Torn Between Souls

KISSED

I was determined to get to the bottom of this witch thing. I wanted to call my aunt and uncle, but I was worried about what they knew and didn’t. And didn’t want to worry them if I was truly clinically insane.

I decided to go for a run to clear my head, before diving back into my research. I tied my wild hair into a bun. It had seemed to become even more unruly lately, the strands almost appeared to have a mind of their own.

I wore just a pair of leggings and a soft, red pullover over my sports bra. I plugged my ears with my headphones, and turned on some music, and set off. My run took me on a familiar path. Three blocks down from my apartment, back up the highway, and through a valley. It felt good to feel the burn in my legs.

I had been less active recently. Between my ache in my hand, the strange visions and dreams I was having, and of course, Matteo, I had been hardly sleeping, and couldn’t find the energy for some of my usual activities. I hadn’t been to work and was thankful I had saved so much sick time. I had seen Matteo a few times in the past few weeks since he told me that werewolves, vampires, and witches were real. That the fairytales I had heard as a child were real.

Were they?

So much doubt swirled in my mind. I couldn’t pretend that the episode on the water, or in the conference room didn’t happen. Couldn’t pretend that the extra “attraction” men had been having towards me was normal, a symptom Matteo said many witches dealt with. I couldn’t pretend that I hadn’t seen him move at an impossibly fast speed, or that I hadn’t seen his fangs in his mouth.

I thought back to the last time I saw him. He had shown up at my door.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him through the crack in the door.

His voice was firm, but there was that edge of softness. And the more I was around him, the more I could hear the lilt to his accent, “Are you okay?”

I opened the door further and looked at him, shyly, almost embarrassed, “I’ve had some more visions.”

He c****d his head, staring at me intensely-in a way that made my stomach flip, and knot itself.

“More about my parents. Some memories...I think. Although I don’t how they can be memories, because other than these...visions I don’t recall them,” I said in a muted voice.

“You seem to have some suppressed trauma. Something bad. How did your parents die?” He asked without wasting a breath.

“That’s none of your business,” I said firmly, starting to push the door closed.

His hand caught the door, and he sighed, “Rose...please. Let me help you.”

I stared at him indignantly, and crossed my arms, staring back at him, “I don’t know you.”

“I’m just…” he trailed, before running a hand through his brown curls, making my heart skip, “Here, will you take this?”

He reached into his coat pocket, and held out a flip phone to me.

“I have a phone, a nicer one at that,” I said, going to close the door again.

This time when he caught the door, a soft growl escaped him, as he thrust the phone forward again.

“I know,” he said through clenched teeth, “It has my number, and Christian’s in it. You can use it to contact me if you are in trouble.”

I stared back at him, neither of us faltering, both of us stubborn, until finally, I sighed, reaching out for the phone. My hand brushed him, and I felt the familiar white-hot heat bloom in my hand, and before I could thank him, he was gone.

I sighed audibly, my breath heavy as I jogged along the sidewalk. I don’t know what it was about that man.

That vampire.

It was hard to say that world out loud, let alone to myself. I had stared at that phone for over a week, debating a call to him more times than I could count. Not for anything specific, but because a part of me ached for answers. Answers that I felt only he could give. But I didn’t trust him.

My music paused, and I heard the smacking of shoes on the pavement behind me. There was a jogger on his way up the path, but when I met his eyes, a chill ran through me. I turned back around and picked up my pace, trying to keep some distance between myself and the man behind me.

I kept my music off, trying to listen to his footsteps. I could hear him growing closer, and my breath caught in my throat, and just as I was about to call for help, a familiar, low slung vehicle screeched along the pavement. Matteo got out.

He looked fantastic. He wore a pair of dark blue pants, and a blue collared shirt under a lush black pullover. He had a grey scarf hanging around his neck, and his eyes met mine for a moment, before looking behind me. I followed his gaze. The man behind me had turned on his heel and jogged off into the other direction.

When I returned my gaze to him, I noticed his eyes looking me up and down, and I felt a blush spread across my face as I realized how unkempt I looked in my sweaty clothes. His eyes finally returned to mine.

“Would you like to grab some brunch?” he asked, c*****g his head slightly.

“Uh…” I hesitated for a moment, and then took a deep breath, and gave him a small smile, “Sure.”

He nodded, and walked over to the passenger door, opening it for me.

“You don’t always need to hold the door for me,” I scoffed slightly, walking to his side.

As I passed him and climbed in the seat, I couldn’t help but inhale his smoky smell.

He chuckled, and I flushed again. s**t, I thought, he probably knows I just sniffed him. I was mortified. But he closed the door, and got into his side.

“Of course I do.”

I bit the corner of my bottom lip slightly, and stared out the window, “Were you following me?”

“Yes,” he responded calmly, “and so was that wolf.”

I shuddered, and sadness crept over me, “Why won’t they leave me alone?”

He hesitated, and I looked over him. His forehead was creased, and his mouth was turned down at the corners just slightly. His eyes looked darker today.

“I don’t know,” he responded.

We drove in silence for a few minutes and pulled up to a fairly nice restaurant, and I frowned, “Uh, I’m not really dressed for this place.”

“Nonsense,” he muttered, getting out of his door.

He came around to my side and opened the door before my hand could touch the door handle. His hand reached out for me and I took it, before gasping as he pulled me sharply out of the car, my chest suddenly against his. I was staring at his breastbone, he was so tall.

“I think you look ravishing in red,” he murmured so quietly, I wasn't sure if I had even heard it, before he let go of me, and took a few strides towards the door, before stopping to wait for me.

I finally breathed out, my heart pounding in my throat, and my cheeks red. You look ravishing in red. I shook the words from my head, took another deep breath, and then followed after him.

We were seated at a patio table, and a friendly waitress sauntered over, batting her lashes at Matteo, who kept his eyes on me.

“Two cups of coffee, and whatever the lady would like to eat.”

I glanced down at the menu, and searched for something simple, “Uh, I’ll just take a waffle, with strawberries,” I said.

“Okay, I’ll get that-”

“She’ll also take a side of eggs and sausage.”

The woman nodded her head and scampered off.

“I hope you are going to eat some of that,” I said, shaking my head, “It’s too much.”

“You’ve lost weight,” he said, in that firm voice of his, “You haven’t been eating.”

I looked away. He wasn’t wrong. I had hardly had an appetite, which was unlike me. I was such an active person, that my diet was usually a very high protein, filling, and large portioned. I was embarrassed.

He set his hand on mine, and his voice became gentle, “I didn't mean any harm, I just want you to be healthy.”

I met his eyes and almost fainted as the green in them flashed before the moment was interrupted by the waitress setting down two cups of coffee, and all the fixings. I hurriedly dumped in a hefty amount of cream, and no sugar. Matteo raised his eyebrow at me, and I shrugged.

“Warm, creamy, and sharp.”

“Like you,” he chuckled, looking out towards the street behind me.

I blushed and hid my face with a stray chunk of my hair that had come loose from my bun. What was he doing?! Half the time he’s cold, and now all of a sudden he’s...flirting with me?

Breakfast arrived, and I finished my waffle, intending to prove I didn’t need the other food, however, I was hungry, and for some reason, some of my stress had melted away. I finished almost everything on the table. All Matteo could do was smirk that damn smirk of his. I rolled my eyes.

“Who did your wolf friend mean when he asked when the last time you were intimate was?” Matteo asked, and I almost choked on my food, “Is there a man, or some other wolf that’s obsessed with those hazel eyes I need to be worried about?”

First, I stared at him in shock as I drank water to wash down the food that had almost killed me, before profusely blushing, and looking away, refusing to answer. I fiddled with the edge of my sweater.

“I asked you a question,” he said after a moment.

I scowled, and then sighed, whispering under my breath, “No.”

I turned to him, “And you can’t just ask that,” I snapped.

His eyes darkened slightly, and he pursed his lips.

I took a few more bites, and when the waitress brought the check I tried to reach for it, but Matteo snatched it up. I glared at him.

He paid the bill, and then stood up, “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

I sighed. This damn vampire. Hot, and cold. We climbed into the car, him holding the door like always, but he slammed it. I pouted in the passenger seat as he refused to speak to me on the 30-minute drive, determined to never speak to him again, but by the time we reached the apartment, my resolve had weakened.

As he let me out of the car and escorted me up the stairs, I started to talk.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you. There was a guy...I was 19, and dumb, and in college, and I thought I was going to marry him. And we...did things, but he wanted to save s*x for marriage, and then….then he just died,” I breathed, “He was driving back to the dorm and the fog was so bad, and he went over the side of a guardrail.”

I felt some tears spring into my eyes as we started up the second flight of stairs to my floor.

“And then after him, I spent the rest of my bachelor's program having stupid, meaningless, random s*x trying to get rid of him from my mind. And then I graduated and buried myself into my graduate degree, and there hasn’t been anyone since,” I sighed softly.

We were almost to the door as I finished, and in an instant, after I breathed out the last words, I was pushed up against a wall. I gasped, as Matteo trapped me between the wall and his large frame, one arm to the right of my head, bracing himself against the wall, and the other ruffling his chocolate curls.

My breath hitched as my eyes met his. They were that same emerald green, but his pupils seemed large, and his eyes dark.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

The fingers in his hair wiped the stray tear running down my cheek away before his thumb lightly touched the bottom of my jaw. He seemed confused that he was n this position with me, and like he was fighting against himself.

I couldn’t breathe. My skin was on fire. His closeness was intoxicating, the smell of smoke and cinnamon filling my nostrils, my lungs.

“Matteo…” I trailed softly, and then all at once, his lips crashed against mine.

For a moment I froze, and then my lips softened under him as he kissed me. Gently. Tentatively. As I responded to him, he growled lightly under his breath, before one of his hands pressed against the small of my back, bringing me closer to him. His kiss became slightly more aggressive. Our lips firm, and wanting against each other. I felt like I was under a spell. And then as fast as it happened, he pulled away, and I gasped for air, as he slammed into the wall behind him. His face looking confused, and...angry?

I furrowed my brow, speaking breathlessly, “Matteo?”

“I have to go, Rose,” he said through gritted teeth.

I shook my head, “I don’t want you to go...what’s wrong?”

I inched closer, looking into his dark, green swirling eyes. His eyes flashed, and he looked at my hand before grasping it in his, his eyes hard.

“Matteo, stop it,” I winced as I felt my thumb and wrist bruising under his rough grip, “Please.”

He stood there, staring at me with his teeth slightly bared.

“Matteo, please…” I whispered again, my body sagging slightly as I tried to pull away from him.

He instantly dropped my hand and vanished.

I stood against the wall, chest heaving, and let my fingers reach up to touch my tingling lips as I looked after him. I lifted my other hand. There was purple bruising around one half of my wrist, and my thumb was deathly sore. I scowled, tears springing into my eyes. How could I let myself kiss him? How could I kiss a vampire? How could I just let him get into my head like that?

How could he just leave?