Page 48 of Santa's Wish
My alarm went off too earlythe next morning.
"I can't believe you offered to be my wingman so I could see other people." Boz curled tighter against my side and nipped at my pec. "You're ridiculous."
"I'm not relationship material," I warned.
He laughed. "I like you, you like me, and we're seeing where it goes. Nothing more than that."
Whatever this was between us, it felt heavy and momentous. I was in bed with my boyfriend on Christmas morning, of all things! I wanted to run far and fast, but I had nowhere to go. Each time I returned to my apartment for the morning, I felt a dreadful loss.
"I'm going to miss you tonight." I kissed his cheek, so he wouldn't notice my abject terror when admitting it out loud.
"I'll miss you, too," he said.
"Do you want to exchange gifts now, or tonight?"
"Gifts?" He swallowed, and I placed my lips against his bobbing Adam's apple.
"It's Christmas."
"You've already done so much for me. The apartment, the furniture, the?—"
"The broken bones, and the security tail while you visit your parents." I paused to think, and Boz glared at me in the low light.
"You had nothing to do with those vampires."
"I didn't stop them from hurting you."
I should have waited for them outside Blood Drive and broken their necks so they couldn't follow us, but I'd underestimated the threat. I thought they'd be happy with any human, not knowing they'd set their sights on Boz for reasons far more sinister than his tousled good looks and slim physique.
"You couldn't have known," he said. "And you healed me, another gift I'll never be able to repay."
"You don't need to repay me, sweetness." I kissed the spot where I'd bitten him the night before until he squirmed away.
"My parents are going to think my boyfriend is a vampire," he whispered.
"No, they won't." I licked where I'd nibbled, and my saliva erased all remnants of a mark.
"Should I tell them about you?"
"Have you told them you work for vampires?"
He paused. "Yes, but my bodyguard will need an explanation."
"How do they feel about us?"
"It never came up." He shrugged. "We aren't super religious or anything, so it shouldn't be a problem." Despite the scientific explanation for the vampire virus, some factions still insisted we were abominations sent by the devil, especially the backwards Christian denominations who thought same-sex relationships went against god with a capital G.
I grew up Catholic, but now, I was agnostic. I believed in a god, all right, but I didn't believe in the devil I'd supposedly come from, and I certainly didn't think sex work or any kind of consensual sex was wrong. I'd had it all, and none of it deserved the shameful stigma some humans gave it.
Boz's eagerness to do everything, even some kinkier shit, surprised me. I still didn't know why anyone would have walked away from him. He was a sure thing.
Now, he was my sure thing. I was done fighting the inevitable. While we could, I wanted to spend every moment with him until the irresistible urge to hide underground, away from the sun, caught up with me.
I dragged myself from his bed.
"I'll see you tonight," he promised.
I leaned over him and kissed him soundly one more time. "You'd better."
