Chapter 3
I was jarred back to reality by someone violently shaking me back and forth. I blinked my blurry eyes back into focus and realized the person standing before me was Kieran.
"What? What are you doing here?" I asked stupidly, still half asleep. I was never known for the ability to function properly in the morning.
Kieran took my arm in a harsh grip and started to propel me quickly away from where we had been. I looked around questioningly; how had I gotten here? We were in the 3rd corridor on the 3rd floor- a row of rooms specifically meant for the guests that Kieran and Adham were currently entertaining. Right now there weren't too many vampires staying there, and it was likely that they were just getting to sleep after their previous night's hunt. But nevertheless, none would have turned down the chance for witch's blood, especially if it had just walked so willingly into their living space.
"Sleepwalking again, Kalantha," Kieran murmured, his grip loosening on my arm just a little bit as we got further away from the sleeping vampires. "That's the 3rd time this week that I've found you in the 3rd floor corridor. Don't you realize how dangerous that is?" By now we had reached his room, which he unlocked to let both of us in. Unlike many vampires, Kieran's room wasn't like entering a deep abyss of empty darkness. Although the walls were painted a navy blue, the shade of water just before a storm, the black silk curtains were pulled back to allow the early morning sunlight to spill across the floor. Kieran went and stood by the open window, running his hand through his thick mop of dirty blonde hair, sighing exasperatedly. He turned to face me, his green eyes, so dark that they looked black, were unreadable at the moment.
"Have you thought about my offer?" He asked in a husky voice. He was referring to his offer of branding me, to protect me from the other vampires. The brand of Kieran, a single teardrop tattooed underneath the outer corner of the right eye, would mark me as his. No other vampire would dare touch a creature with Kieran's mark. Although he had recently earned a reputation of being a human lover, he was still one of the most well known and feared vampires in the area.
I met his eyes. "I have thought, and my answer remains." Before I could contain it, a thought slipped forward. Never would I willingly submit to being branded by a vampire. My family would never accept me back home if I did.
A sardonic smile slid onto Kieran's face. He had obviously caught that thought. "How do you know you will ever return?" He materialized near me and had me bent back into his arms in a feeding position before I had a chance to react. His face hovered inches over my neck as he entangled one hand in my hair, supporting my body in this awkward position with his other hand around my waist.
"You go only if I allow it," he whispered and lowered his mouth to my neck. He merely kissed the skin where my vein was visibly pulsing blood throughout my body and straightened, releasing me.
"I hate it when you do that," I said bitterly, dusting off an invisible speck of dirt and straightening my clothes.
His laugh echoed throughout the air as he disappeared. Kieran would also occasionally remind me that I was his to command, that he could do anything he pleased with me.
In the beginning, his disappearing into thin air had unnerved me very much, but I was accustomed to it by now. Knowing that certain vampires could materialize and disappear whenever they wanted to was different than actually seeing one do it.
I stood where I was for a moment more and then opened the door adjoining our rooms and entered my room to get dressed for the day.
I was jarred back to reality by someone violently shaking me back and forth. I blinked my blurry eyes back into focus and realized the person standing before me was Kieran.
"What? What are you doing here?" I asked stupidly, still half asleep. I was never known for the ability to function properly in the morning.
Kieran took my arm in a harsh grip and started to propel me quickly away from where we had been. I looked around questioningly; how had I gotten here? We were in the 3rd corridor on the 3rd floor- a row of rooms specifically meant for the guests that Kieran and Adham were currently entertaining. Right now there weren't too many vampires staying there, and it was likely that they were just getting to sleep after their previous night's hunt. But nevertheless, none would have turned down the chance for witch's blood, especially if it had just walked so willingly into their living space.
"Sleepwalking again, Kalantha," Kieran murmured, his grip loosening on my arm just a little bit as we got further away from the sleeping vampires. "That's the 3rd time this week that I've found you in the 3rd floor corridor. Don't you realize how dangerous that is?" By now we had reached his room, which he unlocked to let both of us in. Unlike many vampires, Kieran's room wasn't like entering a deep abyss of empty darkness. Although the walls were painted a navy blue, the shade of water just before a storm, the black silk curtains were pulled back to allow the early morning sunlight to spill across the floor. Kieran went and stood by the open window, running his hand through his thick mop of dirty blonde hair, sighing exasperatedly. He turned to face me, his green eyes, so dark that they looked black, were unreadable at the moment.
"Have you thought about my offer?" He asked in a husky voice. He was referring to his offer of branding me, to protect me from the other vampires. The brand of Kieran, a single teardrop tattooed underneath the outer corner of the right eye, would mark me as his. No other vampire would dare touch a creature with Kieran's mark. Although he had recently earned a reputation of being a human lover, he was still one of the most well known and feared vampires in the area.
I met his eyes. "I have thought, and my answer remains." Before I could contain it, a thought slipped forward. Never would I willingly submit to being branded by a vampire. My family would never accept me back home if I did.
A sardonic smile slid onto Kieran's face. He had obviously caught that thought. "How do you know you will ever return?" He materialized near me and had me bent back into his arms in a feeding position before I had a chance to react. His face hovered inches over my neck as he entangled one hand in my hair, supporting my body in this awkward position with his other hand around my waist.
"You go only if I allow it," he whispered and lowered his mouth to my neck. He merely kissed the skin where my vein was visibly pulsing blood throughout my body and straightened, releasing me.
"I hate it when you do that," I said bitterly, dusting off an invisible speck of dirt and straightening my clothes.
His laugh echoed throughout the air as he disappeared. Kieran would also occasionally remind me that I was his to command, that he could do anything he pleased with me.
In the beginning, his disappearing into thin air had unnerved me very much, but I was accustomed to it by now. Knowing that certain vampires could materialize and disappear whenever they wanted to was different than actually seeing one do it.
I stood where I was for a moment more and then opened the door adjoining our rooms and entered my room to get dressed for the day.