Bound

Close | Eva

We went shopping.

I got new pants and shirts, none white, and even a salt lamp I thought would look lovely in my room.

Hale bought a turtle neck...

He bought quite a few turtle neck scarves too because I guess it's easier to say he grew a bit chilly than trying to explain why there are two deep purple dots on the side of his neck.

We didn't have to go. I made it clear that he didn't have to go anywhere with me as he lay on the floor recovering from my assault. Hell, I would've been willing to leave and never return if that's what he wanted because while part of me felt that he deserved it in some twisted way, I knew if it'd been me, I'd gone ballistic if he did such things to me without my consent.

To get bitten as a vampire...

He sat on a bench not far off from me in the mall, his eyes fixated on his phone screen. They broke away and looked up to meet mine.

My still bloodred eyes.

I made my way over to him, stopping dead in front as he stared up at me.

I cleared my dry throat.

"Ready to go?"

He stood up and headed towards the exit in silence.

I walked beside him, sticking close as everyone, and I mean everyone, caught a sideways glimpse at him. I got it that he was a Lord, but the number of eyes that lingered was too much.

The words of Lovett crossed my mind for a moment. Prince. I never did ask about that.

If not for the eyes, they might've given me no thought walking with him, but they gave me more than a mere thought. The women particularly offered intense stares, picking me apart in my entirety with their vicious gazes. They looked into every inch of my being either thinking I was a high-class servant pretty enough for Hale to be interested or assumed we were already intertwined in some way. 

Neither of which I liked, but critical stares were always better than bloodthirsty gazes.

Did I look like one of them... I still couldn't fully remember what happened, but when I bit him, something changed jarringly in me. The fangs had since retracted, but I sunk my teeth into a Lord, and he just blew it off to go shopping, no questions asked.

It wasn't ok, no matter how casual he tried to act.

I wasn't ok. The fangs, the eyes, the insane strength... what is wrong with me?

"Eva?"

I flinched, jolting my stare from the car window to the hand he laid on my arm.

He withdrew at my response.

Peeking up at his face, I returned from my daze.

He turned away, muttering a soft apology. My heart to stone in my chest, crumpling as it plunged to my stomach.

"No-no, it's fine. I just wasn't paying attention."

He nodded.

"I know... hence why I should ask before I do such things."

"You need to ask?"

He peered over at me brows furrowed with confusion and interest, but he never said a word.

A long pause held between us as the driver pulled away from the shielded garage and out into the pouring rain. It hammered against the car roof, filling the silence.

I blurted out.

"Now, you're worried about having my permission?"

He rose a brow to me again

"Did I stutter in saying I wouldn't lay an unwanted hand on you again? It's a simple concept. You neither said nor in any manner showed that you wanted me to touch you, and so I shouldn't have."

His eyes fixated on me for a moment, confirming that I heard him before he turned back to stare out the window.

I inhaled deeply and exhaled my tensions. I exhaled the mild frustration, the confusion, the insecurities about my being, the memories of earlier. I released every grudge and fear I possessed for him before being in that car, and reaching over, I grasped his hand.

A confusing chill down my spine. Despite every logical sector of my brain telling me to pull away, I deepened the connection by moving closer. Inch by inch, I made my way towards him, just barely leaving space between us. As I leaned over onto his shoulder, I closed the gap.

My heartbeat sped, fast and hard enough that he surely heard it. I'm sure he heard it, maybe even felt it, but stayed put offering me the misery of the thumping silence.

Eventually, the beating subdued.

Until he moved.

My breath hitched, and my heartbeat sped again in a more controlled manner. I glanced up at him, thinking he might be staring out the window or sitting with his phone in his other hand. Instead, I found his eyes closed. His body had shifted ever so lightly as he sunk deeper into the comfort of his seat, leaning his head onto mine.

We sat that way for a while, comfortable in the relaxing ambiance created by the pouring rain. Even as the car came to a stop, I didn't want to think of having to step out.

Hale's head rose, and as it did, a crushing weight on my shoulder came rushing back. He glanced down at me before reaching to open his door. I tried to release my already loose grip on his hand, but as his fingertips threatened to slip away from my grasp, I tightened.

He stopped in his tracks, turning to me with a look of question.

"I-."

I searched for the words to explain myself only to have them fall far from the reach of what I was willing to confess. My lips remained apart, but I couldn't speak.

So he spoke for me.

"You don't want to get out?"

I pressed my lips together, bitting into the bottom one as I refused to look at him.

"I assume that's a no."

His hand slipped away from mine.

He stepped out, shutting the door and leaving me alone inside the stillness of an already abandoned car.