Song of the Forbidden {A Steamy Paranormal Romance}

Chapter 4: Cat's Out of the Bag

"A-alright," Carmen began, settling in with him spooning her from behind. At the moment, Phoenix couldn't see her face, but he could still sense that bitter edge of fear rising into the air. His stomach gave the slightest of growls at that scent, once again not helping the situation. Carmen continued in a light whisper, "So, am I going to become a vampire now?"

"No," Phoenix said firmly. "If everyone we made prey turned into one of us, we would be overrun. Turning someone is a special process, Carmen."

"Alright. Am I going to become some sort of s-slave or thrall, then?" the woman questioned, giving a light shiver. Phoenix gave a pause that lasted a second too long before clearing his throat.

"No, not that either," he said in a soft tone, hesitating before attempting to run his claws through her hair reassuringly. She allowed this and, in fact, relaxed as he did so.

"Why did you hesitate there?" she asked in a very concerned tone.

"Oh, it is nothing. Just a thought that isn't appropriate for the topic at hand, forgive me," Phoenix stammered, blush tinging his cheeks.

"Well, now you h-have to tell me," the woman said, turning her body to face him. She gave him a serious stare-down, raising one of her brows. Phoenix knew he could snap her neck in an instant if she attacked him, but frankly, her fierce look caused even him to feel a little on edge.

What a brave woman, indeed.

In a sheepish tone did he say, "... My answer to your previous question could also have been 'only if you want to be'. As I said, not appropriate. I'm sorry." Phoenix glanced away from her gaze, flushing even further. Some strands of his black hair fell into his face, somehow turning him even more handsome to Carmen.

The woman remained silent for a moment before bursting out into that chiming laughter. Shocked, Phoenix looked back down at her, tilting his head. Admittedly, he looked like a confused puppy now, even with those terrifying, glowing red eyes. Carmen nudged his shoulder weakly with her hand, shaking her head. "You're sly even when in a situation like t-this. Alright, alright. I'll t-take that into consideration."

"Really?" the vampire muttered, completely taken aback by this. Not that he'd protest by any means to such a notion, of course. He just, well, was used to humans running screaming from him. He'd had to wipe their memories with his magic so many times before. Those that didn't forget because of magic immunity, well, had to meet a rather grisly end and vanish from the planet.

Pity.

He really didn't want to have to do that to Carmen. In fact, Phoenix realized he'd not be able to do so.

"M-maybe," Carmen chuckled, but then she grew serious again. "So, what other monsters t-that go bump in the night e-exist then? And w-what are we gonna do about this big issue? Please d-don't tell me you have to kill me for this. I wasn't t-the one that had any idea. Not like I have a-anyone to tell anyway, nor would a-anyone would believe me."

"No," Phoenix replied quickly, fiercely shaking his head. "I will not kill you, Carmen. This is going to sound rather cliché, but you're someone I likely can't be rid of, anyway." The vampire yawned, flashing his fangs and causing Carmen to shudder. He closed his mouth and looked back down at her, licking his lips shyly and glancing away. "There are a very many numbers of monsters that wander the world, of which humans know nothing about, of course. And before you ask specifically, yes, werewolves exist."

"Well shit," Carmen commented, rubbing at her forehead and reeling at this new knowledge. She relaxed into her pillow and sighed, reaching up to run her fingers over the bite marks on her neck. She laid there in silence for a few moments before glancing up at the concerned vampire. "Do you sparkle?"

That released the slight bit of tension roiling through Phoenix's muscles as he threw back his head and laughed, clutching his chest with one of his arms and closing his eyes. Carmen laughed right along with him until he could catch his breath for a response.

"No, I don't sparkle unless you toss glitter on my skin. My kind does burn in the sun, though not instantly. We are just more prone to sun damage. Call it a sensitivity. And no, none of us are 'vegetarians' either." He cringed and shuddered, his red eyes flashing with disgust. "Even if animal blood was considered vegetarian, yuck. At most we can drink from bags of blood, but dining from the source is so much better and provides more power," Phoenix explained, the thought of gorging upon her blood fresh in his mind and causing him to growl just slightly.

Of course, he didn't realize what he was doing until Carmen shuddered again and lowered herself before him shyly. "Oh dear, I'm sorry," Phoenix said again, embarrassed. He was a predator of the night, and yet here he was, acting like some sort of pansy. Perhaps it was because Carmen intrigued him, and he sincerely didn't want to chase her off.