Page 24 of Stronger Than Blood

Chapter twenty-two

Mick

Istared at Rory after his mentor left. Neither of us moved. There were so many emotions swirling around inside me—fear, sadness, grief, and now longing for this man whom I’ve come to know and respect… and desire. Rory leaned down, and when I didn’t pull back, he gently kissed me on the lips.

“I do like you,” he said.

I nodded. “I’ve wanted that… but was just too afraid.”

“Shh, I’m here,” he said, and just as gently as his kiss, he enfolded me in his arms. I’m not sure why that felt okay since I’d only known him a few days. But everything about this week had been strange. Now, all I wanted was to be held by him.

I hadn’t even realized how badly I needed touch until now. When we finally pulled apart, I lifted onto my toes and kissed him back. The kiss was mostly chaste, no major heat, and that was for the best. I just had too much on my mind at the moment.

When he stepped back, he asked, “Do you need me to do anything for you before I go?”

I shook my head. “No, I just need sleep, and I think now Madam Bellamy has done her thing, I can do that without fear,” I said, and he nodded.

“Well, you have my number. Call if you need me.”

Rory had given his number to me when he first arrived, but I’d never called or texted him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at the old store building?” Rory asked, and I nodded.

“Okay,” he said and leaned down to kiss me again.

I could tell he wanted more, and he’d quickly take me up on any indication that I was willing, but I had too much going on, and falling into bed with Rory, even though he was everything I found attractive in a man, would’ve been a disaster.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, and I watched as he left.

There was a feeling of emptiness in the apartment, like someone, supposedly Madam Bellamy, had sucked all the emotions out of the room. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, and as tired as I was, I appreciated the chance to sleep without fear.

After brushing my teeth and climbing into bed, I thought of the sexy Rory. Honestly, I didn’t understand what a man like him would see in a man like me. I mean, I knew I wasn’t ugly or anything, but I wasn’t anything special either.

My mom said I looked like my father, a man I’d never met and who supposedly had died of an overdose some time ago.

I thought I looked like my grandfather’s pictures, another man I’d never met.

I had wondered about all that before, how all the men in my family were gone long before the women.

I didn’t have many male role models. Not that I needed them.

By the time I moved in with Granny Ida, I’d been taught one thing above all else: men could be demons. Not only the one who was currently haunting me but also the other men who came in and out of my mom’s life.

I’d never been hurt sexually, although I think a few would’ve if they’d had a chance, but I had been backhanded across a room by a drunken man once and almost knocked out by another. And that wasn’t even mentioning the one that killed my grandmother and wanted to kill me.

Yet I found myself attracted to men.

I’d dated a few men off and on through the years.

None of them had stuck, and only one or two had held my interest longer than a couple of days.

Unlike my mother, who’d move a fling in with her and then spend weeks getting high with them, I tended to send them on their way before they had time to pull their pants up.

I knew Rory was going to be different, and to be honest, I wasn’t totally comfortable with that. I liked and trusted him, and although his mentor was, well… she was a lot, but something about her eased me. If she was going to be helping take care of Granny, I needed to be able to trust her.

I didn’t know what I wanted to do about Rory yet, so I forced myself to stop worrying and imagined his strong body wrapped up around mine. That’s all it took for me to fall into a blissful sleep.