Sydneys POV

His lips on mine felt soft and warm and his hands on my neck gentle and tender.

We had been kissing passionate before, driven by lust and wanting, something I hadn´t thought possible I was even able to feel before I´d met Adrian.

Now all I felt was loved.

There still was some of the erotic from before hanging in the air, but now our kiss had turned into another kind of passion.

A passion that wouldn´t lead to ripping each others cloth off, at least not yet.

It was a passion that bound us together.

A promise that everything was going to be okay as long as we were together.

After a long time we´d spent kissing, he slowly pulled away and looked at me.

I smiled at him and began to redo his buttons, covering his chest more and more with every bottom that closed.

He kissed my forehead and pulled my dress back down.

His hands barley touched my skin, but yet I felt another wave of desire roll over me and by the look he was giving me, he knew.

"Sage" he said warningly a nearly pained look in his eyes but still smiling at me.

"Yea yea, I know... an actual bed and stuff" I sighed.

How come that I, Sydney Katherine Sage, was unable to control myself with him?

He chuckled and cupped my face.

"It´ll be worth it. I promise" he said playful.

Adrians POV

I´ve had a lot of encounters with girls before.

Most of them had been short and physical. There had been a time I would have done or said nearly anything to get a girl into my bed, something I wasn´t particularly proud of, but what had done a lot for my ego.

It had been easy this way. No commitments, no strings, no worries, just having fun.

Looking at me now, I barley recognized myself.

Adrian Ivashkov slowing down a girl?

If anyone had told me that a years ago, I would have laughed out loud.

I was still me, but in love.

I had thought I´d been in love before, but being with Sydney... it had been nothing in comparison with the way I felt about her

I would have done everything for this girl and not just to get her into my bed, even though I wouldn´t mind that at all.

No. I would have done everything for her because I loved her.

Because she was the first thing that came to my mind when I was waking up and the last thing when I fell asleep.

We were on the road again and this time it was me driving.

The sun had already set and Sydney had fallen asleep about half an hour ago.

Her head rested on my shoulder and her hand was in mine.

Small and warm.

It was peaceful and I allowed myself a moment to imagine me and her going on vacation, without the alchemists, without any prejudice, without a worry in the world.

We were close to our destination. A small town only about an hour away.

Sydney had mapped out our rout so that we would reach court in 3 days. It was a tight timetable, but I knew it was possible. After all Sydney of all people had planned it.

I was really looking forward to court.

Hopefully we would get some kind of normality there. At least we wouldn´t live in constant fear of the alchemists showing up any minute.

I stopped the car next to a small trailer on the camping site Sydney had chosen.

The camping site was pretty small and secluded and therefor low-priced.

I was looking forward to spent a night on something else than an air mattress, even though I definitely didn´t expect something luxurious.

Sydneys POV

Adrian put our bag on the ground next to the entrance and took a look around. I followed his gaze and coudn´t miss his disapproved look.

"Not exactly the Ritz, huh?" I asked.

"Definitely not" he replied with a wink.

"As long as I´m with you..." I said getting on my toes to give him a kiss.

He smiled and put his arm around me, closing the door behind us.

"So, what is it people do while camping? Playing board games? Roasting Marshmallows? Oh I know, a game of truth or dare on a campfire? I have some pretty good dares in mind" he said in a light playful tone a spark in his eyes.

I chuckled "I bet you do. Let me unpack first" I said.

"Are you saying we´ll play afterwords?" he asked wiggling his eyebrows.

I nudged him and started to unpack.

"You know, I still don´t get the whole unpacking thing. We´ll be here for what? Maybe 12 hours? Tops!" he said leaning against the door watching me with an amused smile.

I tilted my head to the side sticking my tongue at out him. He started laughing at my action.

Suddenly his face grew serious and I mirrored his.

"What´s wrong?" I asked.

Adrians POV

I had wanted to talk with her about it before, but there never had seemed the right time to do so.

"We had been talking about blood a few days ago, right" I began watching her.

She nodded.

"Well, it´s been a while" I said pushing my hands in my pockets.

It was true. I felt the absent of blood every second that passed. It made me feel weaker and weaker by the minute.

Sydney sat down on the small bed slash table in front of me.

"What will happen if you... you know, don´t drink blood?" she asked.

I took the two steps to her and sat next to her.

"I´ll get weaker and maybe even sick" I went on.

She took my hand and looked down.

"Can I... help?" she asked and I looked up into her eyes.

I slowly shook my head.

Thinking of drinking from her sent a wave of excitement through me, but I quickly pushed the thought away.

"Why not... I mean... I don´t know. You could..." she murmured once again looking down on our entwined hands.

"No" I interrupted her.

Her eyes met mine again "Why not?" she asked asked again, frowning.

I sighed.

"Sage listen, it´s not that I don´t want to do that" I began emphasizing the word want.

"It´s just... It would be different with you" I said.

"How?" she asked still clueless.

"It would be sexual" I finally said.

"Sexual?" she asked, her eyes widening a bit.

She looked so cute at that moment, that I had to suppress a chuckle. It was a serious topic after all.

"When you drink from someone you are attracted to..." I paused to find the right words to describe it.

"It´s intimate, erotic and yea, pretty close to sex. You don´t know what you´re talking about" she was about to argue and I went on "And you´re not going to find out" I ended

She closed her mouth and stayed quiet for a moment.

"Did you do it before?" she asked after a while.

I watched her carefully "Yes, I did" I than said.

She nodded "With Rose?" she asked.

"Yes" I said again.

"What made it okay than?" she asked.

I didn´t know how to answer that question so I just kept looking at her.

Sydneys POV

His eyes studied me curiously and from time to time he opened his mouth to respond, but he never did say anything.

He had said, that I used to be uncomfortable talking about blood, and yes, it made my insides twitch a little, but if I could help him, I definitely would.

I sighed.

"What?" he asked.

"I want to help you" I said looking at him.

He sighed as well, obviously considering it.

My fingers trailed his forearm and I began to put invisible circles on his palm and fingers, never taking my eyes of his.

"I´m good for now. We´ll sleep on it" he finally said.

I nodded "Okay".

He leaned in and kissed me.

"Now, I think a saw something like a shower back there" he said nodding to our left "Want to go first?" he asked.