Blood Warrior(8)

He tilted his head down until our lips were lightly brushing each other. “Mmmm.” I murmured, lifting my head to bring our lips to full contact. At the same time I reached around and tugged the weapon away from his body.

“What are you doing?” his words were muffled against my lips.

“What do you think I’m doing?” I whispered. We had been together so long now that I didn’t really have much shy girl behavior left when it came to us flirting with each other.

He pushed himself up with both hands until his was hovering over the top of me. Then, his hand slid down, touching the skin where my shirt had ridden up and my jeans had been pulled down a little bit. His fingertips moved downward, tracing over my hip, then my thigh and down the length of my leg, until he reached my calf.

Then he pulled up the cuff of my jeans. “Well, well, well,” He taunted, “What do we have here?” He slid the small blade I had strapped to my calf out of its sheath and held up. The metal glinted in the lamplight for a few seconds before he leaned over and set the knife on the table beside the bed.

I grinned beneath him and tugged the bottom of his plain white tee shirt. He sat up on his knees and finished the job by taking it off himself. I reached up and ran my hands over the hard muscles of his chest and met his gaze as he leaned over me again.

He braced himself with one arm while the other crept down my side, tracing the line of my body all the way down to my jean covered thigh. I sucked in my breath and pulled him further down onto me, wrapping my legs around his waist.

His kiss was slow and familiar. My body relaxed and tensed all at the same time. His kiss was comfort, it was therapy, and it was home. I had lost so much in the last few years, but everything I had now all revolved around him. Drew was my anchor in a seemingly perpetual storm. Even though he knew just how to push my buttons, I couldn’t imagine him not being my first … my only.

But, he was always the one to stop when things got to heavy during our make out sessions. Every time I thought that the time had finally come, he would pull away and make some excuse about it not being the right time.

Now … this time, those soft, familiar kisses became urgent and wanting. He pulled up on my shirt so I happily obliged by reaching down and helping him take it off. Thank god I’d worn my cute black bra with the lacey hot pink trim.

I heard the intake of his breath as he hovered above me. “Chloe,” he ran his fingers softly over my cheek, “you are so beautiful. Not just out here either.” His fingertips trailed down my throat and over my shoulder. “It’s who you are that I love.”

I felt my face flush and reached up to mimic his touches. “I love you too.”

He kissed me again, pressing his body into mine. The top halves of our bodies were skin on skin and still I wanted him to somehow be even closer. We kissed until we were both breathing heavily from lack of air and the rush of adrenaline.

When he pulled away this time, he looked me directly in the eye. “I don’t want to stop. I’ve been stopping for so long. I wanted you to be absolutely sure … are you sure, Chloe?”

Finally. Finally!

I nodded and took his face in my hands. “I have been sure, for a long time now. Don’t you ever think you are taking advantage of me. I am yours. Do you hear me,” I leaned up to give him another kiss, “I am yours.

He fell down onto me, crushing our lips together so that my last words were lost in our kisses.

***

I stared at my face in the mirror above the bathroom sink. I looked the same as I did a few hours ago, but I certainly didn’t feel the same.

It’s so strange how something so very common, that people do every day, can make a person feel so different. The bathroom was still filled with steam from the shower I’d just taken and I had a towel wrapped around my body. Drew had gone back to his room to shower and get ready to head out into the city.

That was another thing. Normally I wasn’t scared at all when we went out on missions, but this time, I was pretty nervous for some reason. That wasn’t good for me. My fire power sometimes acted up when I got scared or anxious. The last thing I needed was to make any mistakes out there.

I had to admit, though, I was curious about these survivors.

I hurried into the bedroom so that I could throw on my jeans and a fresh tank top before meeting everyone downstairs. Through the sheer window coverings I saw that the sun had just slipped behind the trees leaving New Orleans in that space between day and night, the time when the vampires started to come out.

I pleated my hair into two braids and then strapped on all my weapons into their appropriate places. My quiver went onto my back and I set my bow over my shoulder and then I was ready.