Trembling With the Strings

“Okay, well, if you didn’t know already, I’m banning you from working there. I guess he finally took a dive off the deep end,” Robbie told me, holding me gently and rubbing my back softly.

I nodded, holding him with my trembling arms. “I just—Why did he have to…to Marty?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” he murmured, kissing the top of my head. “How about you go take a nice bath? Go get your mind off of everything. We’ll talk after you get some relaxation, okay?”

I nodded, pulling myself out of his embrace and dragging myself to the bathroom. Johnny and Marcus watched me carefully, but they didn’t say a word as I closed the door gently. I looked at the bathtub, but I didn’t really see the point in wasting time like that. Okay, the real reason was that it reminded me of Darius. Anyway, Jonathan and Marcus probably wanted to know about Demetrius. I decided to take a shower instead, which probably cut my time in half.

After my hot shower, I wrapped a towel around my body and wiped the fog from the mirror. I looked absolutely horrible. I sighed, brushing through my hair and wincing with each knot. I felt horrible that Demetrius was suffering alone, and that just added to the guilt I had already been feeling. I felt guilty and miserable about Darius and I falling apart, too. What right did I have to make him miserable? The reason had been to save Demetrius from becoming a vampire, but he had been damned anyway! Was I being punished?

I didn’t know what I had done that was so bad—other than the fact that I had murdered so many people. Sure, it had been a while ago, but it still haunted me to an extent. I knew I would never fully forget their faces as they died at my hands.

I had also nearly killed Darius. I had led that slayer right to him, and it was my fault that Demetrius was going through so much pain. Things were going to be even more awkward with Dray after that little scene outside the club, too.

I groaned, walking over to the sink and brushing my teeth quickly. The sauna-like aftereffect of the hot shower was fading away, and it was no longer warm. I adjusted my towel to make it tighter and opened the door quickly and walked into the living room to tell Robbie that I was okay (even though I was certainly not).

“Oh,” I murmured quietly after meeting Darius’ gaze. “I’m sorry; I didn’t know we had company.”

“Sorry, Gracie,” Robbie apologized. “He got here a few minutes after you went into the bathroom, so I told him just to wait here. He said he wants to talk to you—well, he said he needs to talk to you.”

I nodded gently, feeling rather awkward in my towel. “Should I…?” I pointed to the bedroom, but he shook his head.

“This is really important. I really shouldn’t be away from Demetrius for too long… He’s actually the reason I’m here.” He glanced down to Kai, who was sleeping in his arms, before looking to me again.

“Why? Is something wrong?” I asked quickly, watching him carefully.

“No, he just… Do you think we could speak in private? I have nothing against Robbie, but I would be more comfortable if it was just you and me.”

“Oh, yeah. You can use my bedroom,” Robbie told him. “It’s at the end of the hall.”

Darius nodded, standing up and carefully adjusting Kai. I followed him awkwardly, still feeling a bit embarrassed about being half-naked and all. Darius walked in first and closed the door behind me.

“What’s wrong with Marty?” I asked him, pulling up my towel.

“Nothing’s wrong. He’s in a little pain right now, but he seems to be doing fine. He told me to come here, and he wanted to ask if you and his brothers would visit him…and…”

“And what?” I asked him quietly, smiling at my son as he giggled in Dray’s arms.

“Well, you guys will come, right?”

I nodded. “Of course. But what else did he say to do?”

“I’m not supposed to tell you,” he told me, looking down before meeting my gaze.

“Do it anyway.”

“Gracie…” he groaned, setting Kai down on the bed. He, surprisingly, didn’t cry.

“Come on. Please?” I whispered, smiling.

“You really want me to?” he asked, questioning me with his eyes.

“Yes. Come on. I said please, so you can’t say no. Please and thank you. There.” My small smile turned into a grin.

“You did say please and thank you,” he muttered to himself, tapping his bottom lip as if thinking. “How about I don’t tell you? I’ll show you instead. That way he can’t get mad.”

“Okay, sure.” I nodded furiously, watching him curiously as he shifted from foot to foot before taking a ginger step towards me.

“You sure you want to know?”

“Stop it, Darius!” I groaned. “You know that I do!”

He nodded, looking around the room before suddenly wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer. A small gasp escaped my lips before he pressed his chest to mine. He quickly captured my lips with his own, holding my body as closely to his as he could. I couldn’t bring myself to push him away, and my arms snaked up to wrap around his neck, actually trying to pull him even closer. He mumbled something against my lips, but I couldn’t understand him, and I refused to pull away to ask him to repeat himself. I felt the back of my towel slipping off of my form, but Dray’s hand moved up and held it in place. I smiled against his lips.

“Baby,” he groaned through labored breaths, his hands moving down past my back and to my ass, pressing our hips together. I was going to question him, but I gasped, realizing what he was trying to tell me. He certainly was….excited.

“Dray,” I choked, trying to tell my brain to pull away, but it refused to listen.

“Gracie, it’s been so long,” he told me, pulling back and kissing my neck softly. “Way too long.”

I moaned incoherent thoughts, tilting my neck slightly as he kissed it more roughly. He started to nip at it, but I had to stop him.

“You’re going to give me a heart attack,” I forced out, fighting to gain control over my breaths. He nodded, pulling me back to him and kissing me again, but roughly rather than gently. “Dray—”

“Don’t talk,” he said huskily, gently pushing me onto the bed and hovering overtop of me. I shut my mouth, questioning him with my eyes as I looked up at him. His eyes moved down my form until he was looking at the end of the towel, which was around my mid-thigh. He looked up to my eyes for a moment before slipping his hand under the fabric and rubbing my thigh gently.

“Darius—” I whimpered, biting back a moan.

“Please,” he whispered. “I could take you right now, if I didn’t have so much self-control.” He leaned down and kissed my neck softly. “And if I hadn’t made a previous obligation to Demetrius… But I did.” He pushed himself off of me and helped me onto my feet. “I don’t think I can drive you there. It wouldn’t be a good idea. Not now.” He pushed a hand through his hair, pulling me close for a rough kiss. “Get Robbie to drive you.” He took in a shallow breath. “I’ll be waiting.”