Page 26

OWEN

(A FEW SHORT YEARS LATER)

T he spring sun is shining but my head is spinning.

No amount of coffee is going to compensate for the fact that I did another all-nighter.

I walk into my apartment, put away my lab coat, and take off my red scrub shirt.

After I toss it into the bathroom hamper, I amble through the living room area.

Our little studio apartment isn’t much, but it’s home for the three of us.

A wooden partition separates the bed from the rest of the space.

In the corner, Bat Nathanson’s terrarium sits atop a tiny desk and is covered in a yellow blanket.

I peek under—yup, he’s still sleeping, and the newspaper lining on the bottom is fresh and clean.

I smile, then yawn and scratch my chest through my tank top.

I amble to the kitchen, all at once starving, dizzy, and loopy.

One would think that after several months of nighttime hospital shifts for my residency, I’d become nocturnal, like my familiar.

But alas, I am not, so the room spins while I open the fridge door.

I grunt after looking through our paltry selection. I know it’s the lack of sleep talking, but I would give up my arm for a werebear claw from Mummy Mocha right now. I wonder if we have any more boxes of Blob Tarts. Or Rice Harpy’s Treats?

And where’s Clay, anyway?

Just while thinking that, my boyfriend walks through the door. He’s all sweaty, fresh from a run, and his arms are exposed in his black tank top over gray sweatpants. He’s the hot jock vampire of my dreams, as always, but I’m too sleepy to care about that.

His face lights up, fangs out, when he realizes I’m there. “Hey, Dr. Bhat.”

I give a feeble smile and shut the door. “Not a doctor yet,” I murmur. I fill up a cup with water and he approaches me.

“Well, I got a gift, but it’s only for a doctor after a hard night at work.” He approaches me with a grin.

I snicker despite myself. “Well this almost-doctor is about to pass out, so you’d better make it quick.”

He kisses my cheek from behind. “Oh no, don’t want that.” He pulls me toward the brown kitchen table and forces me to sit. “Do you want to sleep or have breakfast?” He places a crinkled paper bag on the counter and I smile.

“I want to do both,” I say in a tired voice. “But thank you.”

“Of course. Eat up, you need your strength.”

“Yeah, so you can have my precious hemoglobin.” Opening up the bag, I reveal a flaky round pastry. “A cinnamonster bun!”

Clay shrugs. I know he has decelerated aging, but he’s just as handsome as he was in undergrad those few years ago. “You deserve it after a long night of helping triage monster patients.”

I chomp on the baked good and the sweetness delights me. “You won’t believe what this one mummy came in with,” I say with a mouth full of pastry.

Clay laughs and we talk for a few minutes more. When I’m done eating, he insists I take the first shower. We have dark blinds, and it’s not like Bat Nathanson will disturb me when I nap during the day. My body is putty in his hands when he pushes me toward the bathroom.

“Thank you. For breakfast.”

“You’re welcome,” he says, pushing on my back. “Now go shower so you can sleep.”

“Okay, but sleep with me?” I ask through a yawn. I hand him my glasses and make it to the bathroom door.

“Sure, but I’ll shower after you because I’m all sweaty. Arms up, Bhat.”

I lift up my arms and he strips me of my tank top. With that done, I smile and peck him on the lips. “You’re such a helpful vampire,” I murmur in my sleepy tone. “You deserve some sex and blood when we’re both done showering.”

He laughs. “Okay, okay, but go clean up.”

My body is on autopilot when I shower. I barely comb my hair before crash-landing on our bed.

Clay tells me he’s going to bathe, and I tell myself to wake up so we can get frisky.

I’m even looking forward to the hot sting of him taking some of my blood.

But before I can properly make myself look sexy, the world blanks out.

I wake up not sure of what’s going on. Sunlight is streaming through our blackout curtains. In the bed next to me, someone is scrolling through their phone— Clay .

“Hey,” I mutter through a stretch.

“Hey yourself. You feeling better now?”

“Yup.” I sit up in bed and notice I’m naked under the covers. Upon further inspection, it seems Clay is, too. “How long was I out?”

“Four hours.” He puts down the phone and leans over to my side. He kisses my forehead and I hum in delight. “But you needed the rest, you big medical resident, you.”

“Yeah, we have a huge night ahead of us.” I gaze at his toned naked body. Most days I can’t believe he’s still dating me. I caress his chest, and he smiles.

“We should probably get dressed in a bit.”

That wakes me up. “Oh, I think we have time.” In a blur, I pounce on him. Clay giggles in surprise as I straddle him. “As I recall, I owe you some sex.”

“Owen, sex isn’t transactional. You know that—” I cut his words off with a kiss. He massages my mouth like it was made for him. When I pull back, his eyes are brimming with lust.

“When was the last time you had some blood, huh?” I trace his lip with my finger.

“Um, I think yesterday I had a bag, but?—”

“No, no,” I purr. “When was the last time you got it from the source?”

His brow furrows. “Owen, you don’t have to?—”

“Oh, but I want to. What’s the fun of being with a vampire if he can’t take a little bit of my plasma?” I lean in and kiss his neck.

“Yeah, but people will see the fang marks tonight.”

I flop back and spread my legs. He eyes me with surprise, but I merely grin at him. “Not if you take it from somewhere…” I pull my balls down and massage my inner groin. My dick hardens at the thought of that pain so close to my ass. “…discreet.”

Clay’s eyes flare with more heat and he rolls over to me. “Are you sure?” he murmurs against my neck. Despite asking for permission, he proceeds to kiss down my chest .

“Yes…yes,” I rasp. I stroke myself, and my hips buck up.

“You can tell me to stop at any time.” He reaches my groin and maneuvers me around. Now, Clay’s off the bed, and my cock is right at eye level with him. I bend my knees, and he gently supports my thighs.

“Okay, okay, sure.” I nod vigorously, staring at our ceiling.

“You really want this, right?”

“Yes,” I rasp. I look down, and he licks my scrotum.

“Ah!” I hiss. I instinctively grab my hardness and stroke it. I try not to jerk too much, but Clay is driving me wild with anticipation. I need that vampire pain and pleasure.

“I’m gonna feast on you now, baby.” I look down to see him bearing his fangs. “You ready?” I smile and nod, and my hand on my cock stills.

“You’re mine,” he murmurs. He licks at my groin, right where my inner thigh almost meets my ass and balls. He carefully moves my scrotum out of the way and bathes that sensitive skin with his saliva. “Say it.”

“I’m yours,” I whisper. My eyes flutter closed.

“Keep saying it,” he nearly growls. “Chant it, and I’ll pierce the skin and take a small helping of your blood, your essence.”

“I’m yours,” I say in a whine.

“You’re my human, Owen.”

“I’m yours, Clay. I’m yours. Only yours. Feed on me. I’m yours. I’m yours. I’m—ah!” My chanting is interrupted by a strangled moan escaping my throat and I tense up.

His fangs. They’re in my femoral artery. The first three seconds are painful, but knowing it’s the love of my life makes me calm. Then the pain turns into exquisite pleasure.

So I stroke. I stroke with his head so close to my cock.

The sounds of him slurping me make for the perfect soundtrack.

I’m hard and wanting, and working myself gets me there in record time.

This is of course, aided by him gently fondling my balls.

He’s so firm with his fangs inside me, yet gentle as he works my sac.

“Fuck…fuck…almost…” My voice whines and gets higher. My hips shift up, but his mouth keeps holding me down. A few more fast, firm strokes, and then?—

“UGH!” I bite back a bellow as I shoot, letting that intense orgasm out. Meanwhile, I still feel Clay drinking from me. If ordinary orgasms are fireworks, then vampire feeder orgasms are the big bang, birthing their own universe.

I pass out again for another minute, then wake up to see Clay gently holding me. “How you feeling, love?”

I buzz my lips, raise up a thumb, and we both giggle. “Superb. My thigh is numb, but hey that just means it’s healing.”

“Good to know.”

“I may have to do night shift forever if I have that to look forward to,” I remark.

“You know I can’t feed from you every day.” He strokes my cheek and kisses the top of my head.

“I know. You’d sap all my plasma, and I’d probably shrivel up and die.” We both laugh and he cuddles me closer.

“I’ll never hurt you.”

“Nothing wrong with a little pain,” I say against his firm chest.

“I made a vow to your parents all those years ago. And I’ll keep protecting you.”

I smile and lean into him. “I know, baby.”

He rubs my back. “We better get going. Don’t want to be late for our friends’ big day.”

“Of course,” I reply. “Right after I regain feeling in my leg again.”

“Owen!” Shonda rushes up to me and hugs me before I can say a word.

“Shonda!” Clay says as she holds me tight.

I let my friend go and take a step back.

“Good to see you!” She hugs Clay, and I take in my old college friend: her hair is in a poofy updo, and she looks regal in her red dress.

She perfectly blends in with the rest of us patrons here at a fancy Pennsylvania restaurant.

I greet her date, a monster, before the voice to my left grabs my attention.

“Owen! Clay!” Rachel runs up to us and hugs me as well. Half of her head is styled in a buzzcut, and she’s donning a dark pantsuit combo. Her date is a female ogre dressed in similar attire. She almost matches Clay and me in our matching dark navy suits.

“The gang’s back together!” Shonda says.

“Of course,” I say, sipping from my flute of sparkling cider. “I don’t think Kovi and Tanner would physically allow me to miss this.”

We all laugh and stand around the round table.

While it’s difficult for us to get together nowadays, I cleared my schedule to witness Kovi and Tanner’s nuptials.

It was a lovely ceremony indeed, with trees supernaturally decorated with dozens of types of flowers, all towering over us.

Now, here we are, thirty minutes later, in the catering hall, enjoying appetizers and drinks.

“And what’s this?” Shonda asks.

I tap the towel-covered travel carrier on the chair next to me. “Tanner specifically wanted our adolescent familiar to be present,” I explain .

Rachel peers under the towel. “Where is the little rodent?”

“I’ll get him,” Clay says. He puts down his drink and whistles.

In a moment, Bat Nathanson flies and lands on his wrist. With the sun almost set, our bat has been happy to fly around the woods and back into the catering hall.

We’re fortunate that facilities nowadays are very accommodating to all familiars, including those who can fly.

“Aw!” Shonda coos. “How are you, buddy?”

“Squeak!” he replies. Our pet hops off and lands on Shonda’s hands.

As she introduces him to the new monsters in the group, I take a moment to gaze at Clay: his dark hair is slicked back and his suit fits him in a gorgeous way.

He’s just as handsome now as he was back in college.

I may have more of a beard and a thicker waist, but Clay remains forever youthful and sexy.

He catches me staring and winks, and I roll my eyes.

He’s ridiculous and endearing, and I love him more and more every day.

Two hours later, the newlyweds are done dancing on the linoleum floor.

Tanner has been enchanted by his new husband all night, even when Kovi has been in his giant tree form.

Another slow song plays, and Kovi waves his giant branches, beckoning the guests to join him in dancing.

With BN secure in his carrier, I take Clay by the hand and, without saying a word, guide him to the dance floor.

I place my hands on his shoulders and he holds my hips. In the sparkling lights of the restaurant, the vampire in my arms looks heavenly. Other couples sway around me, but I don’t notice any of them .

“How are you feeling?” he asks.

“Great.”

“I meant your inner thigh,” he whispers.

“It’s fine. You always allow me to heal pretty quickly.”

“All right. But if you ever think I’m hurting you?—”

“I promise, I’ll do what Mom told me and shove garlic down your boxer briefs.”

We chuckle and continue to sway to the slow, sultry music. “You’re always considerate of me, Clay Cannon. That’s why I love you.”

“Well, you make me happy, Future Dr. Bhat.” He grins. “So I’m going to continue making you happy.”

“But what if I said I want you to feed on me every day?” I ask with a challenging eyebrow raised.

“I’d make sure your blood levels are okay, and then…” His fangs pop out and he makes a hissing sound. I laugh at the ridiculousness of his face.

“But what if I said I wanted a wedding ten times bigger than this one?”

“Owen Bhat,” he says, shrinking his fangs. “I’ll give you all the weddings you want, as long as they’re with me.”

I gasp, then nod. “I…only want to end up with you.”

“Then let’s do it.” He shrugs and smiles. “Let’s fly off into the sunset. Just me, you, and Bat Nathanson.”

I snicker. “Would you help me achieve my dreams? Make me get higher, like Matt Nathanson says?”

“For you, baby, I’d help you reach the stars.”

A strange idea strikes me. “Let’s do it,” I whisper.

“Huh?” His brow furrows and he drops his hands.

Without another word, I pull him to our table and pick up the pet carrier.

In a blur, I drag us out the back entrance of the restaurant.

The premises is on a ridge overlooking a massive forest and a distant river, and the sun has given way to a darkening azure sky.

I open the carrier door and Bat Nathanson pops out.

When I stand up straight, I take both his hands. “I love you, Clay Cannon.”

He looks out at the distant forest, then back at me. “I love you, too. But what?—”

“Take us into the sky.” I put my arms around his neck and crowd him closer. “Fly me away, handsome vampire guy.”

He grins and kisses me on the forehead. Then, he pushes off the ground pulling me up with him. The air currents gather around us, and we gradually rise upward. Bat Nathanson squeaks and flaps around us in a circle.

When I look down, the world seems so small and far away. If I fall, I know this vampire will catch me. That’s what Clay Cannon has always done to me—swept me off my feet. When building my future with this vampire, the sky’s the limit.