Crimson Kiss

15 More Questions

Ezra was quiet as we walked through the dying, leaf littered gardens of the school grounds. He did not reach for my hand and he did not touch me as I thought he would. He had been unable to keep his hands off of me in class and now, he refused to touch me. Not that it bothered me much. It was nice not to hear my heart pumping blood into my ears every five seconds because of his touch.

The school gardens were well taken care of. There was an empty water fountain in the middle of the garden that was littered with dirt and dead leaves. The grounds keeper must have drained the fountain before the weather started getting colder. I shuddered in the cool air and moved to walk in the sun beside Ezra. We wandered the grounds for a while and Ezra would ask me a random question as we walked among the dead rose bushes. As we walked I did a quick recap of what I did know about him.

First, I knew he was a Vampire, although I had not really seen any proof of that yet. He was so in control of himself, all the time. He even seemed stiff at times. Second, he said he had been born in 1818. that would make him one hundred and ninety two years old. It blew my mind. And last, he had fed on me. He had looked so ashamed of himself when he had told me.

We found a small stone, moss covered bench and took a seat.

"What is your favorite flower?" he asked me.

I pursed my lips for a moment, thinking. "Tulips," I answered.

Ezra smiled and nodded. "You favorite food?" he asked me.

I laughed at him. "Are we playing fifty questions?" I asked him. "And what about my questions?"

Ezra sighed and breathed out a laugh. "To be honest, I have been dreading your questions," he admitted and glanced at me. I watched his eyes slide down my face to my exposed neck. A shiver went through me once more. I reached up to cover my neck with my scarf, thinking it may be hard for him, but his hand caught mine, his eyes still fixed on my skin.

"No," he assured me. "I am in control of myself. Besides, I like the look of your skin." I felt blood rush to my face and my heart somersaulted inside my chest. I watched his eyes begin to darken once more and it almost looked like he had to force himself to look away from me. I opened my mouth to speak but he turned to face me, his face suddenly open, a small smile on his face, his cheeks relaxed but it was his eyes that threw me off. They were still tight with stress. As selfless as I wanted to be and just leave him be, because clearly I was making him uncomfortable for some unknown reason, I still wanted answers. I forced a smile back at him and cleared my throat to speak but Ezra cut me off quickly.

"What is your favorite time of year?" he asked me. I wanted to press him for answers about what I had done to make him pull away from me like he had. I wanted to know so it didn't happen again. Ever. I was not sure how to ask him so I just answered his questions, to both his humor and mine. Ezra seemed genuinely interested in knowing the answers to his questions.

I smiled and lifted my leather gloved hands and gestured around me. "Fall time," I said.

Ezra smiled at me. "Why?" he wanted to know.

I shrugged and reached for a dead leaf on the stone wall beside me. "I suppose, because with the cold grip of winter, death is a given. Spring promises new life," I said.

Ezra nodded and smiled in agreement. "Very poetic," he said.

How was I supposed to ask him this? Worry filled me but I pushed it back down quickly. I did not need to tip off Ezra on what I had planned. But the look on his face made all those thoughts fall away. Suddenly there was just Ezra. Ezra and his beauty. His lips were so close to my skin I could feel his cool breath on my skin, making me shudder. I dared not move an inch as he raised his hand and touched me, gently.