the length of his body. With a whimper of disappointment on the tip of my tongue because he’s hiding behind the counter. A part of me wants to lean forward to look down at his bottom half.
I have to push back that crazy thought like my life depends on it. I refuse to make a fool of myself in this vampire’s home. I can’t help but wonder if he’s as affected by me as I am with him. The very thought of him tenting his pajama pants has a little thrill running through me.
His jaw is sharp, and his cheeks are angular in an almost feminine way, but also masculine, if that makes any type of sense. His nose is straight and pointed. Can you think a nose is cute? Gods, what the heck is going on with me this morning?
Instead of turning away from him, I decided to find out if he managed to rescue my phone while he was rescuing me. You know, something with a bit of neutral ground and maybe a way to get rid of these little depraved thoughts running ramped inside my brain. I’m sure Eve must be freaking out by now, and I also want to know how Sin is doing. Hopefully, she remembered to feed her.
“Um, did you by chance grab my phone after saving me from my near-death experience,” I mumble awkwardly as I gesture to my neck.
“You know, you did technically die…”
“Semantics,” I mumble with a shrug. He rolls his eyes at me, and I have to bite back another grumpy remark.
“Yeah,” he still sounds almost sad as he answers me or maybe I’m just reading way too far into it, “I put it on the charger in my room.”
“Cool. I just need to call my friend and let them know I’m alright,” I explain, “make sure they feed my cat while I’m at it.” A flash of hurt and anger enters his eyes, but it’s there and gone in the blink of an eye. Oookay then.
Would that be considered a red flag? I mean, I feel like I could live with it though. I wonder what that says about me. Eh, like I care what other people think about me.
“Drink the rest of your blood, little bat, and I’ll show you where your phone is,” he grumbles as he crosses his arms over his broad chest. Forearms flexing with the movement has me zeroing in on the movement. I have to shake my head to try and focus.
Something put him in a foul mood, and for some strange reason, I don’t like it. I don’t even understand why I don’t like it. I mean, I’ve known the guy for all of two seconds. So, why the hell do I feel this way?
A nagging feeling keeps yanking at my attention though. Could he be upset that I have a friend? Maybe he’s not a cat person? Gods, that would suck but I guess he’s entitled to his flaws even though I don’t like that idea.
“Are you bribing me?” I finally huff out when my brain catches up to what he said.
“Maybe…”
I roll my eyes before just going with it and sucking down the remaining blood inside the cup. It tastes delicious anyway, but I’m not going to admit that out loud to him.
“There,” I tip the cup towards him so he can peer inside and make sure I finished it all.
“Come on,” he mumbles before finishing his own blood bag and throwing it into the trash, “I don’t know if you were paying attention while trying to escape so I’ll show you back to my room.” The truth is, I wasn’t, and I can’t help but give him a sheepish grin. All I could think about at the time was getting out of this house and away from the crazy guy who proclaimed he was a vampire.
The jury was still out on that though. I’m not an idiot. I know I was just sucking down blood like a feral little beast, but it’s just something I can’t seem to wrap my brain around. Me, a vampire? What freaky dimension did I accidentally stumble into?
I didn’t really feel any different that how I’m always feeling. Well, except for the fact that the blood tasted really good. Maybe I just have a newfound appetite for blood? I slide off the stool and follow Calder out of the kitchen only to jolt in surprise and stop dead in my tracks.
“Is that a real suit of armor,” I ask blinking wide eyes at the shiny metal.
“Yes…”
“Why do you have a suit of armor,” I ask hesitantly as I run my fingers against the cool metal. My fingers trace the C engraved into the breastplate idly. I mean, for all I know he might be going for goth chic. Who was I to judge?
“Because I’m rather old,” he mumbles looking away from me in embarrassment.
“That’s not your suit of armor, right” I can’t help the little scoff that escapes me.
“What? No,” he rushes out to say making him look extremely guilty.
“It is yours,” I say in shock, “just how old are you, Calder?” He mumbles something that I don’t quite catch, “Umm, can you repeat that?”
“Two hundred and thirteen,” he grumbles out begrudgingly like he doesn’t want to tell me.
“Umm,” I say through my shock, “well, past your expiration date then?”
“Wow,” he huffs out in frustration, “no wonder why I didn’t want to tell you.” He turns on his heel and struts away at a fast clipped pace to get away from me. I easily catch up to him though much to his chagrin. I smile over at him, “It’s not that bad.”
“I know it’s not. Many guys like that I’m older. I’m more experienced,” he says in a stiff tone which has me corking my lips to the side and cocking an eyebrow at him. I don’t like the thought of Calder with other guys. It doesn’t sit well with me for some reason. He suddenly stops in the middle of a long hallway and turns towards me, “how do you feel about the age-gap trope?”
The question catches me off guard and a little snort escapes me. Calder’s expression turns even more sour, and I realize that he’s not laughing, I quickly clear my throat.
“I don’t mind it if that’s what you’re asking. Then again, I don’t have much experience with all of that,” I mumble, “maybe you really do need a nap in your old age. You seem to be getting grumpy.”
He looks flustered as he swipes an agitated hand roughly through his messy hair.
“I don’t need a nap,” he grumbles.
“But you just said in the kitchen that you wanted to go back to sleep…” I tail off as he averts his eyes from me and shifts uncomfortably, and then it dawns on me.
“Oh… you didn’t want to go back to sleep,” I mumble mostly to myself.
“Never mind, it was a stupid idea,” he says before trying to get away from me once again. I roll my eyes so hard that I’m surprised that they don’t get stuck in the back of my head and follow him. He takes a sharp turn into a bedroom, and I nearly collide with his back.
“Calder-”
“Your phone is over there,” he waves a hand in the direction of the side table, “I have to get some stuff done. So, I guess I’ll leave you to it.” He leaves the room without making eye contact with me or even letting me say another word before he’s out the door. I find myself staring back at the door where he had disappeared before a deep sigh escapes me. Well, that didn’t go as well as I would have liked.
I’ll have to reflect on that later. Probably after I deal with Eve. I chew on my bottom lip pressing my palms against my eyes to try to relieve some of the sudden pressure. I turn back towards the side table and grab my phone off the charger. I turn on the power and my phone starts going off with all kinds of notifications all coming from Eve. Most of the messages were sent earlier this morning.
Eve: I swear to fuck Aiden this isn’t funny!
Eve: WTF! You never came home!
Eve: I’m at the Cemetery and you’re nowhere to be found! Call me ASAP!
Eve: I found your bag near one of the graves. I’m starting to get really freaked out right about now! If this is your idea of a joke, it’s so not fucking funny!
Instantly my stomach churns with unease and guilt even though my circumstances were very much out of my control last night. I don’t like the fact that she was worried about me. It’s a horrible feeling. I back out of my messages and find her number in my call list. I hit the call button and shift awkwardly on my feet as I wait for her to answer the phone.
“Where the hell have you been,” she shrieks as soon as she answers. No, hello or anything. Just straight to the point, I guess. I cringe pulling the phone away from my ear before she bursts my eardrum.
“I can’t believe you, Aiden! I was fucking terrified when I woke up and you were nowhere to be found!”
“I had one hell of a night, Eve,” I grumble tugging on the bottom hem of my candy corn pajama top. My gaze glances down as I notice I’m also wearing fuzzy socks that have little purple bats on them. My chest suddenly tightens as emotion starts to overwhelm me. I rub a fist over my eyes as I take in a shuddering breath.
It all kind of hits me all at once like a tidal wave. I could have died yesterday. I know I’m dead, but I wouldn’t even be able to call Eve. And the worst part is that no one would have known what happened to me. An involuntary shudder runs through my entire body at the thought.
I’m slightly surprised Eve hasn’t said a word. Probably waiting to give me enough rope to hang myself with. I let out a little pathetic sigh.
“I managed to get myself buried alive last night,” I mumble feeling like a complete idiot.
“WHAT! How did you even manage that?” I can hear the bemused tone of her voice causing me to cringe.
“One thing led to another and with a bit of bad luck I found myself six feet under,” I shrug even though I know she can’t see me right now.
“So… and I’m not trying to be rude, but how the hell are you still alive,” she asks hesitantly.
“Well, there was this vampire-”
“WHAT?!? YOU’VE GOT TO BE FUCKING WITH ME AIDEN! THIS IS NOT FUNNY!” “Fucking hell Eve stop screaming in my damn ear,” I grumble down the phone line, “do you want to hear the story or not.”
“Sorry, yes. Proceed,” she mumbles, and I roll my eyes.
“Annnyway, so there was this vampire that somehow managed to hear me screaming for help last night. And thank fuck, because I was completely screwed, Eve. Seriously I would have been deader than dead. My phone had died, and everything just quickly escalated from there. He’s the one that dug me out of the grave.”
I expect her to laugh at my expense. I expect her to scoff and say something along the lines of not believing a damn word that just came out of my damn mouth. I do not anticipate her silence.
She’s quiet for so long that I have to pull the phone away from my ear to make sure she didn’t hang up on me.
“So, you’re telling me a vampire saved your little goth ass,” she asks quietly, almost hesitantly. Her reaction has my brow scrunching in confusion. The sudden shift is almost alarming, but I can’t dwell on that when a sharp sudden pain rips through my chest.
A little gasp escapes me as I double over clutching my free hand to my chest. Then my stomach starts churning like I’m about to be sick.
“Yep,” I manage to rasp out as I begin to taste copper inside my mouth.
“Aiden are you okay,” she asks in a strange panicky voice that I’ve never heard come from her before. I can’t think about that right now as my vision starts to dim around the edges. I stumble my way into the bathroom and flip the light switch on.
“I don’t… know,” I gasp out as a wave of nausea overwhelms me.
“Did you let him bite you?” Her voice is sounding more hysteric by the moment.
What a strange thing to ask… Suddenly, my stomach makes this horrible gurgling noise as bile burns the back of my throat. I feel clammy as a belch forces its way up my throat. Oh, that was fucking gross.
Placing the back of my hand against my forehead I hear myself murmur almost incoherently to Eve, “I’m gonna need to call you back.”
“Don’t you dare hang up on me, Aiden,” I hear her shout even as I press the end button on my phone. There’s no way in hell I’m going to let her stay on the other line listening to me hurl my guts up.
I don’t feel good, that’s all I can think as my knees hit the cold tile of the bathroom floor right in front of the toilet. I feel my energy drain out of my body leaving me swaying on the floor with how dizzy I am. Then the bile is racing up my throat as I bow over the toilet. Fuck, well this is happening.