Unfettered Vampire (Found & Freed: The Unfettered #5)

12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

Morgan

T he knock on the door startles me. Ned pokes his head around my study door.

“I’m just about to head off. Do you need anything before I go?”

My gaze flicks down to the corner of my laptop screen. Wow, is that really the time? Where the hell did the day go? And what is the point in working from home so I can keep an eye on Ned, if I completely zone out?

“Are the kids alright?” I ask.

Ned’s smile is beautiful. “All fed, washed and tucked up asleep in bed.”

“You must be exhausted.”

“Yeah, a bit,” Ned chuckles.

He looks fine. He really does. Completely recovered from his wobble. Which isn’t at all surprising. I’ve known him for over a year now, and I had absolutely no idea of the extent of what he had been through.

He is so amazingly strong. And I cannot believe he chooses to spend his days chasing after my children. Though, actually, maybe I do understand it. It is a chance at a normal life. Domesticity. Family. He did say all of his relatives were dead.

I pull down my laptop screen. “Can I tempt you with a whisky before you go?”

I can’t read the look on Ned’s face, but he nods, so it is all good. He steps quietly inside and I head over to my drinks cabinet. I did not hunt down and bid on this rare whisky, whilst imagining the look on Ned’s face. No, not at all. Nothing like that. It was entirely for my own pleasure.

I carefully pour two drinks and hand one to Ned. He takes it graciously, and I watch him with intense focus as he takes a sip.

The look that flows over his face is beautiful. I was right. I did buy this whisky entirely for my own pleasure. Watching Ned enjoy it, is a joy like no other.

“I don’t know this one,” he admits.

I grin in absolute delight. “Macallan Mizunara 33-Year-Old Komorebi Edition. By the East Asia Whisky Company.”

“A rare one,” comments Ned with a raised eyebrow. He takes another sip. “It is so good.”

I’ll have to take his word for it. I can barely taste mine. I’m too transfixed by Ned and all my senses are caught up in admiring him.

“I’m going to watch The Dam Busters, fancy joining me?” I blurt.

I need him to stay. I can’t stand the thought of him leaving once he has finished his drink, and this is the only excuse I can come up with. A film. An old one, because he likes those.

Ned wrinkles his nose. “I’ve never understood wanting to relive the war. Some things are best left forgotten. ”

I blink at him. “Casablanca is a war film.”

Hazel eyes flash at me. “It’s a romance!” he snaps vehemently.

I chuckle and hold my hands up in surrender. “Okay, it is a romance.”

His eyes narrow, but he takes another sip of his whisky and says nothing. Jennifer was feisty like that too. Her eyes used to flash exactly like that when she was annoyed. Clearly I have a type.

“How about, It’s A Wonderful Life?” I suggest.

Ned’s eyes light up, but then he frowns. “I’m not that soppy.”

“I am,” I say softly. “You could keep me company while I’m being soppy.”

Ned’s lips curl up into an amused smile. He likes that I am giving him an excuse to watch It’s A Wonderful Life. It is a flimsy pretense, we both know it. But we are both embracing it.

“Fine,” he says with a wry shake of his head.

I grin. Victory has never tasted sweeter.

A short while later, we are settled on the sofa with a huge bowl of popcorn, because I insisted that a movie night could not be complete without popcorn.

The lights are dim, and Ned is a few short inches away from me. I press play, and bite back my contented sigh. I never thought I’d ever be this happy again. There were many, many long and painful days where it did not seem possible. Yet, here I am. I think Jennifer would approve. She wouldn’t want me depressed and moping around the children for the rest of my life, if nothing else.

I’m not going to go with the cliche, ‘She’d want me to be happy,’ because I can’t possibly know that. My wife was possessive. And had a flair for dramatics. She wouldn’t want to be forgotten, that’s for sure. And she would have loved people weeping over her grave.

I will mourn her forever. I could never forget her. That’s simply not possible. But the children and I cannot spend the rest of our lives in her shadow. She is at rest. It is time I found my peace.

“Are you okay?” asks Ned with a raised eyebrow.

A warm smile spreads across my face. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

Ned gives me a bemused look, but he doesn’t probe. He turns his attention to the film instead. Still smiling, I follow his lead.

We watch the first hour of the film in companionable silence. It’s comfortable and warm. Relaxing and soft.

But now there is a strange tingle of anticipation running up my spine. A shiver of excitement in the air. Something is about to happen. I just know it is.

Ned reaches for the popcorn that is on my lap. Playfully, I move it away from him. He flashes me a look of surprise that quickly turns into a grin. He tries to snatch the bowl, but I hold it out of his reach.

He laughs and dives for it, knocking me backwards and landing on top of me. I stare up at him as we both freeze. Popcorn rains down on us, but all I can really see is Ned’s heated and dark eyes.

There were reasons why I shouldn’t want him. I vaguely remember angsting over them. Right now, I can’t recall a single one. They can’t have been important. Ned is wonderful and I crave him with a passion that is intoxicating. Surely that is the only thing that matters ?

Our lips are close, so very close. But I’m not going to close the distance between us. Given everything Ned has been through, consent is even more essential than usual.

I tilt my chin up and pucker my lips a little. I hope my eyes are saying that I’d very much like for him to kiss me. I’ll say it with words, when I can remember how to talk.

He is gazing into my eyes with a ferocious intensity. His cheeks are flushed. I watch, utterly hypnotized, as his very pink tongue pokes out and runs over his plump bottom lip.

He is a slender weight on top of me and my arms are itching to wrap around him and pull him even closer. I’m longing to run my hands all over his body.

He is staring at me as if he would like that too. His gaze drops down to my lips, then back up to my eyes. I am pretty sure he wants to kiss me.

“I’d really like you to kiss me,” I croak. There, I did it. I formed words. In the right order. It is a miracle.

Suddenly, his lips are on mine. Soft, tender. Passionate.

The popcorn bowl clangs on the floor as I drop it. My arms wrap around him, exactly as I was imagining. But this is real. It’s reality. It is really happening.

I’m kissing Ned.

He feels cold. I guess he is somebody who always feels the chill. I’ll have to remember to turn the thermostat up.

A groan pours out of me a whole second before I register that Ned has slipped his tongue into my mouth. Bright sparks of pleasure are dancing all over my body. My hands are sliding up and down his back. I glide up to his hair and down to skim over his ass. Then I find the edge of his tee shirt. My hand eases under it. The feel of his bare, smooth skin makes me groan again .

He whimpers softly into my mouth and presses himself even closer. His hips start to rock, grinding against me. I can feel his bulge, rubbing along my own, but there are far too many clothes between us for it to be satisfying.

Getting out of said clothes feels like an impossible puzzle. An insurmountable task. My head is spinning. My blood is on fire. I am arousal, lust and need. A creature no longer capable of rational thoughts.

Kissing him and rutting against him is going to have to do. It is all I am capable of doing. Belts and buckles, zips and buttons are all completely beyond me right now.

The kiss deepens. It intensifies and ignites my hunger to a raging inferno. My hands move to his ass cheeks and squeeze and knead.

Ned moans and writhes. I love seeing him like this. Pleasure-drunk and passionate. It suits him.

His hips pick up pace and suddenly it feels really good. The pressure and the friction are exhilarating. Even though there are two pairs of jeans and two pairs of underwear between us. I can’t feel his cock at all, not really. But I know it is there. Rubbing against mine.

My orgasm comes out of nowhere. It explodes through me. A surge of blinding ecstasy that consumes me. It possesses me and for one vivid moment, I am carnality incarnate.

My hands push down on Ned’s ass, pressing him even closer to me. My hips dance frantically. All jerky and uncoordinated. I roar through my bliss, and exult when I feel Ned shuddering through an orgasm of his own.

My peak crests, tumbles, recedes. Reality slowly drifts in to the space left behind .

I’m lying on my back on the sofa. Ned is on top of me. I’m breathing heavily.

And I just came in my pants. Like a horny teenager.

I stare up at Ned. He stares back. He is a lot less out of breath than I am. But he is all flushed and his hair is all messy.

Is this the bit where regret creeps in? Are all the reasons why we shouldn’t have done that, about to come crashing down?

I hold my breath and wait. The clock ticks. All I feel is happiness.

I smile at Ned. His flush deepens and he smiles back, almost shyly. It is the most adorable thing I have ever seen.

It doesn’t look like he is having second thoughts.

I release the breath I was holding.

Ned kissed me. We fooled around. Now he is smiling at me.

The world is suddenly a bright and wonderful place. And the future looks shining. I cannot wait for it to begin.