Blood Ties (NaNoWriMo 2015)

Forty-Three

Damon smiled at me, white teeth flashing. "That was exactly what I wanted to hear." Then he leaned towards me, slow and deliberate. "May I?"

Though he didn't say it aloud, I knew exactly what he meant and my little bubble of happiness in my chest radiated warmth in response. "You may," he didn't need to be told twice. His hands cupped my face and he closed the distance between us.

His mouth was on mine, cold and eager. His fingers were in my hair, tangling it up, pulling us just a little closer together. Some rational part of my mind knew I should be frightened, I was kissing a vampire after all. But that small part was silenced by every other instinct in my body, the parts that felt that fire return. That burn-less heat that spiked my blood and made me fell alive, wild and safe all in the same moment. My fingers traced the shape of his jawline, his skin not soft as I'd expected, but a little like sandpaper. Perhaps before he was changed, he had shaved recently and it had started to grow back.

There was a sudden feeling of pressure on my back, Damon's arm wrapping around me I was sure. I barely had time to register the sensation before a knew one took it's place: movement. I broke away from our kiss, laughing shrilly as he pulled me into his lap. I heard Damon laugh as well and then pressed my forehead against his, suddenly very out of breath.

"Well," Damon said. "I liked our first kiss quite a bit, but I think this was," he laughed again and brushed another quick kiss across my lips. "A little bit better."

"Yes," I agreed, twisting a small lock of his hair around my finger. "The lack of injures and near-death experiences do help."

Damon's mouth twitched at my tasteless joke. "Hopefully they won't be too numerous after this. If we're lucky we'll be able to prove Richard isn't what he pretends to be soon."

"When are we ever lucky?" I asked. "I've almost been killed by vampires twice, you had to knock me out the first time because I refused to come quietly and now we have a suspect for those said attempts but if we aren't careful he's going to try and be far less covert in his attempt."

"I'd say we are very lucky." He remarked, smiling despite my usual negativity. "I mean I just happened to be setting an order for blood at the same hospital you were born in, I just happened to be passing by your room and hearing your mother shouting at the doctors about how she wasn't going to loose another member of her family. They all just happened to leave about that time and I was able to slip in, see your chart and bite you. Here I thought that would be the end of it, and then eighteen years later I got to see you again, under very unfavorable circumstances I admit, but I think where we are right now is a pretty good place to be."

"By "where we are" do you mean me sitting in your lap and us kissing?"

"That's exactly what I meant." He said cheerfully, kissing me again and sending another ripple of heat that I felt all the way down to my toes. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling us closer together assuming it was still possible to do. I felt Damon smile, his hands pressing against my back. His solid chest pressed against mine, silent heart no longer a shock to me.

I giggled again as we broke away, catching my breath and wondering if it was possible to get drunk off a kiss. "As much as I'd like to stay here," I glanced over at his mess of a desk. "We really ought to be a little more productive don't you think? I mean, now we have a trip to plan for."

"From the look on your face, I'd say you have a desk you want to organize first."

"That obvious?" I asked, tilting my head and letting my now tangled hair fall between that desk and us.

"Ember," said Damon pointedly and I finally let myself acknowledged how much I liked his silky voice saying my name. "Your face turned white as mine when you saw it, that was the same reaction you had when you saw my office for the first time."

"Well it was a complete disaster! How can anyone work in those sort of conditions?"

"I managed okay," he admitted. "But your system does work better."

"Ha," I said a little smugly.

"You're right, is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Yes, it's one the phrases a man can say and he'll never get in trouble for it."

"I know," Damon said. "It's that and 'I was wrong, I'm sorry' and 'I love you'."

"Sums it up," I agreed, hoping he wouldn't take notice of how my heart fluttered when he said the last one. I knew he hadn't meant the words in anyway then, but I wondered what it would be like if maybe some day, he did.

Damon stood up, hands on my waist, supporting me as I regained my footing. "Hang on," he said and he slipped away from me, grabbing a few papers and files off his desk as well as a pen. He looked back over at me and grinned. "Okay, now do your worst."

I rolled back the sleeves of my sweatshirt. "You know I'm coming for your bookshelf next right?"

"I didn't expect anything less from you," he replied, sitting on his couch and writing madly over whatever it was he had in his lap.

"Careful," I told him as I began sorting forms into piles based on subject. "Or you'll break your second pen of the day."

He looked up from his work looking confused and possibly impressed. "How'd you know I broke a pen already today?"

"Well this," I held up the snapped remains that had fallen on the floor. "And you have ink on your face, I noticed when I came in."

"Shit! Are you telling me I had ink on my face when we were talking?"

"Yep," I said. "And later, it didn't rub off on me did it?"

Damon peered at me for a heartbeat or so longer than needed to determine if I had ink on my face now too. "No, you're good."

"Thank you," I said and we settled into our respective work in comfortable silence, we might have just been back in his office planning the Cruor Luna, but now things were different.

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New chapter! I guess they're officially an item, this won't cause any problems now will it? ;)I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter so please remember to COMMENT and VOTE if you enjoyed it!

Write on! =D