“Besides,” he added, “I’m a monster. I’m not capable of love.”
Rose frowned. “I don’t believe that, not even a little bit.”
His fists clenched the sheets, and his tone turned harsh again. “And if I were in a relationship with anyone, it wouldn’t be with a liar like you,” he snarled.
Her jaw dropped. “A liar? I am not a liar! I hid one thing from you, Kallias. One. And I had a reason. I’m not saying it was right, but I did have a reason.”
“You’re just like her,” Kallias muttered under his breath. He wasn’t looking at her anymore. “Lying about Theron and that damn Stone.”
Her eyes narrowed murderously. “Did you just compare me to your dead wife?” She laughed in disbelief. “You know what? I was willing to overlook how much of a crazy jerk you’re being because I know you’re hurting. I know you’re hurting really, really badly. How could you not be? Thousands of years ago, someone broke your heart, and you never healed. You never healed because you didn’t deal with it. You buried your pain, instead of letting yourself feel it. You let it harden you. See, that’s the thing about wounds. You can’t just ignore them and expect them to go away. Mind over matter is a dangerous game when it comes to wounds. Because when you ignore a wound, it doesn’t heal. It festers. And your wound has been festering for a long, long time. And now something has come along and reopened it. So, yeah, I get it. The pain is unbearable right now, and you don’t know how to deal with it. On top of that, you are a vampire, so you feel everything in extremes, and you can’t control your emotions. And on top of all of that, you are also awake during the day, which apparently weakens your mind as well as your body, or at least it seems to, from what I can see.”
He watched her as she yelled at him, his expression unreadable.
“I know you’re angry at me for not telling you about the scrolls and the Stone, but I’m not the only reason you’re angry. A lot of this anger existed long before I was even born,” Rose continued, her tone growing angrier by the minute. She thrust her hands out on either side of her. “But you know what? I let you take your anger out on me because I knew you needed someone to help you deal with this pain. And you do need someone, by the way, whether you want to admit it or not. All of this, I can forgive because you are hurting, and I can see that.”
A strange red glow flashed in her blue eyes, like a spark of fire.
Kallias blinked, assuming that he was just seeing things, hallucinating because he was awake during the day. In the split second that it took him to reopen his eyes, that fiery red glow that he’d seen in her eyes disappeared.
“But don’t you dare compare me to your wife!” she snarled, oblivious to what he’d seen in her eyes. “Not now. Not after I know what she did to you. That is too far. Because, Kallias, I would never hurt you like that.” She shook her head at him, rage burning in her eyes. “So, you know what? Screw you, too.”
Rose spun on her heels and marched toward the door. She’d almost reached the door when he suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking her way. His eyes were dark, and his skin looked flushed again. Then, slowly, he pushed her up against the wall. For a moment, she wondered if he’d lost control again.
“You tell me to leave, and then, you stop me when I try?” she asked.
“You should leave,” he said breathlessly, “but…”
One corner of her lips curved encouragingly. “But?”
His brows furrowed, and his lips curved downward into a worried frown, as if he didn’t understand his own thoughts and feelings. He leaned into her, his head touching hers, as he confessed, “But I don’t think that I want you to leave.”
“Then I won’t,” she told him, her voice soft and breathless.
Neither of them knew who moved first. It was as if they both moved at once, their bodies in sync somehow. Suddenly, their lips met, their heads tilting at just the right angles for their lips to meld comfortably together, as if their lips had been designed to fit that way. He cupped her face with his hands, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Their bodies pressed together, and with him only in sweatpants and her only in pajamas, it felt much more erotic than usual. As their tongues clashed and danced together, the desire surged between them, mixing with anger, hunger, and something else, something deeper than all of that.
“I thought you were angry with me,” Rose gasped between kisses.
He didn’t even pull away from her lips as he grunted, “I am.”
After several more moments of making out, Rose managed to ask in a half-voice-half-moan, “Then, why are you kissing me?”
He chuckled against her lips. “I don’t know. Shut up.”
She nodded eagerly and pressed her lips against his again…because even though her mind reminded her that they should be talking, instead of kissing, her body disagreed. And if she were completely honest, her mind disagreed as well. Probably the only thing that her mind, body, and soul did agree on at the moment was the fact that kissing him felt right, and also, it felt really, really good.
His body pressed hers harder into the wall, and his hand found her hair, his fingers tangling in the soft, red strands and tugging back, angling her head for a deeper kiss. His other hand grasped her hip, his fingers brushing against the bare skin of her hip, his touch feverish, as he held her tightly to him.
Her hands trailed down from his neck to his chest, her fingers trailing along the flames on his skin and then along the ridges of his muscles. The smoothness of his skin contrasted with the rough, coarse scars that she felt all over his chest. His sharp fangs brushed against her tongue as they kissed, but it didn’t bother her. There were so many problems, so many reasons that a human and a vampire shouldn’t be together, but when they kissed, all of that disappeared. Nothing mattered, except for him and the emotions that coursed through her.
Rose gasped as he suddenly lifted her off of the floor, his hands beneath her thighs, supporting her weight. Without thinking, she wrapped her legs around his waist, and he carried her to the bed, his lips still pressing relentlessly against hers. He dropped her onto the bed, her body sinking into the soft mattress.
Kallias crawled onto the bed with her. His movements seemed so predatory and animalistic as he moved to hold himself over her. He lowered his head to her neck and pressed his lips against the sensitive skin of her neck as his fingers began to smoothly and easily unbutton her flannel pajama shirt. His lips moved lower, following his hands, as he continued to unbutton her shirt, his lips pressing against her shoulder and then against her collarbone. Kallias suddenly pulled back to look at her, his breath coming in harsh pants. He crawled off of her and moved to sit at the edge of his bed. “I can’t do this,” he breathed.
Rose sat up, blushing as she pulled her shirt closed over her breasts. His back was turned to her, and his face hung in his hands. “Is it your hunger?”
Kallias turned around to look at her, and almost as if they had a will of their own, his eyes trailed down toward the opening in her shirt, darkening with lust and hunger. “I am hungry, yes,” he murmured, “but it’s more than that.”
She stared at him curiously. “What is it?”
He sighed, “We both know where that was leading, and you’ve never… It would be your first time. And it shouldn’t be like this. You deserve better.”
She frowned, hearing the words that he didn’t say almost as easily as she heard the ones he did. “Better than angry sex?” she asked. “Or better than you?”
His jaw tightened. “Both.”
“Don’t I deserve what I want?” she asked. “Because you are what I want.”
He exhaled sharply, as if her words caused him pain. “I don’t understand you. Can’t you see that I’m not good for you? That should be obvious, especially now, after I lost control like that, after the things I said…” His expression twisted.
Her chest tightened at the painful regret she heard in his voice. She crawled toward him, buttoning her shirt closed again over her skin. Sh
e moved to sit next to him, and then, she wrapped her arms around his right arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. He closed his eyes, soothed by her touch.
“Why did you say that you could forgive all of that?” he asked quietly.
“Because…I forgive you, idiot,” Rose laughed. “Obviously.”
“No, no, you can’t do that,” he argued. “What the hell, Rose?”
“Uh, I think it’s my decision to make, thank you very much,” she sassed.
“Why?” he asked in disbelief, as if she’d just told him she was planning on shooting herself to find out if she could survive. “I don’t deserve forgiveness.”
She laughed, “No one deserves forgiveness, silly. That’s the point.”
Kallias watched for several moments. “I don’t understand you.”
“I told you,” Rose said. “You can’t push me away. I’m too stubborn.”
“Rose,” he sighed. “When all of this is over, you and I won’t…”
Pain twisted at her chest. “Could we just…not talk about that yet?”
He stared at her for a long time and then nodded slowly. “Okay.”
Then, Kallias surprised her by resting his head against hers. She glanced at him. He looked so exhausted, so sickly. His skin seemed too pale for someone with such a dark complexion, and the deep, sunken circles under his eyes looked too dark. His face in her hair, he inhaled deeply, breathing in her scent.
“You’re nothing like Phoebe. I shouldn’t have said that,” he murmured.
She sighed, “I’m sure she wasn’t all bad.”
“No, she wasn’t,” he admitted. “But still…”
“You have less self-control during the day, don’t you?” she asked.
“The sun weakens my mind and my body. Our bodies run on basic instincts during the day: the need for rest and…well…the need to feed,” he said. “My true nature shows during the day, and my true nature is that of a monster. Do you see that now? Whatever good you think you see in me isn’t real.”
She rolled her eyes. “The fact that you fought so hard not to give in to those instincts today, despite the fact that I unwittingly chose the worst possible time to come clean, is proof that the good that I think I see in you is real.”
“I could have hurt you, Rose,” he argued. “I was afraid that I would.”
“I wasn’t,” she said. “I guess I believe in you more than you do.”
“I guess so,” he said. He glanced at her. “Do you want to sleep with me?”
Rose jerked upright, blushing, as she sputtered, “What? But you said…”
Kallias broke into a huge grin, his smile so wide that she could see his fangs, and he began to laugh. Rose just sat there, staring up at him in shock, because of his strange and sudden question, of course, but also because this was the first time that she’d seen him smile since the night before.
“Sleep, Rose. Just sleep. Not sex,” Kallias clarified, still laughing at her. “I just wanted to know if you wanted to sleep in my bed today…with me.”
“Oh!” Rose said, blushing profusely. “I…um…misunderstood.”
“Yes,” he said, still smiling. “I noticed.”
“Yeah,” she answered after a moment. “I think I would like that.”
He stood and flashed a playful grin at her. “Which one? Sex or sleep?”
“Oh, this side of you is back. How nice,” she said sarcastically.
He chuckled and then pulled off his sweatpants right in front of her.
Her eyes widened. “What are you doing?” she complained.
“We went over this yesterday,” he said. “I don’t sleep in clothes.”
“There’s nothing wrong with clothes,” she muttered as she tried to avert her gaze from the silk boxers that barely covered him. “At least they cover stuff.”
“Is that supposed to be a good thing?” he teased.
“Sometimes,” she muttered under her breath.
He laughed and climbed into bed behind her, pulling the sheets over him. “If you’d come in here earlier, you would’ve seen that I normally sleep nude.”
“I really didn’t need to know that,” she muttered, blushing.
“Come, moro mou. Get in bed before I pass out,” he murmured sleepily.
Rose turned to look at him, surprised to find that his eyes were already closed, and he appeared to be asleep already. She crawled further into bed to lie down next to him, careful to stay on the other side of the bed, away from him.
“Get over here,” he grumbled, holding his arm out for her.
Rose stared at him, a surprised smile forming at the edges of her lips. She obliged him, curling up against his side and draping her arm over his stomach.
His arm curled around her back, pulling her closer, as he began to drift off to sleep. He buried his face in her soft, silky hair, and murmured, so sleepily that his words were slurred and strangely accented, “Goodnight, agapi mou.”
Rose blinked in shock, not sure that she’d heard him right. He had called her Greek endearments often, ever since she’d met him, but he had never called her My Love before. She looked up at him, but he’d already fallen to sleep.
She sighed, deciding that it didn’t matter. Many people used the word love without meaning it, but even as she told herself that, she doubted that Kallias was the type to do that. Strangely enough, despite the fact that she’d spent all morning trying to fall asleep in the guest room and had failed each and every time, in his room, lying in his arms, she quickly and easily drifted into a comfortable sleep.
—
When Rose awoke, she felt warm, really warm, and comfortable. She blinked, hoping that her eyes would adjust to the darkness, but they didn’t. At some point, someone had cut off the lamp, plunging the room into total darkness. She frowned as she realized that she had a very long body wrapped around her. She was lying on her side, her arm and pillow under her head, and the body, which she knew was Kallias, lay behind her, curled around her, his face buried in the crook of her neck, his legs tangled with hers, and his arms imprisoning her in a tight hold. She tried to move to reach for the lamp, but his hold on her allowed no such movement. And trying to wiggle out of it only caused her to become more aware of the fact that his groin was pressing very obviously against her back.
She immediately stopped moving. “Umm…Kallias?”
He groaned, a groan of protest, against her neck, and the sensation of his voice and breath against her neck raised chills on her skin. She flushed.
“Um…Kallias? Could you wake up?” she stammered, even though she knew that he was probably sleeping too deeply to even hear her. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. This is comfortable…and I mean really, really comfortable…but it’s also…um… Yeah, never mind… Also, I have this thing called a bladder…”
Her conversation with the comatose vampire was interrupted by a knock at the door. She jumped, startled by the sound, and frowned worriedly at the door.
“Relax. It’s just Erik,” Kallias said in her ear, his voice low and husky.
Rose froze, blushing. “How long have you been awake?”
“Don’t know,” he slurred. “Long enough to find out that you have a bladder.” His lips curved lazily against her ear. “Such sexy talk to wake up to.”
She scowled at his sarcasm. “I wasn’t kidding. I really do have to pee.”
The bedroom door opened, and the dim light from the torch lamps in the hallway flooded the room. Even though the light was dim, Rose winced as it momentarily blinded her, so drastically different from the total darkness that had cloaked the room a moment ago. Kallias groaned miserably and buried his face in her hair, which caused his warm breath to fall against her neck, raising chills.
Erik leaned against the doorframe, dressed again in black leather pants and in a long-sleeved black T-shirt. “Damn, what happened while I was asleep?”
Rose blushed deeply, suddenly aware of how they must have looked to him, tangled up together like t
hat. She tried to remove Kallias’s arms from around her. “Nothing. Nothing happened. What are you talking about?” she said a little too quickly, still prying at Kallias’s arms. He grunted and reluctantly released her.
Erik snorted, “Uh-huh. It definitely looks like nothing happened.”
Kallias rolled onto his back and groaned, “You’re an ass, Erik.”
Erik suddenly frowned at the wall. “Is that your blood on the wall?”
“Long story,” Kallias grunted, his eyes still closed.
“Oh,” Erik said. “Well, I just came to tell you that breakfast is ready.”
“Breakfast?” Rose repeated with a frown. “What time is it?”
“It’s breakfast for us nocturnal creatures,” Erik clarified. “It’s about 8:30.”
She sat up in bed, the sheets falling around her hips. “Wow. That late?”
Erik scowled at her. “What the hell are you wearing?”
Rose glanced at her pajamas and then looked back up, narrowing her eyes at him. “Would you people quit insulting my pajamas? They’re not that bad!”
Erik grimaced. “They’re pretty bad. Are they a form of birth control?”
She glared at him. “Excuse me?”
“Erik, shut up before she throws the lamp at you,” Kallias said drowsily.
Rose glanced at the lamp thoughtfully, considering it. She looked back at the blonde vampire. “They’re comfortable, okay? Comfortable and warm.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “So are naked bodies.”
She grimaced at him. “You’re a pervert.”
“Ha,” he snorted. He winked. “Babe, you have no idea.”
She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Yeah, I’m thankful for that, actually.”
Erik laughed, “I’ll see you two lovebirds downstairs.”
He turned and headed back down the hallway, toward the stairway, leaving the bedroom door standing wide open. After he left, Rose glanced down at Kallias, expecting to find him asleep again. She sucked in her breath sharply when she instead met his dark, lustful gaze. A small, lecherous smirk tugged at his lips as he stared at her, and she felt her cheeks grow hot as her entire body reacted to that look. “Stop looking at me like that,” she squeaked.
The Stone of the Eklektos Page 56