Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume (17 page)

Dax shrugged. "Because I trust you
and the reason we are doing this is so I can prove to you I am
trustworthy."

Aradia frowned and remarked, "I
thought the reason we were going out was to see if you or Roy are
worthy of being my boyfriend."

Dax raised an eyebrow.

Aradia said slowly, "Wait that did
not come out right."

Dax shrugged. "Whatever love. It's
like I said before the reason I like you is because you are
honest."

"More like blunt as knife," said
Aradia.

He laughed again.

The two of them then stared at each
other in romantic silence until Aradia asked him, "But Dax can I
ask you something?"

Dax shrugged which Aradia took as
yes and then asked, "Are you really interested in being my
boyfriend?"

Dax was stunned. "Why do you want
to know?"

"Because," Aradia replied. "I don't
want to get hurt again."

Dax looked at her
silently.

After a while he finally said, "I
never meant to hurt you."

"Then what did you
mean?"

Dax sighed and said, "I was worried
about my family..."

"And you thought I would hurt
them?" Aradia interrupted angrily.

Dax shook his head and said, "No
it's just after seeing you use your powers...well sometimes Aradia
I think you underestimate how truly powerful you are. So powerful
that should you ever decide to turn against us..."

He trailed off not wanting to
finish his explanation.

Aradia gaped at him until finally
she said, "You think I would try to hurt you?"

"Not after I got to know you," Dax
stated in fact.

They met each other's
eyes.

Dax finally broke the silence by
asking, "So have you come to a decision about who’s going to be
your boyfriend?"

"I want to," Aradia
muttered.

"So why don't you?" Dax
asked.

"Because..."Aradia trailed off and
looked away.

Ironically, Dax finished her
statement for her. "It is because you don't want to hurt anyone's
feelings especially Roy's."

Aradia nodded, but all of a sudden,
a look of confusion came upon her face. "Now wait. Why do you
assume I would be hurting Roy's feelings?"

Dax shrugged again and said, "Isn’t
it obvious? You don't want to hurt Roy's feelings because you are
going to pick me as your boyfriend."

Aradia put her hands on her hips
and said, "Now how in the hell could you possibly know
that?"

Dax combed his fingers through his
hair and said, "I don't mean to be rude. Roy is your friend after
all but honestly when it comes to choosing between a vampire and
werewolf it is obvious that the vampire would emerge
victorious."

Aradia's mouth fell open and
sputtered, "You think I am choosing you because you are a
vampire?"

"Good heavens no!" Dax stated
firmly. "You are not that type of person. You would make a choice
like that only because of your feelings towards the person, not for
what they are."

"Then why would you assume...?"
Aradia began.

"No reason, I just like making that
joke," Dax smiled.

They both laughed at
that.

When they finally stopped laughing
Aradia looked at Dax and said, "But if you know that I want to be
with you then why are you ok with me still dating Roy?"

Dax shrugged and said, "Numerous
reasons. One, I want you to be sure that I am the one you want to
be with. Two, to be perfectly honest I am not sure how I feel about
you so taking time in this situation is very important so not only
does it give you time so you can sort out your feelings but I can
sort out my own as well. Three, the fact is although you obviously
care for me you do not wish to hurt Roy's feelings and it is that
quality about you that I find most attractive."

"Not wanting to hurt other people's
feelings?" Aradia asked.

"More like you caring about
everyone's feelings including your own, and making sure no one gets
hurt by your choices."

Dax smiled after his
statement.

Aradia felt her heart swell up
inside her chest for Dax. The atmosphere soon became thick with the
intensity of Dax's, and Aradia’s attraction to one another. Aradia
still felt like a player by going out with both Roy, and Dax. The
fact that Dax was willing to let Aradia make her own decisions made
her feel even more affectionate towards him.

As if he could read her thoughts,
he asked, "Remember our first kiss?"

"Yeah why?" Aradia
asked.

"Well, because I get the feeling
the reason you kissed me the first time is not because you wanted
to," Dax said smirking.

Aradia grew uncomfortable, and
shifted on the balls of her feet. Dax continued to stare until she
finally explained why she had kissed him the first time. After the
explanation, Dax said nothing.

Aradia feared he would be furious
with her, but Dax just sighed. "And that is why we should have been
honest with each other from the beginning."

Aradia giggled with
relief.

Dax's eyes grew crafty. "How about
we start a new?"

"Sure thing," Aradia
replied.

"Okay, so from now on we will be
honest with each other about everything," said Dax.

"Okay," Aradia agreed, "But you are
allowed to lie about my cooking but only because I know for a fact
that it sucks!"

Dax chuckled and leaned in closer
to her. "How about a kiss to seal the deal?"

"Are you sure? Your mom is still in
the room," Aradia asked Dax while pointing at the
painting.

Dax laughed and said, "Don't worry
I can fix that!"

He reached for the sheet and threw
it over the portrait, covering it completely.

Aradia laughed and said, "Are you
sure she wouldn't be angry with you for doing that?"

Dax laughed and said, "Don't worry
I think she will understand."

Aradia laughed, but as her laughter
died down, she caught herself gazing into Dax's eyes.

Dax stood above her, looking down
at her with tenderness in his eyes. Slowly he bent his head towards
her, and claimed Aradia's lips as his own. In contrast to Roy's
kisses, Dax's were soft, tender, and gentle. While Roy was hot and
passionate, Dax was cool and caring. He cupped her chin with his
hands, and slowly slid his hands down on to her shoulders. Aradia
slipped her hands around his waist to pull him closer. At first,
she tried to make the kiss deeper as Roy had done by trying to
plunge her tongue into Dax's mouth. However, Dax resisted such a
thing but not by shutting her out completely. He used his soft cool
hands to caress her body, neck and even her face to coax Aradia's
passion to slow itself down to a leisurely pace. While Roy had been
fast, Dax was much slower. He savored every touch they shared, the
depth, and sweetness of their kisses. Most of all, he made sure
that Aradia enjoyed herself. As if he knew exactly what she would
like he caressed her slowly and softly on her shoulders and back.
He would rub his hands on her in small circles making Aradia hum
with satisfaction. Aradia had to admit that she loved both Roy and
Dax's kisses, but there was one big difference between the two of
them. Aradia had quickly ended Roy's kisses and embraces. She,
however, stayed in Dax's embrace wanting the kiss to go on for all
eternity.

She had stayed at the Dayton’s for
another hour, holding hands with Dax. The entire time they were
looking out onto the horizon on the balcony with Dax's arm wrapped
around Aradia's shoulders. They had not talked or said anything,
the entire hour they had just stood silent as the nature around
them.

When it finally started to get dark
is when Dax reluctantly took his arm off her, and said he needed to
take her home. Aradia had known this as well, but still she did not
want to leave Dax. However, they did leave (eventually) with Aradia
staring at him with love in her eyes and Dax glancing at her from
time to time with the same look reflecting in his own.

As Aradia climbed the steps to her
house, she turned one last time to look back at Dax who just smiled
at her longingly.

He gave her a quick peck on the
cheek and whispered "good night" in her ear. He then went back to
his car, and Aradia watched him as he drove away.

After seeing Dax's car disappearing
into the night Aradia opened the door silently, and leaned against
it sighing. She wondered if this is how it felt to be in love. She
had never been in love with anyone before so she could neither
recognize nor explain how she felt. A part of her, however, argued
that if this is how she felt with Dax then she should tell Roy the
truth. Something inside her felt that choosing a boyfriend for
herself was not going to be as easy as she wanted it to
be.

Chapter Seven

"Have you heard?" Saul asked
Keon.

Today the two of them were sitting
in the quad still watching Aradia. A few moments ago, they had met
up with Rome to discuss what they already knew about her. Rome had
accepted their findings with enthusiasm, which is more than could
be said about Keon's feelings. Keon resented having to observe a
scrawny little witch doing usual teenager things that he himself
had been done with for over two hundred years, but he knew better
than to question the Sovereign's orders. It still did not stop Keon
from hating it though.

"No. What?" Keon snapped at
Saul.

Saul chuckled, and whispered in
Keon's ear. Keon jerked back as if Saul had just pressed a burning
hot lead pipe against his face. He took one swift look at Aradia
who was sitting on a picnic table in the quad, and reading a book.
Keon then looked back at Saul.

"This is getting way out of hand,"
he muttered, "I know the Sovereign wants us to keep the girl around
for some time but quite frankly I have had enough. It's time this
thing was dealt with!"

"What do you mean? What are you
planning to do?" Saul asked tying to keep the worry out of his
voice.

"I am planning on making sure that
the 'last witch' does not last for long," Keon joked with an evil
chuckle.

Although she was sitting at a table
in the quad, and quite involved in reading her book Aradia swore
she could sense someone watching her. Slowly, she turned her head
and saw two vampires dressed all in black hiding in the shadows of
the trees. They were not doing anything besides staring at her.
Aradia knew that that should not surprise her but it was the way
they, or more specifically the dark haired one, was staring at her
that bothered her. It was not with fascination, amazement, or even
desire. It was a look of deviousness, plotting, and the need to
execute.

"Hey witch girl what's up?" said
Bane as he appeared suddenly with his gang at Aradia's side like a
plague of locusts swooping from out of the sky. He caused Aradia to
turn from the vampires who were staring at her to look at him. Once
she looked at Bane for a mere second, however, she quickly looked
back at the vampires that but as expected they were gone.
Frustrated and annoyed, Aradia turned back to Bane and acknowledged
him with cold indifference.

"My name is not 'witch girl' thank
you!" she snapped.

"Oh I am sorry," Bane apologized
sarcastically, "Would you prefer I call you bitch girl?"

Aradia grew red and shouted at him,
"No you may not!"

"Personally I think bitch girl is
more appropriate," said another of Bane's gang who was a bulky,
black leather clothed werewolf with pale skin with brown hair in
spikes.

He leaned against a nearby tree
munching on an apple as he added, "Seeing as she is currently
romping around with a werewolf."

"Romping?" another member repeated
softly.

Bane just laughed, nodded in the
brown spike haired boy's direction, and said, "You got a point
Gunther! But sadly, we cannot call her 'bitch girl' seeing as she
currently kicking it with both a werewolf and a vamp!"

They all laughed making Aradia
imagine turning Bane's entire gang into stone, and smashing them
with a sledgehammer!

Gunther then added insult to
further insult by saying, "So perhaps we should compromise by
calling her slut girl!"

Aradia shot up from her seat,
dropped her book, and turned around fully intending to kick all
their asses!

Suddenly Tristan appeared out of
nowhere and said, "Honestly Bane is that hard for you to get a girl
to notice you that you have to insult them first!"

Bane looked up, and sneered at
Tristan.

"Who asked you pixie boy!" he
snapped.

Tristan chuckled and said, "Pixie
boy? Nice! I bet you spent all last night thinking that one up in
addition to your usual masturbating under the covers!"

Bane's cheeks turned red with rage
as he shot up from his seat like an enraged Jack in the
box.