Chapter 28 #2
Relief swept through him as soon as Simon spoke the permission. He arched into the kiss, arms coming up to pull at Simon, wanting more, wanting everything. Simon obliged. He pushed Charlie's legs up and positioned the blunt end of his cock against Charlie's stretched entrance.
Slowly, carefully, he began to push in, and the world went white.
Charlie had never been so full. Simon was big enough that even his careful preparation hadn't quite gotten him ready enough, but Charlie reveled in the burn and stretch and overwhelming sensation of Simon filling him completely.
"Okay?" Simon asked, holding very still despite the obvious effort it took to do so.
Charlie could see the strain in his shoulders as he struggled for control.
He could sense how much Simon wanted to slam home into him and fuck him into oblivion.
How much effort it was taking to maintain his self-discipline.
The realization made his breath catch. No one ever lost control because of him. But here was Simon, struggling to contain himself for his benefit.
Charlie reached up to cup Simon's face. "Perfect," he breathed.
Simon groaned, closing his eyes briefly before opening them again. His gaze met Charlie's with an intensity that threatened to set Charlie alight. "I'm going to fuck you now," he rasped.
He pulled almost all the way out and then thrust back in hard, driving a cry straight from Charlie's lips.
"Yes," he managed, and that was apparently the last of Simon's patience.
He slammed forward again, burying himself deep, and Charlie's world narrowed to nothing but the feeling of his hunter claiming him utterly.
The pace Simon set was relentless and perfect and so much more than he'd ever expected from sex.
Charlie had never felt closer to anyone else than he did to Simon in that moment.
The bond that had formed between them blazed like a bonfire.
Every thrust sparked the flames higher, brighter, until they burned through every atom of Charlie's being.
The fire filled the empty places he hadn't realized were there and made everything complete, right in a way it never had been before.
Simon growled as if he was feeling much the same way. He gripped Charlie tightly. Hard enough that Charlie knew he was going to have bruises later.
The possessiveness sent fresh waves of pleasure through him. He arched into Simon, moaning incoherently, trying to communicate everything he felt and failing utterly.
Simon's hand came up to grip his hair roughly and pull him down into another kiss that left no doubt as to who Charlie belonged to. He kissed back hungrily, desperate for Simon to feel what he did, to feel how much Charlie needed this, wanted this.
Wanted him.
"Fuck, Charlie," Simon breathed against his mouth, his voice ragged. "Come for me."
Charlie's body obeyed instantly. He threw his head back with a cry and came hard, his release painting his stomach white, the pleasure so sharp it bordered on pain.
Simon kept fucking him through his orgasm.
Kept fucking him as the pleasure slowly faded to aftershocks, until finally he slammed home one last time and spilled deep inside of Charlie with his own groan of ecstasy.
For long moments, neither of them moved, each breathing heavily.
Then Simon lowered himself carefully onto Charlie, wrapping his arms around his waist and pulling him close.
Charlie clung back instinctively, needing the closeness.
Needing the warmth of another person's touch more than he ever had before.
"Wow," he mumbled eventually into the crook of Simon's neck. "That happened."
"Mm." Simon's response was muffled against Charlie's own shoulder, but he could hear the smile in it. It warmed him to his core to know that Simon was happy, that he'd made someone else happy for once without ruining everything in the process.
Maybe things weren't quite so hopeless after all, if he could still have this.
But of course this moment of happiness crumbled before Charlie could truly grab hold of it.
He noticed it in the way Simon's posture shifted. There was something desperate in the way Simon's fingers pressed into Charlie's waist.
Desperation wasn't an emotion Charlie equated with his hunter.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Simon shifted his head against Charlie's shoulder, and Charlie could practically feel him thinking, that sharp mind turning over some problem.
"I just..." Simon started, then stopped. "I was supposed to kill you."
"Yeah." Charlie kept his voice neutral, letting Simon work through whatever was going on in his head.
"But I didn't. I couldn't." Another pause. "I fed you my blood. Protected you. And now..."
The unfinished sentence hung between them. Charlie understood. Now they'd crossed a line Simon probably never imagined crossing. Not just sparing a vampire, but choosing one. Wanting one.
"If I was wrong about you," Simon said slowly, like he was testing each word, "then the Organization was wrong about you. And if they were wrong about one thing…"
Charlie waited. He could feel Simon putting pieces together, the slight tension that came with each new connection.
"That librarian. Noah. He said..." Simon's voice got even quieter. "He said they choose people. That they arrange for certain people to be attacked."
What was Simon saying?
The organization was attacking people? Like, regular people?
Charlie felt Simon's breathing change. It was not quite steady anymore. The fingers against his waist pressed harder, then released.
"Noah knew things," Simon continued. "About the night I was attacked." Simon's voice didn't betray his fury, but it seeped into the bond that had formed between him and Charlie, too sharp for Charlie to ignore.
"Reuben was there," Simon said. "My mentor. He arrived at exactly the right moment to save me from becoming a vampire."
Charlie swallowed hard.
Was Simon implying…?
"Noah said I was selected. That my psychological profile, my family situation, made me a perfect candidate." Simon spit out that last word. Candidate. "He said the trauma makes better hunters."
Charlie didn't know what to say. What comfort to offer. "Simon…"
"My mother died screaming," Simon said flatly. "I was fifteen. I held her while she bled out, and Reuben let it happen. He planned for it to happen."
Charlie felt Simon trembling now—not with fear but with rage so profound his body couldn't contain it.
"All these years, I've been grateful to him. For saving me. For making me strong enough to fight back. I took his pills, followed his orders, and killed for him. Because he saved me from becoming a monster."
A pause. When Simon spoke again, his voice was raw with fury.
"But he's the one who made me into one."