Bleeding Love

by Ashley Andrews

  “I honestly don't know kiddo,” he lied, and she knew that too. “Maybe you were using your psychic ability while you drank from him, or maybe—”

  There was a small pause.

  “Or maybe what?” Adrienne was on the edge.

  “Maybe he didn't want to push you off him because he thought it—his blood—was what you wanted.” Carter Stahl was turning into a Philosopher. “He didn’t stop you because he wanted to give you what you wanted.”

  Amidst the seriousness of the situation, Adrienne had the indecency to say, “Or maybe he just liked the feeling of having a girl pressed up against him.”

  Adrienne and Carter's ears twitched. They heard something on the second floor fall, a loud crash. It had come from Xavier's room. It was obvious that he heard Adrienne and her father talking.

  “You should go up and check on him,” said Carter, his voice commanding.

  Adrienne was fast to retort, “He's a number of centuries of old. He's not eight. He's old enough to take care of himself.”

  Her father's voice turned forceful. “Adrienne.”

  She sighed in defeat and quickly ran up the stairs. In seconds, she was standing outside Xavier's bedroom door. After a single knock, she entered without his permission. The walls in the room had been painted a dark shade of blue. Just like his eyes. Right now the room was dim. She stayed by the door. The curtains blackout drapes and they had been drawn shut, with only a small sliver of light illuminating the man on the bed. Xavier was lying on his side with his back facing Adrienne.

  “Yeah?” his voice resonated in the room.

  The sound of it caught her off guard, making her heart thump loudly. The sound of it was intoxicating. He was intoxicating. Adrienne shook her head. She was just feeling those things because she had some of his blood inside her. That was all it was.

  “Quit the act.”

  Xavier shifted on his bed before he sat up. He looked coldly at her. “What act?”

  Adrienne smirked. Was he really playing dumb? And here she thought that the Night Class students were the brightest crayons in the box.

  “We all know you don't need to sleep,” she said, walking to the sliding doors and drawing the curtains to the side. Light passed through the glass and brought a certain glow to the whole room. Xavier, on the other hand, was far from glowing.

  “What's with the growl?”

  She made her way over to him and his bed. She didn't remain standing for long because after a few moments, she decided to take the space beside him. The bed sank an inch or two down, and she turned to look at him. He turned his head away from hers, and that was when she once again saw the bite marks she’d made.

  “Did it hurt?” she asked, reaching to touch his skin, and when she did, he stiffened.

  Her hand was soft, and he couldn't help but rest his head upon it. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were a dark burgundy color. He opened his mouth and showed off his fangs. Another growl came from deep within him. “Did you have to ask that question?”

  She drew her hand away from his neck. She was scared with the way he looked at her. He was glaring, his eyes piercing hers like knives, and not knowing what else to do, she moved back. Then stood and settled for leaning against a wall.

  “I don't know if it hurts or not,” was Adrienne's smartass reply. “No one has ever bitten me before.”

  Xavier looked at her with the darkest, and bluest, eyes she had ever seen. Within moments his eye color had turned back to red.

  Adrienne had started to realize that the eye color was often an indication of mood. The more passionate the mood, whether that was just pissed off or aroused, the redder the eyes.

  Xavier got up from the bed and began to pace around until he moved right in front of where Adrienne stood. Their bodies were mere inches apart from each other. They could feel body heat radiating between them.

  “And it should stay that way,” he said, stepping back from her, out of temptations way, and moving to the terrace. When he was on the balcony, he put a hand over his eyes to shade them from the light of the sun.

  Adrienne followed suit and remained close behind him. “I guess,” she sounded hesitant with her answer but she shrugged away the nervous feeling. “Do you have any plans today?”

  Xavier nodded before saying,” Do you want to come?”

  Adrienne stepped forward and stood beside the other vampire—her fiancé. His gaze remained staring off into a distance while hers settled on looking at him. She had never really noticed the contours of his cheekbones and his jaw, until now. Now she saw how sharp, definite, and defined they were, and she liked the shape, the form, and the edge. It made him seem untouchable. “It really depends on where you're taking me,” said Adrienne in reply.

  The sun was slowly rising, yet as noon got closer, so did the clouds. The cumulus balls of fluff were starting to cover the sun. But there was still enough light for Californians to plan a trip down to the beach.

  Xavier wouldn't be taking her to a beach. “You'll have to find out for yourself,” he replied with a cheeky smile.

  * * * * *

  An hour and a half later, Adrienne found herself standing in the middle of a forest with Xavier.

  “I never knew there was a forest near home,” Adrienne said, checking her watch. “And you could've told me the drive was going to take this long.”

  A sheepish smile made its way to Xavier's flawless facial structure. “You never asked.”

  Adrienne childishly stuck her tongue out at him as she explored the place and let her eyes wander. The forest was had a lot of felled trees, but there was a lot of groundcover, and the land was sharply slopped uphill, which provided quite a bit of privacy, which Adrienne guessed Xavier wanted. The landscape was a myriad of different hues of green, brown, and red. The trees were tall, their trunks colossal, whilst the ground was covered fallen leaves, vines and small bushes. The place was pretty isolated. He’d driven several miles from the main road. Then they had parked the car and hiked in.

  Xavier looked around and realized they were finally away from civilization. He could relax and unleash his vampire instincts.

  “What do you want this kind of seclusion for?” Adrienne couldn't help but ask.

  Xavier smirked, amused with her limited knowledge when it came to vampirism.

  She frowned at him. She felt like he was denigrating her once again.

  “I want something fresh, something other than the blood your father buys from hospitals and blood banks.” He crouched down. “Want to join me?”

  Smiling, Adrienne shook her head.

  “I'll just watch you hunt,” she said.

  With that, Xavier began searching for an early dinner. Hunting wasn't as gruesome and as vomit-inducing as Adrienne thought it would be. With the way Xavier approached the small deer and started drinking its blood, the action seemed natural, and humane. He was simply taking sustenance from nature, not much different from what humans did. Only where the humans would have killed and butchered the animal for its meat, Xavier simply drank its blood.

  When Xavier started to suck the animal’s neck, she turned away. When he was done the doe lay in the grass. It was tired, weak, but alive. Xavier had some animal blood on him.

  Adrienne waved her hand at him. “Hey, you well…dribbled blood on yourself. Could you clean that up?” She didn’t really like the sight of blood. She sighed, thinking that she was eventually going to have to get used to it.

  Xavier simply nodded, and left for a while. After at least twenty minutes, he still wasn't back.

  “Xavier!” Adrienne shouted. “Are you done yet?”

  She started walking around, getting farther from the trail that led to the car. She was delving deeper into the forest, trying to use her vampires’ sense of hearing to listen for any sound that might indicate where Xavier had disappeared to.

  She walked for what seemed like miles. Then she stopped. “It's not funny anymore,” she said, her voice cracking, a
nd then she began to run, as fast as lightning but still not as fast as a normal vampire. She felt like she had already circled the entire border of the forest. She was beginning to worry. What if someone saw her run at such a fast speed?

  Worse, what if someone saw Xavier hunt and feed from the deer? Adrienne shook her head. Xavier had assured her that no one was in this part of the forest. He would have heard them, smelt them, something. This area was very secluded.

  And that was when she heard footsteps. They were slow, and very careful, like someone was stalking her. Before she could spy on the owner of the footsteps, Xavier appeared right in front of her. He ran right into Adrienne and they both fell in a tangle of arms and legs, to the ground.

  “Ugh!” Adrienne shouted, growling and cursing.

  She felt her back crash against the ground as a few leaves were sent flying by the very strong force exerted by the two vampires. When Adrienne opened her eyes, she glared at Xavier. He was lying on top of her, smirking, and was quite obviously enjoying their provocative position.

  He lowered his head just a few inches, to claim her lips.

  She relaxed, letting him kiss her for a few minutes, and then she pushed him off and jumped to her feet. Adrienne ran, looking back and calling out to Xavier, “Try to catch me!”

  He could see the mischievous glimmer in her eyes.

  The two continued running, playing a version of paranormal tag with Xavier trying to catch Adrienne, but every time he got near he would let her slip away, using her psychic abilities.

  She kind of cheated, draining his energy every time he got close to her. Those energy spikes allowed her to be stronger and to push him away from her without much effort. “I'm still faster than you!”

  They continued running, and running, and running, hitting trees and sending them crashing down onto the forest floor with their super-strength. Adrienne sped past trees and animals with a smile on her face. The strong wind whipping against her body was a refreshing feeling, and the adrenaline she felt with Xavier pacing her was exhilarating. Before she knew it, he drew along side of her, and pinned her against him. He dove for the ground and they rolled over until she was on top of him. Lying on top, she could feel the rise and fall of his chest. She looked away from his neck and up at his face. They were smiling, shining with happiness.

  “That was fun, but I'm tired again,” he said, not even inching away from her. “Feels like the blood I took from the deer has worn off. You wear me out.”

  Adrienne shook her head in return before she leaned it to the crook of his neck. It kind of felt weird—two eighteen-year olds lying on top of one another in the middle of a forest—but neither cared. They were too immersed in the situation to even bother about their surroundings.

  “This feels nice,” she said, hiding her smiling face from him. “You feel nice.”

  In response, he hugged her, his voice held a tiny hint of amusement and agreement. “Not at all awkward?” he asked referring to their position.

  “Well,” She was trying to control herself from laughing. “Your scent is making it awkward.”

  He knew what she meant.

  “I know I don't thrive on blood for survival, but if you don't keep your distance from me, I'm going to be forced to suck you dry.”

  Xavier's face lit up. “You're going to suck me?”

  They were laughing now, and because of the weird conversation, Adrienne rolled off him. They sat beside each other, their arms still touching. “That came out wrong, I think.”

  Xavier sighed then ran a hand through his wispy mop of black hair. After, he looked at her again and leaned his face closer to her neck.

  “I guess it wouldn't hurt so much,” Adrienne said to him, her eyes looking out far into a distance. “And I owe you anyway for what I did to you at Sabrina's party. I'll consider it payback.”

  He wasn't supposed to, but he couldn't stop himself from inching his face closer to the barest part of her neck. He had her full permission, and the scent of her blood was enticing, words couldn't even do it justice. He opened his mouth, his fangs starting to protrude out of his gums. She could feel his warm breath against her skin, and she liked the feeling, so she continued waiting, waiting for him to drink her blood, but they were interrupted.

  “Damn cell phone,” Adrienne muttered out along with a string of blasphemous words.

  On the other hand, Xavier breathed out a sigh of relief. He had not wanted to drink her blood. It was only his instincts. He was saved by her mobile, and he couldn't be any happier. He didn't want to endanger her by draining too much of her blood.

  “Hello?” Adrienne said, holding the phone up against her ear.

  “Hey Adie. It's me.”

  Xavier, with his vampire abilities, was able to hear the voice of the caller loud and clear. Just as if the caller were using a megaphone. The sound of it elicited a low growl at the memory of how the person had taken advantage of his fiancé last night.

  “Hey Tryst, what's up?” Adrienne asked her voice cheerful. “Live through the hangover?”

  Tryst asked her forgiveness for the night before.

  “I know you didn't mean it,” Adrienne said, referring to the intense grinding she did with him. “We were just having fun and some of us–” She eyed Xavier. “–just overreacted.”

  And with that, Xavier understood that Adrienne knew what Tristan and she had done at Sabrina's debut. Xavier was quite surprised about how casual they talked to each other. Humans, he thought, because they don't live forever, they just “forget” a lot of things.

  Tristan's voice sounded relieved. “But I still feel bad, so I want to make it up to you.”

  Xavier glared at Adrienne, silently asking her to not even consider the boy’s offer, because it wasn’t what it seemed. Adrienne may think they had a friendship, but this Tristan wanted more. Xavier had read it in his mind last night.

  “So what's the plan?” Adrienne asked, standing up and wiping the dust off her clothes.

  “I was thinking we could go to the arcade and have dinner after.” Tristan

  “Sounds great, so what time will I meet you and where?” Adie

  Xavier was slightly irritated now. He wasn't even looking at her anymore and was just waiting for her to head over to the car, and when she did, he followed silently.

  “Seven-ish at Dave and Buster's?” Tristan “I’ll see you then, Adie!”

  “Later, Tristan,” Adrienne said on the other line before hanging up and putting her phone back in her jean pocket.

  Xavier unlocked the door of the car. They got inside and he turned on the engine and they drove off, heading back to the mansion, so that Adrienne could prepare for her meeting.

  “So what's with the glare a while ago?” she asked, looking at the side of his face.

  His eyes never left the road, but Adrienne saw the way his midnight-blue eyes blinked rapidly. She chuckled at his adorable facial expression before she eyed him more intensely and asked,” You aren't jealous, are you?”

  “And why would I be?” he asked smirking, as if she had just told him a joke.

  She poked him at his side, on the hips, and he winced slightly.

  “I'm driving, Adrienne.” His voice was stern. “You're going to get us into an accident.”

  “It's not like we're going to die.” She said.

  He rolled his eyes at her response.

  “And you still haven't answered my question.”

  He turned to look at her for a second before he faced forward and set his eyes on the road again. He was grinning, although the upturn of his lips had a dash of mischief, and it made Adrienne suspicious.

  “I'm not jealous,” he answered smiling. “I'm just looking out for you.”

  Adrienne shook her head.

  “But why?”

  His answer was sudden. “Because you're my fiancé.”

  * * * * *

  “Because you're my best friend,” Adrienne answered as a tease. “I can't let you go to the arcade alon
e, you’d just look like a loser.”

  Tristan gave a hearty laugh, inserting the tokens into their slot, and when the bell rang, he furiously began shooting the basketballs into the hoop. In the background, Adrienne tried to think of something that could distract Tryst. She smirked to herself before she sauntered over and stood right beside him. She grabbed a ball and tried to shoot it. It ended up hitting the rim and bouncing back to her. She yelped when she instinctively caught it in her arms.

  “Adie!” Tristan shouted, still concentrating on beating his previous high score. “My focus! You're ruining it!”

  “That's my plan,” was her mischievous answer.

  He bumped his hip into hers, causing her to inch a few steps away from him. She let out a groan, pouted her lips, and placed her hands on her hips.

  But Tristan didn't notice her at all. He only looked up when the game ended. “So what do you want to play?”

  Adrienne's eyes sparked up. Her answer came fast. “House of the Dead, baby!”

  “I think I should play alone if I want to get past most of the levels,” was his joking response.

  She pinched his side and feigned disappointment. Her lips turned down into a frown, but he just laughed it off and placed an arm over her shoulders. He then propped his hand over her head and messed up her mocha-colored hair.

  “I was thinking you'll need all the help anyone could offer you,” she said in response. “And I'm a master at that game.”

  Tristan laughed again. “That's the best joke I've heard so far, you know that?”

  Adrienne slapped his chest, answering,” It wasn't even a joke, smartass.”

  “But it was funny,”

  “Then I pity you.” She inserted the tokens and took the gun out of its holder. Tristan did the same. “Your standard for sarcasm and humor is disappointingly low, even almost non-existent.”

  “Only when it comes to the things you say.”

  “So are you saying I have a future as a comedian?” Adrienne looked at him and smirked.