Scarlet Vamporium: Vamporium #2 by Poppet[vampire] Page B

evil. I promised I wouldn't hurt you.”
    “Does that include ma heart?” he smiles, stooping lower and lower, the wind flaying his hair around my face when his warm breath paints my lips.
    “Um...” I bite my cheek. How do I answer that? “I'll try my best not to hurt your heart,” I nod, just the once.
    The tiny gap between us is removed when he nips my bottom lip, then does it again with more pressure.
    Struggling with my smile I nibble his lip back, risking a tongue flick, melting against his warm body. My hands are released from their prison when he lets them go and wraps his arms around me.
    My heart is pounding, my breath coming out shaky, savoring this perfect moment of safety.
    His kiss is warm, soft, gentle, demanding, exciting...

 
    Chapter 10
     
    Ellindt:
     
    Lying together flat out on the rock shelf, holding hands while snuggling under a quilt of constellations, I'm happy.
    The clouds have vanished and the night is warm enough that we both have our jackets bunched up under our heads.
    I'm fascinated and can't get enough of his stories.
    “What do you mean?” I ask, visually mapping the twins of Gemini.
    “He turned the castle intae a museum and charges tourists tae see inside.”
    “This is John, the chief of the MacLeod clan? And he charges you too?”
    “Aye. His grandmother Flora died and he replaced her as the clan chieftan. See, wimen still have equal rights here, we're no' rejects.”
    “I can't believe you guys still have clans and chiefs and stuff.”
    Sitting up, resting on a rigid arm, he looks down at me, “Are ye busy tomorrow?”
    “Why?” Talk about an abrupt change in subject.
    “I have tae leave early, but I'm gonnae go watch Roddie at the Highland Games. Ye'll just love it. Say ye'll come with me.”
    “I have to ask Selene,” I grumble, annoyed that she stands between me and autonomy.
    “She can come tae. We'll all go,” he smiles, as if the solution is really that easy.
    “Where is it? How far away?”
    “It's here in Argyll. They hold it in Cowal at the Dunoon Stadium, and em, it'll take about three hours tae drive there.”
    “Do we have to drive? What time are we talking about?”
    “How else are we gonnae get there? I was plannin' on leaving at about six.”
    “In the morning!?”
    “Well it's a bit pointless going at six in the evenin', ain't it? The whole point is tae go cheer Roddie on. I'm bettin' he'll be this year's champion.”
    Sometimes I can be so daft. He wants to see me, to share his world with me, to share an event which matters to him.
    “I'd love to come, but I have to ask my prison guard.”
    Snapping to his feet, he grabs my hand and yanks me up, “Let's go ask her.”
    “Uhm, she's probably going to behead me for telling you who I am. I'm not sure I can just take you home.”
    “Yer ashamed of me?” he says in shock, dropping my hand as if I powdered it with anthrax.
    “No! Jeez Doug, hell no. It's just, I think I've broken all our protocol tonight, and I'm expecting her reaction when I get home to be nuclear.”
    “Oh, right, that whole thing ye were freakin' out about earlier?”
    Being reminded refills my insides with gravel, weighting me with dread while burgeoning nausea ripples through my body, turning the world into an aquarium for a moment.
    Hands grip me with surprising strength. “Are ye okay? Ye swayed there fer a second and looked verra pale.”
    “I don't know. I should go,” I manage to mumble, the taste of Skull Splitter welling up my insides.
    I think I'm going to be sick.
    “C'mon, let me walk ye home at least.”
    In a distracted daze I let him guide me up the slope, my jacket draped by him over my shoulders, the empty bottles clinking like death knolls in his free hand.
    He's a good man, he takes his litter with him. Why can't Selene see he's fabulous? He's accepted me. That's half my mission completed.
    Why the hell can't I take him home? Who says I can't? There's no such rule.
    To hell with it.
    Swallowing away