Chapter 57
Painful Truths
When I woke the next morning dark still held the earth in its clutches. No nightlights were on, and yet I felt safe. Safe, in the dark, for the first time since I could remember.
He made me feel safe.
Karson was sound asleep beside me. I stared at him, listening to his slow, rhythmic breathing; much, much slower than a human’s, and more shallow.
I had to really concentrate to see the rise and fall of his chest. My heart lurched in fondness.
I could hardly believe I could feel this way again after Tom; and yet here I was, like an idiot. In love with a man I hardly knew.
It can only be sex, his words rang in my head.
I sighed. I needed to escape any morning after awkwardness. Maybe all he wanted was a one-night stand, and I’d be thrust firmly back into the friend zone today. Or worse, the enemy zone, given what I was.
I peeled the covers back in slow-motion, being careful not to wake him.
I grabbed some clothes and tiptoed to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, went to the toilet.
My vagina stung from last nights abuse. the memories came back in fragments.
The hood of his eyes. The deep rumble from his throat.
His fingers feathering my skin. I smiled as I threw on running gear and headed downstairs.
I needed a run this morning. I could be gone and back before he even woke. Not that I knew what time he got up, but we’d had a late night, so I assumed he’d sleep in. I grabbed a drink of water, pulled on my sneakers, opened the door slowly and quietly.
Frail morning light swept over the landscape. The sky was a flowery fire glow. The trees were still wrapped in the flailing darkness. But the dark forest never bothered me, at least not to the degree of the tomb-like darkness of inside.
The air was damp and chilly. The ground lay wet from last night’s drenching rain. The pleasant tang of pine trees and grass filled my nose.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
Startled by the voice, I jumped and spun back, my fists clenched. “Jesus Christ, Karson, don’t scare me like that.” The burst of fear switched to annoyance. “I’m going for a run.”
His annoyance matched mine and then some. He threw out his hands as he stalked down the stairs. “We do not know if you’re safe yet, and you want to run on your own?”
His eyes drove into me, pinning me to the spot. “I thought Ethan went to deal with it, I’m sure there’s no one here for goodness sakes,” I snapped.
“I haven’t heard from Ethan and until I do you are not to go anywhere alone.”
Concern replaced anger. “Haven’t heard? Is he okay?”
“I’m sure he’s fine, he’s probably at the club, or wrapped in the arms of a girl or two he’s picked up. He can take care of himself,” he said casually.
This news didn’t make me feel any better.
I stomped back inside, snatched my phone from my handbag, which, much to Ethan’s annoyance, I kept in the hallway side-table cupboard.
I sent him a text. It was too early to call.
He could read the text when he woke. Or finished doing whatever it was he was doing:
‘Is everything okay?’
I slipped the phone into my jacket pocket, debating whether I should argue about going for a run or leave it until we heard back from Ethan. One look at Karson’s steely face and I decided to leave it. I snapped the door shut, folded my arms and scowled.
“Do you always wake up in such a cantankerous mood, Amelia?” he asked as if we shared a little joke between us.
“I never wake up crabby, Karson. If my mood is influenced there is cause for it, and if you’re wondering what it is, there’s a mirror upstairs,” I retorted, vexed by his attitude. “If you can see your own reflection, that is.”
He chuckled. “Well, perhaps we should see if we can find a way to lift your mood, shall we? And at the same time you can also get the exercise you crave.” His face acquired an organic beauty when humor lit up his eyes. It lit up the room. And my mood shifted in a heartbeat.
I tilted my chin, suppressing a smile. “I’m not sure, do you think you’re up to the task? It’s quite the skill.”
“I’m confident I am but I’ll let you be the judge of that.”
He wrapped his hands beneath my bottom as I twined mine around his neck.
He lifted me up effortlessly. I swung my legs around his waist. His mouth met mine, soft and sweet.
I dug my fingers into the back of his neck, pressed my body into him and let out a small groan of sheer pleasure.
The one-night stand might just be a two-day stand.
I was hesitant to wish for more, though I did.
I could spend days, weeks, months, wrapped in his embrace.
“You have to be fucking kidding me.”
Surprised, I pivoted my head around. Dahlia stood in the doorway, her eyes as sharp as a blade. I don’t know why, but I felt like I was a naughty teenager caught by my mother kissing my date. I untangled my legs.
Karson smirked and lowered me to my feet. I was embarrassed and annoyed with both of them. Dahlia for her blatant intrusion, and Karson because I knew he must’ve heard her coming.
“Dahlia,” I said, not even trying to contain the sarcasm in my voice. “I didn’t expect you until later, do come in.”
“Clearly.” She threw Karson a furious gaze. “What the hell are you doing, vampire?”
“I would have thought it was obvious, Dahlia.” The smirk remained. “But I’m happy to give you some in-depth detail if you require it.”
I threw daggers at him, which was a perfect waste of a searing gaze. He kept his eyes fixed on Dahlia.
“Well I hope it’s worth your five minutes of fun.”
A glint formed in his eyes. He was perched on the cusp of saying something wholly inappropriate, which, if I had to guess, included references to being longer than five minutes.
The hate they held for it each other was manifestly clear; although I knew neither would cross the boundary.
Even if she wanted to, Dahlia didn’t have weapons, and Karson looked like he was thoroughly enjoying bating her.
“I’m going to shower. You two idiots try not to kill each other. Or do, whatever,” I said, throwing up my palms and heading upstairs.
I showered for a long time, allowing the stream to cascade over my body, feeling a kind of satisfied glow that comes the morning after sex.
Not just ordinary sex, but amazing sex with mind-blowing orgasms, and plenty of them.
It was a thrilling experience and I found myself smiling again.
I dressed back in running gear, given I had no idea what we would be doing today and I wanted to be comfortable.
I pulled my hair into a ponytail and headed downstairs.
Dahlia was seated on the couch sipping coffee. Karson was at the kitchen table reading a book. The air was distinctly hostile.
“Anyone hungry?” I asked in a light mood, descending off the last few steps.
“I am,” Karson replied. One look at his face was enough to let me know he wasn’t thinking about food. Color flooded my cheeks.
“For God’s sake, seriously? I’m going to fucking puke.” Dahlia screwed up her face. “Just eat, Amy, so we can go.”
I headed to the kitchen, opened the fridge door, searching for something to eat.
“Does anyone want eggs, bacon, mushrooms,” I yelled out. “Maybe a knife to cut the tension,” I muttered.
“I’m standing right here, no need to yell.
” Karson said from behind me. “And let’s not tempt Dahlia by giving her a knife.
” He wrapped his arms around my stomach, pulling my back against his chest. His hot lips feathered my neck, sending shivers of delight down my spine.
“Do we need to work on your mood a little more?” he purred.
“Stop it,” I whispered, grabbing his hands and pulling them off.
“The lot for me, and toast if you have it,” Dahlia called out.
I restrained a giggle and swung to face him. He tucked a wayward strand of hair back behind my ear. It was an attentive thing to do. A surge of fire sparked from the bottom of my stomach to between my thighs. I felt my vagina dampen.
He smelled my desire, his pupils grew to a huge size and drowned the color in his eyes. Desire shimmered between us.
He leaned in, his mouth to my ear, and whispered, “Do not be away too long, I have plans that include devouring every inch of your body today.”
The sound of his voice sparked another burst of wetness. Groaning, I stepped back. “Stop it, now I have to change my underwear,” I whispered.
He laughed, a sweet musical sound. “Well, Miss Williams, I can help you out of them right now if you like?”
I would, but shook my head, laughing I turned to the fridge, opening the door.
“Ethan told me about your cooking, go sit, chat to your witch friend, I will cook so it’s edible at least.” He reached past me and grabbed out the bacon.
“I’m not that bad,” I said, as he tossed bacon on the bench.
“Not what I was told.” He grabbed the mushrooms and began chopping them on a wooden board with a blur of speed; they were fully chopped by the time I turned to say, “Coffee?”
He screwed up his face like I’d offered him dirt. He didn’t like coffee then, noted. I opened the cupboard door and got out a cup. “Another coffee, Dahlia?” I called out.
“Yes, black, three sugars.”
I grabbed a second cup and placed one beneath the machine. I pressed the button and waited until it ground down and coffee trickled out.
“Thanks.” She took the cup. Her lips drew into thin, taut lines, as if she was physically struggling to keep the words she wanted to say sealed behind them.
“I’m not boiling frog legs, sacrificing a lamb, or pulling out my hair for any weird ass spells Dahlia, so you can cross that off the to-do list today.”
“Do I look like the kind of girl that stands around a cauldron chanting shit?”
I could see her sacrificing the lamb. I didn’t answer.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m a fucking fighter, Amy, I was sent to teach you to get a knife and place it in the heart of a vampire. Not that they have one.”