James rolled to rest at Lily’s side, pulling her to rest against him, both of their breath’s raced and their bodies’ slick with sweat from the exertion. Content to simply hold her, James brushed his fingers through her hair. He’d was near asleep when suddenly Lily gasped, it was a loud deep gasp. She sat up with her hand on her chest. He sat up, resting a hand on her back and looked at her worried.
“Lily, are you alright,” he asked just as her body convulsed with a cough before another gasp hit her. He watched wide eyed as her pale skin darkened back to its normal olive tone and he could feel warmth replace the vampiric chill her body had before. Lily turned to look at James, eyes as wide as his. Her eyes were no longer a ruddy red but a reddish brown as before.
Disbelief and joy painted her face as she said, “I’m breathing, James! And my heart,” she said and took his hand to place it on her chest. He could feel the strong beat of said heart with a grin. Lily surprised him by throwing herself onto him in a hug. James chuckled, as he hugged her back, sharing in her joy and his own at the confidence that it had worked. Lily was now safe from the leech king.
She pulled away from the hug. “I can’t believe it… I thought when Silvano…,” she started, her warm expression fading and her features turned slightly troubled. “No,” James said, forcing her attention on him as it was nearly painful to see her walls starting to come up again. “Whatever this means… you being back to normal. We’ll worry about it tomorrow,” he insisted then kissed her lips in a quick peck.
“Tonight, just enjoy how good it feels to have the air in your lungs, heartbeat in your chest, and all the good that’s in your life,” he told her, brushing her hair behind her ear and he kissed her again, joy filling him again when she returned the kiss. She broke the kiss to push him back on the bed and straddled him.
“You’re right, we’ll worry about tomorrow,” she said and James’s grinned at the heated look in her eyes as she leaned down and kissed him again.
Lily winced when the sun hit her in the face; she was so not ready to be awake yet. Groaning, she tried to hide away from the nefarious rays and then stilled when she realized where she was and who she was draped over with nothing but skin between them. She cracked open one eye and peeked up at James. He looked still asleep. His face was relaxed and he looked pretty peaceful but God if he didn’t have that smug little smirk still on the edge of his mouth.
Cocky little jerk, she thought and smiled. Trying to keep James asleep, Lily gently tried to push off his arm from her hips only to have it tighten around her. He turned then pulled her closer, wrapping his other arm around her so that her body was completely against his. An embarrassing flush stole through her when his body’s morning state was almost painfully stabbing her in the stomach.
She once again tried to push his arms off of her. With a groan, James’ arms moved, readjusted their position, and tightened their grip. “You’re making it hard sleep Lily,” he complained. Lily glared at him with a loud sigh.
“And you’re making it hard to get up,” she argued, once again trying to escape this ironclad hold on her. He groaned again but with the growing smile on his face she didn’t think it was because she wasn’t letting him sleep. “James, seriously do I have to hurt you?” She threatened and he laughed so hard that it nearly shook the bed. He opened his eyes and looked down at her, the smile was splashed wide across his face now.
“It’s been so long since I heard you say that. I was starting to think you’d never offer,” he teased then before she could say more, released his grip on her. She rolled her eyes at him as she moved her head slowly side to side then got out of the bed. She walked over to where her clothing laid crumpled on the floor, trying to ignore James, propped up on his elbow watching every move she made.
“I’m going to take a shower,” she told him and he gave her a nod, pushing back the blanket and moving to the edge of the bed. Seeing his attention was on finding his own clothes, she let her gaze wander over him. He really was one fine male, she thought, letting a smile through when she turned to go to the bathroom. After getting fresh clothes from the spare room, Lily leaned over the sink to peer in the mirror.
She tugged at her eyelids to fully look at her eyes then pulled up her lip to look at her fangs. Her eyes were clear and her irises were back to brown with a red tint to it. The fangs were small, only slightly longer than normal teeth. The point was so slight and didn’t look even sharp. Her heart beat normal, her breathing was rhythmic, and she could feel her beast again. Never in her life did she think that feeling the monster under her skin would be a good sign.
Though now this brought the million dollar question, was the change simply superficial or was she really protected against the forming blood bond. Turning on the water and balancing the warm and cold faucets until she got just the right combination Lily thought of the Vampire King. Instinctively her lip curled as a soft growl erupted from her and anger at what he was trying to do burst through her. It was short lived and a smile followed in its wake.
No, she certainly wasn’t enamored of him like she was. The thought of seeing him again no longer excited her. The thought of his blood in her didn’t warm her as it had before. The warm water of the shower hit her and rushed over her and an odd feeling of cleanliness washed over her like the water did. Maybe it’s all going to be okay, she thought, actually feeling positive since… she didn’t even remember since when.
The realization made her frown and her fingers brushed the mark now on her shoulder, the skin was slightly upraised and tender to the touch. Was this making her feel like this? Was it the influence of the bond she now shared with James? She frowned even more when she thought of James. If she was protected and things did come out okay, what would happen next between them? Could James seriously just keep it as friends?
That’s what he said and what she wanted right? Her thoughts went to last night. Watching old movies had been way more fun than she thought it would be and talking to James about her family hadn’t been horrible at all. He never said he was sorry or gave her that pity look. No, instead he shared his own childhood with hers. His honesty and the truth of his younger years wasn’t exactly what she had expected, but she liked that he shared it with her.
Then there was the sex, it had been something else. None of her casual boyfriends and bar hookups had ever been like that. None of the men she’d been with had ever taken their time to just tease her like that before. Her abdomen tightened and warmth pooled there as she remembered the way he touched her. He wasn’t even touching her and she was getting turned on. Was that even possible?
Lily adjusted the faucets to make the shower cooler and cool her ass off. “Forget about it,” she muttered to herself. “Cause it’s not going to happen again. This just changes nothing, we’re simply friends at best,” she said but something twisted inside her at the thought of not having another night like that and suddenly Lily felt… lonely? Growling at her own stupidity, Lily shook her head to chase away all the odd feelings and thoughts in her head.
Leaving the bathroom, the smell of bacon and eggs hit her and her stomach rumbled loudly. James stood in his small kitchen, filling two plates with food in nothing but jeans. Her eyes drifted over him and her beast tried to push her to go over and get her some… and not necessarily the eggs and bacon. Cool your jets, she snapped silently at the beast. So not going to happen.
“I hope you left enough water for me,” James said once he noticed her and she prayed he didn’t notice that she had been checking him out.
“I wasn’t in that long,” she told him and took the plate and fork he offered. “Besides cold water is good for you. Good for the circulation I hear,” she teased him, sitting at the table. James scoffed as he down across from her.
“I’m not freezing in the shower for my circulation which is just fine as it is, thank you,” he told her and she couldn’t help but grin with a shrug. “So… how do you feel,” he asked after a moment of their silent chewing.
“Really good actually,” she said, looking at James waiting for the cocky grin to appear. She didn’t have to wait long.
“So normal right? The beast and all that? It’s all there,” he asked and she was surprised he didn’t have some comment to make about how he was just that good or his stamina or something totally guyish. “So do you think it worked,” he asked once she had nodded in answer to his previous question.