THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS - BWS

twenty-four

"You feel it too, don't you?" He asked, his face displaying a mix of emotions. He looked hopeful and scared and vulnerable. He wasn't making this up.

I sat, frozen, unable to articulate a word. It couldn't be possible. A vampire mate with a human? No, it was simply unfeasible. What would happen when I grew old and he looked the same age? And how could I be his mate when my blood seemed so hard to resist? Surely it wouldn't work between us if he had to control himself not to literally eat me.

"You're my mate, Charlotte," he insisted as I stayed silent, trying to make sense of what was coming out of his mouth. Still, my brain couldn't comprehend it. "I really tried to deny it, to stay away from you, but not being close to you is impossible. Bloody hell, I really tried." He dragged his hand down his face. "Letting you travel to Scotland without me was pure torture. I need to be around you, to see you— to feel you. And I know you feel it too."

I swallowed. Because he was right, I felt it too. I felt the tingles in my skin, the jolts when we touched, the fire when he was near me. I felt the pull of my body to his, the need to feel him around.

"But you—," I began not sure where that thought was going. "You're always so... so on edge around me. How can we—" I couldn't finish that sentence. It felt so surreal. Recurring theme in my life, it appeared.

His lips curled into an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry for the way I've behaved lately," he apologized. "You have to understand what it's like for me to be around you, to constantly be craving you. But it's not only your blood I'm craving, Charlotte. It's all of you. Your lips, your body, your mind." His gaze lingered on my lips, his face shadowed by pain. He looked tortured. "You're mine and everything in me is screaming to claim you as such."

My breath caught in my throat at his words.

"I'm no one's property," I answered, my eyebrows furrowed. He smiled.

"It doesn't work that way," he explained with soft eyes. "Mates belong to each other. My kind is— we're primal creatures. Possessive and protective. Those traits are multiplied by infinity when it comes to our mate. We only mate once in our entire lifespan, so we go to no end for our mate."

I felt dizzy. I placed my hands underneath my thighs to hide how shaky they were.

"What would happen if the feeling wasn't mutual?" I asked quietly, my voice shaking as much as my hands. My question hurt him, I could see it in his eyes. But I didn't regret asking it. It was a legitimate question. I wasn't saying that I didn't feel the same way, even though I wished I did– it would have been a lot easier.

"I am not forcing you into anything, Charlotte," he answered, his voice steady despite the ice in his eyes. "You asked me a question, and I answered."

He paused, his eyes scrutinizing me. Could he really read my thoughts? If he could, he didn't let it show. He still looked hurt and vulnerable and angry. If he really could read my thoughts he would have known I felt the exact same way. He would've known how much I wanted to kiss him, to feel his touch. He would have known that every bit of me wanted to claim him as mine too. I couldn't explain the feeling, it was something I felt deep in my bones, something too unfamiliar to describe.

His features suddenly softened, as if he caught himself getting angry at me.

"Tell me you feel it too," he said, his voice almost begging. My heart tightened in my chest. I wanted to tell him that I did, wanted to erase the pain from his golden eyes, but I couldn't. As much as I wanted him, he was still a stranger, and a vampire. He was immortal and driven by bloodlust. I was mortal, and the one thing he craved the most. We had no future together.