Bleeding Love (11 page)

“Xavier!” She
slapped his arm. “Did you just murder—”

“Murder? What?”
He looked at her like she was a werewolf. “Where did you get that idea, Adie?”

“Well, how else
can you get blood, huh?”

Smiling, he
looked at her. She was a neophyte when it came to vampirism. She had a lot to
learn and a lot of things to accept. It was a good thing she was immortal. She
could learn the rules and ways of vampires’ overtime. And he would help her.

“Most vampires will
feed from animals or buy blood from hospital blood banks. We have several
people working in these blood banks who are actually vampires that live under
your father’s rule. We rarely kill anymore, at least those of us who are
civilized.”

Adrienne breathed
a sigh of relief. That was good to know.

“Satisfied with
my explanation?”

“Still,” She
looked hesitant. “What if you lose control?”

He reached his
arm out to be able to hold her hand, but she unwound her fingers from his. He
may be her fiancé, but that didn't mean she loved him.

“You know how to
stop me.”

Xavier wasn't
looking at her, precisely because he was too ashamed to see the reaction on her
face. He wanted to hold her hand, but she let go. That was a stab at his heart,
and no wooden stake could compare to the pain she caused him by that action. “Just
suck my energy if you feel like I'm about to step out of line.”

She smiled to
herself before saying, “I can do that.”

Xavier was a very
good shopping partner. He carried Adrienne's bags and told her what looked nice
on her and what didn't, which there weren’t many that didn’t look good because even
if one threw the most hideous top at her, she'd still manage to pull it off
perfectly and make it look like next season's trend. She was that beautiful.

But she knew that
Xavier hung out with female vampires who could match and surpass Adrienne's beauty.
“Let me just go pay for this,” she said, holding out a simple, cotton, white
dress. “Then maybe after we can go grab a bite to eat.”

“We don't need to
eat.”

Adrienne rolled
her eyes at this before discreetly mouthing, “Smartass.”

Of course, being
a vampire meant having special powers, and one of these was the ability of
super hearing. He heard what she said, and he couldn't help but smirk. “I know
I'm smart.” He looked arrogantly at her. “What I didn't know was that I was an
ass.”

“Well, you are,
so just deal with it.”

He looked at her,
but she looked away and focused on paying for the dress that cost about
eighty-dollars. She didn't see the smirk he gave her from behind.

“It takes one to
know one.”

Agape, Adrienne
handed the money to the woman behind the counter before she eyed her fiancé. “Did
you just insult me?”

Xavier couldn't
help but chuckle. “If I did, then that would mean I insulted myself.” Behind
the jet-black strands of his hair, his eyes turn burgundy. “I wasn't.”

Satisfied,
Adrienne smirked before she handed another shopping bag to Xavier who willingly
took it. The vampire prince smiled at his fiancé before they left, side-by-side.

Their next stop
was the food court since Adrienne had a craving for some cheesecake. On the way
there, they crossed paths with Ethan and Charlotte. They had their arms wrapped
around each other and almost let go of their hold on one another when they met
eye-to-eye with Adrienne.

“Hey guys,” Adrienne
said coolly. “On a date?”

Charlotte turned
her head up to be able to meet Ethan's eyes. He gave her an affirmative nod.
Yes, they were on a date.

“Is this geek
your rebound?” That was Ethan, his ego never failing to be known. “Quite a
downgrade after being with me, Adie.”

Adrienne laughed
joyously. She was truly happy that Charlotte was with Ethan and she wasn’t.
Yeah! She couldn't help but shake her head at the realization. She had been
such a fool for not being able to see Ethan for what he truly was, over the
last year and a half ago. Jeez, she was an Honors student; obviously that kind
of brain power didn’t translate to street smarts.

“He's not a downgrade,
and he's not my boyfriend,” her voice was stern.

“So he's dweeb
then?”

“What the fuck—”

“Xavier, don't,” Adrienne
stopped him. She knew Xavier never really cursed, and when he did, it happened when
he was fully enraged.

Ethan not only
managed to insult Adrienne but Xavier as well. He knew the guy was a bastard
right from the start. “I'm not dweeb,” was the only thing Xavier could say, and
Ethan laughed at that.

“Oh, right,” Charlotte
looked like she wanted leave. She didn't want to get into a fight with Adrienne
since she knew the latter had the higher reputation even if she wasn’t head
cheerleader. But her boyfriend, Ethan, wasn't going to step down. He never did.

“No guy's ever
willing to be any girl's shopping partner and carry her bags around. Unless
they're homos, of course.”

A staring match
had started between Xavier and Ethan, and to placate the vampire, Adrienne
circled his wrist with her hand.

“Shut it, Ethan.”
She was glaring at him. “He's just confident enough with his sexuality that
he's not worried what homophobes like you would think of him.”

“You're not
seriously defending this nerd are you, Adie?” her ex asked, and in that moment,
she disrespected his privacy and read his thoughts.

He still wanted
her, and Charlotte
was
 the rebound. In Ethan’s mind, Adrienne
was the perfect girl. She was the one, the one in his heart and soul, the topic
of his perverted mind, but of course he couldn't let her know that, and to keep
lying to himself, he held an even firmer grip around Charlotte's waist while
she smiled, oblivious to the fact that he was using her only to make Adrienne
jealous.

“Pull her closer,
and you'll be making babies.” Adrienne's tone was sarcastic, but her voice was
degrading to both Ethan and Charlotte.

“At least she's
willing,” Ethan Lawrence replied.

“You seriously—”
Before Adrienne could reply, Xavier put his hand over her mouth. The only thing
that came out was, “Oomph!” “Err!,” “Ugh!” and Pfff!”

None of the three
could comprehend what Adrienne wanted to say, and they guessed it was better
that way.

“I think we're
going to get your cheesecake now,” Xavier said, switching the bags he held in
his left hand to his right, before pulling Adrienne with him. “They're not
worth it.”

“But before we
leave, I have to do something.” Adrienne tugged on Xavier's arm and in turn, he
stopped walking.

“And what might
that be?”

Adrienne smirked.
“You know what I do to people who anger me.”

“We can still
hear you, you know,” interjected Ethan, his arm still crushing Charlotte's
upper torso.

“Adrienne you
can't,” Xavier stopped her, leaning his head down to be able to whisper, but
from Ethan and Charlotte's point of view, Xavier looked like he was about to
kiss Adrienne. “You might kill him.”

“Just a little
bit, please?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “His arrogance is shouting at
me. It's calling me!”

Smirking, Xavier
shook his head.

“Pretty please? I
know you want me to do it to him for insulting you!”

Xavier chuckled. “Oh
please, what I want to do is suck the blood out of him.”

Their fingers
intertwined. “You do that after I'm finished with him.”

They never got
the chance since apparently, Ethan and Charlotte got so bored waiting for a
reply from the two vampires that they decided to ignore them and continue
walking around the mall. Contented with the outcome of tonight's meeting with
Ethan and Charlotte, Adrienne and Xavier walked over to the food court and
grabbed a couple of desserts.

“You know what,” Xavier
started. “I'll never understand how humans think.”

“It should just
stay that way.” Adrienne grinned. “Vampires may be more intimate and may take
love more seriously, but humans are more emotional. Speaking of intimacy and
love, I want to ask you something.”

Xavier nodded,
saying,” What is it?”

Adrienne gulped.
She knew the question had to be straightforward, no beating around the bush. “Were
you forced to be my fiancé?”

Xavier knew this
was going to come, so he was prepared to answer her. “I wasn't forced.” He was
grinning at her. “My parents gave me the freedom to choose,” he said, still
smiling. “I picked you.”

“Why?”

Xavier thought
hard, and looked directly into Adrienne’s eyes when he answered, “Just think of
vampires as magnets. We have only one mate and each of us are attracted to only
a single person in our lifetimes, whether it is vampire or human. I was
attracted to you the moment I saw you, even though you were just a small
infant. I knew you were mine.”

“But if we're
meant to be together, how come I don't feel the same thing, that magnetism?”

The answer was
too obvious
, Xavier thought
to himself. “You've been living as a human. You lost your vampire tendencies,
and the spell locked all your natural instincts away.”

“Are they going
to come back?” Adrienne looked confused as ever. Yes, she found him hot and
sexy and gorgeous and all that, but loving was very different from attraction.
Right now, she just found him physically attractive. “Am I going to feel that
same attraction?”

Xavier froze in
his seat. He didn't want to say anything, because he couldn’t see the future.
But he had to be honest with her. “I don't know.”

Adrienne Stahl
and Brianna Kim spent their Saturday afternoon looking for the perfect dresses
for tonight's party. It was Sabrina Baer's eighteenth birthday, and from what
she told them, it was going to be grand. Apparently, she went all-out and
wanted only the best of the best for tonight's festivity. This included Italian
catering, a deejay to the celebrities, posh decorations, and of course a grand
ballroom at one of the town's classiest hotels.

Adrienne and
Brianna couldn't help but feel ashamed that they hadn't prepared for the party
sooner. 
Well
, it wasn't their fault that Sab had given out the
invitations only two weeks ago, and they had been loaded with school work and
various extracurricular activities.

“How does this
look?” Brianna asked Adrienne as she held up a little black dress against her
body. “This can never fail.”

Adrienne looked
contemplative. Brianna was right. “I agree with you, but it's just too simple.”
They nodded at each other. “We're going to a debut, our best friend's debut.”

Hanging the dress
on one of the racks, Brianna chuckled before going around to the other side of
the store. She found better designs over here, many of which Adrienne liked as
well. The went to the dressing room, stripped in front of each other until each
of them was only in her bra and panty.

“No Adrienne!”
Brianna quickly said when she saw her friend trying on a very tight and a very
short sequined-gold dress. “You're going to catch everyone's attention with
that!”

“What's wrong
with that?” Adrienne feigned confusion. “I like attention!”

“Yeah, but you're
not the birthday girl!”

“Who said all the
attention has to be on her?” was the mischievous reply. “Am I right, Bree?”

Bree merely
nodded at her psychotic best friend before saying, “Yeah, I guess you are
right. Isn't that what friends are for? To steal the spotlight from each other?”

Laughing,
Adrienne shook her head. “No. It's what you call stealing everyone's attention
to protect said best friend in case something embarrassing happens to her.”

Brianna gave Adie
the finger.

“Now, why'd you
flip me the bird? That isn't what friends are for!”

“I'm not only
your friend. I'm your best—”

“Brianna?” a
familiar voice interjected as the owner of said voice knocked on the dressing
room's door. “That's you, right?”

Adrienne and
Brianna looked at each other, their eyes wide open and sparking quite mischievously.
The voice was male, and if she wasn’t mistaken, that teasing yet soft tone
belonged to Aidan.

“What are you
doing here?” Brianna asked, fidgeting into a turquoise halter-dress.

Adrienne couldn't
help but laugh hysterically at her best friend. She had it bad for Aidan. It
was obvious with her facial expressions, but her thoughts told Adie
differently, and she realized why. Brianna was blocking Aidan from finding out
about her feelings for him, and Adrienne thought it was smart to do so.

“You're stalking
us, aren't you?” Adrienne's tone was teasing, her posture calm and collected
unlike her best friend's.