Morgan's Winter Scenario - Owl Quill

Snow brushes against the windows of the living room, whispering against the panes in a tempting song. An icy blanket carpets the world outside. The crisp pureness of it does almost make me want to bundle up and head out, stamping my imprint into its perfectness before anyone else.

But the flames crackling in the fireplace and the candles flickering all around the living room keep me inside, buried beneath my blanket with my book spread across my lap.

A sudden gust from the doorway makes the pages ripple. Chill wind slices through me, making me shiver and my teeth chatter. The whipping cold also blows through the wonderful warmth, the fire shuddering in anger of the sudden plummeting temperature.

Morgan stands in the doorway, bundled up in a scarf, shivering out of her leather jacket that she chucks onto the nearby armchair. A dusting of snow coats every part of her.

“You will not believe how fucking cold it is out there,” she remarks while slamming the door closed behind her, shutting out the icy wind whipping through from the open foyer doorway.

I thin my lips as I stare at her. “I have pretty good idea considering you just let the winter inside…”

“I figured you should get a taste of it too,” she comments with a shrug.

I glance at the clock. “You’ve been on patrol longer than expected.”

Her lips quirk up at one corner. “Keeping a watch out for me, sweetheart/handsome?”

I shrug. “It’s too quiet here without someone around. And it’s too…empty without you.”

“Well, I’m here now,” she murmurs, falling onto the sofa beside me. Her gaze flashes over my blanket. “Are you going to let me inside?”

Considering how easily she’s broken through every wall and defense I’ve made around my heart, that simple question seems to hold more meaning than first appears.

Shaking away the thought, I lift the blanket, Morgan shifting closer under its warm folds, and I tuck us in tightly, trying not to shiver too much as her cold body presses against mine. Her hands fall onto my thigh, drawing the warmth from my skin.

“You know there’s a fire right there,” I suggest, my teeth chattering.

“Why would I use that when you’re so much better?” she asks, nuzzling into the crook of my neck and placing a kiss on the exposed skin above my shirt.

The cold becomes nothing but a memory at the touch.

I draw her in closer. “At least you can snuggle in now and get warm.”

She nods, rubbing her hands up and down my legs, apparently trying to bring life back to her frozen fingers. “The only thing that got me through patrol was knowing you’d be here to warm up with. I missed that tonight.”

A smile catches my lips before I can stop it.

She eyes the expression. “What?”

I clear my throat and bob up one shoulder. “I just thought that seemed, well, almost romantic.”

She reluctantly pulls her fingers from beneath the blanket to push her hair back from her face. “It’s the truth.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not romantic.”

She leans against me, slipping her hand back beneath the fabric to wrap her arm around my middle. “Take it however you want, sweetheart/handsome.”

As the room falls into a quiet, comfortable silence, the only sound being the wonderfully warm pop and crackle of the fire, my focus shifts back to my book.

Morgan’s eyelids begin to flicker closed heavily, but she forces them open. “What are you reading anyway?”

“Nothing much. It’s a story about a woman being tracked by supernaturals but she doesn’t know it yet. It’s set in winter.” I smooth the pages out. “It seemed appropriate.”

She shifts around, settling down so that I have to move my book when her head lays across my lap, her stormy grey eyes gazing up at me. “You could read it to me.”

I tilt my head down to her. “But you don’t like reading. Or stories.”

“No.” She reaches up, running her fingers down my cheek before softly across my lips. “But I love hearing your voice.” She tucks us both under the blanket further. “It’s one of the only things that soothes me.”

My heart stammers. She says the statement so factually, yet it provokes a wealth of emotions in me that draws an instant smile to my face.

“That also soothes me.”

My brows arch. “What?”

She tips my chin down so my eyes meet her fully. “Your smile.”

I shake my head a little, her words rattling around in my mind, as though ensuring I actually heard them correctly. “What’s with you tonight?”

She tilts her head in questioning.

“You’re almost…” I pause, trying to find the right word. “Charming.”

She snorts. “What?”

“Hey.” I hold up a hand in defense at her almost offended tone. “You’re the one being all smooth and making my pulse flutter.”

She raises her hand to my lifted one, twining our fingers together and using the finger of her other hand to trace down my wrist. “And here I thought your pulse sped up anytime I was near.” Her lips curl invitingly. “Who knew you went all soft for a few sickly-sweet compliments?”

I shrug and lean down closer to her. “Perhaps it’s just because those sickly-sweet compliments came from you. Hearing that kind of thing from you is rare, you know.”

She sighs, her breath a warm wave across my skin. “I suppose you’re right. I’m not really a…words kind of vampire.”

“Then what are you?”

Her lips curve even higher, sending my fluttering pulse skipping into a frenzy. Her hand slides upward to curl around the back of my neck and encourage me closer. “I’m much more of an action kind of vampire.”

Morgan has been unusually on form tonight with sweeping me off my feet with her smooth lines, but it’s always the more physical actions where she feels comfortable in showing me how she feels.

A simple kiss expresses far more from her than anyone else.

Though, her kisses are far from ever being simple.

As I lean down to close the gap between us, she angles forward, capturing my mouth with hers, kissing me softly before pulling away and sucking at my lower lip. I moan in response and kiss her again, deeper, more intently.

She tugs me in closer, fingers roaming down my neck, as though ensuring I’m real.

My body fires with a warmth I can barely contain, the blanket covering us is almost stifling now that the fire of Morgan’s kiss surges through me.

I pull away, drinking in the warm air, my body tingling and trembling. Her gaze pierces mine. The usual storm in them is softer, the grey of them a calmed sea at our touch.

Though it’s then I notice the shadows beneath those usually determined eyes.

I swipe my thumb beneath her eyes, feeling the flutter of her thick lashes against my skin as her eyes fall fully closed. “I thought vampires didn’t get tired?”

“We get tired. We just don’t need as much sleep.”

I sigh. “Sleep isn’t exactly your friend at the best of times.”

“It could be now,” she murmurs, looking up at me. “Read to me.”

Smoothing my hand over the pages of my book I placed on the side table, I eventually give in to her request. I begin reading from where I’d been interrupted by her chilly entry, getting out two sentences before she cuts in.

“Wait? Why is she going there?”

“Because it’s kind of a necessary part of the story,” I comment.

“You’ve just thrown me into the middle. I don’t even get what’s happening,” she moans.

“I thought you were going to sleep? Surely it shouldn’t matter what the story is about?”

She shrugs. “I suppose.”

I continue on.

Just one more paragraph in…

“No way anyone would go into some creepy barn in the middle of the night without backup, or at least a fucking torch,” Morgan scoffs, her eyes closed but her mind obviously not anywhere near slumber.

I purse my lips for a moment as I stare down at her before carefully closing the book. “Maybe reading isn’t the best way to help you sleep.”

A breath huffs from her. “Maybe not. Now I remember why I don’t read.”

“You really don’t read anything?” I ask, shaking my head in slight disbelief.

“Why would I need to?”

I cast my gaze up, staring into the fire for a moment. “To unwind from the day. To escape for a while.”

A frown catches her, and she sits up, the storm flashing back into her grey eyes. “You need to escape?” I can hear the silent ‘From me?’ on the end of the question.

I rest my hand on hers. “I’ve been thrown into a world where almost everyone I meet wants to drain me of my blood. A little escapism can help.”

She eyes me for a moment before poking at my book. “So to escape supernaturals wanting to kill you, you decide to read about supernaturals trying to kill characters in a book instead?”

I blink at her. “…It’s a good book.”

She snorts a laugh, leaning in to kiss my neck. “Maybe your life isn’t so bad either, sweetheart/handsome. At least, I hope I can help make it better.”

I have no idea what’s gotten into Morgan tonight, but I will take every drop of honest softness that she’s willing to offer. It flows through me like a glass of wine, warming my body and making me almost dizzy with happiness.

She falls against me again, and we nestle together beneath the blanket.

Outside, the freezing winter night piles up in mounds of snow. But inside, with Morgan, life is warm and safe. Her presence in my life fills a part of me I didn’t even know was empty.

And I know it could never be filled again by anyone or anything else.