𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 every movement, rendered incapable of focusing on his words when he shifted to the foot of the couch. Nipping her lips together, pinning them into a thin line between her teeth, they dropped from her grasp when he reached out for her, snapping out of the lurid thoughts that entered her mind just that swiftly. It wasn’t just the memories of the intimate moments so recently shared that she allowed to linger there. It was the thought of a longer lifespan spent with him.
Not growing old in the decades ahead. A life together, where she was more equal to him than she imagined herself to be now. The risks were there. They would be regardless. The rewards, however, felt greater.
She lifted her head, falling back upon her narrow neck when he stood with a hand outstretched towards her. Studying his face once more, she reached for his hand, yet offered resistance when he attempted to pull her upward. “You’re so easy to read, at least for me.” He hardly ever faltered on a topic, even uncomfortable ones, and that told her there was some fear there. Maybe some she planted herself. She gave his hand a tug or two, trying to pull him down towards her and smirking when it seemed like a futile struggle on her part. A raised brow should have been enough to convey that she wouldn’t relent any time soon.
“And since you’re so easy to read, I know that we shouldn’t wait for this. At least not wait to talk about it.” Another tug was offered, along with a soft groan until he was forced to relent. Now, with the two closer to eye-level again, she shifted closer to him, kneeling to face him better. “I want to know more. It’s not that I’m afraid. It’s that I’ve been programmed to never want that. I’ve always believed I would die during some great battle. That was how I’ve been born and bred. To want something more than that… never quite seemed possible. I think we share in that. It’s foreign for me to want to be bonded to you, but it’s all I think of. So, yes, to be claimed by you… I do want it.”
[ ☠ ] —— Elijah anticipated helping her up, guiding her to her feet with ease. However, when he pulled upwards, she resisted, tugging him downward instead. All that the vampire could think was that he’d pushed things too far, he’d broached a subject that was a little too much for her at the time, and knowing his track record for past relationships, he wouldn’t be surprised if something as small as a subject of conversation would ruin things.
Love had never truly been on Elijah’s side before.
Her words, however, served as a balm for the wound he’d scratched open on himself. The thousand year old vampire relented to the tugging at his arm and lowered himself again, laying himself beside her once more. He was usually more likely to run than to face his awkward emotions, but she was making it difficult to do so.
Especially when she told him that a claiming bite would be something she’d want. He didn’t dare think that she’d want it as much as he did, he didn’t want to hope that much. He smirked, then dipped his head, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he took the moment to collect his thoughts. In a thousand years, he never thought he’d actually find someone that he’d want to connect himself to so fully and completely, but there was nothing in the world that he wanted more than her.
“It’s all I can think of too,” he murmured, then pulled back as a hand came up to cup the back of her neck. He guided them so that they were laying on the floor once more, getting comfortable again. “It is my hope to give you everything you’ve ever wanted in life and more, Hayley; anything to surpass what you always thought your life would be. Claimed or not, the weight of your happiness far exceeds my own, so even if you chose to die a mortal life, I’d be by your side every step...”
He licked his lips, pausing a moment to think about his words. “The selfish side of me, however, is desperate for you to never age another day. I want you to be by my side, because the thought of an eternity without you to share it with seems very... bleak,” the last word was barely above a whisper, strained with grief at the thought of having to bury her. His eyes moved to meet hers. “It’s not a decision to be taken lightly, this I understand completely, and I’ll give you all the time that you need to fully understand everything that comes with being claimed to a vampire, but in the meantime... I’ll answer any question that you might have on the topic.”
