Achilles is used to a life with rules and structure. Being attracted to men doesn't fit into what he considers structured. But he's used to burying things deep down, and this is just another item on the list.
Xander crosses into his life, and he's...
It was amazing to wake up next to Xander, especially a nude Xander. It had gone from puzzling to seriously hot the way he didn't seem to care if I saw him naked or not, even if we weren't engaged in certain bedroom activities.
The first thing I noticed besides his nakedness was that Xander was speaking quietly on the phone. He gave me a little smile when he saw I was awake, sitting on the bed with his legs crossed and facing me.
"Wow, so everything came back clear?" Xander asked, rubbing a finger across his collar and fingering his silver necklace. The blinds in the room were wide open, bathing Xander in a cool, golden light, highlighting his dark coily hair and making his freckles more prominent. My mate looked as breathtaking as he always did.
I moved across the bed, tossing a pillow into Xander's lap and laying down on it. Immediately, Xander started filing his fingers through my hair. That was the moment I realized that even without the bracelet my feelings for Xander hadn't waned a bit. He was still my mate and of course, the love of my life.
I closed my eyes, liking how close we were and listening to the soothing cadence of Xander's voice.
"I just...Yes, Dr.Espinoza, I understand. Only one human meal a day, no more blood from Achilles and a checkup next week." Xander sighed. "Uh-huh. Okay. Got it. And, when can we get the music box back?" There was a long silence and Achilles stopped fingering my hair. I looked up at him curiously, wondering why his face had changed from relaxed to tense. "I can probably pick it up today. Thank you, and you have a great day, too."
Xander put his phone down on the bedside table before looking down at me and bopping me on the nose. "Good morning, sleepyhead."
"Good morning," I replied.
"That was just the doctor. It turns out I'm mostly healthy. They're still not really sure what happened with my blood. At first, it was an intense case of blood rejection which lead to regeneration, but, now the blood is mixing together just fine." Xander moved a hand down to my neck, caressing my vein with a wistful expression. "I am going to miss feeding from you, though. For vampires, it's somewhere between making out and—maybe foreplay, although there isn't really an equivalent."
I sat up quickly, Xander's hand falling away. I couldn't help my worry filled tone. "But, it's better if you don't, right?"
Xander frowned, his lower lip jutting out. "Yeah, I guess." It was beginning to concern me he didn't take this seriously enough.
He moved off of the bed, going to his walk-in closet. I followed him in, knowing that he could spend hours rearranging things if he had nothing else to do.
The walk-in closet was the size of a large bedroom filled with suits, shoes, casual clothes and even a few African clothes decorating each of the walls. The various shelves, and hooks also had accessories, shoes, headscarves and hair materials. Xander had made a tiny area for me considering I was almost living at Xander's apartment but I had maybe a handful of outfits.
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