Xavier knew right then and there to shut up. Xavier was threatening her, hurting her pride, and he knew what would happen if he continued. She'd use her psychic gifts against him—again.
“Xavier. I called you not to discuss my daughter's love life but to talk about a proposal she made.”
The teenage, male vampire smirked. “Vampire or not, isn't the guy supposed to propose to the woman?”
Adrienne's eyes turned into a shade of brown that could almost be considered black.
“Oh, the twenty-first century! I love its equality.” Xavier grinned.
“Real arrogant, are you?” she said, not at all amused with how laid-back and lighthearted her fiancé was being. “And I wasn't talking about a marriage proposal.”
Xavier's lips thinned and Adrienne thought he looked extremely sexy doing that. Hell, whatever he did was sexy.
“I came to talk about the upcoming carnival and the dance our school's holding.”
“Our school?”
Adrienne sighed exasperatedly. “You heard me right.” There was no holding back now. “I want the Night Class to be part of our plans.”
“Are there any hidden agendas as to why you came up with that idea?” He was quirking his brows suggestively, and again, he looked incredibly hot. “You know if that happens, we're going to be spending large amounts of time together.”
Bewildered. That was the only way to describe Adrienne's expression when she put two and two together. “You—you're the president of the Night Class?” Her gasp was openly seen not only by Xavier but by her father as well.
With her shocked expression, Xavier knew that she hadn’t known, that she really wasn’t doing this to spend more time with him. Damn. But it was interesting that he had been able to render her speechless, embarrassing her again. He took a step forward, closer to her, and another, and then one more until they stood so close together only a single sheet of paper could fit in between them.
In view of their school's principal and Adrienne's dad, Xavier bent his head down very closely to Adrienne's ear smoothly saying, “I'm president. You're president.”
She looked straight ahead of her, not daring to face him. Adrienne could even feel the strands of his jet-black hair brushing against her skin, and it was making her hot, very hot actually.
“Don't you see? We're perfect for each other.”
And with that, she stiffened. Her eyes losing their ability to see, she just felt. And let his voice move through her.
Triumphant at being able to affect her, he grinned. But he had forgotten that they were not alone.
“Just don't cross the line, Xavier,” said the principal, eyes turning crimson as he read the vampire prince's thoughts. Carter shook his head. Even though his wisdom went beyond the ages, he still couldn't understand Xavier's feelings when it came to Adrienne. All the older Stahl knew was that Xavier loved his daughter despite all the teasing and degradation he piled on her. He certainly showed love in weird ways.
“I've watched over her for more than a hundred years—way before she started to age—and I’ve never once stepped out of line, correct?”
Carter Stahl nodded,” You never did.”
Adrienne may have been in a little trance, but she still heard the serious conversation between the two. She couldn't help but feel warm attraction for Xavier. She spent hundreds of years living the life of a human child, and because of that, she had no memory of her extensive past. Now she knew Xavier had been a part of that past, watching over her. She heard the honesty in his voice when he said he had watched her, and she believed him. She smiled at the revelation before jutting her bottom lip out into a pout. No doubt the teasing and the embarrassment were still going to continue.
* * * * *
The dreadful day came—the long-awaited meeting of the Day and the Night classes, and it was safe to say that the introductions had been way too awkward. Adrienne's school mates had been jumping with joy and enthusiasm, excited that they were going to finally get to have deep, meaningful conversations with the Night Class. Unfortunately the vampires didn’t see it that way. The meeting was scheduled for three hours, but the evening class people didn't look the least bit happy. They looked bored. Adrienne's group, excluding her, was to awestruck to see the boredom written across the bloodsuckers' faces.
“Okay, I'm going to get straight to the point, guys,” Adrienne started, her voice certainly demanding attention. “I called all of you here today to talk about the fair and the dance which are taking place the last Friday and Saturday of the month.”
Immediately, the humans opened their notebooks, uncapped their pens, and prepared to write down whatever significant thing Adrienne was going to say. On the other hand, slouching and looking idly around, the vampires slowly nodded their heads. It was impossible that they were too tired or sleepy for a meeting. She was a vampire, and she knew that their kind didn't need sleep, just blood.
“We've talked about the decorations, the DJ we're going to hire, the songs we want, the booths, the rides, the prizes, the awards, th—”
Adrienne was cut off by Leila, the vice president of the Day Class.
“We've discussed the seating arrangements for the dance, but we clearly have to change that now since we’ve added the Night Class.”
“Yes, of course,” Adrienne said, nodding her head in agreement. “Write that down.”
The talk about the Halloween dance continued as everyone in the Day Class offered ideas, plans, and suggestions that worked well with the theme—Halloween, of course. The representatives of the Night Class, on the other hand, stayed silent, and it kind of irritated Adrienne. Their silence made her feel that they thought they were too good for this, for the humans who were her friends, and when she couldn't take their tight-lipped smirks anymore, she questioned them. “Don't you guys have anything to add?” she asked, her eyes drifting from one vampire to another until she landed on Xavier's face. “What about you? You haven't insulted me for the entire hour I've been talking. Don't keep your side comments to yourself.”
Xavier's smirked widened as he sat up in his chair and turned to look at Adrienne. “It's a feat, isn't it? Me not talking?”
Adrienne rolled her eyes. “You just talked,” she sounded arrogant when she said that.
The vampires caught her haughty tone, and so, they straightened up, ready to protect their leader.
She saw their bright, shining eyes. Eyes that until now had been dull, and because of that, she said,” I'm glad I woke you people up.”
“Can we move onto the carnival now?” Katherine asked, her gaze fixated on a male vampire. He was a redhead, with green-eyes, and she was infatuated with him.
“I agree,” said Leila. “I think we should talk about the booths and the rides. They have to be total fun.”
A few nods came from the Day Class, while the Night students, as always, looked passive. Adrienne just gave up trying to make them participate.
“Definitely. The rides are easy though, so we're going to focus on the booths.” She smirked. This had always been a fun topic to talk about. “Any new ideas? We already have a few booths in mind from what we talked about last meeting.”
Janine, the treasurer, was the first one to speak and offer up her idea. “The kissing booth never fails to earn money.”
The other humans agreed.
“And as long as we have you and Ethan working together, we’ll ensure that the booth is a success.”
Adrienne grinned. “Kissing booth it is, and I'm sure Ethan will agree to the idea.”
“Great! We're going to rock this!”
“Ethan and I can also charge extra if the people want some tongue action,” Adrienne offered, her voice excited, and in response, the females in the Day Class squealed in uber-excitement, while the guys sniggered.
“Baby, I didn't know you wanted some game so badly,” Cameron, the representative of the seniors, said suggestively, licking his lips for exaggeration. “And with me for that matter.”
Adrienne decided to go along. There was no harm in a little flirting.
“I'd give it to you for free, sexy,” was her answer, and her voice was equally as seductive and mischievous as his.
This—the very public but harmless flirting between Cameron and Adrienne—caused the vampires to stiffen, and Adie knew why. Brianna had explained the whole ordeal to her. Vampires were known to be very intimate creatures. They were protective of their mates, and each vampire only had one lifelong partner. There was no divorce or annulment with vampires, and to cut it short, they treated love seriously. Love, they believed, could come only once in their immortal lives.
It was safe to say that it disappointed the bloodsuckers that the humans, Adrienne included, would treat affection so lightly.
Xavier couldn't hide the edge in his voice. “Yvonne and I will also do the kissing booth.”
The Day Class students laughed, while the vampires looked at them in annoyance. They didn't get why the mortals were chuckling so loudly, and they didn't particularly enjoy feeling left out.
“That sounded so wrong!”
“You and your friend will do the kissing booth?”
“Baby,” that was Cameron flirting up another storm with Adrienne. “They're even naughtier than us!”
The president of the Day Class grinned before she, herself, also laughed, but when she looked at Xavier, she stopped. He looked slightly irritated though it was hidden beneath his face of indifference. The vampires were such killjoys, Adrienne thought.
“I think Xavier and Yvonne should do something else.” Adrienne sounded quite hesitant. “Ethan and I can handle the kissing booth.”
“But they offered,” one of the humans tried, almost to the point of sounding desperate. “Come on, Adrienne.” A few gave her hopeful looks. “If we want to have the best carnival ever, we need them.”
“Hey, if you want to kiss him,” she eyed Xavier warily. “Just ask him now. You don't need a kissing booth, you know.”
Adrienne hadn't meant to offer Xavier to the entire Day Class student body, but she was on her last nerve. To the whole Day Class, Brianna and she excluded, Xavier and his group of friends, or geeks, as the others called them, were just like them—humans. What they didn't know was the risk they would be taking if they mingled with them. If Xavier and Yvonne were going to be the ones in the kissing booth then some one might see their fangs. And Adrienne couldn't risk that.
Even if vampires could control their fangs from protruding out of their gums, Adrienne still didn't want to jeopardize the existence of her kind, and yes, they could erase memories, but still, the vampires shouldn't kiss any humans. It would go against their belief having one love in a lifetime. Xavier and the rest of the vampires in the room had been agitated when Cameron was flirting with Adrienne, what more would happen if they saw two of their own kind making-out with a long line of mortals?
“I'm sorry,” Adrienne apologized to her friend. “I didn't mean to go off on you like that. I'm sorry.” And she truly was.
“It's okay.”
Adrienne read her mind. It wasn't okay. The human felt something strong for her fiancé, and the rest of the vampires could read that thought just as easily as Adrienne could. “Can we please just continue and get this over with?”
The two presidents of the Day and Night classes nodded at each other. Adrienne put on a smile and said,” I think we should talk about the rides.”
Cameron was the first to offer a suggestion this time. “The Ferris wheel is a must,” and once again, Adrienne looked at him teasingly and playfully as she quirked her eyebrows repeatedly up at him.
“Totally Cam, its open and right in the public view, so remember that anything you do in the Ferris wheel can be seen by us all, okay?”
He gave Adrienne a look, one that said, you-know-me-too-well, before he smirked at her, joking, “That is if you can resist me long enough to control yourself from jumping me.”
Adrienne replied in the same mischievous tone he used, her voice not missing a beat, “It's you who wouldn't be able to resist me.” She winked at him. “You'll probably fall in line in the kissing booth over and over again.”
“Hell with that.” He quipped. “We don't need a stupid kissing booth and a damn Ferris wheel.”
Everyone's eyes lit up in anticipation, the vampires' included.
“I'll just meet you at your car once the fair is over.” They looked at each other, trying control the laughter that was boiling up inside their stomachs. “How's that?”
“That's the greatest plan ever.”
“And I see you've mended your broken heart,” Xavier said, his voice reverberating through the room so that it unnerved Adrienne. He didn't sound as if he were teasing. He just kept looking at her.
In response, she gazed back at him, her eyes telling him, the she hadn’t needed the length of her immortal life.
He understood what her hazel eyes told him, and with that, they shared a small laugh, one which the rest didn't understand. She may have been flirting with Cameron, and Xavier may have felt a little jealous, but he shrugged it off after a while. He could wait for her until the end of time.
* * * * *
The meeting ended pretty quickly, and the moment the time was up, the vampires, Adrienne and Xavier excluded, left in quite a hurry. They didn’t even bother to give the humans a proper goodbye. It was rude what they did, Adrienne thought, but she was too tired to feel irritated, and so, she let them go, walking side-by-side with Xavier, as she headed over to the school’s parking lot.
“Do you mind if I ride home with you?” asked Xavier, his voice monotone.
They reached the outside of their school, and as Adrienne unlocked the door of her car, she could see a few of the council members staring dreamily at Xavier, who wasn't at all bothered with the attention he was getting. He was used to this—being the center of everything—even with the vampires he was still the one everyone looked up to. It amazed Adrienne how much of an icon he could be without even trying.
“Don't you have a car?” She got in the driver's seat and eyed him through the window.
“I ran.”
“Then run back home.”
Ignoring Xavier's request, Adrienne turned on the engine of her SUV and stepped on the gas. What the, why the hell didn't her car move? She looked around, trying to figure what or who the culprit was. It was Xavier. He was blocking her way, with his hands forcedly pressed down on the hood of her car. To the others it seemed like he was just trying to stop Adrienne from starting the car, but she knew he was using his super strength. She was already stepping on the gas, but he held the car in its place. She gave up after a few seconds.
“What do you want?”
“A ride home?” his voice sounded like he was asking a question.
“I'm going to the mall.” Adrienne smirked. “That means you have to find someone else who'll take you home.”
Xavier started walking, and Adrienne thought she finally succeeded at making him leave her alone, but oh, how wrong she was! He sauntered over to the passenger side of the car, opened the door, and got in, and before Adrienne could question what he did, he beat her to it.
“I'll go to the mall with you,” he said, turning up the air-conditioner.
“I thought guys hated shopping.” This apparently made him smirk.
“I'm a vampire,” and with those words, she rolled her eyes at him.
“But you're still a guy.”
“I'm not like most guys you know, Adrienne.”
He used her name, and that made her turn her head to face him, and she saw him staring back. She loved the deep blue of his eyes. It was such a contrast to the bloody crimson she was used to seeing. His eyes made him much more of an enigma than he already was.
“You think I only figured that out when you told me?” She couldn't help but grin. “Seriously Xavier, there are going to be a lot of humans at the mall. Will you be able to control your desire for blood?”
He bit his bottom lip, and it was such an adorable sight for Adrienne since it made him look, lovable. It took away all the cockiness he prided in having.
“I just drank blood a few hours ago, so I'm good.”
She nodded and cocked an eyebrow up at him. “You didn't kill, right?”
He was smirking at her, and she couldn't help but gasp.
“Xavier!” She slapped his arm. “Did you just murder—”
“Murder? What?” He looked at her like she was a werewolf. “Where did you get that idea, Adie?”
“Well, how else can you get blood, huh?”
Smiling, he looked at her. She was a neophyte when it came to vampirism. She had a lot to learn and a lot of things to accept. It was a good thing she was immortal. She could learn the rules and ways of vampires’ overtime. And he would help her.
“Most vampires will feed from animals or buy blood from hospital blood banks. We have several people working in these blood banks who are actually vampires that live under your father’s rule. We rarely kill anymore, at least those of us who are civilized.”
Adrienne breathed a sigh of relief. That was good to know.
“Satisfied with my explanation?”
“Still,” She looked hesitant. “What if you lose control?”
He reached his arm out to be able to hold her hand, but she unwound her fingers from his. He may be her fiancé, but that didn't mean she loved him.
“You know how to stop me.”
Xavier wasn't looking at her, precisely because he was too ashamed to see the reaction on her face. He wanted to hold her hand, but she let go. That was a stab at his heart, and no wooden stake could compare to the pain she caused him by that action. “Just suck my energy if you feel like I'm about to step out of line.”
She smiled to herself before saying, “I can do that.”
* * * * *
Xavier was a very good shopping partner. He carried Adrienne's bags and told her what looked nice on her and what didn't, which there weren’t many that didn’t look good because even if one threw the most hideous top at her, she'd still manage to pull it off perfectly and make it look like next season's trend. She was that beautiful.
Bleeding Love Page 7
