Fallen (11 page)

“Pretty much.”

“So he assumes I’m his, and then—” She swallowed as a number of emotions flickered across her face. “Then sends you to clean up his mess.” The bitterness in her words made my chest tighten.

“I’m so sorry, Em.” I wanted to reach out and touch her, but I didn’t think she’d appreciate that. Not from me.

“Your boss deserves to be castrated. How could you
work
for someone like him? I can’t even—” She shook her head as her nostrils flared and her jaw clenched. “I want to punch you so bad right now.”

Looking down at the sheet, I murmured, “I wouldn’t stop you if you tried.”

A few seconds later, she surprised me by resuming her spot by my side. I blinked, stunned for a moment, before bringing my hand up to continue petting her hair.

“I’ve missed this.”

Turning, my cheek rested against her hair. “You’ve missed what?”

“Being affectionate. Cuddling.”

My hand faltered on her hair, but I quickly recovered and continued the rhythm of slow petting.

That
was
what we were doing, wasn’t it? We were…cuddling. It was actually kind of nice. I hadn’t done this since—

Since Mary.

I braced myself for the inevitable freak out, but it never came.

Chapter Twenty

Saturday, February 6th

EMILY

“Have you decided what you want to watch?”

“No.” Frowning, I continued browsing the selection of On Demand movies available through Gabriel’s satellite provider. I skipped anything that looked even remotely romantic. Only things with explosions, aliens, ghosts, or vampires were left, and I was perfectly fine with that. I ended up picking the latest sci-fi blockbuster, pressing play as I settled back onto the couch. 

I hadn’t watched a whole lot of TV back home, mostly Netflix, and when I asked Gabriel about it, I was shocked to learn it was virtually nonexistent outside of the US. How did people catch up on their shows, or find new ones? It blew my mind. 

Thankfully, Gabriel’s satellite had hundreds of channels from all over the world, and more than enough in English. I’d have gone crazy if it was all in a language I couldn’t understand, especially since ninety-nine percent of my time was now spent watching TV, ever since Gabriel had revoked my computer privileges for “abusing the internet.” 

Apparently, there were better ways to spend your time on the web than stalking your friends and family on Facebook. Like watching porn, according to his computer’s recent history.

Leaning forward, I grabbed my bag of candy from the coffee table and tore it open as the credits started. “Are you sure you don’t mind staying in?” 

I’d asked Gabriel, like, a million times, but I wanted to be sure. 

He rolled his eyes as he came back from the kitchen with a beer in hand. “I told you, it’s fine,” he said, taking a long swig as he sat next to me. “Besides, what else are you gonna do tonight? Stalk Beth’s Facebook page?”

I scowled at him, ashamed to admit that he was right. If I had access to a computer, that is. I was also ashamed to admit that I’d made a fake profile, just for the sole purpose of trolling the pages of those closest to me. It was sad and pathetic, but in some small way, it was like I was still a part of their lives if I could see what they were up to. It was all I had left, the only link to my former life, and it worried Gabriel. He thought I’d do something stupid, like contact Beth or my parents. I
wouldn’t
, of course, I just…missed them. I wanted to feel close to them in the only way I could, not that it made any of this easier.

My “death” made the local news in Potomac Ridge, and the school had a memorial for me. Beth’s page had been unusually quiet, except for a few condolences, but she did change her profile picture to one with the two of us, taken at one of Kappa Psi’s keggers last semester. And Thomas… Well, his Facebook account had been deleted, and with it, I felt like our life together had been deleted too. 

Condolences flooded my parents’ pages in the weeks that followed. They had a funeral in Dallas and everything, and instead of burying my body, they buried an empty casket under my tombstone. I wondered if Thomas or Beth had attended, but I had no real way of knowing. My aunt Caroline had commented that my funeral was “a beautiful service for a beautiful girl, who was taken too soon.” Things like that, they twisted the knife in my heart, and I was sure—despite Gabriel’s claims—that no amount of time would make the gaping hole in my chest any smaller.

Emily’s face clouded over as she stared at the TV, watching, but unseeing. “You okay?”

She blinked and looked at me, shaking her head as she dug through the plastic bag of treats. “No. I’m about as far from okay as I can possibly get.”

“You want to talk about it?”

She took out a piece of candy, and I eyed the white sticks with a circular bulge on the end, covered by plastic wrappers. She undid the plastic, exposing a red sphere, and popped it into her mouth. “What’s there to talk about? I’m completely alone in the world, and I’m gonna die alone.” She laughed and took the candy out of her mouth, licking her red-stained lips. “Oh, no, wait, I’m not. I’m just gonna live for the rest of eternity alone. My bad.”

I rolled my eyes. “Quit being so melodramatic.
I’m
here, aren’t I?”

She frowned and pulled the throw blanket over her, sinking further into the couch. “You don’t count. You don’t
want
to be here.”

Leaning forward, I set my beer on the coffee table. “I don’t?”

“C’mon, you can’t honestly tell me you’d rather be babysitting me than out getting laid. I know how much of a slut you are, and I know this must be killing you.”

I
was
a slut. I’d never stopped to think the term applied to me, but it did. I’d pretty much fuck any decent-looking woman, anytime, anywhere. If that wasn’t a slut, I didn’t know what was.

My stomach knotted. I didn’t like this uneasiness creeping over me. I didn’t… I didn’t
like
her seeing me that way. It didn’t sit well with me, but I couldn’t understand why.

I scowled, irritated that she was getting under my skin, and said, “Last time I checked, I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to do, all right? And under normal circumstances, I
like
hanging out with you, so quit your bitching and watch this damn movie with me.”

“Okay.” The corners of her lips lifted as she refocused on the movie and brought the candy up to her mouth, her lips parting as her tongue snaked out ever so slightly. Wrapping her lips around the red sphere, it disappeared into her mouth, until all I saw was the white stick poking out.

My cock twitched and I swallowed, my mind automatically thinking of something else she could wrap her lips around. “What are those?” I asked, nodding to the candy.

Her delicate brow lifted in a curious stare and she brought the candy out of her mouth slowly, her full, pink lips surrounding the now glistening red globe. She licked her lips and said, “Lollipops. Haven’t you seen one before?”

Clearing my throat, I shifted on the couch, making more room for the straining erection in my pants. Thank God for the blanket covering us, because the way her lips wrapped around it… 

I shifted again as my erection became downright painful. “I don’t really pay attention to human food since I can’t eat it.”

Her mouth dropped open. “So you’ve
never
had candy before?” 

I shook my head. “Nope.”

“Well, here.” She held it out to me. “This one’s cherry. It’s my favorite.”

I glanced down at the proffered treat, then back up to her. “I can’t eat that.”

She rolled her eyes. “You don’t know that. You’ve never tried.”

“Emily, I
can’t
.” 

“You probably can. ’Sides, you don’t actually
eat
them. You suck on ’em.”

I glanced down at the lollipop she was offering. Part of me wanted to, just because it’d been in her mouth and the idea of having it in
my
mouth gave me a weird thrill. But part of me was also scared that it’d make me sick, despite her claims otherwise.

The hell with it. “I guess I can try it.” I took the lollipop from her and tentatively brought it up, pausing for a fraction of a second before finally putting it in my mouth. 

The taste was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. It was sweet and…delicious. Damn near close to what I imagined heaven might taste like. 

I took it out, swallowing the sweet saliva that had pooled in my mouth, and realized why Emily had licked her lips afterwards. The lollipop made them sticky. I licked my lips, getting another taste of sweetness, and handed the lollipop back to her.

She smiled. “Did you like it?”

I nodded. “It was…amazing.”

She laughed and popped the lollipop back into her mouth, sending another thrill through me because
my
saliva was now in
her
mouth. It was like we had kissed. Sort of.

I bet her mouth tastes like the lollipop. Sweet and delicious and cherry…

Wait—was I seriously wondering what it’d be like to kiss her?

She took the lollipop out of her mouth again and licked her lips. Her tongue was stained red from the lollipop, and her full lips were shiny, with a hint of red as well. I bet they were sticky too.

Yes
, I wanted to kiss her. So bad. I wanted to taste her mouth, her tongue, her lips… And I wanted to suck her lower lip between mine.

She leaned back against the armrest and propped her feet on my lap. “I’m glad you liked it.” She nodded to the bag of lollipops on the coffee table. “You want one? They have other flavors besides cherry.”

I shook my head. “I’m fine, thanks.” I stuck my hands under the blanket, rubbing her feet as an excuse to get them further away from my crotch and my rock-hard dick, which her feet were perilously close to. 

She popped the candy out of her mouth quickly, making a wet sucking sound. My dick twitched at the sound, and I had to close my eyes, willing myself not to maul her.

“Mmmm,” she moaned. “That feels so good.”

Not helping, Em.

I unceremoniously dropped her foot and stood, careful not to let her see the front of my pants. “I’ll be back in a minute,” I said, heading towards the hallway that led to my bedroom.

“Uh, okay. Do you want me to pause the movie?”

“No,” I called out over my shoulder. I didn’t stop until I made it into my room, where I shut the door behind me and leaned against it. Closing my eyes, I sighed. 

Jesus Christ, this girl was going to be the death of me. 

Rubbing the heel of my palm over my erection, through the fabric of my pants, I hissed in a sharp breath through my teeth. I needed to take care of this. It felt like I was about to explode, and not in a good way. I couldn’t remember
ever
having this much pent up sexual energy.

I pushed myself away from the door, untucking my shirt as I headed towards the bathroom. Light flooded the white marble bathroom as I flipped on the switch, then crossed over to the shower. I turned the knobs and stuck out my hand, gauging the temperature of the cascading water, then disrobed quickly. I half-expected to see zipper indentations on my dick from how hard it’d been straining against my pants.

Stepping into the shower, I ducked my head under the showerhead, then turned to let the hot water beat against my back. I grabbed the bar of soap and lathered my hands, then gripped my shaft and started pumping into my hand. My head rolled back as I groaned, then placed my free hand against the marble shower wall to steady myself. 

How pathetic was this? Masturbating in my shower while a gorgeous female sat in my living room. I couldn’t believe I’d been reduced to jerking off. I hadn’t rubbed one out in…shit,
centuries
, but lately it was all I could do to stay sane, because Em was right—I spent too much time watching her mope about the apartment, and the lack of sex was
killing
me. This was not how it was supposed to be. When I needed to come, a woman took care of my dick for me, not my own goddamn hand.

My mind wandered back to Emily, and I pictured her curled up on the couch, sucking on her lollipop. Christ, she had sucked the hell out of that thing and looked fucking
hot
doing it. If that was any indication of her oral skills…

I groaned again and bucked my hips, pumping my hand harder and faster around my swollen shaft. My heart began to race, and my breaths were labored in the thick steam enveloping me. I felt the familiar pressure building up, my release imminent. 

One last image of Emily licking her lips sent me over the edge, and I cried out as I came, painting the shower wall in front of me with my release. I shuddered, my tense muscles relaxing as a wave of contentment washed over me.

It was several moments before my brain turned back on and I could function. Once I could form coherent thoughts, I finished my shower and cleaned up the evidence of my activities. 

I turned off the shower and stepped out, grabbing a towel off the adjacent rack. Running it over my damp hair, I heard soft padded steps in my bedroom. I dropped the towel and held it in front of my cock as Emily walked in.