The Call of Darkness

I was warm. Too warm. I was burning up. I groggily struggled to free myself from the heat when I heard a soothing voice in my ear.

"Shh, you're okay," Henry whispered. I opened my eyes and was momentarily distracted by his beautiful face. When I regained my wits, I started squirming again.

"Are you alright?" Henry asked, puzzled.

"I'm sweating," I whined, wriggling out of his stone arms around me.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I thought you were cold," he said, unwrapping me and tossing the blanket aside.

"Much better," I sighed, snuggling into his cold body once more.

Then something occured to me, "Did you sit here with me on your lap all night?"

He looked sheepish, "Yes. I was afraid you'd leave if I let you go."

"For the last fucking time, I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE," I said sternly.

"Alright," Henry grinned, wrapping me tighter in his arms.

"But, even if I wanted to leave, the big, scary vampire would keep me hostage," I joked, planting a light kiss on his cold throat.

I froze. His body immediately went rigid.I mentally kicked myself in the face. I didn't mean to do it; it just happened. An unconsious gesture. But I was secrelty glad I did it because of what it led to.

Henry looked down at me, his gray eyes guarded and wary. I just smiled at him and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling my face closer to his. He aquiesced, tilting his head forward until our lips were just inches apart. I was almost there when he pulled back a little.

"I can't," he whispered, his voice anguished.

"Please," I breathed, desperate for the kiss.

He lifted his hand and traced my face with his hand. His thumb brushed my lower lip, making my breath hitch in my throat. Impatient, I pulled him closer again, ignoring his resistance. (Honestly, he couldn't have been putting up much of a fight. He's a vampire who is infinitely stronger than me. Come on.)

At last, his perfect lips met mine. The kiss started off soft with his hands gently pulling me closer. Feeling naughty, I softly bit his lower lip. That seemed to set him off; he emitted the sexiest groan I had ever heard as his lips moved hungrily against mine. Never in my life had I been kissed like that.

His lips traveled along my jaw and down my neck, leaving an icy/hot trail along my skin. I felt his teeth graze my throat and I stiffened. He pulled away quickly, averting his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Jacob," he said softly, his breath ragged,

"No, no, it's fine! That was.... that was the best kiss ever," I said truthfully, regaining my breath and taking his face in my hands.

He smiled, grabbing my hand and kissing the palm. "That was the most incredible kiss I've ever had in my very, very long life," he said.

"I'm glad we're in agreement," I replied, giving him one last quick kiss.

"I assume you're ready to start the day then," he chuckled.

"Absolutely, Mr. Clairmont," I said formally.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"For someone who lived in England for most of his life, you don't have an accent," I stated thoughtfully. He didn't have an accent at all. He spoke just like I did, except he used fancier language.

"I've lived here for a very long time, so my accent has disappeared," he replied, studing his newspaper.

"Oh," I said as I started out the window.

"Another thing, how did you know where I worked?" I asked.

Henry sighed and put his paper down, fixing his gray eyes on me. "I was following you. I had been following you for a while."

I had suspected as much, but I was still shocked. "Why?"

He hesitated. "Because I've never been so attatched to a human in my life. It's unexplainable and undescribeable. I saw you one day, and I was entranced."

"Why?" I asked again, "I'm not special. I'm ordinary."

"No, you're not. You're extraordinary. That's why I saved you that night," he said, his face setting in lines of anger at the memory.

I was speechless. No one had ever said anything like that to me before.

I got up from my seat by the window and walked over to Henry's desk chair. Climbing into his lap, I said in a quavering voice, "No one has ever been so kind to me or cared for me like you do."

"I do care about you. More than you will ever know," he whispered, his eyes burning into mine.

I quickly pressed my lips to his, threading my fingers into his silky blonde hair. All too soon, he pushed me away gently.

"You're testing my self-control," he said breathlessly.

"Sorry," I chuckled, laying my head on his shoulder. I wasn't even bothered by the fact that he wanted my blood. What did that say about me? I reminded myself to talk to him about that sometime.

I don't know how long we sat there in his chair, connected and close, my head on his shoulder and his cold hands rubbing my back.

He pressed his lips to my forehead, "Stay with me. Don't leave."

"Yes," I said quietly.

To be continued.....