Ch. 2: Morning Struggles
He awoke with his arms around her protectively. He knew he had failed miserably at what he had set out to do. He smiled as she brought her body closer to his in her sleep and whispered his name. He kissed her hair as he closed his eyes again.
Death had not won this time but he worried for her safety around him. He knew he was a danger to her even though he loved her with all of his human being. He knew the predator inside would sooner or later take over, needing the blood more than anything else. He knew that answering her phone call had been wrong, knew that telling her it was okay to come over had been wrong, but it was too late to go back now. She was there now; nestled safely in his arms if only for a few more moments and he would enjoy it as long as he could.
"Anne" he whispered softly in her ear, nudging her neck tenderly with his nose.
She barely moved, only sighed deeply.
"Anne" he said again, a little louder as he kissed her neck this time.
"What?" she asked sleepily.
"Don't you have to go to work?" he asked smiling softly as he continued to kiss her neck.
She instantly jumped out of bed, startled and looking for the time. "It's 8:00 a.m. Anne," he said chuckling softly as he watched her searching for her underwear, struggling to cover herself with a blanket.
"I need to get home and change so I can get to work Steven, it's not funny!" she laughed. "Have you seen my underwear?" she asked.
"You mean these?" he asked, waving her lace panties from a finger in front of his face with a wicked smile.
She dove for them and he pulled them out of her reach. "Uh-uh" he shook his head. "You have to kiss me for them first," he laughed.
"Steven!" she screamed in despair. "I don't have time for games," she said with a look that could kill.
She dove for them again and he pulled them out of her reach, grabbing her instead by the waist. "I told you, not until you give me a kiss," he said, kissing her softly and handing over her underwear.
She turned bright red as he let her go and watched her intently. He surveyed every curve of her body, watched every strand of her hair as it fell into her eyes and she tucked it behind her ears. She got up to start changing, holding the blanket tightly around her, protectively almost. She looked over her shoulder at him and instantly reminded him of a goddess, some sort of dark-haired Aphrodite; he instantly smiled at the thought.
"Don't look," she said a little ashamed of her own body, ashamed of the beauty that he saw in her. She didn't want him to see everything so clearly. She was afraid he'd see something he didn't like.
He smiled again, wondering how she could ever be afraid of being nude in front of him. She was beautiful, flawless in his eyes; he'd told her countless times when she asked about his portrayals of her. He always told her that he portrayed her as she was but she couldn't see it, she refused to see it. Ah, he'd leave convincing her for another day, right now he needed to give in and just let her get to work. The sooner she was gone the sooner he could think on what to do now, the sooner he could think on the events of the night before. He closed his eyes sighing and went back to sleep, letting the darkness take him whole.