Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) (43 page)

‘
Alex, you are the most respectful person I know. Haven’t you
ever heard of mutual consent?’

‘
I am older. I am a man. I have made too many mistakes in the
past. I do not wish to make these mistakes with you.’

‘
Listen, Alex. If you were doing something I didn’t want, I’d
tell you about it. You haven’t done anything I didn’t want you
to.’

Maddy rolled
on top of him, still in awe of his astonishing beauty. But he was
more than just this stunning creature – he was kind, generous,
vulnerable and funny. He was everything to her. She smiled and
kissed him again. Alexandre responded immediately, but then he
groaned and lifted her off him. He ran a finger down her cheek,
kissing her hair and she ran her hands across his hard stomach.

‘
Please stop, Madison. I fear I am completely unable to resist
you.’

She stopped
instantly and drew her hands up to her cheeks. ‘Is this a rejection
then?’ she asked, feeling sick and slightly humiliated.

‘
Madison,’ he said sitting up. He looked at her but she
refused to catch his eye. ‘This is the opposite of a rejection. Did
you not hear me before when I said I loved you? I have never said
that to anyone, because I have never felt this way about another
living soul. I love you. Why won’t you look at me? I cannot tell
what you are thinking when you look the other way.’

She finally
relented and looked up.

‘
I want this more than you know. But there is much to consider
and now I only have myself to answer to. Please give me some
time.’

She lay down
and curled into a ball. He spooned himself around her and kissed
the back of her neck.

‘
Why don’t you sleep now? I will stay with you for as long as
I can.’

‘
I won’t be able to sleep,’ she said in a small
voice.

He stroked her
arm and inhaled the apple scent of her hair, listening as the sound
of her breathing became more even and slow. He knew she was not
entirely happy with him, but maybe tomorrow she would see he had
been right not to rush. That kiss had been so intoxicating, it had
taken all of his willpower to end it. He knew it was the right
thing to do; to stop it there. He did not trust himself
otherwise.

His depression
had entirely vanished. He was transformed, in love and the feeling
was reciprocated - she loved him too. Maybe the world was not the
bleak place he had inhabited only hours ago. Maybe there could be
something good in it for him, something wonderful.

‘
Sleep well, Madison,’ he whispered into her ear. ‘I love
you.’

She slept.

Chapter
Twenty Five

*

Alexandre left
her bed at around 4am, his mind a blur of thoughts and emotions.
Was he doing the right thing? Or was he being selfish? He tried not
to think about what his parents would have said. But it wasn’t that
simple. He lived in a different era now where different rules
applied. What he had done was apparently not scandalous at all, but
normal.

What had Madison said?
Mutual
consent
. He liked that. Yes, what business
was it of anybody else’s? Neither of them had to answer to anyone,
which was a blessing and a curse. All they had done was fall in
love and kiss. And what a kiss! She was unbelievable. How could he
curse his bad fortune at becoming a vampire, when it had led him to
her? Maybe this was meant to be.

*

Madison woke up about seven. She felt strangely happy and
then she remembered why. She and Alexandre. It had happened. They
had kissed and it was everything she’d thought it would be. Of
course she’d thought about it before, but she’d never believed it
would actually happen. He was from another era, he was older than
her and he was a vampire. She hadn’t even known if vampires had
those kinds of feelings or if they were just all about the blood.
Well now she knew they most definitely did have those feelings. And
had he said … Yes. He said he loved her. He loved
her
– Madison
Greene.

What did this
mean for them now? It could be difficult, what with them living
together already. And what about Ben? What would he think about it
all? But then Alexandre had said he needed time. Maybe he was
right. Maybe a bit of time to think about it was a good thing. Yeah
right. No way she needed to think about anything. She loved him and
that was it. Nothing more to say.

As soon as she
had showered and dressed, she made her way downstairs. It was
another glorious day and Ben sat in the kitchen shovelling down his
cereal.

‘
Can you give me a lift, Mads? I think I missed the bus this
morning and I’m gonna be late.’

‘
Yeah, come on then. I’ll have my breakfast when I get back.’
She plucked a large red apple out of the fruit bowl and took a
bite.

Madison had
just turned seventeen and had only needed half a dozen driving
lessons before passing her test first time around. She was elated
by the freedom. Now she no longer had to rely on taxis and buses or
lifts from Morris.

Stepping
outside, the sun warmed her cheeks. It was going to be a scorcher
and Madison felt so happy she didn’t know what to do with herself.
She had to try to stop smiling. Ben would wonder what had gotten
into her.

Climbing into
the Land Rover, Maddy put the radio on. Melancholic strings and a
haunting melody filled the interior, so she searched for another
station until she found a bouncy, happy indie track that suited her
mood - something she could sing along to.

Even the small
birds which darted in and out of the overgrown hedgerows looked
like they were smiling.

‘
God, you’re a bit chirpy this morning, Mads.’

‘
Sun’s shining, Ben.’

‘
You
haven’t got school.’

‘
Shut up, you
love
school!’

‘
Rather be out on my bike.’

‘
It’s nearly summer holidays.’

‘
Not for a whole month yet. How’s Alex? Haven’t seen him for a
few days.’

‘
Yeah, he’s okay. He doesn’t really like the long days though.
He can’t go out and it’s doing his head in.’

‘
Does he
really
drink blood, Maddy? I mean I know he does, it’s just that
it’s weird. He’s
Alex
, you know. He seems so normal.’

‘
I know, mate. It is strange, but it’s not his fault. He was a
regular person once.’

The air con
kicked in and Maddy angled the vents towards her face, enjoying the
cold blast on her warm skin.

‘
Will the others ever wake up d’you think?’ Ben
asked.

‘
I dunno. I kind of hope they do and I kind of hope they
don’t. It’s good the way it is and it could get really complicated
if they’re all awake and living here. But they’re Alex’s friends
and family. He misses them.’

Maddy thought
about it. If they did wake up, what would they think about her
being with Alex? Would they resent her?

She dropped
Ben off outside the gates and headed back home, nerves building,
desperately wanting to head straight downstairs to see Alex. But
what if he’d changed his mind? What if he was cold towards her? She
didn’t think she could bear it if she couldn’t fall straight into
his arms.

Maddy swung
into the driveway and made her way up the tree-lined avenue to see
Travis’ yellow van parked in front of the house.

Travis sat in
the kitchen with a cup of tea, talking away to Esther like she was
his best mate or something. As soon as Madison sat down, Esther
left the room.

‘
Mads, long time no see,’ he said with a wary smile. ‘Hope you
don’t mind me dropping round. Just wanted to check you were still
alive.’

‘
Course I don’t mind. It’s so good to see you. How you doing,
geezer?’

‘
Not bad. Got myself a regular gig at The Glasshouse. Just
wondered if you wanted to come up one Friday night?’

‘
That’s amazing. Yeah, course I’ll come.’

‘
Kerri and Taff’ll be there this Friday and I know they want
to see you. Kerri keeps bugging me to get you to go on a girls’
night out with her.’

‘
Cool, how are they? I’m really sorry I haven’t been in touch.
Me and Ben just had a quiet one over Christmas and then things just
got crazy busy and ….’

‘
No worries, Mads. I know what it’s like. You can bring your
boyfriend if you want.’

‘
What?’

‘
My brother saw you at the cinema with a bloke.’

‘
Oh, yeah. That’s Alex. He’s French.’
He’s French?
What a moronic thing to
say.

‘
Yeah, well bring the French dude, that’s cool.’

‘
I’ll really try and get there,’ she said, not wanting to
commit herself. ‘But if I don’t make it this Friday, then I’ll
definitely come another week.’

‘
Whatever, Mads. It’ll be good to see you out and about. Are
you free now? D’you wanna go out somewhere? Have a
laugh?’

‘
Normally I’d say yeah, but I’ve got some stuff to do today.
I’ll ring you and we’ll sort out a time, alright?’

‘
No worries, I’ve got things I should be doing anyway.
Laters.’ He downed the rest of his tea and got up, drumming the
wooden table with his fingers and jingling his van keys at the same
time.

‘
So good to see you, Trav.’ She leaned forward and gave him an
awkward peck on the cheek. He grinned at her and headed out of the
front door, jumping into the driver’s seat and starting up the
engine. His van grumbled away down the drive, the engine noise
almost drowned out by a fat thumping baseline. Madison smiled at
the black smoke belching out of the exhaust pipe and then she
turned away into the house.

Travis had
been really friendly and hadn’t mentioned their last awkward
meeting on Christmas Eve. Maybe now things could go back to normal
between them. Everything seemed to be falling into place. Life felt
good. She hugged herself and opened the cellar door. She would go
and see Alex before she lost her nerve.

Maddy walked
down the familiar stone steps and lifted her hand to rap on the
door. Before she had a chance to knock, the door opened and
Alexandre stood in front of her. His beautiful chiselled face,
smiling.

‘
I thought I would have to wait down here all day. What have
you been doing that was more important than coming to see
me?’

‘
I was nervous,’ she admitted. ‘But I had to take Ben to
school and then I had an unexpected visitor.’

‘
I know. A young gentleman caller. Do I need to be jealous?
Will I be forced to use my vampire powers?’ His eyes narrowed in
mock fierceness.

‘
Are you gonna make me stand outside your door all day?’
Madison asked. ‘Or can I come in?’ She felt electric currents flow
between them. Anticipation.

‘
So who was this boy?’ he asked, leading her by the hand to
one of the sofas. Her hand felt like it was on fire and she barely
heard his words.

‘
Just Travis,’ she replied. ‘A friend. He’s invited us to a
gig actually.’

‘
A gig?’ They sat down next to each other. Almost touching,
but not quite. She moved her knee slightly, so it rested against
his thigh. More electric currents.

‘
Yeah, he‘s a DJ and he’s got a gig at a local
club.’

‘
A musician?’

‘
Kind of. He plays records.’ She didn’t even know why she was
talking about this. Right now she didn’t care about Travis or
records, but she couldn’t seem to stop talking. She babbled inanely
to stop herself from jumping on top of him, kissing him
…

‘
Records?’ he interrupted her train of thought. ‘I do not
understand.’

‘
You know what records are, right?’ she said, thinking
shut up about records!
But carried on anyway. ‘They’re like an old version of
CDs.’

‘
Yes, I understand. But you said he
plays
them?’

‘
I know it sounds weird.’ She didn’t even care what she was
saying anymore. ‘But it’s a bit more tricky than just playing a
record. You have to be able to mix the right kinds of tracks
together and not break the flow of the beat.’
What is this crap I’m spouting?
‘And
you have to have great taste in music. I mean, most DJs nowadays
don’t play records anymore, but Travis is old school. He likes a
nice bit of vinyl.’
I don’t give a shit
about vinyl I just want you to kiss me
,
she screamed in her head.

‘
It sounds complicated and peculiar, but I will take your word
for it. Right now though I am afraid I do not care about any of
that.’ He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her.

Finally!
Madison thanked every God
known to man, as her body melted into him. She put her arms around
his neck and gave in to feelings that set her nerve endings pulsing
and made her insides disappear. He gently pulled back and looked
into her eyes.

‘
So,’ she said huskily. ‘I’m glad you didn’t take too long to
think about us.’

‘
I am still thinking. But kissing you helps me to
think.’