The Last of the Old Ones

Colin

Chapter Nineteen: Colin

Dinner was already laid out when we got to the dining hall, a variety of pastas, salads, breadsticks and soups lined the center of the table while a table set with a plate, bowl, and silverware at each spot. We took the two spots at the end of the table and settled in. I placed a hand on Amber's inner thigh underneath the table. I was excited for the future that we could now focus on. Dillon joined us at the table as Amber began shoveling food on her plate.

"Well, you two are glowing." He chuckled.

"Amber, this is Dillon, I'm sure you've seen him in passing but I don't think you two have officially met." I told Amber, waving off Dillon's comment. "He normally works in the shadows, and we prefer it that way." I joked.

"Wow, harsh, I'll remember that next time I'm protecting your life." Dillon quipped and Amber raised an eyebrow at me.

"He is one of the leads of the security team here, and I'm sure you remember him from some of my stories." I added.

"Well, it's nice to meet Colin's protector." Amber smiled as she spoke.

"Oh, I like her already. Although, my one complaint, I barely see Colin anymore." Dillon laughed, jabbing his fork toward me as he did and I shook my head as I began to eat my meal.

"Sorry, I've had some needs you just can't take care of for me." I quipped back between bites. All the while, Amber sat there just taking in our banter and giggling.

"Anyway, I heard your birthday is tomorrow, when the coast is clear, Astrid and I want to treat you to a night out." Dillon said, bringing the attention back to Amber.

"That sounds awesome, thank you!" Amber smiled sweetly, I could tell she was genuinely surprised by just how inviting my friends were, like she had been part of the program her whole life.

"Speaking of Astrid, she made me promise to take you to see her, she wanted to be the first person to give you a gift for your birthday." I told Amber after nodding gratefully at Dillon.

"Okay, I really don't need anything though, I do not expect any kind of presents." She added. Little did she know, I had prepared her present a month ago. I looked down at the plates in front of us as we finished eating, I gulped down the last of the iodine drink I made sure Amber, and I had at every meal so that we only needed the IV bags overnight.

When I was satisfied with the emptiness of our plates, I collected them and brought them over to where the staff collected them for washing. Reaching the table again, I held out a hand to Amber to guide her up from the table.

"You coming with us?" I asked Dillon as we prepared to leave the dining hall.

"Nah, this is very special to Astrid, and I don't want to take any of the attention away." He winked toward Amber.

"All right, we will catch you later Dillon." I told him and we journeyed out toward the rooms.

We found Astrid in the study upstairs and she squealed as she saw us, apparently it was obvious our dynamic had changed, something about our auras being so intertwined they became one, whatever that meant. She was one of those people who believed in fate and soulmates and the universe making people for each other. She pulled a small box out of a drawer and handed it to Amber. She watched Amber's expression as she opened the present slowly. I could tell she was insecure about opening presents in front of others, as if scared her reaction could disappoint somehow. But when she caught sight of what lay inside the box, she gasped in awe. It was such a cute sound that came out of her, I smiled alongside Astrid. It was a glass globe small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, and inside was a model of the solar system in its complete glory before the war. Amber delicately removed it from the box and held it up to the light, the light glimmered off each planet that lay inside.

"Wow, Astrid, this is absolutely amazing." She gushed, turning it in her hands and naming all the planets she had learned about in the studies she completed today. It truly was incredible, even as someone who grew up seeing this model within all my old textbooks.

"Now you'll always be able to remember who we are and what we came from... And just how special you are." Astrid told her softly as Amber hugged her tightly.

"I love it!" Amber told Astrid without any hesitation. I was so lucky my best friend was as close to Amber now as Astrid was with me. As much as I hoped I was enough for Amber, every girl deserved a girl best friend for those things no guy would ever understand.

Astrid and I exchanged a few more words, as Amber stared into the sphere, before we headed back down the hall to her room. The box Astrid had given her held a little copper stand made to hold the globe, so as soon as we made it inside, Amber set up the globe on her vanity for her to admire. I closed the gap between Amber and I as I stepped behind her and pushed all her hair over one shoulder, away from her neck. She watched in the vanity mirror as I began kissing down her neck softly and sweetly. I felt how her knees melted at the touch; she tilted her head ever so slightly to give me more access.

"I don't know how much more teasing I can handle today..." She warned me sternly, a tone I don't think I'd ever heard her use before.

"Don't worry, I plan on taking my time this time." I knew my breath was hot against her skin, I kept my voice barely more than a whisper.

I ran myhands along her curves, one hand moving up to her pulsing throat, the otherdown to her bare thigh. I smiled into her neck as I felt her pulse speed up,she tangled her hair back into my hair to keep me there. I kissed from the baseof her earlobe, down. When my lips reached her shoulder, I parted them and bitdown firmly but not enough to cause any real pain. I sucked her soft skin intomy mouth and marked her as mine. Her body was very responsive to my everytouch, making my feral thoughts race. The things I wanted to do to her now thatI no longer had to hold back... I had minded my manners while she was finishingclasses as my dad had wished but it just gave us more time to build up thetension so palpable you could cut it with a knife, but it was more than that... Ihad fallen in love with her. I breathed in her sweet scent and turned her toface me, crashing my lips into hers. She met my hunger, and my hand slid fromher throat to the back of her neck.