Chapter 1 - Just One Night
Zain:
I’m sitting alone in my room when my phone suddenly lights up and grabs my immediate attention.
I grasp it in my hand and open the newly received text message.
‘It’s from Adella!’ I realise as I sit up and continue to read what the message says.
It’s telling me that she wants to meet with me and gives coordinates of a specific location.
‘She wants to meet with me!’
‘I’m going to see her, finally!’
With a massive grin spread wide across my face, I jump off my bed and then proceed to rummage throughout my wardrobe to try and find something nice to wear.
Jeans…
A shirt…
Shoes…
‘I have to look absolutely perfect for this meeting.’ I decide.
It doesn’t take me very long to locate the place she’s agreed to meet up at, and I turn my car down onto the long, winding driveway leading towards a quaint little cottage located right in the middle of a thick forest.
‘Why meet me here?’ I wonder to myself as I pull up and turn off the ignition.
The cabin looks rustic but with a touch of modern flair to it.
I can already see a small bonfire has been set up just outside of the cabin with two chairs resting beside it and there’s another car pulled up just ahead with several of Mortus’ soldiers standing guard nearby.
“Well, here goes nothing.” I declare aloud.
I then open the car door and climb out, closing it behind me.
Then making my way across the floor of dead leaves and twigs, I approach the other car and the soldiers standing in waiting for my arrival.
They remain in place, eyeing me carefully as I frown and continue to move past them.
And then I hear her voice.
That sweet angelic voice of hers…
“Zain!” Adella declares, appearing in the doorway of the cabin and with a big smile on her face.
She immediately closes the space between us and jumps into my open arms.
I envelope her with my strong arms, holding her in close against me for a moment in silence as the soldiers watch on from where they stand beside the car.
“I missed you so much.” she whispers into my chest.
I smile in response.
I can’t help it.
“Are you kidding? I’ve missed you like crazy.” I declare as she pulls away and looks up into my eyes with a happy smile.
“But how did you manage to convince Mortus-”
“-It’s a long story, trust me.” Adella cuts in, rolling her eyes.
“I had to see you.”
“I’m glad you did.” I admit.
I then begin looking her over frantically.
“What about you, are you alright? Has Mortus hurt you in any way?”
Adella shakes her head, and suddenly I can see that something might be troubling her as her expression changes to a more serious one.
‘Something’s definitely happened.’ I decide as I stand there staring deeply into her eyes.
‘The question is, will she tell me what it is?’
Adella:
My undead heart aches as I stand here staring up into Zain’s stunningly neon blue eyes.
With this horrible truth weighing on my shoulders.
‘How will I tell him?’ I wonder.
‘And what will he do when he finds out?’
There’s no way that I can tell him the whole story, with Mortus pretending to be Zain while we were intimate.
Even admitting that I’m pregnant with Mortus’ child proves that we’ve slept together, which is bound to break poor Zain’s undead heart.
‘So how can I possibly do that?’
I can’t think of how to begin, the words just disappear from my mind as soon as I stare back at him.
“Adella, are you certain that nothing’s wrong?” he asks me, taking both my hands in his and searching my eyes.
I want to tell him.
I really do, but I can’t speak the words.
“Here, come inside with me and let’s get you all warmed up by the fire, hmm?” he suggests, breaking my train of thought.
I blink several times as he begins to lead me on into the cabin.
As soon as we enter, he does as promised and leads me over towards the fireplace.
Then we both sit down on the sofa beside one another and he leans back against the sofa as I lean into him, cuddling him closely.
‘I don’t want to tell him.’
“Look, whatever it is that’s troubling you, we can talk about it, Adella. You know that you can tell me anything, right?” he offers.
I feel his warmth and never want to move from this position.
I want to remain within this moment here with him, forever.
“Adella?” he pulls me up to sit, turning me around to face him as he looks deeply into my eyes again.
“Whatever it is, you can tell me. I won’t get angry. I promise.”
I can feel my undead heart aching again as I contemplate actually telling him the truth and I find my breaths are coming out shakier than before.
It all suddenly builds up on me and then it all just comes out.
“I won’t judge-” he goes on.
“-I’m pregnant, Zain.” I cut in over him, finally speaking the words I’d been dreading saying this entire time.
He suddenly freezes, his expression seemingly stunned as he sits there just staring back at me.
Then he blinks several times.
“How?” he asks softly.
I lower my gaze as a wave of guilt washes over me, “It’s Mortus’ child.”
Zain’s eyes begin to well up as he takes everything in.
“That creep… he… got your pregnant?” Zain asks, his brows furrowed with hurt.
The waves of guilt continue to wash over me as I find it hard to meet his gaze now.
I merely nod my head in response.
Now I can feel the tears coming.
“I didn’t want to tell you about it, but I felt you deserved to know. It’s why I can’t be with you anymore.” I explain.
He lets out a deep yet shaky exhale.
“What do you mean you can’t be with me?” he questions in outrage.
“What, because of the pregnancy? You’re serious?”
I lift my eyes to meet his and frown.
“Zain, I’m carrying Mortus’ child. How would that ever work-”
“-We’ll make it work!” he insists with a suddenly desperate tone to his voice.
“We’ll find a way to make it work. I’ll care for the child as if it were my very own. Adella, I won’t lose you. I can’t!”
I’m finding it hard to swallow a lump that’s formed in my throat as my tears continue rolling down either cheek, then dripping from my chin.
He reaches out and wipes them all away.
“I love you, Adella.” he declares, catching me off guard as I look to him.
“And no matter what you say, I refuse to give up on us.”
I’m deeply moved by his words.
I can’t help myself as I suddenly lean in to kiss his lips once, gently, then pull back to search his eyes for permission.
And then what he says next stops me dead in my tracks.
“Stay with me.” he begs.
My brows furrow inwards as I contemplate doing something so risky.
“Zain, you know I can’t…” I try to remind him shaking my head.
Mortus would have a conniption!
But Zain doesn’t stop there…
He’s desperate for more time with me, as I am with him.
“Just for one night. Stay with me for one night, that’s all I’m asking.” he requests.
I swallow nervously, then turning my head and glancing towards the doorway where I know the soldiers are waiting for me to return.
He pulls my face back to look him in the eye again.
“One night, Adella. Stay here with me for one night.” he pleads.
“Please…”
And somehow looking into his eyes, I am given a new sense of bravery, perhaps due to the amount of love that I have for this vampire sitting here beside me.
I find myself seriously considering his offer now.
As if I’m not afraid of what Mortus may do when he finds out.
“I…” I trail off, unsure of what to say.
And that’s when he leans in and begins kissing me feverishly, with his hands both pressed up against either side of my face, guiding my mouth along with his in a sensually rhythmic dance.
I close my eyes and my body immediately reacts.
I move my hands up to wrap around the back of his neck, holding me in place as our kiss continues to play out passionately.
He then proceeds to manoeuvre us to lay down across the sofa, with me on the bottom and skilfully never once ceasing our kiss.
We pant between kisses, our tongues twisting together with delight.
I can feel as his right hand then move down from my face towards my side, then gripping my left hip as he straddles me, grinding up against me as he too comes undone.
‘Holy shit, Zain is good at this!’ I think to myself as he continues grinding up against me.
I’m already super aroused.
‘I can’t say no to him. I don’t want to… I want to stay here by his side.’ I decide.
And that’s when I pull apart from our kiss, looking up into his eyes as he searches mine, uncertain of what I’ll do next.
“One night.” I finally whisper to him with a soft smile.
“I’ll stay with you for one night.”
“That’s more than enough.” he proclaims with a satisfied smile.
As he then leans in to resume our kiss, I lift my hand and place my finger over his lips to stop him as my brows lift.
“Wait, there’s something I need to do first.” I explain.
He hovers over me, waiting for me to elaborate.
I smile.
“I’ll need you to get off me first.” I point out with a giggle.
“Oh, right.” he replies, then hopping off me and sitting back on the sofa.
“Sorry.”
I’m still smiling as I then climb off the sofa and move to stand.
I take out my phone given to me by Mortus and proceed to create a new text message…
’Mortus,
I’m staying with Zain for one last night. I know this will probably upset you, but it’s what I need. If you truly care about me, you’ll respect my wishes. I’ll return to the mansion tomorrow morning.
Adella’
The hitting the ‘send’ button, I look to Zain.
“Just one more thing.” I announce, then making my way back out of the cabin to go and tell the soldiers to return to the mansion.
Tonight, it’s just me and Zain.
