Page 36 of Those That Defy the Realm

Her question throws me slightly off guard, although maybe the last twenty-four hours for her have been a stark reminder of her mortality, her human mortality. “Yes, our life spans are generally a couple of millennia, same as the vampires.”

She goes quiet in contemplation. It’s funny how Henry pops into my mind. He has a very similar look. I can see why they get on, they’re probably both serious overthinkers. Conscientious and kind at heart.

Maybe I am doing the wrong thing by not leaving Henry alone. I can see how they would suit one another.

A noise from the floor above snaps Claire out of whatever train of thought she was heading down.

“I’m going to go check on Henry. Rory asked me to send some of her stuff back with you as well, is that alright?”

“Yeah, of course. Do you need a hand?”

“No, I’ll be fine. I’ll go pack it. Make yourself at home, and if you want a snack or anything there’s stuff in the fridge or the pantry cupboard.” She points to a closed door, then offers me a smile before heading out the room.

I grab myself another glass of water out of the tap, the liquid helping to cool my body. I also wander around the kitchen area, pacing it slowly whilst I drink.

Are Claire and Henry talking upstairs? From the awkward journey here, I could tell they were actively avoiding eye contact with one another. Were they just waiting for privacy before resuming the interrupted hook up Henry disclosed to me. Surely they wouldn’t do that with me in the house?

The idea of them getting hot and heavy isn’t as nauseating as I thought it would be. His body would fully envelope hers with their height difference. Her light summery scent would mix well with his more potent heady mix of rich fruits as their bodies created a delicious friction.

Fuck, what am I doing?

Mental images of them on a bed, against a wall, Henry’s groans of pleasure and Claire’s face pulled tight to hold her moans in, whirl around my head and send a hot current straight down my spine.

Shaking the fantasy out of my mind, I can’t hear any noise coming from upstairs. It peaks my curiosity even more because if they weren’t concerned about making noise, I’m sure I’d be able to hear something.

I have to know.

Sneaking back through the house to the hallway where the stairs are located, I kick off my trainers so I can pad on silent feet. Being a predator has its advantages, and I can stalk just as quietly in my human form as I can my wolf one. Having six siblings has also given me plenty of practice, stealth attacks being an everyday occurrence in our house growing up.

Making it to the second floor, I only detect where they are as I start prowling down the landing. And they are together. The hall is a corridor of doors. Some are open, others are closed. The one near the far end is almost closed, but there is a tiny crack between the frame and the door itself. I can hear their muffled voices coming from inside. I need to get closer if I’m to understand what they’re saying.

“It was a bad idea, it was probably for the best that we got interrupted,” Claire says, her tone quite matter of fact.

“I know it’s a bad idea, but I thought we were ignoring that for now.”

“We are ignoring it, for always. It was only a bit of fun and the time has passed.”

“Claire…”

“Henry, I’m human. That has been made abundantly clear in the last couple of days. Let’s be friends. I thought that is what you wanted.”

“I… don’t know.” The sadness in his voice stabs at my chest. I can’t say I’m not a little hurt over how hard he seems to be fighting for this, for her. He brushed me off because he thought she might be invested in whatever situationship they’d started, but from what I’m hearing, she was treating it as more of a hook up than he was.

“It would’ve been fun, but this is for the best,” Claire soothes. Something about the edge in her voice sounds robotic, like she’s shut down and simply saying this to go through the motions. I’ve known her for a matter of hours, but she doesn’t come across as cold at all. “It’s out of my system now, we can forget anything ever happened.”

Ouch.

“But—”

“No, no buts.”

Henry lets out a heavy breath. I have to grit my teeth to stop the whine I want to let out at the disappointment from that one small deflated sound.

An idea pops into my head, a stupid one but one that might make Henry happy and get me what I want as well.

Before I can think it through, I’m bursting in on them. They’re sitting on the bed, knees facing one another, Henry’s hand holding onto Claire’s.

“What if we all agreed to a summer fling of hooking up until I have to return to the Northern Isles?”