My Beloved ✔️

Chapter 10

He buried his face in the crook of my neck, and I could swear I felt him smelling me. A shiver ran down my spine, but it wasn't because I was afraid he'd suddenly stick his fangs in my neck, it was because it felt good to have him this close. I closed my eyes, and kept him close.

"Then what happened?"

"I.. I have this gene. It makes me unable to control myself when I feed from a living thing, or person." His words were so calm, suddenly, like he wanted to tell me. I stiffened a little again, but I didn't move. His warm breath against my neck was so soothing. "She wasn't recognizable at all when I was done. It's... It's three hundred years ago, but I still think about it. Her blood was everywhere. Her head wasn't even fully attached to her body, and her limbs were across the room.."

He stopped. I felt him hugging me tighter, like he was afraid I'd go somewhere, but I didn't want to. He was telling me something so insanely terrifying, and yet it felt so natural to hear his confession. I took a deep breath.

"But you didn't mean for that to happen, Adrian."

"I didn't. But that doesn't mean I didn't do it."

His arms moved to hold me even tighter now, with his strong hands gripping my waist from the opposite side, and my breath hitched. I tried to think of something to say, but his arms around me, and his warm breath distracted me so much from our conversation.

I cleared my throat carefully.

"But you said you hadn't done it since, right? That's a good thing."

"How the hell can you be so understanding? I fucking killed an 18 year-old girl like yourself, and you're hugging me?" He pulled back.

His icy blue eyes stared at me, and he held his hands on my shoulders, keeping me away. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. It didn't matter how old she was, or that she was a girl, like me.

I took a few more seconds to stare into his eyes, before I could speak again.

"It was a long time ago. I know you won't hurt me, Adrian. I've been alone with you so much this past week, and nothing's happened."

He stared back at me, and I could se the disbelief in his eyes.

"I don't believe you. You're terrified of me, Devin."

"I am. But that doesn't mean I think you'll hurt me."

I really didn't think he'd ever hurt me. Not like that, anyway. If he would ever lose control and bite me, I knew he could stop before it became dangerous. Right? I looked at him, and he scooted his chair back a few inches, and he let me go. His eyes darted down to the floor again, and I somehow knew it wasn't the end of his story.

"I tried to train my control. Animals. But the only thing I can manage to not kill are tiny, little bunnies. They don't have enough blood to make me lose control before it's over.."

I looked at him, and I tried to figure out how to cheer him up. I bit my lip, and suddenly I felt like I had an idea. I smiled at Adrian, and then I got up. I grabbed his hand, and he sighed, but he followed me to the piano. I sat down in front of it, and patted the seat next to me. It was room for two. He looked at me for a second, before he sat down, and hen he looked at the keys like they were something he had been trying to avoid for decades. I smiled, and took his hand. I put it up to the keys, and he laid his fingers on them, and pressed down, on a perfect G sharp chord. I looked at him in wonder.

"Can you play?" I asked, and a faint smile showed on his lips.

"I used to play as a kid, but I haven't in years."

"Oh.. But you read sheet music, right? I head you hum my melodies a few times," I started, and I grabbed my plastic folder and flipped through some of the pages, until I found the one I was looking for. It wasn't finished, but it was something I had been working on for a while. I put it on the lid, and looked at him. He skimmed through it as I kept talking. "We could play together?"

He looked at me, slightly confused.

"I just told you the most sinister thing about me, and you want me to play piano with you?"

"It's not that hard, I think.. It's in D major, there's majorly white keys, but with C-sharp and F-sharp, in stead of C and F."

He looked at me, like I was a crazy person or something, but he nodded, and then he looked at the notes I had written again. He looked over it for quite some time, until he sent me a small smile, and I counted us in.

He was good. He played the chords, while I played the melody, and he didn't struggle with anything. I almost felt embarrassed for explaining the key to him. I had a feeling he already knew what it meant, both because of his skills, and because he could clearly read what all the dots and weird things on that paper meant.

The sound of my unfinished piece was very calming, and I smiled the whole time, until we reached the end. Well, the temporary end. I looked at him, and he smiled, too, actually. A beautiful smile that made my stomach turn. I bit my lip slightly, and he put an arm around me, and pulled me in for a sideways hug.

"Thanks.."

His deep voice vibrated through his body, and I took a deep breath.

"I said I wanted to help."

"Really? 'I told you so'?" He asked, and he pushed me away from him. His smile was still there, so I knew he was messing with me. I giggled a little.

I felt a lot better knowing I had helped cheer him up, and I also felt weirdly closer to him, too. He was a kind man, and he didn't want to hurt anyone, but he was traumatized by his past, and I kept feeling like there was something else about him that I was bound to figure out sooner or later.

Right now, however, his smile was priceless, and it was so much better than him trying to scare me away on purpose, or him denying that anything was wrong to begin with.

He hugged me again, and I felt his lips touch my forehead, as he kissed it, and I froze a little. Oh my God.. His lips were so soft. I bit my lip, and looked up at him when he pulled back, and he smiled at me still.

"I should get some work done," he said, and then he got up. I smiled at him, and watched him go back to his desk. He looked a lot cheerier than before, and I smiled softly to myself. I made a vampire feel better, and he wasn't mad at me for overstepping. I was completely sure I had overstepped, but he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to be grateful for it.

I decided to play another song, before I had to go downstairs and start counting some things again, and I chose to play through the piece he had me finish last week.

The melancholic melody rang through the office, and I closed my eyes and let my mind wander as I listened to the sound my fingers made.

I felt happy. Somehow. The big, scary vampire-Lord had shared from his dark past with me, and I helped him feel better. A point to me, please!