Tricking Death

Chapter 20 - The Morning After

"Are you ready for me, Emily?"

He spoke the words into my neck, covered in hot spots from where His teeth had made an appearance. The combination of His lips, teeth and hands had brought me to a place where nothing else seemed to matter anymore, but we had barely done anything yet. The sight of His chest, moving up and down with the effort of His breathing was enough of a distraction on its own, without everything else that He had been doing.

In that moment, I was sick of having to hide and pretend in front of everyone. I was sick of having to lie and pretend that everything was fine, while simultaneously pushing everyone away from me to prevent them from getting caught in the crossfire of my messed up life.

Alison, Ryan... I hadn't talked to Ryan, as in really talked to him... I couldn't even remember the last time that was. The same applied for Alison, who had pushed me away, and done a much better job of it than I had been doing to her up until that point.

Most of all, I was sick of trying to force myself to hate Death. As much as I tried, He was right every single time He said it: it was impossible.

So, in that moment, I gave Him a response that I never would have imagined giving when I first met Him, on that fateful night after my birthday:

I kissed Him.

He seemed surprised at first, that I had been the one to initiate the kiss for once, but His surprise quickly disappeared as He took over. The kiss deepened; I tugged on His bottom lip with my teeth, eliciting a moan that I never would have expected to hear from Him as He pulled away.

"I guess I'll take that as a 'yes'," He murmured, taking the opportunity to stare at me as I lay underneath Him. It was a peculiar feeling, and no other guy that I had ever been with had ever looked at me the way He was looking at me right then.

"Why do you keep staring at me like that?" I said, my voice sounding husky to my ears.

"Because you are one of the most beautiful creatures that I have ever had the pleasure of doing this to." I didn't even need to ask what He was referring to, as He punctuated His words by removing the last thin layer of fabric separating the two of us from being completely skin-to-skin. Though the material was gone, His hand remained, drawing out another of many moans from me.

"I knew from the minute I first laid eyes on you that I would eventually have you, just like this." I was too out of breath to give him any other response than another moan, my eyes closed and back arching up. But, then I felt His hand move away.

"Wha-?" I moved to look at Him, only to have His lips crash against mine once more. I gasped into His mouth as I felt Him finally take things all the way.

You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do this. His hands grabbed a hold of my hips, and I looked up at Him as He started to move.

"Actually, I think I do."

"Oh, really?"

"I can see it in your face."

"I guess you're more perceptive than I give you credit for."

Then, there was no more opportunity for words; what happened after that is private. I was aiming for honesty throughout this entire account, trying not to hide anything... But there are some things that I should keep to myself.

After we were finally done, all I wanted to do was go to sleep. The clock on my nightstand was flashing a neon green "12:48 AM", and some distant part of my brain reminded me that I should probably make an effort to go to school in the morning, along with going to work.

"Do you want me to stay tonight?" Death said softly, His arms still wrapped around me protectively. I couldn't say that I didn't like the feeling, or that I wanted Him to go anywhere.