Blood Moon (Moon Books) (11 page)

“It’s my parents’ apartment. They don’t usually live in the city anymore but they keep it for me.”

“It’s a big place for just one guy.”

“Oh, we live here too,” Leila answered, pointing down the hallway they’d come from. I was a little envious. It sounded fun—like a permanent summer camp for the paranormally gifted.

“So what do you need to get away from the Evil Gramps?” PC asked.

* * * *

It was nearly dawn when we stumbled our way into my apartment. PC had set us up with enough weapons to outfit an entire terrorist cell and he promised to not only make Noah’s car disappear but get him a decent amount of money from whatever off-the-book sale he managed to pull. PC and the others had my phone number and promised to keep in touch daily. We’d ditched Noah’s phone back at the lake figuring it was better to be safe than sorry.

After closing and dead-bolting every single place where someone could get in, I led Noah to my bedroom and helped him strip down to boxers before I tucked him into my bed with a kiss to his forehead. Just like when we were kids, he seemed to have energy for days but when he finally slept, nuclear war wouldn’t wake him. I tiptoed around the apartment closing curtains so if he woke during the day he wouldn’t be stuck in my room. Last, I closed the big blackout curtains in my bedroom I’d invested in the previous spring so I didn’t wake up every morning with the sun right in my face. Then I crawled under the light summer blankets and curled up next to my already slumbering boyfriend. He rolled over in his sleep and wound his arm around my waist. I smiled and closed my eyes thinking for the millionth time how happy I was to be with him.

“I love you,” I whispered, not expecting a response.

“Love you too,” was the sleepy reply, mumbled against my neck.

I curled up against Noah and closed my eyes. I fell asleep easily, feeling warm, comfortable, and safe.

Games

That evening I woke to the sound of my cell ringing insistently. At first, I thought it had to be an emergency so I bolted from the bed and picked up the phone immediately, without even checking the id. I realized after I’d done it that it wasn’t good idea to blindly pick up phones or open doors anymore.

“Hey, yo. What are you two doing tonight?”

In my half asleep blur I didn’t recognize the rough but friendly voice at first. “Hi, PC. You scared me. Is everything okay?”

“Of course. Just wanted to see if you and your man were busy or if you could come chill for a while.”

“Oh...” The request seemed so normal in the midst of the strange world I had been dumped in. I was also surprised the invite had been extended to me: I didn’t feel quite cool enough to be included in the Supernatural Squad; but apparently my attachment to Noah was a get-in-free card. “Uh, I don’t know what we’re doing. Nothing probably. Noah’s still asleep.”

PC made a loud snorting noise. “Dude, he’ll sleep forever if you let him. Wake his ass up and come over. It’s game night. The sun will be down in like twenty minutes.”

Game night?

“Is it safe?” I asked. “You know, for us to be over there? I don’t want to put you guys in danger.”

He laughed, the sound echoing in the phone. “Don’t worry about it. I’m already in danger just by existing. So is Leila. Jason chooses to hang out with us so he isn’t in any better shape than you. I say fuck it. Come over. We’re playing Texas Hold ’em. I promise Jason only cheats a little. Plus we don’t play for money, just fun.”

I smiled to myself and told him we’d be over as soon as I got Noah up and showered.

“Oh, Jesus, I didn’t need to hear about that. I see the way he looks at you and that alone is already way too much info. Just don’t stay in there all night, okay? We’ll wait for you to start the game.”

I laughed. “I’ll try to get out the door quickly.” I couldn’t help messing with him a little. “It’ll be awfully tempting to take a nice long romantic shower together, though.”

He made a strangled noise and hung up the phone.

Still laughing, I went to the bed to wake Noah. He was sprawled out on his back, lips slightly open and one arm crooked behind his head. His bright silky hair was draped halfway over his eyes. He looked so peaceful and sweet lying there like that, I almost hated to wake him...almost. With a near silent snicker, I started kissing his stomach and his soft pink nipples. He moaned a little but didn’t wake. Grinning openly, I gently tugged his boxers to his knees and then off the ends of his feet. I crawled back under the blanket and between his gracefully muscled thighs. He’d grown hard in his sleep and his erection seemed to be begging for my touch.

Gently and slowly, I licked him from base to quivering tip. I could tell that first long taste had finally woken him up.

He moaned and reached under the covers to tug at my hair. I took him into my mouth as far as I could, using my tongue and my hands to give him every sensation possible. He breathed hard, telling me how hot I was and how amazing my mouth felt. I increased the pressure of my tongue and cupped the globes of his amazing butt in my hands. When my fingers accidentally slipped to his entrance, I took the opportunity to test the waters. I pushed gently, wondering how he’d react.

Noah undulated his hips and cried out. The sound was enough to make me drool. I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of touching him.

“Yes, baby,” he murmured, his voice catching. “I want you to—” He drew his breath in sharply.

I knew what he wanted. I wanted it too. Moistening my finger in my mouth, I massaged it against his muscles ready to delve into uncharted territory.

“You ready?” I asked, then took another long lick on his straining shaft.

“Yeah, just take it slow. I’ve never let anyone do this before.”

“Really?” It wasn’t that he screamed ‘top me, top me, top me’ but I would have thought he’d been more on the versatile side.

“I guess there was always a part of me I was saving for you subconsciously,” he murmured and kissed my nose.

I smiled softly then distracted him with a long deep kiss while I pushed one finger into him. He breathed in sharply against my lips, then let his back arch slightly. The way he moved was so beautiful it made my breath catch in my throat. His cheeks flushed a soft mottled pink and he pushed his head against the pillow.

“Zack...more.”

I stretched him for a little while with that one finger before adding another. He moaned again and I kissed him one more time then licked his nipples before going back to the place he wanted me the most.

I knew someday soon I’d be inside of him, not just my hand, but I wanted to start slow. Between my lips and tongue working their best magic and the two fingers I had slowly worked inside of him massaging his prostate, he didn’t last long. He came with a strangled wail, muscles clamping down and warm juices flooding my mouth. He panted loudly, groaning and laughing. I reveled in the sounds of him overwhelmed by the pleasure I’d caused.

After a few moments, I crawled my way back up him with a huge smile. “Wake up, babe,” I whispered before claiming his lips in a sweet little kiss.

He let out a soft bark of laughter. “I think that may have been the best wake up call in the history of forever.”

“Thank you,” I answered with a satisfied purr. I gave him a light tap on the hip. “Now we gotta get up. I told PC we’d be over there for game night in like a half hour.”

“We have to get out of bed?”

Noah’s disappointed look made me giggle and melt all at the same time. “Yeah. I promised. But don’t worry. We can start where we left off as soon as we get back.”

He grinned at me and hopped out of bed, heading for my hallway bathroom.

“Hey, Noh?”

He turned and looked back at me.

I pointed to a white door in the corner. “My bathroom’s in there. The shower is way better than that little thing in the hall. Definitely room for two.” He stopped in his place and turned towards the right direction but not before making a seductive beckoning motion with his finger.

I was more than happy to follow.

* * * *

The night was beautiful. Soft and warm, but not sticky like summer nights so often get. Since PC’s apartment was so close, we decided to walk instead of wasting the gorgeous evening sitting in a cab. I loved how it felt to walk down the street with Noah, holding his hand. It hammered in the fact that I really was with him, in my neighborhood and not just in the suspended reality of the lake house. We were together for real. I squeezed his hand and leaned over to brush my lips across his cheek as we walked.

“What was that for?”

“Nothing. Just happy that we’re here together. I’ve probably walked this street a hundred times, wishing you were walking next to me just like now.”

He brought my hand up to kiss it. “Believe me, wherever I was, I was wishing the same thing.”

We walked in companionable quiet for a few blocks. I couldn’t get over how different everything seemed. It was the same neighborhood I’d lived in for nearly a year but it looked like a new world. Everything was brighter, clearer; more interesting than it had been only weeks before when I’d been packing a bag full of dread and trying to prepare myself for the lake.

On one street, they had strung all the trees with white fairy lights: tiny and sparkling. In the winter the white lights had always reminded me of ice, but in the warmth they seemed more like tiny fireflies, dancing around in the soft night breeze. Maybe it was just my happiness, but I could’ve sworn that I felt magic in that street

Noah looked around in wonder, taking in the night, the lights, the brick buildings and the people. I knew he was feeling the same thing too. I caressed his wrist with my thumb and smiled at him, loving the warmth in his eyes.

A few blocks from PC’s place I had a nasty surprise. I’d been so wrapped up in Noah that I barely noticed any of the other people on the street. It took me a few seconds to realize that someone was calling my name. I looked up and saw a guy across the street waving both of his arms to get my attention.

“Who’s that?” Noah asked.

I focused on the figure across the street for a little while before I was certain.

Great.

“That’s Jared,” I whispered. “A huge mistake I made about a year and a half ago that won’t go away.”

Jared galloped towards us enthusiastically, somehow managing to grin at me and eye Noah suspiciously at the same time. “Hi, Zack, I didn’t know you were in town.” He eyed Noah again while he spoke, eyes moving from his toes up, slowly and scornfully. I could see the second he noticed we were holding hands.

I smiled and tried to look happy to see him. I’d been on the receiving end of a few of his tantrums before. I didn’t want one to explode all over the street. “I just got back last night. I haven’t had a chance to call anyone yet.” It honestly hadn’t even crossed my mind to call anyone.

“Well, I see you’ve been busy.”

I didn’t like the way he was looking at Noah at all. “Jared, this is my boyfriend Noah.” Noah gave him a friendly smile. He didn’t return it. A small petty part of me liked the pissy little look Jared had on his face. Served him right for pestering me all those months when I made it clear that nothing was going to come of that one night.

“Well, good luck, honey. It’ll never last with this one. He’s hung up on some guy from high school. Believe me, I should know. He strung me along for a year.” He huffed loudly.

I rolled my eyes at him.

“It was good to see you, Jared.” I pulled on Noah. “Babe, we gotta go. We’re going to be late for the card game.” I could feel Jared’s eyes on my back, but I didn’t dare turn.

We got around the corner before Noah lost it. He burst out laughing, nearly falling to the ground. “You had a thing with him?”

I shoved his shoulder. “Shut up!” I was having a hard time not laughing myself. “I told you—huge mistake. I was drunk; it was a weak moment. Believe me, I’ve been paying for it ever since.”

Still laughing a little, he tugged my hand up around his neck until we were holding each other right there on the corner, under the twinkly fairy lights.

“So are you going to dump me over some guy from high school?”

“Maybe,” I pulled him close for a short kiss. “That guy was impossible to forget.” He kissed me again, and nipped gently at my lower lip. “Plus, he was the best kisser ever,” I whispered, threading my fingers through his hair and pulling on it.

“Yeah?”

“Yep,” I answered and kissed him one more time, just to prove my theory of course.

When he surfaced from our kiss, his lips were pink and wet and his cheeks were flushed. I wanted to turn around and go back to my apartment—no our apartment—right then. He was so fucking beautiful...

Noah must have been able to tell what I was thinking. He tugged on my hand, pulling me in the direction of PC’s apartment. “C’mon, baby. Let’s go before I decide I need you right here on this street corner.”

“I’m about half a heartbeat away from that myself.”

He snickered and pulled me a little faster.

* * * *

The Texas Hold’em tournament was in full swing by the time we got to PC’s apartment. We pulled up chairs and were dealt in. Everything I knew about the game I’d learned during poker night freshman year in our dorm...so basically I didn’t have a clue. I played a few hands, trying to pay attention to what was going on, but it was so confusing that I just started betting randomly, not knowing if I really had anything or not.

It probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway. From what I could pick up, there were two games going on anyway. The first was the card game, which was confusing enough. The second...well, let’s just say I wasn’t even equipped to be a participant. Finally, PC must have gotten a glimpse of my bewildered and slightly frustrated look because he called a halt.

“Okay, rules repeat!” he called out after we all had our cards. “No switching cards with your hands or any other part of your body, no glamouring (he looked at Noah and Leila), no mind reading (a glance at Jason). I’ll try not to scent as much as possible.”

“And no temper tantrums!” Leila chimed in pointing straight at PC.

“Hey, I haven’t done that tonight!”