Page 21 of Deader than Dead
“I…”
Bellamy shook his head. “Sorry. I just thought it would be something more exciting than that. You seem…”
He trailed off, curiosity getting the better of me. “I seem like what?”
Bellamy smiled. He had a slightly lopsided smile. It was adorable. “I don’t know… More mysterious than that. You have an edge to you.” Before I could say anything, he pushed his chair back, his hand slipping from beneath mine. “Can I use your bathroom?”
“Sure!” I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my voice. Did reanimated people have bodily functions? I hadn’t thought so, but maybe that was because once they were breathing again, my job was over with and I usually left. “Second door on the right.”
Bellamy nodded and left the kitchen, leaving me to contemplate the night’s strange events. How long did I have left with him? Hours? Minutes? What if that was it and he never came out of the bathroom? I got up to pace, the strange sense of calmness that had enveloped me in Bellamy’s presence, gone.
Chapter Twelve
Bellamy
Truth be told, I didn’t really need the bathroom. I needed a moment to gather my scattered thoughts and wrap my head around everything that had happened tonight. Particularly the bit where I’d turned up at a stranger’s door and immediately felt like I’d known him all my life. I hadn’t been lying when I’d said I wanted to kiss John. It went beyond that, though. Way beyond it. Into the realms of where it wasn’t a want, but a need. Where it was all I could think about. A burning compulsion that begged for me to act, to not let the moment pass. So rather than grabbing him and jumping on him, I’d come in here instead. A few moments to collect myself. That was all I needed, and then we could continue our conversation and I could find out more about him.
John. Blue-eyed, blond-haired John. He didn’t look thirty-two. He had the kind of fresh-faced good looks that made him appear far younger. He didn’t look like someone who sold insurance either. I’d probably have had every type going if someone like him had ever approached me.
A dull ache settled in my chest, the lie I’d told about what I did for a living, sitting heavy. What was the alternative, though? Tell him I was a professional thief? That would be great first conversation fodder. Hey, by the way I’m fairly well off because I profit from other’s misfortune. Yeah, it wasn’t the best opening gambit. Not even for a meeting that already made little sense, considering I’d turned up at his house in the middle of the night.
What would he say if I told him? Would his reaction be one of disgust? Or would he understand? What if he wanted nothing more to do with me once he knew? Shit! I just prayed not telling the truth straight off wouldn’t come back to bite me in the ass later. Worst-case scenario, I could quit. I laughed, the acoustics in the bathroom giving it a strange echo. What was wrong with me? I’d known the man for five seconds, and I was already prepared to change my whole life for him, to sacrifice everything I’d worked for just so he wouldn’t walk away. I was one step away from being a stalker. Assuming he didn’t already think I was one.
I flushed the toilet to make my bathroom visit more convincing before moving over to the sink to wash my hands to complete the charade. There was a mirror above the sink, and while the water ran, I studied my reflection. There was no getting past the fact that I looked pale and had dark shadows under my eyes. No wonder Ken, the Uber driver, had described me as looking like death warmed up. John hadn’t seemed to care, though. Not if the way he’d been looking at me was any indication.
My chest itched, and I reached up to scratch it. Now I came to think about it, the same thing had been happening on and off ever since I’d woken in that strange place. Just in that one area, but I’d had more pressing matters to deal with than slight discomfort. Maybe I’d picked up an insect bite or something? Given the dated décor of the place I’d woken up in, it wouldn’t be the most shocking news to discover I’d shared the bed with fleas or bedbugs. And what a lovely thought that was. If it was the case, I’d been lucky to escape with just the one bite.
I pulled my T-shirt up to my chin and stared. There was a circular area on my chest just over my heart, the circle filled with weird markings the likes of which I’d never seen before. It was like something from a horror film, my blood turning to ice. The markings glowed as well. So brightly that I suspected it would still show up if I switched the light off, like a horrific parody of those glow-in-the-dark stars and moons you could buy and place on the bedroom ceiling.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t normal, and it wasn’t something I wanted there a moment longer than it had to be. I forced myself to breathe slowly as I groped for the washcloth and ran it under the tap. It was just marker pen. These days they came in every color, so it wasn’t a great stretch to think they’d come up with one that worked on skin and glowed in the dark. Someone’s idea of a joke during the hours I couldn’t remember. I’d wash it off and everything would be fine.
I dabbed at the edge, the outline of the circle not shifting at all. When gentle didn’t work, I pressed harder, but the result remained the same. The more I scrubbed, and the more it didn’t fade in the slightest, the greater the panic became until I had to let it out. “John,” I shouted, going for his name instead of a scream.
He burst through the bathroom door within seconds, his gaze meeting mine in the mirror before dropping to my chest, words tumbling from my lips before he said a thing. “Something felt strange, so I lifted my T-shirt and found this. I don’t know what it is. Why is it glowing?” I gave it another scrub, this one no more successful than the previous ones had been. “It won’t come off. Why won’t it come off?” There was no keeping the desperation out of my voice. I’d done a great job so far of convincing myself that nothing untoward had happened in that place, but it was wearing thin. “Someone’s done this to me. Why? And why can’t I remember?”
John stepped forward, grabbing hold of my wrist to still my movement, the skin red where I’d scrubbed it, but still glowing. “Shhh… It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay. How can it be okay? How can you say that? Look at me.” I tried to pull my hand away, intent on continuing my ministrations. Maybe if I rubbed the top layer of skin away. He held on fast, though, his grip surprisingly strong. He tugged me forward and before I knew it, I was in his arms and he was squeezing me tight. “It’s okay, Bellamy. It’s okay.” At least wrapped in his embrace, with my head resting on his shoulder, I could no longer see it. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on breathing deeply and calming myself.
With no other distractions, I couldn't think of anything except John, our bodies pressed together. His scent. His warmth. How good he felt against me. This felt right in a way it never had before. Could this night get any crazier? Did he feel the same? Or was this just about comfort for him? I turned my head, my lips scraping against the stubbled curve of his jaw and my hands dropping to the small of his back. When John let out a moan, I smiled. Well, that answered that question. It hadn’t been a quiet moan either. It had been a full-throated one that reeked of frustrated desire. I no longer cared about the thing on my chest. In the space of a few seconds, it had paled into insignificance compared to the endorphins rushing around my body.
It would be crazy to act upon these feelings so soon after meeting. We should date. Get to know each other more. I should confess what I really did for work, so there weren’t lies between us. Time to pull back, to laugh and suggest we returned to John’s kitchen and talked some more. I didn’t do any of those things. Instead, I wound my arms around his neck and tried to get closer, the heat of John’s arousal a burning brand against my hip. We were both breathing hard, both a victim of the sexual energy that pulsed between us. Neither of us was strong enough to resist it.
I tipped my head back and met his gaze, my fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. He looked as shocked as I felt, his eyes half-lidded and his cheeks bearing a rosy flush. Not from embarrassment, though. I could tell the difference. I suspected I wore a similar look. “I want you, John,” I said, my gaze never leaving his. “I want you so damn much.”
He smiled, and it was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. “I want you too.”
When his lips drifted closer, I didn’t hesitate in meeting him halfway, lust surging through me as our lips met for the first time. It was tempered by something more, though. Sweetness, and relief, and happiness, the feeling refusing to go away as we kissed. Tonight had been one hell of a ride, and it seemed it wasn’t over yet.
Chapter Thirteen
John
We kissed like there was no tomorrow, which for one of us there wouldn’t be. I refused to think about that, though, already aware that my earlier theory that losing Bellamy without ever having known him would be more painful, was nothing short of ridiculous. This was going to hurt like nothing had ever hurt before.
But not yet.
His tongue explored my mouth, and I pressed myself more firmly against him, hard cock against hard cock, Bellamy’s hands curving around my ass cheeks to pull me so tightly against him we may as well have been one person. It had never been like this for me before. I’d experienced good sex, but I’d never wanted to merge myself with someone in a way that made it impossible for us to be separated.