Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
Sometime in the middle of the night, I awaken to find myself alone in bed. I roll over and my hand runs over cold sheets. I sit up and look around the room, noticing the glow under the door to the hallway.
All the little hairs on my body stand on end. I turn my head in the other direction and see the curtains are open. Only darkness fills the outside. It’s even darker than it should be, as if there’s no light left in the world. I can’t make out anything beyond the glass.
When I glance back, the warm glow still rests outside the door. I debate what to do and decide that once before the light led me to Kol, the night that things began to change for us, so I trust it will lead me to him again.
I slide out of bed naked and reach for Kol’s discarded shirt on the floor. Slipping it on, I walk over to the door, holding my breath and trusting my gut, and open it.
Once again, the light moves down the hallway.
I hurry to catch up, moving through the shadows that feel as if they’re chasing me. I leave the north wing, pass the stained-glass lion, and follow the light to one of the doors that leads outside.
My footsteps halt as it moves through the door. I nibble on my bottom lip, unsure what to do. It was different, going outside in the middle of the night, when I was trying to escape. But this time, I have an ominous feeling about leaving the manor.
The light stills, waiting patiently for me to decide. With a deep breath, I step forward and turn the handle on the door.
“I better not regret this,” I mumble to the light, but when I look up, it has vanished.
It takes me a minute to figure out why the light led me here. The thick fog sits heavy near the ground, but I spot Kol sitting on one of the chairs on the patio. He’s slouched back, holding a bottle of booze.
I approach quietly, taking him in. When I draw closer, he’s clearly deep in thought about something, but I have no idea what. It’s obvious from the way he grips the neck of the bottle and from the look of agitation on his face as he stares into the darkness.
It’s been a few days since Kol found me at Black Magic Bar, and he’s been attentive and is no longer holding back in bed, something I’m grateful for. His mood has been good, stable. But something must be bothering him for him to leave our bed in the middle of the night and come out here.
“Hey.”
His head whips to me. “You look like a ghost.”
“Is that good or bad?” I ask, closing the remaining distance between us.
He doesn’t answer.
“What are you doing out here?” I glance down at his bottle of booze. If the scent coming off him is any indication, I’d guess that he’s been out here longer than I knew.
“Needed to shave my head. I usually do it out here because it doesn’t make as big of a mess.”
My head tilts. “You decided you needed to shave your head in the middle of the night. And what, you just happened to find a bottle out here?”
He gives me a lopsided grin. “Actually, I decided on the alcohol first, then I decided on the haircut.”
I frown. “What’s wrong?”
He inhales a deep breath and sighs. “Nothing for you to worry about.”
“Kol…” I slide onto his lap sideways and wrap my arms around his neck. “You can tell me.”
He brings his face to my neck and inhales deeply. “Just got some news. Not sure what to do about it, that’s all.”
“Concerning work?”
He nods against my neck.
“There’s no clear-cut answer?”
He shakes his head.
I frown again. It’s clear that whatever this decision he has to make at work is weighing on him. I rub his chest. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
“Yeah.” I hear the clank of the bottle meeting the patio as he sets it down, then he brings his hand to my hip. “Do you want to shave my head for me?”
For some reason, his request makes my belly flutter.
I pull back to see if he’s serious. “You want me to do it?”
Kol shrugs. “You can’t be the only one looking good.” He runs his fingers along the end of my hair.
“Okay.” I hop off his lap. “Should we go inside so I can see what I’m doing?”
There’s a light on at the side of the house, but with the fog, it looks more like a lighthouse on some distant shore.
“Here’s fine. There’s not much to it.” He reaches for the electric razor on the table to his left, stretching out, and his T-shirt rising gives me a glimpse of the hair that disappears under the waistband of his pants. A faint buzzing sound fills the night. “Just run it bottom to top, front to back.” He demonstrates the direction to go.
“Okay.” I take the shaver from him and start at the side of his head.
After a few swipes, I get more comfortable and get the hang of the technique. In no time, I’ve made it around to the other side. When I step in front of him, his hands slide up my bare legs and under his large T-shirt to rest at my hips.
“I like seeing you in my shirt.”
The hunger in his voice tells me that if I looked down right now, I’d probably see an erection tenting his lounge pants.
“I like being in it.” The moment feels intimate now that I’m in front of him.
I run the razor from the front of his head to the back, leaning in when I get close to his crown. My breasts brush against his face, and Kol nuzzles them and sighs.
His hands squeeze my hips. “Don’t leave me.” His voice is as rough and worn as the floor at Black Magic Bar.
“I’m not going anywhere.” My voice is soft and reassuring, and I hope he hears the truth in my words.
My run-in with my mother has been on my mind, but I have no urge to run back to her, though I do know eventually I’m going to have to call her and try to find some common ground. But I keep pushing it off. I love this little bubble Kol and I have created for ourselves, even if I know it won’t last forever.
Kol’s hands slide around to my ass, and he squeezes.
I stifle a moan. “I’m going to mess this up if you don’t hold still.”
Kol leans forward and bites my nipple through the T-shirt, and I yelp. He laughs before sucking the fabric into his mouth along with my pebbled nipple, and my legs go weak. His hands delve between my legs from behind, and he groans around my breast, finding me wet. My head lolls back, eyes closed.
“I’m all done,” I say through a haze of lust so thick it battles the heaviness of the fog around us.
His hands drop, and he leans back in the chair, sliding down his lounge pants. I lick my lips at the sight of him and move to go down on my knees, but his hands grab my elbows.
“I want your cunt.”
I bite my lip and straddle him. He pulls me down and pushes into me. We both release a satisfied sigh, the feel of him always so perfect. Everything with him is always so perfect.
He’s worried I’ll leave him, and I’m worried I might not be enough one day, but moments like this makes me believe we’re destined for one another.