Bleeding Love (13 page)

Despite his being
annoying most of the time, Adrienne understood Xavier's anxiety and held a
tighter to his hand. The action caused Ethan's anger to rise.

“Why are you
hanging out with these geeks?” asked Adrienne's ex, and in that instant, Max
Winters stepped in.

He knew what
could happen if he just let Ethan spout off.

“It's Sab's
birthday.” Max looked at Sabrina before eyeing Ethan once again. “So don't you
fucking dare ruin it, man.”

His tone was
cold, angry, and demanding, and it was safe to say that Ethan got the message.
He simply stepped away from them all before shaking his head and walking off to
join some of the guys in the football team. That was the best thing for him to
do tonight—to stay away from Aidan and Xavier, which also meant staying away
from Adrienne.

“Forget about
him.” That was Tristan, Adrienne's ever-loyal guy friend. “Just enjoy the
party.” He then turned to look at his best friend and noticed her appealing
scarlet dress. “Dance with me, Adie.”

It wasn't an
offer but a command.

“We can't bring
the house down yet, Tryst, too early.”

The remark was
teasing.

“We just have to
get the party started now.” Tristan turned to look at Sabrina. “Am I not right?”

“Hell yeah!”

“You know how I
am,” said Adrienne mischievously, and it was then that she let go of Xavier's
hand. “Once I start, there's no stopping me.”

Without any
hesitation, Tristan grabbed hold of Adrienne's hand and pulled her away from
Xavier, Brianna, Aidan, Sabrina, and Max as they made their way to the bar to
down a few shots before going to the very center of the room. After a few
drinks, Tristan and Adrienne stepped onto the circular stage and started
dancing, and the innocence with which they swayed their hips quickly turned
into grinding. All of a sudden, she felt lust with the way she bumped hips with
Tristan. She read his mind, and he was thinking and wanting the exact same
thing.

“Tonight might be
your lucky night,” she drawled softly and seductively against his ear, and in
response, he shivered. The feeling of her warm breath against his skin was just
too much to handle and control.

“Why not start
now, Adie?”

He was smiling.
He couldn't hide the happiness he felt.

“No, not tonight.”
She suddenly changed her mind, and she blamed it on her drunken state. She
didn't know how much she'd drunk, but it must have been a lot if she wasn't
making sense anymore. “Let's do something fun.”

She giggled, her
cheeks reddening with the heat around the dance floor, while Tristan held her
hips and pulled her closer to him.

“You're always
fun,” Tristan replied. “You don't need to plan that kind of thing—having fun.
It comes to you when it comes to you.”

“I never knew you
that you were so smart Tristan,” she said in between squeaky giggles, as she
continued grinding against him. “So, so smar—”

“I need to talk
to you, Adrienne.”

With that, she
was pulled away, losing her balance with every step she took. She then turned
to take a look at who had captured her and saw the face of a cherubim—delicate
and handsome—the face of a vampire. It was Xavier, and he looked quite
disappointed. When they were outside of the ballroom, he stopped and took a
deep breath before he started pulling Adrienne again. When they reached the
hotel's oriental garden, his steps slowed as he turned around to finally take a
look at Adrienne's drunken condition.

“He likes you.”

Adrienne merely
giggled.

“Of course,
stupid!” She was getting redder with every second. “He's my best friend!”

“He loves you,
Adrienne,” he tried, his voice sounding more forceful than before.

“Duh.” was her
once again lame response. “He's my best friend!”

“You're drunk,
aren't you?”

Xavier decided to
take a look at the creature he'd be spending his entire life with. She was
beautiful—pale cheeks, long, wavy hair, a toned and tan body and a few more
characteristics that somehow managed to marry her human and vampire side,
perfectly. With all her attributes, he couldn't help but feel drawn to her. She
was exciting, definitely not a killjoy, and that was what differentiated her
from Yvonne, Valerie, Tatiana, and the many other female vampires who may have
been prettier than she was, but they didn’t have her life. She had personality.
She had spunk.

Adrienne moved
into his arms, and Xavier enfolded her to him. She felt so right. He was too
busy thinking about Adrienne finally being where he wanted her that he didn’t
realize that she was going to bite his neck, until it was done.

And then nothing
could have made him stop her. He could feel his blood heat, his body flash into
instant awareness of the woman in his arms. His. Mate. Mine.

She could feel
the surge of energy quickly lifting up her already-high spirits. Adrienne
didn't realize that her actions had altered her for all time. Taking Xavier’s
blood would completely erase the numbing hold of the spell that had been put on
her centuries ago. Her body and her mind awakened. She felt more passion, more
intense feelings, and with every drop of blood that entered her body, she was
unconsciously starting to recognize the pull of her mate. Hers. Mine.

The rays of the sun
started to seep through the windows of Adrienne's bedroom. Sunday mornings were
always like this—bright, alive, and so annoying.

Groaning, she
lazily shifted to her side, opened her eyes, and checked the time. It was only
nine in the morning, and she had nothing important to do, and so, throwing the
comforter over her body, she went back sleep. However, she was awakened an hour
later by the smell of sausages, omelets, and bacon coming from downstairs. Her
vampire instincts intensified with the scent of the food. She then started
getting out of her bed but quickly drew back when her head spun. The hangover
was such a bitch.

“F the world,”
was the first thing that escaped her mouth.

Adrienne threw
her pillows carelessly off the bed, and then kicked her blanket off her, and
sighing heavily, she let her feet dangle off the edge of her bed, before she got
up. It took her fifteen minutes to just get to the kitchen, and when she got
there, Adrienne was greeted by an arrogant smirk from Xavier and a genuine smile
from her father.

“I expected you
to still be asleep,” she said to Xavier, who was drinking fruit punch.

She reached for
his glass and took a big gulp of what she thought was juice. She gulped and
choked, loosing her breath. Xavier and her father were drinking blood. With
that one taste she couldn’t really tell if it was from animals or humans. But
she knew it wasn’t vampire blood.

Weird. She
remembered the many times she’d been hurt and sucked on her blood. It had had
tasted salty and, well, like nothing. This wasn’t—nothing. She sighed. She’d
almost rather her fiancé and her father were drinking beer so early in the
morning rather than opting for blood.

“Not everything
you watch on TV is true,” said her father. “There are a lot of misconceptions
about vampires.”

Adrienne rolled
her eyes, like she didn't know that already. She looked back at Xavier, so hot,
and the sight of him was really bothering her today. “Just,” Adrienne started,
and then groaned. “Why can't you leave my sight for even a second? I see you
everywhere, really, and it's starting to bug me.” She bit her lip. “I don't
know why though.” She didn't know what unknown force had pushed her to say
those words, but she felt relieved when she did. It was like a heavy weight was
lifted off her.

For Xavier, it felt
like a bomb had been dropped on him. “If you don't want me here, just tell me.”
The smirk instantly vanished, his lips forming a thin line. He wasn't feeling
well, and it was because of Adrienne. He felt weak both physically and mentally.
Not only was it because of the blood and energy she had drained out of him last
night at Sabrina's party, but because of her dismissive attitude. He didn't
feel like talking to her. Worse, the sun bothered him today. He needed to feed.
And human food just wasn’t going to cut it today.

“Whoa. Chill.”
Adrienne was shocked to say the least. “Who died? You suddenly look so drained.”

From behind the
countertop where she was eating an omelet and bacon, Adrienne eyed Xavier. His
back was facing her, but he turned his head to stare right at her. However, the
female's eyes trailed down from his cobalt eyes, to his nose, his mouth, and
finally to his neck. An odd feeling crept inside Adrienne's body when she saw
two small wounds on his neck. They looked like bite marks.

She took a deep
breath. Her first thought was that they’d better be hers. Suddenly, she didn't
know what was happening, or why it was happening. But she felt different
towards Xavier. As if her heart were pushing her towards him. The blood in her
veins throbbed to his heart beat.

“You don't
remember what happened last night?”

“Stupid hangover,”
she muttered darkly to herself. “No, I don't.”

“You gave me a
hickey.” With that, Xavier had Adrienne's attention a hundred percent, but
neither of the two was looking at one another. They were too embarrassed to
read the emotions in each other's eyes.

Meanwhile, in the
background, Carter Stahl was quietly enjoying the little scandal his daughter
and his son-in-law-to-be were embroiled in. Though it was unprincipled of
Adrienne to do what she had done, he wasn't going to reprimand her for those
actions. Newly-turned vampires often lost their cool. Adrienne hadn't been
recently turned, but she hadn’t had her powers or the hungers of a vampire,
until now. She was just still getting used to her new life.

“What's so bad
with getting one?” Adrienne was astounded with the innocence of vampires. “It's
not like you have a girlfriend who's going to kill me, and I'm unattached so no
one's going to kill you. It’s not a big deal.”

Xavier rolled his
eyes. “Wow.” His face remained passive. “I feel relieved.”

Adrienne, in
return, raised an eyebrow up at him. Xavier had confused her for the entire morning.
He had been smirking when she first came into the kitchen. Then that changed,
and he started getting all-sentimental and moody, and now, the sarcasm. Trying
to keep up with the many moods of Xavier was becoming exhausting.

“You didn't just give
him a hickey, kiddo.” It was so weird for Adrienne to hear the word 'hickey'
come out of her father's mouth. “You bit him. It was the first time you’ve
taken blood, and it was vampire blood. We aren’t sure of the results. It could
have done a number of things, including increasing your attraction to Xavier.”

Adrienne's eyes
turned into a more piercing and threatening color. Her father didn't have to
say that in front of Xavier, she thought, the two guys were both embarrassing
her, and the hangover was making it difficult for her to think.
Why didn’t
they just leave her alone?

“Dad, I'm not attracted
to him,” she said defensively, and to her annoyance, her father bent his head
down. His eyes were looking right at her.

“I understand if
you are,” said Xavier. “Attracted, I mean.” 

Arrogant much?
 

”You were wasted
last night, and you drank my blood. Period. End of story. I don't care.”

Adrienne blinked
continuously at her mate who was looking anywhere but at her. She wasn't
expecting the cold shoulder from Xavier since he had always been the one to
annoy the hell out of her with his smartass remarks. What died and had crawled
up his ass that he looked like he was irritated at the world? “I was drunk,
okay?” Adrienne bit out. “I'm not the smartest person when that happens.”

“I'm going to go
up and sleep.” Xavier stood up from his seat, even ignoring what she said. “I’m
tired.”

“Weird.” Adrienne
didn't mean to say her thoughts out loud. The word just slipped. “I thought
vampires didn't need to sleep?”

“I 
want 
to,”
and with that, he left, not bothering to wait for her approval.

When Xavier was
gone, Adrienne turned to face her father. He had a serious look on his face
which slightly frightened her. He looked so grim at such an early hour, that it
made her feel uncertain of herself.

“Did you almost
drain him?”

That was such an
embarrassing question. What could have happened if she did? He would have died,
Adrienne thought, answering her own question. “Why didn't he just stop me? He
could have just pushed me off him, you know?”

Carter Stahl
smiled mysteriously. Xavier's mind was closed to Adrienne, and she wouldn’t
have understood if she could read it. Unlike male humans who possessed shallow
and one-tracked brains, Xavier was different. He had lived during the Romantic
Period, and this above all affected how he thought. He was a traditionalist. Like
the older vampires, Xavier took love seriously. They had come of age during the
times when romanticism and free expression flourished. They lived during the
eras when courting was still the trend and when sex was a sacred act. Vampire
love was different from the human love of the twenty-first century. It was
eternal.