Chomp

“I really don’t need tea,” I pointed out, frowning as Adrian brought the giant mug into my bedroom. Now that I was sitting down on the bed, I felt far less woozy than I had downstairs. Still, I didn’t quite feel perfect.

Placing the mug down on the bedside table, he shrugged. “It certainly couldn’t hurt. Just humour me.”

“Fine, fine,” I sighed in defeat. I even put my hands up in a mock surrender. “I’ll drink the damn tea. But like I said, I’ll probably only need to get an hour or so.”

“All this because of dust?” Adrian asked wryly, cocking an eyebrow.

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Bite me.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ll be downstairs if you actually want to leave in an hour, but you’re welcome to stay for as long as you need. I’ll walk you home.”

“Like hell you will,” I answered, sitting up and grabbing the mug. It was hot to the touch, not yet ready to drink. “You know civilians aren’t allowed out after dark.”

With a wry smile, he lowered the teacup. “You’re a civilian, too.”

He had a fair point. “I—Well, I guess so. But at least I’ve had military training. Any vampire that decides to come a houndin’ will get a poundin’.”

Adrian crossed his arms. “Maybe on a good day. But today doesn’t seem to be one of those for you. Just… Rest up and we can talk about it later, okay?”

“Fine.”

I took a sip of the tea as he left the room, gently closing the door behind him as if I were already asleep. Or maybe that was just my hearing going again; it seemed to fade in cycles. I frowned. At least my sense of taste was still standing by my side, ready and willing to remind me of how much I disliked tea.

After a few polite sips, I set the mug back onto Adrian’s spotless side table. How he—or anyone, for that matter—kept the top of it bare, mind for an alarm clock, was beyond me. Snuggling down into the blankets, I was greeted by his smell again.

This time, I didn’t shy away from it.

There was nothing wrong with liking how someone smelled, was there? After all, that’s what perfume was all about. It wasn’t an innately sexual thing; I could definitely like Adrian’s smell and be completely sexually un-attracted to him, right? My face suddenly felt hot.

It wasn’t as though he was unattractive though...

I pulled the blankets away from my face sharply. What the hell was I even thinking about that for? My blood ran cold, and, not for the first time in my life, I was glad thoughts were private.

There was no need to think of Adrian that way. After all, I had been happily married to Darius for six months. He might not come home very often, but I still enjoyed his company when he did.

I wiggled my cellphone out from the back pocket of my jeans. After unlocking it, I brought up Darius’ number. It was just after six, which meant he would still be at work, but I decided to call him anyway.

“Hello, Darius Norouzi speaking.”

“Hey, Babe.”

There was silence on the other side of the line.

Then—

“Agnes. I’m at work, you know that.”

“Yeah, I know, I know,” I confessed. “But I just wanted to let you know, I might be home late. I’m not feeling great, to be honest.”

Another pause on his end. “Where are you?” he demanded.

His tone took me aback.

“W-Well I’m just at Adrian’s right now. We were cleaning up the shop and—”

Darius’ scoff came through loud and clear on the other end. “Figures.”

It was my turn to be silent. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” I asked after a short pause. “You know he lives above the shop—above where I work. I felt dizzy, so he just brought me upstairs to rest.”

“Right. Because that’s all.”

“You’re being a bit moronic right now, don’t you think?”

Before the words had even left my mouth, I realized how Darius must have been seeing this situation. A relatively newly-wed woman, alone because she doesn’t work; a workaholic husband; she starts spending time with a close, male friend who also happens to offer her quite the package deal: work to occupy her time and sweets galore.

I sighed. “Listen. I can promise you—”

“Don’t bother, Agnes. If you wanted that so badly, you shouldn’t have bothered with the wedding.”

He couldn’t seriously think this low of me, could he? “But I’m not—”

“I don’t want to hear it,” he interrupted yet again. “I knew you having a job there could ruin us, but I guess I thought you could be trusted to keep your hands and god-knows-what-else to yourself. Clearly, I was wrong. So if you want to fuck the brains out of Pillsbury Dough Boy over there, be my guest. Just have your shit cleared out of my apartment by the time you get back.”

The dial tone hung in my ear before I could even get a word in edgewise.

I felt a lump in my throat.

That couldn’t have just happened. That was a delusion from my brain not working properly, right? I looked at my calling history on the phone. Yep, there it was; the worst minute and forty-six seconds of my life.

I was beyond offended.

If anything, it should have been me barking up his tree and accusing him of cheating. I certainly wasn’t the one who came home at three in the morning every night, only to leave for nine again. Beyond that, in order to afford our apartment—he had no right calling it his when we both saved up for the down-payment—that job was necessary.

I threw my phone against the wall. A resounding crack echoed throughout the small bedroom when it hit the trim around the door, letting me know the screen was cracked, but I didn’t care.

This is complete and utter bullshit.

If I wanted to cheat on him with Adrian, I could have a long time ago. It would have been easy, really.

But I didn’t, not in the few months of knowing him before my discharge or entire five months since I started working with him. Yet here was my pompous son-of-a-bitch husband thinking that I was some cheap dollar-hoe looking for any action she could get, no matter who it came from. His words still rang in my ears, disdain practically dripping from them.

’Figures,’ he had said.

Figures what, Darius? That I’d sleep with my boss because that’s what happened between you and me? That the only reason I was interested in you was due to some sort of power thing? I didn’t find Adrian attractive because he was my boss, that he could give me a raise, or make my work easier.

No.

What made him attractive as a person was that he was a sweet, caring individual; no doubt he’d trust his girlfriend—wife—to do the right thing.

I rolled over onto my side, still fuming. This internal ranting wasn’t good for anything. My husband took me for a tramp, and that was that. There was really no coming back from it, and that’s what hurt the most.

“Feeling any better?”

I couldn’t remember when I had fallen asleep, or when my eyelids decided it would be good to stick shut. Regardless, Adrian’s face swam into view, his face filled with light concern.

“Whtimzit?” I mumbled, sitting up slowly. My head felt like it weighed a million pounds, though I felt quite a bit better than I had before.

“P-Pardon…?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

I cleared my throat. “I said—what time is it?”

“Two.”

I blinked. “Huh? You mean—”

“Two in the morning, yes,” Adrian replied, smiling sheepishly. “I know you said you’d probably only sleep for an hour, but I thought maybe it was better I left you alone.”

“Great,” I spat. “Just great.”

As if Darius wasn’t suspicious before. At this point, I was too angry to even care. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, despite his accusations.

Adrian stood up from the side of my—well, his—bed, and I instantly felt the temperature drop.

“Well someone’s a little grouchy. Did you need more time?” The amusement in his voice wasn’t condescending, merely playful.

“I’m… not tired,” I answered, frowning.

“You weren’t when you fell asleep, either,” he pointed out, sitting back down on the side of the bed. “Must have been some cold or something.”

Without taking his eyes from mine, he pressed a hand to my cheek, sending my heart into my throat. What was that all about? I didn’t have to wait long to find out; he moved his hand to my forehead and waited. “No sign of fever, at least. That’s something. How are you feeling, though?”

Why was he the only person that asked that? I mean, I never needed that kind of concern in my life—I could most certainly take care of myself—it was just nice to hear once in a while. He pulled his hand away slowly, and I resisted the strange urge to grab it. What the hell would I do with it, anyway? Dropping his gaze felt like I was insulting him.

So I didn’t.

“I’m fine,” I answered honestly. “Really.”

His cocked eyebrow as a response didn’t help. I still felt the sear of his skin against mine. “Seriously—you need to go!”

He pulled back slightly, and I instantly hated how much force I put into my voice. He didn’t deserve that, not by a longshot. It wasn’t his fault that I was a terrible human being, after all.

“Agnes?”

No.

No, I wasn’t a terrible human being. I might have been married, but what had Darius shown of that? If anything, he was more distant than he had ever been. Not to mention he was being completely illogical; who was he to blindly accuse me of something when I’d been nothing but faithful and unquestioning of him, despite all the bullshit?

Well, fuck it. What was the point of being faithful if he didn’t trust me anyway?

Without caring how sloppy, poorly-timed, or well-received it would be, I leaned in toward Adrian, pressing my lips against his. He took a sharp intake of breath—because nothing surprises like your employers coming onto you, no doubt—but I didn’t mind. His lips were soft but firm, and I was a little surprised when he didn’t pull away.

I didn’t want to, not right away, anyway. But I still had some dignity left.

“Sorry,” I whispered meekly, unable to look him in the eyes. Sorry? Is that really what I just said? Sorry?! God, I was so pathetic. “I shouldn’t have—”

This time, it was his lips that crashed against mine, catching me mid-sentence. My mind was in a whirlwind, my heart pounding furiously in my chest.

His hands moved to my face, his kiss growing more passionate, hungry. Part of me wanted to pull away from him again, to pretend none of this was happening since it was undoubtedly wrong.

But a kiss like that was hard to break.

His lips broke from mine to kiss my neck as his hands found their way to my hips. “Let me take care of you,” he breathed against my skin.

I didn’t know what to say to a line like that, so I stayed quiet.

Taking my silence as a yes, he moved to unbutton my jeans. Quickly, he yanked them down to my knees, bouncing me on the bed in the process.

I decided to take initiative and squirmed my way out of my t-shirt. My skin felt cold from where his lips had once been, but he quickly replaced them once I threw my shirt to the floor.

Breaking away from me again, he pulled my jeans off the rest of the way and spread my legs. Leaning down, he kissed the lace of my underwear, sending a shiver of desire shooting through me.

“Take them off,” I whispered. I was afraid to speak, to ruin the moment, but I couldn’t stand being teased.

He didn’t look at me as he rolled them down my thighs. Once they were at my knees, he slipped his head between my legs, forcing the fabric to stretch. His mouth hovered over my hot pussy, breathing cool air against me.

He looked up at me over the rim of his glasses and chuckled. His hands went to my thighs, and mine went to his head. I pulled him closer to me, and he took the hint.

His tongue caressed my clit gently at first, lightly circling it. I let out small, subtle moans. Then, he gripped my thighs a little tighter as he began to quickly flick his tongue against it.

My moans grew louder as he alternated between flicking and sucking, filling my body with intense pleasure.

Then, I felt a sharp pinch.

I pulled at his hair. “Ow! When was the last time you were with a woman?” I asked. I yanked his head away and screamed at the top of my lungs.

Even in the darkness, I could see the bright, unnatural yellow of his eyes. His mouth was covered in darkness—blood?—and his canines were long and far too sharp. He grinned devilishly with those fangs.

“Don’t you want me anymore?” he hissed as he dug his nails roughly into my thighs.

I wanted to shake him away, maybe practice breaking his neck with my bare hands, but all I could do was scream.

I awoke with a startle, shooting up in my bed so quickly that I saw stars. My hands fumbled about my body to make sure I was still intact after the terror. The curtains were drawn and there wasn’t much light pouring in, but it was definitely still the afternoon. I looked to the bedside clock to see that I really had only slept an hour.

What an hour, though.

Wiping away sweat, I tried to catch my breath.

Adrian stood with his back to me, fumbling with something on his dresser. Then, a large fluffy pastry fell onto the carpet, bouncing and spitting out red goop. He brought his hand to his mouth, presumably to stifle his prudish swearing.

“You dropped something,” I said, my voice hushed.

He jumped slightly before turning to me.

Suddenly, the image of him from my dream—bright yellow eyes, hellish fangs, animalistic grin—stood before me.

I inhaled sharply and backed against the headboard, pulling the covers up to shield my neck. A perfect defense.

He looked at me in surprise. “Are you okay?” he asked, standing perfectly still, no doubt to keep from alarming me further. Why the hell was I even alarmed? This felt idiotic. “Is there something on my face?” His hands felt about his cheeks frantically, eliciting a weak chuckle from me.

“I’m sorry,” I breathed. “I’m just… out of it.”

Adrian walked over to the bed, easing down onto it. He leaned close to me, grabbing my hand and rubbing his thumb across the back of it. “It’s okay,” he said. “Anything I can do?”

The thought of him going down on me like in my dream seemed pretty damn viable, stirring up a sensation I wanted to ignore.

But it was just a bad dream, right? Everything before the whole vampire-spazz-out was… God, it was more than fine. And I knew without a doubt that Adrian was not a vampire.

Thinking about the good parts of my dream made my clit throb, and I desperately wanted to give into him. But his question… ’Make love to me’ would be too forward, wouldn’t it? But, god, I wanted to say it. I wanted to know what it felt like to be touched by someone who actually cared about me.

The way Darius used to.

What was I thinking? Just because someone’s nice to you, doesn’t mean they want to fuck your brains out. Get it together.

But what if he did?

No. No. I couldn’t go down that road’ it only led to trouble.

Then again, Darius already thought I was sleeping around. What was the point of being in trouble if I didn’t even do anything?

“Agnes?” Adrian called.

I shook away the thoughts and looked down at my hand in his. Was I really thinking about this? Could I do this? Even if I was royally pissed at my husband for accusing me of being a harlot, I couldn’t actually cheat on him.

Could I?

I forced myself to meet Adrian’s eyes.

“Could you just lay with me for a while?”

My voice came out hushed, barely audible. As I uttered it, I knew how it must have sounded. Both of us knew my situation, yet neither of us was willing to comment on it. Just as expected, Adrian hesitated.

“Of course,” he breathed finally.

Aside from me shifting on the bed to make room for him, all was quiet. Something lingered in the air, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. My heart pounded in my chest, and I hoped I wasn’t breathing too loudly like the fat cow Winters thought me to be.

Darius didn’t stand up for me when he said that.

What kind of decent man lets his coworker talk shit about his new wife like that? What kind of person just stands idly by while some dickhead ruins what was supposed to be the happiest day of his woman’s life?

Adrian would have said something.

Even though we weren’t together, he wouldn’t have stood for it if someone said that about me in his presence. He was just like that. No matter how kind and gentle he was, he couldn’t sit back when someone came after the people he cared about.

The room was dimly lit, and I could barely see him lying beside me, but I knew I saw him staring from the small sliver of light reflecting in those eyes of his.

“Are you… watching me?” I whispered.

He cleared his throat and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. “S-Sorry,” he mumbled. The sheets pulled a little as he moved, and I realized he’d been laying on top of the blanket.

But he was still holding my hand.

“You know you can get under the covers, right?”

He smiled slightly. “That could… lead to something,” he said cryptically.

My heart began to race again, thundering in my chest, and I wondered if he could feel it through my hand.

Was I imagining this in my weird haze? Was he flirting with me?

A lump started to form in my throat, making it difficult to breathe, but I forced myself to speak. “Do… you want it to?” I held my breath in anticipation.

He shifted his head to the side so his eyes could meet mine. Even in the dark, his gold-rimmed eyes flashed, and I found myself lost in them.

“I wouldn’t say no,” he returned quietly.

I let out a shuddering breath. “You’d be more comfortable under the blanket…”

“Would I have to let go of your hand?”

“No.”

His grip tightened as he awkwardly moved around to get beneath the comforter with me. He looked at me in what I assumed was nervousness as he pulled the edge of the blanket to his chin. “Is this okay?”

Holding his hand a little tighter, I moved closer to him and nuzzled against him. “Now it is.”

He moved his free hand to my chin and lifted it, meeting my eyes once more. I almost expected him to ask if he could kiss me; it would have been fitting for him.

Instead, he leaned toward me and pressed his lips against mine. They were soft, but firm, just like I’d dreamt.

His hand moved to my cheek as he continued to kiss me, but I didn’t pull away. I knew I should have, but everything about this felt amazing. The gentleness in his kiss shadowed a slight hint of passion, something I hadn’t felt with my husband in a very long time.

His fingers trailed down my face, sending shivers through me as they grazed my neck, before stopping on my shoulder. He broke the kiss, and a new sense of longing set in.

“Is this okay?” he asked.

I reached up to cup the back of his neck, smiling softly. “Yeah.”

Our lips met again, and our hands finally broke apart. His shoulder gently nudged against mine, signalling for me to lay on my back. As he rolled on top of me, I couldn’t help the spread of my legs or my arms draping around his neck.

He broke the kiss again, his lips trailing to my neck. As he started to suck gently on my skin, I let out soft moans. I wanted to be quiet—for Izzie’s sake—but at the same time, I didn’t care.

My sounds made him suck a little harder, and my moans grew louder. As I began to rub my knee against his hip, I could feel him getting hard between my legs. The zipper of his jeans pressed against me, rubbing against my underwear. I must have kicked my own jeans off in my sleep.

His hands trailed to the hem of my t-shirt, slowly inching the fabric up. His teeth grazed my skin, causing me to tingle all over. Slowly, he grinded against me, getting me wetter by the second. He knew what he was doing; he was teasing me, and he was doing a damn good job of it.

Animalistic need took over, and I flipped him onto his back, straddling him. My chest heaved with desire, and I ripped my shirt off. I threw it to the floor before pulling him up by his hands and wrapping them around my back.

They fumbled a bit for my bra, so I pushed them away and pulled off his shirt. Curiosity besting me, I wished there was more light in the room. I could barely see the contours of his body, but I needed to know every inch of him.

In an instant, I unhooked my bra and pressed my body against his, holding the fabric between us as I crashed my lips against his. His hands slid down to my ass while I traced every line and curve of his back with my fingers.

Suddenly, I was on my back again, and he was hovering over me on his knees.

His fingers hooked onto the rim of my panties, pulling them down to my ankles in one swift motion. I tossed them with my foot, pressing my knees together as he moved to undo his pants. I’d pictured him as a briefs kind of guy, but he surprised me with dark boxers. He slid them and his pants down, revealing his hard cock.

His body hovered over mine, the tip of his dick rubbing against me. His lips hungrily fought for mine, his hands sliding the straps of my bra off my shoulders. He threw it to the ground with such urgency.

As he continued to kiss me, he prodded me, teasing me even more. As cliché as it sounded, everything about me yearned for him. I wasn’t sure I needed him, but I damn well knew I wanted him to fuck me all night long.

Unable to deal with the torture, I wrapped my legs around him and pushed him inside of me. I let out a shuddering moan against his lips, but he didn’t seem to care.

At first, he started to thrust slowly, but it only teased me more. I was too hot for gentle lovemaking.

Taking control, I flipped him back onto his back and began to ride him, coming down on him hard and moaning loudly. My hands pressed against his chest, I felt the muscles his shirts always hid. His clothes didn’t do him justice.

He sat up, wrapping his arms around my back as his lips found my left nipple. He sucked on it as I continued to ride him, eliciting more moans. He let out a soft growl—it could have been loud, but my noises drowned it out—as his teeth grazed my nipple.

My hands snapped out to the back of his head, my fingers locking into his hair. As he continued to suck and graze on my nipple, he began to play with the other one, flicking it with his fingers and pinching it in a way that shot pleasure throughout me.

As I came, I pulled at his hair and ended up yanking his head back. I practically screamed in pleasure, continuing to ride his throbbing cock. After I’d finished, I didn’t stop; that would have been rude.

We continued to go at it until he pulled me down roughly against his cock and held me close to his chest.

Everything after that was a blur.

Panting against his shoulder.

His hand gently stroking my hair.

And falling asleep curled in his arms.