Life's Blood (The Cordelia Chronicles) (6 page)

“No, babe, I was just right,” I said. “How about you? Did you sleep
at all
?”

Chaseyn didn’t need as much sleep as the average person, but he needed to recharge no less. And, now that I knew he was prone to at least some mortal weaknesses, I worried he didn’t take enough time to rest on a daily basis.

“I slept better than I have in years,” he replied. “I think I made it four whole hours before I needed to occupy myself some other way.”

That was saying a lot since I don’t think Chaseyn had slept more than six hours out of every 72 the entire time I’d known him.

“Do you think it was the bed? It’s super comfy,” I said, wiggling my bum into the cushy pillow-top mattress.

“I think it was you,” he said, stealing the spoonful of cereal from my hand and popping it into his own mouth.

“Well, whatever it was, I’m glad. You need your beauty rest,” I said through a mouthful of food. “Actually, on second thought, no, you don’t. If resting makes you any more beautiful, I think it will literally hurt to look at you.”

Chaseyn just laughed and pushed to his feet. I started to throw back the covers when he stopped me.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.

“I’m getting out of bed so we can finish unpacking,” I replied. “There’s still a ton for us to do before I start school tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Chaseyn replied.

“What did you do?”

“Well, I was wide awake by four, so I thought I would do a little bit more work downstairs.”

“How much more?”

“Let’s just say I got enough done that we can laze away the rest of the day in bed,” he said coyly.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know,” he said, stripping down to his boxers. “But I wanted to. I had a lot of motivation to get back to bed.”

With that, he crawled back under the covers and snuggled up beside me. Despite the cold feel of his skin on mine, electricity sparked between us. It was like this every time we touched, and the feeling never got old. I wondered if everyone experienced this with the person they were meant to be with, or if this was something special we shared. Perhaps because of our immortal-human connection.

“So you’re saying we have an entire day alone together in bed?” I asked sheepishly.

Chaseyn nodded as he nuzzled his nose against my ear.

“How we will fill the time?”

In an instant, he had me pinned beneath the blankets, my hands raised over my head. He held both my wrists securely with one hand. And then, he pressed his lips against mine--softly, gently at first, as if he was asking my permission to proceed.

After a moment or two, our passion grew so intense that we could no longer hold back our longing. Chaseyn released his grip, and my arms found their way to his shoulders. His bare shoulders. I ran my fingers down the length of his back, memorizing every muscle as it flexed beneath my touch. I caressed his sides, feeling each rib, and I noted how it made him giggle like a little boy. Ticklish. I’d have to remember that.

I brought my hands around to his chest--to his smooth, chiseled pecs--and a moan thrummed inside his throat. I could feel how much he wanted me, and it was all I could do to keep from pulling off my sleep shirt and succumbing to whatever pleasures he would surely bestow upon my body.

I twined my legs with his and forced him onto his back so I was straddling his abdomen, and then I began trailing kisses down his chest. I pushed the duvet down so I could see the beauty of his body in broad daylight. This was the first opportunity I’d had in our time together to fully appreciate the magnificence of his masculine build--broad shoulders, narrow waist, six-pack abs, thick thighs, and most importantly strong arms. Arms that would hold me close and keep me safe. I squeezed his biceps as I crushed my mouth against his.

When we’d had our fill--if it was possible for us to ever get our fill of one another--Chaseyn rolled from the bed and tossed a few logs into the fireplace. Soon, the crackling, popping sound of burning wood filled the room. I dashed to the bathroom to freshen up a bit before crawling back under the duvet--which Chaseyn had restored to its rightful place on top of the bed. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and I rested my head against his chest. I loved hearing his heartbeat, and it meant a lot to me that we still shared that human connection. Though I had only been awake a short while, I felt my eyes begin to droop. And just as I was about to give in, Chaseyn stirred.

“Was that okay?” Chaseyn murmured into my hair.

All I could do was nod my head. Once again, he’d left me breathless.

***

We finally dragged ourselves out of bed for dinner. After hours of dozing intermingled with intense make-out sessions, Chaseyn decided I needed to restore my strength with a nutritious meal. I couldn’t argue. Aside from the cereal he’d brought me for breakfast, I hadn’t had a thing to eat all day.

“I was thinking I’d barbecue steak and potatoes,” Chaseyn shouted from the kitchen. As always, I was a few steps behind, and when I caught up to him he was standing with the fridge door open, bent over, digging through one of the drawers.

“Nice view,” I said, pinching his butt on my way to the cabinet filled with our brand new drinking glasses--of course, everything we owned was brand new. I was parched from our physical activities throughout the day, and I desperately needed a glass of water.

“Did you just say you were planning on cooking a meal?” I asked, as I reached over Chaseyn’s shoulder to grab the pitcher of filtered water from the fridge. “Babe, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but you wouldn’t know how to cook a meal to save your life.”

“Hey, I’m offended,” he said, clutching his heart as though I’d just staked him straight through it. I wasn’t sure he’d intended the pun, but it made me chuckle anyway. “You don’t think for one minute Mina would let me leave home without some basics culinary skills, do you?”

“This isn’t the first time you’ve lived on your own, so yeah, I do. Why would anything be different this time?”

“Fair enough. Let me rephrase the question,” Chaseyn suggested. “You don’t think Mina would expect
you
to do all the cooking, would she?”

“Keep talking. I like where this is going,” I urged.

“Mina only thinks it’s fair if I pull my own weight around this place, so she taught me the fundamentals,” he explained. “She said every man needs to know how to barbecue, so we started there. I think I’ve mastered it, and I want to cook for our first Sunday night dinner together in our new home.”

“Sounds great,” I said. “I’ll unpack a few more boxes.”

And that’s when I realized all the work he’d done in the six hours between the time he rose at four in the morning to when he woke me at ten. There wasn’t a box to be seen anywhere in sight. I started pulling open drawers and cupboards, only to find each and every one stocked full.

“You did everything?” I asked.

Chaseyn shrugged.

“Not everything,” he said. “I didn’t touch the boxes with your clothes and some of the stuff from your bedroom at your mom’s place. I thought you’d want to do that.”

I exhaled the breath I’d been holding--at least he’d left something for me to do. The place looked amazing, and I was thankful he’d done all the work. I knew that, had he left it up to me to decorate, it wouldn’t have looked near as nice.

“Are those fresh flowers?” I asked, pointing to the vase on the dining table.

“I went for a walk when I was done unpacking the boxes, and I stumbled upon some wildflowers in the meadow. I thought they would liven up the place a bit.”

He’d thought of everything. He was, literally, the epitome of perfection. If he didn’t tell me every day how much he adored me, I might question why he would want to be with someone like me. But I knew better. There had been a time earlier in the summer when I had doubted his love for me. When I had first learned of his sordid past, I wondered what he could ever see in me. But with his ring on my finger, there would never be reason again for me to doubt his loyalty to me--to us.

I set about making my way upstairs, while Chaseyn prepped the meal. I wasn’t like most girls--especially Addie--I didn’t have a lot of clothes, and I only had five pairs of shoes, including my winter boots. I would be done organizing my things before Chaseyn had finished grilling our steaks.

I grabbed the first box and made my way to the walk-in closet in the corner of the room. I stopped by the fire to warm my hands before tackling my first chore of the day. The fire had sizzled out, but the embers were still glowing bright white with heat. It smelled like a bonfire in our bedroom, and I wished we had thought to make s’mores earlier in the day. I tried to recall all of the items we’d bought at the grocery store the day before, and I couldn’t decide if we had purchased the necessary ingredients. And, I couldn’t think of a reason why we would have.

“Chaseyn, did you happen to buy marshmallows and graham crackers yesterday?” I called over my shoulder.

“Of course. Mini and average-sized,” he hollered in response.

He didn’t ask why, but that was likely because he already knew. There was so much we never had to say out loud because he could intuit much of what I was thinking and feeling. It was both a blessing and a curse.

I twisted the knob on the closet door, expecting to find it empty inside. Instead, Chaseyn’s belongings were all neatly placed on the shelves and racks--color-coded no less--with his shoes stored in boxes along the baseboard. I grabbed an armload of hangers from the top shelf and started randomly draping sweaters, shirts, and dresses along “my side” of the space. Ten minutes later I was done. While Chaseyn had taken up a solid three-quarters of the left side of the closet, I was barely at a third.

“All done?” he asked when I came downstairs.

“Yep. It’s a bit of a sad state of affairs,” I replied. “You must get so tired of seeing me in the same things over and over again.”

“I’m not interested in what you’re wearing,” he said. “That’s just the wrapping. The good stuff’s underneath all that.”

He always knew the right thing to say to make me feel better. Still, I knew it was time to spruce up my wardrobe a bit--I’d had some of those clothes since junior year. Even I was embarrassed to look in the mirror some days. I was starting a new phase of my life, so it was about time I updated my look to match it. Maybe then I’d feel worthy of being on Chaseyn’s arm. I wished I’d thought of it earlier so I wouldn’t have to start my first day at a new school wearing the same old rags I had for the past three years. Ugh.

“Cordelia, love?”

As always, Chaseyn’s voice brought me back to reality. I wouldn’t doubt he had sensed I was silently chastising myself and was trying to distract me. I couldn’t think of a better distraction.

“Did you get that box by
my
side of the bed?” he asked.
His
side--how cute.

“No. Was there something in it you want me to unpack for you?”

“Yes, please,” he replied. “You should have time now. The steaks will be done in about ten more minutes. I’m just going to toss a salad while they’re cooking.”

“I could do the salad, if you’d like. We can get to the box after dinner. Everything else is done, so I don’t think it will kill us to leave one for later,” I replied.

“Maybe not you, but you know how I hate disorder,” he grinned.

I knew all too well that he wouldn’t rest until every last box had been unpacked and its contents put in its proper place, so I headed back upstairs to find
the box
.

It didn’t take me long to find it. It was a large box in the corner next to his bedside table, and I wondered how I hadn’t noticed it earlier. I dragged it across the hardwood floor--it was too heavy to lift--and sliced a knife through the tape sealing the lid.

I’d expected to find more of Chaseyn’s usual “uniform”--black jeans, black sweaters, black motorcycle boots. But instead, there were layers and layers of lace, cashmere, and silk staring me in the face. Not a single fabric Chaseyn would wear--well, aside from the cashmere maybe. And the colors--petal pink, caramel, princess white, powder blue.

I was like a kid in a candy store as I started pulling the contents from the box. Each item had a designer label and was in exactly my size.

“What did you do?” I shouted, as I ran to the mirror and held a five-layer silver tulle skirt against my waist and draped an ivory tee across the top of the sweatshirt I was currently wearing.

I heard Chaseyn’s feet thumping up the stairs, and I turned to greet him in my half-dressed state.

“You’re amazing,” I cried, as I ran into his waiting arms.

“So you like them?”

“Like? I love them,” I said through my tears. “Just like I love you.”

“I’m glad.”

“You want to help me find something to wear tomorrow? Now that I have so many choices, I don’t know how to decide on my own.”

Chapter 8 - School