I sat across from Kisten, dangling my legs over the edge of Ivy's leather chair. Kisten sat on the edge of the couch, arms across the back, his legs stretched out before him. It was becoming a nightly thing, seeing Kisten. In my dreams. But I would take him any way I could.
I knew I would wake up; I knew this would end. But all I had to do was survive the next day before I could go back to sleep, and see him again. His dyed blonde hair fell about his shoulders, and he always had a day's growth of stubble. He wore tightly fitting black jeans, and a dark red silk shirt that I enjoyed running my fingers over. And not once in my dreams did his blue eyes ever lose their colour. Now that he was gone, and but a memory, he was always in control, no matter how much pheromones he gave off.
I hadn't told anyone about the dreams, but Ivy knew something was up. She wasn't accustomed to my going to bed very early. She didn't like this either. Living with a grumpy vampire made life interesting, but even the slightest thing could set her off.
"Are these just dreams, Kisten?" I asked, swinging my legs against the side of the chair.
"What do you think, love?" Kisten asked in returned, using that fake accent. I threw a magazine at him, and he caught it deftly in his left hand. Stupid vamp speed.
I pondered this for some time. "I don't know. I don't think it is. If it were just a dream, I wouldn't be having it each night." I finally sat up straight, and faced him squarely. "Why are you here?" I asked, "What do you want to tell me?"
Kisten cocked his head to the side, "Why do you think I want to tell you something?"
"Well, why else would you be here?" I asked, tired of trying to figure this out.
"Perhaps I'm not ready to move on yet," Kisten said, and gestured for me to join him on the couch. I moved around the coffee table and sunk into the couch beside him, immediately comfortable with his arm around my shoulder and his heat pressing against me. I leaned my head against his shoulder. "Why wouldn't you be?"
Kist crossed his legs at the ankles, and leaned closer to me, allowing me to get lost in the mix of leather and vamp incense he gave off.
"I'm not ready to let you go yet," he admitted, and his fingers began to play with the red curls brushing my shoulder. He took a breath, "I know it's selfish of me, but I can't help it. I need to take every moment I can with you, before I go."
He kissed the top of my head and sighed. "We didn't get much time while I was still alive, did we?"
I reached out my hand and rested it against his rough cheek, quiet. "I guess not," I whispered and turned my head to look at him. His light blue eyes gazed into my soul as I tried to memorize his face for the day to come. I didn't ever want to forget it. I wasn't ready to move on. I wanted to stay right here in this fragile moment of time.
"Is it wrong of me to string both of us along?" he asked, lifting a hand to trail a line down my jaw line, as if he wanted to memorize the angles of my face.
Before I could even begin to answer the question, he leaned in and kissed me, letting it linger. I turned to face him, and wound my arms around his neck. The time for words was over, and I got lost in our kisses.
As Kisten's hands roved my body, and my own discovered his anew, I felt it coming. The moment I would be forced to awaken. It was always inevitable, and at the wrong moment. I pulled my arms around his neck once more, and scooted closer to him until I was almost straddling the living vamp. Looking down into his blue eyes, I held on tight to him, not wanting to lose this moment. "I love you, Kisten," I said, and felt an ache in my heart knowing I had only spoken those words to him once while he was alive.
Kisten reached up and planted one last sweet kiss upon my lips, his sharp teeth grazing my skin. "I love you, too," came his reply. He opened his mouth to say more, but a crash outside my bedroom door jarred me awake.
Jumping out of bed, I was already in a sour mood. It happened without fail. Something would interrupt my dream just when it was finally getting good. Scowling, I threw open the door, and stormed into the kitchen, to find pixies scattered throughout the room. Jenks was nowhere to be found, and his children had knocked not one, not two, but all the pots onto the floor. I had woken to put away dishes?!
As the pixies got a good look at the sour expression on my face, they stopped talking. "We're sorry, Miss Rachel. We'll clean it up!" came a tiny voice, but I ignored them. With tears in my eyes, I knelt down and began to pick up the pots.
I knew now that my dreams were more than a memory. And I would just have to get by day by day, waiting for night to fall, so I could catch another few moments with him. If Kisten were selfish to fill up my dreams, I would let him. Because I was just as selfish – I didn't want him to move on. I wanted him to stay with me forever.