Chapter Fifteen

-Northern France-

Though he had been doing so for a month now, I still was not used to waking up to Aro in bed with me. I'd told him multiple times to stop, but obviously he listens as well as I do. When I had emerged from my shower, Aro was sitting at the desk, chin propped up by his fist, reading. So I just belly flopped onto the bed, expecting to get some sleep.

But nope. Which I should have expected considering he still hadn't put his clothes back on.

He was on me not even half a second later, determined to finish what he had started. He kissed the back of my neck as his hand dove down the front of my shorts, pleasuring me with his fingers until I finally got my climax. I could feel that he had stiffened against my thigh. Obviously this would be going further, but I definitely wasn't complaining.

And then his hand was gone, once again pushing my shorts down my hips. Man, Caius was gonna love us in the morning. Well, evening, I guess. His hips roughly slammed into mine, his hand locked on my chest. I was beginning to think I might be able to orgasm again, but then a searing pain ripped through my shoulder, "You son of a bitch!"

Aro couldn't scold me for my language because he had sunk his teeth into me, alternating between growling and groaning in his throat. He could have fun explaining the bloody sheets to the hotel staff. The hand on my boob was now on my hip, pushing me against him as he buried himself in my core, achieving his release. A fresh wave of pain tore through me as he freed my shoulder so that he could moan loudly into my hair.

He took several deep breaths, not moving. I dug my elbow up into his side, "Get the fuck off me."

His weight lifted and I once again retreated to the bathroom, wetting a washcloth. Aro appeared in the doorway, my blood smeared across his lips, "I'm sorry, my dear."

"Yeah, you're gonna be," I mumbled as I dabbed at the wound. Thanks to super healing, the bleeding had already slowed significantly. It was more of an ooze now. "I hope it tasted fucking awful."

"It was rather pungent, yes."

I quickly finished cleaning myself up, throwing the soiled washcloth into the bathtub. He followed me like a lost puppy, "I don't do so intentionally. It isn't always easy to maintain control in the throws of passion."

"No shit." I pulled the sheets from the mattress and covered it with the comforter. I laid on the side of my uninjured shoulder. The wound throbbed enough as it was. Aro curled into me from behind, gently pressing his cheek to the bite. His cold skin helped to relieve some of the pain.

Next thing I knew, I was waking up, Aro still against me, an arm draped over my waist. The biggest reason I hated him staying in bed was because I felt like it was giving him a false impression of exactly what our relationship was. It wasn't the lovey-dovey, "let's cuddle and suck each other's faces off constantly" kind. It was the "let's have sex and then you can leave me alone" type. And that's all it would ever be. I kept telling myself that to make it true.

I pushed his arm off and sat up, rolling my injury. It was still quite painful but looked a little less angry now, at least. A cold finger traced one edge, "I truly do apologize, my dear. I had no desire to harm you."

I shrugged away, "You're just kissing my ass so I don't cut you off."

He gave me that look he gave when most people would just roll their eyes. After another shower, I pulled my top and shorts back on where they would be staying this time. Aro leaned against the wall with his arms crossed as he watched me. I couldn't tell if he looked mad or upset. I lightly patted his cheek, "Don't worry, Sir Gilbert, I won't actually do it. Mostly because I want in your pants just as badly as you want in mine, but still."

A slight smirk played on his lips.

In the hallway we reconvened with the others. I immediately made direct eye contact with Caius, "So, how was your day?"

The phrase "if looks could kill" definitely applied here. He sneered, "The thought of you two engaging in such behavior turns my stomach."

"So don't think about it and mind your own damn business," I slapped him on the back which only made him more angry. I leaned around him to look at the other brother, "I'm sorry you had to experience that, Marcus."

The man only nodded. I turned to face Aro, who apparently had been standing with the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger during that entire exchange. Good. Now we were both frustrated with each other. Now that I got that out of my system, we could finally head back to Volterra.


-Volterra, Italy-

I had a feeling I was being watched.

I opened my eyes just a crack to see Aro at the foot of the bed. I groaned, "Do you really have to do that? It's fucking creepy."

Pulling the blanket tighter around me, I attempted to go back to sleep. But it suddenly disappeared from me entirely. That fucker.

"Rise and shine, my dear," he said, ignoring my death stare, "I thought we might spend the day together."

"Why the hell would I do that?" I wasn't going to go without a fight, though I did actually want to. Something was seriously wrong with me.

"The weather is perfect for it. Don't you want to be out of your cage? he smirked with the last word. I hummed, "Spend the day in bed, or spend the day with a man I hate. What a tough decision."

He pouted, "I don't believe it's fair to say you hate me. You've been known to enjoy my company."

"Unless we're going to be naked, I'm not sure I will." An icy hand wrapped around my wrist and tugged, "Come, my dear."

With a groan I got to my feet, poking him in the chest, "This is not a date."

"I'm aware, mia cara."

Randomly, I grabbed a shirt and jeans before shutting myself in the bathroom. I leaned on the counter. What was I doing? I should have just told him to fuck off. There was no way he wasn't going to see this as a date. Little by little he's been smudging the line. Pushing back that boundary I had set. It wasn't supposed to go this far. But I refused to concede.

Aro had waited for me in the main room, sitting on the couch that I'd fucked him on. Which I'm pretty sure he did intentionally. He smiled, "Shall we?"

I sighed, "Let's get this over with."


By nice weather, he meant sixty degrees Fahrenheit with no chance of the sun coming out. It was weird, strolling down a crowded street with a vampire. At some point during my attempt to regroup, Aro had slipped in a pair of colored contacts so that he better blended it. His eyes were now an odd shade of brown. He had tried to convince me to do the same, but at least my eyes I could pass off as a variant of gray.

"What would you like to do, mia cara?"

I looked at him, "Weren't you the one that wanted this?"

"Yes, but the plan was to do what you wanted."

"Get drunk and go to a strip club."

He opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off, "If you make a comment about stripping for me I will slap you."

After a moment I added, "Maybe later, if you can behave."

He smirked. I sighed, "I suppose you could show me around. Thanks to you I haven't gotten to see much of the city."

Now he smiled, "Of course, my dear."

Aro walked me through much of the city, pointing out important buildings, telling me about the architecture, the community. He also told me the history of the town that the humans knew and shared with me the actual history of it. His brothers and himself still pulled all the strings. So, not only did he rule over vampire kind, he also controlled about ten thousand humans and a ridiculous number of tourists. Some of which apparently never left. And for the entirety of the tour, the asshole kept trying to get closer to me. His fingers brushed against mine, a hand attempted to settle on the small of my back. Every time I'd take a step away, putting distance between us, and he'd just drift back to me. I knew this wasn't just a typical outing to him...

After walking all afternoon, he decided I needed to eat. Because I apparently didn't get a say in whether I was hungry or not. He sat me at a nice restaurant and ordered for me since I didn't know a lick of Italian. Of course, he got me something consisting mostly of meat. Which was fine, I supposed. The extra protien seemed to be helping me and, if he kept fucking biting me, I'd likely soon need the iron. Aro watched me the entire time I ate.

"Do you really have to?" I asked between bites. He smiled wider, "You're just fascinating, is all."

Not like he hasn't ever seen me chewing food before. I sighed, "Aro-"

He shushed me. I rolled my eyes, "Really?"

No reaction, just that stupid smile. "This isn't-"

Shushed again. I narrowed my eyes, "Can I just-"

"Sshh." Apparently not. My fingertips rolled across the table, "Are you finished?"

"I know what you will say, my dear," he said smoothly, "And we are not discussing it at this moment."

"I think we need to," I insisted, "I made it clear-"

He held his index finger to his lips, "This does not need to be discussed, I assure you."

I decided to let it drop. Obviously the asshole wasn't going to let me get a word in edgewise. By the time I was finished eating, the clouds had darkened considerably. Despite that, he insisted we walk through the park before returning "home". Rain began to lightly patter on the pavement.

"It's raining," I stated the obvious, to which he replied, "Yes, I can see that."

So I scoffed, "Is there a reason you're trying to kill time?"

"I'm sorry, my dear, what was that?" He wanted me to slap him apparently. The rain began to pick up. "You heard me. If you had wanted to see me in a wet t-shirt you could have just asked."

His step stuttered, like he suddenly was like "why the hell didn't I think of that?". Aro smiled at me, "My intent was nothing of the sort, my dear."

Okay, buddy. But, he had just admitted in an indirect way that he had an ulterior motive. I stopped walking, putting my hands on my hips, "Then what was your intent?"

"This." He took my face in his hands and his lips were against mine. I shouldn't have been surprised. What caught me off guard was the feeling behind it. This was unlike any other kiss we've shared. There was no desperation, no lust. This kiss was tender, loving. I pushed him away, "Aro-"

"My dear," he didn't let me finish, "For one moment, forget about what we are. How things should be. Feel how things are. Stop fighting me."

I stared at him, my mouth hanging open like an idiot. What have we done? He reached out, brushing his fingers along my jaw. Fuck. I didn't want to stop fighting. This couldn't happen. My mind screamed at me to run. My heart begged me to give in. He put his hands on my waist and pulled me to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck as our lips met again.


A/n: Aww, see guys? Aro can be romantic. When he feels like it. xD