* * *
It takes hours for the knot to subside, and a little longer for his shift to revert. Long after the potion wears off. But he doesn’t seem to mind, and I’m certainly not complaining. It is a feeling unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. And by the time morning comes, we still haven’t slept.
“Should we get up?” he asks, stroking my back.
“Mmm.” I cuddle closer, not yet ready to abandon the sweaty haze. “Shhh.”
Elliot chuckles, the deep vibration moving across my fingers as I press my palm to his chest.
“We can’t stay here forever,” he says.
I groan into his side.
“Why not?”
“For one, I’m starving. And two, the rumors would be ridiculous. They’ll say I killed you.”
My eyes roll.
“Please, no one would believe that. They’d probably just think I chained you to my bed so I can feed on you for all eternity.”
His hand moves down my back as I crawl over top of him, resting my chin on his stomach.
“Oh, was that the plan?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I confess, shrugging. “But it’s not going too well.”
I scoot a little higher, wedging my face in the curve of his neck, and he places a kiss on my wrist.
The simple gesture seems spontaneous, but I know it’s not. For Elliot, every touch is a choice. And even though he doesn’t believe me, it is enough to know he chooses me, over and over again.
“Maybe they’ll just think we went missing,” I say. “Like nice, normal people.”
He smiles, flashing his canines as his hand comes down on my ass with a loud smack.
“If only you were nice, and I was normal,” he says.
“Sounds boring.”
We lay there awhile longer, waiting until the sun peeks through the curtains before Elliot insists we shower.
I let him go first, on account that I’m still not ready to leave the pile of torn sheets that used to be my bed.
He complains of my mess as he steps over a stray heel, picking it up and setting it aside. But I ignore him, watching the muscles in his back ripple as he walks instead. He keeps his shower brief, and I try to do the same. But my body is sore as I step under the hot water, and I linger longer than I’d like to.
When I emerge, Elliot is still half-clothed, sitting on the edge of the bed, watching me.
I’m reckless with my towel as I gather my clothes, and he grins as it starts to slip past my chest.
“You’re such a tease,” he says.
“You love it.”
I drop the towel in its entirety, and Elliot leans back on his hands, watching me as I dress.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” he mutters.
“Done what?”
