Sex, Lies & Magic

Twenty-Seven

lank. Clank. Clank. The noise from the radiator near the bed woke me.

Though it'd been months since I last slept in Craven's bed, wrapped safely in his arms the familiarity of it brought a smile to my lips. I stoked my fingers down his chest tracing over the massive intricate tattoo. As close as I was I could make out the little runic markings that composed the detailed bark of the large menacing tree which dominated half of his body.

With a groan, Craven opened his eyes and smiled at me lazily.

"Sleep well?" He asked pulling me closer.

"Mm, well enough." I purred nuzzling against him. "The damn radiator woke me."

"It does that from time to time. I was thinking—" Tap. Tap. Tap. Craven sighed. "Someone's at your door." He relaxed his hold on me.

Grumbling, I slid from the warm bed. One step was all it took to signal to me that our love making was deceptively tender the night before, something inside of me was bruised. Even walking slowly hurt. With a wince I looked back at Craven and found him smirking like the cat who ate the canary—I could practically see the feathers from the metaphorical bird still floating in the air as I snagged my pants and shirt from the top of the chest of drawers and pulled them on as I made my way to Craven's door.

Without looking through the peep hole I opened the door and found Adair in the hall.

Damnit.

He raised careful blue eyes to mine and for a while remained silent. There might not have been any judgement in his gaze but I felt guilty all the same.

"H-hey, I told you I was going to stop by, right?" Adair's accent washed over me in a wave of guilt. Guilt for what I felt for him, guilt for the lie I told Craven, guilt for what I did last night and how far he had been from my thoughts. I might have felt something for him, but as I stood there, leaning against the door jamb I knew I didn't love him. If I had I would have felt more than the superficial guilt—wouldn't I?

"You okay?" He furrowed his brows.

"Yeah, I was just thinking."

"See."

"I'm sorry what?" It was my turn to look confused.

"I told you. All it would take was one night."

"How..." I couldn't finish my thought.

"My smell is keener than a normal werewolf. I can smell him on you, I can also smell him in you." There was a certain tone to his voice that elicited a swallow from me.

My cheeks colored and I ran my fingers back through my hair.

"I...we were supposed to go find Persephone together weren't we?"

"Mhm."

"Let me get dressed."

"Alright."

"Uhh, stay right there I need to grab my keys." I darted back to the bed room after I noticed my jacket had been moved.

Craven was sitting up in bed, and the gaze he trained on me was far too serious for whatever time it was. That gloriously generous mouth of his was a hard line and the entire set of his face showed a rare brief glimpse of his displeasure.

Without making any move to cover his nakedness he stood and crossed over to me. His fingers trailed along my jaw, his nails lightly scraping the skin as the touch implored me to look at him. The silence in the room was deafening as our gazes met and he drew me in for an all too gentle kiss given the look he shot in my direction when I returned to the room.