Chapter 26: :Inject Me Sweetly: Chapter Twenty-Five

The rest of that night and Saturday passed by quickly, but the image of the smoky eyed man never left my mind. The scene played over and over again in my head, never giving me more than a little while to think of something else. Vincent knew something was up, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything to him. There was something holding me back… Maybe the thought that Vincent would go snap the neck of anyone who made me uncomfortable. Fortunately though, after Vincent beat Kai at bowling, Vincent had at least become a little more courteous to Kai. Although that was most likely due to his smugness. Whatever the reason, it was still an improvement. At least they wouldn’t be at each other’s throats like Jake and Vincent.

Sunday morning I was up bright and early. As a result of my constant pestering, Sebastian had managed to get the day off to come down and play in the human world. He, Fiona, and Joel were supposed to show up sometime before eleven. That gave me more than enough time to shower and get ready, but I was too excited to stay asleep. So I clambered out of my four-poster, placed my feet on the freezing floor, and head to Vincent’s room to wake him up.

The rest of the house was silent as I trudged toward the guest room. My parents had both already left for the day— my dad to work, my mom to her morning sewing class. Jake had gone fishing with his friends, leaving the house to Vincent and myself. Which was good, because I wanted Vincent to make breakfast for me. I wouldn’t admit it to my dad, but Vincent could cook much better than him. In fact, Vincent was the best cook I’ve ever met.

I slipped into the guest room, not bothering to knock. He was pretty much dead asleep on his bed. Grinning a little bit, I tiptoed to his bedside, trying to decide what to do. One choice was to just shake him awake, but that would be boring. My next thought was to jump on him, but that was too immature. Maybe scaring him would work…

“What are you doing?”

A surprised gasp left my lips as Vincent stared up at me, his eyes narrowed and bleary.             “I-I didn’t know you were up,” I responded, dropping my eyes in embarrassed.

“I wasn’t fully up until you came in.”

“But I was being quiet!”

He pointed to his ear. “Sensitive hearing.”

“Oh,” I said dumbly. How could I have forgotten?

“Go away now,” he ordered, rolling over and pulling the comforter over his head. “It’s too early to talk.”

I frowned. “It’s eight o’clock.”

“My point exactly.”

“Come on Vincent,” I started, taking a fistful of the covers and beginning to pull them back off him, “time to get up.”

“No,” he growled, holding them firmly in place.                                                                        Was he really going to act like a five year old? Sighing, I went for a different approach: shaking him. Moving my hands to his shoulders, I began to joggle him.             He let out an annoyed groan and tried to shove my hands away. “Vincent,” I protested, clinging to his shoulders tighter. “Come on, get up!”

“I’m a vampire. Creature of the night,” he responded irately.

“And I’m hungry.”

He popped his head out from his blanket, a confused expression on his face. “What?”

I gave him a pleading look. “Make me breakfast?”

“No!”

“Please?”

He scowled at me for a moment more before disappearing under the covers again. “No. Now go away.”

“I’ll do the dishes tonight!”

“No.”

“For the next to days?”

“No.”

“I’ll clean your room.”

“Go away.”

“Please, Vincent?”

“No means no, Stupid.”

Now it was my turn to scowl. “You’re up anyway, Vincent! It’ll be hard to sleep.”

He snorted. “Not if you leave the room.”

“For royalty you sure are lazy!”

“Or tired.”

I sighed in frustration. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“Not for food.”

I blinked at him. What else could you be hungry for…? Wait. That was a stupid question. “Oh! I’ll make you a deal. I’ll let you suck my blood if you make me breakfast,” I offered jokingly.

Vincent didn’t respond.

“I bet anemic blood tastes better,” I continued thoughtfully. “It wouldn’t be a big deal either. My blood transfusion appointment is later today.”

“Go away,” he finally grumbled.

“No sweet, sweet blood for Vivi?”

Before I could blink he was out of the covers, one of his hands closed around my wrist. He tugged on it roughly, causing me to stumble forward. My other hand shot out under me to hold me up, but he quickly swiped that one from under me, making me fall face first into the mattress. “I might have to take you up on that offer,” he told me, holding me in place.

I struggled to pull my face away, but found it almost impossible. Lowering myself to my knees so that I wasn’t bent at a ninety-degree angle, I tried to speak. My words were muffled and incoherent. After a few more moments he allowed me to raise my head, but he didn’t let go of me. Scowling at him, I tried to free my wrists. “Let go!”

He shook his head, a smirk crossing his face. “You offered a deal. I think I might take it.”

“I was kidding!”

“Let’s get more comfortable,” he suggested, slipping one of his arms around my waist so he could pull the rest of my body off the floor and onto the bed. As I tried to liberate myself, he flipped me onto my back, and pinned me with his body.

I gave him the most reproachful expression I could, trying not to show the fear that was slowly building up in me. “No, Vincent.”

“You started it,” he said, bringing his head closer to my neck. “Even though I went out last night, I could still—”

“Wait, what?”

His amused eyes pierced into mine. “Oops, did I say that?”

My eyes widened. “When did you do that?”

“You were asleep.”

“Who did you attack?” I demanded.

He rolled his eyes at me. “How am I supposed to know? Blood is blood—”

“I don’t want to hear it!” I told him, turning my head away from him.

“I take that as an invitation,” he murmured before I felt his lips graze my neck.

A shudder ran through me as I remembered the past two times blood had been sucked from me. Neither had been pleasing experiences. Both had been painful and horrifying. “T-this could be sexual harassment, Vincent.”

“But you’re the one who suggested it.”

“I was kidding!”

He let out a sigh, his breath caressing my skin, sending tingles down my spine. “Well, now you’ll know in the future not to do that.”

I whipped my head back around to face him. Our noses touched, but I couldn’t jerk away. My breath caught at our proximity. For a few seconds I waited before speaking, hoping he would create more space between us. He didn’t. “Vincent,” I started in the firmest voice I could muster. “Don’t do it.”

“I don’t see why not. You said yourself you have a blood transfusion later.”

“I-I lied!”

“No you didn’t. I heard your mom say that to you last night.”

My next protest died in my throat. Of course he did. His vampire senses were really starting to get annoying. A smirk graced his lips at my silence. “It won’t hurt as much if you relax,” he advised me, moving his lips back to my neck.

I grit my teeth, preparing myself for the worst. Sharp teeth brushed against my tender skin. Doing as he suggested, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to make myself calmer. Hopefully his words would be true. Even with that thought though, I could feel my body quaking with tremors of terror. Vincent was taking his time, tracing circles on my flesh with his fangs. It felt like some type of tickle torture. Part of me wanted to yell at him to get it over with, but the other part of, the sick part, kind of enjoyed the feeling.

To my surprise, his teeth left my neck. Still holding me down, he moved his head to my chest and laid it against it. Surprised by his actions, my head snapped so toward him, my eyes widening. “W-what are you doing?”

“Listening to your heart,” he responded in a duh tone.

My eyebrows furrowed. “Why?”

He glanced up at me, a fascinated look in his eyes. “Human hearts are funny. They already normally beat so much faster than ours, but when a human is scared they beat even faster. Especially with you. I like listening to it.”

“Umm,” I responded, feeling a blush start to spread on my cheeks. Never had I seen Vincent look so intimate and intrigued before. It was really cute.

“It must be nice to be a human,” he remarked.

“It must be nice to be a vampire.”

He snorted. “That’s funny.”

“What’s so funny about it?”

His eyes returned to mine, an emotion I’ve never seen before in them. “You wouldn’t understand because you’re human.”

I stared back at him in surprise. He’d spoken in a soft voice, but the underlying tone was harsh. “Oh…” Vincent didn’t like being a vampire? Why was that? Wasn’t having keen hearing and eyesight useful? Wasn’t slow aging a good thing? Wasn’t having impossible strength handy too?

“You’d be surprised how many vampires wish they were humans,” he commented, he voice flat.

“Are you one of those?”

“Not really. There are some perks to being a human, but not nearly as much as to being a vampire. I think being a human would suck. They’re weak and annoying.”

I grimaced. “Thanks.”

He rolled his eyes. “You should know by now not to include yourself when I talk about humans as a whole. You’re different.”

“Because I’m a source of entertainment.”

“Exactly.”

“But now I know it’s also because you have a crush on me,” I said boldly, trying to keep the blush that was threatening my cheeks from my daring words off.

Vincent eyes slowly slid back to mine. “Well, yes.”

The corners of my mouth turned down slightly, forming a little frown. “Why aren’t you embarrassed by that?”

“Embarrassed by what?”

“The fact that I know you have a crush on me!”

He gave me an are-you-stupid look. “Why should I be?”

I stared back at him, unable to process his mind. If I was the one saying I had a crush on him, I’d be able to fry eggs on my face at this point. “Isn’t it natural?” I blurted.

“Maybe for an idiot like you.”

“Don’t call me an idiot!”

“Okay, Stupid.”

“You know for saying you have a crush on me, you act like such an asshole,” I snapped angrily.

A smirk crossed his face. “It’s been awhile since you called me an asshole to my face.”

I scowled at him. “That isn’t something to be amused by, Vincent! If you haven’t noticed, I’m not stupid.”

“I know you’re not stupid, Stupid.”

“Then why—”

“It’s my nickname for you,” he told me, rolling his eyes. “You’d think you would’ve figure that out by know.”

That was his idea of a nickname? That was stupid! “Why not just call me Em? Or Emmy?”

“Could you see me calling you either one of those?”

I tried to imagine it. I almost laughed. “No…”

“Exactly. Now,” he started, removing his head from my chest and his hold on my body. “I’m going back to bed.”

“Vincent—”

He quickly grabbed the fallen comforter off the floor and spread it out— over both of us. The heavy blanket covered my face. For a moment I lay still, my body not realizing its freedom. When it did, I sat up immediately, aiming to climb out from under the covers. Vincent easily pushed me back down. “Stay.”

“I… Why?” I asked, feeling incredibly self-conscious. Vincent’s arm was lying next to mine, or skin touching.

“You make it warmer,” he stated simply, drawing my body closer to his. “Vampires don’t have body heat.”

My body stiffened. “Vincent, don’t…”

“Embarrassed?” he guessed, his tone leaking amusement.

“Uncomfortable,” I muttered, trying to squirm away from him. “Yeah, okay, you confessed you like me. But I never said I liked you—”

“You never denied it when your brother mentioned it.”

I turned to face him— an action I regretted immediately. Our faces were only three inches away from each other now. “I knew you were listening!”

He grinned. “I already figured you had a crush on me. So see? No need to feel uncomfortable.”

“Vincent, we haven’t even kissed. I don’t want to sleep in the same bed—”

“Kiss?”

“Yeah, as in lips touching,” I clarified, trying not to roll my eyes. “I’m sure you’ve kissed plenty of people in your life.”

He thought about it for a minute. “Well, yes.”

Of course.

“But never a human. A kiss from human huh…” His eyes pierced into mine. “Okay.”

“Okay what—”

My words were cut off as he brought his lips to mine. My eyes closed on instinct. At first they only gently brushed mine, like the way he’d brushed them against my neck earlier. Still, it immediately sent tingles ran down my spine. I didn’t even think of pulling away. The second time our lips met it was a real kiss. His lips were still incredibly soft and smooth, but more firm against mine. A thrill shot through my body. Everyone always talked about fireworks when they kissed, but to me it felt more like electric currents running through my body. Only one other kiss had caused reactions like that— my first boyfriend who I’d had a crush on for a year. The kiss only lasted a few brief seconds before he pulled away. My eyes shot back open as he did so. To my surprise, he looked thrown off guard. Perhaps he had experienced the electricity as well.

“How was that?” Vincent asked, breaking the awkward silence that had settled him. He seemed to be over the shock, a smug expression now taking over his face.

My surprise from the kiss wasn’t gone yet. I was thinking fast for a reply, which was hard to do. My mind kept wandering back to the softness of his lips. “You’re inexperienced,” I finally blurted. It took all I had to keep my expression straight after that.

The bewilderment on his face nearly sent me over the edge. It almost literally hurt to hold in my laughter and try not to smile at his expression. “Inexperienced? I’ve probably kissed more people than you’re whole generation!” he said eventually, his eyes narrowing.

“More vampires,” I corrected him, making a face. “You can’t kiss humans the same way you kiss vampires.” Honestly, he could kiss anyway he wanted. He was a good kisser. In fact he was probably better than any human at kissing just because he was a vampire.

“What was different than a human kiss?” he growled, frustrated.

Now it was my turn to smirk at him. “Oh? You don’t like not being able to kiss?”

“I kiss fine!”

“Apparently not.”

“I’ll try again,” he stated, closing his face in on mine.

I turned my head quickly. My heart couldn’t handle kissing him again at the moment. It was a good thing it hadn’t calmed down from the anger earlier otherwise Vincent would have noticed the increase of pace. “I can’t go through that again, Vincent.”

“You have to be kidding me!”

“However, I do feel sorry for you, so I’ll be your bed warmer.”

He muttered something I didn’t quite catch under his breath. “I’ll show you I can kiss,” he promised fervently.

I swallowed nervously. “If you’re going to get more sleep, do it. Because in an hour you’re waking up to cook me breakfast.”

“I’m not—”

“Yes you are. Sebastian is coming today so you have to get up anyway.”

“I don’t care about seeing Sebastian.”

I turned to frown at him. “Too bad. You’re getting up. One hour. Whether you like it or not.”

He set his jaw. “No.”

“Should I change that to half an hour? And I will leave you with your cold sheets again.”

He growled softly before turning his back to me. “Fine. Whatever.”

A pleased smile crossed my face. Being the one with the upper hand for a change was nice. Vincent obeying me was nice as well… Maybe I should threaten him more often. Maybe I should let him kiss me more often and then tell him he sucks…

What thought hit my mind next had the smile off my face in a split-second. I was the first human Vincent had kissed. I’d kissed a vampire. Not just any vampire… a royal vampire. How could I have done that? I wasn’t supposed to be kissing vampires! It wasn’t right! But even though it wasn’t right, I couldn’t help but to think it felt right… And wasn’t that all that mattered? My brain was thrust into turmoil. Vampires wouldn’t bring anything good to a human. Vincent and I had silly crushes on each other; it wouldn’t lead to anything else. It would be okay to kiss each other. It wasn’t like we were in some serious relationship. Besides, if he was the one kissing me there was no reason to say no to it. It was fine.

And yet I still couldn’t force away the tightness that had appeared in my stomach.

Vincent moved his arm so that it lay on my side. The coolness of it made goosebumps appear on my skin. The act calmed my nerves. I couldn’t predict the future. Neither could he. Nor could anyone. I didn’t know what was going to happen in the future so there was no point in worrying about it. I had to focus on the present. And if the present included kissing Vincent, I was going to do it and not worry about the future consequences. Those would come later and I could deal with them then. For now, I was going to enjoy living my life as a person, like Vincent. I wasn’t going to think of vampire or human.

“I can kiss,” Vincent suddenly said.

I cracked a smile. “Just go to sleep, Vincent.”

“I can!” he protested.

“You can try again later.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. However, I didn’t regret them at all.

Vincent seemed satisfied with my response because he didn’t say anything more. Instead he settled into a more comfortable position, one of his pajama clad legs resting against mine. I relaxed as well, closing my eyes and trying to relinquish all the thoughts racing in my mind. It was a pretty easy task. Soon my eyes were drooping and I found it hard to stay awake. Vincent’s breath was smooth and regular, revealing to me that he had fallen back asleep. I found myself joining him. Within seconds, I fell asleep as well.

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Hey guys! Sorry this is late, but I've been really busy since school is ending, (and I haven't been able to stay up past 11 for some reason) and I will continue to be really busy until school ends in two weeks, so you all will just have to be patient. Even if you aren't patient, you still have to wait, haha. Final exams are coming up too. This isn't a long chapter, but I only had two hours and I'm really busy today so I thought I'd at least try to get something down. But yeah :s Try to hold on two weeks! Then I'm on summer and I'll have plenty of time to write! :D

Oh and no proof reading because I'm sure you can deal with a few errors. Really. It's not the end of the world.

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