Amelie's POV

A scream pierced the air, disturbing my quiet thoughts.

Claire!

I was up and running before I realized it towards her room. The only thought on my mind was getting to her before she was hurt, to ensure her safety.

Claire!

She was still screaming when I burst into her room, out of breath in my fear. I stopped short at the foot of her bed for a moment, watching her squirm and writhe under the sheets, mesmerized by the moves and twists of her delicate body and those delicious curves. It almost looked as if she were in a some erotic dance as her arms flew out, fingers digging into the mattress, legs spread and hips bucking and even though her soft face was twisted in pure fear and agony I was reluctant to wake her for she would never willingly let my watch her move like that again.

After a few more moments still, I glided over to her side, pressing my hand hard to her forehead and whispering intently into her ear, comforting nothings that I had heard many say, "Be still, young one. It's only I dream. Wake up and I promise it will be alright. It's only a dream. Easy, Claire, it's only a dream. Wake now, love and forget, it's only a dream."

Her body stilled and she seemed to be returning back to a pleasant sleep, so gentle, so peaceful. I stayed there, carefully smoothing back her hair in a monotonous manner and I couldn't help, but lean forward and place a light kiss on her soft lips.

She stirred under me and I moved back, afraid she would wake and be angered and continue her attempt to accuse me of rape. It wasn't rape, not at all! I was in love with her, wanted her. How could she not reciprocate those feelings? She did, she must, she had to!

Her mouth opened in a gasp and she looked to be in pain and another scream tore through her throat in a ragged, panicked manner that shook me. I went to go forward to aid her, but her eyes flew open and I ran from the room before I had time to think. I knew that if she found me in there while she was asleep she would not be happy with me. I really wanted her to be happy.

I heard her gasping for that cursed, unneeded breath and was reluctant to leave to her in that state so I quietly opened her door and moved silently into the room.

She was staring at me, watching me as I entered and her partially calmed eyes clouded with fear when she saw me. Had I done something? "Claire, what's wrong? I heard you scream."

She shook her head at me, her sweaty hair falling in front of her face and quickly glanced away, glaring at nothing. "I just had a nightmare, that's all. Nothing to worry about," she said with a fake bravado. She was visibly shaking and I could tell that it was just as bad inside. Whatever that dream was it had scared her to her core.

"Are you sure that you're alright? You don't need some help getting to sleep?" I was able to shake my concern for her and wasn't very willing to just leave her when she was such a… mess. I reached out as if I was going to walk towards her and her eyes widened and she shifted back an inch. I let my hand fall back.

"I'm fine! Actually, I'm feeling really tired right now, so I'll be going to sleep now…" she trailed off and produced a fake yawn and fell back against the bed, squeezing her eyes so tightly that her whole face became pinched.

That hurt. Such dismissal of me as if she didn't care about me at all. I was only trying to help her and be there when she was scared, but she treated my kind actions like I was offering her some lethal disease. Perhaps she was just afraid to show weakness in front of me… or maybe not.

Holding my head high and shaking away my questioning thoughts I silently strode over to her side and placed a tender kiss on her beautiful lips. She shivered under me and I quickly pulled back and left the room, making sure she could hear the door shut with a soft click.

I walked back to my study where stacks upon stacks of endless paper greeted me with a muffled sigh and I quickly set about making a fire in the fireplace, something I hadn't done in years. With a tap of my finger I called one of my maids, Lucy, into the room and sent her off to fetch me some blood, another thing that I rarely did these days, randomly drink blood like it was tea or coffee. I sighed and rested my weary head in my hands, on the verge of crying. Claire was just too much for me. I loved her too much.

Sitting up and readying myself into a more proper manner as Lucy returned with my, thankfully heated, drink, I let my thoughts slip into the memories of the past days since Claire had come here.

I went back as far as to remember the first time I had kissed her and then laughed when I remembered blaming it on her, telling her that she had kissed me! And then how I had Myrnin and Oliver endlessly torment her about being gay and how I had forced her to be my slave. I suppose it was a bit understandable as to why she would want to leave, but now I was being so nice! I don't think she could even begin to understand how nice I was to her compared to everyone else… she didn't get that she was very special to me. My thoughts flash backed to the very first time we…

FLASHBACK

"Claire!" I groaned against her mouth. She had resistant at first, claiming she wasn't interested with me and that she wanted to leave, but with a little compulsion she wasmine. All mine.

I was sharing my mind with her. Averypleasurable yet extremely dangerous thing to do and she seemed to be loving every second of it as she could now feel how I felt when she touched me. It is an unimaginable and such a life-changing experience, linking minds with someone. Someone special. I grinned and licked my lips, moving my body against her in a slow rhythm and continued to kiss her hot mouth.

I slid my cool fingers down her and could feel the ghost fingers on my own, sending tremors down me that she felt too, causing her to gasp and her mouth to open. Not hesitating, I pushed my tongue in covered every inch of her mouth, reveling in the taste of her as my fingers pressed against her thighs, unbuttoning her jeans and carefully sliding down the zipper and then shoving her back to the ground, lazily crawling on top and pulling them off altogether. With my mouth.

She moaned and her head slamming onto the floor and her eyes rolling back as she twisted her mouth into a delighted smile. Her moans were music and her movements were a dance. I ripped off her shirt, throwing it into an unknown corner and watched her dance, my fingers continuing to roam. She tried to sit up, but I pushed her back onto the floor with a long, fiery kiss and slid across her body, moving my hips against hers, gliding down. I kissed her bare stomach…

END OF FLASHBACK

The memory brought back more and more and more until I had relived every moment of her being here. It made me realize something. It made me realize something that I would have rather not have.

I had forced and tricked her into doing everything we had done. It was all a lie!

I was furious, not at her but at myself. How could I be so blind? How could I not see that all she wanted was the freedom to back to that idiot boy she was in love with? How could I be so egoistical and irrational and ignorant to the truth?

Because I loved her.

I loved her with everything, with all my cold heart could give. I loved her so much that I had been fooled into thinking that she could love me back because I wanted her too so,so much. And she didn't. Not at all. And I needed to deal with that and move on. But somehow I knew I couldn't.

I was never going to stop loving Claire in some way and that was the deadly truth of it all. And that stupid truth made me force myself to make a deal.

If I truly did love her then I could wait for her, wait a thousand year if needed. We were vampires and her friends were only mortals. Eventually she could, would, love me, I just knew that one day she would. But for now I needed to support her in these strange times and protect her from doom. I needed to make her happy and if the only way she could be happy was to live with those moronic, foolish friends of hers and pretend to be in love with that stupid, but strangely brave boy, then so be it. I would protect her and love her and make her happy until she loved me.

Until I collapsed.