Trinity Rising by J.E. Taylor
Chapter 1 - Damian
Sunshine.
I rolled onto the floor with my heart in my throat and panic gripping my muscles. It wasn’t until I was on my hands and knees that I realized I had done it again. Naomi’s chuckle from the bed immediately set the irritation switch in my head, and I glared over the edge of the mattress at her amused smile.
“That’s never going to get old,” she said and rolled on her side, propping her cheek in her palm.
I could have said something crude, but the humor in her eyes soothed the nasty comments right out of my vocabulary. Being human sucked much more than I remembered. The only thing that remained the same was the burn of a shot of whiskey and the way Naomi felt when we made love.
Everything else was a constant challenge, including taming my conditioned response to sunlight. You’d think after a little over a month, I wouldn’t be throwing myself for cover when the sun hit the bed, but apparently, twenty-five-hundred years of fearing the fiery orb really did a job on my head.
“I’m glad I could amuse you,” I said, opting to slip under the covers again for just a little longer before I had to crack open my computer to work on a few coding jobs thrown my way. Now that I was mortal, I didn’t need to save like I had in the past. Due to my frugal nature, I had amassed more money than we could ever hope to spend in one lifetime, but even with the ridiculous sum in my bank account, I couldn’t just sit on my ass doing nothing.
Naomi started writing. I think it’s a form of therapy for her, especially considering the hell she’s been through since she met me. Her purging of dark things onto the pages of a book seemed to be quieting the nightmares.
I reached for her, pushing a strand of her dark hair behind her ear before giving her a quick morning kiss. When I pulled away, the soft smile on her lips morphed into a grimace and her hand shot over her mouth. Before I knew what was happening, she was out of the bed and running for the bathroom.
Retching sounds came from the half-closed door and I slid out of bed, crossing the distance.
“Sick?” I asked even though the answer was obvious.
She nodded, wiping her mouth with a tissue before flushing the bile away. I crossed and put my wrist to her forehead. Cool skin met mine.
“You don’t feel like you’ve got a fever.”
She climbed to her feet and stepped to the sink, brushing her teeth and spitting before she dignified my comment with an answer.
“My stomach has been queasy for a couple of days.”
“Maybe Val can take a look at you,” I offered and grabbed my toothbrush, washing my morning breath away.
“I’m feeling better now; maybe it was just something I ate.”
I turned toward her raising a brow. “Are you complaining about my cooking already?"
“No,” she said and her light laugh filled the bathroom.
The music of her laugh set me in motion and I caught her by the waist, pulling her close.
“You don’t want to catch this,” she said, arching away from me.
“I don’t really care.” I kept my grip on her waist, holding her against me and letting my hands wander to the edge of the baby-doll nightgown. She wiggled in my grasp and all I could do was smile at the color filling her cheeks.
“Come on,” she whispered, but this time she was less resistant and trying to suppress a smile.
I dipped my mouth to the side of her neck, nibbling my way from her ear to her shoulder. “Are you sure I can’t interest you in a nice long hot shower?” I asked and worked my way back up the same line to her earlobe. She didn’t object and her sigh of concurrence brought a grin to my lips. I knew I probably should let her go back to bed and rest but my appetite for her had grown since my transition from immortal to human and I couldn’t seem to get enough.
What little clothing we had fell onto the floor and I navigated her into the shower. The water seemed to rejuvenate Naomi and she was the one to push me against the wall, covering my mouth with the kind of kiss that made me want to sink to my knees in worship.
She knew how to make me forget everything with a touch—forgetting millenniums and all that came before her. She erased it all and I could only fathom the moment. Making love to her was a slice of heaven, a dance of rhythms and movement in such unity that I swear this is what fate had planned for me all along.
Music blasted in the living room and I chuckled against Naomi’s neck.
“I think we disrupted Valerie’s studies again,” I whispered and kissed her exposed throat.
Naomi purred in that erotic way that made my skin tingle and I pulled away, studying her flushed features and the dripping mane of hair, running my hands through the silky strands before covering her mouth in an all-consuming kiss.
Chapter 2 - Damian