Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
YORICK
Since Atticus’s house is closer, we drive there, even though Casimir whines about his dog being too far away.
Julian’s mom is taking care of Gustov, though, so Julian assures him he’ll be fine, and I’m left wondering if he sent her fifty texts on how to care for the dog—including threats—like he did to me.
When we arrive, everyone kind of goes their own way before bed, but Atticus lets me know that he isn’t letting me out of his sight. I think if he had his way, the entire group would surround me in a protective circle, but I’m happy sleeping in his arms.
Once everyone is awake that evening, I smoke Julian in a video game and listen to him talk about how he’s behind at work while Casimir goes on about how he shouldn’t have to work a day in his life.
I tell Julian that if he’s pretty enough—and has fast enough fingers—he could go his whole life without working.
After leaving those two, I follow Atticus to a private room on the second floor filled with bookshelves.
I stare at the books for a bit, realizing that they all look quite old… and probably very valuable.
“You’re not stealing any of my books,” Atticus grumbles.
“I never once thought about stealing any of your books.”
I walk over to where Atticus is sitting in a chair, lost in thought. I sit down on his lap, drawing his attention back to me as I face him. “I’m sorry,” I mumble.
“For?”
“For telling Niles that I killed Lou, even after you told me not to. I just…” I think back to the anxiety I felt over the idea of Niles killing Atticus. Niles was just so impossibly strong… I don’t know how Atticus could have won the fight without Morpheus stepping in.
“I would have done the same for you,” Atticus says.
“You do too much for me. You risk too much.”
“You really have faith that Morpheus will leave us alone after this, don’t you?”
“You don’t?”
Atticus thinks for a bit before sighing. “It almost feels worse that all of this was for nothing. Like at least before, there was a reason. And now it’s like he can just go ‘Whoops, my bad’ and move on. What a joke.”
I shrug. “Sometimes there isn’t a reason. People who hurt others don’t always have a purpose or some logical reason behind it. You are a victim in this. You don’t deserve what he did. There’s no sense in you thinking that you should have done something wrong to deserve the pain he put you through.”
He looks startled when his eyes catch mine.
“You’re right. Even though I’m feeling like there should be a reason for it…
there’s not. And it doesn’t matter if there was; what he did to me wasn’t something I ever deserved, even if I had killed his daughter that day.
I was a prisoner in his sick world, and the ones I killed when trying to escape chose to stop me despite knowing what I was going through.
Even if I’d killed Anna that day, it was her choice to believe that what he was doing was right…
that I shouldn’t be allowed freedom. I guess I just thought that if there was a reason for it… it would make more sense.”
“Hmm…” I tilt my head back while I think about my interactions with Morpheus.
“Nothing Morpheus does makes sense. It’s going to be really hard to let go of the idea of killing him.
But right now, what’s more important to me is that you’re here.
Morpheus has agreed to step away. If you try to kill him, I know he will be relentless.
And I can’t lose you,” I say as I put a hand on his cheek.
“Promise me that you will not attack him.”
“I promise. You’ll have to keep a close eye on Johnny, though.”
“I’ll threaten him. He’ll be scared of my threats for sure.”
“Oh, for sure,” Atticus says. “I… I feel like I can finally breathe, and I don’t even have to breathe. It’s like my body was being… crushed for a thousand years, and suddenly, that pain is all gone.”
“You look giddy.”
His eyebrow quirks. “Looking giddy is not in my skillset.”
I grin at him as he tries to pull out a more serious look. “You definitely look giddy.”
“Only you trot around looking giddy,” he declares.
My grin turns into a beam. “I am not ashamed to flaunt my ability to be giddy.” I lean forward and kiss him. “Maybe your giddiness will rub off on me if I kiss you enough.”
“Still not giddy. Even saying the word annoys me. It makes me less happy by the second.”
“Then why are you trying to hide your smile?” I nip his bottom lip, feeling like he deserves a bite or two for trying to lie to me.
He kisses me harder in response, tongue brushing against mine before I pull back.
“I’m supposed to be trying to figure out where this poison came from.
I simply stopped doing that for a few minutes to chat. ”
“You can figure it out after we have sex,” Atticus decides as he picks me up and swings the door shut.
“We’re having sex here? All we have are your fancy reading-nook chairs. Do you even know how to read? I think you just hold books and brood to look extra sexy.”
“Yes, most people hold books to give off their best sexy vibe.”
“Hey, it caught my attention.”
“No, what caught your attention was your ability to set me on fire and steal from me.”
“Well… that was just an added bonus. I plan to pay you back one day.”
“Yeah? With what?”
I wink at him. “My body.”
“I would literally have to fuck you for the next fifty years straight.”
“No! I’m worth so much more than that,” I protest as he sets me down on the chair he’d been sitting in.
“Even if we had one sex session per thing you stole, we’d… still be here for fifty years.”
“No! I’m pretty sure I’m worth well over that. Like… one time having sex should clear all of my debt.”
Atticus sets his hands on my knees before pushing them apart. “Do you, now?”
“Yes, very much. I mean…” I pull my zipper down. “Have you seen this body?”
“I have. You’ve walked around naked many times during my life. One time you even crawled in a bath with me. Do you know how much concentration it took to not get hard?”
“I was very hard,” I admit. “I regretted climbing in with you instantly since you sat there cool as a cucumber and I was so horny. I just wanted to show you what you didn’t have because you were too stubborn to claim it for yourself.”
He kneels between my legs while my eyes are trained on him.
He bites my thigh lightly through my pants, and excitement rushes through me.
I swear he’s planning on turning me to mush with just a nibble.
I’ve had sex with other vampires. I’ve been bitten by vampires…
but nothing has ever excited me like this man has.
“I actually think I should get paid instead,” Atticus teases as a finger slides up my skin to my chest, taking my shirt with it.
“You can have whatever you want,” I decide.
“Wow… so agreeable like this,” he says, leaning forward to kiss my chest before he lightly nips my nipple.
“Oh fuck. Yes, you should get paid for sure,” I murmur.
Atticus just laughs while he pushes my shirt up and off, and his lips wander over my chest and back down until he’s settled between my legs. “You want to be in even more debt to me?”
“Yes. I want to be so far in debt that you can never get rid of me, no matter how much you try.”
“You don’t need to be in debt for me to never let you go,” he says as he slides my pants down, viciously leaving my underwear behind. “I already let you go for nearly five hundred years; I’m not going to let you go any longer.”
I feel his mouth on my cock through my briefs before he teasingly draws my underwear down, freeing my erection.
“Do you have lube?” he asks.
“Of course I do! It’s in my bag near the door. I would get it, but I don’t ever want to move,” I say. He retrieves it before I even notice he’s missing. Atticus throws my right leg over his shoulder before pulling me forward so he has better access to my hole.
His fingers wrap around the base of my cock while his tongue swirls over the tip.
As if that’s not enough, his free hand moves down to my ass, finger circling over my entrance before pushing inside.
The bliss I experience from his touch makes me slide down the chair a bit, so I quickly grip the armrests to keep from sliding down too far.
“Fuck, you make me feel so good, Atticus,” I murmur.
His finger strokes inside me while his mouth sinks down deeper. His eyes flick up to meet mine and I groan, reaching out and tangling my fingers in his hair. Another finger joins the first, but I want to feel him fill me up. I want to feel him stretch me and shove deep inside me.
Atticus pulls his mouth off and glances up at me. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want you to fuck me.”
He tugs his shirt off and unbuttons his pants while I begin oozing out of the chair without him there to hold me up.
I reach out and grab his wrist, pulling myself up before I crash into him and take his lips.
He’s now gripping me tightly with one hand while the other struggles to get his pants off, so I decide to help him by removing them.
I snatch up the lube and squeeze some onto my hand before sliding it down his thick cock.
I push him back until he sits down in a chair across from the one I’d been sitting in.
I swing my leg over his then reach behind me and wrap my hand around his length.
As his eyes lock with mine, I slowly lower myself until the head of his cock is pressed against my hole.
I sink down, my body opening up and taking all of him.
His lips find mine while he murmurs something that sounds like “Feels good,” but it’s always hard to tell with him.
He’s never been the best at telling me how he feels about anything, so it’s a good thing I know how to read him.
His tongue brushes against mine, and then his lips trail down to my throat, kissing and nipping as I ride his cock.
It feels so amazing… so deep when I sink down.
“I love you,” Atticus whispers. “I really do.”