Page 70 of Little Wing
I looked toward the door I had left ajar and grinned. I couldn’t describe how much I loved hearing him ask that. It was such a simple thing to ask if I was home, as if this space was shared by both of us on a regular basis.
“I’m home. I’m in the bedroom,” I replied.
Silas pushed the door open wider and leaned against the door frame before giving his stubble cheek a rough rub. “There you are.”
I patted the space beside me on the bed and smiled. “How is Little Wing?”
“Good, good,” he muttered as he stepped inside. He paced around the room and looked like he had something else to say, yet stopped himself from speaking. Before I could even ask, he turned and flipped on the light switch, making me squint. “Sorry, Lo. I really need to see you—we need to talk.”
There was an urgency in his voice that I couldn’t ignore. He was always so driven and passionate, but this was… no, something didn’t feel right. I crawled to the edge of the bed, raised myself to a kneel, and held out my hand to him.
“Silas, what’s wrong? You’re beginning to scare me.”
“Oh gods—no! This isn’t anything…” He chewed on his bottom lip and exhaled sharply. “Look, it’s just—”
Finally, he accepted my hand and crawled onto the bed. As the weight shifted around the mattress, I allowed myself to lean into him. Silas put his hands on my waist, helping lower me till I was sitting on my heels.
“I need to talk to you about something, but please promise that you won’t hate me and run off, okay?”
Well, that was quite a preface to what was likely going to be either a very uncomfortable conversation or a heartbreaking one. I tilted my head to the side and placed my hand over his. Though I could not outright promise how I would react, at least I could promise him my undivided attention. I would hear him out. At this point in my existence, there was very little that could surprise me.
“I’ve been thinking about what can be done to help you when it comes to the whole tether situation.” Silas swallowed hard as his messy curls fell over his forehead. When I reached to brush his wind-blown hair from his face, I felt his smile against my wrist. “I love you, Lotus.”
I didn’t think I could ever get tired of hearing him tell me that, especially with my name in the same sentence. While it was wonderful to hear, I noticed that he couldn’t look me right in the eyes. That was unlike him.
“Silas,” I uttered softly. “What’s going on?”
“Are you familiar with claiming?” he blurted out.
I felt my breath catch. I knew very little about vampire history and anatomy during the years I spent with Luca. We were both quite naive and under-educated about what our new existence would be like. There were no books back then, no official records, and no guides. There was no community with which we connected. There was onlythe shame and the will to survive that got us as far as possible. But, after we separated, I began to explore and learn everything that I could. As Silas brought up the concept of claiming, I searched my memory for any information I had. Vampires, due to their long lifelines, often practiced polygamy. But if they wanted to solidify a connection beyond a physical relationship, they performed a claim on one another.
“Vampires drinking each other’s blood…” I spoke carefully, reciting the words as if I had them written in front of me.
Silas nodded. “Not for sustenance, but—”
“Love,” I whispered.
Silas nodded again. He remained quiet until a soft exhale blew past his lips, and he shifted his weight to his heels. “Something even beyond that. When the words aren’t enough to describe the need you have for someone. So much that you need to be connected to that person in the way most familiar to us.” He waited for a beat, as if giving me a chance to speak. When I remained quiet, he pursed his lips and continued. “I… I didn’t want to bring this up,” he said before quickly adding, “not because I don’t care about you like that, though!”
The room felt smaller as I listened to him. “W-why did you not want to then?”
His eyes were glossed over when he looked at me, finally meeting my eyes. “Because how could I ask you to be tied to me when you’ve endured so much being connected to him?” He did not even wish to speak his name. Not in this room, not when what was sizzling between us was so delicate. It was an emotion so raw I feared shifting my weight on the bed would somehow alter the outcome.
“But you would want to be tethered to me?” I asked softly, watching as his eyes quickly locked onto mine. He nodded slowly, but firmly, urging a soft gasp to slip past my lips.
Silas cupped my cheek in his hand and gently ran his thumb along my skin as he spoke. “From the moment I met you, it felt like my world shifted. You were this strange woman who confused the hell out of me. Your makeup, demeanor—all of it. But you gave me a chance and gifted me with your story. Lotus, the first time I saw your smile, I was gone. The first time I saw your true face, I saw no one else. We’ve both lived a long time, Lo, and I know what we have is different. You’re someone I don’t want to be without.”
“Silas,” I whimpered, leaning deeper into his touch.
“Whether you keep me for a day or an eternity, I want whatever time I have with you. I’ll take every second and cherish it.”
I allowed his words to bathe me in affection. Words that I never imagined would be spoken to me. Before Silas had a chance to take any of them back, I pushed myself up to my knees and wrapped my arms around his neck, anchoring myself against his firm body.
Without missing a beat, our lips crashed and there was only heat. Passion reigned in our embrace as our lips moved quickly. Open-mouth kisses and dancing tongues stoking the flame between us. This longing—Oh gods—I felt it, too.
“Lotus,” he growled, pulling away from my lips to kiss my jaw, my neck, and the raised scars over my collarbone. He ran his hand gently over the new scar left by Luca and kissed it. The kindest of touches in the spot that held such a recent heartache.
I couldn’t hold back the moan that lingered in my throat as Silas continued leaving trails of wet kisses and gentle nips all over my pebbled skin. My body was home to many scars, yet when Silas touched me, I never thought of myself as damaged. And when I thought of wearing a marking given to me by a man I loved, I knew I would wear it with pride.
