Bleeding Love (31 page)

She was breathing
heavily, knowing all too well what was going to happen soon. She waited for
Aidan to bend down closer to her, and when he did, she closed her eyes.

“Are you a hundred
percent sure?” he whispered into her ear.

Bree, scared to
death, nodded her head.

Aiden lowered her
to the forest floor. He’d chosen a secluded area under the boughs of a large
tree. The ground was covered in soft greenery.

She grasped the
ground beneath her, closed her eyes and waited for Aidan's breath to tickle the
skin of her neck. She waited for a second, barely breathing. When the second
turned into several, she sucked in air and opened her eyes. “What's wrong?” she
asked, sitting up. “Why aren’t you doing anything?”

“Are you
positively sure?” He looked at her with burning desire.

All thought that
maybe he didn’t want her, melted away.

“Are you willing
to risk loosing your family?”

“I know I can't
stay with them anymore, but I can still see them. I'm sure, Aiden.”

“There's no going
back, Bree.”

“Make it quick.”
She slowly closed her eyes again. “I have a low tolerance for pain.”

Laying his body
over hers, Aidan straddled Brianna with his knees on each side of her hips.
Unhurriedly, he lowered his head closer to hers and opened his mouth. He felt
his fangs protrude from his gums and he carefully grazed his sharp teeth over
her skin. When he touched her collarbone, he inched higher and bit down. He
growled in satisfaction. The blood of a mate had an incomparable taste. It was mind-blowingly
scrumptious, unmistakably delectable. But he couldn’t take all of it, if he
drained her she would die.

Her heartbeat
slowed and he pulled away from her neck. She stayed motionless on the ground, yet
her heart still beat. He breathed a sigh of relief. She was only unconscious. He
nipped at his wrist, opening a vein so that he could drip some of his blood
into her mouth. He watched as she swallowed. He drew back and applied pressure
to his wound until the bleeding stopped.

He rolled off
Brianna, gathering her into his arms to keep watch as she went through the
change. It wasn’t a long process. Maybe an hour passed before Brianna Kim
opened her eyes. The beautiful brown color would return, but for knew they had
changed to the claret of a vampire.

“That’s it?
That’s all there is to this? Am I—?” She couldn't get the word out. “Like you?”

Aidan nodded his
head slowly.

With that slight indication
of agreement, she slowly curved her lips up into a grin. Brianna then raised one
arm up to look at her skin. It had changed, morphed into the flawless, pale and
soft, and porcelain delicate, vampire skin. She was like Aidan now, and she
smiled in contentment. They weren't going to end up like Tristan and Yvonne.

“Would you like
to test your new powers?” Aidan's eyes shone brightly. “Or are you feeling a
bit weak?”

“Catch me.” She
smirked at him. “If you can–” Her challenge was cut short when she saw a tree,
located several miles away, crash into several other trees and sent them all to
the ground as well. The two looked at each other, and arrived at the same
conclusion, they nodded. There was only one plausible explanation for that.

“Xavier and
Adrienne.”

Brianna shook her
head. Someone needed to smack some sense into those two. Hadn’t they heard of
global warming, reseeding the earth, the green initiative? What kind of person
just knocked down trees willy-nilly?

She beamed
vampires!

“You're still
slow, you know!” Xavier shouted, closing in behind Adrienne.

“How can you say
that? You haven't caught me yet?”

Xavier's tone
became playful. “Oh yeah?”

“Oh, yeah!” she
shouted back, and before he could finally close the distance between them, she
jumped into a tree, and ran to the top.

The wind blowing
at the top of the trees was a little cooler than it was below. The cool breeze
soothed her face. It was relaxing just to be able to run around at a speed
unfathomable by humans. It was freeing, and it made her forget about all the
decisions she would soon need to make.

Sitting, she
slowly leaned back and rested her whole body against the tree trunk, a thick
branch in between her legs, with her arms resting at her sides. She sighed in
contentment. She didn't care if Xavier caught up to her now. They could enjoy
the dazzling scenery together. She could even see part of the Pacific Ocean
from here, over acres of untouched foliage. She saw many different species of
birds flying in the air. The billowing clouds above them. The wonderful
backdrop was a melting pot of land, water, and air coming together. She
couldn't wait anymore. She needed him to join her right away.

“Xavier, up here!”
she shouted down below. “The view is awesome!”

“Coming!” She
heard his muffled voice, and in a matter of seconds he plucked her from her
seat, spun her around and placed between his legs. He settled her back against
his chest. He leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Caught ya.”

She tugged his
arms around her waist and settled into him. She couldn't believe they were
finally a couple. What surprised her even more was how their school mates took
the news. They weren't surprised when they found out that the two were
officially an item. She couldn't help but laugh when Sabrina and Max told her
about the wagers on how soon the two would be married. Xavier had even laughed
at the bets covering how long the two would stay together.

Brianna had
placed a hundred dollars on forever. Easy money.

Adrienne chuckled
softly at the memory.

“I have to ask
you something, Adie,” Xavier said, cutting her reverie short. “It's actually
been bugging me for the past few weeks.”

“Umm?” was her
reply. She turned around in his arms. Thankful the tree branch was thick enough
for her maneuver. She was now facing him, looking in his eyes while she waited
for him to speak. When his mouth remained closed, she hooked a finger under his
chin and tilted his face upwards to meet hers. She kissed him softly. She saw
the worry in his eyes. His entire body going stiff.

“Say it,” she
pressed, her voice soft.

After a few
seconds of waiting, Adrienne finally saw Xavier make a move. He dug his hands
in one of his jean pockets and fished for something. It was too bad vampires
didn't have x–ray vision. The suspense was seriously killing her.

“I know that it’s
a given that we will marry some day. We are bound together as mates,” his voice
quavered. “The thing is—”

Adrienne frowned
at her boyfriend. She had no idea what Xavier was going on about. His hand
remained inside the pocket of his jeans, and she seriously wanted to know what
he was hiding.

“The thing is, I
haven't asked you to marry me properly.” Slowly he stood up and balanced
himself on the tree branch. After a second of trying to steady himself, he
knelt down on one knee before her.

Suddenly,
Adrienne's whole body shook with tension and fear.

“Adrienne Stahl,
will you give me the honor of agreeing to be my wife?” He removed his hand from
his pocket, revealing a black velvet–covered box. He opened the box to reveal a
beautiful engagement ring. The band was made of white gold, and around it were
small carefully–shaped diamonds. The gems glistened under the slowly setting
sun. Its beauty was priceless. Then suddenly, the answer wasn't so obvious
anymore.

“I love the ring.”

As if taking that
as the answer, Xavier move in the attempt to slip the band around Adrienne's
finger, but the female quickly retracted her hand. “But I can't marry you, not 
yet
.”

“What?” Xavier's
voice cracked. He wasn't expecting that from her.

They loved each
other, so he thought that was enough, but unfortunately, she had other priorities
to take care of. Other things were higher on her
to–do
list.

Xavier couldn't
help but frown and bite his lip. He'd never been embarrassed to this degree.
Being a virgin at his age was almost unheard of, having his marriage proposal
rejected was even worse. He couldn't meet her gaze.

“I want to marry
you, but not right now,” she said, placing a hand on his cheek. “I want to go
to college, and you need to go back to Europe. I can’t go with you right now.”

Xavier remained frozen;
his hand tightly wrapped around one of the branches at his side. Her answer was
bittersweet, both good and bad. It was a realistic response, and one he would
just have to accept. “It's not like I would ask you to give that up.”

Adrienne chuckled
before nodding her head. “You got that right,” she answered, crawling closer to
Xavier.

When they were a
hairsbreadth away from each other, she lifted her arms up and placed her
fingers possessively over his cheeks. His skin was warm, and all–in–all, he
felt stiff, his body unmoving and eyes unblinking. They remained staring at
each other for quite a while, and after moments of waiting, she spoke up.

“I am saying yes
to your proposal.” She gave his lips a small, chaste kiss. “All I'm asking is
for you to wait, for the engagement to be a long one.”

He released a
deep breath, and because of the altitude and cooler climate, they both saw the air
escape his mouth. His whole posture seemed hesitant, and because of that,
Adrienne came to the conclusion that Xavier was scared.

“Yale won’t hold
the scholarship for me. You have to understand that.”

He abruptly let
go of his hold on her, and she only wished that everything was going to end
well. “What is five years compared to the centuries we’ll have together?” Her
grip on him tightened with the forcefulness in her voice. “I love you, but that
doesn't mean I'm willing to throw everything else away.”

“I love you too.”
He shook his head slowly, as if he was having a debate with his inner self. “So
I understand, and I don't want to be a selfish bastard.”

Adrienne laughed
at that before she slowly clasped his hand, opened it, and picked up the ring.
She slipped it onto the proper finger then raised her hand and admired the glittering
diamonds. She was forever bound to him, and even though that fact seemed scary,
she felt confident in their future. Only bliss and happiness enveloped her
body.

“But what's
college without dating?” she then teased, chuckling softly at her own attempt
at a joke. “I don't want people to think I'm a hag or something.”

Xavier's eyes
darkened before he slowly broke out into a small laugh. He should have been
used to Adrienne's sarcasm by now, but he realized that his fiancé's hold on
him was much stronger than he expected. He seemed to take most of the things
she said seriously, and he bit his lip at this thought. He was very afraid that
he would lose her.

“You surely don't
dress like a hag,” he replied, and in return, Adrienne turned her head
downwards to look at her choice of clothes for the day.

“And don't start
with the topic of dating when you’ve just accepted my marriage proposal.”

It was winter,
yet in this area it was still warm enough for her to wear a pair of bright
yellow shorts with a complementary white tee. Her Chuck Taylor's were low cut,
and her long, endless legs were fully exposed. Surely, a hag wouldn't have this
kind of wardrobe, especially at Christmas time.

“Just think of it
this way,” Adrienne began, crawling closer to Xavier. She was thankful that the
branch held them. She was still hanging onto it, with Xavier resting against
the bark. “You'll be worried as much as I'll be.”

“What are you
going on about?”

Adrienne smirked
at that. It was either his mind had seriously drifted off to some strange land
or he was clueless about his God–given physical attractiveness, though the
latter was highly unlikely. Xavier
always 
used his looks to annoy
her and exaggerate his being a smartass.

“Don't play dumb
with me,” she said, flicking one of his cheeks. “Do you seriously think that
while I'm away at college, you won’t be fighting of legions of admirers?”

“What about them?”
he asked nonchalantly.

“You're not the
only one who's threatened by our temporary separation.” She closed the gap
between them and placed a kiss on the curve of his neck. “But if you really do
like me, then—”

“I don't just
like you, you know. I love you—“

Rolling her eyes,
she cut him off. “My point is,” She paused then grinned. “While I'm gone,
there's probably going to be a plethora of bloodsucking whores willing to be at
your beck and call.”

He laughed at her
choice of words. Only Adrienne would be so colorful.

“But I trust you
like hell, so trust me too.”

“It's the guys I
don't trust, Adrienne.”

She skipped to
Plan B. “Fine.” She pursed her lips before continuing. “I promise that if they
try to pull anything on me, I'll suck the energy out of them.” She couldn't
help but smirk at this. She loved being the only psychic vampire in the
vicinity. “I think you should believe me when I say that.”