Children of the Night

Chapter Thirty-One: If a Look can Kill

Eva wakes up to complete darkness and warmth at each side of her body. She turns her head to the left and Aleksi is watching her with tired eyes. Grazing his fingers down her long-tangled hair with a slight smile on his lips.

Cocking her head to the right, Nikolay is sound asleep—or she thinks he is by the way his arms are limb under his head and his eyes are shut. She doesn't know what time it is but doesn't want to lean over Nikolay and check her phone.

It's dark out so it must be past sunset. They're all naked and wrapped in the tangled sheets. Eva stretches her legs, her body completely sore from everything. Her heart races from the thought of what happened and Aleksi chuckles.

"Are you tired?" Eva mutters to him gently and he nods his head once.

"I'll be okay though." He replies with a thick voice. Nikolay moves behind her and stretches. She stays nuzzled against Aleksi's shoulder—her warmth overpowering his low temperature body.

Suddenly, Aleksi's ears pull back and Nikolay shoots up with alertness. Tires against gravel is crunching through the open windows. Eva blinks and finds herself alone on the bed when Aleksi and Nikolay are both searching for their clothes and dressing in a speed Eva can't follow.

She covers herself with a sheet and Aleksi throws his shirt over his head. Nikolay reaches for the window, winks at Eva and vanishes. Now, Eva realizes what's going on because the front door is jiggling with a key.

Aleksi cups a palm around Eva's cheek and kisses her lips. Eva holds it a little longer until her lips are cold and there's nothing but a brisk air brushing her face. She's alone until the door closes and footsteps fall in the kitchen.

Her heart thumps against her chest anxiously when the footsteps come closer and closer and closer. Quickly falling back on the bed, she curls herself into a ball and pretends to be sleeping. Trying to calm her breathing, she feels the air hit against the pillow.

Relaxing her face, she finds herself engulfed in the smell of Aleksi and Nikolay along the sheets. Suddenly, she holds her breath when the noise enters the bedroom. It's as though she feels the shadow lingering at the doorway.

It approaches her at the edge of the bed and runs a soft stroke along her hair. Eva starts to softly breathe when she feels warm fingers gently touch her. To pretend she has awaken, she slowly opens her eyes but suddenly a phone begins to ring.

The body turns it's back to her and she notices it's Will from the silhouette. He pulls his phone out of his back pocket and answers it. 

"Hello? Yeah, I just got back...I will join the meeting in five. Okay, yeah. Bye." He ends the call and exits the bedroom.

Eva stays awake for a little longer, listen to him move in the kitchen and turn a light on. He joins a meeting for work and begins to talk with other co-workers. Eva tosses and turns in the bed, anxious to find his body next to hers—engulfed in the scent of them.

~*~

Will never returned to bed. Eva wakes up to the birds singing and cattle groaning along the fields. Her eyes are heavy and her body is still sore from last night. Rolling onto her back, she drapes the sheet over her naked body.

Standing and stretching, Eva finds her towel on the ground and wraps it around her body. Checking the bite marks on her skin in alarm, she finds them all gone. While she slept, Aleksi or Nikolay probably healed them. It's almost as though everything that happened was a fever dream.

It almost makes her core wet thinking about them both touching her. Feeling her vulnerable body and tending to her soft skin. She rolls her neck around before exiting the bedroom and going into the kitchen.