Chapter 12 Midnight #3
Adriana nodded her thanks at him, grateful to have Deion’s approval and support.
But in truth, she liked the bite marks Xander would leave her with, and she knew he did too.
Even though she made sure they were covered whenever she left the house, it was their secret of his possessiveness, their bond.
With a playful smile, Deion hooked his arm around hers, spinning her in a carefree twirl that mirrored the lively jig. A couple began to stomp their feet in complicated quick steps, causing the crowd to part for them and clap along in encouragement.
“It has been wonderful to see him so happy,” Deion shouted in Adriana’s ear over the joyful chaos. “I want you to know how thankful I am for you, for bringing his humanity back to us.”
Adriana turned to face him as the music began to come to a close. “You feared he was losing his humanity?”
“We all did. I know he is not an easy person, he never has been. But the darkness he has surrounded himself with has grown almost impenetrable over the years, and as much as he claims to be content to live in it, his reaction just now is proof that he is not. So thank you, Adriana, for getting through.”
Xander
“I am truly sorry,” Edward slurred for the seventh time in the last minute.
Xander nodded at him again before flagging down the bartender. “I heard you the first time, Ed.”
“I should not have mentioned Abbot, I know you are concerned about scaring her off. I really do hope you will accept my apology. I never meant…”
Edward’s voice gradually faded away as Xander watched the group of dancers, his eyes fixed on Adriana’s movements, her laughter, her joy.
As the drumming of her racing heartbeat echoed in his ears, his own seemed to speed up to keep in time with hers.
Without even meaning to, his thoughts connected with hers, and he sensed the happiness she felt as she twirled under Deion’s arm as if it were his own.
Her attention snagged on a figure in the corner.
The stable boy, Xander realised. But it was not a longing she felt for him, nor a desire to even speak to him, but a feeling of content as she watched the boy dance with a young woman.
She was happy for her friend, happy he had found someone to share a future with, a future that Adriana would never have been able to give him.
The dull thump of a full mug of ale being slammed onto the counter before him snapped him out of Adriana’s mind, returning his focus to Edward’s persistent grovelling.
Xander grabbed the mug and forced it into Edward’s hands. “Stop apologising,” he sighed. “I was not irritated with you, but with myself. You are right, I have been worried she may run for the hills, but that is not because of you.”
Before Xander could step through the crowd, Edward’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm. “She is not afraid of who you are, Xander. She loves you. You know that, don’t you?”
A frown formed on Xander’s face as he struggled to dispute Edward’s statement, but he found that he couldn’t. Of course he knew.
With a slight nod, Xander left Edward at the bar and made his way through the crowd. “I believe I can take over from here,” he said, as he reached the two giggling dancers.
Adriana turned around to face him as Deion gave them a wink and sauntered over to where Edward was waiting. At her flushed cheeks and wide smile, Xander couldn't help but grin back in return. He knew he must have looked like an idiot, a boyish fool in love, and he didn’t care one bit.
He took her hands and brought them to rest on his shoulders before sliding his down to her waist, guiding her into a slow swaying motion to the softer music that had begun to play.
“I apologise if our earlier conversation made you uncomfortable,” Xander spoke in a hushed voice, bringing his forehead down to rest against hers as some of the dancers began to count down the seconds until midnight.
“Ah, you must mean the stories in which you pretend you are a seductive beast?”
“Oh, it is not pretend if it is the truth.”
A laugh escaped her lips as he grasped her hand and spun her under his arm before bringing her close to him again.
She tilted her head up to meet his eyes, and Xander sensed her making sure all barriers to her mind were down, letting him know that she was open to read should he need confirmation of her words.
“Xander, I know who you are. You have shown me what you have done when you are not in control, and you have been honest with me about what you have done when you are. There is good and bad in everyone, and I accept every part of you.”
“Even the irredeemable parts?” he asked, his usual passive tone laced with shame and worry.
Adriana brought her hands to cup his face, her thumbs running over his cheekbone. “I see every part of you, every sinful part of your soul, and I would not change a thing.”
“That would make you a sinner, too.”
“Then I will be your sinner.”
The clock hanging on the wall struck midnight.
People cheered, some drank, some danced, and the band continued to play their beautiful music.
Xander’s grip on her waist tightened as he pulled her even closer, his head dipping to press his lips against hers.
A low, satisfied sound rumbled from within his throat as she kissed him back.
His sinner.
He thought her to be nothing of the sort. She was his saint, his saviour, the only goddess he would ever pray to. But she was right—she was his and he was hers. And he would do anything for her. He loved her.
He loved her with everything he had, everything he was.
It was a possessive, all-consuming thing that threatened to eclipse everything else.
He had been told by many that love would conquer all, and now he finally understood what that meant, for the adoration he held for Adriana was more powerful than anything he had ever felt.
It terrified him, the way he felt this monstrous protectiveness bloom, an urgent need to shield her from a world that didn’t deserve her.
He would never cage her, never restrict her from anything, he knew he was better than that.
He may not be a good man, not truly, but for her, he was willing to try and become something better, to shape the world into something better.
Even if the path ahead was stained crimson.
He reluctantly pulled back away from her kiss. “Adriana, I—”
“Well, look who it is!” a snivelling voice sounded behind him. “If it ain’t the lovely Adriana. Having a good start to the new and glorious year of 1884, I take it? Haven’t seen you round here in a while!”
Adriana rolled her eyes as she turned her attention to the two men standing close by. Xander recognised the tallest one, who had stupidly decided to open his mouth, as Samson, the son of the local butcher, but he couldn’t place the other.
“We reckoned you thought yourself too good for us now. How’s life in that big old house of yours, Clarke?”
“And here with Lord Duran, unescorted?” the other joined in, his voice just as grating. “My, my! That ain't proper for a lady, is it? Not proper at all.”
Xander’s fists clenched at his side as he did all he could not to tear their minds apart at their implied insults.
The two idiots were so focused on embarrassing her that they appeared to be ignoring him completely, but as a whiff of fear emanated from Samson, Xander realised with satisfaction they were actively avoiding looking at him at all.
“Evening, boys. How about I make you a deal?” Adriana smiled sweetly at them. “I will continue to enjoy my evening, and you will keep your mouths shut that you saw us here, yes?”
“And why would we do that?” Samson questioned with a sneer, a slight tremor now accompanying his voice. “You gonna pay for our drinks all night, Clarke?”
“You like to talk a lot,” Adriana said, as she gently nudged Xander aside to stand before them.
“And yet you never like to talk about how you lost a full week’s earnings to me in our last game of cards.
Perhaps the rest of your friends would like to know you were bested by a woman?
Perhaps your lovely new fiancé would also like to know about your loss? ”
“You bitch,” he stuttered, as he began to back away, his eyes darting around to check if anyone else had heard her.
“How right you are. Now run along and keep those lips sealed, lest I seal them for you.”
With that, the two of them scuttled away like terrified mice.
“And you thought Lamiae were fearsome?” Xander chuckled, as he pulled Adriana back into his arms, his body relaxing at her touch.
She smiled triumphantly up at him as she entwined her hands around the back of his neck. “You have your mind tricks, I have mine. I am not some damsel in distress.”
Xander laughed again, nodding in agreement. It was true. As much as he wanted to protect her, to shield her from idiots and enemies alike, she did not need his protection.
“I will always need you, though.” Adriana said.
Xander’s eyes widened, wondering how on earth she could sense his concerns. Though he shouldn’t have been surprised, she seemed to know him better than anyone nowadays, better than even he knew himself.
“And why is that?”
“Because I love you,” Adriana blurted out, her face reddening at her confession. “I have been so nervous to tell you. Ever since we spent that first night together in the summer, I wanted to tell you. I am sorry I did not say it sooner, I should not have waited—”
“I know,” Xander whispered, interrupting her rambling.
“You did not need to say it, I knew it. And I will never take that love for granted. You deserve nothing less than the world, and though I cannot give you that, I will never stop trying to give you everything I can. My heart will always belong to you.”
Adriana quickly wiped a stray tear away with the back of her hand. He knew she wasn’t used to confessing her feelings, and Xander certainly wasn’t used to confessing his either. Saying it out loud, confirming it, made it all feel so real and terrifying.
“Well,” she said with a familiar mischievous glint in her eye. “If you truly feel that way you can do something for me as a resolution for the new year. Court me properly. I want public outings together, and for you to win over my father. Oh, and you must give me flowers at least once a week.”
“Once a week? So demanding,” he teased. “You have a deal.”
A beaming smile stretched across her lips as they continued to dance amongst the other couples, softly swaying to the melodic music that was slowly coming to a close.
Xander noticed two elderly men by the bar eyeing them before their attention shifted to Deion and Edward who sat at the table whispering to one another.
He tilted his head as his ears picked up their hushed conversation, expecting to hear the usual closed-minded gossip about his friends.
To his surprise, they were discussing their suspicions of the newest inhabitants of Divina’s old manor, suspicions of blood-thirsty and shape-shifting monsters.
“I did not suspect the stories we fabricated so long ago would last this long,” Xander said, as he nodded in the direction of the old men.
“What were once deterrents to stay away from our settlements have changed to become well known fearsome folk stories. It has probably made it more challenging to stay hidden nowadays.”
“I am fairly certain most of the townspeople have their own speculations of your family, as well as mine,” Adriana sighed. “So, tell me, what other terrifying stories are based on my big bad Lamia?”
“Quite a few, I am sure,” he said, trying to hide his pride from the way she had called him hers. “My favourite is one the locals spoke of in our last home in Whitby. Thomas often visited us there, a local fisherman even caught sight of him in his wolf form once.”
“Perhaps it will make a wonderful written tale one day, like Striga’s stories. I can see it now, the tale of Lord Duran and his sinful seduction and bloodthirsty tendencies.”
“Sinful seduction?” Xander questioned, with a raised eyebrow. “I quite like the sound of that. Though I was not known as a Lord back then. Before we had arrived in our last home we had spent a few years in Europe where I posed as what you would know here as an Earl.”
“Earl Duran,” Adriana muttered, as if testing the taste of the words on her tongue. “Hmm, I am not so sure that title suits you.”