aware (peterick)

17

It's dark out by the time I arrive home from work, a grin spread wide on my face. Let me tell you, I haven't felt this eager about abandoning my car keys on the side table in a long, long time, and it's not because I'm ready to dive into a well earned movie/pizza date with myself, no.

Dallon has been feeling extremely restless about the whole legal guardianship thing with Pete and Patrick; putting aside my worry that what we've done may be slightly illegal due to the fact that court has no idea they've allowed a vampire to live in someone's house, now that every last document has been signed and filed, it's about time for me to give him that fulfilling meal I've been promising him for weeks. Probable future hitches linked to Patrick's case are no longer a problem I'll have to deal with, which means I'll be spending a lot more time with my gorgeous boyfriend, never again to worry about falling asleep at work.

He's not going to be awake for another half an hour, so in that time I busy myself in the en-suite bathroom changing into some clean clothes, assessing my damaged skin in the mirror as I peel the scarf from my neck with a sigh of relief. Pete had been right when he said he knew what I was trying to hide, but he could never have guessed that it was this bad.

Puncture wounds lace my neck in a pattern not dissimilar to Pete's extravagant thorn necklace tattoo, only this particular tattoo of mine doesn't look as if it's healed all too well. The skin is blotchy and red and hot to the touch; sore, sensitive, sunken, easily tearable with so much as a scratch. One of the gaping holes is home to a thin trail of blood.

I know it's not normal.

But why worry? The pleasure is worth the pain.

In the mirror, the bathroom door opens. Dallon walks up behind me and hugs me to his chest, his face in the crook of my neck. He breathes my scent deeply. "Where've you been today?"

"Apologizing for your appalling behavior last night," I tease, swiping up the blood on my collarbone with the pad of my thumb. Frowning with disgust, I hold it up to Dallon, who takes it lustfully into his mouth. "Not to jump to any conclusions, but they hate you."

Dallon releases my finger and hums, amused. "I can't help that I'm hungry."

Gripping the edge of the sink, I tilt my head back toward the familiar tickle of his fangs at the base of my neck. His lips are cold, but his tongue throbs with heat from past doses of my succulence. I gasp as his teeth sink in, instinctively pressing my ass against his hardening crotch.

"You're so tasty," he mumbles through eager gulps. "Come to bed with me."

"Dallon, please," I whimper. "Sir..."

He doesn't need to be asked twice.