Chapter Thirteen:

"What are you doing?" Godric asked curiously, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Reading, what does it look like?" I stuck my tongue out at the vampire over the top of his journal.

"You've been reading all night." he pointed out.

"You shouldn't have given me such a fascinating thing to read then." I chuckled and shook my head. "Five more minutes."

"You said that thirty minutes ago."

"You're a vampire, be patient." I slapped the hand away that attempted to pull the journal out of my hands.

"I am patient." He assured me, using his lightening quick speed to grab onto the journal and place it onto the nightstand before I even had a chance to blink. "But not when it comes to you."

I opened my mouth to speak, but I never got the chance to as he grabbed me by the hips and tugged me down onto the bed. I squealed as I squirmed on the bed, Godric climbing on top of me with an immature smirk crossing his lips. It was nice to see this side of him, to see the teenage boy that I knew was still trapped inside of him come out. I was sure he was never able to act in this way before, and I was glad that he was able to allow himself to with me. He was showing me a whole different side of him, a side that only made me fall for him even harder, if that was even possible.

"You drive me crazy, my little seer." He whispered huskily as he drew his lips down to the curve of my neck.

I let out a gasp as his cold lips brushed across my pulsing vein, my weak spot as I called it. He had yet to bite me, but it didn't matter. I felt pleasure beyond belief every time he pressed his lips against the sensitive spot. And he damn well knew it too.

"Your little seer?" I managed out, teasing the vampire on top of me as his hands slid up my side and underneath the hem of my loose t-shirt. I shuddered as his cold hands met with my bare skin, goose bumps rising on my arms.

"You'll always be mine." He nipped lightly at my earlobe, almost in a possessive manner. "Only mine."

"Only yours, huh?" I was grinning like a fool. "What if I didn't want to be yours?"

He lifted his gaze to meet mine, his fangs extending with a sharp click. I stared at those white razor sharp incisors, fascinated by them. They could tear into flesh, kill anyone instantly. And yet they belonged to the man I was insanely crazy for. A sane person wouldn't want to be near a vampire in this way all the time. A sane person wouldn't want to feel the touch of his hands, the teasing kisses applied by his soft lips. But I wasn't exactly a sane person, and never had been. Because right now, all I wanted was Godric, all of him. I had to stop myself though, remind myself that this was still going too fast. It had only been over a week since we began exploring our new relationship. A week was still not long enough, right? I was learning more and more about Godric, and vice versa, but it was still too early. It had to be, right? I shouldn't want to rip all of our clothes of and have him take me right here and now, right?

Oh who am I kidding, I was an eighteen year old girl whose hormones were through the roof with a downright gorgeous vampire on top of her.

It was never too soon.

But Godric must have know the battle of emotions surging through me, as he laid a handful off kisses on my neck leading to my lips before he drew himself off of me. I pouted, wishing his body hadn't left mine. But in a way, I was also glad someone had self control. He was respecting my innocent, naive wishes of waiting to have sex, at least until I was comfortable. And while I may not have known the difference, he clearly had and stopped ourselves before anything could go any further.

That only made me fall for him even more.

"How did I get so lucky?" Godric murmured as he laid beside me.

"Hm?" I curled up next to him, laying my head on his chest as his arm wrapped around my waist firmly.

"I'm a monster, Taylor, that's what I truly am. And yet you don't see me as that. You don't see me as anything but myself. How did I become so lucky?"

"You don't give yourself enough credit." My fingers began dancing across his chest, wondering what it would be like if his shirt hadn't been in the way. "I'm the one who's lucky. It's not every day a farm girl from Ohio has a gorgeous vampire desiring her, you know. Especially when I..."

"You're beautiful." He cut me off, kissing the top of my head softly as his hand ran through my long blonde locks. "You're beautiful in every single way, my little seer."

"I feel beautiful when I'm with you." I admitted, drawing even closer to the vampire. "And I like it when you call me yours."

"I could claim you, you know." He mentioned. "I could claim you as my...as my human."

"How does that work?" I wondered, staring up into those beautiful blue orbs.

"I would announce it to my nest, to ensure every vampire in my area knew you were mine." His arm tightened around me.

"Is that all?"

"There is another way..." he trailed off, and by the sound of his voice, I knew he was hesitant to continue.

"And what would that be?" I asked curiously.

"I could bite you." He replied softly, his gaze turning away. "It's an option I wouldn't consider however. You're so young, Taylor, I don't wish to take that innocence away."

"I think you're already on your way there." I chuckled before growing serious. "So you would...you'd have to drink my blood?"

"It would be to mark you, so everyone would see that I had claimed you for both your body and your blood."

"Is that why you want to claim me?" I dreaded asking this, but I knew I would have to eventually bring this up. "Is my body and blood the only reason that you, well that we're doing this?"

"No." He shook his head, his gaze returning to mine. "That's how the others see it. But I do not. I have never claimed a human, Taylor. I've only exchanged blood with one other, and that had been with the vampire I had created. You are the first. You're the first blood bond with a human, and you would be my first claim. My only claim."

I shuddered as he said this, and I found myself enjoying being his. It was horrible of course, being claimed by another. I should have felt insulted, like any true feminist would have. But I wasn't a feminist, and I liked the sound of Godric claiming me, of being his first and only human in his life. He was already special to me; he had been the moment I started having visions involving him. But this past week, we only grew closer, our bond blossoming beyond even our blood.

"I wouldn't mind." I surprised Godric by saying as I pushed myself up to stare him directly in the eye. "I wouldn't mind you...marking me."

Godric stared at me as if I had two heads. "Why would you want such a thing, Taylor? Why would you want me to bite you, to parade you around as mine?"

"Because I am yours, Godric." I tried to make him understand. "I know we honestly haven't known one another for all that long, and this whole new kissing, trying not to jump you, thing is extremely new and confusing, but I feel like I already am yours. As crazy as that might sound, it's the truth."

His hand reached up, twirling a strand of my hair around his fingers. "I don't wish to ever hurt you, my sweet."

"You won't." I assured him.

"If I were to do this, it would hurt." He shook his head with a frown. "And I...It will be hard for me to stop once I've started. You do not realize how intoxicating your blood truly is. A drop of it has driven me to the point that I wasn't sure I could control myself. Biting you...it could prove to be dangerous."

"I trust you, Godric." I cupped both of his cheeks. "I trust you completely Godric. I know it will hurt at first, and I understand this must be hard for you. But I do trust you Godric. You'll be able to stop."

"What if I couldn't?" a grim expression crossed his face. "I'm not sure what would come of me if I lost you, Taylor. You don't realize how truly important you are to me."

"You're just as important to me, Godric." I leaned in and kissed his lips. "You won't lose me, I promise."

"But what if..."

"I've had a vision since I've been here, Godric." I found myself blurting out. It was a stupid thing to do of course, because now Godric would feel the need to know what exactly I had seen in that vision. I would lie if I had to, just like I had been doing. But maybe if Godric realized that I've had a vision, that I seemed perfectly alright, minus the whole broken wrist and kidnapped by psychos thing, then maybe he would consider doing this.

It was insane to think that I wanted Godric to bite me. Did people honestly think this way? Or was I just being insane? Probably both. But I found that if given time, I could love Godric, and I already think I was well on my way to that point. And I understood that being claimed by Godric, it would mean that I was protected, by vampire law, from every other vampire in the world. And considering my little incidents lately, maybe that wasn't a bad thing. I was already bonded to this vampire for the rest of my life; I may as well be claimed by him too.

"What was your vision of?" Godric asked curiously, just like I had expected him to.

"It's not important. What's important is that I'm alive and well." Lie. Lie. Lie. One big fat lie. "Which means that you biting me didn't go all that badly."

"Unless I have not bitten you." He pointed out, still frowning.

"Bite me or no more kissing." I pulled away from him, climbing off the bed with my hands planted on my hips. "And I really really like the kissing, so you should really rethink think whole, I'm not going to bite you thing."

"Taylor..."

"I'm telling you that it's okay. And I know it's most likely insane. But I really care about you, Godric. I could see myself falling in love with you. And if this whole marking thing, you having to claim me, is part of the deal, then I'm okay with that. Because I want to be yours, Godric. I want everyone in the world to know that."

He sighed and looked away, and I knew at that moment that this conversation was over. Or at least for him it was. I was stubborn. I wasn't about to just give up and move on. I've never been that girl and I wasn't about to start now.

"I was serious about the no more kissing thing." I pressed, hoping he would give in.

But he didn't. He just continued to stare out the window, refusing to meet my gaze.

"Oh you're impossible." I threw my arms up into the air. "You may be a vampire, but you are such a thick headed man!"

Still, there was nothing.

"Fine, don't claim me. Maybe another vampire would like to claim me. I'm sure they won't hesitate to bite me. Maybe I'll even like it." That was a lie. Because honestly, how could anyone possibly compare to Godric?

But it certainly got his attention.

Godric was before me in a flash, his fangs peeking out just slightly as he looked down at me with his eyes darkening.

"You're mine." He growled lowly and in a possessive tone I've never heard come out of his mouth before. "We are not talking about some childish human traditions, Taylor. We are talking about walking a very dangerous line."

"Some lines are worth crossing, Godric." I was surprised I was even able to speak with how close Godric was. "They might be dangerous, but they're so worth it. Either I can let myself be scared and stay fenced in my own little world. Or I can cross over those dangerous lines and actually fall in love with you, Godric. Because that's what's happening here. It's been just over a week since this started and I already know for certain that I'm falling hopelessly and madly in love with you. So if you can't handle that, then fine, don't bite me, don't mark me, and certainly don't claim me. But if there's just a tiny part of you that could love me back, then please just do this for me. Because I really really want you, Godric. I want you in this big humiliating, frustrating way, and I honestly doubt that is ever going to change."

"I...I cannot, Taylor. You must understand." Godric reached a hand up to my cheek, but I took a step back away from him, trying desperately not to cry. Because him not wanting to claim me, it felt a whole lot like he didn't want me. And that felt like a knife slicing right through my heart. This was why girls didn't give their hearts out to men. It's why they kept themselves locked up so tight that they hardly looked at the opposite sex. Because they only break our hearts after we fall insanely for them. And that just wasn't fair.

"Please go." I whispered, looking away from him.

"Taylor..."

"I said, please go, Godric." I wrapped my arms around myself as I swallowed back the rising lump in my throat. "You've made yourself perfectly clear."

"I shouldn't have brought this up. You never would have known any differently." Godric sighed.

"Eventually I would have figured it out, Godric. And it would have been worse to know that you were keeping something like that from me. At least I know now, right? It would be safer if you claimed me, but no, you don't actually want to do that. I get it." I spat out bitterly.

"Will you please allow me to explain?"

"No, I won't allow you to explain." I looked up at him with teary eyes. "Just leave, Godric."

"Please don't be angry with me. I can feel your pain, your anger, and I despise it. Please, my sweet one." He cupped my cheek, ignoring my attempt to flinch away. "I'm sorry, alright? I apologize for hurting you. But you must realize how difficult such a decision is."

"We have a blood bond together, Godric. What makes this any bigger than that?" I argued.

"This would be harming you, and I will never forgive myself for doing that just because it might please me."

"I want to do this. I want you to claim me, Godric. I want you to mark me. I want you to bite me. I want everyone to know that I'm yours. What's so wrong with that?"

"Because I'm no good for you, Taylor! I'm not who you should be claimed by. I'm not worthy of you." He shook his head, turning himself away from me and moving towards the door. "You were right; I believe it's time that I left."

"Oh no," I hurried and put myself between him and the door. "You don't just get to leave after saying something like that."

"Taylor, please." He looked exhausted. "Move aside."

"No, because this," I pointed between us. "We're something now. I don't know what this something is, but by human definition, you're not just nothing when you make out with someone day after day and realize that you're going to fall in love with them. No, this here is something. So you don't get to leave."

"You were the one to ask me to leave." He reminded.

"Well I changed my mind!" I pressed my back up against the closed door, refusing to budge. "You can't just leave. We're going to discuss this. Because we're something Godric. And I want that something to grow, but it can't until we get over these stupid ass road blocks that stubborn head of yours always creates."

"Taylor..."

"Remember the whole, you say Taylor and I scream, thing? Yeah that totally applies right now." I glared up at him. "Just shut up and let me speak, please?"

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose before nodding.

"Thank you." I inhaled sharply before continuing. "You need to get over the fact that you're a two thousand year old vampire. Because I get it. You were the big bad vampire that killed and used innocent people. I understand that. But you're not that person anymore. You changed. You said so in your journal, you needed to make a change, no matter the cost. And you made that change. You changed so much Godric. You're a good person. You're someone worthy of love. Why can't you see that?"

He opened his mouth to speak but I held up a hand to stop him.

"I'm not done yet." I gave him a pointed look. "I'm falling for you Godric. And that's insane right, because I'm only eighteen and I barely even know what the word love means. I never thought I would feel this way. Because it has to be impossible that every time I'm around you, it feels like there's a dozen butterflies in my stomach. Because my heart isn't supposed to sound like this, like it's beating so hard that it's just going to burst. But the funny thing is, is that I don't want any of that to stop. Because I like the way I feel when I'm around you. I like the way you make me feel. I don't feel like a freak when I'm around you. And I know to everyone else in the world, I'm a freak, and I've accepted that. But to you, I'm this special, beautiful girl that you've looked passed the crazily insane me to find. And I'm pretty sure that's made me fallen for you even more."

"Taylor..."

"Stop." I cut him off sharply. "You don't get to tell me that you're not worthy of me, that you're not good enough. Because I'm sorry to say, but I'm the one not worthy of you. Because you're handsome, Godric. You're beautiful and by standards, you are so out of my league. And yet, here you are, in my hotel room, with me. So don't tell me that ever again. Because it's so not the truth."

He stared down at me for the longest time that I swore he was just going to shove me to the side and walk out. But that's not what he ended up doing. Instead, he closed the gap between us, cradling my head in his hands before he captured my lips with his own. I didn't want to break my resolve so easily, afraid that he may only be doing this to distract me before leaving. But the feel of his lips was just so damn addicting that I couldn't help myself as I moaned and pressed myself against him, wanting to feel his stony cold body against mine. He pushed me back against the closed door, his hands falling to my hips as he grinded himself against me. Apparently my verbal beating had been arousing to the vampire, because I could definitely feel the growing bulge in his pants. I almost found myself wanting him to take me right then and there, my self control absolutely in shreds. Once again, for a second time that night, it was Godric who controlled the situation, who had enough common sense to stop when he did or else I wouldn't have been able to stop myself.

"I want you to claim me." I breathed out in pants as Godric laid his forehead against mine. "I'm not an idiot, I know what that means. But I don't care. I. Want. You. And that means all of you. Well maybe except that right now."

A soft chuckle emitted from Godric's lips and I couldn't help but smile up at him hopefully.

"I need more time." His blue orbs met mine. "That's all I ask for."

"I guess that's fair." I sighed but nodded. He was allowing me time to become comfortable before I gave him all of my innocence. It was only fair that I gave him time for this. I suppose we both had our own speed bumps to overcome before we could truly move forward. But I had faith that it would happen, for both of us. "So what now?"

"Are you angry with me?" He asked softly.

"Not really." I shook my head. "I was just frustrated that you never seem to think you're good enough."

"Perhaps I'll have to work on that." He caressed my cheek with his thumb. "I care greatly for you, Taylor. I just don't wish to harm you, that is my greatest fear."

"I understand that, Godric." I slid my hand up his chest. "Maybe we should just forget tonight even happened. When we're ready to do this, we'll talk about it again. Until then, none of this happened. We can get back to more important matters."

"And what would those be?" a wicked smirk crossed those soft lips.

I grinned up at him. "Oh I think you know what I mean."