She was laying on her side, her head rested on her hand, her hair flowing down her nightgown, her eyes gliding over the lines of Cicero. Though she had been offered a chamber closer to where her family was sleeping, she'd chosen to stay in Demetri's room. She'd finally gotten used to the room and the thought alone of having to move all of her clothes to another room gave her a headache. Besides, it was probably the only way for her to spend time with Demetri without her family staring and glaring and interfering.
As soon as she heard the doors to his chambers open, she turned her head around, Cicero vanishing to the back of her head. She smiled as soon as her eyes fell on the vampire, his eyes fiery red. "Hey."
"I feel like I haven't seen you in days," Demetri muttered as he threw his cloak on one of the setteés. She followed his movements carefully, especially as he laid down on the bed, still an appropriate distance between them. She felt her cheeks heat up under his stare. "You look beautiful."
"Don't be ridiculous," she said as she turned her back on him to close the book and put it on the nightstand. She rolled around, both to close at least some of the distance and so she could stare at him. Completely ignoring his compliment, one that made her heart flutter with joy, she continued. "You were only gone for a day and a half and well, by the time I came back to the castle with Nessie, two days were gone."
"Like I said," he said, smirking. "For days."
"Drama queen," Cecilia muttered, rolling her eyes. "How did your mission go?"
Demetri shrugged, staring off in the distance. She knew he'd rather not talk about the excursions the masters sent him and Felix on and yet she couldn't help but be curious about them. She didn't know why specifically he didn't want to talk about it, maybe he was trying to protect her from the evil things outside the castle, or maybe he thought he was trying to protect her from him, but she knew she wasn't scared away easily.
"You can tell me, you know," she said. His eyes found hers and she stared at him, honestly. "I won't judge you."
"I know you won't, it's not that."
"What is it then?"
She stared at him for a long and hard time, observing the way his walls slowly started to crumble until she was able to work her way inside. Feeling particularly bold, she inched a little closer, till the side of her body was against his and laid her head on his chest. She held her breath, only daring to breathe out as soon as his strong arm curled around her back, pulling her closer still. She closed her eyes, enjoying the careless circles his fingers drew on her bare arm.
"I told you about what I felt when I tried to track you, right?" Demetri said. She loved the vibrations of his voice against her cheek and absentmindedly, she hummed. "How soft and innocent and sweet it is."
"You called me a bunny. A bunny with absolute zero awareness of the dangers surrounding it, if I remember correctly," she said. She heard him chuckle, or rather felt it, and she decided that she liked it even more than the vibrations of his voice. If only they could lie like this forever, she would have been the happiest girl in the world
"Yes, but it's not only what I feel when I try to track you," he said. "It's how I feel about you and I don't want to spoil it by telling you about the gruesome things that have to be done, that I have to do."
There it is, she thought, trying to protect me both from the evils of the world and of himself. She hummed again, her fingers playing absentmindedly with one of the buttons of his shirt. "I sentenced a woman to death for touching me," she said softly. "That doesn't sound particularly soft or sweet or innocent."
"And I killed her," Demetri countered.
Cecilia chuckled. "Well, aren't we a power couple," she said. It took her a sweet moment, but then she realised what her words implied. Shooting up from Demetri's chest and pushing herself up on her hands, her cheeks already reddening, she did everything to avoid looking in his eyes. "I mean, not really a couple, of course, but, obviously, as in a figure of speech. You know, like when two people who get along really-"
"Cecilia," Demetri said, effectively cutting her off.
She raised her eyes sheepishly, just in time to see and feel his hand land on her cheek, gently brushing a strand of hair over her shoulder. Her heart fluttered like a hummingbird and she could feel her legs go numb.
"Had we lived a thousand years ago I would have gone on one knee and asked you to make me the happiest man in this whole world by marrying me," Demetri said. He pushed himself up slowly, until both of them were seated, mere inches distanced from each other. His hand was still on her cheek, cool against her burning skin. "But I know the times have changed and slowed things down, so I'll ask you this, will you be my girlfriend?"
"Yes," she said without a moment of hesitation. She chuckled, staring into Demetri's eyes as if she was mesmerized, before pressing her mouth against his. Another firework show blasted through her body, leaving every hair standing upright and her heart filled with heat.
When Demetri's hands found her waist and pulled her up, so that she fell with her head in the pillows and broke the kiss, she let out a giggle that left her more embarrassed than the time when she'd fallen face first in the snow after tripping over empty air. She could feel the heat radiate from her cheeks and with a nervous smile, she curled her arms around his neck. Her breath got caught in her throat as she watched his dark eyes wander over her body, which was only dressed in a nightgown that left everything above the middle of her sternum bare. She pulled on his neck softly, until his eyes met hers again.
Demetri, hanging over her, brushed a wild strand behind her air, cooling down the skin of her cheek and neck. "You're beautiful, you know that?"
"Why, thank you," she said, smiling cheekily. "You're actually not too bad yourself."
Demetri hummed, an amused expression on his face. His hands left her waist and as he turned to lie on his back, he pulled her next to him until they were laying in the same position as before, her head on his chest, his arm across her shoulders.
Cecilia was grateful that he didn't go any further, because no matter how much she loved the way he was able to set her on fire with a simple hand on her middle or a kiss, it still made her nervous. Never before had she been close with a boy, not in any type of way, and she didn't mind taking it slowly. Her breath evened out again and absentmindedly, she played with the fabric of his shirt.
"Don't you think it's odd that we're soulmates?" she asked, not looking up at Demetri.
"No," he answered. She could feel from the shift of his head that he was probably looking at her. "Do you?"
"Well, if you think about it, it is a little odd," she said, closing her eyes. "I mean, say we only have one soulmate, which is a fair assumption, right? You lived a thousand years ago and imagine you hadn't been turned, or had died somewhere in the time from then till now, then you wouldn't have met your soulmate and neither would I."
Demetri was quiet for a moment, probably considering her words. The tips of his fingers still ran along the length of her arm, causing a shiver to crawl down her spine. "Yeah, you made me wait an awfully long time."
Her eyes flew open and she looked up, her arm leaning on his chest. "Are you blaming me for you being born in a time where the spinning wheel didn't even exist?"
"No, I'm blaming you for not being born at the same time," he countered, a teasing smirk on his face. "Besides, you should be grateful I survived all these hard times and horrible circumstances I've faced."
"Oh yeah, such a tough life you've had. Demetri the Casanova," she said, rolling her eyes. She enjoyed teasing him, especially now he'd finally let his guard of formality down.
"Now you're just being jealous."
"Me, jealous? Never."
"Hmm, I think I see the tips of your ears turning green already."
"I can actually see your nose growing, Pinokio."
"Pinokio?" Demetri asked, his eyebrows raised in question.
"Yeah, you know the wooden boy from Disney, whose nose grows when he lies?" Cecilia explained. Seeing that didn't ring a bell, she stared at the vampire in front of her with a look of horror. "You don't know Pinokio?"
Demetri chuckled, a deep sound that made Cecilia's heart flutter, and shook his head. "Never heard of the guy," answered. "He sounds odd... and don't tell me I'm odd."
Cecilia's words hung in the air empty and rolling her eyes, she closed her mouth again. She laid her head down on his chest once more, her breath evening out, until she was almost asleep. "You are odd."