Chapter 41:

Keep in mind this story has always been a high T+ rating! (Believe me, I could have gone very, very M if I had wanted to.)

For those who do read this story, please enjoy! ;)

(R&R)

"Erin," Larten gasped, "what are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" She said pushing his shoulders down forcefully to lay him flat on the bed.

She had unbuttoned his shirt leaving it wide open.

Larten went to sit up again, but she straddled him and pushed him back down.

She flipped her hair to one side and attacked him with a passionate kiss. He moaned and grabbed the sides of her face to keep the kiss going until he had to release to breathe. Immediately Erin began trailing kisses and nips around his neck, biting his ear. She had her body arched into his running her fingernails up and down the sides of his torso.

"Mmph." Was all Larten could get out. The feel of her fingertips moving along his skin was making it all the more sensitive to her touch.

She shifted her face to once more kiss him deeply, teasingly biting his lower lip, looking into his eyes, grinning mischievously.

He felt her hands travel back down his sides to the waist of his pants. Her fingers pulled at them but only to tease.

"Erin," he tried to say firmly, but could only pant.

"Ssh."

She trailed more kisses and nips all over his torso and chest slowly going lower and lower. Her hands were still at the waist of his pants. A certain part of his body was starting to get uncomfortable underneath her weight. He was starting to sweat.

"What's the matter, Larten?" Erin asked breathlessly against his ear as she slid a hand down over the fabric of his pants.

"Erin, don't-" He gasped, grabbing her wrist trying to stop it from moving, but all he could do was hold it as Erin continued palming him.

"Ah!" He growled.

Erin stopped and began unbuttoning his pants.

Larten grabbed her hips and flipped her over in the bed. He was on his knees as he removed his pants tossing them onto the floor.

Erin rose onto her knees, Larten pulling her against him. He ripped the back of her bra off and cut through her thong like it was nothing. Erin's hands gripped his lower back and before he knew it, she was once again on top.

Larten took in her body, his hands traveling all over causing her to moan and gasp. Her smell was making him dizzy.

Erin arched her body against his running her fingers through his hair as she kissed him, one of her hands slowly trailing down past his waist.

He tried to say her name but it was lost in their kiss.

Slowly Erin rose up adjusting her hips gasping in pleasure, her eyes shutting, as they joined together.

Larten growled and moaned as he gripped her hips, but it was Erin who was in control.

She panted looking into his eyes. Larten's eyes were blown black. His hands traveled to her chest gripping and massaging. This caused Erin to throw her head back and moan his name while increasing their rhythm. Both were desperately panting feeling their moment of release coming soon.

"Ah, Larten!" Erin gasped.

"Oh gods, Erin, I-" He barely managed to say before both were panting in unison finally reaching their brink and going over the edge.

Erin gripped his hair kissing him breathlessly before slowly releasing him, rolling off him and onto the bed. Larten lay there breathing heavily trying to catch his breath. He swallowed getting his breathing under control. He turned his head to look at Erin. She met his eyes, coy and satisfied. Her hair cascaded all around her.

"Come here." Larten grunted sliding an arm underneath, pulling her against him.

Erin stretched along his body, a hand gently on his collar bone. He grabbed her leg to have it spread across his waist and gently massaged her thigh with his thumb.

Neither of them said anything but took delight in each other's heated skin and quickened pulses.

Larten could feel Erin falling asleep against him. He turned his head and kissed her on the forehead. She raised her head to kiss him on the lips softly looking into his eyes. He gave a quick smile before turning serious and kissing her once more.

"I love you." He said pulling away, staring at her intensely.

"I love you." Erin replied, tracing the scar on his face.

Larten pressed his lips against hers before laying his head back down onto the pillow. He felt Erin sigh and breathing become slow and measured. He himself felt sleep overtaking him, that kind of sleep from exhaustion of total and complete satisfaction. Larten closed his eyes, his entire body relaxed, and drifted off.

"Mmm." Erin hummed in her sleep.

She had started tossing around slightly, obviously in the grip of a dream. It was starting to annoy Larten until he heard her moan his name.

His eyes shot open in the dark. It wasn't like her night terror moan of his name. No, this was something else.

She sighed his name again as if in yearning. But not in a frightened state, no, this was in the realm of…desire? Pleasure?

Never before had he wanted so badly to see into someone's mind.

He watched her roll onto her stomach, her face turned towards his, as she snuggled into her pillow holding it tight. She had a small smile on her lips as she sighed, an 'mmm' escaping once more before she went silent, no longer restless.

Larten watched her in the dark. She had tossed and turned so much that she was now out of his arms and taking up more than half the bed as she stretched out.

Larten rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

What had she dreamed? Obviously about him, but in what context?

He breathed in deeply through his nose and slowly exhaled. She had said his name. It was in a pleasant way, (whatever that meant), and it had make her feel good as evident by the smile on her lips and sighs. It had sounded similar to the types of dreams he had had multiple times.

Suddenly something hit him square in the face.

It was Erin's arm. She had flopped closer and threw her arm out. Now Larten was getting annoyed again. He just wanted to sleep. He-he, gods, he didn't know what he wanted. If he could just sleep he was certain he'd be better prepared to clearly think things through tomorrow. And, slightly ashamed, he was glad Erin would be at work until nightfall so that he could sleep in.

He moved her arm and rolled her over onto her side of the bed. She didn't even notice.

Larten yawned. He adjusted his pillow and tried to quiet his mind, but every now and then the sound of his name would float to the surface. He growled internally, entirely frustrated of not being able to fully fall asleep. But the way she had moaned his name would send a shiver down his spine.

Eventually he was able to fall asleep, but when Erin had to get up for work, it woke him and he was ready to explode, but by the luck of the gods, it was over quickly and the house was silent.

"Finally." He huffed.

He stretched out in the bed and was asleep within seconds. He would definitely be sleeping in. He didn't want to wake up like a cranky old woman, as Gavnur would tease him, but there was a high percentage of that happening. He just could not get his name out of his head.

"Jesus, why are you being such an asshole?" Brigid snapped, cutting open sweet potatoes to let them cool.

"Because both Erin and you are intolerably loud and I was only able to get a few hours of sleep." He snapped back.

"Then go back to bed, idiot!" Brigid yelled.

"I would not be able to sleep even if I wanted to!" Larten yelled back.

"I swear to God, Larten," Brigid yelled, slamming the cutlery on the kitchen counter with a loud, metallic clang, "If you keep acting this way I will put you to sleep myself."

"And how, may I ask, would you do that?" Larten hissed.

"I'm a genius-level, psychic mathematician. But I also know every other field that deals with calculations including physics. Believe me, you may be a vampire, but even you can't go against the laws of physics." Brigid narrowed her eyes.

"Actually, we can. We flit, we can sense auras and pinpoint where another is no matter where in the world. We are partial magical creatures. You are the ones bound by such laws." Larten sniffed dismissively.

"Uuugh, oh my God, Larten, please shut the hell up. Just shut up. The universe is run by—you know what, I'm not getting into it. You want to be a cranky asshole then go ahead, I'm cooking dinner. Go be grumpy somewhere else." Brigid sighed, obviously pissed.

Larten stood to his full height and with a huff walked out of the house into the garden. There was a light snow starting to fall. The next few days were meant to have a steady, heavy snow non-stop.

He took a deep breath of the ice, cold air. He was tired, but that did not excuse his behavior. However, he would not be apologizing to that spoiled, brat anytime soon.

"Humph." He grunted, scratching his scar.

He was confused inside. He felt stuck and he did not know how to get things moving. Erin seemed to be on the same page as him, but how could he know for sure. And did he want to know?

He heard something move behind him and he immediately on instinct whipped around on the offensive.

"Agh! Ow!"

A body hit the ground hard. It stifled a cry of pain as it grasped its arm.

"Charna's guts!" Larten knelt down beside Erin. Her face grimaced in pain.

"What were you thinking?!" He yelled, trying to ease her into a sitting position.

"Ah, ah. I-I thought you heard me."

He felt her arm.

"No, it's not my arm. I think I just landed on my shoulder wrong." She grimaced trying to rotate it.

"The injured one from before?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then you have aggravated the prior injury. Let me help you up."

"Ow…"

Irritated, he swooped Erin into his arms and carried her to the couch in the living room.

"Oh my god, what happened?" Brigid asked, seeing Erin in pain.

"It's nothing. I actually snuck up on a vampire and paid the price." She tried to smile and laugh.

Brigid met Larten's eyes and shook her head, eyes narrowed, her lips a thin line.

"I think it would be best if you wore your sling for a few days." Larten grunted.

"Yeah, that's what I figured." Erin sighed.

"I'll go get it." Brigid said shooting a piercing look at Larten.

Larten's face tightened.

"What's wrong?" Erin asked feeling the tension in the air.

Larten sat next to her holding her up in a sitting position supporting her shoulder.

"It is nothing." He said stiffly.

"No, it is something."

"How was your day at work?" Larten asked seeking to distract her.

Her countenance immediately fell, a heaviness seemed to overcome her.

Larten stiffened, but felt her stiffen next to him. He quickly relaxed his body language and pulled her closer against him.

"It was just the usual. Lots of old memories and final moments of a patient's life before they died. Knowing which patients would pass, feeling everything. Just…when I feel everything it gets so overwhelming I wish I could just run and silence all the voices clouding my mind."

She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Were there any future flashes?"

Erin was silent.

"What did you see, Erin?" He asked sternly.

She kept her head on his shoulder.

"Just that…we are going to start seeing a rise in murders in the surrounding towns. This will attract a few vampire hunters and Murlough will manipulate the situation to his advantage. He is starving and thinks that he will gain power through his human sacrifices so that his cult gods will empower him even more. Brigid and I will be a sort of ultimate, special sacrifice and once he has drained a part of our souls and thus, our psychic abilities, he will be invincible."

"And when will this happen?"

Larten was feeling his general instincts kick in. He should leave and track Murlough down and kill him before those events could take place.

"It's worse if you leave." Erin whispered, "I don't know how to explain it, but the entire situation will go left and end up without any hope. Right now, there's still hope. Brigid can attest to it, too. There are different paths and different variants that could continue depending on which sequence we choose. Nothing is set, but numbers don't lie."

"This will be very difficult for me. It goes against my instincts, but I will trust you. And I promised I would not leave you. Did you see a timeframe that these events are to start taking place?"

Erin placed her hand on top of his.

"I'm afraid you'll still have to endure Christmas."

"It seems I cannot escape this fate."

Erin giggled against him, her face brightening and relaxing. Larten took it in and felt proud that he could ease her struggles. He gave her hand a tight squeeze. She looked up into his face. They were incredibly close looking into the other's eyes, searching. Larten had stopped breathing as Erin leaned in, lifting her hand to touch his jaw.

"I FOUND IT!" Brigid yelled, bounding into the kitchen.

Larten and Erin quickly pulled apart. Larten cleared his throat, blushing, trying to regain his composure. He saw Erin do the same, running her fingers through her hair.

Brigid came to the couch and helped Erin slip it on. Larten tried to help but Brigid slapped his hands away.

"Alright. Got it. I guess wear it for a couple of days?"

"Yes, Brigid, a couple of days and I'll be fine." Erin rolled her eyes and stood up, Larten standing, as well, helping her up.

Brigid's eyes glanced into his still angry.

"It will take the both of us to make sure she keeps it on and since it's your fault, Larten, you are extra responsible."

Larten's eyes met hers. He gave a tight nod.

"I'll be fine you guys! I'm going to change. Is dinner ready?"

"It's almost ready. Go change. Larten will help me finish cooking."

"Thank God, I'm starving. Be right down."

Erin turned the corner to ascend the stairs. When they heard her bedroom door close, Brigid put the three sweet potatoes in front of Larten shoving a cinnamon shaker in his hand.

"Lightly sprinkle them. Key word, lightly."

Larten nodded and set to his simple task.

"And next time— "

"Yes, yes, I know." Larten said peevishly.

"God, it's like taking care of a 10-year-old." Brigid muttered to herself.

"I heard that." Larten snapped under his breath.

"I know." Brigid hissed back.

The two quickly stopped their snarky comments when Erin came down the stairs. She inhaled deeply.

"Ah, it smells so good."

Erin had changed out of her scrubs and into warm black leggings with a ¾ length blue top, her hair braided to the side. Larten looked to her neck. She was still wearing the necklace he had gotten her for her birthday. Every time he saw it near her delicate collar bones his heart would spark with pride.

Larten realized he was staring when he looked up and met Erin's eyes. He flushed for a second when Erin smiled at him.

"Ready!"

"Let's sit in the dining room and not in front of the t.v."

"What? Why? Christmas movies, Erin, Christmas movies." Brigid gasped.

"We have some recorded that we need to watch which we will do after dinner. Hot chocolate with Schnapps since it's Friday and you don't have to go to school tomorrow."

"You literally barely put any in mine! I want more tonight."

"I'll calculate how much you can have."

"Really? Calculate it? I hate it that you're a nurse sometimes." Brigid huffed carrying her and Erin's plates into the dining room. Larten followed and sat down.

Brigid talked about her day at school, who said this, who did that, telling when her Christmas break would start, what she was going to get Ellie, and on and on. Larten felt exhausted just listening to her on top of already feeling tired and irritated. But something else was tugging at the back of his mind: Erin moaning his name and their almost shared kiss on the couch. Would a kiss change everything? Larten knew the weight of a single kiss.

"Hey!"

Larten felt a sharp kick to his knee. He looked up, face burning red, and exploded.

"Test me one more time, girl, and you will be put in your place!" He snarled.

Silence filled the room. Larten clenched his jaw, threw his napkin onto the table, and with a quick 'excuse me', left the room walking out into the garden once more.

He started pacing. He was confused and he did not know what to do. The sound of the patio door opening and closing barely registered in Larten's mind. Arms snaked around his middle, a body pressed against his back, holding him.

Nothing was said, snow falling around the figures. Erin held him tighter.

"Where is your sling?" He asked quietly.

"Inside. I'll put it back on later." She said muffled, her head buried into his back.

They fell silent again. Larten felt slightly ridiculous being embraced in such a way, but the comfort of feeling her arms around him was what he needed.

Erin started shivering. Gently pulling her arms apart he turned to face her, she gave a tender smile. Larten's face softened, without saying a word they went inside.

Brigid turned around, three mugs filled with steaming hot chocolate, a bottle of peppermint Schnapps next to them. Larten's face stiffened on instinct. Brigid looked him straight in the eye.

"I'm sorry I kicked you."

There was sincerity in her eyes.

Larten gave a small bow.

"It is nothing. Thank you."

Brigid smiled, immediately assuming her typical, over-the-top, bubbliness.

"No prob. Erin, Schnapps, Christmas movie, pronto!"

Erin gave Larten's hand a light squeeze.

"How much Schnapps can vampires have?" Brigid asked curiously.

Larten smirked.

"Our metabolism is stronger than a human's. It takes quite a lot to get a vampire drunk."

"Ah, well, we have an extra bottle so drink to your vampire hearts content!"

The three walked into the living room, hot chocolate in hand, and settled in to watch yet another Christmas movie.

Brigid moved to the loveseat leaving the couch open for Erin and Larten. Erin sat down, grabbing the remote.

Larten sat at the opposite end. He heard an 'ahem' to his side. He turned his head to find Brigid's eyes indicating he should move closer to Erin. Larten felt awkward being that close to Erin with Brigid present, but she kept encouraging him to move, so he did.

Erin immediately twisted her body throwing her legs across his lap as per usual. He placed his hand on her ankles and stretched an arm along the back of the couch relaxing instantly.

Glancing at Brigid she gave him an encouraging thumb up. He couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from twitching upward. He glanced around the living room, the strings of lights, the stretches of garland, the decorated tree complete with a few wrapped presents underneath, and tinsel everywhere. Again, he relished in the warmth and whatever that good feeling is that comes when belonging somewhere. (That didn't have to do with continual bloodshed.) A place where one was not alone or lonely.

He picked up his mug of hot chocolate and couldn't stop an unbelieving head shake and smile.

"What?" Erin asked wiggling her toes at him.

"Nothing. It is just that if you had told me I would one day be drinking hot chocolate in a home decorated to a ridiculous extent for Christmas, I would have called you crazy."

"Life is full of surprises." Erin laughed.

Larten looked at her, humor in his eyes.

"Yes, it is."