Dinner

At first, it took me awhile to think of something she would like as a setting for dinner, but then, the perfect idea hit me. The beach. I would set up something nice at the beach and then bring her there, along with Aro's food.

Before leaving to prepare things, I gathered all the materials that I would need and checked with Aro and Sulpicia who were 'cooking'. After I made thing sure everything in the castle was in order, I left for the beach. Once there, I began to clear a spot of white sand from fallen branches, leaves, rocks, and other natural debris. Then, I unfurled a blanket and laid it atop the space that I had cleared. I set down candles in a loose perimeter around the blanket, and even a few hanging from branches of overhanging trees.

I knew it wasn't nearly as good as Aro or Marcus could make it, but that wasn't the point, it was suited for us. The last thing I brought to the beach was the food which Aro and Sulpicia had so carefully prepared. Then, finally, I went to bring Athenodora herself. I waited for her at the entrance to the palazzo but was greeted instead by Didyme.

"Caius," she grinned, "she's almost ready."

"Ready?" I asked, not quite sure what she was implying.

"Well," she bit her lip, "we decided to make Athenodora all pretty with—"

"Make her all pretty?" I accused, "She doesn't need that, she's beautiful as she is."

"I know that," Didyme said defensively, "but we wanted to try something new so now was the perfect opportunity. Don't be mad," she said, noticing my scowl, "Athenodora looks…well, you'll see."

"Yes, I will." I agreed, hearing the footsteps of Athena and Sulpicia coming towards us. I wasn't nervous…but as she neared, almost to the point of coming down the stairs, I did suddenly become nervous. A feeling of 'I'm not good enough' washed over me but Didyme made it go away, replacing it with sheer joy and happiness.

But when Athena rounded the corner, it didn't matter how hard Didyme was trying to make me happy; I was in awe of my wife, and completely speechless. It seemed impossible that such beauty could belong to a human, and as a vampire I knew there was definitely danger to that, because I wanted her. Not only did her succulent scent saturate the room, but her entire being seemed to tempt me.

She was wearing a light dress, it flowed over and around her like water, reflecting her beauty, and her face…there was no words to describe.

"Caius," she said nervously, slightly unsure at my lack of words. I held my hand up to silence her; I needed to bask in her perfection for at least a minute more.

"Told you you'd blow him away," Sulpicia whispered in Athena's ear. She blushed and simply kept staring at me, waiting for some sort of audible reaction. Suddenly without warning, I ran up to her, picked her up and kissed her. It was selfish, but she couldn't tempt me like that and expect no reaction from me!

"Sorry," I whispered in her ear after regaining control of myself.

"It's okay," she murmured, "as a matter of fact, I rather enjoyed it." Sulpicia and Didyme shared a knowing glance; they definitely knew what that was like. Unfortunately, I had been around when Aro found Sulpicia and Marcus Didyme…there were several accidents that left me scarred for life.

"Well, going back to the original plans," I said, "are you ready for dinner?"

"Yes." I opened my arms, allowing her to climb in however she wanted but instead she scowled at me. "You know, all this carrying me around is making me feel weak and useless."

"You are weak," I said gently, picking her up anyway. "Just tell me when you're ready to run alongside me and I'll change you. I'll wait," I assured her, kissing the top of her head, "after all, I have forever."

"You do, I don't."

"All you have to do is tell me," I shrugged. She didn't reply, so I took it as my cue to leave. I did, however, thank Sulpicia and Didyme before I left.

I ran with Athena through Volterra, Venice, Milan, and finally past Rome before reaching our destination. It only took ten minutes, but it wasn't the time that worried me, it was that Athena was silent throughout the entire trip. I gently set her on her feet once we reached the clearing and then sat down across from her. I waited for her to say something, but only met silence.

"What's wrong?" I finally asked.

"Did you mean it? Did you mean what you said?"

"About waiting to change you until you were ready?" I asked. "Of course."

"But what if I'm never ready?" she asked, worried. "I mean, I love you, you know that, and I don't think I could love you any more than I already do, but what if there is something that I'm missing, something more I could do for you while I'm still human?" I thought about what she said, understanding how it must feel to keep someone you loved waiting while not sure of the correct decision.

"Don't you think what you just said signifies what you want?" I asked her. "There's positively nothing more I could do with you as a human, but as a vampire, well, there are other things that would become possible."

"So if I asked you to change me right now, would you?" She asked. I nodded, wondering if maybe I was the one who wasn't ready. "Then change me." I stared at her, shocked for a second and then leaned over to her, gently exposing her neck. I could feel her heartbeat racing, and was almost lured into breaking the shallow membrane of her skin, but instead gently pressed my lips against it, kissing her neck all the way up to her lips. "You didn't bite me," she said.

"I didn't want Aro and Sulpicia's food to go to waste," I grinned.

"Fine," she said, trying to hide a smile, "but you owe me."

"What would you like your payment to be?" I asked, curious for her answer.

"Sexual favors will be fine," she said. (Shout out to My Sister's Keeper!) I sighed, so Didyme and Sulpicia had already corrupted her.

"Very well then," I said seriously, "I will repay you with sexual favors. But for now, just eat your dinner." She laughed, but began to eat the stringy 'pasta' that I had served for her. The sun was just beginning to set, casting a warm ray of light in our direction.

"Aren't you hot?" She asked, taking off her shawl.

"Not really," I said, but to make her feel comfortable removed my shirt anyway. It took me awhile to realize that she was staring at me sparkling; which I had forgotten about. "Does this entertain you?" I asked, slightly entertained at her fascination. She nodded, still staring at me. "I'm going to have to put my shirt back on if this distracts you too much." I joked. She laughed and went back to eating her pasta.

"You know," she said, "this stuff isn't that bad. It's actually good." I was only slightly disappointed that I couldn't bug Aro about it later but mostly happy that Athena liked it. She swirled the pasta strands around her fork, accidentally splattering both of us in the red sauce. "Well, now you look more like a vampire."

"Wonderful."

She laughed and leaned over towards me. Instead of kissing me first as she usually did, she removed the pasta from my face and then kissed me. I couldn't decide if I was more stunned or pleased, and then realized that I didn't care which one it was. She ate the rest of the pasta and a tiny portion of pizza before she said she was full. She lay back in the sand, staring up at the now dark sky.

"Do you ever wonder about the stars?" she asked dreamily.

"Yes."

"What do you wonder about?"

"A lot of different things, but mostly they remind me of you." I wasn't usually the one to pour out my feelings, but for some reason I could when I was Athena…I was pretty sure that reason was love.

"How?" She asked curiously.

"Well, they're beautiful little things in such a dark sky, and if you really pay attention they can move…shooting stars. They leave a slight trail of light behind them and it's something you never forget because it's so fascinating and graceful and beautiful; things I consider you to be."

"What about when the night is cloudy and the stars are blocked?"

"That's the best thing," I said, "as a vampire, with our powerful eyes you can always see the stars."

"Well, if I'm your stars then you're my night," she said, "after all, stars are only visible at nighttime. We bring out the best in each other."

"I like that," I said, I hadn't ever thought of us that way but it was true.

"Me too," she whispered, crawling over to where I was and putting her head in my lap. In that moment, it seemed like everything in the world was perfect, and that no other man was happier than me.

After what seemed like hours she stood up before me and took out her hair from the intricate style Sulpicia had put it in. It hung loose around her face, like a halo, and then she slowly undid the ties that bound her dress together. Slowly, but impossibly fast at the same time, her dress fell off her body, sliding to a shimmering puddle at her feet. Her pale skin glowed in the dark surroundings, and I remembered the amazingly different circumstances on which I had seen her naked body at Valentino's house.

"Swim with me," she whispered before running out into the water. I heard a splash as she dived into the cold ocean water just as I stood to go follow her. I shrugged out of my heavy robes and was engulfed by the cold water. Even for me I could tell the water was cold, I wonder how she managed. I looked around for her, darkness wasn't a problem, but the distortion of water was proving to be quite difficult. In any case, I walked deeper into the ocean, already chest deep. With minimal splashing she bobbed up right next to me; breaking the surface of the calm water. I looked down at her, marveling at how the water formed liquid diamonds running down her skin. She was looking at me in the same way, but marveling at something unknown to me.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked, remembering the frigid water temperatures. She pressed herself against my body.

"No."

"You trust me way too much to stay in control around you," I said, trying to slow my thoughts in order to concentrate on keeping her alive this very moment. "Not to mention that I don't succeed very often."

"Is that something we can test?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, "Your self control?"

"Maybe," I said, kissing her pouting lips, "but I have something for you first." We walked out of the water and back to where I had set up the blanket and candles. I put my robes back on and handed her a furry blanket to warm her up. Then I brought out a small velvet pouch from under the blanket and let two sparkling metal objects fall out onto my open palm.

"Rings?" she asked.

"Not just any rings," I said, "but Claddagh rings." I could tell by the confused look on her face that she was lost. "When I was human, before being emperor, the village I came from used these rings as a sign of devotion, love, and friendship. Parents would hand them down to their children so that when they found their true love they would exchange rings. I never married nor found true love back then so I still have mine, and I haven't had a reason to give one to anyone…until now." I reached out and took her small hand within mine, sliding the smaller ring on her left ring finger; heart pointing towards her body. "The hands stand for friendship, the crown for loyalty, and the heart for love. If you wear the heart pointing towards you it means you're special to somebody."

She looked down at her hand in disbelief, and then slowly up at me before taking my hand and sliding the ring on my ring finger as well. "Because you're special to me," she said, "and you already shine like diamonds."

"You're worth more than diamonds," I said, and honestly believed my words. Diamonds were currently very expensive, but all the diamonds in the world combined had nothing on my Athena.

"So is this like a wedding ring?" she asked.

"No," I replied, "it's simply a gift. Our wedding rings will be much better."

"That's hard to believe considering these are practically perfect."

"You're perfect," I whispered. She looked at me with her wide eyes and I couldn't help but smile. I didn't realize what I had been missing out on; I loved her more than anything, anything. "Come here, my angel." She smiled and crawled over, tossing herself right on top of me. I chuckled and put my arms around her, kissing her neck.

We remained this way for a long time, until I realized that she was asleep. My fingers gently combed through her hair, and I gazed at her face, trying to memorize every millimeter of it. Her breathing was even and I knew she wouldn't wake if I moved. Slowly, I laid her back against the blanket and stood up. I knew now would be as good a time as any to go hunt; she would have no idea if I left.