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Chapter 99

The Taste of Caramel

Leah

After breakfast, we drove to Marcus' sister Maggie's house.

Surfing had fallen through, but she still made the suggestion that Marcus should come over with me/us. She wanted to squeeze me a little, she had admitted while chuckling. After all, she would have to look after her little brother and keep a close eye on his acquaintances.

The first impression of the previous day had not deceived me. We got along great, even with Jake and Becky there. We had talked a lot, playing on Ethan's Playstation, getting cake from a nearby coffee shop in the afternoon, playing board games, and gabbing some more.

Intermediately, I had thought again about the advantages of having one as an only child.

Jake remembered plenty of embarrassing stories he hadn't been able to tell yesterday at the Bistro on the beach due to lack of attendance.

Maggie and Ethan's apartment was quite small. Only a small sofa fit into the eclectic living room, which was still quite cozy. So, I sat on a thick cushion on the floor, as did Jake and Marcus. We were too lazy to get chairs from the kitchen. Besides, it was so much more comfortable.

In the course of the happy hours, however, I noticed something.

Becky and Jake were the same as always. Heartfelt and warm. They kept kissing, touching each other continuously, smiling at each other, but since they were not alone, they kept up some decency and at least and did not start undressing. Maggie and Ethan also looked very familiar, even if they might have appeared a bit stuffy in direct comparison. But so did pretty much everyone besides the wolf and his sweetheart. But Marcus basically just held my hand very carefully. Sure, he also smiled at me again and again and I could not necessarily describe him as dismissive, but it still appeared somehow ... reserved. A behavior that I simply would not have imagined with him. Perhaps it was only that it irritated me somewhat. That this shyness didn't quite match what I had known from him so far. But maybe it was also just because we had only been together for two days and he didn't know how to act appropriately without being pushy.

That would be it!

So, we spent a fun day together. Ethan got us cake from a bakery that was just a few buildings away.

"Our weighing scale suggested we find another place to live. We overruled them!" he meant as Maggie made her way to the kitchen.

Not wanting to be waited on, I went after her and asked if I could help.

While she started up the coffee maker, she pointed to various cabinets and drawers where I found a tray, dishes, and flatware.

"Your place is very nice," I said.

It really was. Quite small, but insanely cozy. I could imagine my apartment being like this someday.

"Thanks. We've thought a few times about getting a bigger place. It's all a bit cramped, but we like it," she smiled at me.

When she was a student and only Ethan worked, they couldn't afford anything else. That would have changed by now, since she also graduated and was earning money, they were really only saving for a move and new furniture. But they were attached to these four walls.

However, she took the opportunity to ask me about my plans for the future.

I see. So now it was my turn to be interrogated. I could have strangled Dad this morning, the way he had questioned Marcus out of the blue. With Maggie, however, it didn't appear like an interrogation, but like honest interest. I'm sure Dad could have handled it that way, too! If he had wanted to.

I dutifully gave information about my plans until probably the most important question for her was put forward.

"And what are your plans for my little brother?" she asked with a smirk.

Involuntarily, I looked through the door to the side, where I saw Marcus sitting at the end of the living room. He was discussing winning the card game with Becky. There seemed to be some disagreements.

I smiled.

"We're just getting to know each other, " I evaded a direct answer. What plans could one already have when one had known each other for less than a week? However, everything was still much too new, much too fresh to be able to make any predictions about the future. Maybe we just didn't fit together, and we only understood each other so well because of the previous circumstances. But if I was honest with myself, I didn't believe that.

"Sure, but on first impressions?" Maggie stubbornly continued.

"I like him," I hemmed and hawed, pretty sure I was blushing as I looked at the tray in front of me and unnecessarily adjusted the cups.

"Your eyes are saying a little more there than just that you like him!" Maggie chuckled.

I shrugged my shoulders noncommittally.

"Well ... I ...," I began, as Ethan was coming through the front door.

He shook the rain out of his hair and presented his prey, which he proudly said he had just killed.

"Thanks, babe," Maggie took the wrapped cake from her boyfriend's hands and gave him a kiss as she passed.

I took the tray and left, escaping a response. Without really wanting to eavesdrop, Jake and I in the living room - while spreading out the dishes - nevertheless understood what the two were chatting quietly about.

"She's really cute!" meant Ethan as he rubbed his hair dry with a towel.

"Yes. I feel like I've known her forever already. She's nice, but not boring. She has a sarcastic humor, which I generally find totally ingenious. And the little one seems really intelligent. She wants to study neurobiology," Maggie countered to him.

I breathed a little sigh of relief once that she didn't think I was the wrong company for her little brother, while my little brother gave me his 'but don't flatter yourself'-gaze.

"Voluntarily?" asked Ethan, played aghast.

Jake and I had to chuckle, which made Becky look at us briefly in confusion, but Marcus didn't understand. Quick-thinking I took a plate out of Jake's hand and made a snide sarcastic remark as if he had almost dropped it.

"I don't think Leah is a chick or a princess who wants you to read her every wish from her eyes ..." the kitchen conversation continued unperturbed. "She's just the type Marcus needs!"

"Quite possibly. They definitely have good chemistry. Also with Becky and Jake. All three of them are so wonderfully uncomplicated ... That's good for your little bro, who seems to be falling back into old patterns. Yesterday I thought Lily had finally driven that out of him," Ethan considered.

Who was Lily? And what kind of patterns? Jake didn't seem to be able to do anything with it either.

"Lily no longer has any influence over him, but I know who does!" Maggie said, trying to suppress anger or rage.

According to her voice, she didn't manage that very well. Otherwise, perhaps not either. Something clanked, causing Marcus to go to the kitchen.

"Lily?" I murmured questioningly to Jake.

"Need some help?" called Becky into the kitchen, already starting to move when she noticed our too-silent conversation.

She was really the best.

"Maybe his ex?" shrugged Jake his shoulders.

Well. I had to admit, at eighteen years old one was allowed to have an ex. Also, already more than one. I had, after all, had one too. However, I needed a short moment to realize that.

"No, no. Everything's okay. Maggie just dropped a glass," Ethan already came back to us with the unwrapped cake on a large platter.

We were looking for a place for the plate.

On the small table. An impossibility, unless we cleared the table again.

So, Ethan sat down on the sofa with the plate on his legs and fancied each piece. So did Jake. And Becky already snacked on a decorative chocolate ornament, which the boys didn't find funny at all. But in the kitchen, with stimulating conversation, the broken pieces were removed.

"She's cute!" Maggie noted there, and the friendly smirk was impossible to overhear.

"Yes, she is!" confirmed Marcus, sounding somewhat absent-minded.

Was that a good reaction or a bad reaction for me?

"You like her, mmm ...?" continued Maggie.

No answer. I got nervous and Jake looked at me as if he wanted to comfort me.

But what did I expect? Love at first sight? Like with Mom and Dad? There was nothing like that, however. Except in our world of myths and legends. Soul mates? Imprinting? That had hardly anything to do with reality. Perhaps I was simply not his type. I sighed. Too bad.

"Then show her that! ..." I then heard again, after a seemingly endless and stifling moment of kitchen silence.

I immediately smiled again.

"She' s good for you, Marcus! Just let yourself go and be yourself. Forget what father kept saying! Don't let anyone tell you that you don't deserve happiness. He doesn't determine your life. Especially now no longer," Maggie ended meekly, and Jake probably looked as confused as I was feeling right now.

I could no longer follow the conversation in terms of content, but the two came out of the kitchen with the coffee pot.

'Father' she had said. That sounded so formal. And the rest created the image in my mind of a rather unsympathetic man.

Marcus sat down on the floor next to me again and immediately took my hand. He intertwined his fingers with mine and placed a soulful kiss on the back of my hand, while his dark eyes looked deeply into mine.

A few seconds passed without us averting our gaze from each other.

A magic little moment. At least that's how it seemed to me. Maybe I was just imagining it.

Interrupted by the question of how I drank my coffee. Jake nudged me so I mentally came back into the room.

Maggie and Ethan talked about how they had gotten to know each other in college. He was a senior, she had just started. That had been seven years ago.

Meanwhile, I shared a caramel cupcake with Marcus, so my attention to their story was somewhat clouded.

No idea why I had been so obsessed with caramel for a few days. I also wasn't sure if I had laughed at the right parts of her story. Marcus' fingers, which were now gently brushing me again and again or also remained on me, distracted me too much.

Jake and Becky helped clear the small table afterwards. There was not a single crumb left of the pastry.

But the predators among us were also not expecting it.

Marcus and I stayed seated since the kitchen was full enough with the three of them. Ethan still took the sugar and milk bowls from the side table and had to more or less step over us to bring them into the kitchen. He was so clumsy about it that he pushed Marcus on top of me.

I thanked him in my head very cordially and extensively for the fact that Marcus was laying practically on top of me. That was clearly his intention. And had Marcus certainly also so understood, because he could have evaded me. But he did not.

Our lips touched fleetingly as he buried me under him. He backed away a bit, looked at me intently with his incredible dark eyes, and then kissed me properly.

Wow ... Only now did I realize how long it had been since our last kiss. Hours! Before breakfast. Way too much time.

So, I sank into this emotional game of our lips and barely noticed how the others arrived back in the living room.

It wasn't until Ethan climbed over us again, this time really bumping into us unintentionally, that our kiss ended. With the shy smile I had seen yesterday while surfing.

Marcus helped me, smiling a little embarrassedly, to sit up straight again.

We talked on for some time, while our hands did not separate for a moment. He held mine tightly in his. He had also turned more in my direction.

Maybe he was just shy or needed some time to get used to the new situation?

At some point, Becky's parents called. They thought they roughly remembered having a daughter and wanted to check it out.

Becky promised to stop by her house before she spent the night in our guest room again. She would also need her school supplies for tomorrow.

In doing so, Jake and I noticed that our parents also had no idea exactly when we would be home and sent them a text message to that effect.

Both of them. Who knew what they spent Sunday afternoon doing and if they remembered they had kids.

Marcus retreated to pack his clothes. He had slept here today so he wouldn't wake his aunt. The planned barbecue last evening on the little balcony had dragged on a bit, it seemed.

So, we drove off in time and we threw Jake and Becky out at her house.

They would walk home.

It was a little after six when we then arrived at our driveway. He didn't drive up the driveway because our three cars were sort of piled up. There was a light on in the house.

So, Mom and Dad were already home, but I didn't see them through the windows.

They were probably in the kitchen.

"Here we are," Marcus said quietly after turning off the engine.

"Yes, we are," I repeated, but sighed as I did. Since it was just the two of us, it had become quiet between us. Oppressive.

"Leah. I'd like to tell you something. Just so there's no misunderstanding between us," Marcus murmured.

It sounded like he was about to say something unpleasant.

"You don't want to see me again!" I stated, looking stubbornly straight ahead. That was the only explanation for his tone of voice I could think of. My many butterflies sank sadly to the ground. So, I wasn't his type. Maybe he was right about that. Maybe we were too different. Maybe we simply had nothing to say to each other on our own. Maybe it was also better that way. That way I would never have to consider how I would one day tell him about the wolf inside me.

"No," he confirmed.

"I see!"

I nodded and swallowed, looking only at my hands.

I would have liked to run into the house, but this damn passenger door could only be opened from the outside. I was stuck. And that, where Marcus apparently turned in my direction and came closer and closer. What did he still want?

"I apologize for my thoughtless choice of words," he said, placing one hand on my interlocking cramped ones and one under my chin to return my gaze to himself. "I should have said: No, it's not that! I want to see you again, Leah! I really do. I like you. Very much ... But if you think we shouldn't see each other again?" he started to say, but ended quietly, pulling back his hands.

"No!" I said immediately.

"No, we shouldn't meet again? Or no, you don't think so?" he carefully dug deeper.

"No, I want to see you again. Because I also like you. Very much!" I admitted a little embarrassed.

He smiled.

Marcus got out, walked around the car and opened the door for me. He held out his hand to help me get out from the high seat, but he didn't let go of my hand afterwards.

Tentatively we smiled at each other.

"What were you going to tell me then? Maybe that you are shy?" I considered. I would not have suspected so up to and including yesterday, but today somehow everything spoke to it. I would be able to cope with that. I even found it kind of cute.

He let his head hang for a moment, but he laughed as he did so.

He didn't make fun of my assumption. Rather, he looked as if he wanted to say: Sure, you would think that.

He raised his head again and looked at me.

A little bit challenging. Brash! The laughter was gone, but he didn't appear aggressive or anything.

He pulled me to him by my hand and at the same time put the other arm around my waist.

Gently, but determined.

He let go of my hand, put his against my cheek, and his thumb ran incredibly gently over my lips. His eyes burned into my gaze.

Somehow, I could just relate very well to how Mom could sometimes forget to breathe. It took me a moment to be able to do it again myself in its entirety. Breathe in. Exhale. Wasn't actually that hard. Still, it took all my wits to keep at it when Marcus' lips were on mine. An indeterminate sweetness enveloped my mouth. This kiss lasted forever but not long enough. A passionate kiss that had absolutely nothing to do with shyness and made me glow from the inside.

I clawed at his shirt collar to pull him even closer to me and let my hands drive over his shapely torso. I felt the piercing through the thin fabric of his T-shirt. Carefully I played around it with my fingertips. He liked it, sighed comfortably in our stormy kiss and let his hand run along my side. Until he arrived at my pelvis, which he pulled firmly against his. Also, my hands wandered even further. Between us was too little space, so one hand drove into his hair and the other to his waistband, so that there would never be space between us again.

That felt so ... so ... damn good. Thereby I was so hot! Everything in me blazed up and I felt the pure lust in me. I wanted more!

However, we were both startled when the headlight of a passing car grazed us. When the car was gone, we looked at each other. His black eyes were glowing, and he was breathing frantically.

Like me.

"I withdraw the question!" I meant, still struggling to breathe a little.

He kissed me gently, but only briefly.

"But you're not that wrong about it. I'm not really shy, but I have a dysfunctional relationship with physical closeness," Marcus explained.

"Um ..." I said, looking down between us.

Or let's say I tried.

Between us did not even have space for a breath of air.

I was leaning against his bus in the meantime, and Marcus still seemed to press me against it, without it being even remotely uncomfortable for me.

"It doesn't really look like it now!" I stated.

He smirked adorably, but backed away so as not to constrict me further.

Not that I felt that way, but he apparently did.

"And yet that's it. I don't know if I can explain it properly ... My father has drummed into me all my life that physical contact in public is not appropriate. He considers it offensive, and shameful to the highest degree."

"Huh ...?" Where do we live here? And especially when?

He chuckled.

"This alone ..." he said, interlacing his hands with mine as we now stood loosely in front of each other, "... is already indecent in his eyes and should be forbidden."

"Where does he come up with this nonsense?"

"I don't know. With that attitude, I wonder how he managed to have three kids," Marcus chuckled, but it appeared rather contemptuous. "I don't know any different about him. He has always been like that. Even if Maggie or my mom gave me a hug when I was a kid, he grimaced in disapproval. Then when I started to take an interest in girls, he just intensified his parenting attempts."

Marcus suddenly appeared apprehensive. He avoided my gaze and only looked at the ground.

I bit on my lower lip.

That didn't sound like a good childhood at all, but I didn't know what to say about it. Simply because I could not assess how bad his parents' home really was. I knew that from only a few words already many times something was misunderstood. This had happened in my kindergarten. A girl had expressed herself incorrectly to her teacher and that same day her very loving parents fought over her custody. I only understood this much later.

But Marcus soon looked back at me and didn't appear sad or dejected. He even smiled.

"What happened on Tuesday or yesterday or this morning?" I asked.

The overheard conversation between him and his sister now made a tiny bit of sense to me. So, I didn't need to include the kiss this afternoon in the question. Maggie had reminded him that he needed to be more himself.

"Knowing in theory that his opinion is not correct, I have been able to detach myself somewhat from that upbringing. I didn't know anyone in the bar or on the beach, and Maggie and Ethan were way out in the water. I can handle that ... In practice, however, YOU kissed ME this morning. On my own, I would never have dared in front of your family."

"So, I seduced you?" I asked and smirked at that. I felt so sinful right now. Felt kind of cool. Sure, I blushed a little at that, but luckily it was already dark.

"One can certainly call it that!" he accused me playfully.

So that was simply the solution? I had to seduce him, so to say?

"And don't you dare stop doing that!" he summoned me, clearly confirming my reasoning.

I can do that! Besides, it was naughty to contradict someone.

I put my arms around his neck, pulled him to me again, and kissed him. However, we were both looking up at the sky when it started to rain again. Marcus pulled open the side door of his old VW bus and we quickly crawled inside.

"You don't even chase a dog out the door in this weather!" cursed Marcus disguisedly, pulling the side door a little shut so it wouldn't rain into the bus as well.

I chuckled as his choice of words made me consider whether Jake was already on his way. I looked at my watch.

Only 6:32 p.m. Since Jake only took a few minutes to get home from Becky's as a wolf, his chances stood good that he was still in the clear.

"What's so funny?" he inquired, leaning against the back row of seats, also sitting on the floor.

"I was just wondering if Jake was already on his way," I said, and Marcus joined in my laughter.

"He'll arrive here soaking wet, however. It's quite a bit of walking, though," Marcus considered, without stopping to laugh. "Why would we just throw him out at Becky's? We could have waited for him, however, and then taken him with us."

"So first of all, he's bringing Becky right along. She's sleeping with us until further notice. Although in the guest room, but close to Jake. On her first night alone at home she went a little crazy. Since then she stays with us. And secondly: My little bro usually knows when he's disturbing! He probably wanted to give us some time alone," I explained, which Jake had actually told me. However, so quietly that no one but me had understood.

Marcus smirked and reached out a hand to me.

"Then we should use this time however!" he stated and pulled me to him by the offered hand so that I leaned against his upper body.

I buried my face in the crook of his neck while his arms held me.

The scent of walking on the beach in the sunset, emanating from Marcus, was so sensationally intense. I never wanted to leave here again!

"There's a reason I told you that, however we're just getting to know each other. I don't want there to be any misunderstandings because of that. That you think I would be dismissive or ignore you or something. Because that's not it ... I would like to hold you like this forever," Marcus whispered into the silence.

I lifted my head from his shoulder. Looked into his eyes for a long time, which gently held me captive.

"Forever?" I asked. These words swirled indeterminately in my head, so that I was not sure I had understood them correctly.

"If nothing comes between us. Forever, Leah!" he said and kissed me so soulfully that it took my breath away.

Now it dawned on me! Marcus tasted like caramel!

"Forever!" I confirmed happily afterwards.

What should come between us? I asked myself in my head.

However, I also answered myself.

A giant white wolf with brown eyes, perhaps. Or a jealous vampire daddy. Or the rest of the vampire clan. So, there was plenty to choose from!

Thanks for reading!