A/N: I am so thankful for all your reviews. They genuinely keep this story going! And one quick comment...MissJNori..your senses serve you well!
"Dwayne...?" Elizabeth murmured, her body draped over his, her head resting comfortably on the crook of his neck. One of his hands was curled lazily on her hip, the other, his arm half pinned beneath her shoulder, ran thoughtless circles down her spine and around the skin of her back. She shuffled into him a little more and his hand tightened around her. She smiled, knowing that he had no intention of letting her go. She was safe, secure and loved in his arms and there was nowhere else she would rather be, "are you sleeping?"
He kissed her head, "..no. Are you?"
She smiled again at their silliness and shifted her head, "...no"
The cave was deathly quiet, there was no sound, no movement, not even a breeze in their little room. It was as if time had stood still for them.
Elizabeth gently moved her fingers over his nipples, liking their hardness over the delicate pads of her fingers before idly moving them downwards, past the hard muscles of his stomach, over his toned arm. He sighed a little and she carefully touched his length, enjoying the softness of it, enjoying just exploring him, "do you think they know what we did?"
He kissed her head again and she knew it was in lieu of his answer. She knew that his answer was, 'yes'. Of course the three boys must have known they weren't just exploring rooms in the depths of the cave. They weren't stupid even if Paul liked to play that he was. She didn't know whether to be embarrassed or not but, lying next to him, entwined with him, she realized that she didn't really care if they knew. She trusted that they weren't going to shame or embarrass her and she could take Paul's playful teasing, she found that she actually looked forward to it, to the challenge of matching him.
She thoughtfully ran a finger down Dwayne's shaft again, studying and memorizing every inch of it, of him, as she thought about her new friends and turn of events.
He flexed his hand a little and she paused, feeling the pressure of his action, "painful?"
She felt a rumble in his chest and she stretched a little, looking up at him as he released her hip. He laughed lightly, musically and used his free hand to scoop hers upwards, away from its exploratory path and to his lips.
She could feel his smile against her knuckles as he placed a delicate kiss upon them.
"Not painful" he assured her, "not at all..."
"Oh.." she blushed a little, understanding his meaning. He was so passionate, so skilled...she felt her inexperience tenfold when she was with him but she found that it excited her, thrilled her to know he would be there to lead her, to teach her, "..do you want to...?"
He kissed her knuckles again and shifted himself sideways on the bed, forcing her body off and away from his. Without his protection, the chill of the room met her again but before she could think to protest his actions, she realized what he was doing and she smiled lightly. She turned on her side fully, her back pressed to his chest. She settled in and placed her head on his offered bicep, looking at the room in front of her.
With his body pressed perfectly flush against hers, she snuggled into him a little, reveling in the completeness she felt.
"We have forever for that..." he told her, kissing her shoulder, her neck as his free arm draped over her stomach, keeping her close.
"But that's pretty selfish of me.." she protested feebly. She wasn't experienced but she knew Dwayne had been more than generous and that he hadn't had anything in return.
"What?" he sounded amused.
"I...I had the most amazing...you had nothing..." she mumbled, linking her hand with his.
"Amazing...?" he prodded and she giggled a little, "you know..."
"Not a clue" he insisted.
"I'm serious.." she said, feeling a little guilty.
"Me too" he replied.
She bit her lip, smiling as he lifted his head a little. His hair tickled the side of her face, "you're terrible..." she told him with absolute zero conviction.
"The worst, I already said that.." he agreed, kissing her face with delicate, thoughtful pecks. He spoke against her flushed cheek, "the most amazing what?"
She bit her lip again and shook her head.
"Come on, Elizabeth..." he cajoled, running his nose up and into her hairline, placing more kisses as he traveled up.
"Orgasm.." she whispered and she felt his wide grin against her ear.
"Singular?"
She laughed, feeling herself blush as he kissed the sensitive skin around her ear, "Dwayne!"
He said nothing but continued his kisses.
"...plural" she corrected herself, knowing that he wouldn't stop until she had said what he wanted to hear.
"And amazing?" he confirmed and she laughed with a nod.
"Good" he pulled her closer and she glanced around the room, thinking she could float from happiness. She looked at the flickering candles scattered around as he settled to just hold her once more.
"..but you didn't..." she said, bringing their conversation back to where it was before his playful teasing.
"Like I said, we have forever for that" he told her easily.
"Really?"
"Of course" he assured her, "I thought you'd still be sore...I wanted to take care of you tonight.."
She paused in her scan of the room. He didn't want to hurt her again?
"-Dwayne?"
"Mhmm?"
"Thank you..."
"For the orgasms?"
She shook her head with a smile and laugh, she loved seeing his playful side as well as his deep sincerity, "for that, yes..but..I'm so lucky to have you and I just..I love you. I do, I feel it..like..we're meant to be together.."
"Where did this come from?" Dwayne asked thoughtfully.
"..you're so considerate" she told him, "and so sweet and..I just..I do. I really do love you. Is that crazy?"
"Not at all. I love you, too" he said, kissing her shoulder.
"...Dwayne?"
"...yeah?"
"How is it real?"
He said nothing and she smiled, taking the time to look at the candles around the room once more. They were still burning quite brightly, their orange flames giving a flickering and soft tint to the room. She thought back to her bedroom for a moment and she could only imagine her light bulb as providing a cold, sterile white-light. She liked her room but here, tucked away under the delicate glow of the candles, she wondered how she could ever return.
It was a bittersweet feeling.
She could see the door fully, it was once a highly polished wood and surprisingly it still kept its gleam, aside from the huge, splintered gash in the middle of it. There was a thin, threadbare red rug on the floor - she hadn't really registered that when they had entered and she wasn't sure if it would be an original or a new addition - and aside from the vanity, the room was empty.
Small, sweet. It was perfect.
"..Dwayne?"
He made a non-committal, questioning grunt, his chin resting on her head.
"..how is it real?" she asked again.
She looked at the wall over the door, eyes trying to follow the twirling of the faded vines, trying to trace their path over the faded wall paper but the light was too dim for her to track it with any result.
For a brief moment, it was as if the man pressed perfectly against her was a statue, frozen much like she felt time had been. When he replied, his voice was slow and there was something different about his tone, a hint of something she didn't recognize, "...how is what real?"
"Us, this.."
"...what do you mean?" he asked her, and again, she noted a tone she couldn't quite pin down. He sounded a little cautious, somewhat guarded. Gone was his silliness from before.
"I've never, ever felt like this-"
"-me too"
"-I feel so complete with you..."
"I feel it too" he replied seriously.
"...it's so much like a fairy tale.." she tried to explain.
He laughed a little and she found herself smiling, feeling relaxed as she imagined his smile.
"How so?"
"There's jewelry on the vanity" she said softly in awe, "and this bed? And the candles? I'm so..I'm so crazy about you and about this cave and I don't understand how-"
"-well, it was a hotel.." he explained gently, interrupting her before she could continue her impassioned praise. He seemed more comfortable now that they were discussing the cave once more.
"Dwayne, how deep does the cave go?"
"Deep" he replied.
"Has anyone ever mapped it?"
He laughed a little, "you already asked me that.."
"Well..it's a pretty extensive ruin..." he kissed her head and she smiled, "people must have an interest in it, it has to be one of a kind..."
"We told you that, too" he murmured gently to her, "it's ours...other things aside, it's private property-"
"-surely that doesn't stop people?"
"It does" he told her.
"But how?"
Dwayne paused, "would you want to cross David?"
She laughed a little and nodded her head, conceding to his words. She liked David but there was definitely a coldness about him, something in him that she wouldn't want to anger or cross, "OK..fine.."
She looked at the door again, eyes flicking to the broken mirror on the vanity.
"...can I ask how you own it? Who owns it?"
"Of course you can ask" he told her, running his thumb over the hand he was holding.
She waited for him to answer her but he never did. Instead, when he spoke his voice was curious and again, there was that strange hint of cautiousness in his tone, "You really like it here?"
"Dwayne, I can't...look at it!" she sat up, letting his now free hand trail down her naked body as she sat on her knees before him. She reached over him and danced her fingers down a patch of wallpaper, "it's the most amazing place I've ever seen! It's so..it's so surreal, it just doesn't make any sense but I..I kind of love that it doesn't make any sense...I could stay here forever!"
"Forever?" he said, repeating her words.
"It's a fairy tale..no, really, it is!" she insisted as his mouth twitched, just a little ghost of a smile gracing his features and, as he turned to lie on his back, he gazed thoughtfully at her, "it's magical.."
He was watching her curiously and she felt a burning need to express just how amazing everything was. He had asked her if she really liked it and she just couldn't fathom how or why he could even need confirmation.
"Don't laugh at me?" she asked and at his nod, she continued, "...I feel like I have The Prince..I" she glanced shyly at him, knowing she was going to sound childish but it was the most honest comparison she could make, "I know I have the True Love and now I have-" she gestured to the room around them, "-well, I have access to The Castle"
"All the components of a fairy tale" he agreed quietly.
"Yeah" she said, resting her hand on his thigh, tickling it gently as she spoke, "and it could be so overwhelming, you know? Fairy tales aren't real but suddenly I'm in one, I'm living in one-"
"-you don't feel overwhelmed?" he asked, his voice a little guarded once more.
She shook her head.
She was naked before him, completely bare and exposed but she felt no shyness. At first, she had wondered how she could fall so fast for a man she had barely known but now she couldn't contemplate how she had ever lived without him. She had been nervous when she had first spent time with his friends - his family -as a group but now she couldn't imagine how she had been happy without them, "it's like...Dwayne everything fits so perfectly..it's not overwhelming, it's right"
"...but forever is a pretty big word" Dwayne told her, referring to her previous statement.
"You used it" she smiled down at him, hand still on his thigh.
"I was being..." he met her eyes, faltering a little, "..when I said forever I was being serious, Liz.."
Serious?
Elizabeth tilted her head a little, "..me too.." she told him softly, a little confused. She was completely serious in all of her words, in her love of the man before her, of the cave, even in her fondness for the three boys Dwayne considered brothers.
"I mean, forever" he said, emphasizing the word, suddenly looking a little vulnerable lying before her, "not hyperbolic but really. Forever"
She leaned down and kissed him softly, resting her hand on his perfectly sculpted stomach for support, "me too. I want to be with you..."
He sighed against her lips and suddenly his hand was moving up beyond her neck, delving into her hair, keeping her close. He kissed her again, deeply, as if he was savoring her and when she broke for air, she saw he looked almost anguished.
"..hey?" she murmured, "Dwayne?..was I..was I too much, too intense? I-"
"-no. No, Elizabeth.." he said, his voice low, "everything you feel, I feel it too...I feel it...I feel it more"
She smiled down at him, running her hand over his face, trying to comfort him.
"What's wrong?" she whispered, not understanding why he was so troubled.
Their bed dipped a little as he drew himself up to a sitting position. She was still kneeling before him and he softly scooped her hands up, holding them tightly in his. His eyes searched hers, his mouth drawn into a nervous, tight line, "I love you-"
Elizabeth opened her mouth, ready to reassure him once more but he shook his head, "-please, Elizabeth" and, at her silence, he continued, "...we're made for each other"
She nodded encouragingly at him, smiling softly. Of course they were made for each other, she felt the same way. He looked so scared and she didn't know why or what she could do to help him. She wanted nothing more than to hold him, to embrace him, to understand why he looked so worried, so afraid but he was holding her hands like they were the only thing stopping him from drowning.
"It's fate..destiny" he told her and again, she smiled.
"Yes-" she broke in, whispering with a nod. She agreed, she-
"-Elizabeth, I'm not mortal"
There was a frightening sincerity in his eyes and Elizabeth froze.
"What?"
"I'm not mortal" he repeated, his voice soft almost pleading, "that's why it feels like-"
"-Dwayne...that's..that's not funny" she replied with a small shake of her head.
She felt her eyes well, stung and hurt.
She was being serious in everything she had said. She loved him, she loved him with all her heart. She believed it, she truly believed both her feelings and what he had said. She knew that they were made for each other, that they were special and here he was, joking about it? A tear broke free from her eye and dropped down her cheek in one fluid line.
"That's really not..." she trailed off, pulling her hands free from his. She suddenly felt small and fragile and after wiping at the track her tear had left, she curled her arms over her breasts.
"Elizabeth" he said, eyes wide and hurt. He looked almost as pained as she felt, "I'm sorry-" his hands sought hers again but she kept them wrapped tightly around her body, "-please don't think..I'm serious.."
"Paul's jokes are funnier" she told him, her voice strained.
"It's not a joke"
"This isn't funny" she told him, feeling cold. She pushed herself off the bed and walked to the pile of clothes on the floor, "I meant what I said, I really love you. I really-it's like...it really is like a fairy tale, you didn't need to make fun-" her voice was shaking.
"No" he insisted, sliding off the bed and meeting her in one stride, "Elizabeth, I love you, I would never make fun of you. Never-
He held her hands tightly, stopping her from scooping up the dress she had been looking down at, "-this is..this is a first for me, I don't know how I'm supposed to do this..."
"What?" she asked, her voice uneasy. It was new for her, too, but she wasn't making bad jokes.
"Elizabeth" he murmured, "you said it was like a fairy tale and it is...kind of-"
"-Dwayne" she shook her head.
It wasn't funny. She hated his tone, how he sounded so vulnerable and afraid, so nervous and in need of validation. Was this his idea of a joke? Was he mocking her? She didn't like this game, she didn't like-, "you're my mate"
Another tear fell down her cheeks, "stop it, already-"
She tugged at her hands but he wouldn't release them, "I'm scared, too, because I need you to love me even after you know the truth-" he told her, the desperate honesty in his voice causing her to falter.
"-this really isn't funny-"
"-I'm a vampire-"
"-Dwayne-"
She pulled at her hands once more and he finally released them. She stumbled backwards, her feet catching in the material of her dress.
"This is really, really sick" she told him, wiping at another tear.
He looked so hurt, so pained by her words. He was taller than her, bigger than her but in the glow of the room - the room which had filled her with romantic happiness, which had seemed so beautifully perfect just moments before - he looked as small as she felt. He reached out his hands towards her, "this is new for me, too" he plead with her, his somber voice low "please don't run away from me, please-"
"-why are you doing this? It's not funny" she begged him, shaking her head, "everything was so perfect, why would you ruin-"
"-it's the truth" he said, eyes boring deep into her soul, "I can show you.." he stepped towards her, "please..."
She closed her eyes, shaking her head softly as his body met hers, "please, Elizabeth.."
He held her tightly, desperately, and she found herself clinging to him, too. As his arms curled around her back, the muscles rippling against her chilled skin, his hands pulled her tightly to him, one splayed on her lower back and one spread around the back of her neck. He kissed her temple, breathing in her scent and her damp eyes fluttered in hurt confusion.
As clutched at his firm body in response, fingers digging into the skin of his back in their search for support, he murmured, "I will never hurt you. I love you.."
"Dwayne.." she began, her words dying as she turned her head to the side.
She felt a wave of ice cold wash over her as her eyes caught the old, beautiful little vanity tucked away. The mirror, it's timeworn and spotted surface cracked into a spiderweb of thick and thin pieces displayed her reflection with an artful beauty..
She could see her hip, the line of her stomach, the side of her breasts looking pert but oddly shaped, oddly squashed...her hands elevated, like a ballerina from a jewelry box paused mid-spin, her fingers locked, their tips pointed into nothingness...
Nothingness...
She could feel herself begin to tremble.
She could feel him, she could feel Dwayne. He was there, holding her, embracing her with a desperate ferocity...she could feel his lips on her head, she could feel them move, forming words that were too distant, too far away to be heard...
She could feel him. She could smell him..he was there...
But, as another tear fell silently down from her eye, she whimpered, a dull and thick sound...
He wasn't there. In the mirror.
"I'm sorry" he said, his strained voice sounding miles and miles away.
"No...no..." Elizabeth said, her voice heavy and foreign to her ears. It was..it was impossible. She pushed away from Dwayne with a burst of desperate energy and he let her go, watching her stumble like a newborn lamb, walking until her naked back met the freezing, exposed wall beside the door. Her cheeks were wet, damp and she could feel droplets on her chest, too, "it's not..."
"Elizabeth-" he began but everything felt slow and thick, like the whole cave was submerged in water.
She shook her head.
It wasn't true, it couldn't be real..
Her fingers met the worn handle of the door and it opened with surprising ease. Not knowing what she was doing, thoughts muddled and confused, she plunged out into the darkness, her shoulder meeting the opposing wall of the corridor with a bruising thud.
She heard a sob, a choking, desperate sob and propelled herself down and into the inky path before her when she realized it was hers.
It couldn't be real, it couldn't-
"Don't come down here, Elizabeth" David warned, his voice cold.
She froze, breathing heavily, feeling as cold as his voice had been, feeling a very distinct fear pour over her.
She felt clarity find her for a moment.
"Oh God..." she whispered in terror.
Everything felt dangerous.
The corridors, so easily navigable not even hours before now seemed like an omniscient maze, the air felt dank and dense and the darkness was indomitable, pressing down and in on her, suffocating her, trapping her.
The candles from the main little corridor flickered in the distance and she felt a wave of nausea roll over her.
She was freezing, completely nude, completely exposed but she could feel a bead of sweat drip down her temple.
"Dav-please" she gasped, putting her hands in front of her, feeling the air and nothing more. He wasn't there. She could hear him, she could almost feel him..but he wasn't there.
Every hair on her arms were standing erect and she trembled, moving to cover her breasts.
She felt like David was there, right there in front of her, staring right at her but there was nothing.
Nothing.
"Go back to him. Don't betray him like this"
Elizabeth whimpered, taking a shaky step back at David's command.
His voice was harsh, cold. He was dangerous, too.
She was frozen, torn, confused, hurt.
She felt like she couldn't breathe.
The candles in the distance, those candles that felt miles and miles away, those dim and weak beacons directing her towards the entrance flickered threateningly again, making the dim, almost useless light falter once more.
She heard Paul's laughter surround her and she spun around with a gasp, looking into the darkness behind her.
"Oh my God" she breathed, a tear falling from her wide eyes.
"Not God, cutie pie..."
"Go back to him, Elizabeth"
"Oh God" she repeated in a harsh, broken whisper.
"Elizabeth? I'm here, Liz-"
She jumped again, a weak scream ripping from her throat.
"Dwayne-" she sobbed in relief, taking a desperate and shaky step towards him, seeing his form in the dimness of the corridor before freezing once more.
He wasn't her salvation.
He was-he was-
Elizabeth took a stumbling step backwards, another weep breaking from her mouth.
"Not this way"
"Elizabeth, I'm here baby, it's OK, I'm sorry-"
She clamped her sweaty, trembling hands to her mouth, needlessly suppressing the silent scream that was dying to burst from her as Dwayne approached her.
He was a vampire, he wasn't mortal but...he was her salvation, her protection against the terror pressing down on her. He was real and true and tangible and she reached out for him, a desperate, lurching movement before she faltered. She wanted, his comfort, his protection, his love..but there was David, too...his cold voice, his threat, the danger...that was real, that was as real as Dwayne...
They were vampires, all of them...
Before she could run towards or from the man she loved, before she could plead or beg or cry, consciousness mercifully left her and Elizabeth crumpled towards the cold floor.