Hunger

"What do you mean one of you? Are you talking about turning me into a vampire?" She felt cold sweat dripping down her back. Real fear actually gripped her heart and made it pound rapidly.

Caleb frowned when he witnessed her reaction to his plans. He knew she was scared of vampires, but was she really that terrified? No, her eyes showed more than fear; disgust was mirrored in those beautiful blue eyes. "That was the plan," he finally answered after a few seconds of silence. "Don't like it?"

She felt her heart drop. She would be a vampire?

"We can wait longer if you'd like," Caleb said as he sensed the emotions boiling inside her. He could hear her heart pounding in her chest, sign of the fear she was suddenly experiencing. He took a step forward and reached his hand out to touch her cheek.

Rose flinched when she saw his hand reaching out to her and she slapped it away. She gulped when she looked up at him and saw his expression. His eyes showed the sadness he wasn't expressing in words. She looked away and bit her bottom lip nervously. "I'm sorry, you just caught me off guard."

"It's not the first time I've tried to touch you," he said as he kept his eyes on her. "Is the idea of becoming a vampire really that disgusting to you?" he asked, voice monotone.

She quickly looked back at him and shook her head, feeling guilty for making him think that way. "It's not that, I just never really thought about it before. It's kind of a shock to think about becoming a vampire." Even her words sounded ridiculous to her.

He sighed. "Like I said, we can wait longer if you're not ready. But, if it were up to me I would have turned you already."

She chuckled nervously at his words. Of course! If it were up to him, he would have done many things to her already! She knew that very wel. She shook her head. "I don't think I'll be ready. I'm not sure I'll ever be ready. That's such a big life change. You're practically dying and being reborn as something else."

He smiled at her. "That's exactly what it is. But, you don't become someone else, just a better version of yourself." He reached out to her once again and smiled when she didn't flinch away. "I will be there with you to guide you and take care of you. You don't have to worry about anything."

She swallowed and nodded, but she was still scared. She would never be okay with something like that. "Can I ask you something?" she said with a frown.

"Sure," he answered as he began to rub his thumb on her neck.

"Well, um, the sun… does it kill you or hurt you in any way?"

Caleb chuckled at her question. She was the only person who could make him laugh. "No sweetheart. The sun only hurts our eyes because it's too bright, but we don't burn under it. I'm not sure who made up that ridiculous lie."

She frowned, pensive. If that wasn't true, then what else was a lie about vampires? "Do you turn people when you bite them?"

He smiled when he watched the frown on her forehead and his heart throbbed with happiness as she took an interest in his kind, in him. "Come here," he grabbed her wrist and led her towards the couch sitting on the side of the study that was lined with books. He waited for her to sit before joining her on it.

Her eyebrows lifted. "Why are we sitting?"

His lips turned into a crooked smile. "You'll be more comfortable when you ask your questions," he answered. "To answer your previous question, no, people don't turn simply by being bitten by a vampire. For example…" He reached out and grabbed her hand to pull it up to his face.

Her heart hitched at his actions and she tried to pull it back, only to have his hold tighten. "W-what are you doing?" she asked and her breath caught when she felt his soft lips press against the inside of her palm and slowly move towards her wrist. She felt a shiver run down her body, a weird tingling sensation suddenly made her gulp. "Caleb…"

He smiled at her reaction, feeling a sense of pride for being able to have this effect on her by simply touching her wrist. "If I were to bite you here…" he said and pressed a light kiss over her wrist, noting her breath catching before continuing, "…you wouldn't turn into a vampire. You would simply lose blood."

She swallowed hard as his words ran through her mind. She was glad that it wasn't that easy to turn into a vampire, but at the same time, his words were unnerving. "I-is that how you feed… from other women?"

He closed his eyes and took in her scent, letting it fill his mind, his heart, and his soul. She smelled delicious, like coconut and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on. "I like the way you smell," he said and looked up at her.

She gasped and jerked back in shock when he looked up at her, watching red eyes staring at her. Her heart began to race as fear ran through her. He looked like a demon, smiling playfully at his prey before devouring his dinner. "C-Caleb…" she called his name nervously as he continued to look up at her.

Caleb closed his eyes, realizing he was letting her see a side of him he'd planned to keep hidden until she was able to understand and accept it. He opened his eyes again and frowned as he watched her fearfully trying to retreat on the couch away from him. He held her hand, refusing to let her go. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you Rose. Don't be scared of me, I would never hurt you."

She could hear the sound of her heart pounding in her ears as she looked at him, watching for any little movement that would cause her harm. But, his words made her heart calm little by little. She believed him. She wasn't sure why, but as she looked into his eyes that had returned to a normal blue color, she believed him. She stopped trying to pull away and took a deep breath to calm herself.

He smiled, relieved when he heard her heart returning to it's somewhat normal rhythm.

"What was that?" she asked nervously as she looked into his eyes as if searching for the redness that had been there a few seconds ago. Where had it come from all of a sudden? "How did your eyes change color?"

He sighed before wrapping his other hand around hers, holding it tightly between his as he set it down on his lap. "I wasn't going to show you that side of me. In fact, I was very upset when you caught me in the basement. I didn't want to scare you."

She gulped, remembering the moment she had seen him down there, looking like a demon from hell.

"When vampires are hungry, their eyes turn red, revealing the beast inside. Not only that, our fangs will stretch out longer so that we can sink them deeper into flesh."

His words, rather than appeasing her, were beginning to make her heart race again. "So, you were hungry right now?" she asked with a frown. "But the color is gone, does that mean you're not hungry anymore?"

He chuckled at her question. "Oh no… I'm still hungry," he said and stopped to look at her.

His gaze was intense and she knew what his words meant. He was hungry for her, maybe her blood, or maybe he was hungry for something else. Her cheeks turned red as her mind ran with thoughts and she squirmed uncomfortably under his eyes. "But, you drink blood right?"

He smiled. "Yes, but drinking blood from a cold glass is very different than drinking from a warm body." His blue eyes shone as he said this and he had to fight the urge to sink his fangs into her wrist. She looked like a little bunny trapped by the wolf, waiting to be devoured.

Rose felt her body shiver at the intensity of his dark gaze. Her body unconsciously began to heat up as she admired how handsome he was. He was attractive from a distance, but up close, he looked like a fucking god sculpted to perfection to make a woman go nuts. It really wasn't fair.

His hair was jet black and right now in the dim light, it shined, making it look almost magical. His blue eyes turned darker the more he stared at her, becoming more and more alluring, as if beckoning her to him and she unconsciously moved closer. His eyebrows were full and manly, not bushy, but perfectly sculpted the way you'd expect to see on an attractive guy. His nose was straight, long, but still perfectly proportioned to the rest of his face. Her eyes lowered down to his lips and she gulped when she watched them part. She wondered what it would feel like to have them press against hers again. They had been very soft before, so they were probably just as good as they had been.

"You're beautiful," he whispered as he admired her beauty from up close. It was rare when he got to be this close to her so he had to take advantage of moments like this to drink in her appearance.

Rose blinked a few times, realizing he had been staring at her too. She cleared her throat, cheeks burning hot and tried to pull her hand out of grasp. "I need to go," she said, desperate to get away from this attractive devil that was playing with her mind.

He smiled. "Why the hurry? We were finally enjoying ourselves."

Her cheeks burned hotter with his words. She cleared her throat and shook her head. "I wasn't enjoying anything."

"I simply meant that we were finally having a good time together. You asking me questions and getting to know me."

She turned to look at him, eyes narrowed, knowing very well that's not what he had meant.

He chuckled and pulled her closer again. "Relax I'm not going to eat you."

"I know that," she said with a nervous smile.

"Unless you let me?" he asked, eyes turning dark again. He lifted her wrist to his face again and placed a tender kiss on it as he looked into her eyes, watching her gulp. "Can I?" he asked, voice a whisper as he licked her soft skin.