A/N: Hey there, faithful readers and vampire lovers! Sorry, it's been over a month since I updated, but this tory just gives me a dry spell sometimes. That and I have so many other stories going at once. They need my attention too. Well, in apology for not updating in so long, I wrote you all a nice long chapie. Hope you all enjoy.
Love Among the Autumn Leaves
Summer slowly turned to fall, and everyday there were more leaves turning colors. But all of this happened without much notice from Amber. Ever since she'd starting seeing Jaedon, everything else paled in comparison to him. He was already changing her in ways she never thought imaginable. She smiled more often and was a lot more agreeable, which did earn confusion/suspicion from her father. Just like Jaedon had said, Matt left her alone completely. It was almost as if he didn't even see her in the halls, which made Amber's life that much better. Every night Jaedon came over to visit, scaling the drain pipe just like Holly. For now, they were going to keep their relationship a secret from her dad. It might be better if he didn't ask questions about what school he went to in case he tried to do a background check or something.
That day, Amber rushed home from school, almost unable to wait until the sunset. She tried to pass the time by sketching, but she found herself looking out the window every five minutes to see if the sun had sunken any lower. Artemis was curled up beside her, her furry body nestled up against Amber's leg as she slept peacefully. Amber smiled down at her, stroking the kitten's soft fur gently. Artemis started purring in her sleep, arching into the hand to maintain contact and causing Amber's smile to widen. Her fingers trailed over the rabbit soft fur and up to the purple collar around the kitten's neck. Jaedon had bought collars for both Artemis and Midnight a few days ago. They were the nicest pet collars Amber had ever seen. Artemis' collar had little sapphire stones set into the purple band and a silver bell hung from the little metal loop. Midnight's was similar, except it was green with onyx stones. Maggie was obsessed with the little silver bell that hung from her kitten's neck, and Amber often caught her flicking at it just to hear it jingle.
After awhile the kitten woke up, her golden orange eyes seeming to glow as they settled on her mistress. Again, Amber was struck by how they seemed to stare right into her soul…just like Jaedon's. How she loved his eyes…such a unique black color, yet so full of warmth at the same time. Though, she did have to admit there was always a tinge of sadness hidden in their depths. Amber had to wonder why this was. He never did talk about his past. The one time she'd tried to ask if he had been born a vampire Jaedon had just changed the subject. It bothered her a little, but she figured if he didn't want to talk about it, then she wouldn't press the matter. When he wanted to talk, she knew he would.
Artemis stretched her small body to its fullest extent, her paws splaying out too. Amber giggled and tickled the space between her pads with her finger. The kitten drew back her paw and gave her mistress a look that nearly resembled a glare. Amber held her hands up in defense and chuckled, "Sorry, sorry…I won't do it again."
Seeming satisfied, Artemis got to her feet, doing a Halloween cat-type stretch before starting to rub up again Amber's back as the young woman went back to her drawing. She glanced over at the small animal and smirked.
"Oh, now you want attention?" She asked, raising an elegant eyebrow. "I guess you're no exception to the finicky-cat rule, huh?"
Artemis tilted her little head up at her mistress, looking as if she was trying to raise an eyebrow of her own. Amber giggled and picked the kitten up, rubbing her nose with slightly wetter one. In response, Artemis gave her a quick lick before starting the writhe in Amber's glove covered hands.
"Alright, alright…I get the memo." She laughed, settling the kitten back down on the bed.
Artemis gave her mistress one last glanced before sitting down and starting to wash her face with her paw. Amber watched with fascination, thinking how regal her cat was in all her gestures.
"Were you a queen or empress in another life?" Amber asked, thoughtfully.
Artemis looked back at Amber, her golden eyes twinkling almost as if with amusement.
"Oh sorry…maybe you were a goddess of some kind. After all, you are named after the Greek goddess of the moon and hunting." Amber mused, now talking more to herself than to the kitten. "Kinda suits you I think."
The kitten just continued to look at her for a second longer before returning to her washing. Amber shrugged before going back to her sketch. A few hours passed and by the time she was finished and was blowing of any last residue, Amber had a new sketch to give her little sister. It was of the two kittens; Artemis was sitting in the moonlight, gazing up at the moon longingly while midnight played with the moths. After putting her little mark down at the bottom, an A with a black rose entwined around one of the legs, Amber sat back looking fully satisfied. Then, her eyes drifted over to the clock, checking the time for the millionth time that day. Her insides started to bunch up with excitement when she saw it was nearly time for Jaedon to be there. She looked out the window and saw the faint orangish glow of what remained of the sunset. She'd been so caught up in her sketching that she hadn't noticed how dark it was becoming outside.
Closing her sketch book, Amber flipped herself over her bed and rushed over to her vanity, checking her reflection and making sure everything was perfect. After touching up her eyeliner and bluish purple lipstick, she retrieved her hat and hurriedly set it on her head, situating her hair and tilting the hat at just the right angle. Her movements came to an abrupt stop when she felt two thin, yet strong arms wrap themselves protectively around her waist, pulling her body against a harder and colder one. Amber smiled as she felt a familiar, chilly puff of breath tickle her ear.
"Was all this primping just for me?" An amused voice asked, smoothly. "Cause you looked just fine the way you were before."
"How long were you out there watching me?" Amber asked, settling comfortably into Jaedon's arms.
"Awhile…I love watching you draw. You get this adorable pout on your face when you're concentrating." He told her, his hands caressing her stomach lovingly.
"You're so corny sometimes, you know that?" Amber laughed, turning around to look at him for the first time that day.
No matter how many times she saw him, the sight of Jaedon always managed to take her breath away. His gorgeous crooked smile softened the sharp features of his pale face. Amber reached up and brushed a red-colored piece of hair out of his eyes, which were burning down into her face with so much restrained passion. His smile turned into a slight smirk as he replied, "Yeah, but I think my corniness is one of the many things that you love about me."
Amber's vibrant blue eyes met his and she smiled fully, giving him a nod of agreement.
"It's true." She answered, her hand coming down to finger the onyx rock that hung from his neck. "There's something about your old-fashioned romantic ways that just drive me wild."
"Romance is never old-fashioned." He told her, firmly, but his smile never faded. "No matter how you look at it, it will always be what it is."
"Okay, Mr. Deep-and-Sensitive, where are you taking me tonight," Amber asked, giving him a smirk, "a candle light dinner on the lakeshore under the stars or perhaps a dark movie theater to watch an old love story?"
"Actually, I thought we'd just take a walk through the park," Jaedon stated, before giving her a smirk of his own, "not that any of those were bad ideas."
"Always surprising me…" Amber sighed, standing up on her tiptoes so her lips were inches from his and she could stare directly into his eyes, "another quality that I adore."
"Amber…" Jaedon sighed before closing the distance between them.
The kiss quickly became passionate, Jaedon pulling her smotheringly close to him as his arms tightened their hold around her body. Amber entwined her fingers in his hair, crushing her lips to his. She felt him walking her backwards until her body was pressed between the bedpost and Jaedon's lithe form. Jaedon managed to tear his lips away from hers only to trail cool, open-mouthed kisses down her throat. Amber couldn't contain the whimper that escaped from her mouth as he playfully nipped at the crook of her neck.
"I…I missed you." She moaned, clutching his head closer to her neck.
Jaedon kissed his way back up her neck, letting his lips caress her skin as his eyes sought out hers.
"You have no idea how much I yearned to be with you while I slept." He told her, huskily.
"I hate it when you aren't with me." Amber murmured, sadly, a hand palming his cold cheek.
"I hate it when I have to leave you every morning." Jaedon replied, taking her hand and kissing the palm before holding it back to his cheek.
"Don't leave me 'til dawn." She pleaded, giving him the same command she gave him every night.
"I won't," He assured her, kissing her lips tenderly before looking her dead in the eyes again, "I promise."
She nodded silently before pressing her forehead to his, closing her eyes to just take in the feel of him against her. Jaedon inhaled her scent and sighed contently. He held her close, cradling her to him like she was the most precious thing in the world. They stood there just holding each other for the longest time like time itself had just stood still for them. But then, it was Amber who finally pulled away with a heavy sigh.
"Come on," She said, taking his hand in hers with a smile and leading him towards the drainpipe, "we're wasting moonlight by just standing here. Let's get to that park of yours."
Jaedon gave her that crooked smile of his that she absolutely adored and without warning swung her up onto his back before flying out of the window. Amber clutched her hat to her head and let out a surprised yelp. Her vampire lover smirked to himself as he came to land right in the middle of the garden at the side of her town house. She climbed off of his back quickly and smacked him in the arm playfully, not able to keep a smirk of her own off of her face.
"Warn me before you do shit like that, will ya?!" Amber hissed, quietly.
"Sorry, I just wanted to see your reaction." Jaedon replied, pulling her into his arms and nuzzling her neck affectionately.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," She replied, dismissively, swatting him away and taking his hand again, "whatever. Let's just get going okay?"
"Alright, whatever you say, my love." He told her, his black eyes sparkling with amusement.
They walked out of the gate and continued on down the block, heading towards the heart of the city. Their entwined hands swung idly between then as they walked in a comfortable silence. Amber looked up at the sky and smiled happily, the stars appearing to be smiling back down at her. Jaedon watched her with adoring eyes and said, "What I would give to have you always look like that?"
Amber looked back down and grinned at her boyfriend, giving his hand a loving squeeze.
"So, my vampire lover," She said with a mischievous grin, "do you think you could answer me a few questions?"
"Like what kind of questions?" He replied, an elegant black eyebrow arching in curiosity.
"Like questions about what kind of shit you can do," Amber clarified, "what kind of abilities do you have? You know…like being able to read my mind or something like that."
Jaedon smirked and said, "Yeah, I can do that. It's called a Mind Lock. It's the easier to do it on a human 'cause they usually don't know how to secure their thoughts. With vampires…we have a natural defense mechanism that protects our thoughts."
"So could you read my mind…like right now?" Amber asked, her interest caught.
It was a good thing that they streets were empty at this time of night. If anyone were to stumble upon their conversation, then some serious shit would have had to go down.
"If I tried…" Jaedon answered with a shrug.
"Okay, try." She told him.
"Are you sure? I'm not really comfortable with invading your mind." He questioned, looking a little apprehensive.
"Why? Afraid of what you might find?" Amber asked, coming to a stop and putting her hands on her hips with a smirk. "Don't worry. My mind is pretty clean…for the most part."
"No, it's not that. I just think it's an invasion of privacy." Jaedon told her.
"I'm giving you permission." Amber assured him with a sincere smile. "Really…go ahead. Guess what I'm thinking."
Jaedon sighed with a weak smile before he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Amber noticed that his eyes were that odd shade of black that made his eyes look like bottom-less pits. They looked just like they had when Jaedon had confronted Matt. Then, Jaedon said, "You're thinking that my eyes look very creepy right now and that you prefer them at their normal shade of black."
"Oh, crap! You weren't kidding!" Amber exclaimed with a laugh.
"I can't believe you thought I was full of crap." Jaedon told her with a fake hurt look before he released his power and let his eyes go back to their natural color.
"That was pretty cool." Amber replied, taking his hand back. "Can you turn into a bat, too?"
"No, that's just a myth you day walkers came up with. That's what we sometimes call humans." He informed her.
"Seems logical, but that's a shame." Amber sighed before a wicked smirk came onto her lips. "I bet you would have made a sexy bat."
Jaedon chuckled at this, shaking his head.
"So what do you do if you need to make a hasty get-away since you can't turn batty?"
"We turn into Mist. That's where we just totally disappear. Or we can do what's called an Atomic Pass where we pass through solid objects."
"Awesome! And what about the eye thing? Why do your eyes turn black or sometimes flash red?"
"Well, the blackness is just a sign that I am using my powers. But when my eyes flash red for just a few seconds that's usually from either rage or arousal." Jaedon explained, simply. "That's called a Flicker."
"Damn, so I haven't gotten you aroused yet?!" Amber replied, feigning disappointment. "And I tried so hard too!"
"No, you have. When we were dancing in the club, it happened a few times. You were just too drunk and aroused yourself to notice." Jaedon told her, snaking his arm around her waist with a smirk.
"You could tell I was aroused?" Amber asked, looking a little taken aback.
"I can smell it, Amber!" Jaedon laughed. "I have a highly advanced sense of smell, better than that of an ordinary animal."
"So you're like a superior version of a blood hound?" Amber stated with a cheesy smile.
"Yeah, pretty much if you think about it." Jaedon replied with an amused smirk.
"What about when your eyes actually glow red?" She asked.
"That's just called a Glow. That only happens when our battle instincts kick in." He answered.
"And what about the bite? Will I change into a vampire if you just bite me?"
"No, not necessarily." Jaedon replied. "There are several different kinds of bites. It just depends on what kind the vampire is using."
"So what kind of bites are there?"
"Aren't you getting a little tired of asking all these questions?" Jaedon asked her with a weary smile.
"No, not really." Amber replied, honestly. "I think all this stuff is interesting. Besides, you never know if I'm gonna need this information later on."
"Okay, if you're sure…" He sighed before going on, "well it pretty much depends all on the Drop Fang…or fang length, and there are four drop fangs: passion, feeding, turning, and battle. This is from the smallest size to the largest. There are two bites for the passion fang: Marking and Nicking. A marking bite is to show possession of either your prey or lover. If they have that bite, then no other vampire can bite them."
"Kinda like a natural restraining order against everyone else." Amber put in.
"Yeah, in a manner of speaking I guess it is." Jaedon agreed. "And the nicking bite is only used when a vampire has become aroused and bites their lover in the middle of a sexual tryst and can sometimes progress into a marking bite. It's not meant to be used as a feeding bite, but sometimes that can happen as well if the vampire hasn't eaten lately."
"I like the sound of that." Amber stated, that wicked smirk appearing again.
Jaedon gave her a stern look, and she looked down at the ground, muttering an apology.
"We can never partake in those bites, Amber. I can't…it goes against everything I believe in." Jaedon told her, solemnly. "I don't think its right to feed off of innocent day walkers. That's why I hunt animals. Both Collin and I go to the state park not far from the city once a week to do our hunting so we don't have the craving to attack anyone."
"Then, that night with the other vampires…" She started to say.
"I hadn't eaten all week. Even then, you were all I could think about. I neglected my hunting ritual, and because of my foolishness, I nearly bit you." Jaedon explained, a look of disgust etched onto his cool face.
Amber brought her hands up to cup his face, making him look down at her.
"The point is that you didn't bite me. You came to your senses. Whether you had hunted or not, you were strong enough to resist." Amber told him, smiling warmly. "You are strong enough to resist."
"But don't you see, Amber?! My love for you is so dangerous. No matter how often I hunt or how strong you may think I am, I still lust for your blood. I still crave it. Our love is so forbidden, Amber. It was never supposed to happen. I love you so much…so much that I couldn't bear to exist without you. But I'm not a safe person to be associated with. We're not supposed to be together."
Jaedon spoke the truth. It was even written into the city law that a vampire and a human could not "be" together. It was strictly prohibited. And Amber knew all of this; her dad had drilled that law into her head to the point where she could recite it by heart. But still as she looked up at Jaedon, Amber knew she would died if she had to be torn away from him. She continued to smile up at him, her fingers caressing his frigid cheeks.
"I don't care." She told him, softly. "I love you…I will always love you, and no law can keep me from you. So what if our love is forbidden? I'm sure there are plenty of other couples that have survived. If they can do it so can we."
"But…I will always be a threat to you." He warned her, his eyes staring deeply into hers. "Amber…your blood…Sometimes its just so enthralling…so intoxicating, I'm afraid that some day my control will slip and I won't be able to control what I'm doing. I could kill you so easily."
"I think that only proves how clearly we're meant to be together. If there was nothing to fight against, then how would we know how desperately we wanted one another?" Amber asked. "How would we know that we're worth it?"
Jaedon smiled down at her, leaning down to kiss her tenderly.
"You're so brave." He whispered to her. "I don't think I could have picked a better day walker to be in love with."
"Yeah, me neither." She laughed. "Okay, now you never did finish…what are the other bites?"
"Still overly-curious I see." Jaedon stated with a smirk as he draped an arm over her shoulder. "Okay, let's see where was I…oh yeah, the feeding length. For that length, the bite is called a Siphon. This is just used to feed off of our prey. We can feed off of other vampires, too, but we usually only do this if food is scarce or we're severely injured and need blood to heal. Then, there is the Turning bite for the turning length. This can turn humans into vampires. This is usually only done on a human lover."
Jaedon saw Amber give him a hopeful look and his expression went stern again.
"Don't even ask it, Amber. The answer is no." He told her.
"Why not?!" She whined, pathetically. "I wouldn't miss this boring human life! And I don't think it would miss me either…"
"No, but people from your human life might. What about Maggie?" Jaedon asked her, seriously. "What about Holly?"
"Knowing Holly she would be asking Collin the same question that you won't let me ask you, and she'd get what she wanted too cause you know as well as I do who has the dick in that relationship…figuratively speaking anyway." Amber argued, pouting slightly.
"Yeah, well…I highly doubt Collin would give into Holly with that particular thing. We've both had bad experiences with the turning bite." Jaedon replied, his eyes becoming pained as he said this. "Besides…would you want to leave Maggie alone with you father?"
Amber looked down at her feet, shaking her head in response. She wouldn't be like her mother; she wouldn't abandon Maggie and leave her with that man.
"That's what I thought." Jaedon said, giving her a weak smile. "Okay…last one is the battle length. This last bite is the worst and the most deadly, the reason why the fangs are the longest for this one. It's called the Throat Ripper."
"Let me guess…" Amber interrupted him, "if you were to use this bite, the person or vampire would be…"
"Yeah…dead." Jaedon answered for her. "The throat ripper is meant as a last resort tactic if in battle with another predator or vampire. Its name pretty much describes what happens. Our fangs grow almost impossibly long, to the point where they won't fit inside our mouths. It just takes one little drag across the throat."
"Have you ever used it before?" Amber asked, her tone hushed.
Jaedon looked out head of himself, distantly.
"Only once…when I was a newborn." Jaedon answered, his face oddly blank.
"So…you weren't born a vampire?" Amber asked, carefully, knowing what he meant by newborn.
She knew enough about vampires to know that the baby ones weren't deadly until they go their permanent fangs at the age of five. That's when they started to hunt on their own and could become a threat to humans. Jaedon just shook his head solemnly before looking down into Amber's eyes, his eyes showing her his endless pain and sorrow.
"I never wanted to be this way. This path was just thrusted upon me." Jaedon told her, quietly, sighing before a weak smile made its way back onto his lips. "But that's in the past. Now, I have something worth living for again."
Amber smiled back at him before asking, "So…if you don't mind me asking...exactly how old are you?"
"Well, I'm stuck at eighteen, but if I was human, I would be having my eightieth birthday this Halloween." Jaedon answered with a laugh.
"Wow, I'm dating an old fart!" Amber laughed. "But that's cool that you were born on Halloween. I always wanted that to be my birth date."
"When is your birthday?" Jaedon asked, curiously.
"December 27th…it kinda sucks having a birthday just two days after Christmas 'cause then sometimes you don't get separate presents." Amber explained.
"I can see how that would be a little bit of a let down." Jaedon chuckled. "Don't worry…I'll be sure to get you separate presents."
"You're too sweet to be real." Amber told him, kissing his cheek affectionately.
"So I've been told." Jaedon sighed, dramatically.
"And I think I'm starting to rub off on you too." She stated with a smirk.
"And is that such a bad thing?" He asked, giving her a smirk of his own.
"No, not really," She stated before pulling him to her by the collar of his shirt, "but no one can use sarcasm like I can."
"I'll be sure to remember that." Jaedon whispered, huskily as he leaned down and captured her lips with his.
Amber melted into him, her hands releasing his shirt as she used her nails to teasingly trail down his chest. Jaedon groaned into her lips, deepening the kiss passionately. His tongue snaked its way into her mouth, entwining with Amber's. Sometimes, Jaedon had to admit it was hard to keep his other side from reacting to Amber. It took a lot of his self-control to keep his fangs from dropping into the passion length. Suddenly, Amber pushed him away, causing Jaedon's eyes to snap wide open.
"What was that for?!" He exclaimed in confusion, worrying if he had accidentally bitten her.
Amber smirked as she walked seductively back up to him and pulled his lips back down to hers. Jaedon kissed her back, but he was still somewhat confused. When Amber broke the kiss, her smirk was still in place as she murmured with her lips still brushing lightly against his, "I wanted to watch your eyes flicker."
Jaedon smirked back, chuckling deep in his throat and shaking his head. Amber continued to smirk wickedly as she leaned down and planted a tantalizing kiss on Jaedon's slender neck. He released a shaky moan, arching his neck so she'd have better access.
"This must be what Holly called "knocking your head back"," Amber whispered musingly to herself, "when a vampire exposes their throat and its left vulnerable, right?"
"Uh hu…" Jaedon groaned in response as she kept sucking on his neck. "Who told her that?"
"Collin." Amber answered, simply, before she dragged her teeth teasingly against his cool flesh.
"Oh Amber…" Jaedon moaned, pleadingly, entwining his fingers in her long black hair.
With that, Amber lifted her head, smirking triumphantly as she watched his eyes flash from red to black. Jaedon looked down at her breathlessly before smirking back and pulling her closer to him.
"You're such a tease at times." He told her, giving her quick pecks on the lips.
"I know…" Amber replied, flicking her tongue out to prove his point, "but you love it."
"True," He answered, calmly, before leaning back and listening as Amber whimpered in protest, "but only 'cause I can tease you back."
Amber shook her head with a guttural laugh and pulled him back down into another heated kiss. So they stood there, kissing beneath the dim glow of the street lights, autumn leaves falling around them like snow flakes.
A/N: Well, there you have it. I had more that I wanted to put in it...like them actually getting into the park! LOL All well, that can wait til the next chapter. I'll try to update sooner. Thank you all for waiting so patiently and not giving up on me! Okay, I gotta go and get started on the next one...You know what to do to make me a happy author...click that little review button and tell me what you think!