Flawed Beginnings

EXCERPT:

"I am glad I could have been to your assistance during this vulnerable time." My voice, too formal and barely audible. I was afraid it would betray me at any moment now. I couldn't meet his eyes, and instead fixed my eyes on the intricate carpet covering the floor.

He took a step towards me, and the moonlight cast shadows on his face, his facial features more angular, more sharp, more fearlessly beautiful. He was not a monster.
"I am forever grateful for your company, and I understand if you do not want to come with me." He paused, eyes roaming my face, as if trying to remember me before he could no more.
"But remember this: you gave me life in this castle. You nursed me from death, something damn near impossible. And I've seen you in that library of yours. Your uncle..." He swallowed.
"He allows you to live through stories and tales, and that's it. He allows you to live through fiction, and suppresses you from everything else." He took my hands in his own hard, warm ones.
"If you want to live your life,accompany me. To face dangers, yes, but to see beauty you will otherwise never see if you are holed up in here." He pulled me closer this time, so close I could feel his warm breath coating my own lips. He pulled me closer, closer, head tilting, eyes closing, and his lips captured mine, such a timid yet yearning kiss. A kiss where I felt nothing could ever feel this right and correct in the world. And when he pulled away slowly, forehead resting on mine, I suddenly knew my answer.