The Shelter

The Shelter had opened. People were coming in. Brit and Ethan had spent all day organizing helpers and registering guests. The night passed quickly. Ethan checked the time and realized he only had a few hours before sunrise. Bidding all good night, he gathered Brit to him and returned to their resting place. “I’m proud of you, princess,” he told her. He was, in fact, most proud of her. She had worked tirelessly to ready the Shelter prior to it opening, and had worked beside him all day and even had taken initiative to greet the guests when they arrived frazzled and weary.

Brit gave him a warm smile and started to remove her clothing to get ready for rest. Ethan perched on the desk watching her silently. He noticed small things: The way her hand slightly trembled from exhaustion as she brushed her hair. The slight redness of her eyes as she washed her face. Ethan noticed that Brit was taking longer to respond when someone spoke to her. Almost as if she had forgotten, she picked up her hair brush again. Ethan walked behind her and kissed the curve of her neck while taking her brush. Settling her back against him, he started to brush her hair. Brit rested her chin silently on his knee. Only the sound of her breathing and the crackle of her hair as it was brushed could be heard.

Ethan shifted uncomfortably knowing she would not be so tired with his vitae. Another brush-stroke pulled her hair slightly. Her words telling him that she did not wish to share anymore once she was back as she was. His abdominal muscles tightened. Her asking why he no longer shared. He had swallowed hard before admitting that he was unsure whether he was meant to share. When Ethan realized Brit was not reacting in a typical way after having received his vitae, he wondered whether God had sent a message. “Who decides what is right for us, Ethan?” she had asked. His fingers caressed her hair. “I miss sharing,” she had told him.

Ethan stayed still for a while before turning her to him to make eye contact. “I wish to be right for you without turning you into something you should not be.” His fingers brushed her cheek, “Sometimes with your personality and traits, it is hard to distinguish between right and wrong.” He left it there for a moment pulling her closer until she was on his lap. Burying his face in her hair, Ethan kissed her neck. Brit turned to kiss him softly. One kiss led to another. Brit yearned for his closeness.

Brit could not get close enough since he had stopped sharing. She pulled away and processed his words while feeling him pulling her tightly. “You made me your wife. And that was right,” she whispered. Brit struggled to form the words she felt in her heart. “I love you, Ethan.” Her arms wrapped around his waist. More silence as she continued to process. “I am your wife.” Silence passed as they listened to one of the guests stumble into his room down the hall. Brit continued, “We should do what we want.”

Ethan kept her close on his lap and slowly caressed her skin, her neck, her shoulders and the sides of her body. He had started to share with her to shelter her when the city was sinking into chaos. Thinking of her words, he found that he too yearned for the closeness. He also yearned for her. Not just her blood, but her nearness. Her body heat. And he yearned for her to have every sense focused. “I want to do right by you.” Brit was relaxed on his lap. Kisses ensued as he went from her lips to her cheek only to slide down to her neck. His thoughts centered on her. Brushing his lips over her bruised bite marks, he thought that he had always just wanted the best for her.

The bruises did not stop him from biting down hard drinking of her as if his thirst was unquenchable. With each drink, he felt himself grow more relaxed and calmed. His fangs still long, he inhaled her scent running his tongue on the points. Uncertainty hung in his mind, but he pierced his tongue deeply almost flooding his mouth with vitae and savagely kissed her deeply leaving no doubt. Brit pulled back as the vitae jolted her senses that had been lulling due to the absence. Pulling him closer, she kissed deeply drinking and grew stronger with each swallow. Ethan knew that, like the building around them, his blood was not perfect, but it would make her safer.

When the kiss ended, Brit lisped, “Please do not push me away because I’m not what is expected in your world.” Ethan finished undressing her before taking his time to caress every inch of her. Pulling her close and tight, he found she wound around him like a vine. He was her husband and she was his wife. Sharing was their due.