Mark of the Moon

Chapter 21 - Taking the Heat

Chapter 21: Taking the Heat 

  There was no difference between having my eyes closed or open-either way it was still dark. That was the first thing I noticed when I woke up. The second would have had to be the cold chilly air escaping from the cracked open window, the faint outline of the curtain fluttering in the breeze. But surprisingly I was warm despite the air in the room, and that led to the third discovery. Tristan was sleeping soundly beside me, arm around my waist as we both slept on our sides. 

  My eyes went from that drowsy stage to wide awake in a milli-seconds time after that last realization. I was pulled tight against him, my bare back pressed against his chest.

  What had I done?

  My mind flitted back to the last time I was conscious, and it came up like a blur, fragments of my memory coming back to me. The kissing, my hands tangled in his hair, and falling back against the bed.

  Oh god, what had I done?

  A soft snore escaped his lips, right into my ear, making me stay still and silent, trying to control my increasingly rapid breath. I couldn't have done something like this, could I? And with Tristan no less...? But the way his arm was draped over me sent chills up my spine, and I couldn't even feel the breeze at this point.

  But this, even though as comfortable as it was, had my mind freaking out and I carefully slipped out from under his grasp on my waist. Maybe being away for a minute would clear my mine, and I glanced at his sleeping form, black hair sexily covering his eyes. Oh, yes it would most definitely help.

  I tip-toed to the bathroom and flicked on the light after shutting the door soundly. The mirror blared back at me, the reflection of a girl whose hair was disarrayed and messed up as if she'd been messing around all night.... oh yeah. I still had a tank top on, thank goodness, but a reddened spot attracted my attention. My hair was just long enough to cover the inflamed spot on my neck and I gently brushed my hair away from it, fearing what lay beneath.

  I gasped audibly, so loud that I had to cover my mouth with my other hand. There on my neck was the perfect imprint of a set of teeth, bitten into my skin softly, but enough that it would definitely be permanent.

  Tristan had bit me.

  The mere thought of it was kind of incredulous really, but as I brushed my fingers across it, there wasn't a ridge in my skin, as if it was still smooth and un-marked. As if it'd always been there. I took a deep shuddering breath and let my hair fall back as I leaned against the counter, using my hands for support to keep me from going headfirst into the sink. There was a clock in the corner of the bathroom and it silently blinked that it was just past One.

  What time had we come home? I couldn't remember, and just trying to give me a headache that sent my head throbbing, trying to remember what happened wasn't a good idea.

  But not knowing what time it was then gave me no grasp on how long we'd been up here doing god knows what. I glanced to the bottom of the door, seeing that it was still dark in the room, and if I listened hard enough I would probably be able to hear Tristan's soft snore. No sounds came from downstairs, as if the world was silent to let me stand there in its silence.

  I groaned and dropped my head, the reddish brunette hair of mine flopping over my face like a curtain. There was no point in over thinking this at the moment, it was late and I was still tired, judging by the was I yawned a couple times without knowing it.

  So forcing myself by pure will power and need to get back to sleep, I flicked the bathroom light off and opened the door slowly. The room was still dark and the breeze actually felt surprisingly good, was it slightly warmer than I remembered? I couldn't tell as I ran a hand threw my hair before shuffling over to the window. About to close the window a bit more than it was I paused at the sound of a howl piercing through the night.