Drip Drop Teardrop, a Novella (9 page)

Brennus was shaking with
laughter. “You sound horrifying.”

She wanted to laugh at
herself. But she couldn’t. “And then when I was ten, our class did
a project on capital cities and I was given London. I did all this
stuff on Buckingham Palace and the Royal Family, on the Royal
Ballet, on the West End… you know, the stuff little girl’s dreams
are made of,” she whispered now. “So after another endless semester
of tantrums my parents cancelled our annual trip to the Cape and
booked us a trip to Europe.”

A chill fell over the
room and this time Brennus had nothing to do with it.

She couldn’t meet his
eyes.

“
Avery-”

“
You know
what!” Avery stood up abruptly, a false smile pasted on her face.
“I could go pizza for lunch. I know this great place… in
Westchester, believe it or not.”

When he
smiled softly and stood up to take her hand without saying a word,
without forcing her to admit what was buried deep down inside,
without forcing her to wonder if she became a person at all or was
merely moulded into someone who already existed because she was the
kind of girl who hadn’t gotten her parent’s killed, Avery’s heart
seemed to miss a couple of beats.
Willpower
, she whispered
inwardly,
willpower
.

***

“
You know I
was a real dick when I was a mortal.”

Avery nearly choked on
her pizza at Brennus’ random comment. She snorted and coughed,
trying not to laugh harder as he grinned wickedly at
her.

They were
sitting in
Papa’s Pizza
eating the most delicious pepperoni pizza she had
ever tasted, munching in comfortable silence as she tried to shrug
off her moment of naked vulnerability with him. He had gotten
things out of her that no one had. And he hadn’t even done anything
but ask a couple of ‘innocent’ questions. So when he called himself
a dick in a family restaurant, it made her feel better. Just as he
intended.

She wiped her mouth with
a napkin and smiled. “What were you like?”

He shrugged, smirking.
“Not very nice.”

“
Oh, come on,
you have to give me more than that.”

Brennus nodded, his eyes
twinkling. He lay down his slice and wiped his fingers with his
napkin. “I was very arrogant.”

Avery snorted. “Tell me
something I don’t know.”

He laughed and she could
see people looking at them from the corner of her eye. She would be
searching too for the source of that gorgeous, chocolate laughter.
But she knew that wasn’t why they were looking. It startled her to
realise that they had been sitting there all this time and until
now she hadn’t felt the stares of the public who were intrigued and
repulsed by Brennus’ shockingly scarred face. The more time she
spent around him, the more the scar just became a part of him. It
had stopped bothering her. And when she was with him, she didn’t
panic when people stared.

“
OK.” He
chuckled. “I deserved that. But I mean I was a snob. Arrogant.
Superior. Often unkind because of it. Saying it was a different
time is no excuse. I believed myself above others and thus they
were below my notice or my kindness.”

“
Were you
physically cruel?” she asked carefully, fearful of his
answer.

Brennus shook his head.
“I’m a very big man and aware of my physical prowess over others. I
knew using it against them could be dangerous and unfair. I was
arrogant but I had a little sense of honour. No, mostly I was
condescending and curt. I had little patience for most people and
very little sympathy for the plight of others.”

“
What’s the
worst thing you ever did?” It was such a morbid question but if she
was to give this man a chance, if she was to have any chance of
loving him, then she had to know this stuff. They didn’t have the
luxury of time to figure it all out.

Nodding his head, Avery
knew Brennus understood that. He sighed heavily and took a sip of
his coffee. His face had grown a little stark, like his skin was
stretched too tight over the bones of his face. “The worst thing I
ever did… was to a friend. Caedmon. We grew up together. Both our
families were well off, we were of an age. Very close. And stupid.
We got into quite a tangle over women.”

Avery could just imagine
them. Two good looking rich boys devastating the town. “What age
were you?”

“
Sixteen.”

Her jaw dropped and he
laughed. It was dark and… roguish. She shivered. “Boys were men at
sixteen. And Caedmon and I liked to prove we were the biggest men
of our peer group.”

“
What
happened?”

Brennus exhaled. “His
father died, leaving them with debts. His mother prostituted
herself and Caedmon couldn’t find work. They were ostracised and I
was afraid if I remained friends with Caedmon I would lose my own
good standing. So I deserted him.”

“
Brennus,”
she whispered sympathetically, seeing the guilt he still carried
after all these years.

“
Caedmon
joined
auxilia
,
the corp of the Imperial Roman Army open to imperial subjects who
weren’t Roman citizens. They were heavy infantry, did as much as a
legionnaire. He left. I never saw him again. But when I became
Ankou it was easy to discover truths. He died in action… only a
year into his career as a soldier.” Brennus shook his head slowly.
“He should have died a wealthy tradesman with a beautiful wife and
ten children.”

Avery reached forward and
touched his arm gently. “If he stayed he could have died in the
plague. Or took a fever. Or drowned. Or-”

He held up
his hand cutting her off, a cynical smile curving his lips.
“
You’re
really
going to try to rationalise for me?”

Remembering
he hadn’t pushed
her
, she grimaced and pulled back. “You’re right. Sorry. You
feel bad for abandoning your friend. I get it.”

He nodded solemnly.
“Mayhap I would have grown into a better man… my father was a
decent man. Instead I became an immortal and death changed me. I
grew up fast.”

Avery nodded,
understanding perfectly. “It has a tendency to do that to a
person.”

Their gazes caught and
her heart sped up. She felt that flush of heat all over.

Worse… she didn’t feel
alone anymore.

It’s Gonna Cost
You but

You Might Hurt
Less

I feel like
I’m fighting what I want because of what my world expects from me.
My friends would call him creepy stalker guy; Aunt Caroline would
say he was too old for me guy; pop culture would say he’s the devil
guy; and the person I was five days ago would call him a
blackmailing, ruthless son-of-a-bitch guy. And I guess that last
part is still kind of true. But I’m not so sure about the other
stuff. If he really is that guy that my world describes, shouldn’t
I be deterred? Shouldn’t I want to run in the opposite direction?
Shouldn’t I be terrified of him? Because I’m not. I’ve never felt
safer. I’ve never felt more like a person who isn’t scared to make
my own choices… and that in itself scares the crap out of – if that
even makes sense.

Last night we
took a walk around the estate. I let him hold me. Kiss me. I kissed
him back. My lips gave to him what they never gave to Josh. I don’t
even feel guilty for that. But I’m scared. Did I say that already?
I wasn’t scared last night. Last night we lay on his incredibly
comfortable bed… and we talked. I spoke about my mom and dad, which
I never do. The kind of people they were. The way they lived.
Loved. He told me about eternity. What he’d seen and done. He’s not
perfect. He’s made choices maybe some people wouldn’t have but at
the same time I don’t think I’ve met a man with more heart. He’s
kind of hard to hate. Too easy to lov-

We held hands
last night. I woke up entangled in him.

Have you ever
had moments of absolute peace? Like nothing can touch you? Only
moments, they never last long… but when they do it’s this sense of
lightness of being; like you’re so relieved to be happy you kind of
cry. Do you ever notice how you cry when you’re angry, frustrated,
scared or happy? I rarely cry when I’m sad. I don’t know where that
misconception came from. Sadness isn’t hot tears. It’s cold. Numb.
Hard.

He’s out;
checking things are OK with his spirits. See, I should totally be
creeped out.

When he’s
gone I lose my battle with my doubts. I’m doubting. Would Caroline
really want me give up my life for hers?

She would be
so mad if I did…

“
Hey, what
are you doing?” Brennus strolled into the bedroom, bringing the
scent of fresh air and grass with him.

Avery slammed the diary
shut. Having mentioned that she was having journal withdrawals,
Brennus had promptly produced one for her.

“
Writing,”
she replied softly, tucking the journal behind her back.

He smirked, throwing her
a look. “I’m not going to sneak a peek at your diary like some
pre-pubescent girl.”

She snorted, not really
picturing Brennus doing anything so undignified. “I guess you
wouldn’t.”

Smiling at her, he
shrugged off his coat, dropping it lazily onto an armchair. She
knew by the change in his body language that his attention was
entirely focused on her. As he strolled towards her languidly,
Avery felt her breath hitch at his approach. The bed shifted under
his weight as he braced his hands on either side of her and leaned
down for a kiss. She inhaled his musk, her eyes locked on his, her
mouth already falling open. Her hands reached up to clutch at his
chest and her heart sped at the feel of his breath across her face.
Her skin tingled. His lips brushed across hers softly, one stroke,
two. Playful. Teasing. Excruciating. She tried to catch them but he
kept drawing back, laughing softly under his breath. Without
thought Avery took his face in her hands, cupping his jaw tight. He
stiffened, his eyes flaring a little with apprehension. She hadn’t
touched his face before. Gulping back anxiety, Avery struggled to
breathe normally. She swore she could hear his heart fluttering
like a mouse caught between the paws of the neighbour’s cat. Her
own picked up pace in response. Tentatively, afraid he’d be angry
but needing to do it nonetheless, she trailed the fingertips of her
right hand up across his cheek, running over the haggard lines of
his scar. He flinched but her hold brook no argument. She followed
the lines of his scar over his cheek, nose, his forehead. Brennus’
eyes fluttered closed and he leaned into her touch. Pain flared up
her arm shooting for the direction of her heart. She hated the man
who had done this to him. But more than that, Avery hated the fact
she’d recoiled from him because of it.

This man was more
beautiful than she’d ever be.

Trembling now, Avery
leaned up and pressed the sweetest kiss to his cheek, to his scar.
Brennus shuddered against her, his arms wrapping around her waist
and drawing her close. Not finished, she peppered fairy kisses to
his wound, trailing them down in a magical course of acceptance to
his happy ending mouth, where she pressed a kiss of such… longing.
He groaned harshly and kissed her back, hard. Avery clung on as he
deepened the kiss, his tongue searching hers, needy and wanting;
his arms binding her tight, his hands gripping her skin so hard he
almost left bruises. A heat, this unimaginable flush, charged
through her and she felt that tug in her lower body that Sarah had
told her all about. The tug, the heat she had never felt with any
guy; the tug and heat she’d been jealous of as Sarah expounded upon
her night of passion with some French guy during the school’s
business trip to Paris. But now she was feeling it; that fever,
that need. She almost smiled in exhilaration against Brennus’
mouth. Finally, she was feeling all grown up.

Any further thoughts were
obliterated when Brennus reached for the hem of her t-shirt. Even
his fingers brushing against her bare skin sent these sparks
shooting out of her nerve endings. Her eyes nearly rolled back in
her head. Feeling drugged, Avery let him pull the shirt over her
head, barely allowing a second of separation before she was pressed
back up against him, his hands running up and down her back
frenziedly, as if trying to find a way inside.

“
Sir!”

They broke apart
abruptly, Avery’s eyes flying to the door. Thankfully Ames was
nowhere to be seen.

“
What is it,
Ames?” Brennus snapped into the room at large.

“
I apologise,
sir, but you have a visitor.”

They tried to catch their
breath. Brennus groaned and leaned his forehead on Avery’s
shoulder, his hand making circles on her naked back.

“
I’ll be
there in a minute.” He sighed and Avery realised he was using that
telecom system thing. Ames was probably downstairs
somewhere.

Brennus groaned again and
Avery smiled softly at his frustration… her frustration too. She
sighed and brushed her hand through his hair. “You better
go.”