Her eyes drift to my lips, “And now?” Quiet hunger and desperation colors her tone.
“And now I dream of howyou’lltorture him,” I seal the confession with a chaste kiss on her lips before I pull away and continue eating. The rest of the evening is filled with more conversation of our past, the lives we lived, both together and separately, before she entered our orbit.
She doesn’t share much of her own life, admitting slowly that she didn’t allow herself to have one due to what she’s suffered. I’d be lying if I said the selfish part of me didn’t relish knowing that she’s never cravedanyonethe way she does us. I can’t promise I wouldn’t track down any and every person who dared to hear the way she falls apart or see the sleepy smiles she graces us with each morning.
Fritz insists on all of us squishing into the bed in his room, claiming he sleeps better when he can keep an eye on her. Admittedly, I feel the same. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to rest without knowing I can hear the beat of her heart only inches away.
With the slowing of their breaths, I allow myself to fall into a deep sleep with them, images of food and unique punishments entwining until a particularly devious plot comes to mind.
???
The sound of a rhythmic pounding wakes me, launching me out of bed to protect our girl from whoever is attempting to take her.
“Whoa, Caspian. Relax,” Fritz soothes from the other side of the bed, slowly dragging himself from it. He glances at his phone and groans, “They’re early.”
“Who’s early?” Bel mumbles from her nest of blankets and pillows.
He places a kiss on her head, the only part of her body not buried in the bedding, “Go back to sleep, my Songbird. We’ll deal with them. Put some pants on, Cas.”
Following his lead, we make our way into the living room. He still has not bothered to explain to me what is happening, but his enthusiasm while getting out of bed has me curious enough to play along.
When he opens the door and shares some quiet words with the men outside, I piece together that he’s had something delivered. But what?
“You can just place all of it right here in the entryway,” he tells the uniformed men.
They share a glance between them before the larger one responds, “This is a four-man job. All the pieces are quite heavy. It’s recommen-”
“I’m sure we can manage, can’t we, Caspian?” Fritz chuckles, “We are quite capable of building a few pieces of furniture. They come with instructions, don’t they?”
“Ummm, yes, but-”
“See? No problem, then.” He assures them, “We have lots of experience with this kind of thing, so you may just drop it off here and leave the rest to us.”
“Errr,” the man who has been quiet up until now adds, “You’ll have to sign a waiver saying you denied installation.”
“No problem at all,” he grins, pleased with himself for getting what he wants. Though he’s put us in the position of building something, orsomethings?
The delivery men explain further that it’ll take them a few trips down to the garage to grab everything, the narrow hallways being a hindrance. As they make their way down for the first trip, I pull Fritz into the kitchen to start breakfast and coffee.
“What are they delivering?” I prod, “What is taking themseveraltrips?”
“Oh, that,” he swipes a hand through the air, “It’s nothing. I overnighted a large dining room table for Christmas. Oh, and a new entertainment center with lots of storage for books for Bel. A new bed for-”
“Another bed?” I laugh, “You have four places for people to sleep already.”
His eyes narrow in confusion for a moment, “We do have four places for people to sleep.However,the bed we are all currently sharing can barely hold us. I did not get that bed withanysex in mind, much less the kind that involves three of us.”
I find that hard to believe, “Are you trying to tell me that you haven’t been having sex? You live insin city.”
“I’ve… dabbled here and there over the centuries, obviously,” he grips the back of his neck, continuing, “But I haven’tneededit the way I have as of late.” I nod, holding back a smirk. “Hey,” he points a finger at me, “I may not have the way with words you do, but I want this. I want it forever. So I’m doing what I can to make that clear.”
“And you think a bed is the way to show Bel your devotion?” I can’t hold back the grin now. “You could justtellher. Or, better yet, you can be the one to claim her. I already feel her when she’s in pain, as you know.”
“No.”
His tone leaves no room for argument, but I’ll make it anyway, “Why can’t you? You’d truly rather it be my way? You’d rather guarantee her excruciating pain and having toconsumemy flesh than just take her in your arms and gift her immortality. It makes no sense, Fritz.”
“I could not be responsible for harming her,” he tells me, repeating the discussion we’ve had before, “I couldkillher. You could not.”
