Page 40 of Vampires of Eden: Oliver
As I approach, Aries uncrosses his ankles and bends his knees. He rests his palms on the edge of the desk, leaning back and eyeing me seductively. “And if I don’t? What will you do?”
I stop just outside of his gapped thighs. “I… I don’t know.” He’s teasing me, but what could I possibly do?
He smiles. “Come here, please?”
Breathing, I step in between his knees and timidly slide my fingertips against his thighs. The fabric feels smooth and expensive. It makes my mind wander, thinking about how nice it would be to peel these pants off of him. Thoughts I’ve never entertained about another vampire.
Aries tilts his head. “Why are you following me?” His voice is low. Playful and sexy in a way that makes my groin ache.
“Because I haven’t seen you this past week. I’ve missed talking to you.”
“Is that all?” he asks.
Biting the inside of my lip, I hesitate, then decide to tell the truth. “And because I like you.”
He closes the space between us and leans in, brushing our noses. My breathing hitches and my heart races. “Do you?” he whispers.
“Yes… very much.” A trance-like state floods my mind as I close my eyes and boldly press into his lips. Needing to kiss him. I have to, because the urge is compelling, like the pull of a magnetic field. His palms are warm when he brings them up to hold my head.
Slowly, his fingers thread into the back of my hair as he parts his lips. The movement of our mouths fused together is easy this time, and the wet slip and sweetness of his tongue makes me lightheaded. Lithe.
With this kiss, he could undress and lay me down, then have me in any way that he desired. I wouldn’t object and I’d be forever grateful.
Aries lifts, gently, but the sensation is like being disconnected from the heat and pleasure of the sun. “You’re unhappy here,” he says. A statement. Not a question.
I smile weakly. “‘Unhappy’ is putting it nicely.”
“You disagree with the way Eden operates. You reject this marriage, and yet, you remain compliant within this system. Why do you stay?”
His questions clear the sensual haze clouding my brain and body. I stand straighter. “I’m… not sure that I’m ‘compliant,’ necessarily.”
“Then what would you call it? Is kissing me behind closed doors a satisfying act of rebellion—”
“No.It’s not—It isn’t like that.”
“Do you know what I want for you?” Aries asks, settling back against his palms once more. “I want you to be free of this place. To live, explore and discover. I want you to step into the fullness of who you are and your power—unbound by precepts and anachronistic conventions. Confident in your truth and liberated from beneath the weight of your father’s shadow.”
My throat tightens as I curl my fingers against his thighs. “I want those things, too.”
He leans forward as if he’s about to kiss me again. I inhale sharply as he sweeps past my face and his lips brush my cheek. Aries’s voice is as firm and deliberate as stone. “So,what will you do?”
“What can I do?” I ask, pulling away. “Logistically, I don’t have any money or resources—I don’t even know if I have a passport to leave Eden. And if I tried to run away, I… I can’t…” My entire body shivers at the thought. Thomas tried to run away once. He tried, but it did not go well for him.
At all.
“It would be difficult to leave,” Aries continues in my disturbed silence. “But isn’t it harder to be complicit in this pageantry? Why have you let Alexander drag you across the ballroom all night, when it is clear to anyone with eyes that you are not enjoying yourself?”
“What do you mean by why have Ilethim? You’re saying that this circumstance is my fault?”
“No.” He leans forward, capturing my wrists in his palms. “That is not what I’m saying. Of course your circumstance has been fabricated by those around you—however, you don’t need to make the execution of their agenda this easy for them, Oliver. You have been bold and forthcoming with me. Why not be bold toward them?”
The ethereal light pouring in from the stained glass behind Aries encapsulates us as we watch each other in silence. My temples pound as the familiar, suffocating weight of humiliation bears down on my shoulders.
How must I look to Aries? Me, having my electronics and phone taken away. Alexander dragging me around tonight as if I’m his personal rag-doll. And then I have the nerve to follow Aries’s essence across the estate, sniffing behind him like a lost puppy.
To someone like him—a free, contemporary vampire teeming with verve and confidence—I must… I probably look like an idiot. Like a silly and obedient fool.
“You say that you dream of freedom,” Aries says, holding on to my wrists and looking into my eyes. “Sodosomething, anything besides everything that they want. Simply try speaking your mind? Voicing your sincere desires or—”
