Judged

I watched Erik remove his black T-shirt and chinos, while I took off my underwear and got down on the bed.

He wanted me badly; I could see how hard he was. He stood by the bed, looking down at me.

His smirk turned wicked. It made me shiver with curiosity.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked.

“Nothing, I was just thinking of all the things I could do to you, my beautiful sacrifice,” he said, tracing his hand up the inside of my leg and then my thigh as he crawled on top of me.

“So responsive,” he said, noticing my shivers.

His scent hit me like an early autumn breeze, and I parted my legs for him.

I gasped when I felt his fingers exploring how wet I was.

That pure magical touch of his was intensified now that I was sober.

My back arched and I moaned when he went deeper.

“Damn, you’re making me impatient,” he chuckled before his lips met mine.

He muffled my moan with his mouth while he pushed inside me, filling me up slowly.

My skin felt electric as his touch moved around my body while he began moving in me.

I came fast when his hand caressed my butt.

He noticed, and I felt his lips smile against mine while I breathed in the scent of smoke and aftershave.

Gods, he was so sexy.

***

When I woke up in the morning, Erik was lying beside me asleep.

I sneaked out of bed and looked at him.

His back lay bare and exposed. It was the first time I’d seen it.

He had a tattoo of a large serpent on it.

I didn’t think much of it, other than that it added to his sexiness.

When I got out of the shower, Erik was gone.

I looked through my entire apartment without finding him.

Well, that felt awfully rude… Just leaving without a word. Why stay the night at all?

I felt very grumpy when I got dressed.

I put on black skinny jeans, a red silk camisole, and a thin, oversized black cardigan.

My phone buzzed several times while I put my clothes on.

I wondered why multiple people always thought of me at the same time.

I had gotten texts from my mother, Anna, and Ellie.

Ellie asked if I was okay to drink tonight. I said maybe.

My mother asked how I was doing, and if they could come visit when they had the time. I just said sure to that.

As if they would both have time at the same time…

I felt kind of bad about Anna’s text…

Anna

Hey Bella, you moved into your apartment a week ago. On top of that, you’re injured and should be bored, besides, you still haven’t invited me over… I’m hurt.

Bella

You can come over whenever you want.

Anna

Great, I’ll see you after lunch!

Great, she could teach me to do the laundry.

My laundry basket was full, and I was out of towels.

I should probably buy more, especially since I had a jacuzzi that would likely get used a lot.

My sheets weren’t going to change themselves either.

The wardrobe in my room meant for textiles was completely empty. The wardrobe in the guestroom, too.

I needed to buy bed sheets and duvets, too.

I spent my time Googling and going through my apartment to find out what I still needed while I was waiting for Anna.

I almost forgot I was supposed to be injured.

I was applying a gauze bandage when Anna called on the gate.

I couldn’t let her know I’d been fixed by magic. She would judge me and maybe even report me.

“Doesn’t it hurt to wear skinny jeans over your wound?” she asked as soon as she had greeted me.

“No, these are very comfortable jeans,” I said slowly, not sounding completely convincing.

“Oh well,” Anna said and removed her shoes.

She was very excited to look around.

“Damn Bella, your closet makes me incredibly jealous,” she said while she checked out my walk-in closet.

“Well, while we’re talking about clothes, do you think you could teach me to do my laundry?” I asked.

“Of course, Princess,” Anna said smugly.

“Well, first of all, you need to buy washing powder and softener,” she pointed out after entering my small laundry room.

I picked up my phone and added it to my list.

“Great, then let’s go shopping!!” I said.

“What? Now?” Anna asked, surprised.

“Yes, we’ll take the car to the mall,” I said, excited.

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” Anna asked.

“Yeah, it doesn’t hurt that much as long as I take it easy,” I lied.

***

“You know this is the first time we’ve hung out, outside of the headquarters,” Anna pointed out once we’d gotten all the stuff I’d bought up to the apartment.

“Damn, you’re right,” I said, a little shocked.

I felt a little guilty. We had been friends since we were seven, after all.

“As soon as you’re healed, we should have a spa night!” she said happily.

Anna taught me how to use the dishwasher first.

Though she looked suspiciously at the dishes.

“I see you love wine. Did your coworkers in the X-squad buy it for you?” she asked, seeing all the wine glasses.

There were six of them in the dishwasher. We were still too young to buy wine at the liquor store.

I was lucky Ellie had helped me clean away all the bottles and other trash after their surprise moving-in party.

Anna would probably be hurt, knowing I had a party without inviting her.

“Well, yes, helps me cope with everything,” I half-lied.

She seemed to accept that explanation.

She then moved on to help me with the laundry. And then, unpacking everything we had bought.

When she was helping me change the sheets, she found something she shouldn’t have.

She looked at it, confused. Which also made me realize… I really didn’t want her to take a closer look at the sheets…

I felt the weak lingering energy of the black note with beautiful golden letters in her hand.

“Bella, what the fuck is this?” she asked harshly.

I grabbed the note from her hand in panic and read it.

“~Sorry I can’t wait for you, Beautiful, I’m late for work~,” it said.

“It’s conjured. Have you slept with a warlock?” she asked.

She dragged the blankets off the bed.

“Oh you really did, didn’t you?” she asked, sounding more shocked now.

She sat down on the bed, only to get up again quickly, realizing she didn’t want to be near it.

“And I almost changed those sheets,” she whispered to herself, horrified.

“Anna, please don’t freak out,” I said calmly.

I was panicking on the inside though.

“Explain,” she said and looked at me, her face a mix of horror and confusion.

I struggled to find an acceptable explanation.

“It’s just, you know…he was really hot,” I said finally, feeling embarrassed. Especially since I couldn’t find a better explanation.

I didn’t want to admit to her that I really liked him.

“How can you be that dumb? While being so smart? Nobody can know about this, you could get disciplined!” she said seriously.

“Yeah, I could end up in the X-squad,” I joked with a depressed laugh.

I realized my mistake too late, but Anna didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m serious, Bella, don’t see him again. I won’t report you, but for your own sake. Who knows what he could do to you!” she said.

Oh, I knew what he could do to me, and I loved all of it…

I wasn’t gonna share that with Anna though. She wouldn’t understand.

“Don’t worry, it was a one time thing,” I lied. It was a two time thing…

“Bella…have you slept in these sheets for over a week?” she asked, after a minute of silence.

I blushed and looked away as I nodded.

Anna made a disgusted face. She thought the warlock had been here before I got hurt…

“Oh my God, Bella, you should have told me sooner,” she said, and facepalmed herself.

“I guess I still have to help you with those sheets. Maybe you could take off the sheet yourself, and I’ll take the duvets,” she said reluctantly.

I nodded in agreement.

“These duvets smell of smoke and perfume,” Anna pointed out.

She was obviously disgusted by the lingering smell of cigarettes. I loved the way he smelled.

After Anna had left, I felt weird. I felt a little lonely.

It didn’t feel all that great, getting judged by your oldest friend.

When I went out on the balcony, I saw that Erik had forgotten his package of cigarettes.

I lit one. I coughed again, but continued to smoke it.

The burn in my throat made me feel embraced.

Another glass of wine would be perfect.

I went back inside when I’d finished my cigarette and started getting ready to go out. I wanted to drink.

I texted Ellie. I’d join them at Wonderland.