Even as he walked back to his chambers his mind drifted back to that first kiss.

It was a dangerous thing, the kiss between a human and a vampire. True, humans had to take many things into consideration when kissing each other, but at the top of that list were emotional considerations. In addition to taking emotions into consideration, the thing that a vampire had to take the most care with was their sheer physical presence!

He knew as his lips moved against hers that he had to take care not to exert too much pressure, even the simplest slip and he could take out a few teeth or, at the very worst, crush the lower half of her face. No, he had to be as gentle as a human kissing the wings of a butterfly.

He also had to resist the temptation of losing control and letting his lust overtake him. As their lips moved together, his gentle, hers more passionate and insistent, he pushed away the urge to crush her body to his and tried to stay content with their lips being the only point of contact between them.

In the end, he had been the one to initiate the kiss, and he had been the one to end it as well. He had no choice or he truly would lose control and the consequences would involve more than a "little death."

He was amused at the fact that when he leaned back away from the kiss, she had leaned forward and almost fallen in his lap as she tried to continue the kiss. Putting a gentle, steadying hand on her shoulder he had made sure that she didn't fall into his lap. That would definitely lead to things that he shouldn't be doing with her.

She only seemed slightly embarrassed as he helped her gain her balance and she leaned back and giggled. "That was…unexpected."

He seemed confused by that, not sure about what exactly it was that she found unexpected. He hoped she meant the feelings the kiss had generated, but he wasn't sure so he tilted his head and asked, "What was?"

She leaned back on her arms again and grinned at him. "The kiss."

His brows drew together at her words. Hadn't she been about to kiss him when he had closed the distance between them? That was what he had thought. For the first time in centuries he felt unsure and insecure. Perhaps he had misinterpreted the signals.

Watching him she had tried to soothe his fears. "Marcus, I liked it."

Those simple words had alleviated some of the doubts, but he still wasn't sure exactly what was going on. The mischievous twinkle in her eyes made him think that she had secrets that she wasn't sharing, and he wondered if she would reveal what they were in time.

Walking into his chambers he immediately looked at her portrait again. It was an excellent likeness, but no artist had ever been able to capture that impish look in her eyes. It was a look that had always been there before she had become his. His keeper of secrets, his goddess of death, his Proserpina.

She had always giggled at that comparison, a former priestess of Pluto being compared to the queen of the underworld herself. Though, even she had to admit that their story bared many similarities to the story of the king of the underworld and his queen.

It was their own private joke that the scene carved into the footboard and headboard of their massive bed depicted the myth of Pluto on Proserpina. There was one major difference between their story and the myth: Proserpina had been unwillingly taken by Pluto, Didyme had been anything but.

Didyme.

He just stood there, staring at the bed, staring at her painting and, if he had been capable, tears would have been streaming down the papery thin, sheer skin of his cheeks. Sometimes, memories just weren't enough.

His body moved automatically without his really thinking about it, and before he knew it he was at the large wardrobe in the room. He opened the large creaking door and his hands reached out to caress her gowns. His snow white hands were trembling from the internal struggle going through his mind.

He wanted to take the gowns in hand, ancient things made of silk and cotton that he preserved over the years, and bury his face in the fabrics. But, at the same time he wanted to keep away since he knew he wouldn't find what he was looking for, her scent.

It was difficult, but finally logic won out over desire and he pulled his hands back and hurriedly closed the doors to the wardrobe before he changed his mind. If he gave into his desires he might destroy the delicate fabrics in the search of something that had faded away long ago, her scent!

In the same way that he had just struggled over not grabbing her gowns, he had struggled that night they had met not to pull her close and take her in a way that no vampire should take a human.

It had been difficult not to reach out and take her in his arms, especially after she had told him that she had enjoyed the kiss. She became even more of a temptation when the breeze had picked up and her scent had wafted to him. Sunshine and cinnamon, that was the closest things he could compare her scent to.

But, it wasn't only her scent that had attracted him. He had seen, and killed, many beautiful women throughout his life as a vampire, but nothing could compare to her as she sat back in the pale moonlight. The beauty of those women was insignificant in comparison to the beauty before him.

He could have sat there for hours watching her as the breeze lifted up her red curls, making them seem like flames moving around her head. His eyes appraised her as the same wind pressed the fabric of her gown against her in the most delightful ways. He didn't realize the animalistic way that he had been looking at her till he heard the hesitation in her voice as she finally spoke again.

"Marcus?"

Realizing that he must look frightening to her looking at her in lustful hunger, he pushed the feelings away and gave her a bit of a strained smile.

"Yes, Didyme?" he replied.

She reached up and with delicate fingers brushed a curl from her cheek she looked doubtful for the first time since she had approached him in the market and she whispered, "Did you not enjoy it?"

Yet again, she surprised him. He was sure the look of hesitation the doubt in her features was all due to the fact that he had given her a glimpse of the beast that he was, instead she had feared that he hadn't enjoyed the kiss.

He gave her a incredulous look for a moment and then he had thrown back his head and laughed, a sound of pure joy that floated around the air of the field they sat in, a sound that no one had heard since his human years.