5. Claire
At first, when Claire had seen Eric in the library, she had felt thankful. Then she had felt dread.
She had looked upon Eric as a savior, and after seeing how he’d dealt with his twisted brother Wraith, it only cemented that feeling. Then she had felt the apprehension again, at remembering the bodies of the girls in the bathroom. Somehow, he had managed to find a way to make her feel better.
Once she understood that it had been his brother, and not Eric, who had left the bodies in the bathroom, she breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe her dark captor wasn’t that dark after all? It was bizarre, but just being in the presence of Eric made her feel safe again. Claire walked with Eric, torn between three separate emotions. There was the desire to stay with her beautiful and mysterious captor, there was the desire to slap herself stupid, and the desire to leave the castle. No matter how safe Eric made her feel, the Castle and it’s inhabitants were a danger to her. Claire felt like stepping outside her own body, taking herself by the shoulders and shaking them violently.
This place will be the end of you. Her mind screamed. Leave now before it’s too late!
She shushed the voices, pushing them to the back of her mind. She half convinced herself that she still wanted to escape, and that she was only humoring Eric by following him. The bodies, the psychopathic brother - it was all terrifying, but the part that scared Claire the most, was how she wanted to risk her own life by staying here, even if just to be with Eric for a little longer.
“Come.” He said as he guided her through the dark hallways. They were back on his floor now, but it was a part that she hadn’t seen before. Eric walked just ahead of her. He looked back and saw the fear on her face.
“Have no worries Claire. We won’t return to that old room.” He took her hand and squeezed it for reassurance.
Claire was somewhat surprised the gesture worked.
“Where are we going,” Claire asked, “If not your room?”
“I have another room on the South West corner of the castle.”
“Two rooms?” Claire laughed. “You’re spoiled rotten Mr. Belmont.”
He looked back at her, his blood red eyes twinkling with mischief. “Now that I have you, everything before was a mere shadow.”
They turned down a hallway and Eric led her through a door into another bedroom. It was decidedly Gothic, much like his other room, but this one was certainly more modern with it’s furnishings.
On the far wall there was a long window that ran nearly the whole width of the room, which was a covered in a long black blind that blocked out the light.
Eric walked into the room, peeling away from Claire.
“Bed, bathroom, TV… all the facilities you could ever want.”
“Do vampires watch a lot of TV?” Claire giggled.
“Not me.” He walked to the sleek bed side cabinet and pulled open it’s black draw, pulling out an e-reader.
“Life saver. Every book I’ve ever read is on here.”
“I thought you said Vampires and technology don’t get on?” Claire said sitting down on the bed beside him.
“We don’t usually, but I’ve never had a problem with this thing. The more basic, the better things tend to be.” He nodded at the large flat screen TV in the far corner. “That thing tends to work as long as I keep my distance. I’m not really much of a TV person.”
“Me either.” Claire said, glancing up at his face and relishing his beauty.
Eric placed his e-reader back in the draw, closing it. “Bathroom is over there, and-”
He stopped speaking, upon seeing Claire’s reaction to his words.
Claire stared in the direction of the bathroom, the sleek black door stood slightly ajar, giving bare glimpse of the dark tiles within.
She felt something clasp her back, and looking down she was surprised to see it was Eric’s hand. He brought a finger to her face and pulled at it so she was looking at him.
“Look at me. There’s nothing in there.”
He stood, walked across the room to the en-suite door and turned the light on. He looked inside himself.
“Come. I promise you.”
Claire took a deep breath and walked across the room, pausing a moment before looking around the door at the empty bathroom.
“I’m the only person in the house that has a key to this place. It’s just me and you in here, no one else, I promise. You don’t have to be afraid in here, you’re safe now.”
“I’m not afraid.” Claire said honestly. “It was just a shock seeing them, that’s all. I worked in the hospital for two years, I’ve seen dead bodies before, plenty of them. It wasn’t seeing the bodies that shocked me, it was the thought that…”
She broke off, realizing that the end of her sentence might cause offense.
“The thought that I had done it?” Eric nodded solemnly. “It’s okay, you can say that. I’d given you just cause to think that way. I was a tad bit wicked with you on our first meeting, and for that I apologize.”
They walked from the bathroom to the bed and sat.
“Am I making you mellow out Mr. Belmont?” Claire bit her lip, teasing Eric.
Eric flashed a flirtatious grin back in her direction and Claire felt her stomach flip. “I must admit, you seem to have some sort of mellowing effect on me. As far as vampires go, I like to think of myself as one of the more decent ones. There are plenty of Vampires out there like my brother Wraith. Some even worse. Vampires who run amok, killing everything that they desire without so much as thinking of the consequences.”
Claire’s throat tightened at the thought. Worse than Wraith? But he was already so maniacal…
“A funny word to use.” Eric said.
Claire looked up at him shocked, and then realized that he had read her thoughts again.
“I’d like it if you stopped doing that.” Claire said. “Reading my thoughts.”
The faintest trace of pink seemed to etch across Eric’s ivory white cheeks. Had she just made him blush?
“Are you giving me orders Ms. Eldrige?”
His voice was cold and flat, tinged with a seriousness that brushed fear across Claire’s body. She ignored the intimidation and looked past it however, realizing that there was more to him than just boyish threat. He was ashamed of what he’d done.
“And what if I am? If you’re going to snatch me out of my home and bring me here, then there are rules that I’m laying down. Especially if you want to stand a chance of putting a baby inside me.”
Claire sat up straight, and tried with her utmost intent at making her voice sound authoritative. There were points when it broke, and points when it sounded shaky, but for the most part she was pleased with her delivery. She had no idea how Eric would react, and she had no idea where this resolve was coming from, but something was driving her to put a pin in her corner.
“Very well.” Eric said, the faintest hint of a smile pulling up at his lips. “What are these rules Ms. Eldrige?”
His eyes flicked down to her body for a moment and he moved his hand across her thigh, stroking his palm down toward her knee ever so slowly.
The motion nearly derailed Claire completely, his soft fingers sending tingling sparks up and down her leg, which fizzled at the top across her groin and up the sides of her sex.
“Well, I-” She stammered, hating how much he could turn her on with just a touch. She grabbed his hand and placed it on the mattress, standing up so she was facing him.
“I want you to stop reading my mind. It’s not fair that you can read my mind and I can’t read yours. You know all my deepest darkest secrets if you want to. Why should you be the one who gets to know everything? It’s not fair.”
“Okay.” Eric said.
“And second of all, stop using your voice to make me do things…” She lingered on the word for a moment.
“Things?” Eric asked, chuckling.
“You very well know what I mean!” Claire looked around, not wanting to explain verbally. “Sexy things! You know. Stop making me do all that, it’s not fair!”
“Well I only used a little of my intention, and that was back at your apartment, everything since then has been you my darling.”
The admission stopped Claire in her tracks. “Wait, what?”
“Yes, I used a little to open you up and make you relax, but I only drew on desires that were already inside of you. Everything else has been just you my sweet.”
“But, the bath, the library…”
“All you.” Eric said, eyes twinkling. “I don’t like using Intention much, it almost feels like cheating.”
“What is that?” Claire asked. “That word you keep using. Intention. Is that what it’s called?”
“That’s what we call it.” Eric answered. “Others have other names for it. Most vampires possess some form of Intention, but it’s stronger in some than others.”
“Intention, that’s what it’s called when you use your voice to make people do things?”
Eric nodded. “I already told myself I wouldn’t use it on you anymore. It’s too easy to make people like me. I don’t want to do that with you. I want you to like me, not for you to feel like you have to.”
“I don’t feel like that.” Claire said quickly, afraid that she might have offended him somehow.
“I promise I’ll stop reading your thoughts. You’re right, it’s not fair for me to do so. Was there anything else?”
“I don’t know.” Claire said honestly. “I’d only thought about those two. I feel like I have a million questions I want to ask you about being a vampire, but I don’t want to load it all on you at once.”
“That’s alright.” Eric smiled. “It’s perfectly normal to be curious. Was there anything you wanted to know in particular?”
Claire thought for a moment.
“This place, you live here with your family?”
Eric nodded.
“Are there vampires everywhere?”
He shrugged.
“We don’t know. We know some things, we know of others, but we don’t know everything. There are parts of being vampire that are as mysterious to me as they are to you.”
Claire walked back to the bed, sitting down beside Eric. She leaned against his body and he wrapped his arm around her.
“And what about Wraith?”
She felt his hand tense at the mention of his brother’s name.
“What about him?”
“What’s his story, why is he that way?”
She heard Eric take a deep breath and sigh. “There are reasons for my brother’s… behavior. Reasons that you will come to learn in time. It’s not for us to discuss now however, let us move on from dark mention of my brother for now. Let us focus on lighter things.”
“I’m sorry.” Claire said with a rasping whisper. She hadn’t noticed now until she’d sat down in Eric’s arms, but she was so dreadfully tired, so dreadfully exhausted. She sat up a little, yawning, stretching her body.
“You know, I hadn’t realized until now, but I haven’t slept since you took me.”
Eric looked down at her hands in his lap.
“I apologize,” He said, “I’ve been a pretty dreadful host. I haven’t slept either - how about we take rest together? We can come back to everything else tonight.”
Before Claire could realize what was happening, Eric had brought her a pair of black satin pajamas. She changed into them, marveling at their comfort. He stripped down to charcoal gray boxers, and Claire tried her hardest not to gawk at his exquisite body. His body almost seemed to glow in the dim light of the room. As she lay on the bed she watched his silhouette move about the room. The light caught on the tight muscles of his body, highlighting his pecs and abdominals. Just above the line of his underwear Claire could see the outline of his Adonis belt, the arrow of muscle that pointed down to the well stuffed underwear that sat at the top of his muscled thighs.
“And what about the rest of your family?” Claire mused as he slipped under the covers next to her. She gasped upon feeling the warmth of his crotch pressing against her rear as he held her from behind. His hand slipped around her, resting gently over hers.
She felt safe, she felt secure in his embrace.
“In the Castle?” His voice whispered over her ear like black velvet.
“Yes…” Claire nodded, her voice starting to become lulled by sleep.
“There’s my father, and my two sisters. Veronica and Sophie. Then there’s Wraith and I. That’s all.”
“No mother?”
“No.” Eric paused. “Not anymore.”
*
Claire was in a midnight forest, staring up at the branches high above her, listening as the bare branches on the oaks creaked in the night wind.
“You’ll catch your death in the cold out here.”
She turned slowly to face the voice. He stepped from the shadows of an ink black tree, walking until his arms were around her.
“How did you find me out here?” She whispered, staring at the ethereal beauty that was his face.
Light itself seem to emanate from his ivory complexion, illuminating the darkness like an angel.
“I can always find you.” He said, pressing his soft red lips against hers.
Claire moaned into his mouth. She closed her eyes, letting her whole body relax in his strong embrace. He drew his lips from her and placed them onto her throat, suckling at her flesh, long and deep.
“You bewitch me.” She gasped.
He guided a hand down between her legs, pulling the hem of her dress up, probing at the silky softness between her thighs.
“Oh Eric…” Her head lolled as he slipped a finger inside of her, pulling the dark lace fabric of her panties to one side, all the while kissing at her neck. “…how do I deserve a man like you?”
She traced her own hands down the muscles on his back, shivering with pleasure as he pulsed his fingers in and out of her.
“I am no man.” He whispered the words against her throat, the sensation almost tickling her.
“But you are.” She laughed in a whisper. “You’re Eric. You’re a man as I am a woman…”
“No…” He said the words firmer this time, almost growling them like some mad dog. He pulled his head up from her throat and then Claire froze upon seeing the face. It wasn’t the face of Eric that she was looking at, it was his brother, Wraith.
“You?!” She tried to struggle free, but her arms and legs had betrayed her, moving at a glacial pace, and with no strength at all. “Let me go!” She yelled. “Eric, Eric, save me!”
“He can’t save you now.” Wraith whispered with a frozen growl.
“Let me go, let me go!”
“I’ll let you go. Just as soon as I’ve finished drinking you dry.”
His lips snarled back, revealing the long pointed lines of his fangs. He threw his mouth upon her neck, sinking the points into her flesh. Claire gasped upon feeling the small punctures, which burned in her skin like fiery knives.
“No,” She whispered, turning slowly, her whole body moving with no urgency, despite her will. “Please…stop.” Her words became like treacle, her mind like ice. His fingers clutched her tighter, his grip holding her firm. His jaw pulsed against her throat, as he swallowed mouthfuls of her blood. He drank for what felt like a lifetime and when he let her go she fell, sinking into the leaf covered floor, marveling at it’s softness.
“No…”
He stood over her, his red eyes glinting in the moonlight. He knelt down, and horror passed over her face, for it wasn’t Wraith. It was Eric again.
“Yes.” He smiled, laughing to himself darkly. “You’re mine now, and I’ll do with you as I wish. Whenever and whatever I like.”
“No, no, no!”
*
Claire sat bolt upright in bed, her chest heaving in the darkness. Eric sprung awake next to her.
“What, what is it?!”
He turned the bedside lamp on, casting pale light across the dark room. Eric brushed a strand of hair from off Claire’s face. She was pale with fright, and her pupils were two fine points. As he brushed his fingers, color flushed in her cheeks, returning her face to it’s doll like beauty.
“I don’t know.” Claire said honestly, unable to remember her dream. “Some nightmare I think. It was… I was in a forest I think.”
“It’s okay.” Eric placed an arm around her and they lay back on the bed again.
“I didn’t even realize I’d fallen asleep.” Claire turned to face Eric. She couldn’t quite believe that she was really lying here with a man as beautiful as him. Just looking at him took her breath away.
“What are you thinking?” He asked, staring back into her eyes.
“Can’t you just read my mind and know?”
“Well yes. But you asked me not to. And I promised I wouldn’t, so I won’t.”
Claire looked at Eric, warmth spreading across her chest. A smile crept across her face as she looked at him. Eric smiled too.
“What? What is it? What are you thinking?!”
“Nothing.” She beamed. You’ll have to make do with not knowing.”
“You’re such a tease Ms. Eldrige.” His words whispered over her like soft silk. He placed a hand on the curve of her hip and squeezed his fingers into her flesh, pulling their bodies together.
She felt his hardness graze her stomach and bit her lip, wondering…
“Okay, I don’t have to be a mind reader to tell you’re thinking something naughty.” Eric laughed. He moved his hand around the back of her and squeezed at her ass. Claire felt the urge to moan rising in her throat and fought against it.
“Come on.” Eric whispered, shifting forward so their faces were closer. “What are you thinking?”
“I was just imagining what it would feel like to have your cock in my mouth.” Claire dashed her gaze from his, looking down into the darkness of the sheets. She regretted saying it as soon as she had, and she felt her cheeks burning slightly in embarrassment.
“You don’t just have to imagine.” Eric said, clearing at something in his throat. “Why not find out for yourself?”
Claire’s eyes darted back up to his. “You mean, you don’t mind?”
Eric laughed. “Why on earth would I mind?”
“I was… well I was just worried that you might not want me to. I know I’m not very attractive.”
He placed a finger on her lips almost instantly.
“Never say that again.” His voice flared like steel. It almost felt as if Eric was using his intention, but Claire knew that it was just the conviction of his voice. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I love every inch of your body from head to toe.”
Claire felt a strange warmth bubbling up from within her chest and she giggled. She’d never been complimented by a man like this before, it felt strangely good.
“Okay.” She smiled bashfully. She bit her lip once more and finally summoned the strength to glance at him quickly. She found herself excited for a moment, then another question rose in her mind, dashing her hopes.
“But… but what if I’m no good at it?”
“Well I’m sure there’s only one way to find out.” Eric threw back the sheet with his hands, and wrapped his thumbs around the waist band of his boxer shorts. A moment later he was laying on his side before her, completely nude. His cock was fully erect, pre-cum dripping from the pink slit at the tip of his shaft, forming a small pool of damp on the mattress cover.
Claire flicked her eyes over his body greedily, taking every inch of his perfection in, not wanting to forget a moment of him. Just looking at Eric made her tingle between the legs. All she could imagine is how it would feel to be sat on top of him, sliding down slowly, moaning as his length cleaved her virgin walls in two.
“Can’t was just,” She paused, thinking, “We should just - fuck me. Please.”
He crushed his body against hers, she opened her mouth, surrendering to him completely. He had one arm around her back, and another around her hips, pulling her body against his. She moaned into his mouth, pressing her palms against the muscle of his chest. She was so wet, so open, so ready for him.
He pulled away. Breathing hard.
“I can’t.” He said. “Not yet. We have to wait until you’re at peak arousal, you’re not ready yet.”
She opened her mouth to protest but Eric placed a finger between her lips.
“You’re not, trust me. This is just as hard for me as it is for you.”
“Fine.” Claire huffed then a wry smile spread across her face.
She shifted her weight onto all fours, and positioned herself over his legs, so his crotch was directly below her head. She sat on his legs for a moment, staring down at his twitching mass.
“What are you doing?” Eric laughed.
Claire shifted her weight on his legs, pushing her swollen lips against the hard edge of his shins. She saw him swallow at something in his throat, and smiled at seeing she was having an effect on him.
“If you’re going to tease me, then I’m going to tease you.”
She pulled at the buttons on her pajama top slowly, unfastening them one by one from top to bottom. When she reached the bottom, she pulled at the bottom corners of the shirt, pulling the fabric taught against her large breasts, causing it to squeeze into her flesh ever so slightly.
Eric’s cock twitched with hardness, lifting off his stomach for a moment.
“Gods yes…” He moaned, hypnotized by her strip tease.
“Do you like this …Daddy?” She whispered the question as lustfully as possible, surprising herself at how hot the words sounded coming from her mouth.
“Daddy likes it a lot.” Eric said, flapping his mouth in shock.
She pulled the left half of her pajama shirt back from her breasts slowly, covering her nipple with her right hand. She eased her left arm out of the sleeve and then shifted hands quickly so her left hand was cupping her breast.
He twitched again and she looked down at him with a knowing smile. Claire had never done anything sexy like this for a man before and knowing that she was having an effect on him was driving her wild.
“Keep going…” Eric pleaded. “Don’t stop.”
She pulled back the second side of the pajama shirt, repeating the strip tease as she had done on the first half. When the top was completely removed she threw it onto the floor and sat there for a moment, holding her breasts in her hands, twisting her wet crotch against his legs.
“You should come further up my body and do that on my dick.” Eric suggested. “It would be much better for both of us.”
“Maybe…” Claire whispered seductively, “But then how would I do this?”
She bent over slowly, placing her hands on the smooth muscle of his hips. She placed a solitary kiss at the point below his nipples and crawled back on the bed, working down his torso as she did so. It wasn’t long until she reached the tip of his cock, which sprawled up his body in it’s gargantuan length, stopping midway between his belly button and his chest.
She licked the tip at first with the most delicate grace, brushing the very tip of her tongue against the head so lightly, like a faint whisper.
“Oh god!”
Claire smiled as she heard Eric gasp above her, his hands twitched from the bed to her hair, his fingers moving to sieve through her thick locks.
“Nah ah.” Claire lifted her hands from his hips, forcing his hands back to the mattress. “No hands. You’re only allowed to watch.”
He groaned in frustrated pleasure, twisting his hips from off the mattress, his cock lunging at her mouth. She opened her mouth and turned her head, sucking his shaft into her mouth and holding it there for a moment like a fleshy cob.
“Oh god, Claire, I don’t know how much of this I can take.”
She felt herself clenching at his words, her pussy positively dripping now. She twisted her hips against his thighs, pushing her wet panties against his legs.
“I want your cum in my mouth.” She whispered.
Eric gasped in return. “Yes, fuck, yes.”
She wrapped her slender hand around the mammoth girth of his shaft, groaning as she felt his warmth against her palm. She stroked her hand up and down his length slowly several times relishing at how solid it felt in her grasp. Claire had often imagined (in her naughtier moments) what a cock would feel like in her hand. She stared in wonder at his dick as she moved her palm up and down the firm shaft, almost hypnotized by the motion herself.
“I can barely touch my fingers around you.” She smiled, looking up at the torture on his face.
“You’re so slow,” He gasped, “So delicate. I can’t bare it.”
She felt his cock twitch under her hand several times over. She let go immediately, wagging her finger at him.
“Ah ah. No cumming just yet. Only in my mouth. Don’t waste it.”
He simply nodded, no words left to give. Claire almost felt surprised at the way she was acting. She had no idea where this… temptress was coming from. And she had no idea that she could have such an effect over a man, especially a man like Eric.
She took his cock in her hand again and pumped a few more times, a little quicker now. Pre-cum dripped from the pink slit at the tip of his bulbous head. She closed her eyes, relishing at the feeling of his veins as her palm glided up and down him, passing through her hand like thick ropes.
She paused to imagine what the ridges of his shaft would feel like pulsing against the walls of her cunt, and felt her self spasming a little at the though. She let out a small but involuntary gasp of pleasure, causing Eric to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Just close your eyes and relax.” She said, attempting to deflect attention from her.
She pumped at his shaft again, pulling it toward her and she lowered her mouth to the swollen tip of his cock. She wrapped her lips around it, pushing her tongue down to guide the firm tip into her mouth.
“Claire, fuck, fuck!” His whispered breath staggered into the dark as she slid her mouth down the shaft. She managed to work down half of his length before she found she could go no further.
I will get to the bottom at some point. She thought to herself, and she made a mental note to practice whenever she was alone.
For now it seemed that halfway was enough. She closed her eyes, humming in pleasure as she held his cock in her mouth, swilling her tongue around the thickness of his throbbing shaft. He continued to whisper words of encouragement and tortured pleasure.
Claire felt the mattress cover pulling away from her knees slightly. She didn’t have to open her eyes to know that it was his hands, scrunching up the fabric in his palms. She lifted her head up quickly, pursing her lips around the very top of his cock.
She pushed her tongue into the slit, licking up the small drops of pre-cum. He tasted salty sweet, an unusual but delicious taste that she longed to drink down deep.
“I can’t last like this…” He moaned.
She kissed the tip of his cock, holding his base in her palm.
“Thirty more seconds.” She purred softly, looking up at him. She took him in her mouth again, sliding down to the halfway point of his generous length one more, pulling back quicker this time, gliding her mouth into a fast but steady rhythm.
As her mouth bobbed up and down his length, she took her breast in her hand and palmed at it gently while gyrating her wetness against his legs.
A constant but steady trickle of moans escaped his mouth now, and it seemed that his cock was growing firmer with every pump of her mouth. She moved her head with swift firmness, rolling up and down the length, eyes closed, nostrils flaring, mouth humming.
“I can’t-” He stammered, and she heard his arms moving and his fingers glancing her hair. “I must - please.”
She brought her lips to the top of his cock and whispered her permission.
“Cum.”
The steel length of his cock twitched below instantly, and Claire wrapped her lips around the head to catch him. It came as a solitary burst at first, and then it came all at once. Thick, hot ropes of his cum, squirting up from the salty slit of his cock, pulsing into her mouth like molten fire, spouting onto her tongue and the roof of her mouth.
Her breath raced through her nose as she caught him, squeezing her hand tight around his shaft as she focused all her concentration on drinking him up. His cock squeezed tight, flinching like rigid metal a dozen times over, fast first, but then slower, as each pulse of cum brought him nearer to the end of his climax.
She felt him soften in her mouth slightly, and when she was sure he was done, she sucked her lips up the head of his cock, keeping them pursed as he left her mouth, not wanting to spill a drop.
She sat up straight on his legs, swilling her tongue around her mouth, swallowing the remnants of his love down hungrily.
Eric lay on the bed, eyes closed, the back of his hand cast against his forehead. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling, and then he looked to her in bewilderment.
Claire noticed his chest was heaving up and down, and in noticing that she saw her own was too.
“That was… amazing…” Eric praised through rasping breaths.
Claire blushed, feeling silently proud of her accomplishment.
“You taste divine.” She said, complimenting him back. “I would very much like to do that again.”
“Oh… you are very welcome to.” Eric laughed, and Claire lay down beside Eric, staring into his eyes. He looked at her like she was a prize treasure.
“Where did you learn to do that?” He asked. “I’ve never… it’s never… you’re amazing.”
She giggled, feeling bashful at his words. “Was it really that good? I’ve never done it before. I was just moving through instinct I suppose.”
“Well fuck me.” Eric positively growled and slid his hand down the side of her body. “I can’t wait to see how instinct works for the rest of you.”
“Now?” She asked.
“No, but nice try.”
Claire bit her lip in frustration.
“But when?”
“Soon, I promise. Besides… you’re practically yawning. I’d be surprised if you could stay awake another minute.”
“I’m fine…” Claire said in protest, but she could hear the tiredness in her voice. “But why? …I don’t know why I’m so sleepy.”
“I told you. It takes a lot of energy to mate with a vampire. It’s why I wanted to taste you first.”
“But it was just my mouth…” She protested, her words meandering with fatigue.
“Exactly.” Eric said, as if proving a point. “Imagine how much more energy it would take for full sex. “We’ll get there, I promise. The more pent up you get, the more you will be able to tolerate it.”
“Okay…” Claire practically yawned the words, cuddling into the crook of his neck.
Eric pulled his arm tight around her, shifting the covers back over them once more. She squeezed tight against the slow rhythm of his rising chest and her eyes closed, until slowly, but surely, she fell asleep.