Chapter TWENTY-NINE

 

Eric

 

The traffic was a chaos, but we arrived at the place where Beth used to live. She had a penthouse in the center of New York. The building janitor let us in after we talked with the doorman downstairs.

Apparently, Beth and her sister didn’t go unnoticed to the building staff since the janitor asked a lot of nosy questions that displeased me and were forcing Beth to lie. He also got intrigued by the six men dressed in black suits who were behind me and Beth. Maybe I overdid it, but I had taken my best men, well my best men were Anna and Shane, but they were busy. Anyhow, I still had another four men outside in a van, waiting for us. So I got a bit paranoid, but I wasn’t going to leave anything unseen or neglected that could put my mate’s security at risk.

After the door was opened, and the janitor tipped so he would leave us alone, my men entered inside and checked the place for threats. I didn’t want any surprises waiting for us or someone hiding. Since the place was clear, we got inside Beth’s apartment, and I ordered two of my men to be outside the door and the other four to be inside, waiting for us at the entrance.

Once I stepped into Beth’s living room I felt like a boy in a candy shop. There were a lot of interesting things for me to see there. I would touch everything I found curious, and I would ask her a million questions about the pictures, the books, the DVDs and the souvenirs. I was excited to be there because it was Beth’s place. She was really patient with me, indulging my curiosity.

I was acting like four years old, trying to figure out how the world worked. When she opened her bedroom, and I got inside, I stood really quiet, taking in all the furniture, the photos, the books, the clothes, the ballet paintings on the walls, and the white and golden of the colors, she chose to paint the walls and decorate the ceiling. It was a beautiful bedroom. I guess I knew my mate’s taste before I even knew her, and I was feeling pretty good about that.

I stared longer at her bed, imagining her sleeping all those nights away from me. It made me gloomy. Being far from her made me feel terribly lonely. I shook the feeling aside when Beth stood in front of me.

Putting her hand over my face, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

I caressed her hand, prolonging the touch of her hand on my face. “I love when you touch me.”

“You look sad.”

“I’m not.” I smiled to prove her wrong.

“Everywhere I lived, I always had the silly fantasy of someday having you in my bedroom, talking about everything about us,” she whispered in my ear, and I put my arm around her waist and pulled her near me.

“Now that I’m here, are you going to tell me your deepest secrets?” I teased near her mouth, leaning my forehead against hers.

“Oh no, just my deepest fantasies,” she teased back, smirking wickedly and fleeing from my kiss. “But we don’t have time for that. There are a lot of things to pack and clothes to select. There is no time to play”

I held her by her waist before she could flee and brought her against my chest. The contact made my body burn with lust. “Just tell me one.”

“Just one?” she asked, turning her head to watch me. I felt lust burning my eyes, and I know that they were purple. She relaxed against me, unafraid.

I nodded to her question. Smiling, she leaned her head to my chest. I kissed the top of her head and entwined my fingers around her hips.

“I think I can tell you two. Since you asked nicely,” she provoked, and I waited patiently for her to tell me. “Okay, so there were days that I would wish we just—kissed passionately in front of my loft, and I would bring you to my bedroom, and we would ... you know.”

That fantasy pleased me, and it was rather plausible of happening. Then I recalled that she was pure before she was taken. I held her tighter and pressed my nose against her neck before kissing her there. It was her favorite spot and always made her giggle and sigh.

“And the other?” I asked.

“We would just come inside, holding hands, and we would sit on the bed and talk. Like we do back home,” she whispered, shivering with another kiss I planted on her shoulder.

I smiled with the last word she said: home. Home was with me now, and that was all that mattered.

“It’s silly. I know.” She made the move to get out of my hug.

“It’s not silly. I’ve dreamt of finding you, probably every day for a long time. I would also dream of kissing you,” I told her. “Your fantasies are not silly. They are adorable, and I want to make every single one of them come true.”

Beth turned to face me, still inside my arms. I could tell she was hesitating, so I asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just curious,” she said, lowering her eyes.

“About what?”

“How long would it take for you to be aroused by me if we would start kissing and … well if we met before when I lived here. I always wanted to know, if y-you feel arousal just for touching me.”

“Well, I was controlled when I came inside the room, but I would just need five seconds and a glimpse of your bed,” I answered.

She rose her head to look at me. “That fast?”

“What can I tell you? You are smoking hot!”

She laughed and hid her head against my chest. I don’t think she believed me. I caressed her hair and smiled to myself.

“Even if you had just met me?” she asked.

“In that case, perhaps thirty. No scratch that, maybe ten seconds.”

“Liar. You are a gentleman, you wouldn’t be like that if you had just met me.”

“True. I would stay like one hour totally mesmerized by you. I stood two days outside that cage, conflicted between your fear and my need to be near you. I could be patient, I’m really patient. But if you weren’t hurt, if we met under different circumstances, baby, I would do anything you wanted me to just to make you surrender to me.”

“You already do what I want, and you don’t get anything in return.”

“I get a lot in return. Seeing you smile and joyful are the nicest rewards I can have.”

“I’m happy. I’m happy to be here and to have you here in my bedroom, in my house. However, I don’t belong here anymore. My place is with you,” she mumbled with shining eyes. “All the silly fantasies I made up during these years, centuries apart, are nothing compared with the reality. You are so much better than my fantasies! I’m so glad that I didn’t die, and I got to meet you.”

My heart raced so fast that I thought it was going to leave my chest. Her words made me feel vulnerable, happy, and breathless. There were reminiscences of sadness in her voice but also of joy. There was also a raw pleasure that was flooding my heart and stinging my eyes with tears. I was feeling silly for wanting to cry. It was so not right. No crying. If I wept, she would too, and I didn’t want her crying anymore.

I swallowed hard and breathed deep. Her eyes were in mine. All I could do was kiss her and hold her tight. So, I did. I kissed her, sweetly, tenderly, making her open her mouth to let me in, making her shiver against my body, between my arms. Until her hands clenched to my coat, her tongue tangled with mine, and my body trembled with lust and love.

We weren’t planning go any further than kissing. Nevertheless, while she was relaxed and emotional in my arms, our kiss felt more than perfect.