He felt this strange desire, too.
But Adrien did not press further. He did not engage the fire or push me against the door to ravage my mouth like I wanted him to in that moment. Instead, he walked away and bid me goodnight like a gentleman. But the bitterness in his tone was anything but polite and gentle.
It was accusatory; it was wicked.
Tell me why you’re perfect for me.
I, Ivy Reign, am certainly not perfect, and I know not the first thing about being enticing.
But what I do know is the thought of Adrien and hissweat-slick chest, the thought of his lips crushing against my own as he presses his body against me, is the thought that drives me over the edge.
I come without warning, my brain a jumbled mess of death and flame, of aquamarine and sapphire, and woody scents and golden skin.
As my insides pulse, the echo of my orgasm ricocheting through my body, I find solace. The bloodheat has been sated. For now.
So I close my eyes, and I tell myself tomorrow will be a better day.
And for the moment, I believe it as the darkness swallows me whole.
Seven
Wesley
My eyes flutter open and the first thing I noticed is how cold the bed is.
Because he’s not here. He’s never here when you wake up.
I am not sure why I keep doing this to myself. Why I keep hoping things will change. I know the definition of insanity is to keep repeating the same things over and over, expecting different results.
But a part of me doesn’t want to give up the hope that maybesome dayit will be different.
That one day, I will wake up and Adrien will be here, beside me. Sleeping like a baby in my arms.
I know he thinks we are doomed, even if he doesn’t say it.
I can feel his fear like a living breathing entity, especially when he holds me at arms length.
It’s always the same song and dance with us. I fall into my bloodheat and he comes running to sate it,comes crawling to my aid. He takes care of me. My needs. As if they were his own. And in the midst of the bloodlust haze, he loves me. He loves me until I am so far gone in him that it is impossible to know where I begin and where he ends, and then when the bloodheat disappears…
He pulls away.
No. Hepushesme away, shattering the perfect moment where we exist for no one other than one another. Where we are free to love one another without judgment.
And those moments, however brief they are, are what keep me addicted to Adrien Claire.
Inevitably, he always comes back, knowing he can’t stay away from me any more than I can stay away from him.
We make up. We kiss, we fuck, and he holds me like he doesn’t want to let go.
And then the morning comes, and it is lather, rinse, repeat.
I reach out into the empty space, running my fingers over where he slept. I can’t help but feel like something’s different, though I can’t put my finger on it. Last night was not out of the ordinary, but Adrien seemed… off. Several times, he seemed to tense, to stop as if he was fighting some unforeseen force. Perhaps his demons are getting louder.
I thought maybe this was it. That he’d finally decided he couldn’t do this anymore—whateverthisis. We’ve never really discussed what weare.He is a vampire who helps me sate my bloodheat. He is a… friend, I suppose.
A fellow comrade in this bloody school, in this war of matedom thrust upon us.
But he is more than that, too, I think.
