Blood Magic

Chapter 21

November 13th, 9:10PM

Killian's POV:

As much as I tried to ignore the sounds coming from the other room, I couldn't. At least they were trying to be quiet, I thought to myself. For a human, it would be barely audible from this distance. For me though, a strong vampire whose senses were greatly strengthened, they might as well have been in the next room over with the door open. It was greatly distracting, especially knowing that it was Leon in there, without me.

It took every particle of my willpower to keep me from marching in there. When they finally stopped, I tried to relax. My eyes closed, and I went back under the covers, but I was far from falling asleep. So, when a knock sounded at my door a while later, I begrudgingly rose to open it.

Opening the door, I was only half-surprised to see Leon there. He looked at me innocently, wrapping his arms around me in a shockingly chaste hug that contrasted with the chorus of what I could only assume were his moans earlier. That was something that I knew I'd have a hard time blocking out.

"Where's Milo?" I asked warily.

"He's about to leave for work, and I don't wanna be alone," he replied, pushing his face into my chest when he was done speaking, shuffling forward to get closer to me.

"Well, then come in," I said, trying not to sigh in disappointment.

We laid on my bed together, side to side, under the covers. The night air was colder than it had been the past couple nights, indicating that winter would steadily be starting within the next few weeks. He seemed tired still, and it didn't take him long to situate himself closer to me, practically curling his body around mine. I stroked his hair gently with one hand, wrapping the other around him to hold him close to me.

"By the way, I appreciate you trying to be quiet, but I'm a vampire angel. I can hear practically everything in this mansion," I said gently.

Glancing down, I watched a blush form on his cheeks as he registered my words, coming to realize what I had implied. His expression made my chest squeeze, and I felt the sudden urge to kiss it off his face. Just as suddenly, I forced myself to regain my thoughts and listen as he spoke.

"I did ask Milo to let you join, but he gets very... possessive," he said, blushing brighter at whatever implications there were.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I asked, "What do you mean, possessive?"

He avoided the question for a moment, contenting himself with stroking my side. While he seemed to be distracted with whatever pondering he needed to do to answer my question, I decided it was a good time to admire him. Eventually, after looking up at me several times and finding me staring intently at him, he gave up. I hadn't meant to intimidate him into an answer, but apparently that was the result.

"I think it'd just be easier to show you, if you don't mind," he finally answered, shivering to himself briefly.

I nodded, curiosity probably written all over my face. When he pulled down his shirt to reveal a few purplish bite marks on his shoulder, I wasn't the least bit surprised. He must have read me like a book, taking in the unimpressed look on his face, because he began pulling down his pants next. Sputtering, I searched for a way to quickly convey my confusion and get him to halt his actions.

"Angel," I began, but was cut off by his shushing.

"Just look."

As Leon revealed more of his skin, I saw the hint of another bruised bite mark on his inner thigh. It disappeared out of my line of sight, and I was tempted to pull him closer so I could inspect it myself. He didn't give me the opportunity, though, showing me himself before I could get the chance once his pants were completely off. He propped his thighs open slightly, revealing probably a dozen purple bite marks.

"Holy shit..." I mumbled, completely bewildered.

I stared at the marks for what probably was too long, tracing a few with my fingers. I stopped when he jumped after I pressed on a spot too hard, keeping my hands to myself... for the most part. They still hovered over his skin, but I didn't actually touch. After a few more moments of admiring, I leaned forward and kissed him.

The kiss was slow, gentle enough before he tried to deepen it. I pulled away gently, cupping the back of his thighs and drawing them up and open so I could look again. Some part of my brain expected them to be gone that time, but they were definitely still there. They were still a pretty even pinkish-purple color, due to how new I could tell they were. The actual bites where blood was drawn were just starting to clot.

"Are you ok?" I asked, wanting to make sure.

"Yeah, it didn't hurt - well, I didn't dislike it," he said, mumbling the last part.

"Oh yeah?" I said, leaning down to kiss at his thighs, more gentle when I went over the marks.

"Mhm," he moaned softly.

"Stop, they're sensitive," he whimpered when I continued.

I listened to him, planning to stop after licking over one of the fresher bites gently. My tongue piercing trailed across his skin, breaking apart the delicate clotting over the actual bite. The taste of his blood exploded on my tongue, a more intense, metallic version of the smoky vanilla that he normally smelled like. This time, I was the one to moan.

"I shouldn't have done that," I moaned again, resisting the urge to fit my mouth over the spot. "Shit! Let me check your neck."

He startled right after I did, both of us seeming to simultaneously realize what I had just done. Without question, he turned so his back was facing me, anxiously waiting for my response. I watched both marks carefully for several seconds, observing Milo's fully-formed mark, and mine that could barely be seen in the moonlight. A few lines on mine pulsed brighter for a second, but eventually fizzled out and disappeared again. I heaved a sigh of relief.

"It's fine," I relayed. "It wasn't enough."

He didn't respond, instead choosing to put his pants back on. We laid back down, him cuddling back up to me, but keeping his legs to himself. I resisted the urge to frown, or scream in frustration. Getting so pent up over nothing was endlessly frustrating to me, because it was simply something I had never experienced before. Maybe my lifestyle had led me to be spoiled and impatient, but now was not the time for me to test that.

"I'm glad," he confessed hastily. "I know we're kind of doing this out of order, but I want to get to know you. I realized last night that I barely know anything about you, and it might be important if we're going to spend the next hundred or so years together."

"I agree, I also want to learn more about you," I said, going back to stroking his hair. "What do you want to know?"

"Can I ask about your family?" he asked quietly, after taking several moments to consider his thoughts.

With a sign, I confessed, "It's a long story, and it isn't pretty. Are you sure you still want to hear it? We can always talk about something else first."
"If you don't mind talking about it, I'd love to listen," he replied thoughtfully.