Embracing Humanity (Embracing Shadows Book 2)

by Night, Ash

  “Will you bite me?” she asked, suddenly shy.

  I nearly stomped on the brakes right in the middle of an intersection. “What?” I tried to keep the shock out of my voice, but had failed miserably.

  “Alex…asked me once. It was when you were gone and I first thought I loved him. I wanted to try. I’m sorry.” Erin looked down at her feet. “It made me feel good. It only lasted a few minutes, I think, but it was wonderful. I was hoping…but if you’re mad I understand.”

  I sighed. “Erin, I’m not mad. I left you and I was wrong. I can’t be angry for what Alex did. I was gone so you were fair game. I’d be honored if you’d allow me a taste of your blood.”

  She hugged me as tight as she could. “I hope you like it!”

  Chuckling, I pulled into her driveway. “I’m sure I will.”

  “Hey, you two. How was school?’ Mrs. Sapphire asked. She was dressed in a ratty t-shirt and jeans, kneeling in front of a patch of dirt, a small gardening shovel and six flowers in plastic containers beside her.

  “Um, hi, Mom. What are you doing?” Erin asked, walking up to her. I stood beside Erin, equally confused. Mrs. Sapphire wasn’t exactly one known for getting dirty. This was the first time I’d even seen her dressed in anything other than dress clothes.

  “I’m gardening. It’s just a small flowerbed, but the nice lady at the store told me gardening was a good way to relieve stress. I’d thought I’d try it.” Mrs. Sapphire smiled wide. She seemed very excited about her new project.

  I smiled. “It is a great way to relieve stress. My mother used to have a big garden with vegetables and every kind of flower she could lay her hands on. It was beyond beautiful and it was her pride and joy.” The memory of her colorful garden brought tears to my eyes and I blinked them back as quickly as I could. My brother and I had tried to grow flowers by her grave a few decades back, but nothing would grow. I kept a small flowerbed in my backyard as a memorial to her.

  Erin squeezed my hand tight. I hugged her shoulders. “Speaking of Aubrey’s mother, I have a favor.”

  “Anything, my dear.” Mrs. Sapphire said, smiling at her daughter.

  “Would it be possible to take a few days off of school to visit her grave a few weeks from now? Aubrey really wants me to meet her. Please?”

  Mrs. Sapphire turned to me, all business now. “Where will you be taking her?”

  “Massachusetts, that’s where she raised my brother and I until she died five years ago. I lived with relatives until I turned eighteen.”

  “How long will you be gone?”

  “About a week since we’ll be driving,”

  She seemed skeptical. I prayed I wouldn’t have to compel her. I’d never forgive myself for deceiving her the first time. “And you’ll get separate hotel rooms?”

  “Of course,” I smiled. Erin shot me a look. I kept my expression solemn. “I will take excellent care of your daughter, Cathy. I promise on my life.”

  Her face softened. “I know that, Aubrey. What kind of mother would I be if I didn’t ask, though?”

  Erin hugged her, nearly knocking her off her feet. “Thank you, Mom! Thank you! I’ll be on my best behavior, I promise!”

  “If Aubrey has to raise his voice even once…” she joked.

  “I don’t think he’s even capable of that.” Erin laughed, leading me inside as Mrs. Sapphire said something about running to the store. “I can’t wait!”

  I hugged her. “I was afraid she wasn’t going to let you go,”

  “You could’ve taken me anyway.”

  Sitting down on her bed, I sighed. “Erin, no, I wouldn’t. I will never forgive myself for compelling her in the first place. I had no right.”

  “You did it to help me.” She said, inching closer. “I believe we already had this conversation in a speeding car.”

  I rested my forehead on hers. “I will never hurt you again.”

  Her heartbeat sped up and her lips collided with mine. I blushed when I remembered we were on her bed as my head hit the pillow. Erin didn’t waste any time, kissing me with everything she had. I let out a low moan.

  She grinned. “Did I tell you I love you?”

  I chuckled. “I got the message.”

  Her hands found the hem of my shirt and pulled it up, her lips kissing my abs as I tossed my shirt to the side. Without warning, I flipped her so she was laying on the bed. She giggled. I kissed her hard, my passion from wanting to kiss her this morning finally unleashed. She gasped, pausing a moment to catch her breath. I growled playfully and kissed her again as soon as I could.

  “Careful, I’m only human.” She said, tracing my lips with her finger as she caught her breath again.

  I growled again, a deep, feral sound. “I have to keep reminding myself you need to breathe. What a pesky little habit. I’d never stop kissing you otherwise.”

  “Absence makes the lips grow fonder,” she said, giggling as I tickled her.

  I settled for kissing her neck as her hands traced my shoulder blades. The sensation of her fingertips was driving me wild. I knew I should ease up, stop testing my limits, but I didn’t want to. I wanted her in the worst way possible.

  “I love you so much.” My voice came out in a husky growl. The sound of it did funny things to Erin’s heartbeat. I smiled.

  She kissed me until her head started to spin. “I love you more,” she replied breathlessly.

  My fingers went to the buttons on her jeans. She tensed, waiting, expecting. I tugged her pants off and kissed her. “You’re so beautiful. Too beautiful. God made an angel and blessed me with her.” My fingers lightly traced her inner calf, feeling the curve of the muscle.

  “No, God blessed me with you,” Erin replied, kissing me, tangling her hands in my hair. She lifted her shirt and gazed into my eyes lovingly, trusting me completely. I turned to stone as I heard tires on pavement.

  “Aubrey, what’s wrong? Don’t you want to?” she asked, hurt.

  “I want to, more than anything, my love, but your mom just pulled in the driveway.” I groaned, retrieving my shirt. “Damn that store for being only twenty minutes away,”

  “Let’s press pause and we can continue it later when we get ‘separate’ hotel rooms,” she said with a chuckle. “Now I really can’t wait.”

  I kissed her hard, making her head spin. “That moment was the best I’ve ever had. I cannot wait to unpause it, sweetheart. Why don’t you get dressed and talk with your mom? I’ll be down in a minute.”

  She grinned, pulling on her pants and smoothing her shirt. “Got ya all excited again, didn’t I?”

  I smirked. “You do that a lot,”

  Kissing me for another few minutes, she finally pulled away and went to talk to her mother. I lay back on her bed, letting the moment replay in my head. I’d never been that serious about anyone. I imagined that this was what Alex felt for Anastasia. The feeling was absolutely intoxicating.

  When I was presentable, I entered the kitchen, holding a book. “Sorry about that, Cathy. Erin just showed me a book and I guess I got lost in it.”

  Mrs. Sapphire smiled. She and Erin were at the table, playing a game against each other on their phones. “It’s all right, Aubrey. What is it about?”

  “It’s about a prince named Edwin and a commoner named Sarah who have to learn to survive once the world is hit by an asteroid and they learn they’re some of the only survivors.” I said, recalling a plot I heard of weeks ago. I wasn’t even sure of the actual plot of the book I held.

  “It sound great,” she replied, glancing at her phone. “Ooh, good word, honey.”

  “I rock at this game!” Erin exclaimed. “How’s your garden coming, Mom?”

  “Great! I picked up some purple pansies and Black-eyed Susans to brighten up the yard. I originally just wanted to buy a bag of plant food but they caught my eye and I thought, why not?”

  “Can I help plant them?” Erin asked.

  “Of course, dear.” Mrs. Sapphire smiled, standing up. “Would yo
u like to start now?”

  Erin slipped her hand in mine and I followed her and her mother outside. I lifted the bag of plant food out of the car with ease and set it on the battered picnic table in the backyard. Walking around to the front yard, I heard Mrs. Sapphire and Erin singing to the radio. I was familiar with the tune, I’d heard Erin sing it before, but I didn’t know the title or artist.

  Picking up a plastic container with a black-eyed Susan in it, I set it beside me on the grass and dug a small hole in the dirt. I lifted the small plant and placed it in the hole.

  “This one’s my favorite,” Erin said, coming over with a small watering can. I smiled, patting down the dirt around the flower.

  “My mother’s favorite were tulips, especially pink ones.”

  “Did you plant flowers with her?” Erin asked, watering it.

  “All the time,” I said. “Alex and I would work up the soil for her each year.”

  Erin placed her hand over mine. “That sounds nice,”

  “Everything with her was nice,” I sighed. “She’s happy I have you. I just know it.”

  “I can’t wait to meet her,” Erin stood on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. I smiled and helped her and her mother plant the rest of the flowers. Mrs. Sapphire said she would water them in so Erin and I went into the kitchen for lunch when we were finished.

  “What would the human like?” I grinned, already taking out sandwich meat and the packet of cheese slices.

  “Tacos,” she teased. “Do you think you can handle sandwich-making?”

  “Here you are,” I said, grinning at her shocked expression as I presented her with a sandwich. “I didn’t even set the kitchen on fire.”

  She kissed me and took a bite. “It’s perfect,”

  I smiled. “Good,”

  A few weeks later, I held her close as she lay asleep in her bed. I debated once again to go looking for Alex. He still hadn’t returned and I was getting more worried with each passing day. Topaz hadn’t seen him either, not that he was looking.

  The sun peered over the horizon as I kissed Erin’s bare shoulders and slipped out of bed. After hunting, I came back to find Erin eating pancakes. “Good morning,”

  “Morning, I made you a plate.” Erin gestured to the plate across from her. I smiled and ate with her, enjoying her silent company.

  She gave me a hug after rinsing her plate. “Did I tell you I love you yet today?”

  “No, but you’ve thought it about a hundred times since I walked in.” I replied, hugging her tight. I didn’t want to let go. I was getting used to the silence left by Alex in my head when I was around people, but when I was alone it was deafening. I hadn’t heard from him in almost a month and had absolutely no idea where he was. His house sat untouched.

  “I wish I knew where he was.” Erin said sadly. “I had a nightmare about him.”

  I pulled away to look at her. “You had a nightmare again?”

  “Yeah, it was about Alex. He was somewhere very dark and just twitching in pain. When he saw me, it was so…his eyes were so…” Fumbling for the right word, she put her hand on my cheek and simply showed me.

  Alex was on the ground in a dark forest. His whole body was tense, his eyes closed like a child trying to shut out the world around him. Every now and then a painful shudder would pass through him. When he finally opened his eyes, my blood froze. It was the same look he had when Anastasia died.

  I wanted to see more, to know why Alex had that heartbreaking look in his eyes, but the dream ended. Erin had tears in her eyes. “Mom said I woke up screaming. She made an appointment with Dr. Robin for ten.”

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” I said. “I should have been there.”

  She hugged me again. “You had to hunt. I don’t ever want you going hungry just to take care of me. Promise?”

  I kissed her fingertips. “Promise.”

  “I should go get ready. I don’t want him thinking I’m crazy again.” She pulled away and headed upstairs.

  “He never thought you were crazy, sweetheart. He only wants to help.” I said from the other said of her bathroom door as she got dressed.

  “I know, and he’s a nice guy, but I don’t want to be a zombie again.”

  “You won’t.” I said solemnly as she sat the edge of her bed and tied her hair into a lazy, but incredibly sexy ponytail.

  Her eyes searched mine. “Would you compel them again?”

  I thought for a moment. “No,”

  “Why not? You saw what those meds did.” The betrayal in her voice stung.

  “I would simply suggest to your mother for Dr. Robin to prescribe something else. You’re having nightmares again, Erin, even when I’m around. This is the fourth one in a week. Maybe you do need something. Maybe I was wrong to suggest that your mother take you off them completely.” I scooped her up in a hug as she started to shake. “I’ll be right here forever. You have nothing to worry about.”

  She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. “I know you won’t leave, but what if those pills change me? What if I don’t want to do anything like go on dates or have you read to me?”

  “Then I’ll read to you anyway, Erin. If the medication’s not right for you, I’ll ask for new pills until we find something that works. I’ll be with you every step of the way.” I smiled. “Ready?”

  Taking one more deep breath, she nodded and squeezed my hand. I kissed her gently. Her weak smile grew stronger. We sat in the back seat as Mrs. Sapphire drove to the psychiatrist office. I held her the whole way there as she stared out the window at the rain. She felt so fragile, like a baby bird afraid to fly for the first time. I knew she was worried about what he would say.

  Mrs. Sapphire kept glancing at her daughter in the rear-view mirror, but didn’t say anything even when we got out of the car. I kissed Erin’s hand and ran my thumb across her hand as we waited in the crowded waiting room.

  After three patients walked out of Dr. Robin’s office, it was Erin’s turn. She gave me a brave smile. I reluctantly let go of her hand and watched as she and her mother went inside his office.

  Thoughts of the other five patients assaulted me. Normally I could block out a person’s thoughts without much effort, but it was required more effort if that person was nervous or had some other strong emotion. I concentrated on one person at a time, interested in knowing why they were here.

  My wife is cheating on me. I wanted her to come, but she wouldn’t. God, I need to move on… A man of about thirty sat in the chair closest to the reception desk, scowling at everything.

  I shifted my mind to the person a few chairs down from him. She was a young girl, seventeen, dressed in punk rock fashion, and had an extremely worried, almost paranoid look on her face. She had her red hair in two braids and had noise-canceling headphones on. Her fists were balled and pressed against her stomach.

  There are so many people here. I hope Dr. Robin can help me. I don’t want to be alone forever. I’m proud of myself. I didn’t cancel this appointment like I did last week. I need to overcome this. She slowly unclenched her fists and tried to breathe deeply. When she noticed me, she smiled timidly. I smiled back encouragingly. She seemed like a nice girl and I hoped she could overcome her social anxiety. It was crippling her, bordering on agoraphobia. This was the first time she had been out of her apartment in days.

  I felt a small tug on my sleeve. I looked down to see a little kid staring at me with inquisitive green eyes. “Mister, can you help me? You’re so tall.” He pointed to a stuffed rabbit on a shelf of toys.

  “Of course,” I said, getting up and handing it to him. “Here you go,”

  The little boy clapped his hands. “Thank you!”

  As I sat back down, a frazzled-looking woman came up to the child. “Jeffery, don’t go talking to strangers, okay?”

  “But I wanted that toy and I couldn’t reach it and you were changing Emma.” He complained. He pointed to me. “He just helped me get it. He’s nice.”

  Th
e woman smiled sheepishly at me. “I’m really sorry. I hope my son wasn’t bothering you.”

  “Not at all,” I replied. “I love kids. He was very polite. His mother raised him well.”

  She blushed. “Thank you.” She smiled at me before chasing after her little girl who was trying to reach for a small vase of flowers. The little girl must have been Emma. Jeffery was now occupied at a small table with a coloring book, the stuffed rabbit sitting next to the book.

  I felt sorry for him. I’d read his mind. He and Emma had lost their dad. According to him, his dad became an angel. By reading the mom’s mind, I saw that it was cancer. Her husband had had it for two years. It had killed him five months ago. She still wore her wedding ring.

  An elderly man with a cane came into the building and talked briefly with the receptionist. He glanced around for a seat and walked over. “May I sit next to you? I’d prefer not to sit next to that grump by the desk.” He said quietly with a laugh. His warm blue eyes crinkled at the edges when he laughed.

  “Of course, sir, go right ahead.” I smiled warmly at him.

  “Ah, a young man with manners. You’re becoming a rare breed.” The man sat down slowly. He had a slight Italian accent. He was wearing a 1940s brown plaid blazer with sewn patches at the elbows, matching plaid hat, and creased brown trousers. Removing his hat, I saw he was bald except for two patches of snow-white hair on either side of his head.

  “My name is Aubrey, sir.” I said, shaking his hand.

  He gripped my hand firmly for a man in his late nineties. “Maxwell, but call me Max. I’ll be ninety-seven on the fourteenth.”

  “No kidding? That’s my birthday as well.”

  Max smiled wide. “Well, happy birthday then!”

  “Same to you,”

  He chuckled. “Any plans?”

  “I’m taking my girlfriend to see my mother,”

  His smile turned into one of understanding. “How long has she been gone?”

  “How did you know?” I asked.

  “When you get to be my age, you can tell by the slightest change of tone. I could tell by the sadness in your voice, my boy.”