Page 47 of Illuminated

He shrugged. “The agency I work with does the job extremely well, and they very rarely see me, but would never give out any information. I got your manager to give me the address of your studio over the phone, you know.”

“You called my manager?” I slapped his chest. He gave me a sorry-but-not-sorry shrug. “Also, why do you have a manager?”

“I dabbled over the years. Non-fiction, fiction, a bit of everything. A lot of stories collect when you live long enough, and writing them down helps, gets them out of your system, so to speak. Sharing them is the best way to make sure they really will not be forgotten.”

“Sounds like I should read some of that,” I said. “Fine. Fine, that all works for me.”

He looked at my face. “What, just like that? You are okay with upending your life and starting fresh?”

I hesitated. I thought about it. “I guess I am. If it’s with you.”

He kissed me on the forehead. “I’m glad, Ethan, prophesied love of my life.”

“No, that’s silly. Don’t call me that.”

“Yes, my sweet.”

“And don’t call me that in public, maybe.”

“Okay, honey.”

“You know, that is why no one in their right mind would go through with that vampire cult. It’s all the sappiness that comes out of your mouth.”

He chuckled. “I finally got you to give up on that, honeybun.”

His eyes were now complete darkness, but bright with humor. And joy.

“You’re not to call me that either.”

He kissed my cheek. “Very well. Eat. I need to make a few calls.”

* * *

Gloria came by an hour later to cook dinner, and I ate while Auris was talking on the phone and typing away on his computer. I didn’t even ask what he was doing.

When I was done eating, he looked up from his screen. “Ethan, go pack your bag, please.”

“What, right now?”

“Yes, now. I told you this was going to happen fast.” A call came in, and he answered, so I started packing.

My laptop and camera were first, along with my phone and notebook. There were still abandoned places here in the region I hadn’t seen. I’d either finish this particular series later or simply find other places in Europe. I was looking forward to all those opportunities.

Someone -- probably Gloria -- had at some point unpacked my bag and moved everything to the drawers in the bedroom. I hadn’t brought much, though, and it was all back in the bag in about ten minutes.

I zipped the luggage shut and looked at it somewhat triumphantly.

“All done?” Auris said from the door.

“Yeah. There’s just the stuff I have in the car, my equipment.”

He walked up to me, kissed me. “We’re taking the car to the airport. It can stay there. Do you mind if I drive fast?”

I looked up at him. “No, why?”

“Because if I drive fast --” he picked me up and threw me on the bed, “-- we have some extra time.” He took off his shirt before he joined me on the bed.

Since I’d been back from the hospital, all he’d done was hold me or give me space, whichever I needed. I could almost taste the spice of his want on my skin now, certainly felt it in his kisses and the readiness of his erection. My own cock responded in kind, and the moment I felt him on top of me, it was like a match had been struck to ignite something in me that had been sleeping until now.

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