affectionate - Chapter 7: Chapter 7

LUCIUS
Logically, I knew it was a bad idea for me to be here. Here as in, Melrose. Where she undoubtedly was.
But the unyielding curiosity that ran rampant throughout my mind was hard to ignore. It was like an itch that I couldn't scratch no matter how hard I dragged my nails against my skin. After years of living in solitude and never seeking out companionship—which I was completely fine with, I thought it was rather ironic that my soulmate, was actually my bloodmate; bound to me and only me. Similar to soulmates, we were made for each other, but the need to be with her was way more intense. Bloodmates were also incredibly rare. Everyone in the supernatural world had a soulmate, that was just the way things worked around here and even though I was not a fan of intimate relationships I accepted the fact that I had someone out there for me a long time ago. But for us to be bloodmates? This was definitely some type of sick joke.
Upon my arrival to Melrose, I could feel her, quite literally. Anytime anyone touched her I could feel it, could also feel what kind of touch it was. I could vaguely make out her emotions in my mind's eye, whenever she felt sad my heart constricted ever so slightly and when she was mad my eyebrows furrowed and my fingers would twitch, the need to curl into themselves and form a fist was almost enough to actually make me do it. It somewhat bothered me that these were the only emotions I ever felt from her. But at the same time I had no intentions of ever meeting her or forming anything permanent with her. Just because we were bloodmates didn't mean we had to be together, I hadn't...
"marked" her yet so as of now, all there was between us was her emotions flashing in my mind at random times during the day. I enjoyed traveling the world alone and doing what I wanted, fucking who I wanted, drinking who I wanted. I completely despised the thought of being tied down to someone for as long as they lived.
Clearly I did not enjoy that life as much as I thought I did because currently I was stood outside of her place of employment. I blamed it on the nature of our nonexistent relationship, the tug I felt towards her and the irritating bout of curiosity I had for her brought me here.
I could tell it was cold from the way she was wrapped in a huge puffer jacket and the way she hugged her arms closer to her while she leaned on the counter, desperately trying to preserve whatever heat her body was giving her. I looked down at my naked arms and realized that I probably should've worn a sweater to look a little less suspicious but I was already here and going back to my cottage in the woods seemed like a waste of time. It was late and there was a big chance that she wouldn't remember this encounter in the morning anyways.
I breathed in the air around me and immediately cursed myself for doing so. The scent of her blood was intoxicating and my mouth watered at the smell of it alone. I felt my fangs scrape against my bottom lip before I closed my eyes and willed them to shrink back up. I hurriedly closed the distance between me and the front door and walked inside. Heading towards the back, I could see her in the corner of my eye looking at me and an uncomfortable feeling spread across the left half of my body.
To make it seem like I was shopping around I grabbed a random drink before heading up to the register, the correct amount of change already in my hand because I didn't want to spend anymore unnecessary time here.
Approaching the counter, my heart started beating faster and my palms grew sweaty. Fucking sweaty. I hated it and I hated her for making feel like this, like some prepubescent kid who was holding hands with his crush for the first time. But as I set my drink on the counter and finally brought my eyes up to meet hers all of that melted away as soon as her eyes met mine.
She was infuriatingly gorgeous.
Her brown skin was smooth and glowy despite the less than optimal lighting in the store. It was blemish free and right then I realized that I would do anything to be able to undress her and mark her to my hearts content. Her eyes were incredibly captivating too, they were brown but such a sweet shade, like maple syrup and my stomach began to churn thinking about how easy it was to get lost in them. Her lips were pink and glossy and big and I had to stifle a groan because they didn't belong anywhere except against my own. Her black hair touched her shoulders and fell in curtain bangs around her face. When my eyes found her again I was amused to discover that she was checking me out as well, her eyes were fixed on my eyebrow piercing and I raised it in hopes of getting her attention. She sniffled and quickly looked down before ringing up my item.
"Is that all?" Her voice was crisp and clear, like fresh sap dripping off of a tree during the first few minutes of dawn. I nodded, too caught up in my head to say anything else. She looked at my hand holding the change and grimaced which had me narrowing my eyes. Her hand brushed against mine and the sensation I felt on my skin was like nothing I had ever felt before. It was delicious and I wanted more. The thought of that, wanting more from her, needing more of her—scared me. I looked at her one more time before grabbing my drink and running out the door and into the night.
I could feel confusion and excitement in the back of my mind and knew that they were not my feelings, but hers. I could hear her burst through the glass door, could hear the bells jingle as she chased after me into the cold, unforgiving darkness. I kept running and didn't look back until I was at my cottage in the woods. I opened the rickety door and rested against it, my hands found themselves in my hair and I pulled at my charcoal locks. I knew it was a bad idea and yet I still went. My control teetered on a thin tight rope and if the mere stench of her fucking blood was enough to cast it over the edge and make me do shit like what I did tonight then I was in a world of trouble.
Yet I couldn't bring myself to care. I needed to feel her touch again, taste her blood and not just smell it as it wafted through the wind, I needed her. But for many reasons, some that included my own reservations, I wasn't sure if I could completely have her in the ways that I wanted her.
The next time I saw her it was planned.
I had been avoiding her on purpose for the past couple of weeks. The morning after our brief encounter, I thought back to everything I felt and chopped it up as me getting caught up in the moment. I had been alive for too long to give up my lifestyle for a simple small town woman who still lived with her overly controlling parents. I wasn't going to insert myself into a life where I didn't belong. However, just because I was avoiding her didn't mean I wasn't keeping an eye on her. Her emotions were hard to ignore especially when they shifted from her usual sad and mad to confusion and then to fear which was accompanied by a strange pressure against my wrist and a dull burning sensation. It wasn't hard to figure out that someone had hurt her and for some reason that upset me because who was handling her like that and why? I felt protective over her and that was a truth I was not yet ready to uncover.
A few days after that odd feeling I made up my mind to go and see her. I knew she was taking classes at the city college and the college just so happened to be on the same side of town where my cottage was. I knew her route home as well, sometimes I watched her walked home, the need to smell her blood overpowering the logical part of my brain, the part that told me what I was doing was creepy and completely uncalled for.
I decided it would be best to interrupt her walk home and let her know that I knew something had happened. And also to confirm that she felt something when I touched her, and maybe even when I looked at her too. I knew she did but I wanted to hear her say it.
When I stepped out of the woods onto the sidewalk I glanced around and took in my surroundings. Melrose was honestly your typical small town. It wasn't too late but it was late enough for all the storefronts to have their closed signs displayed to the streets and for the streets themselves to be void of people. Except for the bane of my fucking existence who looked different from the last time that I saw her.
Instead of straight hair, she had long, waist length braids that were pulled into a pony tail that swished behind her with every step that she took. Her nose was shoved into her phone and she was walking quickly in my direction. The closer she got the more her scent flooded my nose and I stood rooted in my place as I breathed it in. My fangs threatened to make an appearance and I gritted my teeth in annoyance. If I bit her now, there would be no going back. I'd be tied to her for life and that wasn't a step I'd ever be willing to take with her, no matter how badly every cell in my body ached for her.
The top of her head collided with my chest and her phone fell from her hands, I didn't have time to react and pick it up for her before she was already bent over and picking it up in front of me. She picked it up and as soon as our eyes met, hers widened slightly and her lips parted in awe. She looked just as beautiful as she had looked all those weeks ago at her job, I assumed she was wearing makeup this time with the way her cheeks were dusted with a soft red and her lips were a little pinker and glossier this time around. I wanted nothing more than to devour her, taint her small town heart until there was nothing left except the memory of me and the sparks that I know I inflicted on her body.
"We need to talk." My voice was rough but I didn't care, I was getting lost in her again and it was doing more to me than I cared to admit.
She stared at me for a few more seconds before finally finding her voice.
"Talk? I think you've mistaken me for someone else." Her voice washed over me like a cool shower in the dead of summer and I closed my eyes to reign myself in. Against my better judgment, my hand shot out and I grabbed her wrist and stomped over to the nearest alley. I was here to do two things, not go back and forth with her.
As soon as we were hidden away from the rest of the world, I let go of her, for my good and her own. Though it was definitely too late because when I let her go, she did a full body shudder and I tilted my head in amusement. She looked away, clearly embarrassed and I stopped myself from smirking.
"What the hell do you want? I'm five seconds from calling nine one-one. You can't just-" I couldn't help the smirk that slithered onto my face anyway, something about the way she spoke to me excited me. I expected her to be a shy, stuttering mess but she was the complete opposite and I liked it.
"I won't hurt you like that prick did, okay? Just calm down." I honestly just wanted her to shut the hell up. As much as I enjoyed hearing her voice, she was making this longer and harder than it needed to be. But judging by the way the features on her face morphed into that of anger, I guessed something I said struck a cord within her.
"Calm down? Don't tell me to "calm down", you dragged me into an alley, which is shady as hell by the way, and I'm starting to think that you bumped into me on purpose. Not to mention it's cold as fuck, i'll calm down when you tell me what the hell is going on." I was a little taken aback at her sudden outburst but I refused to let that deter me from my original plan. I felt her anger brew inside of me, it wasn't for me but she took it out on me anyways which only made my disdain towards whoever hurt her grow. Another fact that I do not plan on dwelling over anytime soon.
Sighing, I moved closer to her. She was tall for a woman. I was six foot five but even standing this close to her the difference between our heights was definitely there but not as drastic as it could be. I could hear her heart beating in her chest, pumping delicious blood all throughout her body, telling me that she nervous.
"You feel something when I touch you, yes? And when I look at you?" She stared at me for a few seconds again. I wish I could read her mind, I wanted to know what she was thinking all the time; try to make sense of her emotions and why she felt sad on a regular day basis.
"And if I do?" Relief flooded my veins for some reason. I already knew she felt something but hearing her admit it filled my insides with warmth. I smirked and her eyebrows furrowed a little bit.
"As soon as I met you in that corner store I knew." Her eyebrows pressed deeper into her face but I didn't have the time to reach up and smooth her brow out like I wanted to, it would complicate things and I already got what I came here for. I backed up just enough to see her let out a breath of air.
"If he touches you with ill intentions again, I can't promise I won't do anything." She looked at me, her face a beautiful mix of confusion and fear.
"How do you know about that?" I put my hands in my pockets and turned to leave the alley, the more time I spent with her, the stronger the tug I felt for her got and I couldn't let that get out of hand. She tried chasing after me but I was moving far too fast for her to ever catch up with me.
"Hey! You can't just say that and leave, how the fuck do you know about that?" I spared her one final look over my shoulder before I disappeared into the woods.