Blood Ties (NaNoWriMo 2015)

Forty-Seven

As it turned out, Damon had been wrong. There were not two separate bedrooms in the Penthouse. He'd offered to crash on the couch once I was free of the shower and dressed in some sweats I'd brought from home.

Drying my damp hair with one of the towels I'd found in the closet, I looked at the king sized bed and then back at Damon who looked flustered. "Doesn't matter," I said, tossing the damp towel into the hamper. "It's big enough for both of us, no use in one of us waking up with cricks in our necks."

And without further ado I flopped onto the left side of the bed and buried my face in the pillow. When I didn't hear Damon move, I looked up and glanced over at him. He was still standing in the doorway, stiff as a statue and staring at me with wide eyes.

"For goodness sake," I said. "Do you need a written invitation? And if your old-fashioned sensibilities are offended, do not worry. I literally mean we can both sleep here, sex is not involved." My use of the word "sex" seemed to shock him enough for him to start moving. I wasn't sure if it was my confirming that I did not intend my offer to share the bed did not translate into sex or just the shock of hearing me say it so loudly. I wondered if any passerby's had heard me. I didn't really care, but I was curious how far vampire super hearing went.

"Okay," he said, leaning off the doorframe. "Thanks, for not making me sleep on the couch I mean."

"No problem," I yawned as I slipped underneath the covers. "I don't know if you'd have fit on it anyways. Mind killing the lights?"

"Sure," I heard a click, the bright pink on the inside of my eyelids faded away and then I felt the mattress shift as Damon sat down on the other side. "Good night," I whispered and just before falling into a complete sleep, I felt a light kiss brush across my cheek.

"Good night Ember."

***

I was woken from sleep later when I heard the rattle of curtains being opened. Groggy, I opened my sleep caked-eyes and saw a shirtless Damon standing in front of one of the windows, staring out into the city lights.

I looked up, glancing at the red alarm clock that read nine. I recalled briefly that breakfast was supposed to be served in about an hour and decided it might be best to get dressed. Normally, I wouldn't have needed an hour to get ready, but I had planned to put a little more effort into my appearance and the extra time wouldn't hurt.

"Evening," I greeted Damon, but he didn't seem to hear me. Or at least, he wasn't focused enough to pay attention to what I'd said. Probably worried about tonight, I was too. The reality of it was slowly setting in on me and I was getting the sensation of butterflies in my stomach and they were not the good kind.

I slumped into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face, trying to shock myself into being a little more awake. I grabbed my makeup bag off the counter and began taking out the items I needed to make myself look presentable. I'd laid out my outfit the night before, that flowy blouse Ife had convinced me to pack as well as a pair of khakis capris and plain blue flats. I'd looked at the forecast earlier that day while on the plane and read that it was supposed to be humid as all get out. I'd wanted to wear shorts, but decided against. I'd be sitting around vampires all night, very cold beings. That might help keep me cool, in fact I was fairly sure of it. Then there the was fact that most of them where from different eras, some eras where it was scandalous for a woman to show her ankles, let alone most of her legs. I did not want to be the topic of gossip for being in poor attire as well as my human status.

I slipped on the clothes, the material of the shirt cool and soft against my skin. Straightening out the top, I looked over my reflection to make sure I didn't have any wrinkles in it and when I found none I grabbed my hair brush and began to yank it through the snarls in my sleep-mussed red hair.