26
That was the night I screamed Draven’s name and woke from quite possibly the scariest nightmare I had ever had to date. And this was saying a lot considering I had been living with nightmares both in sleep and reality for quite a while now. One of those even nearly killed me…thank you Lucius. Okay, so that was back when he was an asshole but still, he had nothing on this last nightmare demon!
And yet, despite all of this, I still hadn’t told Draven what happened in my dream.
Not a single word of it.
I would like to say I knew the reasons for this, but the truth was, I simply didn’t. Of course, from past experiences, I knew that I should have told him. Yeah, that would be the smartest thing to do, but I guess I just kept asking myself, what if it was all in my head.
But then wasn’t asking myself that question like taking a step back in the past, one filled with an empty darkness? A void that wouldn’t be filled with answers until Draven was to enter my life.
Yes, so I had woken that night with blood dripping down my chin from a cut in my lip. But what if the reason for that too was that I had bitten it too hard in my sleep like Draven had thought. Like I said these were all valid points against the argument in my mind, but if that was the case then why the next morning did I find the unanswerable?
It was just before I stepped into the shower and I felt a sharp pinch in my foot. I sat down on the toilet and lifted my foot to see that not only were they covered in dirt but also a tiny drop of blood pooled around something that had cut my heel.
“It…it can’t be…” I uttered in whispered disbelief.
But as I pinched the small piece and pulled it from my foot to hold up to the light from the window…I knew what it was. The second I saw it I gasped, dropping the piece and it fell to the floor in slow motion. It hit the tiled floor with a tinkering sound and lay there against the white floor like a dark teardrop. Like a single drop from a black river in Hell against a pool of milk.
So, if it was just a dream, then how was it that evidence still lingered, pointing to the fact that it wasn’t? Did dreams from Hell really have that type of power? Okay, so it was questions like this that plagued me and continued to do so for the remainder of the day, which was why I was so thankful when Draven said he had a surprise for me. Well, as long as it didn’t include going anywhere near the damn willow tree, then that was just fine with me.
I was just finishing plaiting my hair off to one side when Draven walked in with a rolled-up blanket under his arm. I gave him a questioning look and then said,
“Is it that cold out?” When really what I wanted to say was ‘oh my god, I worship your body, and can you just throw down the blanket so that you can make love to me on it’. But no, I went with the weather question. Which was surprising considering he just looked as though he’d stepped off a GQ magazine shoot advertising men’s designer clothing.
He was wearing pale blue jeans that were rough and frayed around the pockets and knees. To this he’d added a light grey roll neck cashmere sweater pushed up his forearms showing a hint of the white shirt he wore underneath. Dark brown boots that matched his expensive watch, completed the look. Well, that and the blue and green tartan roll under his arm.
He gave me a wink and then took my hand in his. As I was passing the bed I grabbed my maroon coloured jacket that was lined with a grey fur type material, meaning it was lovely and warm. It also meant that it went with the rest of my outfit that was as simple as it gets. Dark grey jeans and a thin ribbed top that was a white with maroon coloured sleeves. To this I had just kicked on some converse that had cute little skulls on and I was good to go.
“So, are you going to tell me where we are going?” I asked but he just shook his head and remained tight lipped on the matter. Of course, it soon became obvious when just before we walked out the front door Mack appeared with a basket in hand.
“Are we going on a picnic?!” I shouted enthusiastically making Mack laugh.
“Aye she be easily pleased,” Mack said making Draven smile down at me and reply with,
“Which pleases me.” I bit my lip going shy at the compliment. Then we walked out the door as he was now fully equipped to begin a very romantic date.
A short time later I found myself in a pretty meadow not far from the castle so that it was all still in view. Draven had laid out the blanket and dropped the basket suddenly before grabbing me from behind and lifting me up in his arms. I squealed in surprise and burst out laughing when he dropped to his knees as if I was too heavy. I smacked his shoulder when he shifted me so that I was straddling him. Again, he pretended as though my hit had been a mortal wound and fell to his back, making sure to drag me with him. Then he groaned as though in pain, so I leant down, and whispered over his lips,
“Poor Baby.” The next thing I knew his groan turned into a sexy growl before he spun me so that I was now on my back being covered by one sexy, turned on male. Then he did the same thing he did to me under the willow tree, only this time…
He followed my release with one of his own.
“You know it’s a good job your skills don’t just stop at being a sex god, otherwise people might have seen the despicable and sinful things you just did to me.” Which included, biting my neck and drinking my blood before spreading my legs and quenching another thirst of his. Then he ended by contributing his own mess to the one he made by finding his release inside me.
He laughed and repeated,
“Sex god?”
“Obviously that’s the part he focuses on,” I muttered as if I was speaking to someone else, making him chuckle again. Then he threw his hands up in the air and said,
“Hey you said it…baby.” He added this pet name on a purr and I had to say, I could totally see why he had jumped on me because of it, as I only ended up wanting to do the same thing to him.
After this we cleaned me up, well Draven cleaned me up, whilst I just fell back and covered my head with my arm in shame as I moaned with my embarrassment. Then he heard my stomach rumbling. A sound that ended up making him laugh again, before he leant down to kiss my groaning belly.
“Oh dear, time to feed my pet human,” he teased making me laugh.
“Don’t you mean Pet Vampy human?” I corrected making him wink up at me before saying,
“Oh yes, I forgot…” pausing so that he could climb his way slowly up from my belly until his lips were over mine. His hands were either side of my head, but he was holding all his body weight above me, he then lowered himself doing a press up and finished his sentence,
“…You are a Vampire baby…my vampire baby,” he added before granting me a kiss, smiling against my lips when I growled at him but secretly loving it.
Then he fed me, and I loved this too.
It turned out that our picnic was all the things I loved, like BLT sandwiches without the T, and with extra mayo. There were also cheese and onions crisps that I had gone crazy for in the petrol station, that he must have had sent for. Of course, there were other things too of the posher variety that reminded me of an afternoon tea in a fancy hotel in London. Little cream cakes, truffles and chocolate macaroons, sat delicately in a black box. Finger sandwiches sat in another and I picked one up, waving it at Draven and said,
“No crusts… these be what my people call fancy sandwiches.” He burst out laughing, and I don’t know what he found funnier, what I had said or the strong northern accent I had put on when saying it.
“You funny girl,” he said making my insides feel all smushy.
After this, and after I had made a pig of myself, Draven popped open a bottle of champagne and unclipped the two glasses from the basket.
“Would you like to hear about our castle?” he asked after he had positioned me in between his legs so that I could lean back on his chest. And therefore, I could still see the beautiful building for myself. Then he passed me my glass before picking up his own.
“I would love that!” I said in excitement.
“So over there…”
“Oh wait, first can I ask, what does Domhnall Castle mean?” I said interrupting him making him chuckle because if there was something Draven was used to when with me, it was me asking lots and lots of questions. To be honest, I was surprised I hadn’t yet asked him this but then again, I had asked him about a million other things since we had been here.
It was everything about the place, which included the beautiful masterpieces that adorned the walls. The exquisite vases, the colourful tea sets, the stunning grandfather clocks, some taller than Draven and others sat on small half-moon tables in hallways. I had wanted to know where he got it all and find out if anything had meant something special to him. But most of the time I was just left disappointed as there was never really a story behind it.
“The name Domhnall was chosen because it means ‘ruler of the world’ in Gaelic,” he said, and I turned to face him to see that for once he looked embarrassed. I smirked and couldn’t help but ask,
“And did you choose that?”
“Fuc…I mean no, Keira I didn’t choose the name,” he said nearly swearing in front of me, something I knew he only did now when he was angry or very turned on…or trying to make his point, like on the drive up here.
“Then who did?” He raised an eyebrow at me as though it was obvious, which was why I said,
“Sophia.”
“Yeah, Sophia,” he confirmed dryly.
“So, you have had it a while then?” At this he laughed and said,
“I had it built, Keira.” At this I gaped at him and said,
“But it must be…”
“It’s over a thousand years old, sweetheart,” he told me tenderly.
“Wow…that’s…that’s…”
“Old?” he finished off for me in an amused tone.
“Well yeah.”
“It’s well maintained,” he told me, making me snort.
“Like you,” I teased making him nip at my neck warning,
“Behave my little Vamp baby.”
“With you at my back looking sexy as sin, no chance.” This time he growled after burying his face in my neck.
“You’re the one that is sexy, although I don’t know what I find sexier, your clothes on or half off whilst I thrust into you,” he said pressing himself against me in a tighter hold.
“Well, I know which I prefer,” I told him making him chuckle against my neck.
After this the playful teasing continued in between Draven describing to me the different parts of a castle and explaining what they were for. Like the square cut out pieces along the tops of the walls being called crenels and the upright sections being merlons, this known as the battlements. On the inside was a path you could walk along and when he asked me if I would like to see it, he chuckled when I said,
“No thank you.” He knew the reason being my fear of heights, something he then teased me on. Then he pointed to the small slits for windows and told me they were known as Loopholes. These were usually used for shooting through or providing light and air in the towers. He also told me that the larger section of the castle, which was like a massive square tower at the centre, was known as the ‘keep’ or stronghold. This was also where our bedchamber was on the top floor.
Thus, why Draven thought the need to remind me about his thing for towers or more like his thing for getting me into them. This was proven when he whispered along my neck,
“I knew I would finally get my way and lock you in one, one day.”
“Don’t get cocky Draven, it doesn’t become you,” I told him in reply.
“So, I was thinking, I know it might end up being a bit corny, and well not your thing, so I totally understand if you don’t want to go but…” I started after a short time of comfortable silence.
“Ask me sweetheart,” he said, giving me a break.
“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go to that medieval banquet thing with me?” I asked kind of feeling a little embarrassed and more like I was asking him on a date. Which I kind of was, but still it felt weird with him being my husband now. After he had been silent way too long I quickly added,
“Nah, maybe not, it might be a bit silly…forget I mentioned it.” And I hated to admit it, but I was kind of disappointed when he did forget I mentioned it, as he never gave me his answer. Nor did he bring it up again. I can’t say I was surprised, I mean dressing up in a costume and spending the evening with complete strangers…make that human strangers. Well then yeah, this might have been asking a bit much for my supernatural king.
“Are you ready to go in, I don’t want you getting a chill?” he asked with his hands at my belly, rubbing small comforting circles there. I smiled to myself because I knew even though I was wearing a coat, Draven would still worry. After all, I was pregnant. Gods, but sometimes I would forget, and I know that sounded terrible, only it just felt surreal somehow. And in my defence, I had only just had it confirmed a little over a week ago.
I had asked Draven a few days ago how long we were planning on staying in the castle, after first assuring him that I was still very much enjoying myself. If I was honest, probably a little too much as I would have been happy to stay forever. That was if I had everyone I missed living here with us…because let’s face it, the place was certainly big enough. His answer had been a whispered,
“As long as we wish.”
This had been lovely to hear and if I were honest, I hadn’t really given our future too much thought. Well in my defence, up until recently I had thought that our future would be considerably shorter. So little factors like ‘where would we live’ hadn’t really come to mind. What with the whole, ‘Doomsday’ thing and the little matter of ‘End of the World’ and of course there was the ‘Keira, as the Chosen One it’s up to you to save everyone on the entire planet, we hope you’re okay with that and hey, sorry we as Fates suck ass and can’t tell you a damn thing but cryptic shit’. Okay, so with my ‘lost in my thoughts’ rant over and moving on to much nicer things like…the future.
And top of that list right now was where we were going to live.
So, regarding this, I had to admit that I still had no clue. But I knew if I was to choose, which I found out from Draven later that I could, I would still choose Afterlife. Because to me that was home and although I knew it couldn’t be forever, for the time being it was the perfect family home. Or it soon would be in about eight months’ time, I thought with a grin. One that Draven of course wanted to know the reason behind.
“Just thinking about the future.”
“Then I am a blessed man indeed if that is the thought that puts a smile on your face,” he told me softly making me melt against him once we were back inside.
“What would you like to do now?” he asked, and this was when I had a great idea.
“I know, we could watch a movie together, you know maybe pop some corn, snuggle on the couch and…what, what is it?” I asked as he started frowning. Then he dropped a bombshell on me and told me of the one thing he didn’t own.
“We don’t have a TV here.”
“What!?” I screeched in disbelief. He winced and then shrugged his shoulders.
“But you do own one…right? Like in one of your other homes?” I asked making him frown and correct me,
“Our homes.”
“Yes, yes okay, I will rephrase that, do we have a TV in any of our other homes?” I asked again, only this time he didn’t focus on my question but more on the way I asked it, as in saying words like ‘we’ and ‘our’.
“Draven, focus,” I said trying not to laugh at the fact I could turn him on with saying something so simple.
“No.”
“No? As in no, you can’t focus or as in, no, we don’t have a TV, I am really that old fashioned and prefer to read books by the fire, drinking brandy from an overly big glass and smoking a pipe, in my spare time?” I said making him roar with laughter before pulling me in for a hug. Turned out my husband thought I wasn’t just funny, he thought I was very, very funny, something he told me whilst rubbing his chin on the top of my head.
“The latter, only without the pipe but definitely with the brandy,” he teased back. So, I pulled back from the hug and demanded,
“Draven! We have to get a TV!”
“We do?”
“Yes, unless you want to see me go insane over the next year and yes, that is all it would take, in fact, scrap that, it would probably only take a month, and especially if I don’t have a mountain of college work or an actual real job to go to, keeping me occupied.” At this he smirked and said,
“I can keep you occupied,” he told me, and I didn’t know if it was as a tease or not. He saw my sceptical face and then gave in.
“Alright love, I will get you a TV.” I hugged him back and said,
“That’s all I ask.” Making him chuckle.
“Oh, and don’t you mean you will get us a TV, Mr Hypocrite.”
“I am sorry sweetheart, but that one is just all you.”
“Oi! You never know, you might enjoy it,” I said making him pull a face.
“Come on, I will show you.” I said playfully grabbing his hand and pulling him down the corridor. We saw Mack on the way and he was about to say something when I said,
“Sorry Mack, we can’t stop, I am a woman on a mission.”
“Aye right ye are lass…ye be a lucky man m’ laird,” he said making Draven chuckle and I shouted back,
“Not that type of mission!” Now making Mack laugh in that deep baritone voice of his.
Then I dragged Draven into one of the drawing rooms, although I wasn’t actually sure why they were called drawing rooms, as it wasn’t exactly brimming with art supplies. However, it did have some very comfy sofas, one of which I was leading Draven over to right now. Then I looked at the angle of the room, making sure it was right, turned a few times to look at the other couches and said,
“Yep, this will do nicely.” He gave me an amused questioning look, one that he added to with a raised eyebrow when I practically pushed him back into sitting on the couch, demanding at the same time,
“Right sit there.”
“You know I like it when you’re bossy.” I rolled my eyes and he grinned up at me, telling me that he wasn’t taking me seriously. I sat down next to him, and held out my hands in a square, mimicking where the screen would go.
“Right so picture this, the screen is there so that we get no glare from the windows if we watch it in the day but then at night, we turn off the lights, cover ourselves with a blanket and I curl up to you like this…”
“Now I am liking the sound of that…but tell me, will you be naked?” I moaned, lightly smacking him on the chest and saying,
“Not unless you get one for our bedroom, then no, now concentrate.” He gave me a bad boy grin and curled his arm tighter around me.
“So the lights are off and it’s dark all around us, a horror movie is playing, and then suddenly the killer jumps out stabbing the stupid girl that always runs up the stairs instead of out the front door, and I jump and need your arms around me to feel safe…so okay I have also probably spilled popcorn all over the floor because this is me we are talking about and…”
“Stop, Keira.” Draven said interrupting me and suddenly I was in his arms as he looked down at me with heated purple gaze,
“Keira, you had me at ‘I want’.” Then he kissed me, and little did he know that in his near future he would soon discover that a sentence very similar to that would be said in a film I would make him watch.
Oh yes, this was going to be fun.