Bloodsong

Chapter 28

E very night for the rest of the month, Matteo either visited by appearing on my balcony, or he left gifts in his place. Usually roses, a bottle of wine, or chocolate. The days he visited, he would take me somewhere. Either dinner, or walking through the city, an arm wrapped around mine. He tried to take me to the beach once, but I pleaded with him not to. He’d been curious for the reason, but he didn’t push me.

I’d gotten to the point that I looked forward to his visits. Most of the time, he was warm, and I appreciated that he never pushed to feed from me. Although I learned to recognise days when he was hungry. Not just the lack of warmth, but a glint in his eyes as he watched me.

That day was no different. The moment I got home, I looked out the door expectantly. There he was, perched on my railing like a gargoyle, not moving, his eyes on me.

“How long have you been out here?” I asked, opening the door. “It’s freezing.”

“An hour,” he said with a shrug, and he climbed down from the railing.

An hour? I took my jacket off, throwing it on the chair. “Maybe you should come inside. You know I keep the door unlocked. If you need to sit while you wait for me, I wouldn’t mind. I’m just going to grab something to eat.”

Too tired for much else, I made Vegemite toast and Milo. I offered him some toast. “Hungry?” I asked, taking a bite.

He stared at me, then at the toast in my outstretched hand.

“What?” I spoke around a full mouth of toast.

“I’ll pass on your Australian cuisine. Nothing about what you just put on your toast looks or smells appetising,” he said.

I swallowed my mouthful and sniffed at the toast. “You don’t like Vegemite?”

“Not in the slightest.” He appeared appalled that I’d asked.

“That’s it, get out!” I said, putting on my best serious tone, and I pointed at the door. “Leave. Now. You speak blasphemy! Not in my home!”

He didn’t move, a shocked expression on his face, and opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t seem to find the words.

I couldn’t keep a straight face. “Matteo? I’m joking,” I laughed. “Oh my god, your expression! If you’re going to live in Australia, or appear at my balcony every night, maybe get used to our humour.”

“That’s humour?” he asked.

“It is — well, to us, it is.” I finished my toast and downed it with Milo.

“I want to paint you,” he declared.

“You already did that, from the night we met.” I reminded him.

“You inspire me to paint.” He smiled. “I want to paint you again .”

“Um, okay. Do we go to your gallery for that?” I looked around for my jacket.

“No, here is fine. Perhaps you could look over the city.” He pointed to the balcony.

I smiled. “That sounds like fun.”

“Make yourself comfortable. I’ll return soon.” And with that he was gone.

My intercom went off, the sudden sound jarring me. “That was fast.” I muttered. “Now you want to come in the front door?”

I frowned at Mia and Lilith on the screen.

I pressed the button. “Hello?”

“Just us,” Mia said.

Shit! “Um, did we have plans?”

“Rude! It’s movie night!” Mia’s fake-offended tone was enough to make me laugh.

I’d completely forgotten about movie night.

“It’s open,” I replied, pressing the button to unlock the door.

I wrote a note: ‘M. Don’t come in, unexpected company. Sorry. - Q ’ and tucked it into my chair on the balcony, hoping he’d see it. I closed the door and blind .

Mia and Lilith walked in, and I stood with my back to the door.

“What’s with the look of guilt?” Lilith asked, eyeing me.

“More importantly, since when do you close the blind?” Mia grinned. “What are you hiding?”

I willed myself to relax. “Nobo…nothing,” I said.

Lilith narrowed her eyes at me. “Why don’t I believe you?”

There was a sound on the balcony and my heart skipped. Crap!

“What was that?” Lilith asked.

“Nothing.” I widened my eyes trying to look innocent.

Mia pulled the blind to reveal Matteo with his easel and paints, as if he’d been there for ages. There was no expression of concern on his face, as if he wasn’t worried about what they’d think.

“Um, have you been out there long?” Mia opened the door and glared at me. “Is that why you closed the blind? You shut him out on your balcony?! It’s freezing.” She rolled her eyes.

“What are you doing out there?” Lilith asked.

“Painting?” he phrased his answer as a question, as if it were obvious.

Lilith stared at the empty canvas.

“Excuse us!” Mia grabbed my arm and pulled me away, Lilith moving with us. “Please tell me you’re not posing nude for him,” she whispered.

Matteo made a strange sound, and we all turned to look, but he was focused on the easel. I knew he’d heard Mia’s comment, and I resisted the urge to smile.

“Don’t get Mia wrong. We’re happy you’re spending time with him. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen you this happy. But this could be bad if it gets out. A nude painting? It’s too early for bad press for any of us. I hope you know what you’re doing, Quinn.” Lilith frowned.

“I am not now, nor will I ever pose for anyone naked,” I promised. “He just wants to paint me, with a view of the city. That’s all.”

“Stop trying to be secretive, then,” Mia said. “I was really looking forward to tonight.”

“Okay, sorry I couldn’t join you tonight. How about we meet up tomorrow night?”

“Right, we’ll call you.” Lilith turned towards Matteo. “Have fun painting!” She winked at me.

I let them out, locking my door with a click, and turned to face Matteo.

“So, you won’t pose nude?” he asked. “That’s disappointing. I guess I should go.”

“Wait, what?” I blinked. “You’re kidding, right?”

Frustration surged through me as he picked up the easel.

“You’re really leaving?” I asked in a small voice.

He was in front of me in an instant. “I thought I’d try your Australian humour. I guess I need to work on that.” He lifted my chin. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You were joking?” I asked, relief flooding in.

He gave me his smile. “That was for telling me to leave.”

“Okay, alright, we’re doing this, are we?” I laughed.

“Doing what?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Never mind. So where do you want me?”

He pulled me onto the balcony. “Just lean on the railing, looking out over the city.” I did as directed, and he picked up a red rose. “Hold this.”

As I took the rose, breathing in its floral fragrance, I was too careless. A thorn dug in. My finger stung, and Matteo froze.

“You’re bleeding.” His eyes turned red.

“What?” I lifted my hand. “Oh yeah, I-oh.” I frowned. “Um, I can go to the bathroom, and find something to wrap around it?”

“Now why would you do that?” He asked lightly, but he looked like he was holding himself very still. “Let me…” He reached a hand out to me.

I knew what he meant, and there was no need to play dumb. Giving him a taste of my blood scared me. “I don’t know…”

“No biting,” he promised. “See, no fangs.”

Reluctantly, I lifted my hand to him, unsure that I should. He held my hand with such tenderness to his mouth, licking the trail that had run down my finger. A deep rumble echoed from him, and my stomach clenched. With my finger in his mouth, I couldn’t deny I was a little turned on.

He released my hand. “You taste as delicious as I thought you would,” he growled. “Perhaps be careful with the rose, though. The scent of your blood entices me. I might not be able to resist taking more next time.”

I stood frozen in place, asking myself why I didn’t just let him drink from me. He positioned me into a pose, brushing my hair back from the shoulder closest to where he’d be painting, so it all hung over the side. As his fingers touched my throat, I met his eyes. Hunger was there, and I wondered if tasting my blood had sparked it. He moved to stand directly behind me with his hands on my waist, gentle as he nudged me into position. He was warm, and I yearned to lean back, for his arms to wrap around me, to hold me to him.

“Look out with longing,” he whispered in my ear, and his fingers grasped my jaw, gentle as he turned my head to the angle he needed.

Longing. That won’t be hard. His hands left my body, and I started to ache for his touch.

His figure was at the edge of my vision. He didn’t talk, and it was hard not to look at him. Maintaining the pose started to become painful, and I wasn’t sure how long we’d been there before I started to shake from exhaustion and the cold.

“If you need a break-” he offered.

“No,” I replied, determined not to complain.

He was there again, behind me. “We’ve been at this for a while; you’re allowed to take a break.” His hands were insistent as he turned me around to face him, my eyes in line with his mouth. Something heavy wrapped around my shoulders. His jacket. “I’m sorry, I forgot that you’d feel the cold more than me. Let’s get you inside to warm up.”

“You really don’t feel the cold,” I marveled as he nudged me through the door. “Lucky.”

“I do. It just doesn’t have the same effect on my body that it could on yours. You can get hypothermia; I can’t,” he told me.

I pulled his jacket around me and turned my heat pump on.

“Come here,” he commanded, pulling me to him. His arms wrapped around me, his body warm. Drawn into the heat, I returned the embrace, leaning against him, my head against his chest. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, as his hands rubbed my back as if to warm me.

“It’s okay.” My teeth chattered. “How are you so warm?”

“Blood,” he reminded me.

I was aware of how strangely comfortable I had become with his being a vampire. I’d asked him many questions and avoided asking one.

“Other than to survive, what else…?” I didn’t quite know how to ask the question.

He didn’t answer right away, and I wondered if my questioning had been too personal.

“To survive is above all else,” he started. “The smell of human blood is hard to resist, but if I don’t feed, it’s harder to maintain control over what I am. Hunger has been known to drive vampires mad. I would cease to recognise any humans, and a very animalistic nature would emerge.” He stopped. “But blood and sex can also come hand in hand. One hunger awakens another.”

We’d had oral sex a few times, but he’d avoided penetration, and it made sense. To have penetrative sex would likely lead to feeding from me.

I stiffened. “So, you have sex with people you feed from?”

His laughter vibrated through me. “Sometimes. Not since I met you, though.”

I closed my eyes, savouring his arms around me and the warmth from his body. “Is it difficult to be around me?” I asked. “To smell my blood?” Oh god, what about when I had my period? Humiliation swept through me.

“I put myself into temptation in your presence, but I feed before I see you. My hunger is sated, so you do not have to worry about me losing control.”

“But you’ve said it yourself, you want to taste my blood.”

“And I have tasted it,” he reminded me.“A gift granted to me by the rose.” When I didn’t respond, he continued. “It does have its appeal, to claim you as mine, so that no others may touch you. To give you my ‘vampire’s kiss.’ and to share my life with you, to show you the world. My world.”

“To share your life with me?” I asked. I wanted to look him in the eye but didn’t want to pull away from the warmth.

“I mean exactly what you think I mean,” he confirmed.

“You mean you would have me become like you?” My peace was broken. “Become a vampire?” The room spun.

“You’d be with me, forever. You’d be mine, forever. ” He sounded so sure of himself.

I did pull away from him then. “What if I don’t want that?”

“Then I will wait until you do,” he vowed.

I shook my head. “How can you think I would ever want this? Would you do that to me, knowing how I feel?”

“I will never force anything on you, Quinn. But your acceptance of me, and what I am, does show that you will change your mind in this.”

“Is this what you saw at the end of your pursuit? To win me over for that?” I couldn’t understand why he would chase me for something I didn’t want. “Is that all it ever was?”

“I have displeased you.” He reached towards me.

“Ya think?” I let out a sound of frustration. “Matteo, we will not agree on that. Ever .” A lump had formed in my throat and my stomach churned.

Pain glinted in his eyes, and he turned around. “I’m sorry,” he said with regret in his voice. “If you want me to leave you alone, I will.”

Don’t let him leave. Despite my horror at his revelation, I wanted him to stay, to finish the painting. I wanted to attend the masquerade ball on his arm, to dance with him in the beautiful green dress he’d gifted me. I wanted his company, as his attention had made me feel special. Wanted.

“I don’t want you to leave,” I admitted. “I just don’t want you to want this for me. Is it not enough that we just be as we are?” Whatever this is.

“What life can I give a human?” he asked. “There will be no children. You’ll be fifty, and I’ll still be as I am now. I’ll always hunger for your blood and will have to leave you to feed from others. There is so much that both of us would deny ourselves.”

He’d put thought into this.

“You assume I want children?” I asked.

“Is that not what all women want?”

I scoffed. “Your idea of what women want is a bit outdated.”

“Then what do we have?” he asked.

I leaned against him, my head on his chest, arms wrapped around him, breathing in his smell of the cedarwood and sea. “ Now . We have now .”