The Greatest Obsession

Chapter Nineteen: The Craving

The second the words left Haydn's lips Elijah's throat tightened. He hadn't had a reaction like this before and after his strange behavior, he was wary of being fed from. So Elijah brushed his own neck, still against the door, unable to speak. He watched the vampire cock his head, and question him with his eyes.

"Where did your strength disappear? You've gone pale. Such wit and confidence you showed on my lawn, but now you look conflicted."

Elijah gulped and shrugged. He wandered towards his bed, on the other side, away from Haydn. The human closed his window and stared at his reflection, dull and translucent by the light of his oil lamp that the blue-eyed immortal must have lit before Elijah arrived. Within a blink, Haydn moved silently to the other side of the bed in the same cert position. He gazed at Elijah with that uncovered longing that he'd given the night of the failed plan. The longing seemed stronger, less animalistic and more human. Elijah didn't know how to feel when the vampire looked at him this way.

The brown-haired man turned around, his fingers gripping the window and his buttocks resting on the sill. "I'm sorry," Elijah murmured, "I'd not had a pleasant night last night, and your need for blood just made me painfully aware of it."

A glimpse of knowing flashed over Haydn's face, then replaced by an uncertainty. Before Elijah could question Haydn on this, the being perked significantly and offered a hopeful smile to the youth. "We all have our plagues and unhappiness. Come, come! Tell me about thine displeasing night while we prepare thee for slumber." Haydn waved his hands towards him.

Elijah couldn't help but snicker at the vampire before saying, "You talk as though you're reading Shakespeare."

"I might have known him," Haydn joked.

Elijah had a nightgown folded over his writing chair. He assumed it had been left by Preston. Picking up the gown for inspection, he noticed it was probably the plainest sleep attire he owned. Just a white piece of clothing with a v-shaped neckline, and buttons at the cuffs. Elijah gathered the gown against him and turned to Haydn. "You're not that old, are you?"

Haydn snorted.

Elijah tossed the gown onto his bed and walked over, only wishing to be hands-free when undressing but Haydn caught a button on Elijah's vest, and then another. Elijah reached for the ancient's fingers, stopping him from undoing the third button. "What are you doing?"

Haydn mimicked Elijah's signature lip nibble before responding, "Unfastening your buttons, what else?" he said before attempting to undo the button Elijah blocked.

"You cannot undress me," said Elijah, sidestepping the vampire in his efforts to pry the button loose. "I wouldn't even allow the butler to undress me."

"Does your wealth play a factor in this odd dislike?"

"Not in the slightest," Elijah responded. He snapped his eyes at Haydn, who'd taken to lounging on his stomach, his calves lifted and his oxford clad feet crossed. "I am not royalty. I can dress, but also, for you to see me exposed, without coverage, is close enough to a sin."

"Are you mentally ill?" Haydn asked. "Pray tell, what sin would your God think is being committed?"

"What man sees another man in nakedness who isn't a servant? A lover and that is something that you are not."

"You're right, I am not, thus, tell me where there is an issue?" Haydn sighed.

Elijah had finished unbuttoning his waistcoat but didn't remove it. Elijah paused and looked at Haydn. "I am still learning to trust you, remember that. I cannot be sure of whatever floats in that sinful mind of yours."