“So, like, my mum calls me and is shouting into the phone, right? And I keep telling her, she doesn’t actually have to shout, and she kept talking about how phones worked in the past, and it was just this big mess,” Abel said and laughed.

I couldn’t hold back a chuckle of my own. “How old is she exactly?”

“I’ve asked her so many times, and she keeps saying it doesn’t matter. But let’s just say for her industrial revolution feels like it was last year.” He rolled his eyes a little. “I tried introducing her to Instagram once and she kept asking what the point was. And she didn’t understand why you’d keep photos on your phone, since she still likes to go in a darkroom and print out photos.”

“Actually, that sounds amazing. I’ve always wanted to try out analogue photography.”

“I’ll take you to her house sometime. She’ll go nuts for you.” He smiled that ridiculously cute smile.

“You wanna introduce me to your parents?” I asked mostly as a joke.

It didn’t land. His smile slid right off, and he looked visibly nervous. “Uh, if you’d like?”

“What’re you gonna say?”

He frowned a little before realising I was joking. Then he smiled again and put his arm around my head, pulling face straight into his chest. “You’re so mean.”

I laughed and circled my arms around him, leaning into the hug that hadn’t started out as a hug at all.

“You’re cute,” Abel said and put his other arm around me as well.

“Abel’s got a pet,” someone said, and I pulled back to see who.

A group of people walked by us on the big lawn between some of the university buildings. I didn’t know them but apparently Abel did.

He clenched his jaw and slid his sunglasses down in front of his eyes again. “Walk away, Liam.”

“Only into dogs these days huh? Woof woof,” he laughed, and the others barked alongside him.

“Is it housetrained, or will it piss all over your floors?” another chimed in, earning more laughs from the group.

I had tried many things that sucked in my life, but never had I been the target of harassment for being a werewolf. It was so new I didn’t even know how to feel about it.

“Let’s just go,” I said and grabbed Abel’s hand.

His whole body was clenching. I had never seen him this wired and honestly, I didn’t wanna stay around for what might happen next.

“You should’ve trained your dog better. It’s the one doing the commanding when you should be the one to do that,” the first guy, Liam, pointed out and tipped his cap up a bit. It was an ugly cap and he looked ridiculous wearing it.

“He’s not a dog and you know that Liam. Just get your whole gross attitude out of my face,” Abel bit back, his voice shaking a bit.

“It doesn’t matter, Abel,” I said as calmly as I could. I hauled him with me, the group barking at us.

“You didn’t have to let them talk to you like that,” Abel said, and I caught his gaze from behind the aviators.

“This is the first time someone has been a dick to me because I’m a wolf. Honestly, I… Didn’t know what to do with that and I just wanted to get away.”

Abel stopped and pulled me to him, giving me probably the best hug in the world. “I’m so sorry, Gael. No one should talk to you like that for any reason.”

I circled my arms around his waist and leaned into the hug. It was nice. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had hugged me like this. It reminded me of when my dad would hug me, which I know sounds weird, but he had pretty much been all I had my whole life. And the way he’d hug me, even after I had grown up… It was just so comforting. I loved hugs. I had craved them.

“Were those your old friends?” I asked, my voice muffled against his chest.

“Yeah. Not my proudest moment, but I was new and didn’t know anyone, so my mum put me in contact with the other vamps on campus.” He didn’t pull back. I was half expecting him to pull back, but he seemed as comfortable in this hug as I did.

“Wanna get out of here?” I asked then.

“Like permanently or just right now?”

I snorted and pulled back but keeping my hands on him. “Now. I’ve still got that test next week and I think I’d fail if I just upped and disappeared.”

“You’re probably right,” he chuckled and gently took my face in his hands. “Can we go to yours? I wanna cuddle Dave. And you.”

“I think I can make that happen,” I murmured and got him to bend down to kiss me.

 ***

“When did you meet Fred and Creek?” I asked after we had settled down on the sofa.

Abel had almost immediately jumped on top of me and had gotten very comfortable. I was too. The weight and warmth of his body was comforting.

“Maybe six months after I had come to town? Two or so years ago. I don’t know what it was about me that they saw, but one day they sat down with me at the café and then we were friends.”

“Just like that?”

He shrugged a bit without meeting my gaze. His eyes were fixed on my chest, his hand running over it. “I’m not the best at making friends so I guess they took pity on me. I must’ve looked miserable.” He ran his hand over my chest again and then lowered his head, kissing it through my shirt.

“I can’t feel that,” I murmured.

“No?” He continued to the other side of my body, his hand running up under my shirt, but staying on my hip.

I shook my head. “Nerve damages.”

“I’m still amused,” he murmured and continued.

“Yeah?”

He nodded and moved up to my throat, placing soft kisses on it. I sighed in response and ran my fingers through his hair. He wiggled a little, getting in between my legs and moved his hips, pressing himself at me.

“Why do you always make it so hard, Gael,” he chuckled.

“I wasn’t the one initiating this.”

“You could stop being so hot all the time, you know.” He was whispering now, his lips grazing over my skin. “I want you.”

I ran my free hand up under his shirt, digging my fingers into his skin. “You have me.”

“Not in the way you think.” He kissed my throat again. “I wanna taste you.”

My stomach took a stumble. My heart was beating wildly out of control, and I couldn’t even start to begin to explain how I was feeling. I had heard dirty talk before, but the way he did it was the best I had ever heard.

“Gael, I wanna feed on you.”

Wait, what?

It kind of stopped there. That wild feeling that had been running through my body, making my head feel like it was in the clouds. I was very present right then and there.

“Will it hurt?” I asked with a sheepish voice.

“It’ll sting a little.”

“Will it scar?”

“No, I’ve got healing agents in my saliva.”

I pushed the back of my head into the pillow to get him to look at me. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, otherwise we’d go around and leave some super obvious proof of our existence. That’d be dumb.”

I snorted and nodded. “I guess…” I took a deep breath and nodded then. “You’ll stop if I tell you to, right?”

“Of course,” he murmured and lowered his head, kissing me softly. “You sure though?” he asked with the softest voice between kisses, moving down over my jaw and down to my throat again.

“Y-yeah,” I stuttered, trying to get my breath under control.

He kept kissing my skin and I was curling my toes in anticipation. He must’ve felt how tense I was because he didn’t do anything but kiss me. I relaxed and he made this odd purr. It sounded cute. And hot.

“You ready?” he whispered.

I nodded, too breathless to say anything.

He opened his mouth, slowly, running his lips over my pulse. Then his tongue replaced his lips but only for a moment. His sharp teeth were against my skin and then they pierced it. I made a small yelp, surprised by the stinging pain. It only lasted for a moment. Warmth spread in my body, energising every nerve ending.

Nothing compared to this.

All the emotions he had made me feel, the whole feeling of his presence was now somehow mixing into my bloodstream, and I felt him everywhere.

I moaned loudly and dug my fingers into his back. He was pressing himself at me, desperately trying to get even closer. I knew once we’d actually take the next step, this would feel mind-blowingly good.

Abel released my throat then with a groan. His fingers were digging into my hip but then moved up to my thigh, wrapping my leg around his hips. He ground his hips down on me as he kissed me hard.

I grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head. He helped getting it off and then he was back, kissing me.

It felt like my skin was on fire, but in the most pleasant way. If fire could feel pleasant… I was very warm, was my point. But it wasn’t warm in any way I had ever tried before. This was so different. It came from within. With every beat of my heart, it became more and more intense.

I couldn’t shut up either. I was moaning into the kisses, as was Abel to be fair, but I was getting more and more aware of the fact that I sounded like an idiot.

He lifted up and went for my jeans, opening them. I lifted my hips up so he could pull them down. He wrapped his fingers around me as he kissed me hard again. His fangs grazed over my bottom lip, puncturing the thin skin. He ran his tongue over it and the bleeding and stinging immediately stopped. He wasn’t lying about those healing agents. I couldn’t even feel any stinging in my throat. I was also way too busy getting off to really think about anything but that.

He clenched his hand and that was me done. Bones evaporated. My body turned liquid, and my hands fell down on the sofa. I smiled goofily up at Abel as he lifted up a little, smiling back down at me.

“I’d return the favour,” I murmured, my words a little slurred. “But I’m afraid I’m entirely unable.”

Abel snorted and helped me get my jeans back on, grabbed some paper towels and cleaned my stomach.

“I got mine.” He winked and returned to lay on top of me. His hand landed next to mine, and I laced my fingers with his.

I liked it when he winked. He looked dorky and it was cute.

“So, how was my blood then?” I asked.

He pressed his face down on my chest, inhaling sharply. “It was hard to stop. I could taste the forest and something wild.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little. “You could taste the wolf?”

“I think? But I think it’s also just you. You’re wild.”

“Makes me sound way cooler than I actually am.”

“You’re pretty cool already.” He sighed and reached for the remote, turning on the telly.

“You’re sure you don’t want me to…?” I asked a little hesitantly.

“Upsides of being a vampire is that there several forms of pleasure for us. Sex is one, feeding is another.” He flicked the channel away from the news channel, making a fart noise as our prime minister showed up on the screen very briefly.

“So, you get off from feeding?”

“Not exactly. It’s just another form of physical gratification. And the fact that I like you a lot makes it a mental one too. Like, it’s a trip really. You offer me something so precious, putting you in such a vulnerable position.” He shrugged a shoulder and changed the channel again.

He liked me a lot. I was smiling like an idiot and pretty happy about Abel’s focus being on the telly rather than on my goofy-ass face.