Page 120 of Vampires of Eden: Oliver

I nod, sliding my palms up his spine. “You were the first vampire that truly made me feel comfortable. You didn’t have to talk to me the way that you did, but you were sincere. You listened like no one else ever had. Without judgment, ridicule or rebuke. You made me feel safe.”

The wind picks up, rustling the brush around us as the sun shifts from behind a puffy cloud. It smells like oak, jasmine and sunshine when I inhale deeply. It is paradise. “Aries?”

“You’re going to make me cry again,” he says, shifting and kissing my nose. “You say such beautiful and honest things. It makes me crumble.”

“In a bad way?” I lean into the concave of his neck once more, breathing. I want to feed deeply from him. The yearning is almost painful, but I know we should take it slow. I need to calm down.

“In a good way,” he says. “I had… well. There were grievances that I’d built up after I left the aristocracy in Mykonos, but you’ve eased that burden. You’ve given me something that I didn’t think I’d ever have again. A subtle but important sense that I’ve been missing for so long in my travels.”

“What is it?” I ask, because I genuinely have no idea.

He kisses me on the forehead and between my eyes. “A home. A stable place to rest—somewhere I can finally let my guard down and feel safe. You feel like home to me, Oliver.”

The words are like an incantation, making my emotions well up and my eyes alight once more. Aries senses the shift in my essence and glances down, smiling. “I also love that you’re so easily sparked.”

“May I feed?” I ask. “Properly.”

“Yes, darling. You may.”

I lift my chin to breathe his skin, then swiftly bite into his neck. My aura pulses outward and I don’t restrain it because I want him to know how grateful I am. I want him to understand my heart in its entirety and full capacity—more than words can express.

Aries is delicious as I pull. Divine, richly sweet and earthy. Unlike last night, his nature is malleable with mine as I feed. Accepting and welcoming of my nature’s embrace and intention.

Something in our energies shifts and I open my eyes.

Softly, cautiously, his nature manifests as deep blue, misty like an airbrushed sky as it melts and twists with my silver light. Merging as one.

I stop feeding because the spectacle of it is mesmerizing. Breathtaking and mysterious like the northern lights. Aries watches, too. His eyes are alighted in awe as our natures entwine.

After a moment, they float down and over us like a featherweight blanket. Heat and goodness tingle against my skin, then seep inside my core and spine.

My nature adjusts, settles, and it feels… different. Enhanced. I can sense Aries within me, giving me strength. Offering assurance and love.

He looks down to meet my gaze, and I notice that his eyes have changed. They’re blue, but with an inner glint of silver now. My essence has manifested inside of him.

I was willing to wait for him to accept and form a lifelong bond with me. Even if it took weeks, months or perhaps years.

Apparently, that isn’t our story.

Looking up at him, I smile helplessly. “Hi.”

He laughs, bending and sweetly brushing his nose into me as he closes his burning starlight eyes. “Hello, my darling.”

-The End-