He sleepily laughs, “I said: Thank you for trusting me with your body in this way.”
“Mhmm. Thank you both,” Caspian adds. “You did so wonderfully, Bel, setting boundaries and communicating your needs. I am so proud of your bravery.”
“Here, here.” Fritz agrees.
“You guys are amazing,” I tell them honestly. But I can’t be too vulnerable, so I add, “Now shut the fuck up and go to sleep.”
And after a few moments of chuckles, we all do, snuggled in the warmest sleep pile imaginable.
Breakfast of Champions
Caspian
Waking up the next morning with Bel wedged between Fritz and me is not something I would have expected to bring me such joy. It feels like this is where the three of us were meant to end up, but I haven’t the faintest idea how we could make this work.
My feelings for Fritz have always been affectionate but never romantic, and as far as I know, he feels the same way. He has never looked at me the way he already does my Little Dove. He looks at her the way I’m sure I do. Like life didn’t truly begin until she entered it. I know that I need her, but does he feel that same compulsion?
Who am I kidding? Of course, he does. It doesn’t matter that they’ve only just met. He’s willing to travel across state lines and commit cold-blooded murder for her.We will need to discuss the details of that this morning before leaving.
I try to extricate myself from Bel’s grip without waking either of them, but based on the way he’s caressing her sleeping form, Fritz is already awake. I reach across her and flick him gently on the hand. His eyes burst open, ready to defend against whatever threat dare interrupt him. When his gaze becomes clearer, he looks up at me and raises his eyebrows in silent question.
I nod my head towards the bedroom door, so we can go discuss all the events that have transpired while Bel continues her rest. Gods know she needs it. Last night Bel was utterly and thoroughly sated, just the way she always should be. The way she alwayscouldbe if we stayed.I can’t just ask her to pick up her life and bring it here on a whim, though, can I?
He looks back down at our sweet girl, still deep in her dreams. The distraught look on his face tells me he knows once we leave this bed there’s a chance the fantasy world we’ve created is over. He grabs a strand of her hair that’s fallen over her face and brushes it back, chastely worshipping her with his fingertips across her cheekbones and slightly parted lips.
I feel as though I’m intruding on an incredibly intimate moment. One just for them. The reverence with which he watches her now is wholly at odds with the depraved animal he was last night. She deserves this version of him, too; the soft vulnerability, bare from the jokes he always wears as armor. He breathes out a sigh and gives her a goodbye kiss on the forehead before sliding away from her and out of the cocoon of a bed we’ve made.
I quietly follow behind him, settling the blankets around her to mimic bodies, ensuring she does not wake too quickly. It’s barely sunrise, so she should still rest for a few hours. Long enough for him and I to talk.
In the kitchen, I take a seat at a table and watch him as he prepares us both a large mug of coffee, generously pouring some kind of sweet and creamy liquor into each cup. He hands one to me and drops into the seat next to me.
“So,” he begins.
“So, where do we go from here?” I finish his unasked question.
“Mhmm. Where indeed?” I think for a moment, ready to answer, but he proceeds, “You shouldn’t have asked if you can keep me last night. It wasn’t fair to her. Or to me.”
That’s not at all what I was expecting him to say. At my confused face, he looks at me as if I’m the most dense man he’s ever met. Perhaps I am.
“Something like that can’t just be said in the heat of the moment. Because now you either have to actually consider letting the three of us see where this goes long-term, or you have to take it back. All this time, I have been under the impression I get only a couple days with you and your girl,” he tells me.Oh.
“I have no intention of taking back what I said. I never did. I had considered it already. I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you do her. With the flirting and yourvisityesterday, I thought it went without saying,” I explain, hoping that excuses my slip of the tongue.
He’s so shocked it takes him a moment to respond, “Does she know that? Or is she going to come out here ready to leave with you, never to return?” he asks, then holds both palms up to stop me, “No. Even if she did want toexplorethis with us both, there’s no fucking way you could do it. Sharing for a weekend is one thing but you’re too possessive for anything else and I amnotgoing to become an enemy of yours over a girl.”
“You’ve known her nearly as long as I have. I don’t have any kind of claim on her,” those words grate on my tongue coming out, but they are true.
“Do you have any intention of…claimingher?” he prods.
The thought of that makes me gag, “To be frank, I’d rather you do that. I’m not sure that I could. It’s too risky, the margin of error too great.”
“It’s far more dangerous if I do it. Yours might be more… grotesque, but there’s less risk involved.” He’s right, of course, but I don’t think I could ask that of Bel. There’s also the chance that it won’t work. I’ve heard of a few people over the years whose bodies rejected the claiming, leaving them sick or mad for the rest of their lives.
“She’s not ready for that discussion any time soon. She’s taken everything very well thus far, but I think the idea of eternity with one of our kind would have her running for the hills before we could explain what it means or what it entails.” Demons rarely claim mortals, or anyone for that matter, just due to the horrific acts it requires. Except for theBiberé, but those guys are sick fucks.
“Oh? You are not in the mood for another game of chase, then?” he chuckles under his breath, adding, “Could be fun. I have lots of ideas for what we can do next time.”
I’m sure he does.I roll my eyes, “We have to goslowwith her. W-”
