Bliss (The Custos) (29 page)

"Consider it done." Leushus said and grabbed two bodies by the belt and hauled them towards the back door. Preacher followed and said he would burn the clothes.

Closing the door behind me I hoped like hell Stupor hadn’t been taken by the Nex and there was some other explanation. If he was taken I prayed like hell he was dead, it was a far better fate.

*

Cash

I made sure our room had no traces of the fight before starting the shower. I thought back to earlier in the night and how she had let me fall between her legs before asking me to stay with her tonight. I hated my pride more now than ever and wished I had. I held her tight to me and let the water wash the blood from both of us. "Look at me Princess...." I said and waited till she looked at me. I cut my tongue deep and kissed her, under the dream state she was in as I fixed her memories she would drink the blood she needed and not come out the other side starved for my cock, because I would take that dire need from her too."I love you, I'm so glad I stayed home tonight."

And like that I took the night from her mind and gave her a new one. One that after she had locked me from the room, I knocked and she let me back in and for the last six hours her mind would tell her how much I loved her, repeatedly taking her with my mouth and my cock and finally spent I took her to the shower to clean her before bed.

My hands stroked her back until I felt the trance state I put her in slowly fade away. She looked up at me and smiled. "I don’t think I can move I'm so stiff." She said and stretched her body against mine. She was stiff but not because of what her mind was telling her and I was relieved to know the wipe worked.

Putting on my best mask I kissed her and spoke against her lips. "Careful stretching Princess, you get to close your going to make this shower pointless." It was true. I was getting hard and damn quick. I'm not a heartless bastard who only thinks of sex. I'm a man naked in a shower with the woman I love who happens to be the sexiest thing I've ever seen.

It's simple biology.

She didn’t care about my threat and wrapped her small hand around my cock. "Better not mess me up then." She said with a smile and fell to her knees. As she stroked me I had to fight for control. No way would I let her do this, not after what she just went through no matter what she said. But as she opened her mouth to take my cock in I hissed and stepped back.

"You know I can’t.” But fuck I wanted it, her mouth was the one orifice of hers my dick hadn’t claimed.

“I want to Cash.” Her lashes closed, drops of water from the shower clinging to them.

“No way, you need food and I need blood and if we start that you'll starve and I'll go into bloodlust." It was almost the truth. Wiping her memories took more from me than I thought and I could hear the blood rushing through her veins. I had begun feeding only from her vein or bagged blood and it was torture to be near her so hot and wet. I felt my fangs throbbing desperate to strike like they had a mind of their own and knew that she was there willing to feed me.

"I have a carotid right here with your name on it." She said smiling and tapped the vein in her neck. Her free hand still on my cock she stroked me again.

I was going to lose control here and had to think fast. Gripping her under her arms I pulled her up against my body. "I can’t feed from you; I have to make sure your fed first. Lets shower and while you eat I will drink me a glass of my finest port and then I'll finish from right here." I slipped my hand between our bodies and stroked her femoral artery. I could feel her heart beat and I closed my eyes to gather strength, wishing like hell that I could keep the promise.

Like a gift from God himself her stomach rumbled right then and she laughed. "Ok maybe I do need food." She smiled and I would be making a large donation to a food bank the following night in thanks for humans and their hunger. "Hey Cash." She said and looked up at me as I reached for the shampoo behind her and began lathering my hands to wash her hair. I loved doing it and she loved letting me.

"Yes Princess?"

"Look at me Vampire." I did and her beauty stilled me. Her green eyes seemed darker, her wet eyelashes were spiked and beads of water dripped from her cheeks and nose and lips. She was fucking delectable. "Thank you for staying tonight. I had a bad feeling and I think it was because I was resenting you for never staying with me. I needed you and you knew I did and stayed. I love you for that."

The guilt from what she said would never leave me, for eternity I would think of this moment and how she was so full of love and trust for me and how I had betrayed that trust and love by making her think I was with her. I felt tears burn my eyes and in all my life I hadn’t cried since I had to end my sons Immortality. I felt the tears and lifted my arm to shield my weakness from her.

She tip toed her tiny frame against me and hugged me close not saying a word because she knew I was ashamed. "I love you." I croaked and turned her so the spray hit her and rinsed her hair. We didn’t say anymore while in the shower. She still touched me and I couldn’t help but touch her but I stayed on course and refused to make love to her. Luckily she accepted it without a fight.

After drying off I lay back on the bed and she smiled before crawling in with me. "You can’t lay here all naked and tasty and expect me to keep my hands to myself." She said it playfully and spoken in true London form I couldn’t help but smile.

"I actually need to talk to you Princess and its important and I need you to agree to not be angry with me until you hear everything."

That had her sitting up, a look of fear and concern on her face. "What now, I have a sister too?"I glared at her only because I needed her full attention. Picking up that I was serious she recoiled. "I promise, what is it?"

I caught some of her thoughts, briefly and my heart broke. "No Princess I am not leaving you."

She seemed to relax so I sat and faced her and pulled her hands into mine and I knew I couldn’t do it. I kept the memory there, and lied.

*

London

"You promised me Cash, this is bull shit." How dare he give me half a night, give me half of what I had always wanted. It didn’t matter that he came back and made love to me, first fast then again slow, and even slower again. Now he waits till I'm spent and ready for bed to tell me he has to go fight tonight. "I'm not a booty call."

He stood from the bed and went to the closet to dress. "Don’t insult me with that shit, you no fucking well I love you and being with you."

"Yeah till you get off, then it's off to war like every night."

He spun on me, dropping his shoulder holster and charging me. His arms gripped my shoulders and I fell back on the bed. "Not like you didn’t get off Princess." He ground his pelvis against me and I could feel he was hard. "Need another go at it? Need to take your anger out? Go ahead use me, but know that I will still need to go out tonight. I don’t shirk on my responsibilities."

I pushed him off of me and he went easily. If he wanted me to stay there I would have had no fight against him, he was only trying to prove his point. But he had lied to me. "Why lie then, why not come back and say you'd stay for a while? Why in the shower you said you would finish feeding from me after I ate? You knew all along you weren’t staying."

He sat on the bed now fully dressed and leaned forward to tuck two small blades in his steel toe boots. He had set two clips on the bed and now took them and put one in each back pocket. "Yell at me later Princess, or don’t. Either way I am going out tonight."

I watched him weapon up and realized that he had been with me tonight without a gun or dagger at his hip, he said and did all the things I had wanted and only now that I'm off his back does he come clean.

Like that I stopped fighting. There was no point, it was getting me nowhere and now I wanted him to leave, the sight of him infuriated me, made me sad and ultimately resent him even more now. "Go then, but know that I may not be here when you get back."

Liar.

He walked to me and stood before me, I expected him to cup my cheek or reach for my hand but he stayed still. "Princess...." He waited till I looked up at him. "I told you once if you leave I'll find you."

Now I
wanted to leave. "Fuck you Cash."

"Later." He said and placed the daggers in his chest holster and his gun on his hip. He was fully armed and he wasn’t buying my bluff, but I wasn’t buying his either. Something was up, he never got this hateful, or annoyed no matter how bad I could get and maybe my bluff was something more.

And I wasn’t sure I was bluffing anymore.

I waited till he left to sit on the bed and break down. Why was it that tonight felt like it was too much? It was just too much.

*

Cash

I was in so much trouble. She didn’t even know I had locked her in the room. Last time I locked her in a place was the van, knowing that didn’t go over well I knew this time would be catastrophic.

I was a real shit, I knew it and I never claimed to be a saint. Tonight I proved how low I could stoop. If what she thought happened tonight was the truth then she had every right to hate me, if she knew the truth she would hate me for keeping the memory hidden, not giving them back though. I was a shit.

If she forgives me for this I am a lucky SOB, if she forgives me for being the major dick I just portrayed, well.... she should be sainted. I had to play mean though, I had to find a way to keep her in the room and away from the Nex death match that took place oh... aaaaaabout an hour ago.

She would kill me for locking her in though, no question about it. I was a dead man now, when she was done I would be a corpse.

I stepped into the kitchen where Leushus and Preacher sat waiting for me. My house, true to their word looked like shit but not like a battle of good and evil took place an hour before. "Where’s London?" Leushus asked eyebrows raised. He knew the minute I did what I did there was no point in explaining my reasons.

"Leave it Leush." I said and reached into the fridge for a bag of blood. Looking for my mug I turned to Preacher. "Where’s my mug?"

"You left it on the counter when you left tonight.” He looked at the mess in the kitchen, the well duh going unsaid. “Got killed in the fight." He pointed to the trash and as I peered in I saw the remains of the word stupid and hissed. "Fucking worthless soulless
Nex
. I'm losing my fucking mind here." I propped my hands on the rim of the sink and hung my head. Was it even possible for a Vampire to get a migraine?

"Where is Cookie?" Preacher asked. Fuck forgot about him.

I took a seat at the table and scrubbed my face with my hands. What to say didn’t matter, he was gonna be pissed. "I didn’t take her memories."

He looked at me dumbfounded. Hm, didn’t expect that.

"What the fuck mate?" He looked at me with shock and a little fury.

Never mind that’s what I expected.

"Look Preach, I fucked up. The memory I gave her apparently was one she liked..... a lot. I couldn’t give her this nightmare back after making a dream of hers come true."

"But you didn’t make her dream come true; this shit is smoke in mirrors. You’re a liar if you don’t show her." He was right but now to give the memories back I would have to take the false one either way she would get hurt and if I wanted any chance of her trusting me again..... Well she would hate me.

"Why is it so bad Preach? For once I was able to take the ugliness from her, to make it all seem a little less frightening." God knew we both deserved a night of peace, though I took any peace she felt before and stomped it till it was good and dead.

"She needed to know what happened tonight Cash. She needs a good dose of reality to wake her arse up and see how serious this is." He stood from the table and threw his Denny's mug in the sink, I heard it break the sound was absolutely depressing. "You went and gave her a lie, a pretty one but at the end of the battle a shit load of ‘
I love you's’
won’t keep her safe, I bloody well know it better than anyone."