Page 38 of These Eternal Bones
A flush builds on my cheeks, trailing down the high neck of my gown as I nod, turning my attention out the window.
I can’t for the life of me wipe the stupid smile off my face while he clings to his lingering restraint.
It seems fits of jealousy are not reserved for only me.
Seems like a childish thing to glean such a divine sense of satisfaction from.
19
Snowball
The Night We Met - Lord Huron
Elric
Steam rises off the mug cupped in Molly’s hands, her eyes closing reverently as she leans in to take a tentative sip of the hot chocolate. My tendrils snap at the snow-covered ground behind me as I struggle to calm them. My restraint is slipping. That’s no more apparent than right now. My claws are pricking my palms as her small pink tongue pokes out, cleaning the excess off her lips. I have long lost interest in the taste of human food or the smell of it cooking, but watching the way her throat works as she takes it down…I find I am quite envious of the drink.
I stifle the growl that works up my throat, turning from her to the creek, my cock straining against my trousers as it always does when she’s around. Every fiber of my being is calling, screaming for me toact. Her lilac smell mixing with the pine and snow. Everything inside me that was made for her demands my supplication. For me to wrangle her to the ground and sink my teeth into her delicate throat while I shove my cock–
My thoughts halt as an icy blast collides with the back of my head, a savage sounding growl ripping from my throat as I whirl to find the source of the assault. Molly pulls her lips tight between her teeth, clearly fighting a smile as she shrugs, looking far too sheepish. Again, that quiet place in my chest kicks to life as my eyes fall to the snowball she’s dutifully shaping in her gloved hands.
The surprise quickly wears off at the sound of her delightful laugh as she throws another. This one slams into my chest. She doesn’t waste time playing entirely on her own as she skitters away to arm herself again. Snow falls in lazy waves around her, her long dress making pathways in the snow as she hurls another, this one arcing wide and missing me entirely.
“Awh,” she huffs, placing her hands on the mouthwatering swell of her hips.
I clear my throat, schooling my features. “Give me one reason I should not strike you down, syringa, after such a bold attack.”
Her disappointment falters, her full, reddened lips giving way to a maddening smirk as she circles me, making a show of casually bending to swipe more snow off the ground. I mirror her movements. “I suppose you could try,vampire.”
Vampire, if only you knew sweet Molly.
“Such confidence,” I quip before hurling my own snowball at her, her mouth dropping open as it collides with her hip.
“I can’t believe you hit me,” she gasps, feigning upset, but I can see the devilish smirk in her eyes. She truly has no clue the things I wouldsubject her body to. The ways I would worship each inch of her pliant flesh. “I’m just a girl.”
“Ah, yes, but a girl who has waged war against the Vampire of Port Clyde. I have a fearsome reputation to–” My words are cut off as another ball of snow flies through the night air, slamming me in the face.
Her guffaw of riotous laughter hits me, along with the sound of her feet as I shake my head, freeing myself from the rest of the snow. It’s then that I decide not to let her win. For the first time since I last saw her, my laughter flows easily as we hurl snowballs at each other. Worry lancing me as she runs behind the cottage and out of sight, only for a whisper of snow dusted copper hair to flash around the other side. My soul feels as light as the flakes gathering on her eyelashes. My cheeks are aching from years of limited use as I smile. She throws another ball as I duck, making a show of weaving before pelting her quicker than she can blink. A squeal leaves her throat as I snag her ankle with a tendril, tripping her only for the others to soften her fall. Copper strands hang wildly in her face as she huffs, this time lobbing fistfuls of loose unpacked snow at me before turning her assault on the tendrils still holding her. Our laughter fills the woods, and I couldn't care less about how silly the fearsome vampire might look. I am not him when I am with her. I’m something lighter, a part of me only she can find.
She’s adorably frustrated, her chest heaving by the time she lets her legs give out, spreading her arms wide and falling back into the snow, setting off a puff of white around her. My chest lets out a dull throb, one so powerful I bring my fist to the spot, rubbing it as I join her. The emptiness there never gets easier. For a few moments, for the first time in centuries, I didn’t feel the riding dread or the insatiable, constant thirst or agonized longing in my gut, and it’s all thanks to her.
How she consumes me so in every life, I will never tire of.
My little human tugs her gloves off her hands, revealing reddened fingers as she lifts them up above her, waving them around absently in the falling snow.
By the gods, I love her.
I love her so feverishly every moment with my eyes not turned her way is a moment too long.
The words are on the tip of my tongue. My tendrils still and sprawled out around me, but even now, in their relaxed state, they reach for her. I study her for a long moment, wishing with everything I could suspend us here, in the snow. That this…as we are right now, as all we’ve ever been. All we’ll ever be. Even now the desire to bond her is overwhelming, no more a choice but aneed. One I have never been able to ignore.
“What is it you want most in the world, Molly?” I ask, needing a distraction so I don’t give in to my baser needs, not yet. Not until she’s ready.
She doesn’t look at me as she lowers her hands, breathing hot air into them. “To be free.”
Guilt swarms me, snuffing out that feeling of lightness from moments before. Because I would give heranythingbut that. I cannot give her that.
My eyes rip away from her soft features, back to the dark, hazy sky. Again, I find myself a wretched, malevolent creature, woefully undeserving. Perhaps in the next life I will let you walk through my woods. Perhaps in the next, when you pass me in town, I will simply smile and let you. Perhaps in your next life, things will be different. Maybe in a few more centuries, I will not be so terribly selfish.
