Hunted

Chapter Eighteen

I pulled away and pushed some hair behind my ear. I can't believe I got carried away like that. I threw his shirt at him and threw mine back on. "We shouldn't have gotten carried away like that." He put his shirt in in silence. "Ali why did you pull away." He couldn't know. I didn't want to worry him.

"It's nothing Caleb." I looked around the room hoping for something to distract me from the awkwardness of the moment. That's when I saw the time in my phone. 10:45. Perfect. "It's getting late. "We should probably hit the sack. I'll go get some blankets for you."

My mind was distracted as I went through the closet with the blankets. I was becoming mush in the hands of this human. If Nicolae even smelled him on me though he was dead. I wanted him. Caleb for once made me feel like I could have a home. Once I got the blankets and pillow I went back to him.

Caleb was sitting in front of the fire place. The way the light danced off his skin was wonderful. It made him look soft and approachable. The tan he had made him look younger in the light of the fire. "I have some blankets. Sorry you have to sleep on the couch. When we moved in I claimed a room, my dad did as well. The other three rooms we made a music room, a library, and an art room."

"That's fine. With the lives you guys live I'm not surprised. But why those kinds of rooms?" I kind of blushed as I sat by him. "My father is the one who enjoys art the most. I use mostly sketch pads and he does all the canvas drawings and stuff. Both of us love reading but I'm the one who spends most of my free time in there."

"And the music?" With a smile I faced him. "I play the music. When ever I'm not in the library I'm playing music." Over the course of the years music helped me deal with my nightmares.  "I didn't know you could play music." He was close to me again. "It's just a pastime."

His soft lips were against mine again. After a few seconds I broke it off. "We can't do this Caleb." The hurt of my words was clear in his eyes. The mask he wore as a hunter was breaking. His emerald eyes looked like they were about to shed tears hunters swore they never would. A tear was forming in the corner of his eye but he blinked it away.

"What can't we do? Ali, what is wrong?"

"You and me. We can't happen." I turned back to the fire place. The heat from the fire place was actually making me colder. "Ali." He put his arm around me and brought me close to him. Suddenly I was filled with warmth. "Tell me what's going on." How did I tell him that I was going to be the reason he died?

"Nicolae is the man my father engaged me to." Tears streaked my cheek as I looked at him. "At the time I had to spend every moment with either him or my father. Father wouldn't believe me about what I told him what Nicolae did to me. It wasn't until I almost died at his hands he finally saw the monster behind the mask. He finally realized that I was in danger. He got me out but I didn't escape without injury."

The warmth from his body seamed to fade as I told my story. He was stroking my arm to try and calm me but it wasn't working. "What did he do to you Ali?" I choked back tears as I looked into the fire.  My eyes were far away as I thought about what happened. "He would experiment on me. He was a sort of scientist back then. He made things and injected me with them. Or Nicolae would try out new inventions on me.

It was only in the past few decades that the scars finally went away. The physical ones at least." As I wiped a tear I made sure I planed my next words carefully. "Nicolae finds me where ever I go. He will kill you if we start something." I thought Caleb would pull away but instead he pulled me closer. "What if I said it didn't matter? I care to much to let you go this easy. I don't care that I might die if I'm with you. I might die everyday when I go on a hunt."

His lips brushed against my forehead. "I think I'm in love with you Ali. I never realized it until you told me that story. I realized I wanted to protect you from anything that might want to hurt you." I faced him and saw in his eyes that he was telling the truth. "No one has ever looked at me like that. No one has ever told me they wanted to protect me." The words were on my lips but I couldn't form them. "What is it Ali?"

"I think I love you too Caleb." I didn't know what it was to love someone romantically. I only knew family love. Love like this was new for me. Caleb's smile showed me though that this was very real. "Now, want to re-evaluate that statement before of us not being able to be together?" A laugh escaped my lips as I nodded. "Just promise me you will be carful." If I lost him now I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

"I always am." With a smile I kissed him and the kiss he gave me back was sweet and soft. We just took our time with our kisses. Sometimes they got a bit to powerful but most of the time they stayed soft and sweet. He was warm and the fire made us both warm and soft. At one point our kisses were a little rough and we fell off the couch. The funny thing is though when we landed on the floor we started laughing.

He stroked my arm as I wrapped my hands around his neck. He reached the scar that would never go away and kissed it. "It's beautiful you know. You shouldn't cover it up." His little half smile pulled me back in. As we kissed this was the first time I noticed the scruff on his face. Some men should shave it, but not Caleb. The scruff completed him. He ran his hands through my hair as we got lost in each other.

My father wouldn't approve of this but screw him. "I love you Caleb." The accent I tried so carefully to hide came out in all its glory. "You should speak with that accent more when we are alone. It's sexy as hell." Blush spread across my face and Caleb stroked my cheek with a lovers touch. Nicolae never touched me like that. No one has.

As he kissed me I realized that Nicolae couldn't rule my life forever. "I love you too Ali." With a smile I pulled him closer to me as we kissed and all was well. His soft body warmed up my now cold one. "Lose that stiffness bright eyes." I realized how stiff I was just then. I was nervous still but Caleb eased that worry with every touch, and every kiss.

Eventually I wasn't stiff anymore. I was as lose as anyone could be when with their significant other. Caleb broke our kisses and smiled at me. For a moment he looked like a real seventeen year old boy. He always did but being a hunter matured him. I smiled back at him and smiled sweetly at him. "Carful Ali. I think your seducing me."

"Your wrong Caleb. It's you who is seducing me." With that cocky half smile I loved he started his soft tender kisses again. His kisses moved to my neck then he whispered in my ear.

"Let me show you what real love feels like then."