Bleeding Love

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Bleeding Love Page 8

by Ashley Andrews


  But she knew that Xavier hung out with female vampires who could match and surpass Adrienne's beauty. “Let me just go pay for this,” she said, holding out a simple, cotton, white dress. “Then maybe after we can go grab a bite to eat.”

  “We don't need to eat.”

  Adrienne rolled her eyes at this before discreetly mouthing, “Smartass.”

  Of course, being a vampire meant having special powers, and one of these was the ability of super hearing. He heard what she said, and he couldn't help but smirk. “I know I'm smart.” He looked arrogantly at her. “What I didn't know was that I was an ass.”

  “Well, you are, so just deal with it.”

  He looked at her, but she looked away and focused on paying for the dress that cost about eighty-dollars. She didn't see the smirk he gave her from behind.

  “It takes one to know one.”

  Agape, Adrienne handed the money to the woman behind the counter before she eyed her fiancé. “Did you just insult me?”

  Xavier couldn't help but chuckle. “If I did, then that would mean I insulted myself.” Behind the jet-black strands of his hair, his eyes turn burgundy. “I wasn't.”

  Satisfied, Adrienne smirked before she handed another shopping bag to Xavier who willingly took it. The vampire prince smiled at his fiancé before they left, side-by-side.

  Their next stop was the food court since Adrienne had a craving for some cheesecake. On the way there, they crossed paths with Ethan and Charlotte. They had their arms wrapped around each other and almost let go of their hold on one another when they met eye-to-eye with Adrienne.

  “Hey guys,” Adrienne said coolly. “On a date?”

  Charlotte turned her head up to be able to meet Ethan's eyes. He gave her an affirmative nod. Yes, they were on a date.

  “Is this geek your rebound?” That was Ethan, his ego never failing to be known. “Quite a downgrade after being with me, Adie.”

  Adrienne laughed joyously. She was truly happy that Charlotte was with Ethan and she wasn’t. Yeah! She couldn't help but shake her head at the realization. She had been such a fool for not being able to see Ethan for what he truly was, over the last year and a half ago. Jeez, she was an Honors student; obviously that kind of brain power didn’t translate to street smarts.

  “He's not a downgrade, and he's not my boyfriend,” her voice was stern.

  “So he's dweeb then?”

  “What the fuck—”

  “Xavier, don't,” Adrienne stopped him. She knew Xavier never really cursed, and when he did, it happened when he was fully enraged.

  Ethan not only managed to insult Adrienne but Xavier as well. He knew the guy was a bastard right from the start. “I'm not dweeb,” was the only thing Xavier could say, and Ethan laughed at that.

  “Oh, right,” Charlotte looked like she wanted leave. She didn't want to get into a fight with Adrienne since she knew the latter had the higher reputation even if she wasn’t head cheerleader. But her boyfriend, Ethan, wasn't going to step down. He never did.

  “No guy's ever willing to be any girl's shopping partner and carry her bags around. Unless they're homos, of course.”

  A staring match had started between Xavier and Ethan, and to placate the vampire, Adrienne circled his wrist with her hand.

  “Shut it, Ethan.” She was glaring at him. “He's just confident enough with his sexuality that he's not worried what homophobes like you would think of him.”

  “You're not seriously defending this nerd are you, Adie?” her ex asked, and in that moment, she disrespected his privacy and read his thoughts.

  He still wanted her, and Charlotte was the rebound. In Ethan’s mind, Adrienne was the perfect girl. She was the one, the one in his heart and soul, the topic of his perverted mind, but of course he couldn't let her know that, and to keep lying to himself, he held an even firmer grip around Charlotte's waist while she smiled, oblivious to the fact that he was using her only to make Adrienne jealous.

  “Pull her closer, and you'll be making babies.” Adrienne's tone was sarcastic, but her voice was degrading to both Ethan and Charlotte.

  “At least she's willing,” Ethan Lawrence replied.

  “You seriously—” Before Adrienne could reply, Xavier put his hand over her mouth. The only thing that came out was, “Oomph!” “Err!,” “Ugh!” and Pfff!”

  None of the three could comprehend what Adrienne wanted to say, and they guessed it was better that way.

  “I think we're going to get your cheesecake now,” Xavier said, switching the bags he held in his left hand to his right, before pulling Adrienne with him. “They're not worth it.”

  “But before we leave, I have to do something.” Adrienne tugged on Xavier's arm and in turn, he stopped walking.

  “And what might that be?”

  Adrienne smirked. “You know what I do to people who anger me.”

  “We can still hear you, you know,” interjected Ethan, his arm still crushing Charlotte's upper torso.

  “Adrienne you can't,” Xavier stopped her, leaning his head down to be able to whisper, but from Ethan and Charlotte's point of view, Xavier looked like he was about to kiss Adrienne. “You might kill him.”

  “Just a little bit, please?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “His arrogance is shouting at me. It's calling me!”

  Smirking, Xavier shook his head.

  “Pretty please? I know you want me to do it to him for insulting you!”

  Xavier chuckled. “Oh please, what I want to do is suck the blood out of him.”

  Their fingers intertwined. “You do that after I'm finished with him.”

  They never got the chance since apparently, Ethan and Charlotte got so bored waiting for a reply from the two vampires that they decided to ignore them and continue walking around the mall. Contented with the outcome of tonight's meeting with Ethan and Charlotte, Adrienne and Xavier walked over to the food court and grabbed a couple of desserts.

  “You know what,” Xavier started. “I'll never understand how humans think.”

  “It should just stay that way.” Adrienne grinned. “Vampires may be more intimate and may take love more seriously, but humans are more emotional. Speaking of intimacy and love, I want to ask you something.”

  Xavier nodded, saying,” What is it?”

  Adrienne gulped. She knew the question had to be straightforward, no beating around the bush. “Were you forced to be my fiancé?”

  Xavier knew this was going to come, so he was prepared to answer her. “I wasn't forced.” He was grinning at her. “My parents gave me the freedom to choose,” he said, still smiling. “I picked you.”

  “Why?”

  Xavier thought hard, and looked directly into Adrienne’s eyes when he answered, “Just think of vampires as magnets. We have only one mate and each of us are attracted to only a single person in our lifetimes, whether it is vampire or human. I was attracted to you the moment I saw you, even though you were just a small infant. I knew you were mine.”

  “But if we're meant to be together, how come I don't feel the same thing, that magnetism?”

  The answer was too obvious, Xavier thought to himself. “You've been living as a human. You lost your vampire tendencies, and the spell locked all your natural instincts away.”

  “Are they going to come back?” Adrienne looked confused as ever. Yes, she found him hot and sexy and gorgeous and all that, but loving was very different from attraction. Right now, she just found him physically attractive. “Am I going to feel that same attraction?”

  Xavier froze in his seat. He didn't want to say anything, because he couldn’t see the future. But he had to be honest with her. “I don't know.”

  Chapter 7: Lust and Envy: Just in One Night

  Adrienne Stahl and Brianna Kim spent their Saturday afternoon looking for the perfect dresses for tonight's party. It was Sabrina Baer's eighteenth birthday, and from what she told them, it was going to be grand. Apparently, she went all-out and wanted only the bes
t of the best for tonight's festivity. This included Italian catering, a deejay to the celebrities, posh decorations, and of course a grand ballroom at one of the town's classiest hotels.

  Adrienne and Brianna couldn't help but feel ashamed that they hadn't prepared for the party sooner. Well, it wasn't their fault that Sab had given out the invitations only two weeks ago, and they had been loaded with school work and various extracurricular activities.

  “How does this look?” Brianna asked Adrienne as she held up a little black dress against her body. “This can never fail.”

  Adrienne looked contemplative. Brianna was right. “I agree with you, but it's just too simple.” They nodded at each other. “We're going to a debut, our best friend's debut.”

  Hanging the dress on one of the racks, Brianna chuckled before going around to the other side of the store. She found better designs over here, many of which Adrienne liked as well. The went to the dressing room, stripped in front of each other until each of them was only in her bra and panty.

  “No Adrienne!” Brianna quickly said when she saw her friend trying on a very tight and a very short sequined-gold dress. “You're going to catch everyone's attention with that!”

  “What's wrong with that?” Adrienne feigned confusion. “I like attention!”

  “Yeah, but you're not the birthday girl!”

  “Who said all the attention has to be on her?” was the mischievous reply. “Am I right, Bree?”

  Bree merely nodded at her psychotic best friend before saying, “Yeah, I guess you are right. Isn't that what friends are for? To steal the spotlight from each other?”

  Laughing, Adrienne shook her head. “No. It's what you call stealing everyone's attention to protect said best friend in case something embarrassing happens to her.”

  Brianna gave Adie the finger.

  “Now, why'd you flip me the bird? That isn't what friends are for!”

  “I'm not only your friend. I'm your best—”

  “Brianna?” a familiar voice interjected as the owner of said voice knocked on the dressing room's door. “That's you, right?”

  Adrienne and Brianna looked at each other, their eyes wide open and sparking quite mischievously. The voice was male, and if she wasn’t mistaken, that teasing yet soft tone belonged to Aidan.

  “What are you doing here?” Brianna asked, fidgeting into a turquoise halter-dress.

  Adrienne couldn't help but laugh hysterically at her best friend. She had it bad for Aidan. It was obvious with her facial expressions, but her thoughts told Adie differently, and she realized why. Brianna was blocking Aidan from finding out about her feelings for him, and Adrienne thought it was smart to do so.

  “You're stalking us, aren't you?” Adrienne's tone was teasing, her posture calm and collected unlike her best friend's.

  Another voice joined in on the conversation.

  “First off, we weren't stalking you two. We heard the ruckus you’re making all the way from the food court so we decided to see what you guys were up to.” That was unmistakably Xavier, that deep, seductive, and oh-so sexy tone of voice. “And second, Aidan wasn't stalking the both of you. He was just interested with what Brianna was doing.”

  Rolling her eyes, Adrienne let out an evil laugh. “My ego says thank you for the insult.”

  “Tell it you're welcome and that if it needs a boost, I'm here.”

  She knew Xavier was smirking, and she just wanted to slap that sexy twist of the lips off his face. She put on the closest dress she could reach. It was a claret color and it hugged her whole body and emphasized all her curves—her bust, her waist, her hips, and everything else. Her mind was too focused on grilling Xavier for his arrogance that she didn't bother looking at the mirror. She opened the door and was ready to tell her fiancé off, but she was caught off guard when she saw the two guys staring at her.

  “Wow.” That was Aidan. He then nudged Xavier. “Lucky bastard, you get to spend the rest of your life with someone as hot as her, and she's not even going to age.”

  Brianna coughed, stepping out of the dressing room in a light blue cocktail gown. The garment ended just right at her knee, whereas Adrienne's exposed the lower part of her thighs. Still, Brianna was stunning.

  “Wow.” It was Xavier this time, and his eyes glinted suspiciously. “Stupid bastard. I can't believe you haven't asked this awesome vixen–” He slung an arm around Brianna's shoulders. “–out on a date yet.”

  Aidan muttered something incomprehensible which even the vampires couldn't understand before he glared darkly at his supposed best friend—Xavier. The latter just smirked.

  “You're still not going to ask her out?” Xavier raised one of his eyebrows. “It's not really that hard, man. Try this,” Xavier started, looking at the petite Asian that stood beside his fiancé. “Brianna, would you mind having dinner with us tonight?”

  Adrienne was trying to stop herself from laughing. Aidan just looked so adorable, like a deer caught in the headlights.

  “Try it, man,” Xavier pushed, rolling his eyes at his friend's shyness.

  Aidan coughed, his head bent down, his eyes glued to the floor. He stepped closer to Brianna and looked up, meeting her eyes.

  When Adrienne and Xavier read Brianna's thoughts, they knew she wouldn't be able to control her feelings any longer if Aidan continued looking at her like that—like he wanted her. Well, he did.

  “Uh, Bree, do you want to—Umm—go and grab a bite to eat?”

  Xavier smacked his forehead. His friend was just too idiotic.

  “Thank God you have a friend like me,” Xavier said in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “I thought you didn't believe in God,” Adrienne countered. “And what kind of a friend are you exactly, hmm?”

  Her fiancé smirked at her.

  “A friend who's a professional in the dating scene.”

  Adrienne and Brianna looked at each other mischievously before they broke out into fits of laughter. It was Xavier's narcissism that made him humorous, and Adrienne couldn't help but admit that she liked it—his being funny and amusing, but, of course, there were times that she just wanted to throw Xavier into a bottomless pit. Fortunately, now wasn't one of those instances.

  “See, she's not even going to answer you,” Xavier said, interrupting Adrienne's thoughts. “You're hopeless, dude.”

  Brianna held out her hands and stepped up to Aidan's defense. “I would've said yes.”

  The vampire's eyes shone with optimism.

  “But I can't have dinner with you tonight.”

  “We're going to a party.” Adrienne stuck out her chest in arrogance. “So that's too bad for you, Dating Master–”

  “But I have an idea!” Brianna chimed in, cutting Adrienne off. “Why don’t you go with us to the party? I'm sure Sab wouldn't mind!”

  “Ooh,” Adrienne teased playfully, her hazel eyes shining and laughing. “Someone wants to show Aidan off to the whole world.”

  With that, Bree smiled sheepishly, nodding her head in agreement to what her friend said before adding,” Xavier can come too, so that Aidan won't feel so out of place.”

  “Hold up! What the hell does he have to do with this?” Adrienne was shocked. “He's going to infuriate me with his smartass remarks!”

  “You're just jealous you can't match my level of thinking.”

  He looked collected, very calm actually, with a smirk on his face and two of his fingers around the belt loops of his jeans. He was intriguing. It was so sexy, Adrienne thought. Thank God he couldn't read her mind.

  “I just live by the virtue of humility.” Adrienne feigned the look of apathy on her face. “You should try it, you know.”

  “And you should buy that dress,” Xavier replied, and what he said caught her off guard.

  Xavier turned to look at Adrienne and eyed her from head to toe. She was in, no doubt, extremely attractive, and she had the personality to match it. And the red dress left very little to the imagination. It pressed tightly against h
er body, adding more cleavage to her bust and exaggerating her curves.

  “I agree with Xavier.” Brianna nodded, her head bobbing up and down continuously. “That dress is an eye-popper. All the guys will want a piece of you!”

  Xavier grunted and stepped in. “Hold up! You're not buying that dress!” Xavier looked irritated. “I can't let other people look at you like you're some piece of meat!”He then bit his bottom lip when he realized what he’d just said.

  “And the Dating Master is actually jealous,” Adrienne mocked, pinching Xavier's cheeks.

  What Adrienne did made him look like a little kid, and he wasn't one. He was a man. “As the Dating Master, no, I'm not envious. But as your fiancé,” he muttered something darkly to himself. “I am. So stop it. Don't buy the dress.”

  “What if I told you the dress was for you?”

  “It's just like saying, I was thinking of you while I was having sex with someone else.“

  Adrienne couldn't believe that Xavier was jealous. He was too sexy and too hot to actually feel that emotion for her. He was immortal. It was impossible for him to feel envy, but he did, and Adrienne couldn't help but smirk. The tables had turned, and it was her time to show off the arrogance.

  “To put it lightly, I enjoy being the center of attention,” she said, going back to the dressing room to take the wine-colored dress off. “So I'm buying it.”

  Xavier growled. He didn't like it that his mate was purposely irritating him.

  “Just think of it this way, Xavier,” Brianna started, resting a reassuring hand on his arm. “You'll be there at the party too. You can join the other guys who are looking at her as well.”

  Xavier shook his head before he turned his sight to the dressing room where Adrienne was.

  “That dress makes you look like a slut, you know!” he called out to his fiancé who, in that instant, stepped out in her short shorts and white long-sleeved top. “It makes you look like a slut,” he said in a much a softer voice.

  “All for you,” she looked at him seductively. “Husband-to-be.”

 

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