She was his everything, but she frightened him.

His friends thought that they were an odd couple. She with her raven hair and light blue, almost white eyes; her skin so pale that she seemed to glow in the darkness. He with his golden curls, sapphire eyes, and sun kissed skin. She was quiet and soft spoken. He was rambunctious and playfully loud. All in all, complete opposites.

They had met within the darkness of a club and he had been enthralled in her ever since. She was his world and he was hers.

But together they held a dark secret. She had told him one evening, in an unguarded moment. He still remembered the words she used to describe it. She called it “a sinister urge”. He had been in shock, unbelieving. But he soon found that she was indeed what she had said she was.

He had grown so accustomed to it now that he barely noticed her leaving his side when they went to all those clubs, in all of those cities.

But tonight was different. Tonight his eyes didn’t leave her as she danced with the man of the evening.

Her victim.

He watched her, gaze unwavering, as she hypnotized her prey with her ice blue stare. She gave him a coy smile before motioning him to follow her.

The nameless man followed her through the crowd of people and he found himself being pulled to follow them. She led her man of the moment out one of the side exits that led out into the alley. She pulled him so that they were standing under a street light (she always was an exhibitionist) and brought her lips to his. She trailed her kiss down his neck and inhaled his scent before biting down. Sweet blood filled her mouth and she was so lost in the taste that she failed to realize that her victim was struggling against her.

Finally he grew limp, and she allowed him to slide down to the ground. She emitted a sigh as she licked her lips and smiled softly down at the body lying at her feet. That’s when she caught the movement out of the corner of her eye.

She looked into the shadows and saw a figure, slightly darker than the inky blackness that surrounded it. She stiffened slightly. She hated when this happened. When someone saw. It was just more blood on her hands.

Then the person stepped into the light.

He was visibly shaking, although he wasn’t aware of it. She was looking at him like a child who had been caught sneaking candy before dinner. Then her features turned to something that he was unable to read as she walked over to him.

“I’ve told you not to follow me,” she said softly.

She always spoke softly. It was her demeanor. She never raised her voice, even in anger. Although he feared her most when she was in an angered state. Her eyes would flash and her teeth would elongate, much like they were at the moment.

“Let’s go back to the hotel,” she said taking his hand.

He was still shaking when they got to their room. They had been silent the entire ride there, the only sound being her running her tongue over her teeth, applying a soft suction as if she had something stuck in between them. She had told him once that it was to make her canines go back to their human form. He shuddered harder.

“Justin,” she said softer than usual. “Come lie down.”

He hadn’t even realized that she had changed into a night gown or that he had changed into cloth pants and an undershirt. He blinked once before walking over and crawling onto the bed, settling into her arms. She ran her fingers through his hair and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. This never ceased to calm him and his body finally stopped trembling.

“Love, I have told you not to watch,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered and she looked down at him, her eyes seeming to glow as she looked into his.

He tried to look away but he could feel her walking through his thoughts and was held captive. He swallowed hard as a hurt look came over her features and he was finally able to look away.

“You are frightened of me,” she said sadly.

“No,” he said quickly and she gave him a small smile.

“You are afraid of what I could do to you,” she stated.

He stared down at their hands, which were joined between them. He felt ashamed under her pensive gaze, guilty for thinking such things. She hooked her finger beneath his chin, forcing him to look her in the eyes.

“It’s ok,” she said running the backs of her fingers down his cheek.

“I don’t mean to question you,” he said finally. “but-”

“It makes you wonder,” she finished.

“What makes you not want to?” he asked.

“What holds me back?” she rephrased.

He nodded, swallowing, trying to wet his throat. She was smiling as she cupped his cheek in her hand and let out a small chuckle.

“Justin dear, you hold a piece of me that I wish never to lose,” she said. “You hold the key to my heart. Or at least the key to what’s left of it.”

“Do you ever-?”

“Want to?” she finished. “Yes often. Right now in fact.”

She paused, her eyes sliding down to his neck but quickly jumped back to his face.

“But I can’t. Never will. What I feel for you is the only human thing left in me. I love you Justin. Love is the most human emotion there is. When I met you I had been this way for a short while, when I was still very much human. Since then, as time has passed, as my feedings have grown in number, I have lost nearly all of any humanity that was left in me. Loving you is my only human attribute. It keeps me sane. And as tempting as it is, as strong as the want to taste you is, I shall never surrender to that desire.”

“You could make me one of you,” he said.

She laughed out loud then, pulling herself from the bed to walk to the window and look out over the street. The moonlight made her normally pale skin seem almost translucent and made her ice blue eyes stand out even more from under the dark tresses that haloed her face. She smiled.

“No Love, I care about you far too much to do anything to harm you. You do not want this life I lead.”

“I want to understand,” he said and she looked back at him, her eyes boring holes into him.

“Do you know how long it had been since I have felt the sun’s warmth on my skin?” It wasn’t a question to be answered. “Three years.” She sighed. “What I wouldn’t give to see the sunlight shine upon the water, seeing it reflect and shimmer,” she said, looking longingly out the window. “But I can’t.”

She closed the curtain tight, cloaking the room in darkness. She waited for the lamp to come on and when light flooded the room, she turned to look at him before going to sit beside him on the bed.

“You are so fortunate,” she whispered, stroking his cheek.

“I want to-”

“No you don’t,” she said flatly, almost abrasively. “You do not want to be like me.”

They were silent then, she staring at his face, before her eyes wondered down to his neck. A longing came into her pale blue eyes and he swallowed hard.

“Is there a way for you to…” he trailed knowing she could end his sentence better than he could.

“Taste you?” she asked, her pupils dilating.

“Yeah,” he said shifting slightly, and she thought for a moment.

“Yes I suppose there is.”

He noticed how her canines had elongated and he knew what she wanted.

“Here,” he said and turned his face away from her, exposing his neck to her.”

“No,” she said taking his hand and he looked at her curiously.

She ran her fingers over his wrist and brought it to her lips, placing feather light kisses there. She drew lazy circles with her tongue before she bit down.

He winced, more in shock than in pain. Her teeth withdrew just as quickly as they had seared into his skin and she was leaning forward, kissing his lips softly.

“Sweet.” she whispered against his lips. “Just as I knew you would be.”

She pulled away and brought his wrist to her lips again, licking away the excess blood that had oozed from the two fang marks in his flesh.

They fell back onto the bed, she falling asleep almost immediately. He, however, laid there, contemplating what had just happened.

It was a rush that had quickened his heartbeat and sent a chill down his spine. He knew at that moment he was addicted to that feeling. The feeling of her teeth sinking into his flesh, the jolt that it sent through his body.

He had to feel it again.

“Ebony?” he whispered.

“Maybe in the morning,” she responded and he smiled.

He knew it was wrong, but it just felt so right. It was one of those sinister urges that he couldn’t deny. He didn’t want to deny it. He knew that this was tempting her, and it most likely would end in him losing his humanity, but this feeling was too much to resist. She had her sinister urges and now, he had his.