Dusk and Her Embrace

Written by: Lady Nocturne Juliet

A/N: I edited this chapter to be in first person point of view. I've decided I want to keep this story in that POV.

Chapter 9

I flinched in surprise at the sound of Tristan's voice. My breath caught in my throat. "Shit, Tristan," I muttered under my breath. "What are you doing here!?" I made sure to keep my voice in a whisper.

He sat up and rolled off the bed with graceful ease. "Well, you left the coven home when I told you clearly not to leave."

"So, you followed me?" Narrowing my eyes at him, I placed my hands on my hips. The annoyance was clear in my tone of voice and by the scornful look I gave him.

"I'm trying to protect you," he said coolly.

"So, what? You're gonna babysit me now?" The fury swelled, burning deep inside. First Tristan did not want anything to do with me and then he pulled confusing stunts like these. Could the blasted guy make up his mind?

"Well, I apparently can't take my eyes off you because you left the coven home when I went out hunting. Good thing I got back when I did," he said.

I shivered and began to wonder if Tristan spied on Erik and me. A small blush crept up my face at the sudden thought. "I don't understand you, Tristan."

His gaze swept over me. "I don't expect you to."

Balling my hands into tight fists, I let out an annoyed growl and finally with a sigh I raised my hands up in defeat. "There's no arguing with you, is there?" My nose wrinkled with distaste as I stared back at him.

His flawless face was calm and he remained silent with his arms folded firmly across his chest. He had been wearing a dark t-shirt with jeans and a long black trenchcoat that trailed to the floor. Tristan had dressed just as he used to when he was human. The only differences in his appearance were his silky dark hair that fell to his broad shoulders and his inhumanly beautiful face.

"Ugh, whatever. I'm gonna take a shower." I rummaged through one of the drawers for my pj's. Pausing, a new thought hit me at the moment. If Tristan was going to watch me all night then I'd have to consider my choice of dress. I deliberately chose a silky purple night gown that I had bought from the lingerie store that had recently opened at the mall. Picking up a towel on my way to the bathroom that connected to my bedroom, I shut the door behind me. Normally I didn't lock the door behind me but I seriously doubted Tristan would come take advantage of me in the shower. Though if I was really honest with myself, I wouldn't mind so much. The farthest I had ever been with Tristan was that night in the cave when he drank my blood. I couldn't blame him for losing control either since I had practically placed myself on a platter for him to eat. Ready to serve. It had been so idiotic.

My clothes pooled around my feet as I stepped into the warm caress of the shower. The spray of water fell as a soothing waterfall cascading over my body. Like velvet to my skin, I reveled in the feel of the water running over me. Lathering the shampoo through my long hair, I scrubbed against my scalp. The soap was silk over my skin and refreshing. When I finished, I stepped out of the shower stall. With a soft sigh, I dried myself off with a towel and put on the new nightgown. The price tag was still attached. It was silk against my clean skin. The nightgown fell mid thigh. It showed off my long shapely legs. I brushed my teeth for a few minutes. After I was finally done with everything, I stepped out of the bathroom into the bedroom.

Tristan was sitting on my bed with his back resting against the headboard. His arms were folded across his chest. His gaze swept over me as I appeared in the doorway. His lazy eyes drifted to the slight tease of cleavage that peeked above the fitting nightgown and down my curves and finally to my bare creamy legs.

A deep blush dotted across my cheeks. I looked away, letting my hair fall to the front to cover my face. Even with my eyes directed away, I could still feel his heated gaze on me. The intensity could burn a hole into my very soul. Clearing my throat and trying my best to act nonchalant, I moved across the room to stand before the foot of the bed. I knew I was failing terribly at the act. "So, are you going to babysit me all night?" I managed to ask.

"Either you stay at my coven home or I stay here," he said. "As long as the other coven of vampires have their sights set on you, you have no choice in the matter," Tristan said this as a statement.

I sighed. "Look, I'm not a child anymore."

His eyes roamed lazily over my body. "I can see that..." He trailed off. Velvet seduction dripping in his tone of voice.

The heat rushed back to my face, just after it had turned back to normal. I crossed my arms, unintentionally making my breasts peek more out of the top of my gown. "I can take care of myself, Tristan."

His eyes darkened. "You don't understand how powerful vampires are. Our rivals don't have any respect for humanity. They kill and enslave humans. Only my coven can protect you until we find out what they really want," he explained.

I rolled my eyes but a cold shiver rippled through me. Moving along the side of the bed, I made to sit on the edge. "So, did you bring your coffin?" I half joked though a part of me wondered if vampires really did sleep in coffins the way they did in the films.

To my surprise, he chuckled. For the first time in the longest time, Tristan's cold eyes lit up for a brief moment.

"What?" I arched an eyebrow.

"We don't sleep in coffins," he replied. The amusement was clear in his cerulean eyes. "We can sleep in beds just as you do." A smirk curved at the corner of his lips. "Not everything you see in the movies is true. Silly Ellie."

I arched her back against the headboard and turned to look at him. "Right. I mean it's a normal thing to meet a vampire. How silly of me?" Sarcasm dripped heavily in my tone. With the seconds that passed, my curiosity increased. "So . . . what isn't true about vampires? What shouldn't I believe from the movies?"

"Well . . . " Tristan straightened his back against the headboard. "The sun affects us differently. Young vampires can be killed by the sunlight. The older a vampire gets, the more powerful he becomes. The sun no longer affects a vampire once he reaches at least 300 years of age," he explained.

"So . . . " I trailed off. "Since you became a vampire two years ago, the sun can kill you." She watched his expression and understood what he meant.

He nodded. "Garlic doesn't affect us," he continued. "Crosses can't deflect us. I've actually met some vampires that do share the Christian faith even in their curse."

I smiled. "That's cool. Can you see your reflection in the mirror?" I asked.

"Yes, I can."

"I have another question. You don't age, right?"

"No. I don't." Tristan locked his bright blue eyes on mine.

"Then why did your hair get longer? I figured if a vampire doesn't age then time freezes and everything about their appearance remains the same," I pondered aloud.

"We don't agebut the hair and nails of a vampire grow faster than a human's would." Tristan watched the confusion cross my features. "I know. It probably doesn't make sense." He shrugged.

"You're right. It doesn't." The features of my face scunched up as I pondered through the hundreds of questions that rushed into my mind in all directions.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Tristan's mouth twitch into a small smile. His eyes were steady on me. I met his penetrating gaze. We sat for what seemed like an eternity and stared at each other. The tension was thick enough I could have sworn I could reach out and grab it through the dreaded distance between us. Faint memories flashed through my mind. I remembered how warm his skin used to be when he was human. The feel of his soft full lips on hers and his warm fingers trailing over her own skin. Now, he was as cold as death. Even through the contrast, a painful yearning rose in the pit of her belly. A tiny flame heated. Everything in her soul, yearned to touch him again. I wanted him to touch me. The muscles of my stomach clenched tightly as I refrained from reaching out to touch Tristan. With dread, I wondered why he really didn't want to be with me again. A sense of despair hovered about me and decended with piercing claws that began to gnaw at my heart all over again. At this rate, I didn't know if Tristan would ever want to be together again at least the way we used to be. My spirit fell inside.

I felt his eyes burn with a fiery intensity. The atmosphere suddenly felt heavy around me. A heaviness hovered over me and seemed to push against my body and soul. It became difficult to breathe. Through the heavy air that had suddenly wrapped its way around me, shivers rippled through my body. A distant pain filled my heart and overwhelmed me. The pain ran deep enough to feel like physical pain in my heart. I clutched at my chest as if to stop the pain that clawed its way there.

"Ellie?" He watched my expression suddenly change. I cowered as if I were afraid and in physical pain.

"I feel so weird . . ." I trailed off. Meeting his eyes, I could see the distant pain hiding. "I feel so much pain . . . and heaviness," My voice came as a fragile whisper. As I searched his eyes, I felt the feelings coming from Tristan. "Is this what you feel?"

His eyes widened with recognition. He looked away from her searching gaze. "It's the blood tie," he said. "We can both feel a hint of what the other feels because I drank from you. When vampire drink from a human, a blood tie may form."

"Oh yeah, Dante explained that." The realization dawned on me. "If only a hint then why do I feel it so strongly?"

Tristan couldn't look me in the eye. It occured to me that he was hiding so much more. From the expression on his face, I was aware that he was fighting an inner battle with himself. He was probably deciding whether or not to tell me what he had been hiding from me. "It depends on how strongly a person feels about something," he simply said.

"Tristan . . ." The concern was clear on my face. "Is this how you feel?" I pressed on.

The torment burned in his eyes. The battle raging inside his mind. He remained quiet in his thoughts. It became clear that he was not going to open himself to me. At least not right now.

I watched him helplessly. He wouldn't speak to me. With a sudden dash of courage, I moved closer to Tristan and gently cupped his chin. His skin was smooth and cold like ice. Small shivers ran through me. Electricity traveled through me at the simple touch of his skin. "Tristan, be honest with me." I was not going to let him off so easily.

In that moment, he met my concern that overcame me was exactly like the time when we had been together in the beginning of high school. He had been a closed person. Tristan hadn't been one to share his feelings with other people. He only spoke when necessary and kept it short to the point. That was until I came along and got him to slowly open up to me. I would deliberately seek him out and try to get all I could from out of him. He had been reluctant at first but when he saw that I wasn't interested in hurting him like the ones in his past had been, he began to confide in me. The connection we had grew over the years. Now as I looked at him, I knew there was more. I wasn't blind.

"Please," I pleaded. Searching his eyes, I could clearly see the torment that weighed him by the mask of agony on his inhumanly beautiful face. "I'm not here to judge you . . ." I said quietly. My voice was gentle and reassuring. I reached out to touch Tristan's heart with the pleading in my eyes.

"Fine." He closed his eyes and opened them again. "How would you feel if you became a blood thirsty demon?" He asked.

"Tristan . . ." I whispered. My hand fell away from his face, collapsing at my side in defeat.

His jaw set tightly. The anger flared across his features. "I'm dammed for all eternity. This is why I feel the way I do."

The heaviness in the air began to lesson and the pain radiated from Tristan had nearly vanished. I could breathe normally again. "I'm sorry," was all I could say.

Tristan shrugged. "That's life. Sometimes it's not fair."

I nodded in agreement. My own pain never once loosened its grasp. It was like Tristan held a vice like rope around my heart, suffocating and threatening it to rupture. I didn't even realize how close we had gotten. It didn't even register that I was the one who began to lean in, closing in the distance between our faces.

His body stiffened and for a moment, it appeared as if he weren't breathing. I didn't stop to think of how he would react. He didn't move away, however. The unusual scent that rose from his skin drew me in. There were no words to use to describe it. I only knew that the mere scent of him nearly drove me to a state of euphoria. The warm of his breath fanned over my face. Even his breath drew me in. Goosebumps rose to the surface of my skin, prickling with the anticipation and the icey aura that radiated from him.

One minute, I was breathing in his scent and searching his eyes and the next his lips fastened onto mine.

At that moment I could have died and would have been more than pleased with my life. I could die a happy woman. AT this moment, I couldn't resist leaning into him and I didn't want to.

He pressed in to me andcupped my face in his icey hands. The pressure of his lips against mine increased.

I took this as an invitation and pressed myself against him. All thoughts of the world outside this room were lost.

Tristan pulled me onto his lap and tangled his hands into my hair, pulling my against his marble-like body. My hands flattened against his chest. It reminded me of stone beneath the fabric of his clothing. All the passion inside seemed to pour into this one kiss. His tongue danced around mine and explored my warm mouth. As I squirmed over his lap, he moaned into the kiss.

All my energy was put into this kiss. Gathering what little courage I had left, I moved to straddle him.

Tristan bit back a growl of desire as my legs spread around him. The nightgown rose high up my thighs. Moving my hands from his chest, I curled my fingers around one of his wrists and lowered it toward my bare thigh. He didn't need to be told twice. His hands instantly began to trace over my skin. The ice of his touch brought a wave of goosebumps prickling across my skin. He moved his lips to the crook of my neck, savoring every inch of skin as if it he thoroughly enjoyed it.

I bit my lip to stop myself from moaning at the feel of his teasing lips against the hollow of my neck. My head fell back in surrender.

Tristan's hands moved to cup my breasts as he grazed his teeth against me. My pulse vibrated with life and speed as he trailed his lips over my jugular vein. Weaving my fingers into his hair, I pressed him closer. I wasn't afraid of what he could do. Sitting in his arms, I made no move to push him away. I sat in surrender in his cold embrace. Even my blood sang for him, beckoning to him for a taste. At that moment, I was so lost in his scent and the nearness that I didn't care for the danger. He could kill me at any given time. Still, I wanted him. I needed him. As my body responded to the thoughts that overcame my mind, I grinded against him. The evidence of his arousal was pressed to me, right against my aching core.

Moaning against my skin, he closed his eyes. I could feel the gentle flutter of his eyelashes.

My hands ran slowly down his back. They craved to be against his skin, to trail along the smooth alabaster. A soft moan escaped my lips at the feel of his breath and cool lips on me.

Tristan tightened his hold around me and for a moment I was almost sure I might have bruises from his sudden iron-like grasp.

I gasped.

He raked his sharp teeth against me. It was like the ominous feel of a cool knife dragging down the flesh. The slightest increase of pressure would draw out the nectar that flowed through my veins. I could feel him shake against me. His mouth vibrated against me and forced my eyes shut in the sudden wake of fear of the pain that might come. He suddenly froze against me. Pulling away slowly to meet my eyes, his widened with horror.

I was suddenly thrown across the bed with a whimper.

Tristan appeared across the room by the window. A look of sheer horror contorted the perfect features of his face. A disturbing look in his eyes.

"Tristan?" I cried out softly.

Without a word, he turned to leap out of the window.

I ran to the window and searched for him but he was no where in sight. The black night embraced him, covering him in its shadows. My heart fell into the pit of my stomach. Moving across the room with my shoulders slumped, I curled up into a ball on the bed. Hugging my knees to my chest, I tried my best not to let the tears that blurred my eyes to come out. Fighting with myself, I bit my lip. I lost. The tears trickled down my cheeks, betraying me.