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Okay, now that that's out of my overloaded system...here's another weird chapter, enjoy...
Rebirth—Chapter 14
An hour later, I was walking out of the foggy bathroom back in my room at S.H.I.T. headquarters, drying my hair with a towel as I went. I stopped at the walk-in closet, considered the selection, and finally settled on a fuzzy green robe that looked just like one my mom had used to wear all the time. Felt like it too. The fact that it sort of smelled like it was probably just my imagination. But hey, stranger things have happened.
Rose was lying on the bed when I came back into the bedroom. Bonnie had changed her into one of her summer pajamas, a puffy pink sleeping gown. Sheer white slippers adorned her small feet, and there was cute pink bow tying her thick hair back. Her face was so peaceful, her eyes shut, the tiniest smile playing across her lips. I heard once that kids always dream with the angels. I wondered if that applied only to human children, or if we damned angels are entitled to such pleasures. But then, Rose lived and played with the angels...the dark ones, too...so why should she care to dream with them? But still...I wondered if there really was a heaven, with beautiful angels serving the great God on his throne. If there was, shouldn't I be up there, away from all of this?
Oh, yeah...the whole Death Angel thing. I'm being punished for someone else's crimes. And apparently, so is Rose. And Jesse. And Paul. And all the demons. And all the humans. God's putting everyone though Hell because of some stupid love triangle thing he was still sore about...and because some guy and girl a very long time ago decided to eat a fruit from a tree.
Whatever. None of that mattered anymore. Right now, all that mattered was the little angel sleeping in front of me, and the demon that was...her father.
I sat on the bed beside her, softly. She shifted and sighed, but didn't wake. A delicate hand was tossed across the pillows. I took it gently, and cradled its warmth in my hand.
Jesse was Rose's father.
I had known it all along. But somehow, I just hadn't realized it. Whenever I looked at her, I saw Jesse's warm eyes looking back at me, from a time when they were still wide and innocent, before they had become lost and jaded. Those were Jesse's lips, smiling at some secret world. Jesse's cool intellect. My hair, my nose, and my penchant for trouble. There wasn't a hint of anything Paulish in her. We had only spent one night together...
Well, guess we should have used protection. If the world hadn't ended a few days later, I would have been in some really deep shit.
I thought about the way Paul had taken me so violently that first time...he seemed so angry, furious, like he was trying not to kill me. I was so scared of him. He must have known. He must have known I was pregnant with Jesse's child. Whether he was hoping to give me a miscarriage, or to re- impregnate me, I don't know. Or maybe he was just trying to make it look like it was his child, after all.
Which meant that he knew. He knew all along, that Jesse was still alive, and he was torturing him in that tiny cell for seven years. And he knew that Rose was his daughter. He knew.
Fresh hate churned in my stomach. I was truly disgusted with Paul. He had so many good intentions, yet he was such a bastard. To everyone. Including me. And his daughter.
Well, Jesse's daughter, biologically. But in her eyes, Paul was still "Father". Which posed another problem...now that I was with Jesse, she would have to know. I would have to tell her. How would she react to the shocking news? Would she reject Jesse? Would she miss Paul?
Why did everything always have to be so damn complicated???
"Your High—um, Suze," came a voice near the door. I turned. Bonnie was standing in the doorway in her sleeping gown, looking dead tired. Didn't she sleep all day? She must be seriously sleep-deprived.
"Yes?" I said.
"Will you be going to bed now?" It sounded almost like she was pleading with me. I smiled at her.
"Don't worry about me, Bonnie. You look like you really need sleep, so go ahead. I'll just be up a while longer."
She looked at me uncertainly. "Are you...sure? I'll stay up and wait for you..."
I shook my head. "No, Bonnie. You're not our servant anymore. You're just a friend."
Her eyes widened. "But—"
"No, Bonnie." I stood, slowly, so Rose wouldn't wake, and I went to stand in front of Bonnie. She almost looked scared. "I'm not queen anymore. Paul denounced me. So if you still want to stick around and help out, it's out of the goodness of your own heart."
Her lips quivered. Definitely scared. "My...my queen..."
"No more, Bonnie. So don't worry, you can go to sleep. I won't die, I promise."
She suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me, hugging my legs and nearly making me fall over. "You will always be my queen, Suze!" she wailed.
"Shhhh!" I said, looking back at Rose. She was starting to twitch restlessly as Bonnie sobbed against me. "Okay, fine," I hissed. "I'm your queen, you're my servant, and I order you to shut up, go to sleep, and not worry about me anymore."
She went quiet, holding onto me, hiccupping at odd moments. Then, slowly, she lifted her head and looked up at me with puffy red eyes. "...really?"
"Yes. Now go."
She stood, legs creaking as she did so. She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her gown, and laughed softly. "I...I apologize. I'm just being silly now. It's just...I don't know anything else. If I have no queen to serve...I have...nothing."
"I understand," I said solemnly, even though I kind of didn't.
She stood there for a minute, looking lost, then she finally turned away with a sniffle. I watched her drift away like a ghost, disappearing into the kitchen. Well, if she wanted to wait up, it was her loss. There were things that needed to be settled before I hit the sack tonight.
I left the room with one last glance back at Rose, who was now peacefully sleeping again. I was sure to close the bedroom door. I didn't want her to wake up if Bonnie decided to break down in sobs or anything. She must have just hit her mid-life crisis. I think mine was finally over.
I went out into the hallway, looking around kind of nervously. Then I tip- toed over to Jesse's door. I wondered for a second if maybe I should wait until the morning...
...and the door opened by itself.
"Oh," I said in a tiny voice. Jesse was standing there almost exactly like he had been the night before...dripping wet, his hair slicked back from his face. Only this time, the towel wasn't wrapped so securely around his waist. Au contraire, he was gripping it loosely in his free hand, and it was rather...low on his hips. I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat. "Uh...sorry for interrupting. Again." I laughed, and it was a terrible squeaky sound. "I mean, I keep interrupting your showers."
"You don't look so bad yourself," he said, and I realized his dark eyes were fixated a little lower than my face...I looked down, and saw my robe had fallen open a little when Bonnie grabbed me, exposing a line of flesh down the center of my body, ending around my lower-abdomen.
I felt my face turning red. "Oh, sorry," I mumbled, grabbing the robe and holding it over me securely. I should have put on a shirt or something before I came over.
"Make yourself comfortable," he said, and he turned and walked out of view. I peeked my head in a little nervously, just in time to see him walk into the bathroom, letting the towel slip away at the last moment. I had a split-second flash of a very nice ass. He didn't close the door behind him, I noticed. I wondered if that meant anything, then shook my head. Very nice ass.
I shut the door behind me and moved to sit on the edge of the massive bed, still trying to shake away the image burned into my mind's eye. It was very difficult. I mean...that was a really nice—
Well. You know.
"Susannah?" Jesse's voice suddenly came from the bathroom.
I stared at the open door, eyes wide. "Uh...yeah?"
"Could you bring me a clean towel?"
"W-what?" He expected me to go...in there...while he was naked? Didn't he already have a towel in there? Was it too wet? Couldn't he just use it to dry himself off?
"I need a clean towel. They're in the closet. Could you bring me one, please?"
I swallowed. His voice sounded earnest enough. "Um, okay." I walked to the already-open closet. The towels were near the top, much fluffier than the ones in my room, and colorful. I picked a red one. Don't ask why. It was soft to the touch, and I was jealous. I wanted soft pretty towels! The ones in our room were crappy hotel-quality squares of fabric...
Yes, yes. Babbling again. I babble when I'm nervous.
Clutching the red towel to my chest like a badge of honor, I edged along the wall towards the bathroom door.
"Uh, Jesse?"
"What? Can't find the towels?" There was an edge of laughter to his voice that freaked me out for some reason.
"No...um...I mean..." How immature was I being? "Is everything covered?"
Okay, that just sounded incredibly stupid.
"Yes..."
It was weird how that yes seemed to crawl over my skin, almost like a hand sliding over me...
"I will not burn your eyes with the sight of my body; have no fear." He was definitely laughing at me with that one.
"Whatever," I said. I don't like it when people laugh at me.
I stuck my hand with the towel in first. I guess just to warn him that I was about to come in, you know, in case anything was hanging out in sight. Then the rest of me stepped in, so the towel was blocking my view of him.
"Here," I said.
This time he did laugh. "God, Susannah, I won't bite."
I wasn't too sure about the not biting part...but I moved the towel over so I could see. It was a surprisingly big bathroom. Bigger than ours. The walls were a colorful mosaic of tile, and a huge mirror took up an entire wall. The mirror caught my eye first, and I saw myself holding out the towel like a total retart, my face pale and scared looking. At least the robe wasn't falling open.
Then I looked beyond my reflection, and met Jesse's eyes. I spun around quickly, startled. He was lying in a huge black marble tub on the other end of the bathroom, watching me, his head cocked to the side. His hair had fallen around his face in thick, wet curls. A mountain of suds, thankfully, covered anything there might have been to see...well, except the knee that was lifted out of the water. One arm was dangling over the edge of the tub, the other was propped up on said knee, hanging limp. His magnificent wings were draped over the sides of the tub, and water clung to them like black diamonds.
"Um," I said.
He held out a hand wordlessly for the towel. I offered it to him. Unfortunately, we were on opposite ends of the room.
"Susannah..."
"Um," I said again.
"Susannah, this doesn't have to be so difficult," he said as a dark, knowing smile curved his lips. "Just walk over here, give me the towel, and then walk back out."
I moved over to the toilet, which stood a few feet away from the tub. A safe distance. "Um, I'll just leave it here for you..."
"Susannah, please. Stop acting like a child."
Jesse just told me to stop acting like a child. Like, he was my dad or something. I frowned at him, the flare of anger washing away the shyness like it had never been there. "Fine," I said, and I closed the distance to the tub and held the towel out to him.
He stared at me from down there, and his eyes, which I had been trying to avoid, finally caught mine. Instantly I was trapped. I couldn't peel my eyes away from that intense look. There was just something so...primitive, enticing, in the way he looked at me. Like he wasn't really seeing me, but all the things he could do to me. That was probably just my imagination running away from me...
Then his lips curved in a slow, wicked smile. That was definitely not my imagination. "What are you thinking, querida?"
That was the second time he asked me that tonight. I must be giving away more than usual. I had the blank face routine down pretty well after living with Paul. But lately, with Jesse, I just couldn't pull it off anymore.
"You tell me what you're thinking, and I tell you," I breathed. My arm was starting to get tired from holding the towel out too long.
Jesse tilted his head back against the tile wall behind him, shutting his eyes. "I'm thinking about Rosie," he said.
I lowered my arm. The towel seemed too damn heavy all of a sudden.
"Is she really my daughter? Or did you just say that?"
"Can't you tell?" I said.
"I feel a—" he waved his hands a little, searching for the right word. "—bond with her. I can't explain it. But I thought it was just me wishing she could be my daughter."
I kneeled beside the tub, draping the towel over my thighs, and gazed at his beautiful face, leaning back against the wall. The length of his smooth throat was exposed, and the top of his chest...the rest of him was covered in pinkish bubbles.
"She's a beautiful little girl," he said, speaking softly. "She reminds me so much of you..."
"And she reminds me of you," I said. His obsidian eyes half-opened, so he watched me without lifting his head. I reached out a hand to his face, hesitating over the skin. I finally touched my fingers to his cheek, and he closed his eyes again with a sigh. His skin was cool, and I had the strange sensation again of his body heat hovering over him, rather than radiating from him. I cupped his cheek, stroking a finger near his temple, and slowly slid my hand to his hair, tangling my fingers in the silky black locks.
"She has your eyes, and your smile," I whispered, leaning my chin on the edge of the tub, staring at the ungodly realms of his face. I smoothed the hair away from him, so that his face was plain and unadorned, glowing with otherworldly light. "She's has your beauty, your intelligence, and your weird sense of humor." I moved my hand down to his shoulder, and his wings caught my eye. They were a shadow forever hovering at his back, the most obvious sign of his...evil. Evil? Jesse wasn't evil...so why was he considered one of the forsaken? Why should the fact that he had black wings determine the fate of his soul? He did not choose to be what he was. He just...was.
"...my...fall from grace..." he suddenly whispered. I glanced back at his face. No expression. He spoke again, lips barely moving. "...save me from...myself..."
"Jesse..."
He fell silent, looking as if he had dozed off. His arms were limp, hanging over the tub, nearly touching the floor. Water dripped steadily from his fingertips, forming small puddles in the cracks between the floor tiles. The sudden silence was almost spooky.
I sighed and turned, sitting on the cold tile, my back against the tub. The red towel was still on my lap. I tossed it towards the toilet. It missed completely and flopped noiselessly to the floor. Oh, well. Life's like that sometimes.
"I was thinking about how beautiful you are," I murmured thoughtfully, staring down at my hands. "How you've always been beautiful. Since the moment I met you, you were like..." I laughed a little, thinking about how stupid I sounded, "...like forbidden fruit, you know? I'd always want you, but I'd never have you. I was too young to know what love was. I think I'm still too young." I felt my head tip forward a little, my eyes shutting, and I lifted it quickly. I was bobbing my head like I had always done in school, during algebra. I could never seem to stay awake during that period.
"But whatever this is, it feels good, ya know?" My eyes were closing by themselves, and I couldn't stop them. "Real good..."
I'm talking to myself...
"I just wish..."
All alone...
"I just wish I didn't have to hurt anybody..." I smiled a little as I acknowledged vaguely the fact that I was falling forward. "You, Paul, Rose...everybody...nobody..."
Hands caught me by the shoulders, strong, pulling me back against the side of the tub, holding me there.
"Jesse?" I said through a yawn. "Oh...you're not sleeping..."
Cool, wet hands slid down from my shoulders, lower, lower...slipping just inside my robe, lingering at the tops of my breasts. I shook myself awake, blinking the fuzz out of my eyes.
"What are you..."
My voice trailed off as I looked in the mirror across from me. I saw myself, sitting against the tub, eyes startlingly dark against the paleness of my skin. He had lifted himself from the water and loomed behind me in glistening, soapy glory, his arms around me possessively, wings curving around either side of me like claws. The silken blackness of his feathers covered everything except our reflection in the mirror, and I suddenly felt slightly claustrophobic, like I was trapped, like I couldn't escape...
We stared at each other in the mirror for a long moment, his eyes dark and provocative, lips set in a grim line, so hungry, so...
I let out an embarrassing little moan as there was the sudden sensation of cool fingers running down my sides...then Jesse was leaning over me, moving his hands so that they wrapped around me, still not going too low. That's the only way to put it—he wrapped himself around me in a graceful, almost catlike movement, pressing against my back, nuzzling his head into the crook of my neck and shoulder. His wings came around me completely, startling me. It was like night had suddenly descended, blocking everything else. His wings seemed to absorb the light, creating a vast, sensual void. Suddenly nothing existed except my heavy breathing, and Jesse's body against mine. His breath was a soft tickle at my throat.
"Dark..." I murmured, and my voice came slow, almost slurred.
"Very," he whispered obscenely against me.
I shuddered as something cold and electric seemed to crawl up my spine. It felt like I was trapped for an eternity in that void, in Jesse's steel embrace. Feeling him breathe. I heard that sound again...a faint, faraway drum, beating frantically, which I knew was my heart trying to rip out of my chest. Only this time, there was a second drum, out of sync with mine, slower, stronger sounding.
"You fear me," he murmured suddenly, and it was the voice of the seduction, tempting me in the cool darkness. "You fear...this..." His lips dragged slowly across my skin, across the back of my neck, to the other side, to hover over my jugular. He planted a soft kiss there, barely touching the skin. I was frozen, unable to breathe. The demon was draped over my body, luring me into him, entrapping me in a web of dark, unspoken promises...
"I can...smell you..." he said, his voice so low, so intimate. "Your blood...your fear...your desire..."
I felt the hard brush of his sharp canines against my throat, and I jolted as if he had bitten me. He laughed softly, pleased at my confusion. I was filled with a maddening combination of lust and horror. Since neither feeling seemed willing to take over completely, I was left with the strangest sensation of floating, not knowing what to believe.
"I want all of it, Susannah..."
I sighed as I felt his tongue caress my fluttering pulse, suddenly drunk with this overpowering flood of passion...
"Will you give me all of it? All of...you...?" His voice was sliding over my body like soft silk, leaving tingling trails of ice and fire over my skin...
"...Jesse...what the hell are you..."
"Can you give me everything? Can you satisfy my every desire?"
"...stop it..."
I felt him smile against me. "You want me to stop?"
I struggled to swim back into consciousness, but everything was dark, warm, dream-like. I couldn't think straight. "Yes...I mean, no, no. I don't want you to stop. No. But I'm..."
"You're scared..." he whispered, and his voice was too good. Too silky, rich, touchable. "But...you want me so bad, so bad..."
"You're hypnotizing me..."
"No, querida...the lust is yours alone. Why do you fight it?"
"I don't like "
I felt his hands venture lower, seeking...
"Just one night," he breathed against me. "Just let me own you...one night..."
"Rose..."
"Rosie?" I let out a quiet gasp as one of his hands found my breast, teasing me between skillful fingers. "Rosie will still be here when the morning comes, querida."
"But..."
The robe was suddenly sliding from my shoulders, pushed by an unseen force.
"Susannah..." his voice was thick, lazy. "Let me drink of thee, sweet angel...drown in your...blood..."
The robe suddenly fell away completely, and his heat embraced me, drawing a sigh from my lips. I was in another reality, wrapped in him, protected and loved, precious shadows deluding the pain of reality.
"So...sweet...let me drink..." I felt once again the hard press of fangs, but this time, I could only smile strangely. "I...dare you..."
My head was so dizzy, foggy. I didn't understand, somehow. All I knew was that the keys to heaven were being given to me on a sliver platter, and all I had to do was say yes. I gave a soft moan, and I felt his hand on my jaw, tilting my head, exposing the side of my throat to those hungry eyes...and when I felt his sharp sting, I flinched, not understanding, and panic flew over me before I was suddenly being lowered gently to the floor, and the world was blindingly white, his wings lifting away and arching behind him in graceful unison, his beautiful body over me, exquisite, precious...I moaned and felt pleasure flood over my body, like fur rubbing all over me, tingling and wonderful. I felt my blood rushing and my heart pounding like a desperate, trapped thing; I heard someone making strange, alien sounds, and realized it was me. I threw my arms around him, bringing him closer to me. I rode on waves of pleasure, flying, soaring. It was suddenly too much, and I could feel my hands convulsing on his back, drawing lines of blood as I raked my nails down his skin. Jesse shuddered against me, and made a low, guttural sound before he finally lifted his head away from me, his eyes dim and unfocused. He said something faintly in Spanish, and a slow, dreamy smile spread his lips...his lips, which were smeared with blood.
MY blood.
"Holy shit," I choked, trying to regain my senses. But my head was still exploding with that unreal sensation. It was unlike anything I'd ever felt before...
"No, I'm unholy," I heard Jesse say thoughtfully.
"You...you sucked my blood." I jammed my eyes shut, trying to get rid of the pounding, the sensation of being so alive, so high. "You..."
"I drank of you," he said, voice dripping with sex. "Ah...so beautiful...like fine wine..."
I shot him a "god, you're insane" look, and he chuckled. He had me exactly where he'd always wanted me...on the floor, clothes off, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, separating us...and he had gone for my neck. My NECK. How telling was that?
"I can't believe you just sucked my blood," I muttered darkly. Now that the sensation was slipping away, I was aware of a painful throb at my neck. I touched it delicately, and felt two neat puncture wounds. The area was clean; no blood had seeped out, which was a wonder unto itself. But how...how had it felt so damn good?!
So good, it was scary...
"Jesus," I said, and I craned my head upward, staring at the open door of the bathroom. I wondered if he would do it again, draining me, and if I should try to make a break for it. Jesse's deep laughter from above me suddenly sounded threatening. I...I really didn't want him doing that again. Ever.
Jesse sucked my blood...ew...
"God, Susannah," he said, still smiling pleasantly at me. His fingers played at my still-damp hair, massaging my scalp nicely, and my eyes shot back to him. Now, I was getting a little scared. Jesse was positively beaming down at me, his eyes misty, seeming not to see. The fact that he was hovering naked over me was trivial. Okay, not entirely trivial—I couldn't stop myself from shooting interested glances down the length of his body, ogling those abs in particular—but still. His head was lowering, moving down towards me, his lips coming towards mine...okay, a kiss, I can do, even if my blood is all over his lips...but then his head sort of bobbed, eyes half-closing, and his lips skimmed across my cheek instead...
...and, with a half-moan, half-grunt kind of sound, he collapsed on top of me, and I gave a small scream of surprise.
"Oh my God! Jesse are you alright?" I demanded, shaking him.
"I think I'm drunk," was his response, muffled against my shoulder.
"What??? Drunk on my blood???"
"You have...strange blood..."
Okay, he just totally seduced me, and tricked me into letting him bite me. Then he SUCKED MY BLOOD, and he has the nerve to tell me that I have strange blood? STRANGE BLOOD????
No. No way was I standing for this.
"Oh, well, thanks," I sneered, and I lifted myself up with my hands, ignoring how niiiiiiice his body felt against mine all warm and wet, and, with great effort, struggled out from beneath him. I crawled around him to my robe, still rumpled at the foot of the tub, and shrugged back into it.
"Susannah..." came his voice, somehow hollow and deadened. "Help, please..."
I turned and stared at him face-down on the floor, and...oh my god, that was a REALLY NICE—
No! Bad Suze! Jesse needs your help!
I ripped my eyes away from him, and spotted the towel I had gotten for him in a pile by the toilet. I picked it up and, struggling not to molest him or anything, placed over it his lower body, shielding my burning eyes from that INCREDIBLE—
(A/N: cough...um...er...weird...)
"Susannah..."
"Hold on—" I wrapped my arms around him, sliding my hands under him, over that nice stomach, "—can you stand?"
He lay unresponsive for a few seconds, then his arms moved, painfully slow, lifting his body off of the floor...I caught the towel and held it around him, pulling his nearly dead weight up off the floor, until we were both standing, and he was leaning heavily on me.
"Damn, you're heavy," I said.
He only moaned quietly. His eyes were completely glazed over, blind, and his face was slack, as if he no longer had control over his facial muscles. Was he...okay?
"Jesse—"
"Get me to...the bed," he wheezed, face scrunching with the effort of talking.
Maybe he was more than just "drunk". Maybe my blood was...poison to him or something. A demon drinking an angel's blood...was that safe? What if he was—
I shook those scary thoughts out of my mind, and stumbled out of the bathroom, half pulling, half dragging Jesse across the thick carpet to the bed, where he collapsed, lifeless.
"J-Jesse?!"
His lips made a small movement, but his sightless eyes stared towards the ceiling, grayish.
"Jesse!"
I climbed on the bed, tugging his legs along with me...I was getting really worried. I mean...he looked so...dead. For the third time tonight. Did God really hate our love that much?
I shuddered at the thought, and leaned over him, peering into his face. "Jesse? Please..." I grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking gently, then harder, watching him flop limply on the mattress, and suddenly I was crying helplessly, jerking his body up and down, screaming at him to do anything, anything—blink, twitch, shout, slap me, anything, anything—just don't—
"Su...sa...nahh...st...op..."
I gasped, and jerked my hands away. He fell back against the bed. I stared at him, still so stiff and dead...and then his eyes gave one long, slow blink, and I let out the breath I had been holding.
"Oh my god...Jesse, I'm so sorry..." I was crying again, silent tears rolling down my cheeks, but this time it was in relief.
He lifted a hand, covering his face, and moaned again. "Nombre de Dios, Susannah," he groaned, and I felt like laughing and crying and kissing him all at the same time. But I restrained myself, because he might still be hurt. I leaned over him again, stretching over his body so I could get a good look at his face...
There was one glimmering onyx eye glaring at me from between his fingers. "Susannah...you didn't have to shake me so hard."
"Well...you didn't have to drink my blood," I offered with a smile.
He rolled his eyes, dragging his hand away from his face. "Too tempting," he said. "Besides, that felt...extremely good."
He sat up, and I moved away from him. His eyes were dark and aware again, staring around him moodily. He was painfully close to me...with only that towel draped over him...
He turned slowly towards me, as if he had caught that stray thought. Had he? I don't know...but that gaze was liquid heat...dangerous...
"So...what did you make me do when you hypnotized me?"
He blinked as if coming out of a trance. "What?"
"You know...you dared me to let you bite me, and I did. So, now—"
"You didn't ask me whether I wanted a Truth or a Dare," he rudely interrupted.
"Oh..." I eyed him warily. "Fine...Truth or Dare?"
He smiled that slow, sexy smile, his brow arched wickedly as he breathed, "Dare."
"Okay, what did you—hey!"
His eyes glittered in amusement.
"You—you jerk! You were supposed to pick Truth!"
Grrrrrrr...now I was mad. Mad enough to do what I did next. Which was to, um, pounce on him. Yes, weird, embarrassing...but I jumped on top of him, shoving him back down onto the bed. He was laughing hysterically as I leaned close and hissed in his face, "I want to know what you made me do, Jesse...or else..."
"Or else what?" he said, amused. "You'll spank me?"
"Nope," I said with a smile, too annoyed even to blush. I tickled a line down his rock-hard stomach, teasing my fingers around his navel, and he smirked at me. "...I'll go back to my room."
He frowned. "Well, that's a boring threat. Who says I'm even going to let you leave?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "You wouldn't..."
"But I would, Susannah," he said in mock solemnity, his eyes widening innocently. Innocent my ass.
"You know, three minutes ago you were completely incapacitated, barely breathing, practically dead...and now all of a sudden, AFTER I HELPED YOU DRAG YOUR LAZY BUTT TO BED," I gritted my teeth against the ever darkening humor on his face, "You're back to your old asshole self, insinuating that you'd...force yourself on me. Now, is there something wrong here, or is it just me?"
"Oh, there is something wrong here, Susannah," he said, his voice a silken purr. "Very wrong."
I wasn't sure what he meant, but I was suddenly uncomfortably aware that I was straddling him, and his hands were on either side of my waist, holding me in place, and there was that little towel, and my little robe...
God, there were many things wrong here!
"Okay, I dare you to let go of me, now," I told him, an edge of panic creeping into my voice.
"Susannah..." Oh, that annoyed him.
"I mean it, Jesse." Then I felt his hands slipping away a little... "I mean, um, no, I don't mean it...I mean...uh..."
"Susannah," he laughed. "My God, make up your mind! You are the most confusing person I know!"
I glowered down at him from my superior position, crossing my arms. "Yeah, well, fine then." I sniffed snobbishly. "I dare you to...to tell me the truth about what you made me do when you hypnotized me!"
His eyes slid shut, and he sighed in exasperation. "You waste your dare on such idiocy...very well, last night, when you came to room, I hypnotized you while you were standing by the window, staring at the moon. I came up behind you, and you didn't hear me. You were thinking about God, and why he left us alone here to rot into the disgusting souls we've become, the meaning of life, all kinds of unanswerable questions...and without you aware, I extended my aura of...persuasion over you, and asked you what you truly, truly, deep down thought of me."
I blinked in surprise. "Oh...that's it?"
He flashed me a feral grin. "Well, what did you think I made you do? Fuck me? Susannah, I am a gentleman."
I snorted. "Yeah, and gentlemen toss the flying "F" around like it's nothing." I fell silent a second, then curiosity got the best of me... "So, um...what did I say?"
"You don't know what you think about me?" he asked in mild amusement.
"Jesse," I said, shooting him a dark look. "I'm just curious. I want to know what I said while I was under your evil influence."
"Very well..." He closed his eyes again, leaning his head back against the satin pillow, dark hair framing his unholy beauty... "You came to me, and kissed me gently, then you whispered a strangely poetic verse against my lips..."
I raised a brow. "Oh?"
"Yesssss..."
I ignored the weird way he said that.
"You told me...
"'Oh, Dark Angel You are still, an angel at heart An angel in spirit Your wings shine brightly Pray that they will work Pray that you won't fall'
"...and then you turned away from me, and said, 'Pray that I won't fall'. And you went back to the window, pressing your face against the glass. And I spoke, and the spell shattered."
"Wow," I said thoughtfully. "I'm deep."
"Indeed," he mused. "I've thought very hard about those wise words."
"Yeah?" I, personally, was wondering why there wasn't any declaration of my undying love in there. Did that mean there was no undying love? Or did the weird poem signify my love in some funky, symbolic way? I wondered if Jesse was wondering about the same thing. But then, Jesse just said my words were wise. So then he liked them. Or maybe he meant wise as in, a wise-ass way. Or maybe—
"Susannah," Jesse interrupted my thoughts with a mysterious smile. "I almost wish I could see into your thoughts still. You often thought about strange things, but I miss your celestial musings." He looked wistful as he said, "And I miss hearing how gorgeous I am."
"Watch it," I warned ominously.
He had the nerve to laugh at me. And then—you're not gonna believe this one, cause I almost didn't—his eyes went wide and googly, and he batted his long lashes at me in a feminine way. Then, in this high-pitched, squeaky, totally NOT ME voice, he went, "Oh, Jesse looks so yummy! Ah, he's so beautiful! Oh, I wish he would kiss me! He's so damn sexy! Oh, Jesse, oh, oh, ohhhhhhh!"
"Jesse—" But really, I was laughing way too hard to be angry. Seriously. God help us if Jesse ever decides that's he's been a closet gay this whole time.
Now, there's a scary thought.
"Jesse...oh, god, Jesse..." I lowered myself to him, laying my head down on his chest with a smile. I breathed in his warm, soapy scent, and I loved every inch of him. "...Jesse..."
His hands on my waist tightened, and he murmured above me, "So...now it's my turn. Truth or Dare?"
"I can't believe we're still playing that stupid game," I grinned.
"I keep hoping it'll lead to something fun. It could, if you would only decided what you want."
"What time is it?"
He sighed heavily, and it trembled, like...I don't know. Like he was holding something back. I felt him shift under me as he craned to see the clock. "Quarter to three." One of his hands left my waist then. I felt it travel up my body pleasantly, stopping under my chin. He lifted my head up just enough for us to have eye contact. His face was set in grim lines as he said, "Don't tell me, 'It's getting late, and I need to go'. Don't tell me that, Susannah."
I smiled at him. I wasn't sleepy at all. What girl could be sleepy when they're lying on top of this god of a man? I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn't leaving yet, and something else tumbled out instead.
"Dare."
He smiled back at me. A big smile. I got that warm fuzzy feeling, you know? The one that tingles and makes you feel all good inside.
"I dare you to kiss me."
Okay. A kiss. No big deal. I can do a kiss. I can definitely do a kiss. I looked down at those soft, pouty, slightly open, bloody lips—bloody??? Oh. Oh well. I really didn't care...
His hand, still on my chin, drew me down to him, his eyes were so dark, so dark, drowning, drowning deep...
And the next thing I knew, he was giving me the most thorough, most beautiful, most passionate, fiery, longing, caressing, lingering, possessive kiss I had ever experienced. I was lost in him, lost in those eyes, falling into him, and he was drinking me down, all of me.
A kiss? Yeah, I can do a kiss, no prob. Oh...hand slipping inside my robe? Uh...yeah, sure, that feels real nice. Telling me you love me as you come up for air, and then going right back to kissing me? REAL nice. Other hand untying my robe, and slowly tugging it off my shoulders, while my hands pull that damn towel out of the way?
You know what?
That's just perfect.
A/N: I thought hard about whether or not to put an explicit sex scene in here. Somehow, I just didn't think it fit. So, I hope you all understand what's happening without me having to, ahem, spell it out...
On another note, I just felt like mentioning that that one line I made our wild little Jesse say...
Can you give me everything? Can you satisfy my every desire?
...is actually a quote I got from an article on Johnny Depp, which mentioned that this was his response to a waitress when she asked him what he would like. Funny guy, no?
cough
Yeah, real funny...
swoons, pretending to the waitress satisfying Johnny's every desire
What? Food, you know? That's what waitresses do! What were you dirty people thinking?!?!?!
J/k, you people are good and clean. (I hope)
Ha, ha...okay, now, REVIEW, my nice, clean people...
Oh, and I have a message for Lolly and NiceHaley...UPDATE ADDICTED AND FLASHLIGHT!!!!!! I—I'M ADDICTED TO YOUR STORIES, I NEED MORE NOOOOOOW!!!!!!
Ha, ha....addicted to Addicted...and your Paul is driving me insaaaaaaaane. Lol, I can't believe you guys have made me like Paul. Now that's talent. So UPDATE!!!!
TTFN
Okay, now that that's out of my overloaded system...here's another weird chapter, enjoy...
Rebirth—Chapter 14
An hour later, I was walking out of the foggy bathroom back in my room at S.H.I.T. headquarters, drying my hair with a towel as I went. I stopped at the walk-in closet, considered the selection, and finally settled on a fuzzy green robe that looked just like one my mom had used to wear all the time. Felt like it too. The fact that it sort of smelled like it was probably just my imagination. But hey, stranger things have happened.
Rose was lying on the bed when I came back into the bedroom. Bonnie had changed her into one of her summer pajamas, a puffy pink sleeping gown. Sheer white slippers adorned her small feet, and there was cute pink bow tying her thick hair back. Her face was so peaceful, her eyes shut, the tiniest smile playing across her lips. I heard once that kids always dream with the angels. I wondered if that applied only to human children, or if we damned angels are entitled to such pleasures. But then, Rose lived and played with the angels...the dark ones, too...so why should she care to dream with them? But still...I wondered if there really was a heaven, with beautiful angels serving the great God on his throne. If there was, shouldn't I be up there, away from all of this?
Oh, yeah...the whole Death Angel thing. I'm being punished for someone else's crimes. And apparently, so is Rose. And Jesse. And Paul. And all the demons. And all the humans. God's putting everyone though Hell because of some stupid love triangle thing he was still sore about...and because some guy and girl a very long time ago decided to eat a fruit from a tree.
Whatever. None of that mattered anymore. Right now, all that mattered was the little angel sleeping in front of me, and the demon that was...her father.
I sat on the bed beside her, softly. She shifted and sighed, but didn't wake. A delicate hand was tossed across the pillows. I took it gently, and cradled its warmth in my hand.
Jesse was Rose's father.
I had known it all along. But somehow, I just hadn't realized it. Whenever I looked at her, I saw Jesse's warm eyes looking back at me, from a time when they were still wide and innocent, before they had become lost and jaded. Those were Jesse's lips, smiling at some secret world. Jesse's cool intellect. My hair, my nose, and my penchant for trouble. There wasn't a hint of anything Paulish in her. We had only spent one night together...
Well, guess we should have used protection. If the world hadn't ended a few days later, I would have been in some really deep shit.
I thought about the way Paul had taken me so violently that first time...he seemed so angry, furious, like he was trying not to kill me. I was so scared of him. He must have known. He must have known I was pregnant with Jesse's child. Whether he was hoping to give me a miscarriage, or to re- impregnate me, I don't know. Or maybe he was just trying to make it look like it was his child, after all.
Which meant that he knew. He knew all along, that Jesse was still alive, and he was torturing him in that tiny cell for seven years. And he knew that Rose was his daughter. He knew.
Fresh hate churned in my stomach. I was truly disgusted with Paul. He had so many good intentions, yet he was such a bastard. To everyone. Including me. And his daughter.
Well, Jesse's daughter, biologically. But in her eyes, Paul was still "Father". Which posed another problem...now that I was with Jesse, she would have to know. I would have to tell her. How would she react to the shocking news? Would she reject Jesse? Would she miss Paul?
Why did everything always have to be so damn complicated???
"Your High—um, Suze," came a voice near the door. I turned. Bonnie was standing in the doorway in her sleeping gown, looking dead tired. Didn't she sleep all day? She must be seriously sleep-deprived.
"Yes?" I said.
"Will you be going to bed now?" It sounded almost like she was pleading with me. I smiled at her.
"Don't worry about me, Bonnie. You look like you really need sleep, so go ahead. I'll just be up a while longer."
She looked at me uncertainly. "Are you...sure? I'll stay up and wait for you..."
I shook my head. "No, Bonnie. You're not our servant anymore. You're just a friend."
Her eyes widened. "But—"
"No, Bonnie." I stood, slowly, so Rose wouldn't wake, and I went to stand in front of Bonnie. She almost looked scared. "I'm not queen anymore. Paul denounced me. So if you still want to stick around and help out, it's out of the goodness of your own heart."
Her lips quivered. Definitely scared. "My...my queen..."
"No more, Bonnie. So don't worry, you can go to sleep. I won't die, I promise."
She suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me, hugging my legs and nearly making me fall over. "You will always be my queen, Suze!" she wailed.
"Shhhh!" I said, looking back at Rose. She was starting to twitch restlessly as Bonnie sobbed against me. "Okay, fine," I hissed. "I'm your queen, you're my servant, and I order you to shut up, go to sleep, and not worry about me anymore."
She went quiet, holding onto me, hiccupping at odd moments. Then, slowly, she lifted her head and looked up at me with puffy red eyes. "...really?"
"Yes. Now go."
She stood, legs creaking as she did so. She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her gown, and laughed softly. "I...I apologize. I'm just being silly now. It's just...I don't know anything else. If I have no queen to serve...I have...nothing."
"I understand," I said solemnly, even though I kind of didn't.
She stood there for a minute, looking lost, then she finally turned away with a sniffle. I watched her drift away like a ghost, disappearing into the kitchen. Well, if she wanted to wait up, it was her loss. There were things that needed to be settled before I hit the sack tonight.
I left the room with one last glance back at Rose, who was now peacefully sleeping again. I was sure to close the bedroom door. I didn't want her to wake up if Bonnie decided to break down in sobs or anything. She must have just hit her mid-life crisis. I think mine was finally over.
I went out into the hallway, looking around kind of nervously. Then I tip- toed over to Jesse's door. I wondered for a second if maybe I should wait until the morning...
...and the door opened by itself.
"Oh," I said in a tiny voice. Jesse was standing there almost exactly like he had been the night before...dripping wet, his hair slicked back from his face. Only this time, the towel wasn't wrapped so securely around his waist. Au contraire, he was gripping it loosely in his free hand, and it was rather...low on his hips. I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat. "Uh...sorry for interrupting. Again." I laughed, and it was a terrible squeaky sound. "I mean, I keep interrupting your showers."
"You don't look so bad yourself," he said, and I realized his dark eyes were fixated a little lower than my face...I looked down, and saw my robe had fallen open a little when Bonnie grabbed me, exposing a line of flesh down the center of my body, ending around my lower-abdomen.
I felt my face turning red. "Oh, sorry," I mumbled, grabbing the robe and holding it over me securely. I should have put on a shirt or something before I came over.
"Make yourself comfortable," he said, and he turned and walked out of view. I peeked my head in a little nervously, just in time to see him walk into the bathroom, letting the towel slip away at the last moment. I had a split-second flash of a very nice ass. He didn't close the door behind him, I noticed. I wondered if that meant anything, then shook my head. Very nice ass.
I shut the door behind me and moved to sit on the edge of the massive bed, still trying to shake away the image burned into my mind's eye. It was very difficult. I mean...that was a really nice—
Well. You know.
"Susannah?" Jesse's voice suddenly came from the bathroom.
I stared at the open door, eyes wide. "Uh...yeah?"
"Could you bring me a clean towel?"
"W-what?" He expected me to go...in there...while he was naked? Didn't he already have a towel in there? Was it too wet? Couldn't he just use it to dry himself off?
"I need a clean towel. They're in the closet. Could you bring me one, please?"
I swallowed. His voice sounded earnest enough. "Um, okay." I walked to the already-open closet. The towels were near the top, much fluffier than the ones in my room, and colorful. I picked a red one. Don't ask why. It was soft to the touch, and I was jealous. I wanted soft pretty towels! The ones in our room were crappy hotel-quality squares of fabric...
Yes, yes. Babbling again. I babble when I'm nervous.
Clutching the red towel to my chest like a badge of honor, I edged along the wall towards the bathroom door.
"Uh, Jesse?"
"What? Can't find the towels?" There was an edge of laughter to his voice that freaked me out for some reason.
"No...um...I mean..." How immature was I being? "Is everything covered?"
Okay, that just sounded incredibly stupid.
"Yes..."
It was weird how that yes seemed to crawl over my skin, almost like a hand sliding over me...
"I will not burn your eyes with the sight of my body; have no fear." He was definitely laughing at me with that one.
"Whatever," I said. I don't like it when people laugh at me.
I stuck my hand with the towel in first. I guess just to warn him that I was about to come in, you know, in case anything was hanging out in sight. Then the rest of me stepped in, so the towel was blocking my view of him.
"Here," I said.
This time he did laugh. "God, Susannah, I won't bite."
I wasn't too sure about the not biting part...but I moved the towel over so I could see. It was a surprisingly big bathroom. Bigger than ours. The walls were a colorful mosaic of tile, and a huge mirror took up an entire wall. The mirror caught my eye first, and I saw myself holding out the towel like a total retart, my face pale and scared looking. At least the robe wasn't falling open.
Then I looked beyond my reflection, and met Jesse's eyes. I spun around quickly, startled. He was lying in a huge black marble tub on the other end of the bathroom, watching me, his head cocked to the side. His hair had fallen around his face in thick, wet curls. A mountain of suds, thankfully, covered anything there might have been to see...well, except the knee that was lifted out of the water. One arm was dangling over the edge of the tub, the other was propped up on said knee, hanging limp. His magnificent wings were draped over the sides of the tub, and water clung to them like black diamonds.
"Um," I said.
He held out a hand wordlessly for the towel. I offered it to him. Unfortunately, we were on opposite ends of the room.
"Susannah..."
"Um," I said again.
"Susannah, this doesn't have to be so difficult," he said as a dark, knowing smile curved his lips. "Just walk over here, give me the towel, and then walk back out."
I moved over to the toilet, which stood a few feet away from the tub. A safe distance. "Um, I'll just leave it here for you..."
"Susannah, please. Stop acting like a child."
Jesse just told me to stop acting like a child. Like, he was my dad or something. I frowned at him, the flare of anger washing away the shyness like it had never been there. "Fine," I said, and I closed the distance to the tub and held the towel out to him.
He stared at me from down there, and his eyes, which I had been trying to avoid, finally caught mine. Instantly I was trapped. I couldn't peel my eyes away from that intense look. There was just something so...primitive, enticing, in the way he looked at me. Like he wasn't really seeing me, but all the things he could do to me. That was probably just my imagination running away from me...
Then his lips curved in a slow, wicked smile. That was definitely not my imagination. "What are you thinking, querida?"
That was the second time he asked me that tonight. I must be giving away more than usual. I had the blank face routine down pretty well after living with Paul. But lately, with Jesse, I just couldn't pull it off anymore.
"You tell me what you're thinking, and I tell you," I breathed. My arm was starting to get tired from holding the towel out too long.
Jesse tilted his head back against the tile wall behind him, shutting his eyes. "I'm thinking about Rosie," he said.
I lowered my arm. The towel seemed too damn heavy all of a sudden.
"Is she really my daughter? Or did you just say that?"
"Can't you tell?" I said.
"I feel a—" he waved his hands a little, searching for the right word. "—bond with her. I can't explain it. But I thought it was just me wishing she could be my daughter."
I kneeled beside the tub, draping the towel over my thighs, and gazed at his beautiful face, leaning back against the wall. The length of his smooth throat was exposed, and the top of his chest...the rest of him was covered in pinkish bubbles.
"She's a beautiful little girl," he said, speaking softly. "She reminds me so much of you..."
"And she reminds me of you," I said. His obsidian eyes half-opened, so he watched me without lifting his head. I reached out a hand to his face, hesitating over the skin. I finally touched my fingers to his cheek, and he closed his eyes again with a sigh. His skin was cool, and I had the strange sensation again of his body heat hovering over him, rather than radiating from him. I cupped his cheek, stroking a finger near his temple, and slowly slid my hand to his hair, tangling my fingers in the silky black locks.
"She has your eyes, and your smile," I whispered, leaning my chin on the edge of the tub, staring at the ungodly realms of his face. I smoothed the hair away from him, so that his face was plain and unadorned, glowing with otherworldly light. "She's has your beauty, your intelligence, and your weird sense of humor." I moved my hand down to his shoulder, and his wings caught my eye. They were a shadow forever hovering at his back, the most obvious sign of his...evil. Evil? Jesse wasn't evil...so why was he considered one of the forsaken? Why should the fact that he had black wings determine the fate of his soul? He did not choose to be what he was. He just...was.
"...my...fall from grace..." he suddenly whispered. I glanced back at his face. No expression. He spoke again, lips barely moving. "...save me from...myself..."
"Jesse..."
He fell silent, looking as if he had dozed off. His arms were limp, hanging over the tub, nearly touching the floor. Water dripped steadily from his fingertips, forming small puddles in the cracks between the floor tiles. The sudden silence was almost spooky.
I sighed and turned, sitting on the cold tile, my back against the tub. The red towel was still on my lap. I tossed it towards the toilet. It missed completely and flopped noiselessly to the floor. Oh, well. Life's like that sometimes.
"I was thinking about how beautiful you are," I murmured thoughtfully, staring down at my hands. "How you've always been beautiful. Since the moment I met you, you were like..." I laughed a little, thinking about how stupid I sounded, "...like forbidden fruit, you know? I'd always want you, but I'd never have you. I was too young to know what love was. I think I'm still too young." I felt my head tip forward a little, my eyes shutting, and I lifted it quickly. I was bobbing my head like I had always done in school, during algebra. I could never seem to stay awake during that period.
"But whatever this is, it feels good, ya know?" My eyes were closing by themselves, and I couldn't stop them. "Real good..."
I'm talking to myself...
"I just wish..."
All alone...
"I just wish I didn't have to hurt anybody..." I smiled a little as I acknowledged vaguely the fact that I was falling forward. "You, Paul, Rose...everybody...nobody..."
Hands caught me by the shoulders, strong, pulling me back against the side of the tub, holding me there.
"Jesse?" I said through a yawn. "Oh...you're not sleeping..."
Cool, wet hands slid down from my shoulders, lower, lower...slipping just inside my robe, lingering at the tops of my breasts. I shook myself awake, blinking the fuzz out of my eyes.
"What are you..."
My voice trailed off as I looked in the mirror across from me. I saw myself, sitting against the tub, eyes startlingly dark against the paleness of my skin. He had lifted himself from the water and loomed behind me in glistening, soapy glory, his arms around me possessively, wings curving around either side of me like claws. The silken blackness of his feathers covered everything except our reflection in the mirror, and I suddenly felt slightly claustrophobic, like I was trapped, like I couldn't escape...
We stared at each other in the mirror for a long moment, his eyes dark and provocative, lips set in a grim line, so hungry, so...
I let out an embarrassing little moan as there was the sudden sensation of cool fingers running down my sides...then Jesse was leaning over me, moving his hands so that they wrapped around me, still not going too low. That's the only way to put it—he wrapped himself around me in a graceful, almost catlike movement, pressing against my back, nuzzling his head into the crook of my neck and shoulder. His wings came around me completely, startling me. It was like night had suddenly descended, blocking everything else. His wings seemed to absorb the light, creating a vast, sensual void. Suddenly nothing existed except my heavy breathing, and Jesse's body against mine. His breath was a soft tickle at my throat.
"Dark..." I murmured, and my voice came slow, almost slurred.
"Very," he whispered obscenely against me.
I shuddered as something cold and electric seemed to crawl up my spine. It felt like I was trapped for an eternity in that void, in Jesse's steel embrace. Feeling him breathe. I heard that sound again...a faint, faraway drum, beating frantically, which I knew was my heart trying to rip out of my chest. Only this time, there was a second drum, out of sync with mine, slower, stronger sounding.
"You fear me," he murmured suddenly, and it was the voice of the seduction, tempting me in the cool darkness. "You fear...this..." His lips dragged slowly across my skin, across the back of my neck, to the other side, to hover over my jugular. He planted a soft kiss there, barely touching the skin. I was frozen, unable to breathe. The demon was draped over my body, luring me into him, entrapping me in a web of dark, unspoken promises...
"I can...smell you..." he said, his voice so low, so intimate. "Your blood...your fear...your desire..."
I felt the hard brush of his sharp canines against my throat, and I jolted as if he had bitten me. He laughed softly, pleased at my confusion. I was filled with a maddening combination of lust and horror. Since neither feeling seemed willing to take over completely, I was left with the strangest sensation of floating, not knowing what to believe.
"I want all of it, Susannah..."
I sighed as I felt his tongue caress my fluttering pulse, suddenly drunk with this overpowering flood of passion...
"Will you give me all of it? All of...you...?" His voice was sliding over my body like soft silk, leaving tingling trails of ice and fire over my skin...
"...Jesse...what the hell are you..."
"Can you give me everything? Can you satisfy my every desire?"
"...stop it..."
I felt him smile against me. "You want me to stop?"
I struggled to swim back into consciousness, but everything was dark, warm, dream-like. I couldn't think straight. "Yes...I mean, no, no. I don't want you to stop. No. But I'm..."
"You're scared..." he whispered, and his voice was too good. Too silky, rich, touchable. "But...you want me so bad, so bad..."
"You're hypnotizing me..."
"No, querida...the lust is yours alone. Why do you fight it?"
"I don't like "
I felt his hands venture lower, seeking...
"Just one night," he breathed against me. "Just let me own you...one night..."
"Rose..."
"Rosie?" I let out a quiet gasp as one of his hands found my breast, teasing me between skillful fingers. "Rosie will still be here when the morning comes, querida."
"But..."
The robe was suddenly sliding from my shoulders, pushed by an unseen force.
"Susannah..." his voice was thick, lazy. "Let me drink of thee, sweet angel...drown in your...blood..."
The robe suddenly fell away completely, and his heat embraced me, drawing a sigh from my lips. I was in another reality, wrapped in him, protected and loved, precious shadows deluding the pain of reality.
"So...sweet...let me drink..." I felt once again the hard press of fangs, but this time, I could only smile strangely. "I...dare you..."
My head was so dizzy, foggy. I didn't understand, somehow. All I knew was that the keys to heaven were being given to me on a sliver platter, and all I had to do was say yes. I gave a soft moan, and I felt his hand on my jaw, tilting my head, exposing the side of my throat to those hungry eyes...and when I felt his sharp sting, I flinched, not understanding, and panic flew over me before I was suddenly being lowered gently to the floor, and the world was blindingly white, his wings lifting away and arching behind him in graceful unison, his beautiful body over me, exquisite, precious...I moaned and felt pleasure flood over my body, like fur rubbing all over me, tingling and wonderful. I felt my blood rushing and my heart pounding like a desperate, trapped thing; I heard someone making strange, alien sounds, and realized it was me. I threw my arms around him, bringing him closer to me. I rode on waves of pleasure, flying, soaring. It was suddenly too much, and I could feel my hands convulsing on his back, drawing lines of blood as I raked my nails down his skin. Jesse shuddered against me, and made a low, guttural sound before he finally lifted his head away from me, his eyes dim and unfocused. He said something faintly in Spanish, and a slow, dreamy smile spread his lips...his lips, which were smeared with blood.
MY blood.
"Holy shit," I choked, trying to regain my senses. But my head was still exploding with that unreal sensation. It was unlike anything I'd ever felt before...
"No, I'm unholy," I heard Jesse say thoughtfully.
"You...you sucked my blood." I jammed my eyes shut, trying to get rid of the pounding, the sensation of being so alive, so high. "You..."
"I drank of you," he said, voice dripping with sex. "Ah...so beautiful...like fine wine..."
I shot him a "god, you're insane" look, and he chuckled. He had me exactly where he'd always wanted me...on the floor, clothes off, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, separating us...and he had gone for my neck. My NECK. How telling was that?
"I can't believe you just sucked my blood," I muttered darkly. Now that the sensation was slipping away, I was aware of a painful throb at my neck. I touched it delicately, and felt two neat puncture wounds. The area was clean; no blood had seeped out, which was a wonder unto itself. But how...how had it felt so damn good?!
So good, it was scary...
"Jesus," I said, and I craned my head upward, staring at the open door of the bathroom. I wondered if he would do it again, draining me, and if I should try to make a break for it. Jesse's deep laughter from above me suddenly sounded threatening. I...I really didn't want him doing that again. Ever.
Jesse sucked my blood...ew...
"God, Susannah," he said, still smiling pleasantly at me. His fingers played at my still-damp hair, massaging my scalp nicely, and my eyes shot back to him. Now, I was getting a little scared. Jesse was positively beaming down at me, his eyes misty, seeming not to see. The fact that he was hovering naked over me was trivial. Okay, not entirely trivial—I couldn't stop myself from shooting interested glances down the length of his body, ogling those abs in particular—but still. His head was lowering, moving down towards me, his lips coming towards mine...okay, a kiss, I can do, even if my blood is all over his lips...but then his head sort of bobbed, eyes half-closing, and his lips skimmed across my cheek instead...
...and, with a half-moan, half-grunt kind of sound, he collapsed on top of me, and I gave a small scream of surprise.
"Oh my God! Jesse are you alright?" I demanded, shaking him.
"I think I'm drunk," was his response, muffled against my shoulder.
"What??? Drunk on my blood???"
"You have...strange blood..."
Okay, he just totally seduced me, and tricked me into letting him bite me. Then he SUCKED MY BLOOD, and he has the nerve to tell me that I have strange blood? STRANGE BLOOD????
No. No way was I standing for this.
"Oh, well, thanks," I sneered, and I lifted myself up with my hands, ignoring how niiiiiiice his body felt against mine all warm and wet, and, with great effort, struggled out from beneath him. I crawled around him to my robe, still rumpled at the foot of the tub, and shrugged back into it.
"Susannah..." came his voice, somehow hollow and deadened. "Help, please..."
I turned and stared at him face-down on the floor, and...oh my god, that was a REALLY NICE—
No! Bad Suze! Jesse needs your help!
I ripped my eyes away from him, and spotted the towel I had gotten for him in a pile by the toilet. I picked it up and, struggling not to molest him or anything, placed over it his lower body, shielding my burning eyes from that INCREDIBLE—
(A/N: cough...um...er...weird...)
"Susannah..."
"Hold on—" I wrapped my arms around him, sliding my hands under him, over that nice stomach, "—can you stand?"
He lay unresponsive for a few seconds, then his arms moved, painfully slow, lifting his body off of the floor...I caught the towel and held it around him, pulling his nearly dead weight up off the floor, until we were both standing, and he was leaning heavily on me.
"Damn, you're heavy," I said.
He only moaned quietly. His eyes were completely glazed over, blind, and his face was slack, as if he no longer had control over his facial muscles. Was he...okay?
"Jesse—"
"Get me to...the bed," he wheezed, face scrunching with the effort of talking.
Maybe he was more than just "drunk". Maybe my blood was...poison to him or something. A demon drinking an angel's blood...was that safe? What if he was—
I shook those scary thoughts out of my mind, and stumbled out of the bathroom, half pulling, half dragging Jesse across the thick carpet to the bed, where he collapsed, lifeless.
"J-Jesse?!"
His lips made a small movement, but his sightless eyes stared towards the ceiling, grayish.
"Jesse!"
I climbed on the bed, tugging his legs along with me...I was getting really worried. I mean...he looked so...dead. For the third time tonight. Did God really hate our love that much?
I shuddered at the thought, and leaned over him, peering into his face. "Jesse? Please..." I grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking gently, then harder, watching him flop limply on the mattress, and suddenly I was crying helplessly, jerking his body up and down, screaming at him to do anything, anything—blink, twitch, shout, slap me, anything, anything—just don't—
"Su...sa...nahh...st...op..."
I gasped, and jerked my hands away. He fell back against the bed. I stared at him, still so stiff and dead...and then his eyes gave one long, slow blink, and I let out the breath I had been holding.
"Oh my god...Jesse, I'm so sorry..." I was crying again, silent tears rolling down my cheeks, but this time it was in relief.
He lifted a hand, covering his face, and moaned again. "Nombre de Dios, Susannah," he groaned, and I felt like laughing and crying and kissing him all at the same time. But I restrained myself, because he might still be hurt. I leaned over him again, stretching over his body so I could get a good look at his face...
There was one glimmering onyx eye glaring at me from between his fingers. "Susannah...you didn't have to shake me so hard."
"Well...you didn't have to drink my blood," I offered with a smile.
He rolled his eyes, dragging his hand away from his face. "Too tempting," he said. "Besides, that felt...extremely good."
He sat up, and I moved away from him. His eyes were dark and aware again, staring around him moodily. He was painfully close to me...with only that towel draped over him...
He turned slowly towards me, as if he had caught that stray thought. Had he? I don't know...but that gaze was liquid heat...dangerous...
"So...what did you make me do when you hypnotized me?"
He blinked as if coming out of a trance. "What?"
"You know...you dared me to let you bite me, and I did. So, now—"
"You didn't ask me whether I wanted a Truth or a Dare," he rudely interrupted.
"Oh..." I eyed him warily. "Fine...Truth or Dare?"
He smiled that slow, sexy smile, his brow arched wickedly as he breathed, "Dare."
"Okay, what did you—hey!"
His eyes glittered in amusement.
"You—you jerk! You were supposed to pick Truth!"
Grrrrrrr...now I was mad. Mad enough to do what I did next. Which was to, um, pounce on him. Yes, weird, embarrassing...but I jumped on top of him, shoving him back down onto the bed. He was laughing hysterically as I leaned close and hissed in his face, "I want to know what you made me do, Jesse...or else..."
"Or else what?" he said, amused. "You'll spank me?"
"Nope," I said with a smile, too annoyed even to blush. I tickled a line down his rock-hard stomach, teasing my fingers around his navel, and he smirked at me. "...I'll go back to my room."
He frowned. "Well, that's a boring threat. Who says I'm even going to let you leave?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "You wouldn't..."
"But I would, Susannah," he said in mock solemnity, his eyes widening innocently. Innocent my ass.
"You know, three minutes ago you were completely incapacitated, barely breathing, practically dead...and now all of a sudden, AFTER I HELPED YOU DRAG YOUR LAZY BUTT TO BED," I gritted my teeth against the ever darkening humor on his face, "You're back to your old asshole self, insinuating that you'd...force yourself on me. Now, is there something wrong here, or is it just me?"
"Oh, there is something wrong here, Susannah," he said, his voice a silken purr. "Very wrong."
I wasn't sure what he meant, but I was suddenly uncomfortably aware that I was straddling him, and his hands were on either side of my waist, holding me in place, and there was that little towel, and my little robe...
God, there were many things wrong here!
"Okay, I dare you to let go of me, now," I told him, an edge of panic creeping into my voice.
"Susannah..." Oh, that annoyed him.
"I mean it, Jesse." Then I felt his hands slipping away a little... "I mean, um, no, I don't mean it...I mean...uh..."
"Susannah," he laughed. "My God, make up your mind! You are the most confusing person I know!"
I glowered down at him from my superior position, crossing my arms. "Yeah, well, fine then." I sniffed snobbishly. "I dare you to...to tell me the truth about what you made me do when you hypnotized me!"
His eyes slid shut, and he sighed in exasperation. "You waste your dare on such idiocy...very well, last night, when you came to room, I hypnotized you while you were standing by the window, staring at the moon. I came up behind you, and you didn't hear me. You were thinking about God, and why he left us alone here to rot into the disgusting souls we've become, the meaning of life, all kinds of unanswerable questions...and without you aware, I extended my aura of...persuasion over you, and asked you what you truly, truly, deep down thought of me."
I blinked in surprise. "Oh...that's it?"
He flashed me a feral grin. "Well, what did you think I made you do? Fuck me? Susannah, I am a gentleman."
I snorted. "Yeah, and gentlemen toss the flying "F" around like it's nothing." I fell silent a second, then curiosity got the best of me... "So, um...what did I say?"
"You don't know what you think about me?" he asked in mild amusement.
"Jesse," I said, shooting him a dark look. "I'm just curious. I want to know what I said while I was under your evil influence."
"Very well..." He closed his eyes again, leaning his head back against the satin pillow, dark hair framing his unholy beauty... "You came to me, and kissed me gently, then you whispered a strangely poetic verse against my lips..."
I raised a brow. "Oh?"
"Yesssss..."
I ignored the weird way he said that.
"You told me...
"'Oh, Dark Angel You are still, an angel at heart An angel in spirit Your wings shine brightly Pray that they will work Pray that you won't fall'
"...and then you turned away from me, and said, 'Pray that I won't fall'. And you went back to the window, pressing your face against the glass. And I spoke, and the spell shattered."
"Wow," I said thoughtfully. "I'm deep."
"Indeed," he mused. "I've thought very hard about those wise words."
"Yeah?" I, personally, was wondering why there wasn't any declaration of my undying love in there. Did that mean there was no undying love? Or did the weird poem signify my love in some funky, symbolic way? I wondered if Jesse was wondering about the same thing. But then, Jesse just said my words were wise. So then he liked them. Or maybe he meant wise as in, a wise-ass way. Or maybe—
"Susannah," Jesse interrupted my thoughts with a mysterious smile. "I almost wish I could see into your thoughts still. You often thought about strange things, but I miss your celestial musings." He looked wistful as he said, "And I miss hearing how gorgeous I am."
"Watch it," I warned ominously.
He had the nerve to laugh at me. And then—you're not gonna believe this one, cause I almost didn't—his eyes went wide and googly, and he batted his long lashes at me in a feminine way. Then, in this high-pitched, squeaky, totally NOT ME voice, he went, "Oh, Jesse looks so yummy! Ah, he's so beautiful! Oh, I wish he would kiss me! He's so damn sexy! Oh, Jesse, oh, oh, ohhhhhhh!"
"Jesse—" But really, I was laughing way too hard to be angry. Seriously. God help us if Jesse ever decides that's he's been a closet gay this whole time.
Now, there's a scary thought.
"Jesse...oh, god, Jesse..." I lowered myself to him, laying my head down on his chest with a smile. I breathed in his warm, soapy scent, and I loved every inch of him. "...Jesse..."
His hands on my waist tightened, and he murmured above me, "So...now it's my turn. Truth or Dare?"
"I can't believe we're still playing that stupid game," I grinned.
"I keep hoping it'll lead to something fun. It could, if you would only decided what you want."
"What time is it?"
He sighed heavily, and it trembled, like...I don't know. Like he was holding something back. I felt him shift under me as he craned to see the clock. "Quarter to three." One of his hands left my waist then. I felt it travel up my body pleasantly, stopping under my chin. He lifted my head up just enough for us to have eye contact. His face was set in grim lines as he said, "Don't tell me, 'It's getting late, and I need to go'. Don't tell me that, Susannah."
I smiled at him. I wasn't sleepy at all. What girl could be sleepy when they're lying on top of this god of a man? I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn't leaving yet, and something else tumbled out instead.
"Dare."
He smiled back at me. A big smile. I got that warm fuzzy feeling, you know? The one that tingles and makes you feel all good inside.
"I dare you to kiss me."
Okay. A kiss. No big deal. I can do a kiss. I can definitely do a kiss. I looked down at those soft, pouty, slightly open, bloody lips—bloody??? Oh. Oh well. I really didn't care...
His hand, still on my chin, drew me down to him, his eyes were so dark, so dark, drowning, drowning deep...
And the next thing I knew, he was giving me the most thorough, most beautiful, most passionate, fiery, longing, caressing, lingering, possessive kiss I had ever experienced. I was lost in him, lost in those eyes, falling into him, and he was drinking me down, all of me.
A kiss? Yeah, I can do a kiss, no prob. Oh...hand slipping inside my robe? Uh...yeah, sure, that feels real nice. Telling me you love me as you come up for air, and then going right back to kissing me? REAL nice. Other hand untying my robe, and slowly tugging it off my shoulders, while my hands pull that damn towel out of the way?
You know what?
That's just perfect.
A/N: I thought hard about whether or not to put an explicit sex scene in here. Somehow, I just didn't think it fit. So, I hope you all understand what's happening without me having to, ahem, spell it out...
On another note, I just felt like mentioning that that one line I made our wild little Jesse say...
Can you give me everything? Can you satisfy my every desire?
...is actually a quote I got from an article on Johnny Depp, which mentioned that this was his response to a waitress when she asked him what he would like. Funny guy, no?
cough
Yeah, real funny...
swoons, pretending to the waitress satisfying Johnny's every desire
What? Food, you know? That's what waitresses do! What were you dirty people thinking?!?!?!
J/k, you people are good and clean. (I hope)
Ha, ha...okay, now, REVIEW, my nice, clean people...
Oh, and I have a message for Lolly and NiceHaley...UPDATE ADDICTED AND FLASHLIGHT!!!!!! I—I'M ADDICTED TO YOUR STORIES, I NEED MORE NOOOOOOW!!!!!!
Ha, ha....addicted to Addicted...and your Paul is driving me insaaaaaaaane. Lol, I can't believe you guys have made me like Paul. Now that's talent. So UPDATE!!!!
TTFN