A Stranger in the Night
Chapter 14

Luna's POV

His voice hit me like a thousand daggers. How did he know? I felt his eyes burning into me. "I have already explained I can hear you and now I know you were, why! Tell me why you were with my brother!". I don't know why, but I felt guilty even though I had done nothing wrong. "I....I...". His face clearly showed his anger and disappointment as he cut me off. I could have sworn that a slight blue flame was dancing over his hands. "Tell me Luna!". He was hurt. I felt that and I felt guilty for hurting him although I didn't understand why. "I was returning from my walk with Nerine when Jess found us. She pounced on me and scared me to death. She was with Draven not me. Draven appeared shortly after and spoke with us before Nerine sent them on their way and returned me here. I am sorry. I didn't know they would be here. I didn't mean to hurt or upset you". I felt bad, as if this could have been avoided but how was I to know they were going to pop up here, of all places. Alex slowly made his way to the bed and sat down, slumping his body over and holding his head within his hands, partially covering his face. He was silent for a few moments before he lowered his hands and began to speak. "I am so sorry Luna. I should not have reacted or behaved in that way.". He returned his head to his hands. I slowly approached him, the steam or smoke, whatever it was, was beginning to dissipate. His energy seemed softer but I could still feel the hurt he was holding onto. "No I am sorry. I should have mentioned before that I met him and Jess here. I just forgot as I got so excited talking to you about everything else.". I sat down beside him, not knowing if I should or not. I felt bad that I had left him feeling like this. He placed his hand on top of mine and squeezed it lightly, before picking it up and kissing the back of it. "Luna, please forgive me. I know that nothing happened and I am not upset with you. I should have trusted you more. I mean I do trust you but Draven and I have some bad history between us and he has caused alot of problems in the past, even when he wasn't trying to". I nodded, "yeah, brothers tend to do that". He shot a look at me, querying what I had just said, his firey eyes returning to the soft emerald green that I was growing to adore. "He told you! Hmmm. Anything else he decided to spill?". I laughed, recollecting the conversation, "Just that he is the most handsome out of all of you. He seemed pretty sure of himself and was a little hurt when Jess and I laughed at him about it". Alex smiled and stood up off the bed, and began to pace. "I bet he did. His ego is easily bruised. Hmmmm...So, that's where he's been this morning, instead of the meeting. I will need to have words with him about that, seeing as he had direct instructions to take the girl home.....not to our home. In the mean time, I am free from duties. I would love to hear more about your morning and I promise not to get upset about Draven again.". He sat on the bed, propped up against the bed head and partially laying down. He tapped on the space on the bed beside him, gesturing for me to come join him. I shuffled my body up next to him and smiled as he chuckled at the awkward way I did it. I slapped him gently on the chest, which made him laugh even more. "I wasn't quite expecting that. You looked like a turtle doing a backwards shuffle", laughing and wiping a tear from his eye. "Sshhh you. It's not funny.". We both giggled a bit.

We sat there talking more about my morning. I did notice that when I talked about Draven, he got slightly tense. I believe Mr Alex may have a jealous streak, not that I understand why. But he also got upset too when I talked about Mason. I wanted to ask why, but after what happened earlier, I was not looking for a round two. I asked him about his meeting with his brothers, and although Draven didn't go, he said it went well. They had some problems with another vampire clan he said, but didn't want to bother me with the boring stuff about that. But did tell me that he may need to travel soon for a meeting with them to resolve the issue. The thought of him going away for some time made my heart ache. I didn't like the thought of him being away from me but I knew that would be happening either way. I needed to go to my own home and back to my life. I had 3 jobs and responsibilities. Even though these few days off had been amazing, it was getting close to time for me to head back to reality.

I tried to shoo away those thoughts by asking him more about Ventrue House. The thought crossed my mind to ask him about the humans quarters but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not sure if it was if I was too scared to ask him incase he got upset or if it was the fact that I didn't want to know, didn't want to accept that this amazing man I was falling for had a bunch of humans he fed off regularly. Not realising I had let my thoughts run away with me, Alex rolled over to face me. He held his head propped up on his hand, letting his dark hair fall down towards a pillow. His soft emerald green eyes staring into mine as if he was looking into my soul. With his hand, he swept away some loose strands of hair off my face and began to speak, "Luna....you never have to fear asking me anything. I will always be open and honest with you. I would never intentionally get upset with you or want to see you upset or hurt in anyway. Yes, there are humans here. They live in a quarters down below the main levels. I am a vampire and yes I do feed on their blood but not how you are imagining. There are a couple of humans who participate in the blood letting and I drink from only them.". Blood letting? What the hell was that? I felt my stomach churn slightly. "Sorry". He said with a short smile. He then explained that the two humans he feeds from donate blood regularly through out the day, through small cuts and drained into a glass or container. He doesn't physically feed from them as he replaces it a very intimate act and did not want to participate in it with them. He then went on to explain that most of the other vampires here feed off the humans, even Nerine and Mason. I felt a bit sick in my stomach to which he had a giggle too. "I know it's hard for you to get your head around, but this is what we are. The humans that live here, really have a great life and are treated very well. They are not treated like animals or kept in chains. Although we here treat the humans with kindness and respect, I can not say that our guests always have the same ideals.". He traced his finger down the side of my face, watching it as he did. His soft, gently touch stirring something within me and I didn't want him to stop. The corner of his mouth began to curve slightly into a smirk and he continued to run his finger down to my jaw. I felt as if I was about to melt into a puddle, as I watched the emerald green in his eyes grow into a glowing yellow. He ran his finger gently over my lips. His touch was incredible, like lightning bolts through my body. My heart began to race as he shifted himself a little closer to me. I could feel my nerves and anxiety begin to grow. He lowered his mouth onto mine and kissed my lips. The kiss was soft, gentle and brief. As he pulled away, I fought every urge I had to pull him back in and kiss him again. I placed my hand on his chest, feeling his heart racing too. "I have been wanting to do that since the first night I met you". I felt myself blush at his omission. He smiled and pulled me in close to him, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me again. This time deeper and I actually felt his fangs on the tip of my tongue. This jolted me for a second but I let go and embraced the moment. There was no where else right now I wanted to be but in his arms. After our kiss, he rolled over, placing one hand under his head and the other around my back, pulling me into him. I rested my head on the nook of his shoulder and left my hand on his chest. The beat of his heart comforting me and calming me at the same time. I sighed, realising it was getting closer to the time I had been telling myself I needed to go home. Alex rubbed his fingers along my back, "Whenever you want to go, I will take you. But you are more than welcome to stay here. I would prefer you to stay here". I propped myself up on my elbows, looking straight at him. "I can't, I have my jobs to do and my apartment to look after". He smiled back at me, pushing the hair off my face. "Yes you do. But we can always replace something to solve those issues". My jobs weren't issues. I enjoyed them. Well not that I had to do 3 casual jobs to get by but I did enjoy working and even though the House was stunning, I loved my little apartment. He smiled at me, before running his finger down the side of my cheek. "I know. I know. But whenever you are ready, there will be a place here for you.". I smiled back at him, nuzzling my head into his hand.

We laid there for a bit, before I forced myself to hop up. I began collecting my clothes from last night, I was considering getting changed into them to go home in but Alex told me not to. Alex organised a bag for me to take my belongings home in. He was very sweet. As we stepped out of the room, we were met by Nerine in the hallway. He explained to her I was going home now, to which she seemed sad about. She bowed to me and told me to come back soon. Alex asked her to have Mason get the car ready. We continued down the hallway but instead of walking down towards the front door, we turned down the corridor where Draven and Jess disappeared to. Alex led me to a big wooden door, with gold frames on it. He knocked on the door hard, three times. The door unlocked and opened slowly, a half naked Draven stood leaning against the door, his arms folded across his chest. "Yes brother. What can I do for you?". Alex, looking less than amused, "tell Jess to get ready and be down at the car in 10 minutes.". Draven flustered, went to speak back but Alex simply held his hand up. "10 minutes I said.". And turned to walk away, leading me with him. I heard the door slams behind us and heard Jess frantically asking questions and getting upset. I guess we were leaving together.

Alex led me out to the front of the grand stairway, led down to where Mason was waiting beside the car. I walked over to the rail of the stairway and looked out over the gardens. My eyes instantly falling on the rose garden. Alex must have seen me looking there. He took my hand gently and led me to that garden, before sitting next to me on one of the white metal bench seats. I admired the beauty of the garden and let the scent of all of the roses fill my lungs. It was truly beautiful. He gently took my hand, placing and holding it in his. "You are always welcome here. Don't forget that. You don't ever need an invitation. You may come and go as you please, no questions asked. When will I see you again?". His face showed some hurt as he contemplated over his last question. "I will be seeing you again won't I?". I nodded, smiling and squeezing his hand slightly. "Of course.".