Shadow Guardians: The Promised
Chapter 2

His hands glided over the soft skin of her ribs as he admired the perfect curvature of her spine. Beautiful. She let out a moan as his hand found the soft swell of her breast and his thumb and forefinger pinched an erect nipple.

He had to lean forward over her back to reach, which meant that he covered her with every aroused inch of his body. She pushed back into him, begging to be sated of the maddening passion. He wanted nothing more at that moment, but first...

Fondling her breast with one hand, the other slid down between her legs to test, to tease. She inhaled sharply, and her neck craned back.

“Please,” she pleaded.

“What do you need, beauty?” He gruffly asked.

He groaned and took himself in hand, and pinching his swollen head with his thumb and forefinger, he collected the sticky fluid. Then he brought it to her folds and rubbed it in, making sure he moistened every crevice.

"You."

Drunk on the pleasure of her, the poetry of her shape beneath his hands, and the swelling of his heart, he rose and joined himself with her in dreamy bliss. His pace was measured, so as not to hurt her, the most precious thing he'd known. But control was fragile, and his jaw bunched to maintain it, until...

He gave a guttural groan, and the sound coming out of his own mouth startled him awake.

Uriah sucked in breath, his eyes opened wide with embarrassment. Oh no...Really? Ah shit...

His sleeping shorts were a mess.

“Are you alright?” Mari was busy brushing her hair at the vanity they had placed for her in their pad. “You sounded like you were in pain for a second.”

His cheeks burned bright red. Thank the Light his back was turned to her. Although, this was an uncomfortable position. He’d have to get to the bathroom somehow to clean up without her noticing.

He stifled a laugh and pressed his lips together. He’d been having these dreams about her for the past four months. They just started out of nowhere. And while they were embarrassing and he felt a little guilty for thinking of her in that way, he couldn’t deny that he enjoyed them.

Obviously.

Besides, it wasn’t as if he could control his dreams. For the past few years, he had no trouble easing his hunger by servicing himself. But now, it seemed to spur the dreams instead of quelling them.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, ah, just a nightmare.” He replied nonchalantly.

“Amielle showed me how to make origami animals today,” Mari said, still brushing her long locks of hair.

Uriah glanced over his shoulder and saw that her eyes were fixed on the floor.

“Oh, she did? That’s awesome.” He said, shifting his legs around. He shuddered at the thought of the evidence he would leave behind on the sheets.

Mari giggled. “My squirrel ate her frog.”

“Hey ah, beauty?” He cleared his throat again. “There’s some sweets in the kitchen if you wanna share?”

The brushing paused. “Sweets at this time of day? How are we going to sleep after all that sugar?”

Uriah winced. “Like babies! You never heard of a cookie coma before?”

“Oh,” she giggled, “alright then. But I’m blaming you if I have strange dreams. Didn’t you have cookies last night at dinner?”

“I had a few...”

“A whole box,” she said, placing the brush on the vanity, “isn’t a few. No wonder you had a nightmare just now.”

“Ha-ha... yeah... no wonder...”

She got up and left to go fetch whatever sweets she had in mind, thank the gods.

Uriah carefully lifted the sheets and dragged himself awkwardly out of bed. Usually, when this happened, she was fast asleep.

He sort of waddled into the bathroom and cleaned himself, then dressed in fresh sleeping pants.

By the time she returned, he was settled on the bed again, lying on his side with his head supported by the elbow and giving her his full, undivided attention.

She hunkered down next to him on the bed with a plastic bowl containing a mix of cookies, M&Ms, and marshmallows.

Uriah chuckled as she popped a blue M&M in her mouth. “I couldn’t make up my mind.” She confessed.

She took a choc-chip cookie and brought it to his smiling lips. “Open wide, cookie monster.”

He bit a piece of the cookie off while she held it to him, and she cocked her head. “You know these are small enough for you to eat in one bite.”

“I like savoring it a little.” He answered, thinking of how he savored her just now in his dreams. Bad move. His pants tightened and he forced himself to notice each and every color and imperfection on the M&Ms.

When he finally finished scrutinizing the candy and looked at her again, his heart wrenched when he saw her face contorted with pain.

Oh, smooth asshole. Real smooth. It had completely slipped his mind that she was nearing her transition. He should’ve known the candy would hurt her stomach.

He sat up and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Ah hell beauty, I’m sorry. This was so inconsiderate of me.”

She gave him a small smile, her eyes looking like those of a kicked puppy. Why now? When all her favorite candies were right here? It was only a few chocolates.

“I don’t think I can eat any more,” she said, regretfully pushing the bowl towards him.

“Then I won’t either.” Uriah took the bowl and placed it on his nightstand for now. “We’ll save it for another time, yeah?”

Her arms clasped around her waist, and she gave a yielding nod.

“Come on,” Uriah said, opening the sheets and helping her into the bed. “I’ll give you a rub.”

She slipped beneath the sheets next to him and laid on her back while using his bicep as a pillow. His big, warm hand started making slow, soothing circles over her tensed belly. A moment later, the warmth of his palm started easing the ache, and she sighed in relief, which made Uriah very happy.

He noticed her eyes were fixed on the cabinet in which her art supplies and biology textbooks were stored. It was clear that she had been worrying again over how everyone was going to react if she decided not to fight.

Uriah didn’t mind, he just wanted her to be happy, and to hell with anyone who threatened that. And he knew, maybe better than she did, that her vampire urge to kill demons would still rear its head now and then.

As much as she saw herself doing nothing but aiding Maggie, he knew she would go out with them on some nights. There was no reason why she couldn’t balance the demon hunting with pursuing her dreams.

“You’ve been worrying again, haven’t you?” He asked, taking her small hand in his.

She turned her head toward him. “I can’t help it...”

“It’s not good for you right now, nerei.” His knuckles glided softly over her rosy cheeks. Her features were reminiscent of the beautiful women in old paintings. “They’ll understand, I promise you.”

She didn’t answer, only gave him a Mona Lisa smile and nudged closer into him.

She broke down crying the day she opened up to him about it.

He had playfully snuck up behind her while she was handling something in the cabinet, startling her with a hug. She had brought one of Maggie’s medical books and hid it in the cabinet, fearing he might take it away from her. And the fact that she had been discovered was too much for her.

This was all her father’s fault, he thought with frustration.

He instilled in her the notion that she was not meant for anything beyond being a nobleman’s wife. And to hell with any dreams she may have had for herself. She was conflicted with the dilemma of either giving in to societal norms or following her heart’s desires.

Uriah drew her in, and the heat of his body relaxed her and sent her drifting into sleep.

He hoped she knew now that he would deeply love her no matter what she chose. Now he just had to convince her to let him spill the beans to his brothers.