Mason'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.

Mason stands in the doorway, bundled up in a scarf, shivering out of his leather jacket that he chucks onto the nearby armchair. A dusting of snow coats every part of him.

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

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

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

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

His 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,” he murmurs, falling onto the sofa beside me. His gaze flashes over my blanket. “Are you going to let me inside?”

Considering how easily he’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, Mason shifting closer under its warm folds, and I tuck us in tightly, trying not to shiver too much as his cold body presses against mine. His 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?” he 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 him in closer. “At least you can snuggle in now and get warm.”

He nods, rubbing his hands up and down my legs, apparently trying to bring life back to his 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.

He eyes the expression. “What?”

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

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

“Doesn’t mean it’s not romantic.”

He leans against me, slipping his hand back beneath the fabric to wrap his 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.

Mason’s eyelids begin to flicker closed heavily, but he 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.”

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

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

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

My heart stammers. He 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?”

He tips my chin down so my eyes meet his fully. “Your smile.”

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

He tilts his head in questioning.

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

He snorts. “What?”

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

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

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

He sighs, his 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?”

His lips curve even higher, sending my fluttering pulse skipping into a frenzy. His 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.”

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

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

Though, his kisses are far from ever being simple.

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

He 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 Mason’s kiss surges through me.

I pull away, drinking in the warm air, my body tingling and trembling. His 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 his eyes, feeling the flutter of his thick lashes against my skin as his 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,” he 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 his request. I begin reading from where I’d been interrupted by his chilly entry, getting out two sentences before he 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,” he moans.

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

He 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,” Mason scoffs, his eyes closed but his mind obviously not anywhere near slumber.

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

A breath huffs from him. “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 him, and he sits up, the storm flashing back into his grey eyes. “You need to escape?” I can hear the silent ‘From me?’ on the end of the question.

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

He 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 him. “…It’s a good book.”

He 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 Mason tonight, but I will take every drop of honest softness that he’s willing to offer. It flows through me like a glass of wine, warming my body and making me almost dizzy with happiness.

He 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 Mason, life is warm and safe. His 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.