Colder

Jasper’s cabin was breathtaking. It was two stories of smooth pebbles and polished logs around the trim. There was a log porch on the front of the building with an awning overtop of it and a porch swing. A stone path lined with bushes of crimson flowers, led the way to the trail. He opened the door and led me into the living room. A fire flickered in the stone fireplace on the far wall and candles surrounded the entire room, the wax dripping down the tapers and onto the shelves holding them up. The walls were painted a light sand colour and the floors were a dark hardwood. In front of the fireplace was a large red carpet that look thick and luscious, like you could sink into it. The large light brown couch had a red blanket draped in the centre.

He took me on a tour of the rest of the house, his bathroom had a large round marble tub in the corner. At the end of the hall there was a small kitchen with wooden counters and a bedroom with a huge bed draped in crimson and every wall was lined with shelf after shelf of books. There were two spare rooms upstairs but he didn’t take me up there.

He led me back to the large brown couch and sat down in the corner, his arms opening to welcome me onto his lap. I sat down and he grabbed the red blanket off the back of the couch and covered us both.

“You have a beautiful cabin. I can’t believe it was out here all this time.” I said wonderously.

He laughed softly, “It wasn’t. I purchased the land and built it myself in about 3 days.”

“Jasper, that’s incredible!” I exclaimed, “This is just…wow….” I trailed off, clearly impressed.

“I am glad you like it. Perhaps one day you and I could live out here together.” he wondered aloud.

“Jasper,” I said seriously. He tilted his head to listen, “Why do vampires kill? I mean like, how much do you absolutely need to feed on a human? Can you stop once you’ve started?”

Jasper’s mouth twitched as he tried not to laugh. “As a matter of fact, we can stop. In all reality vampires only need a few swallows of blood every couple of days to remain perfectly healthy and strong. We kill our victims because…well… we can’t have people walking around telling other people that they got bit by a vampire.” He laughed then. “Is there a particular reason you had such a question burning in your mind?” he asked me smoothly.

“I was just curious if you’d ever had the desire to bite me is all.” I replied innocently.

His mouth turned up in a wicked grin, “Oh believe me the desire has very much been there. I have simply learned to control my urges. For vampires, when they bite each other as lovers do, it tends to get a little more intimate first. And that is something you and I can never do.”

Did he say never? Does that mean he doesn’t intend to turn me into a vampire? But, I didn’t want to grow old without him, I didn’t want to live any sort of afterlife without him. I wanted till the end of time with him.

He winced as he felt the wave of pain that had washed over me with this realization. “Amelia, no…” he whispered. “You don’t want this life. You don’t want to be a monster. You don’t… You don’t understand, you can’t…”

“Can’t what?” I demanded, “Help me to understand.”

“You’ll hate me.” His voice came in a shallow whisper.

I swallowed and took a deep bready, I forced my blood to slow, “Try me.” I said sternly.

A flicker of a grin crossed his lips, “The worst part of it, the absolute worst part of all of it, is that I like it. I like being a monster. I like having the power to kill people and the restraint not to do so. I like feeding on humans, with or without their consent. I truly like being a vampire.” A smile formed on his lips as he said this last thing, in another instant his face screwed up into a look of disgust, “And I hate myself for liking it.” He spat out.

I reached out and cupped his cheek, “No, you shouldn’t,” I was shaking my head, “You shouldn’t hate yourself for liking it. That’s just who you are, it is your nature. People cannot help what sort of things they are attracted to. We’re like magnets, only we’ve got a lot more poles that just north and south.”

He smiled then, “And just what are you attracted to, Miss Amelia?” he asked in a seductively silky voice. He flashed me a grin and his pointed teeth glittered. My breath caught in my throat and my stomach twisted in knots.

I licked my lips nervously and swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat, “Well right this second, Sir, I am attracted to you.” I leaned in and kissed him deeply.

His hands slid up my thighs to rest on the sides of my hips as he kissed me back. I moved till I was straddling his hips now. I kissed him again harder, more passionately, he returned it for a few moments before trailing his kisses down my jawline and the side of my neck. I could feel his pointed teeth grazing against the soft flesh of my neck. I moaned softly before he sought out my mouth again with his own. I pressed against him more urgently now, my fingers raking over his shirt, searching for buttons.

A low growl issued from his throat as his lips grew hard against mine, “You sure do love to test my self-control, woman.” He accused.

I pulled back and looked into his eyes, fighting to slow my pulse back to a normal speed. “No, I am simply failing at my own attempts of self-control.” I managed to respond weakly.

“It’s getting late, you need to sleep. Shall we move to the bedroom?” He asked me politely.

I shook my head and cuddled up to him again, leaning against his chest, “I’m comfy right here.” I said and I closed my eyes. Jasper chuckled and pulled the red blanket up higher, tucking it around my chin and wrapping his arms around my torso, holding my tightly while I slept.