Author's note: I'm finally back to decent health. For those of you who've been worrying, I'm doing better. Also, this chapter is officially the longest in the book, but... there's a reason. I intended to do chapters as a day by day thing because a lot of what I intend to write later on won't make half as much sense without what's already been written.
Also, good news!
When the book is eventually finished, I'll go back at give each chapter a title so people can search what they're looking for specifically a little bit easier. Some people left comments asking questions about what events took place in what part of the story, so I'd like to make it easy for everyone to find those things.
Enjoy the chapter, my lovelies! Look forward to the next!
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Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen
The nights I spent working on Sebastian's jacket were painless, effortless.
After all the drama that had been happening recently, I was actually surprised that everyone was getting along. Diana, Cassidy, Horst, and occasionally Tiffany, Kyle, and even Leo once he came around helped me with the project, with a few inputs from the other wolves who stepped in.
I'd initially been worried about Leo's broken neck, but when he'd come to and had started walking around on the second night after Richard had decked him, he'd seemed more pissed than in pain. I'd kept my eye on him, not having the courage to ask how he was doing, and simply focused on watching over Jak and Horst, who'd been doing a lot of careful talking.
It was nothing serious or heavy, mostly just tentative conversations and hesitant physical contact on Jak's end, such as things like awkward one-armed hugs or the occasional head-pat. It wasn't much, but each interaction put Horst over the moon and I knew Jak could see it no matter how hard the moody teen tried to hide it.
On the fourth day, Cassidy and Diana had given me the option to choose between one of the six fabric models we'd all designed for the jacket we were making for Sebastian. After heavy debate and looking at all of them side by side, I settled on the second creation I'd made since it was the most similar in style to his old jacket. I felt like it would frame his body the same way without taking away from his overall clothing preference. Plus, it definitely looked greaser-related.
The nights after that were chaotic since making a leather jacket was extremely difficult.
First, we had to iron the hides before stitching to make sure things would be in order, and then we had to be extremely careful while puncturing the leather. According to both Cassidy and Diana, once a hole was there, it was there to stay and couldn't be fixed.
Each night was a blur of cutting, ironing, stitching, restitching, careful movements, and plenty of banter since pretty much everyone in the pack came to help us after the seventh day due to how slow it was going and how far behind we were. Even the weird Meyer wolf brothers spent a night in the room, watching us and making the occasional wisecrack on my height or klutziness. I was beginning to think the two of them didn't really like me, but nothing could ruin my emotional high.
The nights were quirky and fun and easy and just felt so right that they instantly became the highlights of my week. Not because things were going well, but because everyone was interacting with me and treating me... well, the same. Like I belonged. I was included in the banter, I was teased and allowed to tease back, and it felt great.
The time I spent throwing my all into making the gift was a shield that protected me against the demons that frustratingly still lurked in the shadows of my mind. Sebastian being gone, the looming party in Italy, the freakish nightmares I'd been having, the weird invisible stalker.
It was like those demons knew not to mess with me then, when I was cheerfully talking and bubbling and verbally daydreaming about how Sebastian was doing, as if I wasn't receiving calls every morning before bed or getting beautiful, heartfelt texts every other hour during the night.
Little things, all piled together, acting like a security blanket I didn't know I needed. It was the days that I dreaded... the days when I had to go to sleep, after that final phone call... the days without Bash were the ones the demons liked. It had gotten a lot better than it was at first.
Guilt-ridden, dark, dreary, sorrowful and disconnected, disjointed, fragmented nightmares so frightening and painful that even thinking about them when I woke up hurt my temple. It was the nightmares. It was the guilt. It was the anger. It was the fear.
It was the strange, faceless vampire that I'd learned had been captured and was being held prisoner. Every other night one of Jak's pack members would come for a bottle of blood. It made my skin crawl and my heart hurt, knowing that soon I would... come face to face with one of my attackers. That soon, I would possibly learn if vampires truly weren't redeemable.
More than anything, though, it was my invisible stalker that made things bad for me.
Those seconds were the worst, the seconds when I could feel that terrifying presence fill up the room, touching me with hands I couldn't see, whispering things that made no sense into my ear, speaking long bits of Latin before teasing me with the slightest bit of English. It was as if with each visit of this invisible creature, he left a part of him inside of me. Haunting me.
Hating me.
For a while, it felt like it would never end even though I hoped it would. I hated it, and was scared of it, after all. I was scared of the feeling of hands on my neck, the threats, the feeling of anger being directed at me, but slowly, my apprehension started to fade. Painfully slowly.
All I had to do was talk to my unseen observer about my relationship with Sebastian for the invisible one, as I'd dubbed him, to go silent and vanish. Deep down... that was the reason I thought my stalker might really be Jasper, but I couldn't be sure and I also couldn't discredit the fact Sebastian D'Agostino was a scary mother fucker. There was a possibility that whoever was messing with me was afraid of him.
I still had nightmares but they weren't happening every time I slept anymore. Now, there were some mornings and afternoons I spent dreamlessly sleeping, which was definitely a step in the right direction.
Overall, by the time the night that Sebastian was supposed to be getting home rolled around a long, busy week and a half later, I was missing him like crazy despite having made a lot of very big progress with everybody, especially Horst and Jak, and I still had to finish up the last bit of stitching on his jacket.
Which brings us to my present big, fat panic attack.
"Diana!" I howled, prancing from foot to foot as I looked for an embroidery needle. "Diana!"
"I'm right here, stop screaming," she hissed, rubbing her ears. "Jesus your voice is shrill."
"You just noticed?" Leo deadpanned from his spot on the bed. "Really? I told you the fucker can shatter eardrums!"
"And you also said he could shatter glass," Richard lowly countered, sitting on a chair from the kitchen with Kyle on his lap; the redhead giggled when he rolled his eyes. "Quit whining!"
"Shut up!" I wailed, clutching my hair in horror. "I need the embroidery needle! Where is it?!"
"It's right here, idiot!" Cassidy barked, holding it out. "Take it and finish it already! It won't be long before he gets here, and if he walks in he's gonna know what we're doing before we're done!"
"NOOOO!" I screeched, shakily trying and failing to thread the needle; my hands shook, making me want to cry from anxiety. "No! No! NO! We worked so hard! We have to--"
"Oh, be quiet and give me that!" Diana irritably snapped, snatching the needle, licking the thread, and jabbing it through the little hole in one go before handing it back to me. "Calm your tits and get it done! This is your special gift to him and we still haven't even wrapped it yet!"
"O-okay," I shakily mumbled, taking a deep breath to calm myself before I continued working on the inner part of the jacket's left arm. "Thank you!"
"This is the first time I've ever seen anyone make a leather jacket," Tiffany said from her spot between Woody's legs. They were sitting over in the corner of the room, cuddling with each other while they watched us scramble around. Woody had been a decent amount of help all week, picking up things I'd been looking for or pointing out what I was missing, but mostly he and Tiffany had just been there for moral support.
"Ah!" I squeaked, paling. "Uh, I need some of the shiny, synthetic thread!"
"What color!" Horst called, quickly clopping over to some drawers and rummaging around. "There are a fuck ton!"
"Red!" I worriedly called back, poking my tongue out as I finished the last stitch and Cassidy stepped in to make sure it would permanently stay.
"You only have around ten minutes before Sebastian's plane is supposed to land, correct?" Jak asked from where he was leaning against the wall beside the Meyer brothers, who were both playing handheld games and not really paying attention.
"Yes," I told him, then called, "hey, Horst! Please hurry!"
"Girdle your panties already, crybaby!" he groaned. "I'm comin', I'm comin'! Damn!"
"Thanks!" I breathed, ponytail swinging when I snagged another needle and turned to see him quickly trotting over with several spools of glossy, shinny, iridescent red thread in his hands. I took the one that looked the prettiest when he held it out. "You're the best."
"Fuckin' yeah," he said smugly, bobbing his head as he preened. "You know it."
I rolled my eyes and slugged him in the arm, which made him laugh and trot back over to his father who looked at him with a raised eyebrow. I took a deep breath as I threaded the needle and attempted to finish what I'd started. I was just about done when my phone chimed.
Everyone froze.
My heart turned to ice.
Woody and Tiffany grinned at each other while I quickly finished up the last of the stitching and waved at Diana to take over. Taking a deep breath to steady my racing nerves, I pulled my phone out and opened the text. My first reaction when I saw what was written was to squeal.
Sebastian (4:23 A.M.) "I'm on my way home, Beloved. It will take a bit longer than I intended since one of my employees hired a cab to pick me up without asking me what I desired."
My fingers flew as I replied, "Oh, okay! How long until you get back here?"
Sebastian (4:24 A.M.) "Roughly another twenty minutes. Playing along with humans can be tiresome sometimes. However, I am finally ahead of my work so I won't have to leave again, and I've also set things up with my companies so I can do such work from home."
I instantly danced around and shrieked.
"Ugh, again?!" Leo growled, wincing as I vented my raw, no-direction emotion. "Shut up!"
"HE'LL BE HERE IN TWENTY MINUTES!" I wailed, prancing around. "We still have to get the jacket in a box and put wrapping paper on it!"
Wood instantly stood up, bringing Tiffany with him; she gasped and giggled when he set her aside with a peck on her cheek before lumbering over to the box we'd chosen to put the jacket in the previous day. He opened it and set it on the floor while I carefully extracted the jacket from its mannequin and put it on. Everyone held their breath when Diana walked around, making me twist, and turn, and zip it up, and open the zip-up pockets, and then came the final test.
Durability.
I squeezed my eyes shut with my jaw clenched as she started jerking on the jacket itself, tugging and jerking and dragging with extreme force in several different places. She even stood in front of me and jerked me around by the collar. The whole room was silent.
I was terrified. This was the moment of no return.
If it ripped, there wouldn't be time to fix it.
Please, please, please, please, please, I chanted, crossing my fingers as she jerked hard enough to throw me around the room only to catch me and whip me in another direction. PLEAAAASE!
Finally, she stopped.
"It's perfect," she said smugly. "Put it in the box and wrap it up."
Nearly everyone in the room, including myself, cheered.
"YES! We finished it!!" I squeaked, shaking with delight; then I froze. "Oh, WAIT!"
Instead of taking it off, I tugged the jacket around me even further and jiggled myself around, bouncing and jumping and exerting myself to work up a sweat. I was a panting, miserable, overheated mess by the time I finished, but after I took it off, I rubbed the jacket on my neck and face and squeezed it beneath my underarms which made literally everyone roll their eyes.
Diana, however, looked downright amused.
"I never thought I'd see a vampire scenting something, let alone a gift for a werewolf," she tauntingly drawled, and I flushed hotly; however, I continued rubbing for another minute despite this, frantically. "Aerin... he's going to love it. You know that, right?"
"I'm hoping," I told her, shakily folding up the masterpiece we'd all mad and setting it into the box; Woody instantly put the lid on it and got to work with the wrapping, green eyes glittering with mirth and subtle delight. My phone chimed again, though, so I looked at my texts.
Sebastian (4:31 A.M.) "So... did you drink all the blood I left for you?"
"Yes," I texted back, smiling to myself. "So... about New York. Any other photos?"
There was a pause, and I blinked, tilting my head, but then my phone chimed.
I gasped, eyes going buggy as I received another photo, only this one was a selfie of Sebastian standing totally naked in the hotel room, flexing one powerful arm in front of the gorgeous windows featuring the best view of Manhattan I'd ever seen. His hair was wet from showering and his muscled, sculpted skin was glistening like something out of a sexy magazine.
"He's going to be the death of me," I uttered, swallowing my arousal with a hard gulp. However, two could play that game. I quickly scrolled through my own photos, finding one of me lying in his bed without clothes, my long hair sprawled across my torso and face in a pretty way.
I'd angled the camera back so you could see my whole body, but had skillfully kept my legs together in a pose that revealed absolutely nothing. It was the perfect tease for the teaser. Wriggling, I sent the photo to him with a blush and waited with my shoulders hunched.
His response was almost immediate.
Sebastian: (4:34 A.M.) "Are you trying to seduce me?"
"Maaaaybe," I texted back, smirking. "How long until you get here?"
Just knowing that I was about to give him a gift made my heart thump excitedly in my chest. I wiggled my toes and glanced at Woody, who was just finishing up the wrapping by tying the ribbon keeping it closed into a bow. It looked almost like a perfect Christmas present.
My phone chimed.
Sebastian (4:36 A.M.) "Five minutes. I paid the driver to go faster."
I felt a flutter in my chest.
Oh, God. Five minutes. I felt my anxiety spike and took a breath to calm myself, but the calm went out the window when Woody held out the box and smiled at me. I took it with shaking hands, wondering how I was going to give this to him.
"What if it doesn't fit right?" I asked, hoping someone would give me an answer. After a second, I decided to snag his old jacket and put that on so he wouldn't want it immediately.
It was just as ridiculously oversized as the one I'd made for him, which made me feel better.
"Honey, it's gonna fit, just be patient and watch," Diana chided, cleaning up her things. "I think you all should get out and act casual. Aerin, go run the present up to his room and hide it."
"H-hide it?" I asked. "Why?"
Woody tapped my arm and I turned to see him sign, 'You want it to be a surprise, don't you?'
"Yeah, of course," I said with a fierce nod. "That's the whole point!"
'Then you have to act natural,' Woody gestured, then froze; similarly, everyone went still.
"Oh, he's back, the car just pulled in!" Tiffany exclaimed, eyes widening.
"GO! Idiot!" Horst hissed, making a frantic shooing motion. "HURRY!"
I took the wrapped present and bolted out of the room, tearing down the hall and around the corners for the stairs as fast as I could without using supernatural speed. My phone chimed again along the way but I ignored it and frantically pounded my way up the steps. I bolted for the open door to his bedroom, flying inside and quickly stuffing the gift under the bed.
Once that was done, I pulled my phone out and looked at the text.
Sebastian: (4:43 A.M.) "I'm here."
My heart jumped and I smiled, trotting for the door and quickly heading back downstairs, buzzing and tingling and mostly feeling like I wanted to cry from excitement. I'd actually done it. I'd actually pulled off making him something wonderful with everyone's help.
Just as I rounded the hall leading to the front doors, a waft of cold air hit me and I froze.
I heard a rustle, and a familiar grunt, and then... there he was.
His head swiveled to look at me as his scent washed down the hall, familiar and warm and... I'd missed it, actually, the feeling and presence of him. His mouth quirked when I bolted right at him, amber eyes dimming into darkness like embers going out as I tackled him.
I squeezed him around the middle and buried my face in his glorious-smelling shirt.
His arms immediately came around me, the fabric of his clothes cold and soothing and wonderful. I heard a chuckle as he petted my head and ran his fingers through my hair.
"Welcome home!" I whispered. "I missed you."
Sebastian wrapped me up and squeezed me. "And I, you."
I smiled, nuzzling his shirt, squeezing him.
"Welcome back," Leo's voice said, and I finally dislodged. Sebastian turned, obviously intending to greet the blonde, but he stopped dead when he saw the neck brace keeping his head stiff.
"What happened?" he asked, eyes sharpening. "Who hurt you?"
"Richard and I scrapped a bit, nothing serious," Leo drawled, waving a hand. "We're fine now."
"He broke your neck," Sebastian deadpanned. "That's hardly fine."
"I'm alive, aren't I?" the German demanded, rolling his eyes. "Don't worry about me, I'm okay."
"We've settled it," Richard added, coming into view with everybody else, including Jak, Horst, Jun, Kyle, Tiffany, Woody, and the Meyer brothers. "Welcome back, Se-bitch."
"Good to be back, Ri-dickhead," Sebastian easily returned.
"BAAASSH!" Tiffany shrieked, running right at him with her arms open, but when he glared with a warning growl she faltered before remembering the conversation they'd already had. She instantly slowed down but couldn't keep from bouncing when she hugged him. "Welcome back! We missed you!"
"Mm-hm," he grunted, patting her back. "Thank you for being careful this time."
"Ugh, you're such a worry wart," she laughed. "Good to have you back, Daddy."
His face instantly twitched, and I realized for the first time that he had facial hair. His beard was growing back in... the realization almost deterred my attention from the glare in his eyes.
"Ew!" Kyle groaned when she awkwardly laughed and pranced over to Woody. "Stop!"
"Why?" Richard deadpanned, wrapping an arm around him. "You have no trouble calling me --"
"DICKY!" he instantly squealed, smacking the bald man repeatedly even though he only chuckled deep in the back of his throat. "YOU NAUGHTY SKINHEAD! BAD! BAD BOY!"
"You mean bad Daddy," he snorted, catching his wrist and groping his rear with a fuck-off-before-I-fuck-you smile on his face. "Shut up and be good."
"Oooh, you're so in the dog house," Kyle growled. "You're couching tonight."
Dick simply rolled his eyes.
"We'll see, Babe," he said, then turned his attention back on Sebastian and said, "anyway, since you're back, I'm gonna head out for a bit. I have plans to ride my motorcycle around today."
"Do as you will," Sebastian muttered, watching as everyone dispersed. I saw Horst give me a subtle thumbs up before disappearing down the hall after Jak, who vanished without a word.
Suddenly, it was just Sebastian and I standing there in the hallway.
He looked down at me for the longest time, something in his expression hinting towards amusement and languidness and that oh-so-familiar arrogance I'd surprisingly missed. I watched as he shouldered all of his luggage and smirked at me.
"You're rosy-cheeked," he noted, moving past me. "How did things go during my absence?"
"Good, surprisingly," I told him, instantly falling into step beside him as he headed for the stairs. "I made a ton of progress with Jak and Horst, and I even managed to get myself on much better terms with Leo. I sorta feel like I'm actually fitting in with everybody for the first time!"
"Oh?" he purred, casting me an enlightened glance. "All without me being here, hn?"
"Yep! I managed to spend time with everyone!" I cheerfully told him, but then I paused and let out a sigh. "I'm still having nightmares, though, and... you know, being visited by that... creep."
His footsteps faltered for a second, but his face turned stony.
His nostrils flared for a second in anger that was very poorly hidden.
"Ignore it unless he tries to hurt you," he told me. "If he does, you and I are going vampire hunting and I'm gonna catch him. I'll let you decide what I do with him, just to be nice. I have enough on my plate with a crazed vampire sitting in my second home's isolation room."
"I don't want to think about stuff like that," I said, shaking my head and latching onto his arm. "I just wanna be happy that you're back, and... you know, relax. At least until we head to Italy."
"Speaking of that," he told me, "I have the plane tickets. We leave on November fifth."
"What's today?" I asked.
"October twenty ninth," he told me. "It won't be too long, but don't worry. I've already bought multiple outfits for you to wear when we go. It's going to be a very high-class tip which means you'll have to wear nice clothes, and I certainly didn't hold myself back on the selection."
"Okay, so... what sort of stuff did you buy?" I asked, perking up. "Tuxedos? Suits? Ooh, capes?"
"No capes, sadly, but I bought you several suits just in case you felt the urge to wear them," he grunted, but just as we made it to the top of the stairs he twisted to look down at me. "I also bought you some of the most beautiful gowns I could find. I don't care what you wear, you'll be beautiful no matter what you choose."
"Do you really mean that?" I asked. "You do tend to like it when I dress up."
"I love you, Dumbass," he deadpanned, giving me a sour face. "Not the clothes you wear. Certain types of outfits are a turn on for me but only if they suit the person wearing them. Considering how I feel about you, whether its rags or silk you'll still feel the same against me either way."
I flushed hot and tucked my chin into my shirt, shoulders bunching.
"Then... I'll... I'll wear one of the gowns you picked, maybe," I peeped, but he simply snorted and roughly flicked my nose. "Ow!"
"Don't decide anything just yet, Fool, there's plenty of time and we'll be there for about a week, maybe longer depending on whether you're interested in seeing the sights," he rumbled, slinking down the hall with a cocky swagger. "Come, Love."
"Aren't you tired or feeling jet-lagged?" I asked, trotting after him while I rubbed my nose.
"No," he told me, stepping into his room and carelessly dropping his luggage on his floor. "Why?"
"Just curious," I told him, staring intently at my fiddling hands. "I missed you."
"Hn," was his articulate response. There was silence, but then I heard, "Aerin."
I startled from my thoughts to see him looking at me with slight concern.
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure you're all right?"
I blinked. "I'm fine."
Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "You've got the smell of my pack all over you, which means you were physical with nearly everyone. They didn't... hurt you, did they?"
"No!" I instantly exclaimed, shaking my head. "No way! We did stuff together all week!"
"That so?"
"Yeah, we were in close contact for some stuff, like a cooking lesson I had with Diana and... you know, roughhousing with Woody and Horst. I even got hugged by Kyle and Tiffany. Jak and I also sort of broke down over a personal conversation early in the week so I hugged him, too."
"Really?" he asked me, eyes beginning to shine with... was that pride? "It went that well?"
My heart thundered in my throat and I couldn't hide it anymore.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out, I stepped forward and set my hands on his chest, spreading out and pushing his coat backwards until he allowed it to fall off his body. He looked down at me with a curiously raised eyebrow as I pushed him towards the bed.
He stepped backwards and allowed me to sit him down, and then I leaned forward and kissed him.
It was electric.
My heart palpitated and it suddenly occurred to me why people called it falling in love. Sebastian chuckled, a low laugh that rumbled against me and made me want to purr, and I came back to my senses just long enough to remember why I'd sat him down in the first place.
I pulled away, then sank down in front of him on both knees to clasp his hands. He seemed surprised, but I simply smiled and squeezed his palms, trying to conceal my nervous tremble, though based on the way he squeezed back I wasn't hiding it very well.
"Over the last few months," I told him, staring directly into the soul behind those eyes, "being with you was like riding a seriously chaotic roller coaster. It was... frightening at first. I thought I was gonna die, and I hated it, but as I kept riding... as we kept going, I began to realize just how wonderful it was. You've given me so much, Sebastian... a home... a family... love, so much love, and most importantly you gave me you. Your all, your everything."
"Of... of course," he said, looking at me equal parts wary and flustered if I was judging his darkening ears and nose correctly. "Beloved, what brought this on?"
"The fact that I love you," I told him, beaming my biggest smile. "Close your eyes, Babe."
He blinked, frowning, but he must have seen how excited I was since he did so without complaint. I flailed my hands rapidly and flopped across the floor, scrambling to pull the wrapped gift out from under the bed, and when I did I held my breath.
I set it on my knees and looked up at his handsome face.
At his long, proud angular nose, those exotic upturned eyes with the thick black eyebrows framing them wildly, the strong, square jaw with its smattering of black facial hair. His curls were still just as long as they'd been before, perhaps even a tad longer since he hadn't cut them.
"Why am I keeping my eyes closed?" he flatly demanded, letting loose a pert huff through his nose. "I can hear something rustling and I smell something, too."
"Enough acting like a cop's bloodhound!" I laughed, taking a deep breath. "All right... open!"
His eyes slid open and he blinked, leaning back when I thrust the present out. He stared at it in actual bewilderment for a long moment, then glanced at me. "What is this?"
"A gift!" I told him excitedly, bouncing when he took it. "For being such an awesome boyfriend!"
He smirked a little cockily but looked down at the brightly colored red box with its Santa faces and a big yellow decorative ribbon keeping it closed. He seemed amused.
"Is this the same Christmas wrapping paper I've kept in my basement for thirty years?" he inquired, stroking the box with an inquisitive eye. "Well, I guess it found a proper use."
"It was all I could find on-hand," I sheepishly admitted. Sebastian eyed the box, turning it over in his big hands as a look of lazy contemplation washed over his face.
"What is it?" he asked, almost coyly. He lifted it close to his face and stared at it for a few moments, inhaling deeply and making a show of shaking it. "Is it coal? I've been naughty enough to get a mountain of it this year."
"Well, I mean, ya see," I said with an amused, over-exaggerated smirk, "there's this thing about presents, you sort of have to unwrap them to find out what's inside."
He shot a sarcastic glance my way. "Thank you, oh intelligent one, I never would have guessed."
"Just open it," I chuckled, trying to ignore the nervous hammering of my heart. "Please?"
"Okay," he purred; I could tell by the look on his face that he could hear my anxiety and possibly even smell it. He rolled his eyes and peeled off the wrapping paper with an excruciating slowness, in what I assumed was an attempt to increase the tension.
I watched, bouncing harder, practically flailing in dismay as he ripped it away strip by little strip.
He gave me another not-smile as he took an entire thirty seconds to peel away one bit of paper.
My brain couldn't handle it and I overloaded.
"For God's sake," I whined. "Just open it already!"
My heart pounded harder with every passing second and my palms started to sweat. I found it almost ironic; I had nearly been harmed by a rabid vampire, had overcome being butchered by werewolves many times, and had even been stalked by an unseen vampire.
It was funny. This was more nerve-wracking than all of them combined.
I bit my tongue, squeezing my hands together and puffing my cheeks out in barely-contained delight as he unraveled until, finally, the wrapping paper fell from the package, followed by the shoe box lid. His eyebrows shot up and his whole face froze.
With shaking hands and a twitching mouth, Sebastian gently touched the black leather inside the box. For me, it was like time stopped: judging from the startled look on his face, he didn't know what to do as he stared at the jacket within. He looked a bit baffled, honestly.
"What is this?" he asked, glowing eyes taking in every detail. "Where did you... get this?"
"I didn't get it," I told him, and his eyes flashed up to narrow at me. "I made it for you."
My grumpy werewolf looked speechless when I said it... absolutely speechless: his eyes had grown large and his expression was totally blank. He looked back down at the jacket and carefully pulled it out of the box, holding it up in front of his eyes with shock on his face.
"You made this?" he asked in a voice so small it made my heart squeeze. "Truly?"
"With help from everyone here," I said, nodding. "Diana and Cassidy were lifesavers since there was a lot I didn't know about when it came to stitching together leather. It only turned out so good this quick because literally everyone in this house, even Jak and Horst, pitched in."
"To make this?" he whispered, as if he couldn't believe it; I watched his fingers slide across the leather, touching it in a way that had me grinning happily. "To make me this?"
"Yes," I told him, setting a hand on his thigh. "I wanted to give you something special. You told me that you loved the nineteen forties greaser style and that you were a bit upset because there were no more jackets like the one you always wear."
"I did say that..."
"Yeah, and your old jacket carries a lot of really sad memories, right?" I added. "That's why I decided to make you a new one in a forties vintage style."
He was silent.
One big hand slid into the heavy satin-coated interior of a sleeve, feeling it.
I couldn't see his face past the black leather.
"You made this," he repeated one last time. "Aerin... really?"
My heart sank a little at his tone.
I began to get worried.
"Do you not like it?" I asked, hesitant, but instead of trying to talk, he glided to his feet and wordlessly brought it to his face, audibly inhaling the jacket before swinging it around and draping it over his shoulders. I watched, stunned, as he slid his arms through the sleeves.
He jerked on the edges to straighten it and looked down at me with an unreadable expression.
He looks so good! I realized, eyes widening in awe. Even better than he did in his old jacket!
The design made his shoulders look broader and clung to his waist in a comfortable way. The hem ended a little above his waistline like many jackets of the era, and it was tight against the lower torso in a fashionable, pleasant, badass if-you-fuck-with-me-I'll-fuck-you-up kinda way.
I blinked, scrunching my face when a drip of water landed on my face.
I touched my cheek and pulled my finger away, but then another hit my wrist, and then another landed on the back of my hand. Confused, I raised my eyes... and then, my whole stomach seized and I felt like my heart shattered. To my absolute horror, Sebastian was fucking crying.
His jaw was clenched and his eyes were crinkled, face pulled tight into an expression of pain.
"Baby!" I gasped, instantly lunging upright and fretting over him. "Oh, fuck... oh, no, I--"
"Shut up, you beautiful creature," he whispered, pulling me into the softest hug I'd ever been given by him, period, in all the weeks we'd been together. "Fuck... fuck, fuck, fuck!"
"Are you okay?" I asked, hugging him back when he let out a shaken breath of air. "Bash... I didn't mean to make you cry! I didn't think that giving you a new jacket would hurt you!"
"Hurt me?!" he instantly choked, letting out an odd sound. "Aerin... I love it! You... you never fail to amaze me. Never. You go so far... I never... God, I've never received a gift like this."
My heart swelled and I smiled before it faded a little.
"That's not true," I reluctantly pointed out, rubbing him as he rocked us back and forth. "Jasper gave you the jacket I'm wearing, remember? I... well, I'm just reusing an ex's idea... so--"
"He bought my jacket at a thrift store for three measly dollars in eighteen sixty five, only a year before he disappeared on me," he chuckled, squeezing me. I could hear more wet drops landing on the leather coating my shoulders. "This jacket... it was made for me. You made me this, and looks good. So good."
"You like it?" I asked. "Really?"
"I'll never go anywhere without it," he shakily ground out, wiping his face. "Shit... the things you do to me. I haven't shed tears like this in... probably over two hundred years. This jacket... its definitely my fuckin' style and I'm gonna rock it for you. I'll wear it every single fuckin' day."
"It was no problem," I peeped, waving my arms and patting his back. "Really."
"Thank you," he mumbled again, kissing my forehead.
Unable to stop myself, I pulled away reached up until my hands were grasping either side of his face. I felt the scratchy stubble growing there, ran my thumbs across it, surveyed the drops of water that had collected on the chocolate brown lashes that surrounded those unearthly eyes.
"Sebastian." I stated softly, brushing his tears away with my thumbs. "I love you."
"This is... by far... the best gift I've ever received," he told me, giving me a look that made me weak in the knees. "I--"
Before he could even really start that sentence, my hands were on his collar, pulling him down while I went up on my toes, until our lips met in the middle. His mouth was much softer and hotter than I remembered. They soon began to meet my own with a fervor that stunned me. Hands burned into me like the stars as he pulled me closer, and for a second I didn't feel real.
For a second the world stopped spinning, and with it, my thoughts. When we finally broke away for air, Sebastian's hands were cupped around my face and my own were buried in his shirt. His chest heaved, pupils blown wide, hands gentle but firm around my face.
"I love you," he whispered, the darkness of his dilated gaze drinking in every last inch of me as if trying to burn the memory of my face into his mind. Then his lips were on mine.
I melted, tingling at the static and sparks between our skin.
I'd never much liked kissing before Sebastian. It had felt to me like such a bland, odd act.
Kissing William had never made me feel this way. He'd kissed me gently, but like he was calmly stealing something precious from my heart. Sebastian's kisses were... rough, and forceful, and brutish, and wild, but he still somehow managed to kiss like he wanted to give me something.
Like he had a secret that he couldn't wait to share, a secret he was saving exclusively for me.
My breath grew heavy under his ministrations.
The secrets in his kisses were always different. Sometimes they were hushed words of pain or pleasure, but right then, as his fingers skimmed my ribs and pushed the leather from my arms, his lips tingled with feelings and movements of sheer, passionate, heated love and lust.
I let myself bask in his heat
Our lips broke, only momentarily, for him to pin me against his bed, shirt and leather jacket still on, the fabric enfolding me just as much as his arms. My fingers explored his stomach and chest beneath his shirt. Tracing the muscles and scars that lay there. Mapping out the long life that had somehow led him to me. His eyes looked into mine as he held me against his bed.
I gasped as he bent down and kissed my throat, scraping his extremely long fangs over my jugular and licking my tingling skin. He nipped, and nibbled, and finally leaned in, kissing the juncture between my throat and shoulder, latching onto it with a powerful pull.
I flinched, twitching at the sensation of him lavishing such attention on my skin.
He pulled back after a second, eyes glazed, and looked at my skin.
"Beautiful," he whispered, kissing the sizable hicky he'd just left. "I'm going to leave marks just like this all over you... then I'm gonna break you again without restraint... and after I've had my way with you, I'm gonna heal you and lick you to heaven. I fuckin' love you."
"I know, and as... t-t-tempting as that sounds," I stammered, flushing hot as he nibbled on my earlobe, heat and warm breath and a smirk touching my flesh, "I want to make you something to eat and spend a bit of time together. Like, maybe we can watch a movie?"
"Hm?" he asked, looking surprised. "You want to cook for me?"
"Basically," I admitted. "I don't think I'm capable of making anything too complicated right now since I can't taste, but I could make you breakfast if you want."
"Like what?" he asked, brows quirking in what I thought may have been hope; "Pancakes?"
"Those aren't really a hearty breakfast," I said, thinking a bit, "but if you want them, sure!"
He got off me and pulled back, watching as I got up myself and dug around in my bag. I felt no more twinges from my wrist while I was doing so, and after glancing at the splint I carefully decided to take it off. I heard a sigh when I discarded it and rolled my hand around.
I felt no more discomfort or pain, even when I put pressure on the floor and leaned in.
"You look good in that position," Sebastian remarked, and I turned to look back at him in confusion to see that he was looking at my jean-clad butt with hungry eyes.
"Oh, thank you," I said sweetly, wiggling a little; his eyes flared bright for a second and he licked his teeth as he mentally undressed me, "but you need to eat, and then we cuddle to a movie."
"Fine." he purred, breathing a little hard past his fangs. "I know what I want for breakfast."
"Really?" I asked, surprised.
"Damn straight."
"Okay!" I chirped, righting myself with a grin. "So, uh, what would you like?"
He smiled devilishly and swaggered forward, leaning down to clamp my ass and drag me against the front of his bulging groin, wiggling his brows. "You."
I threw my head back and groaned, "Oh my God," but before I could blink he scooped me up.
"Come on, Beautiful," he growled, but his voice was nearly lost on me when I buried my nose into his neck. I took a deep breath of the scent that lay there and felt my mind go fuzzy as a result. "Oh? Already breathing me in?"
"Yes," I told him, flopping back and letting myself become dead weight as he carried me down the hall. I giggled, letting my head fall back so that I could watch everything pass by upside down. "You smell good."
"And you smell even better," Sebastian purred, "but, you're right. I haven't eaten in three days. I am hungry, and not just for you"
I remained upside down but quickly started to feel nauseous at the sensation. I squirmed around and let out a small "help" until Sebastian righted me back up. He brushed my lips with his thumb. I took a moment to fight back the waves of heat crashing over me.
"Want to watch Harry Potter?" I asked. "While you eat?"
Sebastian looked taken aback by my sudden question. "What?"
"The movie," I told him. "You know, wizards, witches, magic? Meme culture? Hairy Wizard boy?"
"Oh, that," he snorted, eyes filling up with recognition. "Haven't heard about those films in decades. Alright, I guess we can make that happen, but Harry Potter isn't a sexy film."
I raised an eyebrow. "I know where your mind is at."
"Always," he chuckled, giving me smirk as he carried me into the kitchen. "I've only ever been able to get turned on when I'm in love, so I think you can piece together what I'm feeling."
So saying, he grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand down to cup his bulging groin. I felt my skin flush hotly and my ears burned, but I didn't hesitate and caressed that mouthwatering bulge.
"Careful, you're gonna bend the poor thing!" I mockingly gasped, making my eyes wide. "It needs to be treated with tender love and care--oof!"
I wheezed when he dropped me on the kitchen counter.
"Careful what you say," he told me, mouth curling into a ferocious grin, "otherwise that smart mouth of yours might be doing the tender loving and caring right here in the kitchen."
I scoffed, but he simply wagged his brows again and gave me a a soft kiss on the head, which defused some of the tension from his sexual threat. I watched as he puttered around, dazed by the fact that he'd loved his jacket, until I realized I was supposed to be making him breakfast.
"Hey, I'll do it," I told him, but he held out a hand and I stopped.
"No, you sit there," he told me, heading into the pantry and coming back out with a loaf of bread; I blinked, watching as he pulled some lettuce, mayonnaise, and salami out of the refrigerator. After grabbing a butter knife from a drawer, he quickly and skillfully made himself ten delicious-looking sandwiches full of everything he'd pulled out.
After plopping it all on a plate, he lifted me up and over his head, setting me down onto his shoulders. I leaned down, trying to avoid hitting my head on the light fixture as he snagged his plate, grabbed a bottle of beer, and made his way out of the kitchen.
Five minutes later, we were back in his room, and ten minutes later found us snuggling in his bed in our pajamas with the first Harry Potter movie starting with its familiar introduction music.
He munched periodically while we watched, and I lay curled up next to him, head comfortably squashed against his armpit. I didn't intend to start falling asleep, but it happened, and soon, too. I slowly fell into that half-aware state, the place where reality blended into dream.
That lovely state where you could fall out of your consciousness without even knowing.
"Aerin...?"
Aerin? Who was that? My mind roused a little and I sighed, nuzzling the delicious warmth.
Oh yeah. I'm Aerin, I sleepily mused, fading, And he's Sebastian.
Right... Sebastian. Sebastian who'd upturned my life. Sebastian who'd made it better. Sebastian who'd claimed me with a bite, mated with me as the werewolves do, and had then burned me into his heart to show that I had power over it, so we could be healthy equals in this relationship. As I fell asleep against the man who I knew was becoming the one of my dreams, I was content.
I was happy he was home.
It hit me, just before I winked out, that I finally felt like I'd found it.
Home.