Mortality

XX - Creatures?

;;

You have spent an awfully large amount of time thinking about kissing Jade West for the past few months, so you had imagined quite a few scenarios in which the first one would take place - in a dark place, maybe another club that she would've brought you to, or your dorm bedroom after sneaking her in through a window when Vivian was gone, or up against a tree in the middle of a deserted park, or lots of things. One that didn't cross your mind was standing in the puddle of golden light from a streetlamp.

In your opinion, reality is so much better than any of your fantasies.

She doesn't pull away. It's immediate, how she grabs onto you - and she really grabs, fingers clutching the curves of your waist with enough force to promise bruises later and she's backing you up, out of the glow of the light and against the building behind you. Which is probably a good thing because the taste of her, copper and something that you can't describe without using the color red, has made your knees little more than jello. Your arms circle her neck, bridging any gap that might have remained between you. She is cold, so cold, but you feel like you're heating up anyway, like some dial inside of you has been cranked up. You think you might melt her.

Her tongue is a life force all its own. It's harder than you imagined, stronger, and you can't say you don't like it because wow. One long lick of the roof of your mouth and you're certain you're going to pass out; your eyelids are dusted with stars and your heartbeat is a frantic drummer's solo in your chest. You are so pulled in, so sucked into her, that you don't realize that you are actually quite literally about to pass out.

The kiss is great - the kiss is amazing, supernatural to some degree - but you're about to pass out because you haven't taken a breath in almost two minutes.

You have to push her back. She had become dominating, aggressive, and as much as that turns you on you have to breathe before you faint. It takes her a moment to pull away, her mouth gasping hard in front of yours, except she doesn't need the lungfuls of air that she's sucking in. Eyes opening, your head falls back and meets the building's wall and your wet, open mouth gasps like you've just ran a mile straight.

"I'm sorry."

Your fingers flex because Jade is trying to step away; for one thing, you want her to stay as close as possible and for another, you think you might collapse if she gets too far. When you look at her she seems frightened which, considering she's a Vampire older than you've ever even heard of and has seen horrors beyond what you can imagine, unsettles you. "For what?" You're still panting despite your best efforts to get your shit together, shrugging up the wall that you hadn't known you had started to slide down.

"Kissing you to death," she says, gauging you carefully. She adjusts her arms, strengthening her hold. "Jesus, are you going to be okay?"

"I'm fine." The words come out on a puff of laughter. As your oxygen deprived brain finally replinshes itself, you are finally hit with the oh-my-God factor that continually comes back to you every time Jade reappears. You touch her face with one hand, the other dragging lightly over the black depths of her hair. She's wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with some kind of metal band smearing the front and you almost laugh because everything is so absurd.

"Absence really does make the heart grow fonder, hm?" Jade is grinning, looking back at you with just as much wonder, like you could possibly be the best thing she's ever laid eyes on. "If you're going to pounce on me like that every time I take off, I should leave more often."

"No." The word is spoken too quickly, too strongly, and you don't realize you're practically clinging to her until she gives you a quizzical look. You relax, albeit reluctantly, like she might burst off into the sky if you don't keep a firm grip on her. "I mean, I just, I really prefer it when you're with me."

Her forehead dips forward to meet yours. The skin-on-skin contact is like pressing against a frozen pole. "I missed you," she says, watching your mouth. "I'm sorry I keep coming and going like a flock of fucking geese."

"I'll forgive you if you promise to make your visits more frequent."

A grin hovers on one corner of her mouth before disappearing. Sighing, she pulls back, and it's only then that you remember where you are - a car is passing behind her. You're in the middle of the sidewalk a few blocks from campus. A woman was just murdered on TV by a Vampire.

The realizations must show on your face because Jade is sighing again. "You can probably guess why that might be a little difficult."

You push yourself off the wall, clearing your throat. Already you dislike the distance between you, even if you could close it with a short step forward, but you plant your feet down, chewing your cheek. "When humans do crazy, terrible things - which they do, often - like shoot up a school or something, Vampires don't protest us."

Jade is frowning. "As sound as that is, I don't think it's going to hold up. Creatures of all kinds of coveted a fear of us for centuries -"

"Woah, woah, wait." Your hands are up, palms facing her. " 'Creatures of all kinds'? What does that mean?"

Jade might be old enough to know how to master facial expressions, but she isn't fast enough to snuff this one out - for a moment, she holds the distinct look of someone who has said too much. "Just, you know. People."

Your eyes narrow. "Are you telling me - are you telling me there are more things out there?"

"Mm, define 'things'."

"Werewolves? I don't even, like, fairies? Mermaids?"

Jade kicks at the ground, smirking.

"You're serious." It isn't a question. You're gaping at her.

She shrugs in response, shaking her head. Her eyes meet yours again, gold lining from the streetlamp behind her. "I know this all sounds very interesting to you, but I've talked about these things a thousand times before. It's boring. I was much more entertained by the kissing bit earlier."

You don't realize you're blushing until Jade laughs. She's up against you again, holding one hand to your face, studying you. "I liked the kissing bit, too," you say, running your teeth over your bottom lip. The Vampire watches the movement with intensity. "However, this is kind of, uh, not a very private place ..."

"Lucky for you, I know of a private place."

"Where's your nanny?"

"Andre's on Coexist slash Immortalis business. Since I'm older than the lot of them, they decided that I can probably take care of myself. I would love some company, though." You think she's going to kiss you again, but her mouth simply skims yours and then follows the line of your jaw. You tremble as she descends down the curve of your neck, lips on your pounding jugular.

You know, somehow, that this is some sign of trust between Human and Vampire. That she could be this close to you, in the dark, alone, with no one knowing where you are, having all of the strength required to drain you dry if she really wanted to, and doing nothing but leaving a soft kiss on your neck, your heartbeat.

You sigh or moan or something, you're not really sure, but Jade is laughing again so you don't care much. "I'll take that as a yes," she says, a hand following the length of your arm until her fingers are tangled in yours. "Come on, Human. It's way past your bedtime."

"I hope you know that you're not off the hook about those other Creatures," you manage, walking breathlessly beside her. When she smiles at you, you squeeze her hand. "We are definitely talking about those mermaids."

;;