affectionate - Chapter 11: Chapter 11

FALLON
Christmas was tomorrow and instead of being excited I was dreading the entire day. I'd have to sit and pretend like everything was okay between my parents and I for the sake of not ruining the "Christmas spirit" but the mere thought of pretending all day exhausted me. Even though my parents and I weren't on the best of terms I still bought them both presents that were currently tucked away under the tree. I saw boxes that weren't the ones I stuck under there so it was safe to assume they bought presents for me as well. I appreciated the sentiment but the way life had been with them lately I didn't want it.
Family conflicts aside, it was still Christmas eve nonetheless and the house smelled of cloves, ham, and snickerdoodles. If my mother wasn't at her book club yapping away about whatever it was that middle aged women read about, then she was at home cooking. Her food was delicious and I would never deprive myself of it just because I was mad at her.
"Fallon!" Speak of the devil, I rolled out of my position on my bed and dog eared the page in the book that I was reading that I stopped on. I slipped on my uggs and bounded down the stairs. Rounding the corner into the kitchen where I saw my mother standing with her hands on her hips in front of the refrigerator.
"You called me, mom?" My mother quickly turned around and a soft smile replaced her frown. My heart grew a little bit at the sight of it, I missed those smiles and only now did I realize that I hadn't seen one in a while.
"I know it's late honey but can you run to the general market and pick up some turkey necks? I don't know how I forgot them and the greens need to go on tonight or they won't be ready by time we eat tomorrow." I nodded my head and made my way to the door, my trusty puffer waited diligently on the coat hook and I grabbed it and slung it over my body. My outfit was warm enough to walk in without me freezing half to death and I wanted to be able to see the town square at night one last time before the Christmas decorations were taken down and replaced by New year's decorations. It was nearing eight but the stores in town square purposefully stayed open late during the holidays for emergency runs such as this one. Hopefully, I'd be back before nine to resume my book and get a little more reading in before I went down for the night.
The walk into town was quick and the buying of the turkey necks was even quicker, I was on my way home in no time. I passed the entrance to the trail where I was only days earlier and all of a sudden I was filled with melancholy. It was pathetic, but I missed Lucius and desperately hoped that he missed me too. I hated myself for feeling like this. There was nothing to miss except fleeting touches and the totally illegal way he said my name. Both things were so trivial and not worth the time I spent daydreaming about them but I couldn't help it. Once again, I blamed the bond. And I blamed the bond again for making me get so lost in my thoughts that I wasn't watching where I was going and causing me bump into someone.
A weird sense of deja vu came over me and the ghost of a smile tickled my lips. The thought of the person in front of me being Lucius did unspeakable things to the butterflies inside of my stomach. I wanted it to be him, so bad.
Fire engulfed my entire upper body and I screamed the loudest I think I have ever screamed in my life. I tried to call for help but the pain of the hands that definitely did not belong on me had my voice dying in my throat and falling into the depths of my stomach. There was no doubt a hand wrapped around my neck. It pressed into my skin aggressively and tears sprung to my eyes. Everything was on fucking fire and to make matters worse I couldn't breathe, fear rushed through my veins and I was extremely convinced death was upon me. Whoever was manhandling me walked me backwards until we were in what I guessed was an alley where no one could see us because this was nowhere near legal. I cracked my eyes open, the unknown assailant was only an inch or two taller than me, head shaved, and buff as fuck for no reason. He let go of my neck and I took big, greedy gulps of air.
My moment of bliss was gone as fast as it had been given. His hands tore my jacket off and the hand that was previously on my neck attached itself there again, holding me still against the wall so I couldn't move. I wouldn't have moved even if I wanted to, being touched by other people had never hurt this bad before. At the moment I didn't know what was worse, this situation or the fact that Lucius could feel everything I was feeling and was more than likely on his way over here with nothing but murder on his mind.
Those thoughts were quickly put to rest when a second hand decided to join the party and dragged itself down my front and gripped my pockets.
"Where's your all your fucking money, bitch?" It was in my phone which was in my jacket pocket but I couldn't breathe so therefore I couldn't speak to tell him either. The heat was blistering, I felt like I was burning alive. There was no starting or ending point, the burn was everywhere and I wasn't sure how much more of it I could take.
As per usual, I heard Lucius before I saw him. The sound of air whooshing was hard to miss and I know the man was ripped off of me with the way his fingers pulled at the skin of my neck in a feeble attempt to resist the unforgiving wrath of Lucius. One chill inducing growl and two sickening cracks later and Lucius was in front of me trying to coax my eyes open. His eyes frantically searched my face, the electrifying crackles that traipsed across my skin a telltale sign.
"Fallon open your eyes, I'm here it's okay." I slowly peeled my eyes open and looked everywhere but at Lucius. My attacker lay unmoving on the ground, he was for sure dead and I didn't have enough energy to think about how Lucius just killed for me.
"Look at me." My eyes flicked up and collided with Lucius's. I didn't look away, even as his hands came up to wipe my tears. I flinched but he cupped my cheeks anyway and used his thumbs to smear my tears away from my eyes.
"Lucius..." He shushed me, his hands dropped from my face and I made a noise in the back of my throat at the loss of contact. Crying was the last thing I wanted to do, especially in front of Lucius. I didn't want to feel like a damsel in distress who needed a man to save her but right now I didn't give two fucks about being a strong , independent woman, the way it felt as his arms wrapped around my middle and pulled me into his chest was better than anything feminism had ever given me. I wanted to hug him back but my arms were glued to my sides, pain was still traveling throughout my body so I settled for digging my head as deep into his chest as it would go. Lips, soft and gentle, fell onto the top of my head and pressed into the skin there. My body buzzed in happiness and soon the pain was gone, replaced by pleasure and I shamelessly melted in delight.
"You make me do crazy things, Fallon. What were you even doing out here so late?" He murmured. I sniffled and rubbed the tears leaking from my eyes onto his shirt.
"Last minute grocery shopping for my mom." He sighed and tried to pull away but my hands shot up and desperately gripped the front of his shirt. I looked into his eyes, or tried to, the world around me was blurry, similar to that of an oil painting, all I could out make were the wobbly lines of his face and his bright blue eyes. I think he was frowning but I wasn't sure.
"Don't leave me." He shook his head and leaned down to press a chaste kiss to my forehead. "I can't even if I wanted to, if you go home like this trouble will surely follow and I've already taken a life tonight, don't really feel like taking another." I ignored the fact that he was most definitely talking about my father. I turned to gather my belongings, my jacket first since it was cold as all get out and then my discarded groceries. Lucius made sure my jacket was zipped all the way up before turning to exit the alley.
"You'll shower at mine again and then I'm taking you home,"
"Lucius-"
"I'm not stupid, Fallon. I will walk you to your street then watch you the rest of the way to your house from elsewhere." I sighed in relief and continued to follow him into the woods.
"Thank you for...tonight. If you hadn't been there I don't know what would've happened." His steps halted a bit and I took this time to admire his back profile. I didn't think much of it then but Lucius finished off my attacker rather quickly and with little to no difficulty. His arms were skinny but there was muscle packed into them and I could see it now in his back too. He was still tense, as if the danger wasn't gone and we weren't out of the clear yet. I blinked and looked away from him, this was not the time or the place to be fawning over him.
"Yes well, the feeling of being strangled and burning at the same time is not pleasant." He continued on and so did I. It wasn't like I forgot we were connected in that way, I just, for some reason, didn't think I was worth being saved by him.
The rest of the walk was silent. He didn't pry any further and I was still somewhat in shock over what happened. I was tired too and the only thing I cared about was the warm shower that I knew was waiting for me at Lucius's cottage.
It was well past nine, I had a handful of missed calls from my mother and multiple texts from my father. Some were of genuine concern and the rest were about Lucius. Sighing, I turned my phone off and sat it on the arm rest of the couch. After my shower, Lucius was very intent on taking me home immediately but I denied and said I needed time to sit. I was far from traumatized, what happened to me was scary and I would definitely walk a little faster from now on but for the most part I was just spooked and needed a few minutes to digest all of it.
I also planned on questioning Lucius again. Pain was nothing new to me. I've experienced it enough times in my life to consider it an old friend and although I never welcomed it with open, loving arms I never turned it away either. I knew it like the back of my hand and vise versa. However, what I felt tonight, was worse than anything I've ever felt before. It was excruciating, like hellfire raining down on my body over and over again. If it had kept going for any longer than it had, I was sure that I was going to burst into flames and die.
The couch dipped next to me and my line of vision was obstructed by two large mugs of steaming hot tea. Lucius was manspreading next me therefore our knees brushed and a small array of sparks bloomed there. Sitting this close to him was bad for my already weakening resolve. He was wearing one of his signature short sleeves, it was tight in all the right places; especially around his arms. His pale skin, beautifully inked with different designs and symbols, flexed every time he moved and drool formed in my mouth at the sight of it. He was wearing his rings today, a thin band around his pointer finger and a much thicker one around his ring finger. Disgustingly, I wondered how they would feel in my mouth, if they would be cold and taste like metal underneath my tongue. His eyebrow piercing, god his eyebrow piercing, aside from his eyes and his lips, it was my favorite part of his face. I wanted to twirl it in between my fingers. Looking at him like this, I realized I didn't appreciate his face enough. We were always too busy going back and forth with each other for me to notice how beautiful he really was.
"You aren't very subtle you know?" I rolled my eyes.
"Whatever." A lazy smirk weaseled its way onto his face at my response, his head lolled to the side and his eyes studied my face.
"Ask whatever it is that you want to ask." I pulled the corner of my bottom lip into my mouth. I hated how easy I was for him to read. I liked to think of myself as a closed book with an unassuming cover but with Lucius, I was open and exposed and he flipped through my pages and read me with ease.
"The burning...it was worse this time. Usually only the place affected burns but my entire body was on fire tonight, it was the only reason I was so scared. Do you...know why?" That and the fact that I genuinely felt like I was going to die but I left that part out. Next to me, Lucius shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat.
"It's because I should've marked you by now, the bond is punishing us—you more than me." My eyes narrowed, marked? Lucius didn't say anything about marking me the last time we talked about this.
"Marked? What does that mean?" A look of disbelief painted the better parts of his face and I opted for taking a sip of my tea. His gaze was sharp, under it I was small like an organism stuck beneath the prying eyes of a microscope.
"Your parents are terrible people."
"Hey!" Lucius raised his hands up in defense and I sent him a nasty glare.
"I'm serious, now I have to explain all this shit to you."
"Get on with it then." I huffed, still glaring at him.
"To be marked, I have to bite you, preferably on your neck. It's just a bite, has nothing to do with blood drinking. After I do it, you'll forever have the print of my fangs on your neck. It doesn't make sense in the human world but in the supernatural world it lets others know that you've been claimed, no fang mark is the same so other supernatural beings will know exactly who you...for lack of better words, belong to."
"Seems rather..."
"Possessive?" I nodded and subconsciously hugged myself.
"Supernatural beings are possessive by nature." I tilted my head and eyed Lucius.
"Are you possessive?" He breathed out what I assumed was a laugh and fully turned his body towards me, our knees stopped touching but the smile he sent in my direction made up for it.
"Why else do you think I did what I did tonight?" His voice, it seemed, dropped several octaves lower. I squeezed my legs together in response. Of course this did not go unnoticed by Lucius and his eyes dilated a little, lapis pools consumed by a black as dark as the night.
"Because you care about me." Lucius found my eyes again and my tongue darted out to lick my drying lips. The atmosphere was growing hot and I didn't know if it was my mind playing tricks on me or if Lucius really was gradually leaning closer.
"Is it that obvious?" He rasped. He was definitely moving closer to me, I could feel his breath, minty and sweet with toothpaste, waft across my face. My cheeks heated up and I stood abruptly, grabbed my phone, and tugged my jacket closer to my body. "I think I'm ready to go." I know I did a filthy thing a few nights ago and as much as the real thing excited me, it scared me too. I had never done anything with anyone before and I wasn't sure if I wanted my first time to be tonight after everything I had been through. My parents were also no doubt going crazy and I needed to get home.
Lucius stood up too, the palm of his hand found the small of my back and he ushered me towards the door. I leaned into his touch and it took every cell in my body to not lean my head back onto his chest.
The door was right in front of us and instead of moving to open it Lucius stopped walking. I stopped as well, his touch felt too good to move away from it and despite my hasty movements earlier I wasn't in a rush to leave him. His hand snaked its way around my front and soon his arm was wrapped around my waist, I was trapped against him but had no desire at all whatsoever to free myself.
"How does it feel when I touch you?" He whispered directly in my ear and my knees wobbled slightly. If it wasn't for his arm encasing me against him I probably would've fell forward.
"It feels...it feels like fireworks bursting on my skin. Or like, the sparklers that kids run around with on the fourth of July, it feels like those all over my body and I can't get enough of it. When you touch me it feels right and I feel whole. And when you stop touching me, my body reacts every single time, almost like it's begging for you—your touch—to come back." If I was as pale as Lucius my face would be red as fuck.
"And when someone else is touching you?"
"You already know the answer to that. My body rejects it, it feels red and angry and wrong." A quiet sigh slipped past his lips and went straight down to my core. My thighs trembled and suddenly it was hard to breathe.
"Lucius..." His arm left my body and a gasp tumbled out from my lips. I missed it there already.
"Take your jacket off and leave it here. I'll return it to you soon." He opened the door and stepped out, his eyes never leaving mine.
"Why?" He closed his eyes and breathed in and out before opening them again and answering me.
"My scent is all over it. Unless you want tonight to become more complicated I suggest you take it off." He was right. It was fine before but after touching me like that it was ruined now. I grimaced as I took it off and placed it on his coat hooks. My groceries sat idle on the floor underneath the hooks and I picked them up. Stepping outside, the cold attacked immediately and I cursed Lucius in my head for doing that right before we left instead of when we first arrived. I closed the door behind me and followed Lucius who had already started in the direction towards town.
It was getting harder to resist him and I knew he felt the same about me. We were both swimming in dangerous waters but I don't think either of us cared. We needed each other and that thought alone was enough to control our actions and make us do dumb shit like what just happened. We needed to be careful, I knew Lucius could control himself...somewhat. He wasn't the one I was worried about.