(2) Cherries and Dirt
As I stretched and opened my eyes, I was suddenly in a panic. Xavier wasn’t there. I listened for any signs of movement and was freaking out when I heard nothing. After what we have been through, anything could have happened. His scent wasn’t fresh, so he hadn’t been in bed in possibly an hour. My practically healed fingers brushed over the red sheets as if he might appear there at any moment.
“Xavier?” I croaked, sitting straight up in bed.
I threw the blankets back and stumbled out of the bedroom and into the hall. My feet were making a smacking sound as I ran across the cold tile in search of him. Something was wrong, I felt it.
“Xavier?!” I screamed as I made my way towards the garage.
“Lucy?”
I paused in front of the garage door and made my way back up the stairs. Xavier stood in the bedroom looking confused. I examined him thoroughly in case he was hurt or something. He wore his pants, still shirtless, with the bandage still wrapped around him tightly. Immediately, out of relief to see him, I grabbed onto him and hugged tightly.
This shocked him. His hands hovered over me for a moment before gently wrapping around me. I buried my face into his chest and took a deep, unnecessary breath to let his scent fill my nose. It was astonishing that I was so worried about him. I’ve never really been that worried about my creator. He usually got what he deserved in my eyes. Things have changed tremendously since then, though. We just kind of stood there, hugging tightly as if we were about to go up in flames. Who knows, we might just do that.
“I thought the curse…” I explained as we pulled away from each other.
“Yeah, I wonder when that will take effect…” He played with my hair for a minute as he spoke.
“What were you doing, anyway?”
Before he answered my question, he grabbed my hand and led me into the master bathroom. I looked around the bathroom, surprised. Surrounding us were tiny candles, the only thing that was lighting the room. Everything smelled like sweet flowers and…oatmeal? I looked around and noticed how the tub was filled and all bubbly. That’s where the smell of oatmeal was coming from.
“Oatmeal?” I questioned, looking towards the tub.
“It is good for the skin. I think it’ll work on the dead as well. I saw you admiring the bath tub last night and thought you might like to use it.” He closed the bathroom doors behind us and then turned on some soft music. “It’s cheesy, I know.”
“I don’t mind cheesy… I actually like it.”
“Well then, Miss Moore, why don’t you get in the tub?”
Hearing my last name shocked me for over a minute. I stood there, my eyebrow raised, confused by his wording. He never used my last name, because it was too human. I gave a slight smile to show that I wasn’t suspicious.
“Let me take the bandage off first.” He didn’t even ask as he pulled the shirt over my head and started untying the bandage around my stomach.
My expression was sour because he never asks for permission to touch me. His hand brushed over my neck and down to the bandage. Once he removed it he was pleased to find only a pink scar where the wound had been last night. His finger trailed over the mark and he randomly, and gently, bent down to kiss it.
“It was a close call,” he murmured with his lips planting tiny kisses over my stomach.
“It’s always a close call for us, isn’t it?” I sighed with a little smile forming on my lips.
He grabbed my hand and led me to the tub. The hot water was incredible, and the smells were intoxicating. I let out another happy sigh as I let the bubbles go over my body. I wasn’t used to luxury, and this bath was fantastic. Xavier got in after pouring us two wine glasses full of blood and some fancy wine. Music was soft in the background as I closed my eyes and enjoyed everything. When he grabbed my foot and started massaging it, I was in heaven.
“So this is luxury, huh?” I asked while sipping my drink slowly.
“Mmm-hmm.”
The next thing I knew Xavier was kissing me. The intensity of the kiss was obvious because his fangs started to extend. I pulled my hand out of the water and tangled my fingers into his damp hair, fighting the slick tub so that I wouldn’t slide in. He placed one hand on my chest and the other onto the side of the tub so that he wouldn’t fall on top of me. His nose brushed my throat while he inhaled deeply.
“You smell fantastic,” he told me.
“It’s the bath.”
“No… You have a certain smell. Everyone has one…”
He removed his hand from my chest and placed it on the other side of the tub, holding himself above me. I looked at him curiously as he sniffed my shoulder and neck once more. “Oh? What do I smell like?” I wrapped both arms around him so that he was now holding both of us up. It wasn’t tough at all.
“Cherries maybe? It’s hard to tell. What do you think I smell like?”
I pulled myself closer to him and took a deep intake of breath near his jaw. “Dirt?”
He chuckled so hard it nearly caused us both to go underwater. “Dirt?”
“Well, it’s earthy. I mean, it smells pleasant. But you also smell like… Cherries?”
“Mmm, I wonder how I got that scent?” He kissed my jaw softly.
“I like your scent… It’s kind of sexy,” I explained.
He smiled for a moment while one hand went into the water, brushing up my leg. All of our troubles were forgotten. It was just us; him and I, sitting in a hot bath surrounded by bubbles and wine. We were like a newlywed couple. We couldn’t keep our hands off of each other. I always had to feel him there, somewhat alive.
“Can’t wait,” he suddenly said before crushing himself into me.
I wrapped a towel around my body as Xavier drained the tub. “Well, I think I’ve found my favorite spot in the house,” I told him as I handed him a fluffy towel.
“But you haven’t seen every room. I should give you a tour,” he replied with a smirk.
That made me grin. “You definitely should. And please do take your time showing me the details of every room. I wouldn’t want to miss anything.”
He kissed my forehead and then shut off the music. He was acting so much different than his usual self. It was as if we were two humans on our honeymoon and he was the romantic one. I watched as he went into the closet and brought back a long white, button down dress shirt and handed it to me to change it. And because we left the house in a hurry last night, I had nothing to wear underneath. I did make the outfit cute by putting a belt around the center.
“I’m going to need to shop soon,” I announced while he pulled on some pants and a plain white t-shirt that was a bit distracting because it was thin.
“I think I like what you’re wearing now.”
I rolled my eyes dramatically. “I’ll do some shopping online if you prefer…?”
He nodded. “We could shop in some stores if you prefer…? We have to get some more blood anyway. Plus I know of a few tattoo removal places, oh, and we need more bath supplies…” He grinned at the last part and kissed me seductively.
I pulled away quickly. “Tattoo removal?”
“Yes. You have to get that thing removed from you hip. It’s disgusting.”
I shoved his arm off my waist and took a step back. There was my old creator. “I’m not getting it removed. I refuse.”
His jaw tightened ever so slightly at my strong tone. “Lucy, you have to admit how disgusting that thing is. If you don’t remove it…”
“You’ll what?” I snapped. “Will you drug me and have it removed? You do know that won’t set well with me.”
“You do know that having another man’s name tattooed, near a certain part of your body that I really like, is quite offensive to me, right?”
“You know it’s not just his name. It is tattoos of people I miss! I’m not removing them because I like them.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, meaning business. “Lucy…” He wasn’t going to back down until the ink was gone from my hip.
“No! I’m not going to and you shouldn’t force me. Conversation over.” I threw open the door and went into one of the rooms before locking the door behind me.
I looked around the room and was in awe when I realized it was an office. The walls were bookshelves covered in books. Why on earth would Xavier have books when he rarely read? I saw a large desk in between the bookshelves and admired the large desktop computer that looked very expensive. This house really was one of luxury…
I pressed the power button and waited as it came to life. There wasn’t a password, probably because there were hardly any files on it. As I logged online and began shopping to keep my mind off of tattoos, I saw the search history on the computer. Most of the searches were of hotels or towns, while one or two were, err, boys will be boys. I pushed those out of my mind and began reading the town names. Something was strange about them. It then hit me that I had been to all of those towns recently, when I was running from Xavier. He must have been doing some research on places I had been. Again, I was furious with him. I growled and decided to distract myself by doing some online shopping.
After adding several hundred dollars’ worth of clothing, make up, and shoes, I realized I had nothing to pay for it all with. Xavier was the one with credit cards and money. I had to suck it up and ask him for money. What mood would he be an hour after our big fight? I sauntered to the door and unlocked it quietly. As I walked down the stairs I was vaguely aware of his scent nearby. In the middle of the hall, with no shirt, was Xavier doing pushups and counting loudly while doing them.
“Ninety,” he breathed as he continued going at a fast pace.
“Hey…” I said lamely as I watched him exercise.
He waited until he got to one hundred before standing up and facing me. “Yes?”
“I’m ordering some clothes online and was wondering if you have a credit card or something…?” I avoided eye-contact as he stared at me intently.
“I do.”
“Can I have it…?”
We were practically glaring at each other as I waited for an answer. He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “If I give it to you, will you remove—“
“No.”
A low growl escaped his throat out of anger. He was still upset about that? I couldn’t believe a mark on my body would cause so much fury in him. Was it constantly seeing the name of the man he killed? Well, I did see how that would upset him, but how dare he say what I can and cannot have on my own body. I wasn’t sure what to say or do, so I just stood there.
“Please, Xavier, I need clothes other than t-shirt to wear in public,” I begged.
“Please, Lucy, I can’t stand to see your tattoo any longer. I see it every time we—“
“I am keeping it. It means a lot to me.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose as if not to let his anger out on me. “Do whatever the hell you want. Buy a formal gown; we have to dress up for a ball coming up in a few days… Or nights I should say…”
“Ball?” I questioned.
He gave a nod and walked past me into the living room. “Whatever curse was cast on us has to be horrible. We need a witch to break the curse, but unfortunately pretty much all of my witch connections were with that family—the ones that we killed a few members of, that is. However, I do know of a few people that might have some witches strong enough to break the spell. In order to get them to help us, we need to attend their party coming up…”
“How did you know there was a party or ball thingy?”
“They have them four times a year; one for every season. I was planning on attending anyway a few weeks back…” He closed his mouth quickly, as if he said something wrong.
“Why?”
He shrugged.
“Because you were looking for me…?” I asked.
Again, he shrugged. “Get something appropriate and formal to where there. The more expensive looking, the better.” He grabbed his wallet from his back pocket and handing me a credit card. “I highly advise you to get rid of that ugly thing on your hip,” he told me before letting go of the card and stepping away.
He was still angry? How in the world was I ever going to get him off this subject without removing it? Was I going to have to tape something over it? Was he just going to bring it up every time we talked?
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Trouble in paradise for the lovely couple, huh? What do you think of Xavier's romantic gesture and his hostility towards her tattoo? Do you think Lucy is overreacting to his reaction?
Thanks for waiting so patiently, and sorry it's been taking me a while. School has started back up and I have the slowest internet connection.. I hope to start typing up more on MPC =)
Comments and Votes are VERY much loved ^.^
p.s. Happy Birthday, Anastacia! =)