"Why do you come to me, night after night, if you won't come near me by day?" he asked, though his smile held no judgment. He motioned for me to enter, and I stood in his small living room trying to find the right words.
"Because I'm weak," I finally admitted, pulling off my leather jacket and throwing it on the sofa like I did every night.
Frowning, he started to unbutton his shirt, uncovering the expanse of fur and muscle beneath. "But why me, specifically? You have so many others who'd kill to share their beds with you... but you choose mine. Why?"
"You are what I need," I said, tugging off my boots, then ridding myself of my jeans. My t-shirt joined the pile on the floor.
"That's not really an answer," he pointed out.
I shrugged and followed him to the bedroom and we took our customary sides between the crisp grey sheets. With a sigh, I let my body melt against his, the hard angles of my mind becoming blunted as I ran my hand over his chest. "I come here because your mind is quiet," I decided to say. "Your soul's... clean."
"Ah," he replied after a pause. His hand found the back of my neck and he began to massage it gently. "You need me to calm this chaos in your mind you're always talking about so you can sleep?"
"Something like that," I agreed, closing my eyes. "Recharge my batteries..."
"I'm still going to try to get you to stay the morning." His strong fingers easily found all the little tense points at the back of my skull.
"I wish you wouldn't. I'm just using you." I wasn't being purposefully cruel, just honest. I owed him that much.
He reached over and clicked off the light, turning the vermilion behind my eyelids to a solid, soothing black. "I know," he murmured. "But that's all right... I'm happy to be used."
"That's why I come to you every night."
And with that I drifted off to sleep, knowing he was there to watch over me, keeping the demons in my thoughts away until dawn called them back to me.
