"What I was going to say was selfish..." He mumbled. I edge closer to him until my hand slowly cradled his cheek. Tilting his head up to look at me. "Please let me know what it was." I beg him pathetically. He begins to chew his lip and that's when I knew he was nervous. Nervous about what? I'm not exactly sure. "With everything I said...I was going to say at the same time...never...leave me." He confessed painfully almost. That's when I lost all sense of control and pressed my lips onto his. Kissing him with all my strength and all the built up desire that's accumulated. I continued to kiss him until at some point my tongue made it's way into his mouth. Tasting a sweet flavor that I've never encountered. As I got deeper in the kissing I feel myself fly back into a tree. Slammed against it that I felt myself lose my breath. Trying to catch it, I look up at Achille. His eyes were now a crimson red that intrigued me. He shook his head and suddenly he was gone in a blur. Confused, I stood as I had to pop my back from the hard hit into the tree. Looking in the direction Achille ran off, I knew I couldn't see him because it'd be a blur. Always thought it was fascinating how when he runs you can't see it. Being a vampire must be...fascinating. Yet he makes it out to be hell. I can't understand that kind of complicity of being a vampire and the issues. I get it, they drink blood. Though there's multiple things beside humans that offer blood! He acts like it's so horrific. I would love to know what it felt like for a day. Just one day...

"Very good, Wesley," he breathed, the warm air fanning across the merchant captain's face. "Now I suggest you listen closely because I don't do this very often." Wesley curiosity grew, though he kept a healthy degree of skepticism as he listened to the pirate. "I'm prepared to offer you a deal." "What kind of deal?" he asked, his heart racing. "I seem to have found something that I want even more than your ship's cargo," he said with an unsettling smirk. "And I am prepared to let what remains of your crew sail free if I get it." "Name your price," Wesley said, at this point ready to agree to anything if his crew would live. Valentine reached out and tilted Wesley's head up so he could get a better view of it. His smirk seemed to grow as he let one little word slip through his lips. "You." *This is an LGBTQ+ story*

She felt nervous as she watched the taxi drive back down the long and winding driveway and disappear through the imposing, brass gate. She picked up her bags and turned to muster the house. It was large - the size of a small villa - with a brick facade and large white windows. The door was built of dark wood, a brass knocker nailed onto its middle. The garden surrounding it seemed immaculately kept and bore flowers in various shades of yellow which flanked the house walls. A plated stone path connected the driveway and parking area with the steps of the entrance. The entire property was shielded off from the outside by thick bushes, which could easily trump small trees in height. She swallowed. There was no turning back now. The arrangements had been made. The life she had known had been adjusted to accommodate her stay here, so far up in the countryside, so far away from the rest of the world. Hesitantly she began to walk up the path; once in front of the door she took a deep breath. This was it. Two careful knocks. Then it began: