Ace’s POV - Straight To The Heart
(Just to clear this up: This is a previous chapter that happened earlier, but now it's in Ace's POV to show his side.)
The Vinges are going to start going after hunters. This is a entirely huge problem for me. I was debating on whether or not to let Scarlett join the team. She needs to be safe, 24/7. But I can’t even give her that. They’re going to start planning to kill hunters, one by one, and they’re going straight to the top of the list: the number one ranker.
Leaving her off the team, here, alone, without protection is like walking away from someone who is about to commit suicide. I can’t do that to her. But having her on the team means more danger than ever. She’ll be coming face to face with the Vinges, attacking them head-on. Both of these options suck.
It’s not like I can just waltz into her room and have her stay put in a safe area until I can get this all sorted out. She’s too stubborn, she’ll won’t ever let me go attack the Vinges by myself. She’ll want to help. I just don’t want her to get hurt. I just want to keep her safe.
I quietly enter her hotel room. I already know she’s knocked out like a light; she fought off a vampire today, then later, went after it. She drove all the way to Virginia to hunt him. She travels all over the place for vampires if they mean enough to her.
I rub at my face, deeply sighing. I quietly walk over to her side, reaching down to move some of her hair out of her face. It’s softer than I thought it would be. Her face looks pretty soft, too. Before I can reach down to touch her, she suddenly jolts awake. But she’s not alone. A sword, hidden underneath her pillow, thwacks down on my lower arm.
I hiss out in pain, already seeing what’s coming next. Just in time, I grab the blade of the sword before it can come down on me again. I don’t keep a good grip on it, though, and she takes it back. But instead of trying to hit me again, she makes a move for the lights.
When they go on, she looks at me in complete shock. Her eyes glance to my cut that’s on my arm. It was made of bronze, I can tell, because it hurts like a mother fucker. It’ll heal, eventually. Her eyes go back onto me, but she doesn’t look too surprised anymore.
“You!” She gasps, more in a tone that’s pissed off.
“Damn, sweetheart,” I try to laugh off, glancing down at my bleeding arm, “I wasn’t expecting that.” I’m already starting to feel a little lightheaded. It shouldn’t bleed too much, because I’m not a full vampire, but it should take its toll.
She’s the first person, in a very long time, to be able to do that. Nobody’s ever even gotten near me. I’ve dealt with even more close calls than what she just pulled and still, I didn’t have a scratch on me. All it takes is that one girl that I can’t stop thinking about and in return I get a bleeding arm. Welcome to life.
The sword goes up. “I’ll do it again, fucker.”
I laugh because I can’t help it. “Don’t. I need my other arm.” I pause, watching her movements. “Sorry if I scared you.”
She looks ready to lunge at me. “You didn’t. I’m always prepared.”
A big, fat smirk lands on my face before I can stop it. She’s wearing sweats. She doesn’t look ready to kill me; she looks ready for bed. And I’ll gladly get in it with her. “You don’t look prepared.”
She comes at me with a growl, but I’m able to stop her in two seconds flat. I grab the sword with my good arm, but she tries to yank it back, so I let go. I see her glance over at the nightstand, where a brass knuckle is laying. Before she can get to it, I grab her, flinging her down onto the bed.
My arm hurts, but it’s slowly decreasing. So is my energy. And my lack of sanity. “Sweetheart, please stop fighting me. I don’t want to hurt you.” She looks up to me, and all of a sudden, there’s saliva on my cheek. I swear to God sometimes she’s just a child. I wipe it off, still holding her down with one hand. “That wasn’t very nice.”
“Get off me!” She snaps, moving up towards her pillows. She thinks I don’t see it, but I do. Where there’s one weapon, there’s bound to be more.
Because I’m loosing energy, and I really don’t have a filter on my brain at the moment, a lousy smirk clouds my face. “You know, I actually really like this position we’re in.” I’m literally on top of her, face to face, breath to breath, body to body.
She looks absolutely revolted, which is a blow to my gut, but her face changes at the last second. “I…agree.”
The blood on my arm hasn’t stopped. I’m still loosing it, which is why I feel all loopy. The pain is barely there anymore, but I know there’s something wrong with me. I don’t think twice when I press my lips to her neck. She freezes underneath me, and I know she’s not comfortable with this at all, but I’m so out of it.
I slowly start to loose my grip on her. I forget what I’m trying to do, why I’m trying to do it. All I’m focused on now is kissing her, trying to reach her soft-looking lips. Her hand comes down into my hair, playing with it. I suppress a groan, and then I feel her slightly move underneath me.
Everything crashes down on me. The blood loss is becoming too much. She’s reaching for a weapon underneath her pillow. She’s going to try to kill me. She’s doing this to keep my attention off that and on her. Another blow is thrown at me, but this time, it’s in the face. She doesn’t care about me. She just cares about killing me. As I continue kissing her collar bone, I feel her shiver underneath me. A smirk ends up on my lips. Maybe she does like it and she doesn’t want to admit it.
Before she can shove the knife down, I’m gone in a flash. I watch from the doorway, leaning against it, as she stops it just in time before she hits her own chest. Her breathing is ragged as she stares up at it, eyes wide. But she wastes no time. She dives underneath her pillow to retrieve a gun, cocked and ready.
She looks around for me and aims it. She’s on her knees, on the bed, and her hair is tousled from me. She looks pretty damn hot, even though she’s pointing a gun at my face, but I guess that pretty much just adds to her sexiness. “You’re smart, Scar.”
Her eyebrows go up. “Scar? Did you ditch the whole sweetheart act?”
I shrug, and I suddenly feel drained of energy. The good thing though is that my arm has finally stopped bleeding. “I guess so.” Scar sounds more of a nickname. It fits her perfectly.
Before she can shoot, I’m outside the hotel already, walking towards my car. It was a test, I attempt to tell myself. Just a test. To see if she could handle what I threw at her. If one of the Vinges tries to seduce her, she can’t fall for it. Not only would I be jealous and pissed off, but she could get hurt. They’d try to kill her. She has to be ready for anything.
Including me.
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Hey! First of two POVs of Ace's.
Tennis has started up and my back hurts like a mofo.
And I need to wake up at 7 in the ass crack of dawn.
But hey, it's fun (said in a very unconvincing voice).