That girl was driving me crazy.
Everything I had done the past month was to protect her. I needed to protect her. If anything happened to her, at all, I would lose it.
I was slowly starting to realize just how much I cared about her, and it was a lot.
Victor had been harassing me for weeks about her, trying so hard to figure out who she was. He deserved a medal or something. I wasn't going to tell until I could be sure I could have her forever. Every day I wanted her a little more, and every day I stayed a little further away from her. I didn't want her caught up in the shit Kieran and I was trying to uncover.
Kieran had turned out to be a great guy, really. Someone I could call a friend, if he wasn't human.
I marched through the building, determined. I was going to the warehouse, get a bag of blood to still my fucking urges to rip out the throat of every human I met on my way, and then talk to Kieran about his best friend. After that, I was going back to my office, and I was going to forget all about this clusterfuck.
The warehouse was filled with humans, and I could tell someone had had an accident recently, because the lingering smell of blood made my irises turn completely red within seconds.
"Lord Moreno! Hey, I was just-oh..." Kieran cut himself off once he saw my eyes.
I scowled at him, and pushed past him, to get to the cooling room. Several humans noticed my eyes on the way over there, and they all squirmed and shrunk in size. They all knew about my genes. Everyone knew. I had no idea how, but it didn't matter.
I reached for a chilled bag of blood, and punctured the plastic with my fangs. Ah. Great. B Negative, the one with the most full flavor, and the longest buzz. It was exactly what I needed at that point. Great taste, and long lasting effect.
I emptied the bag in no time, and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, and then I closed the door to the cooling room, and went back out into the warehouse to Kieran.
"What were you saying?" I asked, as I tossed the empty blood bag in the trash.
He seemed a little uneasy by my sudden blood thirst, but he tried his best not to care. A great sport, really. I normally didn't care for it when someone tried to hide their fear of me, but I knew Kieran wasn't really scared, he had seen me an hour earlier with no signs at all of this kind of blood thirst, so I understood his concern.
"I was just about to go find you, Sir. You see," he started, and handed me a piece of paper, "this is what we ordered last week, and this is what came in. I had the counters count it right out of the box, no middle-men, like you asked, and there are still a hundred items in total missing."
I felt my jaw tense.
"So there's someone outside the building doing this?" I asked.
"I think so, yes. I think it's time to ask Marty about this."
"I agree," I said, and thought it through for a second. "Bring him to my office in an hour. I have to deal with Devin first."
"Deal with Devin?" he questioned, with a brow quirked up in curiosity.
"Yeah, she was sneaking around on the first floor looking for information. I think we may have neglected her a little too much."
"But we just protected her! You told her that, right? Is she the one that made you all... Thirsty?"
He gestured to all of me, like there was something wrong with all of me when I got in there. There might have been. I might have been a little too aggressive..
"Yes, and no. She started it, but one of these idiots has been bleeding," I said, and glared at the other humans around us.
"Oh. Well, okay, Sir. I'll bring Marty up in an hour," he said, and nodded towards me.
"Bring a blood bag or two, too," I said, and he nodded again without saying another word.
Then we went our separate ways. That was another thing I really liked about Kieran. He didn't linger. He knew when he wasn't needed anymore, and he knew when to leave a subject alone. I could see very well why he and Devin was such good friends.
I rushed through the first floor, and to the elevator. I was almost tempted to climb up the outside to get to her faster, but I decided she would probably be worried about me if I suddenly tapped on the window..
Her smell was still lingering in the elevator, and I closed my eyes as I tried not to think about her too much. It was a pain not to have her as mine, but I fully intended on making her mine one day. As soon as possible.
I rushed down the hallway, too, and opened the door to my office. She was sitting in one of the chairs in front of my desk, fiddling with her hands, and her beauty struck me like a bolt of lightning when she turned to look at me. Fuck, she was beautiful.
I closed the door behind me, and rushed towards her, not willing to waste another second without feeling her soft, warm skin. I touched her cheek lightly. She had been crying while I was away, and I just left her. I stroke my thumb against her dried tears, and looked into her deep, green eyes.
She sniffled a little, and the sound was so pure, and so innocent, that I actually felt my heart ache. Her lips curled up in a smile, and she leaned her face into my hand, while she looked like she was thinking about something.
"I'm sorry, Adrian. I shouldn't have tried to snoop," she said, meeting my eyes.
"It's nothing to be sorry about. I should be sorry. I've... I tried to protect you, but ended up neglecting you."
I pulled her to me, feeling her warm body against me, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. She smelled so good, sweet, with a hint of vanilla.
I hugged her for a long time, and I felt really bad for keeping her out of the loop. Eventually, I pulled back, and I watched her face. Everything about her was amazing. Her courage to raise her voice at me in the elevator, knowing full well that any vampire walking by in any of the floors close by could hear her, her green eyes, filled with wonder, her musical talent.. I had to make this work somehow, and I couldn't wait anymore. I had to do something now. She deserved it.
"You are not a doll, Devin. You are a very courageous, beautiful, young woman that I am lucky to get to know," I said, as I looked deeply into her eyes. "You are so talented, and so smart. I want to call you mine, Devin."
Her eyes widened, and she looked at me like I had just told her that she was going to move across the country to live in a hut alone for the rest of her life, surrounded by wild animals. It was cute.
"W-what?"
"I said, I want to be able to call you mine."
I couldn't help but smile at her. Her heart was racing so fast it could burst through her chest any second now. Mine was too, but she didn't need to know that.
"You can," she whispered, barely making a sound, but she knew I heard her.
I smiled wider, before I kissed her. My girl. I had ben calling her mine in my head for a long time already, but now it was official. Kind of. It wasn't like I could take her out on a date, or introduce her to my family or anything, even though I wanted. I was willing to bet a lot of money that El would love her. But I could say it out loud, when it was just us, and that alone was a good thing.
"My girl," I groaned lowly against her lips, and I could feel her smiling against mine, as I continued to kiss her deeply.
"My man," she whispered back.
I felt her tense up as she said it, like she was afraid she couldn't say I was hers.
"Mhm, I am," I reassured her, and she relaxed in my arms.
I felt her lips smiling against my own as I pulled her even closer to me. It felt so good, and so right, to have her against me. In that moment, I swore that I was going to find a way to hold onto her for the rest of my long life. There was no way I was letting her go in 80 years, when her human life would have ended. No. Way.
I pulled her to me, off the chair, and I lifted her up in my arms, still with my lips on hers. Even though I knew she didn't like it too much, I rushed to the other side of my desk, and sat down in my chair, with Devin on my lap.
Her hands was holding onto my neck, and she slowly pulled away from our kiss after a few minutes. I reluctantly pulled back as well, and looked at her. My gorgeous girl was thinking about something, and she bit down on her lower lip. I watched her mouth as she did, and I couldn't keep myself from thinking that I wanted to bite her lip, too.
"Adrian... What is really going on?" she asked.
I sighed. I knew the question was coming, but I really enjoyed our moment, and I had hoped it would last a little longer. I pulled her closer and laced my fingers together behind her back, while I thought of a good enough answer for her.
"I told you that someone is stealing supplies, right?" I asked, and waited for her nod before I continued. "We have no idea who, or why yet, but something is coming. Kieran and Marty are coming up here soon, so I can interrogate Marty, and figure out who made him cover it up, and how long it has been. Since Kieran hasn't been 18 for long, we don't know if it started before he came along.."
She looked at me, and her fingers were entangled in my hair.
"I don't want you here when they come up, Devin."
"What? Why?" she asked loudly, and her hands left my hair, and she crossed her arms instead. "I'm not going to let you do this to me again, Adrian! I am a grown woman, and I am not afraid of your red eyes anymore, if that is what you are concerned about."
I found it really difficult to hide my fucking amusement at this girl whenever she spoke up to me. I didn't like it, but her determination was impressive.
"Devin... I don't think you are afraid of me, red eyes or not. I just don't want you to see me lose control. It could still happen," I explained.
She narrowed her eyes at me, and she put a finger accusingly on my chest. She was really determined to stay and help Kieran and I with this. How could I say no?
Fuck. This girl was killing me slowly.
"Don't you remember that I was the one that pulled you back into control when you helped with that damn engagement?"
Her eyes were strict, and I held back a chuckle. That was the first time I had ever heard her say something remotely close to a curse-word. Her innocent demeanor was starting to come off, and I kind of liked it.
"I do remember that, yes," I answered, while watching her carefully.
"So then you must know that I can do it again. It's really a no-brainer. But," she said, and her accusing finger turned soft, and started tracing circles on my chest, while her eyes softened and she looked straight into mine. "I can promise you that I will be really happy if I get to help, and maybe I will play you a new piece I've been working on, and then let you push me up against the wall and kiss me, again."
She did not play fair. She really wanted to help us with this.
I closed my eyes for a second, before I sighed.
"Fine, you little vixen. You do not play fair," I said, and pulled her closer to me.
She giggled, and what a fucking great sound that was. I kissed her deeply, and she smiled victoriously against my lips.