The Fifth Circle by Tricia Drammeh Page B

next day. I was still off limits thanks to Mother Nature, so I sat on his bed and did my homework while he played his game. I glanced up occasionally, appalled to see how absorbed he was. His intensity was disturbing.
    “ Shit!” he shouted. I tensed up in anticipation. My dad behaved the same way when he watched football, so I knew what to expect. Soon, he would shout again, or possibly throw something. If he was anything like my father, he would likely sulk for the rest of the afternoon and take out his unhappiness on everyone he came in contact with.
    Sighing deeply, I closed my math book. Men were such a pain. I decided to read for a while. I sifted through my backpack and located my vampire romance novel. It only took a few minutes before I became the heroine, before I succumbed to the unimaginable joy of submitting to the dominance of the enigmatic Dimitri.
    “Whatcha readin’?” Sean asked, yanking me from my fantasy world. 
    “Um…my book,” I replied, blinking a few times to reorient myself with reality.
    “One of those vampire things?” he asked.
    “Yeah .” I was reluctant to admit to my questionable choice in reading material. Sean sat down next to me and took the book from my hands. He scowled at the ripped, shirtless, brooding man on the cover. 
    “So, is this the kind of guy who turns you on?” he asked, frowning. I could almost taste his bitterness and insecurity.
    “You know what kind of man I like,” I said, putting my hand on his thigh.
    “Don’t start something you can’t finish, baby,” he joked.
    The danger had passed. I was relieved that he seemed more relaxed. He tossed my book on the bed and pulled me close. His kisses were slow, filled with longing. When he pulled away from me, he moaned, “Oh, God, Alex. How many more days?”
    “Just two maybe .”  
    “I don’t think I can wait,” he whined.
    “You waited eighteen years,” I said.
    “Yeah, well, now that I’ve had a taste of what it’s like, I can’t live without it.” He put his hand on my breast. “God, I want you.”
    I’d never felt so desired, so guilty. Poor Sean was so overcome by lust, he could hardly control himself. Maybe I should stay home when my monthly visitor came to call. It was my fault he was suffering. I mentioned this to Sean. 
    “No. I have to see you every day. It doesn’t matter if we do anything or not. After all, I waited for you for years. What’s a few days? It’s only sex. I can’t live one day without seeing you, Alex,” he insisted.
    I almost wept when he told me that. It was just like the scene in my book where Candace tells Dimitri that she wants to go back to the orphanage and see the nuns who raised her and he tells her that his soul is tied to hers and they can’t spend one night apart. Or, the last book I read where Sergei tries to convince the Vampire King to destroy him because he can’t stand to live an eternity without his on e true love. Who would have thought Sean could be so romantic? It just made me love him all the more.
    ***
    School sucked the next day. We were running late thanks to Sean. I could tell he’d been up late playing his game. His hair was still wet when he got into his truck. I started to speak to him, but he gave me the look—the look that basically told me to keep my mouth shut. I peered out the window and left my anger to simmer in silence. I thought I was enough for him and that by giving myself to him, he would no longer have such an attachment to the game. That’s what he led me to believe.
    Sean walked me to my first period class and kissed me in the hallway. When I sat down next to my friend Chelsea, she looked at me in dismay. “What?” I hissed as Mr. Cook closed the classroom door.
    “Sean? Seriously?” she whispered back. I deliberately stared straight ahead while Mr. Cook took attendance. I waited while he explained our assignment and told us to work in pairs.
    Using my History book as a prop, I pointed at it like I was