Page 14 of His True Beloved

“I-I’m sorry to disturb you. I thought I heard you crying and wanted to make sure you were all right.” My hands shook so badly that I stuck them in my pockets, trying to relax my appearance.Smooth, I had to be smooth. My beloved continued to stare at me like I was a puzzle to behold. I smirked, thinking of Rowan’s words. She could very well feel the bond. “Are you all right?” I calmed.

She shook her head; her long smooth hair covered her face again. She picked up a key that fell out of the pocket of her hooded shirt. It had an animal butt on the front shaped like a heart.

Strange.

She stood up frantically. “No, I wasn’t crying.” She sniffed. Tilting my head in amusement, she began to back away.

Not having that. I just found you.

“I’m new here,” I spat out, trying to follow her. My long legs caught up to her. “Elder Rowan showed me around today, though I might have seen you earlier.” My beloved stopped in her tracks, looking behind her. The once soft eyes grew hard as she stomped her foot into the freshly cut grass.

Adorable.

“Come to tell me how pathetic I am?” she spat. My once prideful posture now shifted into slumped shoulders. That wasn’t what I was trying to say at all. “And don’t creep up on people,” she muddled her words. “Not all of us are acclimated to the lifestyle yet.” I squinted my eyes as she turned, not giving me a second glass.

“I wasn’t trying to tell you how pathetic you are. I just noticed you,” I called out. Not giving up, I walked up beside her, keeping my shaking hands in my pockets. “I’m Sebastian,” I mentioned, half interested.

Don’t want her thinking I’m too interested, right? Maybe?

“I’m Nunya,” she snapped. I stopped in my tracks. That was an interesting name I had never heard before. “Is that derived from a European descent?” My beloved turned around, her eyebrow raised, and gave a smirk of amusement.

“Want to hear my last name?” she purred. Dear goddess almighty.She has the most captivating deep, feminine voice when she isn’t talking like I’m going to eat her. Luckily, my hands were in my pockets.

“S-sure,” I stuttered.

“Business.” she winked, throwing her hair over her shoulder, and continued the graveled path.

“Nunya Business? Nunya Business.” I repeated over and over. I smiled widely, my fangs overshadowing my lower lip as I barked out a laugh. Slapping my knee, my laughter roared over the lake, echoing into the not-to-distant woods. Vampires from afar watched me in amusement, some snorting at my ridiculousness. I don’t remember if I had ever laughed that hard in my life. It felt surprisingly refreshing. It felt right. My heart did somersaults, feeling the soaring eagles run through me.

I was too busy laughing to pay attention to where my beloved was going until the smell of her intoxicating scent filled my lungs. Different, her blood was different from any other human’s that I had smelled.

My beloved stood right in front of me. Her eyes twinkled in amusement. “You’ve seriously never heard of that joke?” Her lips twitched, trying not to laugh.

“Is it a joke that is common in this area?” I calmed my demeanor. My hands no longer shook, my body becoming more comfortable not to reach out and grab her and hold her close. This would be a true test for me. Not being able to grab her, hold her tight, and never let her go. The demon rolling inside me protested that I shouldn’t hold in my feelings, wants, and desires. I couldn’t let anything happen to her…

“It’s something kids say to each other.” She laughed. “When you said you just moved here, where did you exactly move from?” Relaxing my stance, I shrugged my shoulders.

“Place called Bergarian.” Her eyes widened, taking a step back.

“Right, I’ve heard of the place.” She rubbed her lips together. They turned bright pink, and the soft movements of her lips pressing down on her skin caused the blood to rise to her mouth, leaving me salivating. My fingers itched to touch them, just rub my fingertips over the puffy skin.

“I haven’t visited Earth in a while.” I tried to keep the conversation going. I couldn’t let her leave, not just yet.

“Really? How long?” her curiousness made me smile.

“A hundred and fifty years or so.” Her passive look would have tricked anyone, but not with the blood rushing through her veins and the quickness of her pants. “I’m a little over five hundred.”

“Dang, you are older than my new step-daddy-vampire.” She snorted. Her hand went to her face, covering her mouth. I went to reach out to pull her hand away from her mouth until Suron screamed from across the courtyard.

“My two favorites!” he squealed.

Hades.

Suron wrapped his arms around both of our necks from behind, leading us to the cafeteria. “The two newbies to the coven, and I’m in charge—” Suron stopped, his head whipping to the direction of my face and then to my beating chest. I scowled, my face darkening. Chuckling nervously, he took his arms down and rubbed his hands together.

“In charge of the both of you!” He looked at my beloved, tapping his five fingers together and back to me in nervousness.

Children saw Suron running toward him, pulling at his clothes, pulling him down for a hug.

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