Blood red love by Dripping Creativity

Blood red love 

23 

“Caine is an old friend. He’s also the head of my security team. I sent him, and a couple of more men, to make sure you were safe,” Vidar told her, looking like he was worried how she would react. 

“Thank you, that was sweet of you,” she told him. He looked so surprised at her reply, she had to laugh. “Was my reply so surprising?” she asked. 

“Yes, I was expecting you to tell me I was overstepping and was behaving creepy,” he 

confessed. 

“Not many people look out for me, so I appreciate those who do. I know it’s not something you can take for granted. And your men kept their distance and didn’t make me feel uncomfortable. In fact, I didn’t even know I was being watched.” Vidar nodded. 

“Then you won’t mind if they continue?” he asked. 

“No, I guess not. But for how long?” 

“It’s a good question. Can I come back to it? You have been most generous with opening up about yourself to me. I would like to return the favour. I have things about me you need to know before things go any further,” he said. Taking her hand in his. She smiled at him and 

wondered what secrets he was hiding. She was sure she could handle it. 

“I would like that,” she told him. He bent down and kissed the back of her hand. Charlie had 

always felt it was a cheesy thing to do, but when Vidar did it, it looked so natural and effortless and, at the same time, filled with affection. 

“Good. Before we get to that part of the evening, I’m going to cook something for us to eat. We don’t want the monster to rear its ugly head,” he joked and chuckled. 

“You don’t need to do that. I feel like I’m causing you all this trouble.” 

arlie, all the best things in life come with a little or a lot of trouble. It’s always worth it. I’m not going to make you a seven course meal. I’ll just make something quick and easy. 

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Please let me take care of you. At least for tonight, you have had a rough evening,” he asked her. He sounded sincere and the tone of his voice tugged at Charlie’s heartstrings. 

“Okay, do you need help?” He laughed and kissed her hand again. 

he 

“You really don’t know how to let other people take care of you. We need to work on that,” said, getting up from the couch. “Sit, or take a look around the apartment. There are no secrets from you here. Feel free to snoop,” he told her as he took the tea with him to the kitchen, Charlie smiled and sank back into the couch. She felt relaxed enough for a nap. But the soft sounds coming from the kitchen kept her awake. She liked being around Vidar. That in itself wasn’t something new, but what was new was the understanding that the comfort level was just as high with talking to him, bearing all the hard, scary and ugly parts of herself to him. She got up from the couch and decided to take him up on his offer to snoop around. She walked up to the shelves that covered the far wall. They were covered in a mix of books. and objects. Charlie took her time reading titles of books, looking at all the wonderful objects. Most of them were old and looked like they belonged in a museum. It looked like a time traveller’s souvenir cabinet. 

“Find anything interesting?” Charlie turned around and saw Vidar leaning against the wall, studying her. 

“Lots of interesting things, but no dirty secrets so far,” she said. He chuckled. 

“I keep those in my sock drawer,” he told her. 

“Right, thanks for the tip. I’ll check there next.” She liked the easy banter between them and judging by his relaxed pose and those blue eyes which were twinkling with mirth, he liked it as well. 

“Dinner is ready in two minutes,” he said. 

“You weren’t kidding when you said quick and easy,” she said. Walking over to him. He took her hand and for a moment they stood there, looking at each other, holding hands. 

“Come along,” he told her and gently pulled on her hand as he walked to the kitchen. She followed him into a state–of–the–art kitchen. “Sitt,” he said, patting the seat of a barstool at the breakfast bar. She obeyed and watched him walk to the stove. She watched him put the 

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final touches to a pasta carbonara and portion it onto two plates. He put one down in front of her and the other next to her. He poured some red wine into two glasses and put them down. as well before taking a seat next to her. “I thought it was a little over the top to eat at the dining table,” he said.. 

“You were right, this is much better,” she agreed and enjoyed her food. “This is amazing,” she 

told him. 

“Thank you. But it’s an easy dish. I will cook you something better sometime,” he said. 

“Don’t say that. I never learned how to cook. I do alright, I mean I can feed myself. But it’s more like putting things into a pot and praying it comes out tasting okay, or at least eatable,” she told him. He laughed and shook his head. 

7 

“You have a way to astound me, lilla lo, that not many people have,” he said. 

“Is that a good thing?” she asked. 

“In your case it is. You are anything but predictable,” he told her. Charlie felt herself blush. She liked the idea she could surprise him. They continued making small talk as they ate. It was a nice change of pace after the heavy subject they had covered. When they finished up, they stayed seated, talking. There was no hurry, they just enjoyed the moment. “I’ll put this into the washer and you go out to the couch. I’ll be right there,” he said. Charlie’s first instinct was to refuse and offer to do it. But she stopped herself and nodded. When she walked into the living room, she was again mesmerised by the view. She walked up to it and looked out over the city. It was dark outside and the city lights transformed the darkness. It 

reminded her of a pinball machine. 

“It’s “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Vidar asked. He walked up to her and stood close behind her, looking 

over her shoulder. 

“It is,” Charlie agreed, but her focus was no longer on the view. It was on Vidar and his closeness. He put his hands on her arms, just above the elbow, and slowly stroked them up 

and then down. She leaned into him and he leaned into her. She felt his breath on her neck. 

It made her think of his lips and that led her thoughts straight to the kiss they had shared. 

“I can’t seem to behave around you, Charlie,” he whispered in her ear. 

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“You can’t?” she asked. 

“No. But I need to be good, just a while longer,” he told her. 

“Even if I don’t want you to?” she asked. 

“Especially then,” he groaned and she could feel the remorse from him as he took a step back 

and took her hand to lead her to the couch. They sat down, closer than before, sitting sideways so they could look at each other. “I need to tell you some things,” he told her. 

“About you?” she asked. 

“Yes, but about other things as well. It’s important that you listen to me, to all of it. Please 

don’t be scared. Know that you will always be safe here. You are always safe with me,” he told 

her. Charlie had never doubted it, so she nodded. He ran his thumb over her cheek and looked 

at her like he wanted to put her image into his mind, as if he was expecting her to run away at any moment. She snorted internally at the thought. She may have been too stubborn to see 

how she felt about him at first. Thinking feelings like this couldn’t just appear. Well, screw 

that, and screw him, thinking she couldn’t handle his secrets. She knew what she felt, even if she hadn’t put it into words. She would make him understand she could be strong as well. It 

was he who had told her there was steel in her. He would find out just how much. 

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There’s something really special about a good build up, writing is meant to draw you in, connect with the characters so that you fee… 

Harley Driscoll