The Caretaker - 4. Chapter 4

“Chris? What are you doing?”

The warble in my voice gave away how nervous I was.

I felt the bed dip with Chris’s weight, and I was keenly aware of his closeness. I could feel the heat of his body. I could smell his odor, a combination of musk and sweat. He clearly hadn’t showered since the fight.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

That did not sound like Chris. “Did Grant send you in here?”

“Yes.”

“Figures.”

“Look, both of us want you to be okay. But we also need to make sure the things you’ve seen are kept secret.”

I sighed. “If I told anyone, they’d just think I was crazy.”

“I know it’s a lot to digest. I’ve spent my life training. I was barely walking and I’d sworn an oath to guard the caretaker… to fulfill my family’s destiny.” Chris scoffed. “And for what? It’s all gone to shit now.”

Chris sounded tired. I didn’t know what to say, and I was sure he didn’t want my pity. “Sorry.” Damn, that sounded lame.

“I gave up everything, Hudson.”

“Yeah. You could have had me,” I joked. Immediately regretting my words, I let out a nervous snort of laughter, while simultaneously praying Chris hadn’t heard me.

Chris didn’t say a word.

The prolonged silence quickly became awkward.

I was about to get up when Chris moved. The weight of his body pushed me down, pinning me onto the mattress. I opened my mouth to speak, but Chris captured my lips with his. When his tongue pushed forward, I allowed him entry.

Snaking my hands around his back, I pulled him down, wanting more of his weight on me. I’d wanted this for so long, I didn’t stop to think of the consequences.

Chris pulled his head back. “I’ve never kissed anyone before,” he whispered. “Not like this.”

“Me neither,” I answered back.

“What a sad lot we are.”

I laughed. “Yeah.”

“Can I kiss you again?”

I tilted my head up, answering him without words.

Chris shifted, moving between my thighs, pushing them apart. He nipped at the soft skin under my ear, then began sucking. His beard stubble scraped my sensitive flesh. I moaned, writhing underneath him. I could feel Chris’s hard cock pushing into me as his hips rolled in a rhythmic motion.

I moaned. “Oh god.”

Pushing my hips up, I ground my hard-on into Chris. Even through our clothes, I could feel the heat of his erection against mine. Damn, he felt big. I wanted him so bad, without clothes. I wanted to touch him, to taste him. But I couldn’t stop myself.

We kissed deeply as our movements became more frantic. His tongue pushed in and out of my mouth, mimicking the motion of his hips. I thrust back against Chris as he rubbed against me.

“Chris,” I murmured against his lips.

As I came undone beneath Chris’s thrusting body, he suddenly froze. With a stifled groan, his body shuddered.

“That was—”

“Wow.”

We both spoke at the same time. Chris began to laugh lightly, and I joined him.

Shifting his weight, Chris pulled back and moved from on top of me.

“I should get cleaned up. I’m a mess.”

“Me too.”

* * * *

Hefting my backpack further up onto my shoulder, I quickened my pace. I really wanted to get home before dark. It was bad enough it was misting outside, almost raining, but not quite.

If I didn’t have an important test, I would have just skipped class. Maybe my professor would have given me an exemption for being chased by a hell hound, but something told me that wouldn’t go over so well.

I should have just skipped regardless. With all that happened in the past couple days—being chased by a beast, making out with Chris—I wasn’t really able to concentrate anyway.

“Brother, can you spare a dime?”

The voice caught me off guard. Chris and Grant would cuss me out for not paying attention to my surroundings. A harmless old man sat on the street corner, his back against the building. Dressed in tattered rags, he held out his hand, palm side up, and it trembled uncontrollably from the strain of the stretch.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a wad of crumpled bills and some change. I gave the old man a sympathetic smile as I dropped the money into his open palm.

The man turned his palm upside down, and the money dropped to the pavement. Before I could react, he grabbed my wrist. I tried to pull free, but his grip tightened and his fingernails dug into my skin.

Pain like liquid fire radiated up my arm and my vision began to darken.

As he yanked me forward, I screamed.