by Megan Duncan
Chapter 15
The night had taken an unforeseen turn. I hadn’t figured that I might actually like whom I would be joined to, I was expecting the worse and now I didn’t know what to do.
“Hello Claire.” His voice was deep and steady, sounding exactly as it did when it traveled across the ribbon of emotion he sent to me in my room.
“You know my name?” It was a stupid question, but I didn’t know anything about him. By the look on his face, he knew much more about me than I probably would have liked him to know.
“Of course,” he said as he guided me to take a seat on a pew beside him.
I smiled politely, but scooted a little further away from him than he seemed to prefer. My conflicting emotions had created an internal battle. “Are you okay?” I wondered if his transformation was as painful as mine.
“I’ve felt worse pain.” He eyed my reaction, and when I didn’t seem impressed, he smiled, “I am well.” Show-offs never impressed me.
“Right…” His politeness was starting to annoy me, but I tried to brush it off. “Let’s um… go for a walk. It would probably be a good idea if we got to know each other a little better,” I suggested. Then, not wanting to go too easy on him, I decided to call him out, “And you can tell me why you’ve been sneaking around so much.”
He raised his eyebrows at me, clearly enjoying the playful jab and flashed a brilliant smile at me. I noticed he didn’t have fangs and I found myself staring at perfectly straight teeth. I had gotten so used to seeing fangy grins, I assumed he would have fangs as well. “Oh, I don’t have fangs, Claire. One of the many differences between a vampire and a Blood Mate,” he said. He winked at me and I both loved and hated the way it made my heart flutter.
He rose from his seat and removed his cape. The velvety crimson fabric fell onto the seat beside me, but it only stole my attention for a brief second as I quickly found myself staring at him. He wore all black, with a slightly tight-fitting, button-up black shirt, his muscles flexing with the fabric as he moved. The contrast between his dark clothes and tan skin complemented him beautifully. Yet, his eyes were the most desirable to look at, because they didn’t look like the dark limitless pools all vampires have. He couldn’t be called a soulless monster. His eyes were an amazing shade of green, and the longer I focused on them, I soon realized one of his eyes had an odd splash of brown, giving him a uniqueness that was oddly attractive.
He offered his hand, but I ignored it, against my almost overpowering internal urge to hold it again. I removed my cape as well, dropping it atop his. As I turned to face him, his expression made me suddenly feel very aware of my exposed flesh. I decided I was better off keeping the cape on, for the time being, at least. Arrick smiled at me, but didn’t say anything as I slid the cape back on, leaving the hood off. I knew I would be too warm as we walked outside, but I wasn’t prepared to catch his eyes wandering anywhere they shouldn’t be. I couldn’t trust that I wouldn’t slap him or start kissing him madly.