You’re not scared.”
Why wasn’t I?
Lucien’s eyes, still a bright scarlet, bored into mine. His gaze flitted from my eyes, to my lips, all the way down to my exposed neck, and back up. My heart was hammering in my chest, my breath caught in my throat, but even as I stood there, back against a wall and chest a mere breath away from a man with impossibly red eyes, I wasn’t scared. No, if I were being honest with myself, fear was the last thing on my mind. Instead, all I could think about was how beautiful Lucien was.
“This is a surprise.” He chuckled, the movement pushing him even closer to me. He brought his hand down from the wall above me, placing it gently on my hip. The touch sent a jolt of electricity through my veins, and I almost begged for more. What the hell was wrong with me?
“A good one, I hope,” I whispered.
“A great one.” Lucien smiled, and a soft gasp escaped me as I finally noticed something else about him. I was too distracted by his eyes, I failed to see the fangs poking from behind his lips. They were pearly white, and even without touching them I could tell that they were incredibly sharp.
“Why aren’t you scared, little fox?” He asked.
“I don’t know.” It was all I could come up with, but it was the truth. I didn’t know why I was so calm about the fact that my neighbor really was a vampire. I had spent months speculating, stalking, and obsessing over him, the revelation that I wasn’t delusional like my friends had suggested only brought me comfort, not fear. I wanted to know more, I wanted to ask him a million and one questions, I wanted to feel his fangs on my skin, but one thing felt more pressing at the moment. “What’s with the nickname?”
Lucien laughed, the sound booming around the silent apartment. His thumb caressed my cheek one more time, his eyes tracing the freckles on my face.
“I didn’t know your name, but the red hair, green eyes, and these beautiful freckles reminded me of a fox.”
“huh,” I hummed. “Most people say I look like a deer.”
Lucien shook his head. “Deers are prey. You, little fox, are far from it.” His words sent a shiver down my spine. I never thought of myself as prey before, but the night of my birthday party had changed a lot about me. I had spent the last couple of weeks over-thinking every detail about the attack, what I could have done to avoid it, what I should have seen or felt. I worried myself into a depressive slump that only started lifting with my new boxing sessions. So having someone else validate me, see me as something more than a sitting duck, felt invigorating.
“Are you going to kill me now?” The question left my lips before I could hold it back, the thought just springing into my head as I stared at Lucien’s fangs. It made sense, he invited me into his apartment, he revealed his secret, he had been staring at my neck this whole time, it didn’t take a genius to come to the most obvious conclusion. A little pang of fear reared its ugly head through the haze of euphoria his touch drowned me in, yet I couldn’t bring myself to move. Somehow, standing in the embrace of this apex predator, I had never felt more safe.
“I would never hurt you, Nova.” His tone was firm, his words direct, and as if to assure me even further, he retracted his fangs. His eyes returned to their normal onyx shade, and within a few seconds he went from a vampire back to the hot neighbor I had been losing my mind over.
“You wouldn’t?” I asked, my hand still on his chest. I noticed, albeit a bit too late now, that he didn’t have a heartbeat.
“No,” he said, his thumb now stroking my lower lip gently. “I’ve spent far too long waiting for you, I would never let anyone take you away from me.”
YOU ARE READING
Fated
Fantasy"Lucien kissed me as if he was starving, as if he was desperate, as if he was a sinner, and my lips held the keys to his salvation. His hands snaked under his coat, exploring my body like he was on a mission, like my skin had the answer to all of hi...
