It was my turn to stare at him.
He had flipped the pages of the book in his hands several times already, his eyes running over the lines at an exaggeratedly human pace. His eyes never left it, but there was the tiniest hint of a self-satisfied smirk resting on his lips.
The tickle of the sea salt in my nose and the breeze off the ocean was almost strong enough to distract Alec from my scent. Or so he claimed. We'd made a mutual decision not to go back downstairs until everything calmed down. It was quiet and the sun was hiding behind the clouds, so after I re-wrapped my hand, ignoring the guilty, puppy dog look on Alec as I did, we ended up on the balcony off of the guest room.
I'd quickly abandoned my own version of a book - the journal, opting instead to lean against the railing and look out across the water. I'd missed being able to exist outside. But the ocean hardly held my attention much longer as it eventually drifted to the smug vampire behind me, and now I couldn't look anywhere else.
I sighed dramatically as he wove a hand through his hair, combing through silky locks with the artful shine of an obsidian rock. Locks just thick enough to wrap around a finger before falling back to caress the nape of his neck. It was more tousled than he usually wore it and I attributed this to his half rumble in the woods. Though I was more curious as to why he hadn't bothered to fix it, because he'd changed clothing and might as well have adjusted the strands out of place on his head. Instead, he'd left them alone and I quite preferred it, if I was being honest.
Alec peeked up at me, and the corner of his lips turned up into a total shit-eating grin as he leaned back in his chair.
"See something you like?"
I dismissed his statement, rolling my eyes at the shamelessness he exhibited and finally looking away. Though a part of his response pleased me, as it was a break from his stoic persona. He chuckled, the sound setting fire to my nerves and surely notifying my heart of his behaviour. His arrogance had always been infuriating, only now I was able to pick out the emotion that spread just as passionately as the annoyance did: a rapturous, frenzied fervour. The acknowledgement only made me glare harder into the horizon.
In a honeyed voice, he pressed on, "is that a yes, tesoro?" [darling]
I huffed, turning my back on him completely. "Not a chance."
I sensed him before he touched me. A tender hold appearing on either side of my waist as his arms overlapped to encompass my midsection. I leaned into the safety of his embrace as he pulled me closer, not willing to forgo this feeling for the half-hearted chest joined the rise and fall of my own, synchronizing the pace even if he wasn't truly breathing. The light pressure of his chin on my shoulder came next and he nuzzled the bridge of his nose into the crook of my neck. His lips brushed over the skin behind my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. I could feel the prideful laughter reverberate in his chest.
It was still new, the open and bashful desire to feel the skin, the presence of each other. Something we were stalling to admit, still too timid to say it aloud, but now all too willing to engage in the behaviours. Without the full discussion.
I turned in his arms, finding his face only inches from though I knew he was behind me, I didn't expect us to be quite so close. My heart trembled — or was it my knees that were losing their balance in anticipation of what was to come. As if he knew, he moved closer to me. His chest pressed to mine and he placed his hand on my back, supporting my body on the balcony's railing and protecting me from the metal.
Those same, oh so familiar butterflies were fluttering at a pace that nearly made me nauseous. And yet, it was intoxicating. His eyes searched mine before dropping to my lips. I wet them as if second nature, struggling to employ the patience he seemed to have mastered. I missed the smoothness of his lips, the taste of his tongue, and the claim he had on me every time we touched. I craved the spark, the connection, the completeness that came with it.
Alec tilted his head, and his lips ghosted over mine as if waiting for me to stop him. My eyelids followed his lead, fluttering closed. He hovered above me, and I worried he might change his mind before he secured his mouth firmly against mine.
This was different from any moment we'd shared before. It was the exhilaration of firsts, the melting of a sweet candy on the tongue. It was new and yet utterly familiar, like a dream of a past life. A rose that had willingly given its thorns for a chance at a moment like this. His lips were velvet, delicate as they moved with mine. Eager and tender, desperate to prolong the feeling of my lips connected with his. It was patience, well worth the wait.
We parted gradually and my breath reappeared like a lost thought. I bit my bottom lip, knowing that if I opened my eyes it was over. I wanted to cherish the euphoric wave for as long as I could. His hand held me tight to him and he made no indication of letting any more space separate our bodies. His lips barely brushed mine once more before he breathed out in a husky voice,"tutto ciò che sono è tuo." [all that I am is yours]. I swallowed, the words sounding beautiful but ultimately lost to me.
His eyes swept up to coax mine open with his, his grip gently squeezing my side.
"Ditto," I said, a grin spreading across my face. Alec watched me with amusement as I pulled away, using the opportunity to claim his abandoned chair.
I sat on the edge of the seat and reached for his sleeves. He moved closer, letting me roll them up to just below his elbow. His skin was soft despite the marble similarities that defined his exposed forearms, and I wasn't able to explain why, but the sight sent a tinge of something unfamiliar to my raised his eyebrows, but continued to regard me with a bemused expression as I silently asked for his other arm. When I was satisfied with the adjustment, he took my place at the railing.
A shout from downstairs drew my attention away from him. "They are playing video games," Alec filled me in. I laughed, scooting back in the oversized chair and leaning into it.
"Who's winning?"
He scowled. "The brute."
I squinted, pretending to scrutinise him."Okay, buzzkill. You're not in Volterra anymore." His full brows lifted in offense to the dig. "Being around the Cullens is the perfect excuse to loosen up. They're so…light." Volterra was plenty 'light', but the Cullens were more open about the things that appealed to them.
He scowled. "If I were to even consider such a notion, and they breathed a word of it to another coven, I would lose all credibility in our world." I snorted. "Something to say, have you?"
"Who would believe them?" I started off humorously. "Even if another vamp did think to challenge you, your gift is a fearful deterrent enough." He turned to look out over the water, but I didn't pick up on the change and continued teasingly, "you can take my word for it."
My joking tone did nothing to lessen Alec's reaction, one I did not expect. His fists clenched and the restriction echoed throughout the rest of his body. His forearms, now visible to me, and his shoulders flexed, tensing in response to my words. I frowned, standing, but only taking a small step towards him.
"Alec?" I'd hardly said his name before he reached out for me. His arm wrapped around my waist and with a quick tug, his lips abruptly captured mine in a hard kiss. He pulled away almost immediately, leaving my head spinning to question if it had happened at all. He released me, but I refused, collecting myself and taking his face in my hands. Alec placed a hand over mine and took a deep breath before lifting his head.
His expression hardened and the intensity in his eyes was enough to devour any humour I'd previously exhibited. If his eyes were telling the truth, he should have appeared broken, distraught even and I had to question what I believed was my talent for deciphering Alec. But it was as if he'd been overtaken by his formal persona. And I was clueless as to why.
I kept his focus, willing the serenity of our location to him, and hoping it made a difference. His eyelashes kissed his cheek, shut tight, and I worried that he'd closed himself off. However, as he opened them, his muscles relaxed little by little, but he clenched his jaw as he took in my expression. His hands found their place on my hips and his features finally softened, but the frustration was evident in the lines on his forehead and the piercing nature of his gaze.
There was no need to prompt him for an explanation, as he offered one right away. "My sister has never experienced the destructive nature of my gift, nor have I endured hers." I wished I could be surprised by this. And though I thought I'd experienced Jane's gift, I had certainly experienced his. If he had any idea of what his gift could do — which he did — I doubted any amount of anger towards his sister would trigger an attack with his power. A position that no doubt went both ways, and Alec was only confirming it. "It is one of my deepest regrets that you cannot share this claim…"
My lips parted with his confession, and the flood of pain he'd hidden previously now dominated his features. My hands dropped to his chest, desperate to fight back his demons. "Alec, I was only joking. It doesn't matter to me."
"It should." His words were uttered with a deep self-loathing. My chest constricted, a mimicking emotion filling up the space between my lungs and my veins. I had suspicions, but I would never have believed his gift could cause the reaction I was witnessing. Jane loved her gift. Alec was less blatant about it, but the grandiosity whenever he used it had convinced me that he appreciated his gift more than not. But perhaps I'd just taken the word of observers, as he had never spoken about his power to me.
Still, it wasn't as if he'd used it on me for fun. "You were following an order. I know that now…"
"An order that would not have been given had I not been so reckless." My fingers began to twist in the fabric of his shirt, my concern growing.
"What do you mean?"
He paused for a minute, and it reminded me that we were alone, but we could still be heard as clear as day. Alec chose his words carefully, though his vulnerability was unavoidable. "Aro knew what it would have meant to me for you to be untouched by something as terrible as what Jane and I can do."
"Then, why—"
"I spilled blood in Volterra." He brushed the wisps of hair off my face, the wind still playing gleefully in the air around us. "We are fortunate it is all the Masters took from us." He reached for my hand, bringing it to his lips, returning to his preferred role of protector, comforter.
I didn't realise why until my voice came out in a weaker whisper than I expected. He was always one step ahead of me. "Is that why I'm still human?"
He hummed before letting out an empty, out of place laugh. "Aro courted Sulpicia when she was human and Marcus with his mate." Didyme. "Perhaps it is a rare show of sentiment." Rare indeed. What were they playing at? On the surface, it appeared that the Masters wished to give Alec the same opportunity and the experience of falling for his mate that they had had. A kind of grooming for their prized possession. Or were we an experiment? A test to challenge their Prince? Whether their intentions were pure or wicked, I questioned if they initially considered that even if Alec proved himself worthy, I might not pass their test. That I would survive their game, only to succumb to the venom they would inject into my veins.
I met Alec's eyes, and I swear, at that moment, I was ready to tell him. He had the right to know that his sister's gift was useless in improving my chances of survival. He deserved to prepare himself for the worst case scenario, which was looking a lot more like the only scenario. My tongue prepared to form the words to do so. But I couldn't.
My hesitance was not because I didn't want to spend forever with him. It was that I could not fathom forever as a tangible option. Planning for the future – any future was more than a foreign concept to me.
My entire world was stuck from the moment I was in this pervasive pattern of everyday activities going wrong and hospital trips after every minuscule fall. The future was for someone who knew they had one. I risked a funeral the first time I tried riding a bike and took a fall on the pavement. Tasks as simple as baking a cake could result in a 3rd-degree burn, and I nearly chewed my lip in half before I taught myself to recognize the differences in the pressure of my teeth.
It was rare that an individual with a congenital insensitivity to pain would ever celebrate their twenty-fifth birthday. This countdown hung over my life like a storm cloud from the moment I was born. If only I'd known it was waiting for me to live amongst a castle of vampires till it ran out. Whether Jane's gift worked or not, it wasn't as if I was giving up a lifetime. 10 years at the most. How many hospital visits and broken bones did I have left in me to even hope I'd last that long?
I was well aware of how fragile my life was, aware of what could guarantee the end of it. That was how I went about every single day. But this also meant that I was ready to live. And perhaps that was what I believed the Volturi had taken from me.
But as I looked at Alec, I realized that, at the same time, it was what the Volturi were attempting to give me.
Inside the room, his phone beeped. He flashed away and back, squeezing my hand upon his return.
He answered with a clear tone. "Caius."
I let go of his hand, slipping away from him. Alec frowned sadly at me, but I left him to his duties. He wouldn't have let me listen in anyways. Not if it was any bit interesting.
If Emmett was winning his video games, I assumed the household had gone back to normal. At least, I hoped it would remain that way if I joined them downstairs.
I stopped at the bottom of the stairs to see Emmett and Jasper in a heated game of some superhero game. I stood in the hall, gripping the bannister for a self-inflicted awkward moment before my name was called. I turned to see Esme in the room diagonal. She raised a paintbrush.
"Would you like to join me?"
I nodded gratefully, accepting the brush from her cold hands. Newspapers covered the floor as protection from the paint cans and wet walls. Not that vampires really needed extra care. Though I soon realized, it might have been set in preparation for me.
Esme smiled as if she could see my thought process.
"Alec mentioned that you enjoyed painting."
I did a double take, wondering how on earth they had gotten on the topic. "He did?"
Her smile brightened. "Why don't you take that wall? You can paint whatever you like."
I tilted my head, taking in the wall across from the window. "The whole wall? You don't want another solid colour?"
"With an artist like you on hand?" Her youthful teasing was distinctly parental, but it didn't bother me. Actually, I kind of appreciated her nature.
Despite her reassurance, I debated with a shy request, "I need a picture to base it off of."
A gust of wind signalled the prompt arrival of Alice, who held out a printed piece of paper tucked inside a cookbook. "Here." She pointed to the image on the loose leaf and waited patiently for me to assess it while also tilting it away from Esme's curious observance. "So? It'll be a surprise."
I was nervous before I recognized the painting and I looked back up. Alice winked, clearly already aware of my answer. "Okay," I agreed with a laugh. She nearly squealed with delight before disappearing as quickly as she came, leaving the cookbook in my arms.
I closed the book on the looseleaf and placed it in front of the wall. I opted for a spare pencil, replacing it with the paintbrush, to at least outline my sketch - subtly, to keep Alice's surprise a secret. Painting a mural was much different from using a canvas, especially for the specific image I'd been asked to re-create. I was extraordinarily curious as to the significance of the painting, driven by Alice's desire to keep it secret. But she'd been so excited and I was eager to bring more than drama to the family that had taken us in.
It wasn't until I'd changed to using actual paint that Esme attempted to start a conversation.
"Who taught you how to paint, Saffiya?" The wall was still empty, and her faith in Alec's claim was astounding to me.
I bit my lip, answering before she could pick up on my doubt. "My father."
"Was he an artist?"
Well… "Of sorts." He left most of the actual creation of the art to me towards the end.
In a gentle redirect, Esme prompted me again. "And how are you liking Volterra?"
"It's been..." I wanted to keep the conversation light. "The Volturi have the most amazing collection of art and books I've ever seen, so I've spent a lot of time staring at walls and reading."
To my relief, she laughed and didn't ask for any more detail. "Carlisle has said the same."
I borrowed the mini ladder in the middle of the room and carried it over just as we gained a guest.
Alice returned, heading straight to the windowseat across from my wall and smiling widely as I acknowledged her.
In another indication of perfect timing from Alice, Emmett poked his head in the doorway. His face lit up when he saw me and I was slightly worried that he had nefarious intentions. It seemed doubtful, as he hadn't given me any reason to believe he would – despite his scuffle with Alec only hours ago. He wasn't angry with me when I asked him questions upon their return either. I'm not sure whether it was Jasper's influence or my own reasoning that changed my mind, however, because the blond followed Emmett into the room. This family certainly had a habit of appearing wherever the conversation was – no matter the size of the room, it seemed.
He reached out for a paintbrush, but Esme gently smacked his hand away. The smile remained as he posted up on an unpainted wall. Jasper went to join Alice at the window and I realized this would be more than idle chatter.
Still, I only gave them a third of my attention, bringing a dark blue to outline the backdrop.
"Whatcha making?"
I threw him a smirk, tilting my head towards the window. "Ask Alice."
Alice beamed, "it's a surprise!" I could hear the deep laughter from Jasper at his wife's antics and a moan of disdain from Emmett. I got the sense this was quite common for the coven. They may be small, but they seemed to keep entertained with domestic life.
A flash of blonde alerted men to Rosalie's arrival, but I was too nervous to meet her eyes. She had been livid with Alec and I was far from ready to deal with it. She certainly seemed the type to hold a grudge and as far as I was concerned, Alec could take the brunt of arrival did make the room feel even smaller, Emmett's presence already taking up a hefty amount of space. But it was more cozy than cramped – despite the fact that it was devoid of anything but paint cans.
"So, kiddo." Emmett's natural smirk curved up with mischievous intent. "What happened to your hand?" He really was quite curious, like a pestering 2-year-old.
"Eh." I waved it off, ironically with the injured hand. "Alec." I casually answered, as if just the name supplied all the answers they'd need and I continued brushing small paint strokes on the wall.
There was a gasp. "He broke your wrist?" My hand jumped at the implication and I dropped the paintbrush, letting it splatter on the floor. Thank god they'd put the newspaper down.
"Oh my goodness – No. I hit him." I emphasized, absolving Alec of associated blame.
Emmett deadpanned, "you're kidding."
"- why on earth would you do that?"
The rest were quiet and the temperature in the room was rising purely on emotion. Esme's face was so full of concern I almost felt guilty for answering the question in the first place. I knew how the Cullens felt about Alec, and dread filled me in fear that I'd made the tense relationship even worse. But, I hesitated to answer. Not wanting to outright lie to them but trying to figure out how to explain the idiotic move.
"I kissed her." My jaw dropped and I whipped my head to the source of the voice.
Alec was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed with a sly smirk. Outside of Prosper, no one but us knew precisely what had caused my minor accident. I was absolutely floored that Alec offered up the information in the first place, let alone to a group he'd hardly said a few non-threatening words around. It was brazen, un-calculated, antithetical to the mask he'd presented to them.
It didn't exactly absolve him of blame either. But, it turned out to be the perfect ice breaker.
Emmett's booming laughter almost shook the house, triggering an immediate release as everyone seemed to transition into a more relaxed atmosphere. I rubbed my head in embarrassment and a hint of annoyance. Emmett patted my head, despite the extra height provided by the ladder, and ignored the icy glare Alec sent him.
"Feisty little rugrat!" Emmett teased with an obnoxious guffaw. I pushed his shoulder in jest but it hardly phased him.
"Climbin' out of car windows, takin' on supernatural creatures." Jasper tossed up, "sound like anyone we know?"
"Not in the slightest." Rosalie sneered at Jasper, who held his hands up in submission. He winked at me when she'd turned away.
But not a moment later, his face dropped into a grimace and his eyes sought the cause.
"Alec." The room stopped, indicative of a shared insecurity that still lingered on the lack of trust. Jasper was skeptic, but asked, "what is it?"
Crimson eyes fell upon me and I stepped down from the ladder, curiosity rising. Which was probably exactly what Alec wished to avoid. "I have news from Volterra," he admitted.
Alec's gaze left mine and he turned his chin to the side, revealing the missing Cullen standing behind him with a grim expression.
"There's been an attack."
~•~•~•~
Hello friends! Thank you so much for reviewing, favouriting, and reading! 4 Chapters left...strap in and hang on tight.
LoveFiction2022: Yes, Alec and Emmett's 'fight' will come up again, but only in relation to the twin's backstory
KirikaAndo: Thank you for such a beautiful compliment. I agree, their communication is horrendous but hopefully they can figure it out ;)
Guest: Vou tentar usar o google tradutor, então espero que funcione! Muito obrigado pelas suas amáveis palavras. Espero que você não tenha se machucado no vidro, mas agradeço a emoção! Eu não sabia que grupos de fanfics existiam, muito menos alguém falando sobre a minha história. Isso é muito legal, estou honrado.
As a side note, I have an unusual request. It feels a bit odd to ask and I know it's a long shot, but if you would be interested in reading a chapter early (not done just yet), I really need a fresh pair of eyes for the next chapter. You won't be an editor or anything majorly consuming, it's just letting me know your thoughts, so if you are open to doing this, please PM me. I would really appreciate your time.
Rock n' Roll,
Ro
