The Billionaire's Baby (Key to My Heart Book 3) (10 page)

"If you do me this one favor then I'll take you back to wherever you came from tomorrow, ok?" He sighed, rolling his dark eyes.

The screams abruptly stopped, her eyebrows rising quickly. She responded with a subdued noise behind his hands, and the vampire hesitantly moved them aside.

"Promise?" She asked, apprehensive.

He sighed, then nodded. It was about time he left this forest anyways, he'd already been there for quite some time. It wouldn't matter then if she told anyone where he was living. He'd intended on hanging onto her a bit longer, but she was completely insufferable, it'd be better just to get rid of her.

He rolled off of her, lying next to her on his back. They were awkwardly close together, for his bed was not exactly made for two people. In fact, he had trouble sleeping on it when it was just him.

She suddenly rolled on her side so she was facing him, dangerous glare honing on his face, "Does that mean that you originally didn't plan on taking me home?"

"Well, I was going to just suck you dry and leave your body in a ditch," He grinned at her, though his face was somewhat contemplative and Nia was unsure if he was joking, "but then you did that potato trick and I decided I could use you for company instead. Anyone who can make potatoes grow whenever they feel like it might as well live."

Quite unsure whether to be offended or flattered by what he'd said, she settled on continuing her glare at him – better safe than sorry.

Icy fingers abruptly brushed against her wrist as he adjusted himself slightly at her side, causing Nia to quickly sit up, curling her small legs under her, turning a bit away from him to hide her growing blush.

She fussed with her hair, taking the thick braid across her shoulder and untying the cerulean ribbon that had been tied around it, the thick, curly red locks spreading across her back as she gently unbraided it, running her fingers through it in an attempt to get out the knots and leaves out – distracting herself for as long as possible from the young man at her side.

Ellis watched curiously, reaching up and curling a few strands around one of his fingers. She snatched her hair away his grasp quickly, still not looking at him, carefully beginning to rebraid it tightly before securing it back with the ribbon.

Eventually, she glanced over her shoulder at him, blushing again as he patted the small space next to him.

She slowly lay back down, stubbornly facing the ceiling so they were scrunched shoulder to shoulder, studying the tree roots that she could see lining his earthen roof.

She felt his cold touch again, this time more purposely running down one of her arms. She drew back from him, almost falling off the bed.

"The deal was I'd sleep next to you, not that I'd let you touch me!" She hissed.

He rolled over onto his side, looking her in the face, his eyes unusually soft, and very serious.

"Just a little." He whispered, "I promise I'll stop after just a little."

She fell silent, eyes focused on his in faint confusion. Slowly, his fingers barely brushed up her arm, ghosting across the base of her neck and the line of her jaw.

She quickly turned her face away, blushing again in embarrassment, trying to ignore the faint trail of goosebumps that his fingers left in their trail, how her skin feeling strangely heated even underneath his arctic touch.

His inquisitive eyes stayed locked on her, trying to remember if his own skin had ever felt as soft and warm as hers did. He wondered if his mother’s eyes had been green like Nia’s, or perhaps they’d been blue.

It’d been too long to remember it clearly now.

His fingers journeyed carefully down her arm again, careful not to touch her too much, all the way to her hands. He felt them carefully, memorizing the soft outside and the slightly calloused palms.

"What made these?" He asked quietly, fingers gently running across the roughened spots of on the inside of her palm.

"Archery." Her voice was quiet as well.

She was more peaceful and relaxed now, he observed, no longer apprehensive. She did not understand his obsession with touching her, but she could see behind his slightly gloomy expression that he had a reason. She would never understand his longing to feel outside warmth when it felt like his entire being was made of ice, save for a few battling, heated inches around his heart.

He nodded, falling silent, moving away from her hands. Her warmth was addicting to him, he couldn't get enough of it. He could vaguely remember being human himself and being this temperature, but it wasn't until he touched her that he could remember exactly what it felt like. It was a nice, comforting feeling.

Being around her let him feel like a real person again – not an undead, bloodthirsty, zombie-like creature who preyed on innocents. Though, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy his scary status.

Hesitatingly, he allowed his whole hand to touch her side, feeling her skin through her shirt. She flinched back just slightly and he withdrew instantly, looking into her pursed-lipped face. She didn't open her eyes though, slowly relaxing again, and his hand inched determinedly back against her shirt covered flesh, coming to a rest on top of her stomach before softly bringing her up and into his chest. She curled, reflexively, against the warmth in his chest and the faint scent of earthy potatoes.

"Why were you wandering around in the forest?" He questioned with a sincere gentleness that had not graced his lips in years, both of his hands pressed flat against her, as though he could absorb her warmth.

"It’s silly…" She began, trailing off.

He couldn't ignore the sleepy drawl in her voice, "Tell me anyways."

Her fatigue was contagious, he realized, as he yawned.

"It's a prophecy thing." Her voice was low in slight embarrassment.

He smirked, "You humans are so strange, relying on other people to tell you how your future will be."

Nia didn't answer, hiding her face against him, she was unsure what to do with her hands, and in the end, awkwardly held them pinned against her chest.

He watched her with a faint, curious smile, "What prophecy sent you out in the middle of a forest all on your own to get eaten?"

She hesitated, glancing up at him uncertainly for a moment before flushing and looking away, "It's silly." She repeated.

"Oh, come on. Let me guess, true love?" He gently teased, chuckling as the reverberations rumbling against Nia's cheek, "That's what all women want their prophecies to be about, right?"

She shrugged, looking away for a second, "I don't know exactly what it means."

He cocked his head just slightly, arching an eyebrow and looking down at her, his curiosity multiplying.

She sighed in defeat and rolled her eyes, "I wasn't really listening..."

The vampire burst out in derogatory laughter for the millionth time that day, thought this time it wasn't so loud and obnoxious, it was much more quiet. "Didn't listen to your own little prophecy?"

The girl's face was turning an embarrassed shade of red fairly quickly, shrugging once more and continuing to look away, "I only heard the first part," She paused to prepare her voice, which was struggled to deepen into a gravelly purr, "'You will find a very important person in the forest west of this village'"

She cleared her throat, eyes rolling. As she spoke, her voice was suddenly back its shrill normality, "Do you see why I couldn't listen? It sounded so silly."

Ellis tried not to laugh, rolling his eyes, "Well, tater tot, I'd like to imagine I'm a pretty important person."

She heaved a slightly annoyed sigh, grumbling "I guess it might've been you."

Unwilling to talk about it anymore, she slowly let her eyes drift shut. Ellis quit talking as well, gazing quietly down at her, and within minutes her even, deep breathing told him she had fallen asleep.

As another yawn tugged at his lungs, the vampire wondered briefly if this was how lovers would lay. With a humored smile he looked down at the childish female held snuggled within his arms. The thought almost made him laugh. It was impossible to conceive that a human and a vampire would ever be lovers.

He did admit though, that he liked how they looked nestled together.

She was a rich, coppery tan color, obviously fond of being in the sun, and the contrast of her skin and his own creamy complexion were rather pleasing to the vampire's eyes. Her outfit was simple, much like his, her thick cloak had long been discarded in the corner of his home, and she was left in brown leggings that fell just below her knees and an off-white colored tunic, tied around her waist with a green belt.

'
The color of her eyes
', he mused, letting his fingers wander across the emerald fabric, feeling it as well.

She shifted, sighed, and slowly slid one arm from the confines where it had been held between their bodies so it wrapped softly around him. He swallowed thickly and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her flush against his body, tensing for a just moment when she nuzzled her face into his shoulder.

Holding her pressed against him, he could feel the steady rhythm of her heart pulsing gently against him, and he closed his eyes, latching onto the sound. He could remember, very, very vaguely his mother so long ago holding him as a child against her heart. The thought made him cling to Nia even more.

Eventually her warmth and softness caused him to relax as well, however, and he slowly fell into a peaceful sleep.

Ellis was eventually stirred awake sometime late in the afternoon at the feeling of a gentle hand rubbing at one of his shoulders.

He lay silent and still for a moment, soaking in the gentle contact before snapping with surprising bitterness, "Will you quit touching me?"

Nia's tiny hand was instantly retracted, and though his eyes were still closed he was fully aware of the blush on her face which came through so clearly in her faltering voice, "S-sorry! You were twitching around so much, I thought you were having a nightmare. You almost threw me off the bed fourteen times."

The bed.
 

They were still lying together. He was suddenly very aware of her body still molded pleasantly against his, and the feelings coursing through his body at the realization. He sighed, thrusting a palm against her stomach without even hesitating, knocking her easily off the bed.

She yelped, landing clumsily against the floor, "What was that for?" She cried, green eyes blazing as she rubbed a newly tender knee.

"Had enough of your short, human self trying to snuggle with me." He responded, swinging his legs over the side of the bed so he was sitting up, "And it wasn't a nightmare. I was dreaming of sleeping next to a certain redheaded woman."

The girl's cheeks burned a faint shade of pink, eyeing Ellis in slight apprehension, slight tentative inquisitiveness, "Oh yeah?"

"Yup, munchkin. She had green eyes…" He made of point of staring deeply into her face at those words, sincerity oozing from his pores.

Nia's expression softened faintly as she studied him, smoothing out the front of her beige shirt, looking down at the ground in embarrassment. She was silent now, a tiny smile on her lips.

"And a beautiful bronze tan…"

She looked up again slowly from the ground, gazing at the smirking vampire and twirling the end of her long braid around her finger.

"And most importantly…she was tall, and curvy, and had absolutely no freckles."

With a loud cracking noise the world suddenly went crooked, leaving Ellis blinking in slight shock and his right ear ringing painfully. It took the cocky vampire a moment to realize that he'd been slapped so hard he'd fallen over onto his side on the bed.

Shaking his head, he sat up, laughing hysterically all the while, "Kid, you couldn't honestly have been thinking I was talking about you!"

Nia turned stiffly away from him, furiously pacing around to keep from attempting to strangle him with her own hands, "I…I hate you!"

Ellis just laughed and rolled over on the bed, his back facing the infuriated girl, "Wake me up when the sun goes down."

He smiled when he heard her heavy, aggravated sigh in response, though it faded quickly from his lips as he stared at the wall opposite himself, squeezing his eyes shut and ignoring the cold and empty space next to him.

Nia, meanwhile, had no idea how to keep herself occupied for the three or four hours until she could tell the sun would go down, which she would be able to tell by the outline of the door far up the earthy hallway leading to the floor of the forest above their heads, which still had a tiny, faint ring of light surrounding it. In the dark bleakness of the vampire’s underground home, it looked like a shimmering halo.

She wandered quietly around; studying the tiny, dank space which Ellis called his home. It was lonely, she decided, no wonder he was always being so mean.

Quickly, from a mix of boredom and generosity, she made up her mind to spruce it up.

She bit her lip slightly, staring around and trying to decide what the best course of action would be when her eyes landed on the now dead remnants of the potatoes from earlier. With a bright smile, she knew exactly what she would do.