Authors: Ashley Andrews
Bleeding Love
Bleeding
Love
Ashley Andrews
Ashley Andrews
Copyright © 2012
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced
in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent
from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, names,
places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used
fictitiously.
Other Books By Ashley Andrews
Breaking
the Arm, Healing the Heart
Chapter 2: This is Where It all Begins
Chapter 4: When Two Worlds Start to Collide
Chapter 6: Democracy is a Good Thing
Chapter 7: Lust and Envy: Just in One Night
Chapter 8: Rural and Urban Escapades
Chapter 9: Halloween Trilogy: Scare 1
Chapter 10: Halloween Trilogy: Scare 2
Chapter 11: Halloween Trilogy: Scare 3
Chapter 13: The Boon of Being Absent
Chapter 14: In the Eyes of a Prince
Chapter 15: Being Single Ain't So Sweet
Chapter 16: Break, Bleed, Band
A vampire's heart is as cold as stone
Lust, not love, runs through his bones
Rarely does he genuinely love
Evidenced by his dying thirst for blood
Then came she, a Vampire Regent
Who bore a daughter with a deadly scent
Then Vampire Hunters were on the run
Killing each creature until there were
none
The Queen whose knowledge was as endless
as her age
Gave up her life for her daughter's sake
In return for her immortality was her
infant's protection
Fasting from blood while husband and child
escaped
On the ninetieth year of the twentieth
century
The Vampire Princess started to age
She thought she was mortal and acted the
part
That curse was the protection of her
mother's heart
The princess was given humanly gifts
Vampires and magic, for her, were just
myths
She still thought she was of mortal origin
Until the night she turned eighteen,
The eve of her birthday,
That's where her story begins,
An Eternal
Beauty. One would describe Adrienne Stahl as exactly that. With soft, wavy,
chocolate-brown hair and matching hazel-colored, doe-like eyes, she was
incomparable. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she was the most
beautiful human to ever walk the face of the Earth, which was how glorious she
looked. Tonight her beauty shined even more brilliantly, on the eve of her eighteenth
birthday. She sat before her dresser, applying the finishing make-up touches to
her face.
“Are you ready?”
asked the very familiar voice of her father, Carter Stahl, as he knocked on her
door.
She invited him
in.
Even his breath
was taken away when he got the first glimpse of his now-adult daughter. She was
gorgeous in the sequined black mini-dress, lacy leggings, and three-inch heels.
The black-on-black tone only served to emphasize her innocence. For just a few
more hours she would remain unaware of what she truly was.
“I look okay,
right?” she asked,
Her father smiled.
“A thousand times more than okay.”
That was the
truth, and she beamed at him, her grin spreading across her stunning
countenance. She then ran to her father and let him envelop her into an
unbearably tight hug. She lost her breath there for a moment, and she couldn't
help but laugh silently.
“Even if you're
so much older than all my guy friends, their hugs are nothing compared to
yours.” She looked at him teasingly. “It's like you have super-strength or
something.”
Her father nodded
and smiled back at her. Her statement about his strength always caught him
slightly off-guard. As usual he just shrugged the observation away. “Why are
you still here, kiddo?” he asked, chuckling softly. “You have an entire room
full of people waiting for you downstairs.”
Still smiling,
she shook her head.
“They won’t miss
me for a few minutes, and I'm sure they're having fun without me.” She looked
at herself one last time at the mirror. “See? I can even hear the noise from up
here.”
Grinning
sheepishly, her father moved closer to her, placing his hands on each of her
shoulders to guide her out of the bedroom.
“Just don't let
the noise increase much. We don't want to disturb the Night Class,” her father
said in finality.
The Night Class. She
couldn't help but blink.
The Night Class
of Constance Academy was the counterpoint to its Day Class. Adrienne herself
was in the Day Class. Even though her father was the Principal of the school
and at the head of both classes, she still knew very little about the evening
class. She knew that all the attendants of the Night Class were extraordinarily
beautiful, and according to her father, they had amazing talents.
Being beautiful
and talented herself, these not-so-unique attributes didn’t faze her.
Why? Even if they
were extremely dexterous and skillful, they were still human and no one was
perfect. She was sure the Night Class students had their flaws, but she wasn't
going to waste her time figuring them out.
She was too busy
with tennis, cheerleading, attending council, partying, and of course, boys.
Tonight was her night, her eighteenth birthday. They were going to make a
joyful noise, so screw the Night Class students if the partying from
interrupted their studies.
It wasn't her
fault that her father had positioned the boarding house on the lot next to
their Mediterranean Mansion. And besides, she was the daughter of the principal
and could pretty much do anything she wanted. She couldn't help but smirk at
that thought. She then turned to her father and planted a soft kiss on his left
cheek.
“I'll be good,” she
said, her voice sincere, and she gave her father a wink before she set off for
the ballroom.
The ballroom,
with decorations in black and silver, was beautiful to say the least, just like
the birthday girl. The people at this party were alluring in ways that words
could not describe. They certainly beat all the Hollywood celebrities for
glamour. And the food was amazing. With delicacies from all over the world
brought in to entice the guest.
The party was in
full swing, and when Adrienne came down, it stopped for a moment as everyone
turned to look at her. They were captivated by her beauty, a rose in garden of
sunflowers. She was gorgeous, seductive and mysterious. It was a shame that she
already belonged to someone.
If Adrienne played
the role of Aphrodite, Ethan Lawrence would have to be Adonis. He had black
hair that had been spiked at the top and cryptic dark-brown eyes. They were an
awesome couple, ideal in every way. They had beauty, wealth, brains, and
amazing talents. The complimented each other perfectly.
The music faded
away as Ethan took up his position at the foot of the stairs. He was waiting
for her to come down. She paused at the top and then slowly, elegantly, she stepped
down, the heels of her shoes making soft click's as they touched the marble
steps.
“Happy Birthday,”
were the first words he spoke to her before he gave her a small peck; and the
next were,” You look beautiful.”
She smiled before
she decided to play him. “Don't I always?”
Having been
together for at least a year and a half, he was used to her brand of sarcasm.
Often turned
towards herself, it was never considered arrogant. She was teasing and playful
and the whole school loved that about her. While she may gave been a
cheerleader, played tennis, was on the Honor Roll,
and
was the Student
Body President, what got her many of her accolades was her personality. She was
just that nice. It was as if she wasn't aware that she had
everything
going
for her,
plus a boyfriend who had skills and talents that matched hers.
Before Ethan could
answer Adrienne's rhetorical question, an ebony-haired, brown-eyed Chinese girl
darted around him, to give the debutante a tight squeeze. Brianna Kim was Adrienne's
best girlfriend.
“Adie, you look
so pretty!” she squealed, adoring the sparkly dress and black leggings her
friend wore. She then turned to Ethan and jabbed a finger onto his chest. “Have
you even told her she looks absolutely gorgeous?”
The 6'4” Adonis
smirked. “I just did, Bree.”
In return, she
smiled sheepishly at him. “I was just checking since most of the time you're so
full of yourself.”
Adrienne couldn't
help but laugh at the teasing attitude between the two.
“You two are like
a comedy.” Her chuckling continued. “I can't live with you guys, and I can't
live without you.”
“What about me?”
Adrienne smiled
at the all-too familiar voice of Tristan Shackler. This was the only guy she
trusted more than Ethan. With dark-brown hair that always looked kissed by the
sun, and jade green eyes, he rivaled Ethan in the looks department.
“I know you can't
live without me, Adie.” Tristan said before he placed a hand on her shoulder,
not daring to touch her hair as she would kill him if he messed it up. He was
too young to die.
In return, the
debutante grinned and then bit her lip. “I'm guilty of that.” She gave him a
sheepish smile before she moved to Ethan. She turned to face her friends,
stepping back into Ethan’s arm. She slowly leaned back into his chest. Firm.
His chest felt exactly that against her spine. She smiled at the touch, and as
if by coincidence, a slow song started playing.
He didn't need to
ask her if she wanted to dance since she was already swaying to the music, and
soon after, Ethan followed, tightening his grip around her waist, he turned her
in his arms. Minutes passed, and Adrienne and Ethan continued to slow-dance
with each other.
Tristan and
Brianna sipped their drinks while they watched the two engage in a very public
love fest.
“Hey, you guys
better watch it.”
Adrienne and
Ethan looked away from each other and noticed a petite auburn-haired and
green-eyed woman. She had a short, pixie-style haircut.
Her name was
Sabrina Baer, and she was standing with her English boyfriend, Max Winters.
They had their arms wrapped tightly around each other and Adrienne rolled her
eyes at her use of words.
Wrap
was such an understatement.
Grope
was more like it.