"Yes, as long as I can still ask questions?" I said and he let out an easy laugh making me smile at the sound.
"I wouldn"t expect anything else from you." He touched my nose playfully with one finger, at my rules.
"So where did I get to before.... we...umm?"
"Before I wigged out..." I said knowing now he was trying to be diplomatic.
"Let"s just call it a misunderstanding that ended with an interesting twist." Now it was my turn to laugh. Well that was one way to put it! I on the other hand would have said "the most amazing s.e.x of my life!"
"So you were telling me why you weren"t happy about me working the VIP" I said grabbing a handful of grapes and getting more comfortable by bringing my feet up and putting my arms around my knees. He watched me curiously making me once again feel self-conscious.
"As I explained before, for some reason my kind cannot, well..."
"Feed...it"s fine I won"t go all weird again but can you explain it more?"
"Feeding is not harmful to humans, except when some do it to excess and this is forbidden, one of the rules. But with every rule, there are those who break them. Positive and negative energy can cause different effects on us so we usually stick to what we prefer. For example, if a Demon is more inclined to the darker life he or she will feed from depressed people or humans that might feel lost in life. With Angels it is the opposite if they too prefer the more positive emotions. But like I said, the pendulum swings both ways. It is not as clear cut that Angels are always good and Demons are always bad."
"What do you prefer?" I asked and he frowned at my question.
"I am different. I do not need to feed like the rest but.... I still do. It would feel unnatural if I didn"t. Like say if you didn"t need water to live." He said filling my gla.s.s and pa.s.sing it to me. "I hold this out to you and the very idea of it makes you thirsty, so you will still drink it even though you don"t need to." And he was right as soon as he pa.s.sed me the gla.s.s I was thirsty and couldn"t help but take a sip.
"I am both Demon and Angel so I am inclined both ways, therefore I feed from both energies. Like I said there are some that do this to excess, which is forbidden because they can manipulate human emotions purely for their own gain, keeping them down and depressed just to feed on. Thus taking away their free will. So when you came to work in the club I forbade anyone to feed from you. I would not allow anyone to even try, as I shamefully looked at you as if you were mine and mine only. But my curiosity got too much for me one night and I soon realised that not even I could feed from you. But not only could I not feed, most of my powers wouldn"t work, as if you were locking everyone out...including me!" I couldn"t help but smile at the thought. For a man like Draven I can imagine this must have been a hard thing to accept.
"That must have been frustrating for you," I said without being able to keep the smug look from my face.
"It was! I had never been unable to see into someone"s past or thoughts before. I wanted to know everything about you but you kept it all locked away keeping it just for yourself. It was very selfish of you Keira." He teased bring my hand to his lips so that he could kiss each of my knuckles.
"I would say sorry but I would be lying." I teased back making him playfully start biting my hand. I couldn"t help but be turned on by the sight. I mentally whipped down my libido and asked, "So what did you do?"
"I had to do things the conventional way, which was ...well difficult for me. You have to understand, I am very used to getting what I want and when you walked into my life, it consumed me that I couldn"t get you the way I wanted. I started by seeing you at night but you would then wake and it would get harder each time to try and make you believe what I wanted you to. As they say I was trying to have my cake and eat it but as I said before you were...very stubborn!" He said as he pushed a stray bit of hair back behind my ear.
"Why am I different? You mentioned something about the "Chosen one," what does that mean?" But as soon as I mentioned this he stood up abruptly and turned very serious.
"I should not have said that to you, it is not the time...there is more you need to know and that is something I am forbidden to discuss!"
"Forbidden?" I shook my head not understanding how a conversation could be forbidden.
"Please Keira, forget I said that, let just this one thing slide please...it is not something you need to trouble yourself with, not yet anyway." This made me want to ask more but I knew it would not be wise, so I stayed silent.
"I do not know why you are different, but I would never have you any other way, no matter how frustrating it has been. Of course Sophia made it her duty to try and get us together." At this he rolled his eyes making me smile.
"Sophia...why would she...?"
"Because I"m not the only one that has been waiting for you to come to us. She loves you and she knew that this year would be the time...that"s why she started college, to get close to you."
"Really, why would she go to all that effort?" All these confessions were making my mind whirl. Was this all true and if not then what would he ever gain from lying? No, I had to believe him.
"Because she loves me dearly and wants me to be happy. So evidently she decided to hurry things up. She was the one who had Jerry make you bring up those bottles. I knew nothing about her plans and then when I saw you walk past me...well let"s just say, I very nearly stole you away then and there. It was like waving the drugs in front of an addict." I shuddered. As soon as he said it, it was as though my own feelings were being described back to me.
"So that"s why you seemed so annoyed?"
"At the time I was furious! She went against me by involving you in our world but pretty soon I was thankful for it. I would spend my day watching in through the eyes of others and waiting for you until I could finally do it through my own."
"Wait a minute, eyes of others, what do you mean?" I was now panicking, wondering what else he had seen. I mean it was like having some supernatural stalker confess his sins. I was still processing all of the dreams I had of him being my room as being real but now I had so much more to contend with.
"Another one of my gifts is that I can view things in the eyes of others, like a semi possession. They still have their functions but I own their mind for a short time. And then they awaken as if it has all been a daydream. Of course I have had my fun with it also" He laughed at a memory I couldn"t see, so I couldn"t help asking.
"Fun?" I said folding my arms, as if what I was about to hear were the tales of a naughty boy.
"Well you might be angry but you have to know it was my only way to keep a watchful eye on you." Now he looked guilty, like he had just been busted!
"Draven?"
"Ok, well, at first I just used to see through the eyes of your fellow students but Sophia would often frown upon it, as of course, she would know when I did this." I couldn"t help but laugh at all those times when I had seen someone looking at me funny, it had been Draven all along. Then I froze in horror as I realised the others he had used. My hands flew to my mouth but he couldn"t keep the naughty grin from his lips as he knew I must have realised who else he had seen me through.
"The doctor?" I said under my hands.
"Which one?" He said waiting for me to freak out.
"WHAT, both of them, no wonder he looked at me like I was crazy!" I said shaking my head at him.
"I"m going to take a wild stab in the dark and say you met one of them, when it wasn"t me." I just nodded and he let out a roar of laughter at which I jabbed him in the ribs but it didn"t do me much good as it probably felt like I was tickling him with a fine paint brush!
"I"m sorry, I shouldn"t laugh but come on, it is kind of funny..." He said pinching my cheek playfully making me cave into a smile.
"Ok but that"s it...yes?" I said but I knew from his face that it wasn"t!
"Come on, who else?" I demanded, trying to be firm.
"Ok, but you will find this one funny and like I said it was worth every penny!" He couldn"t keep the smirk off his face, when the penny dropped.
"No way! Bobby the car guy. I knew there was something weird about that guy. First to drop the price and then knock off $500 for a kiss on the cheek!" I said not being able to contain the laugh after it.
"I would have gone for a kiss on the lips but I think Frank would have knocked poor Bobby out and I didn"t want him to wake up with a black eye, but I was slightly shocked when I gave you $4000 and Frank only said you had $3000...he plays hard ball!" He said seeing the funny side but I felt guilty for poor Bobby, as he must have woken up wondering why he practically gave a car away.
"Poor Bobby!" I said and Draven"s hand stroked my face finding my concern for Bobby sweet and endearing.
"Oh he didn"t do too badly, waking to find himself $10,000 richer!"
"What?" Was he joking?
"Well I couldn"t let him wake and find he had very nearly given the car away and I was determined that you were going to have the Ford Bronco even if it was for only $3000!"
"Oh great, even more money I owe you!" I said but again he just let out a mighty laugh, which made me jump.
"I don"t think so, but we can do a deal and you can pay it off in other ways." He winked giving me another cheeky grin as he leaned down and kissed me before I could object. Not to him kissing me of course not, but objecting about not paying him back. I realised why this was so funny to him as compared to his wealth, whatever it may be, but $10,000 was most likely pocket change to him.
"So that"s why Bobby seemed to be so h.o.r.n.y, it was you all along!" I laughed back at him as he kissed me again, proving my point.
"Well could you blame me for trying to sneak a kiss from the prettiest girl around plus I don"t think he will mind the memory."
"What, he will remember?" I asked feeling embarra.s.sed again.
"It"s like I said, they just fall into a trace and then wake being semi aware of what has happened." I looked at him frowning so he added "It doesn"t hurt." But I looked at him sceptically.
"Did it hurt you?" He asked.
"WHAT! You have done it to me? When? Why? I thought you couldn"t do things like that to me." Ok now I was really panicking.
"I can only access your mind when you are emotional, it is only when you let your guard down, when you are upset or frightened. I first did it when you locked yourself outside the club when that dumpster nearly broke your fingers. I have never had to watch someone so closely before. You are so accident p.r.o.ne." He said this like it was an endearing quality and I got the distinct impression that he liked taking care of me.
"You made the lid go back, and my fingers...you made them open the door!"
"And did it hurt?"
"No, it just felt tingly like when you usually touch me." I said and his eyebrows rose.
"Tingles?" I went red when he repeated the word I had used as obviously I had said too much.
"Umm never mind...carry on," I said as he chuckled from seeing my embarra.s.sment.
"And the other time...well it was completely painful to witness. The time I achieved my goal. When I lied to you about Celina and I... when I saw how much it affected you, I was destroyed. I was also in shock that you felt so hurt, that you could actually feel that way about me. I never knew until that day. So when I saw you by your car too upset to move, I took over your body and got you home. I knew otherwise you would never have made it."
"Thank you and what I said to you...."
"Your words cut through me like Excalibur. The last thing you said, calling me..... My Lord! I will never forget that feeling if I live for another thousand years. But it was all my own doing. See after that night on the roof, after you saw the real me, I knew you wouldn"t let it go, that you couldn"t be convinced or controlled. So I decided the only way was to hurt you, to make you hate me...so you would want to stay away from me!"
"But I didn"t, I still couldn"t you let you go!" I cried out.
"Well when I saw you at the cliff face, I thought otherwise." It looked like he winced at the memory.
"You were there?"
"Yes. I didn"t leave your side after I got you home. You were so upset that I could access that part of your mind so you wouldn"t see me." I frowned at him but his face looked too hurt for me to continue to be mad for long.
"I know what you must think. It was a great intrusion to your privacy but trust me when I say I was punished for it and I could not be torn away from your side...not with so much pain." My face shot up to look at him and shuddered at the thought of him being punished or seeing me like that.
"What do you mean...punished?"
"My punishment was great indeed as I witnessed the hurt I put you through. I wanted to make it right and take it all back but I was torn between your safety and your happiness. In the end I made my choice, which was the less of two evils. But I wanted to be there for you even if you couldn"t see me, even if I couldn"t touch you and comfort you. However, I thought it had all been in vain when you went to the cliff face." I raised my eyes at him and the back of his hand came down my face and rested on my neck before he carried on.
"When I couldn"t control your body I thought I was going to have to reveal myself and stop you as I thought you were going to jump."
"You thought I was going to kill myself?" I shouted at him.
"Consider why I would think that Keira...As far as I knew you had tried to once before. It was obvious you were hiding something and it wasn"t that hard to guess." He said looking at my concealed arms and I pulled down my long sleeved t-shirt past my hands.
"Like I said, I thought I was going to have to stop you but as always I can never predict anything when it comes to you. You don"t act like normal humans do, but I guess that is down to your own gifts. It makes you unique, your mind does not work the same." I frowned but he smiled saying, "Don"t look at me like that...this is not a bad thing." I couldn"t help but look at him as if he was trying to say in a delicate way that I was a freak!
"You have to be different Keira, or think how difficult this would have been. If you weren"t used to seeing the things you do, then you would have run away from me and never come back!" I knew what he meant, I reacted to it at first but I did in fact come back to him...even after what I saw.
"Ok, so you have me there...but how did you get the picture I tore up?"
"Ah my portrait, well I was intrigued to know what it was you were ripping up. So when you left I summoned back the pieces and made them whole again. That"s when I first realised how you controlled your gift...you were trying to get rid of me." He was now looking out of the gla.s.s doors when he said this as if seeing the memory there being played out for him to view.
"I was trying to make it easier. To let you go as you wanted me to...at your hand remember?"
"I know, but trust me, it didn"t make it any easier, not when I still had to see you every day down in the club and it would get harder...thanks to that boy JACK!" He nearly spat out his name.
"So I guess Halloween wasn"t such a good move then?" At this he reacted. He turned to face me and the demon part of him came through at the thought. His eyes flashed deep purple fire which had me wincing back.
"NO...it wasn"t!" He didn"t sound happy anymore and I wanted to get closer to him and smooth out his frown with my fingers. He was clearly angry about the memory of me with Jack, but come on, hadn"t he done the very same thing with Celina!
"Now who"s being unreasonable? Jack is a very good friend but nothing more...you have to know that!"
"Do you let all your friends kiss you like that?" He shouted back making me jump but also making me slightly happy about the idea of him being jealous. I mean, it was ridiculous really, the idea of Draven who I have been literally obsessed with since I came to this town and he was jealous over me and Jack!
"Oh and you can rightly talk. I seem to remember you starting the whole thing by telling me you were engaged to one of the most beautiful woman that I have seen, of course not until after you kissed her in front of me!! Let"s not forget that!" I said now getting up, feeling like this conversation was a little one sided! Draven turned to me once again raising his eyebrows until finally admitting I was right. He had acted first and knew that he pushed me into Jack"s arms as a result.
"You are right but also very wrong at one thing in particular."
"And what"s that?" I said folding my arms over my heaving chest.
"There is no one that compares to your beauty and no man alive that could resist such a pure heart." He was over to me in half a second, his hands finding my face before his lips followed, all this before I could even speak a word. Maybe this was because he knew I would have disagreed. I was never very good at receiving compliments, as a rule you have to believe in them, to accept them. And I had just about enough self-confidence to get by in the world but to be with a man like Draven...well I was still amazed.
Once he had finished kissing me, I was my usual incoherent self and I opened my eyes to see him smiling again.
"I am so sorry I hurt you Keira!" He said making my heart melt. He was so sincere I couldn"t think of anything but forgiveness.
"And I too am sorry if I brought you any pain by kissing Jack," I said but even at the very name of him he flinched.
"That night of course changed everything."
"How do you mean?"
"Well no doubt it is the reason you are here now. I instructed Jerry to give you the night off because it was the one night I wanted you as far away from here as possible."
"But why?" I asked remembering my thoughts on why I had been allowed to have the night off in the first place.
"Because you have never been in more danger in your entire life before that night..." He looked then as he had done that night. Face set in stone. Stern and powerful.
"I would never have imagined that by removing that boy you would turn into a fiery temptress. When I saw him kiss you, my reaction well....you no doubt noticed?" I nodded remembering the lights that blew and the loud crashing sound from above.
"Well, I couldn"t help having him thrown out, I mean how dare he....YOU WERE MINE!" He shouted as his temper flared and for a second I thought I saw his skin change colour or was it the Demon part of him trying to get out? I frowned and made a disapproving noise at his outburst. But deep down it also sent sparks of pleasure to my heart, secretly liking the idea of belonging to him.
"Sorry, it"s just..." He made a low growling noise which took me back.
"You must understand...It is hard to control emotions I have not felt before." He looked up to the ceiling for what I can only a.s.sume control over his fiery temper.