Cursed To Be With You

Chapter 9 (Part 3 ~ ONC #3)

Constantino frowned at me, and I shrugged. Turning to the kitchen, I felt my arm pull back. He'd reached across the table and grabbed my wrist. Slowly his fingers trailed down to my hand. He said something. I have no idea what but the expression on his face was uncertainty.

"I don't know what you're saying. Instead of watching porn maybe you should go back to your educational videos and learn how to speak to me."

Now I was scolding a vampire like he was an errant child. My hand slipped free as I turned away. With hunger pains curling through my stomach, I knew that I had to eat. Otherwise, I'd start to feel ill.

Pulling the box of cereal out of the cupboard, I turned and shrieked when I saw Constantino right behind me.

"Would you not do that!" I snapped.

My body tightened as he leaned down, I feared those fangs. The grip on the cereal box was so tight that I thought I might crush it. When his lips gently pressed to mine, I was shocked. It was not what I expected.

I stared in disbelief as he pulled back, then my mind snapped into gear.

"Okay," I sighed, putting the almost crushed box onto the counter. "I have misled you. That's my fault; I accept that. You've clearly thought that my acceptance of what you were doing was some kind of sign, maybe you have misinterpreted what I was saying because we can't communicate effectively. It's not that you're not good looking or anything, I just think that maybe this is a little too soon and you know, you're a vampire, and I'm human. How does that even work? I mean, I know how sex works," I scoffed.

I looked up at Constantino, finally shutting up for a few seconds. A wicked grin curled into his lips, and I stared.

"Good Lord," I muttered.

I'd never seen anything like it. The smile was playful and cheeky, defiantly teasing me with a temptation that was pure sin. It also didn't help that in the background, that damned video was still playing.

A knock at the door interrupted the tense moment; my senses returned.

"I am not having porn sex with you so you can forget it and turn that video off, damn it."

Pushing past him, I stalked my way out to the front door, wishing I had a moment to breathe without him watching me.

As I stood at the door, I looked back at the dining table. Constantino had turned the sound down or off; I don't know or care. It was silent, and that's all that mattered. Lifting my index finger to my lips, I hoped he understood that it meant that I wanted him to be quiet.

Opening the door, I was faced with a woman who looked professional in a scattered kind of way.

"Good morning, are you Lucy Harrington?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Professor Ingrid Beckett-Thomas."

"Oh, hey, we spoke yesterday only then it was just Beckett."

Interesting that she has now added Thomas. I knew why she was here. She was digging for information, and I wasn't going to let her take over. If I make Nelson's findings known to the public, I will credit him for everything whereas I knew that she'd stick her name onto every single document or picture.

Ingrid offered an uneasy smile.

"It's always been Beckett-Thomas, my husband and I were,"

"Divorced, I know. He told me."

She paused for a moment and then smiled again.

"Of course. We were considering reuniting though."

"He also told me that the two of you haven't been on the best of terms."

"It's not the case."

"You told me to tell him to go to hell. I did tell him that, just like you asked. He wasn't surprised, and he called you a drama-creating old sea hag.

She stared at me.

"How can I help?"

"I came to see if he gave you anything that the executors of the estate would,"

"Professor," I interrupted. "I'm just the campsite coordinator, and I only called you to help out because the dig co-ordinator was busy. If you're looking for anything, I'd suggest that you ask Hannah, but my understanding is that she's in the hospital too, maybe even dead. I don't have anything that belonged to Nelson because the government came in and took over without warning. You know, the site that was shut down due to the deadly infection."

I purposefully coughed, and she stepped back.

"I'm not supposed to be in contact with the public so you'll have to put your name onto the list of people that have come in contact with someone who is in quarantine. I'm sure as a seasoned professional; you know who to call."

Then I closed the door in her face.