Darkly Devoted (Book 1, 2, 3)

DD Chapter 6 - The New Girl in Town

Chapter 6

ON THE AFTERNOON, HE left her in Remin, things were a blur. It was only after the chauffeur pulled the car with heavily tinted windows back to that quaint little house by the oak tree that Vivienne started having second thoughts. Blake had come to see her off. He hadn't told her how or even if he would ever contact her again.

"Here you are — finally," he told her with a quick, transient grin. "It's time for you to go home."

The car had come to a standstill in front of her house, but Vivienne felt reluctant to leave. Now that it was time to go, she felt a strange desire to stay. She knew she was past the point of no return. She wasn't going to make him drive her out here to turn back. Yet, at the same time, she didn't want to say goodbye. As Vivienne's hand found the door, she turned back.

"Will I ever see you again?" Vivienne blurted out.

"Do you want to?" He asked in a coy tone. "I thought I disgusted you."

"No," Vivienne said. "No, you don't. I wouldn't mind seeing you again, even if it is at night. As long as you know, you don't assume anything."

"No, never," Blake said with a laugh. Vivienne took her hand away from the car door, and she moved closer to him. The time they had spent together, although not long, was enough to fill her with a kind of sadness to see him go. What had once been apprehension and fear at his strength and his unnatural state had turned into a playful sort of friendship.

There was more there than just camaraderie, though. Vivienne couldn't quite put her finger on it. She was constantly looking for a reason to touch him, to be close to him. When they were together, she felt as though nothing else mattered. Nothing except the mischievous light in his eyes, the gentle curl of his amused lips, the way his thick, expressive eyebrows were just a shade darker than his bourbon-colored hair. It seemed as though she could stare at his features for ages and never fully know them.

Her favorite part was that he tended to smile back at her as her eyes lingered on his face. He leaned in to kiss her on her forehead. His lips lingered there for a moment, and Vivienne tilted her chin up to kiss his cheek. His shaved face was rough against her face. She kissed him again, this time closer to his lips. She inhaled him deeply, trying to etch this moment in her memory. He smelled of the clean night air, of all the mysteries of her most secret dreams.

She was so absorbed with kissing him, lightly tasting his skin on her lips, and then licking her lips that she barely noticed that his fingers were in her hair. He guided her closer, and he pressed his lips to her upper lip. He was kissing her back this time, more insistently than before, as though he was finally opening up to her.

There was only regret in his eyes as he finally drew back. Vivienne jumped back across the back seat as she realized in the heat of the moment, she had nearly eased herself onto his lap. Nervously, she placed her clasped hands between her knees and stared at the floor.

"Go," he whispered. Now, he was the one who sounded awkward. "Before it gets too dark." Vivienne nodded even though that didn't make much sense. Her house door was only a short walk down the driveway away.

Vivienne wrinkled her nose. "How will I contact you?"

"I'm never far."

Vivienne had no idea what it meant. Now that he was leaving, Vivienne suddenly decided she had to know what was going to become of him.

Vivienne didn't know what to think, so she opened the car door and stepped out. As she walked up to the house door and rang the rusty doorknob, she realized she didn't even have a phone number to call him with.