My eyes widened in awe at the countless shelves that lined the walls, holding thousands of books, and the best part of all, most of the books looked to be hardcover. There was a ladder leaned against one of the furthest walls to allow access to even the highest shelves of the library, and it made me happy to realize I was still young enough to want to climb the ladder just for the fun of it.

The floors were cherry oak hardwood, the one visible wall that had the crackling fireplace in it was a warm mocha colour, and the lighting was a bit dim, the type of lighting you would expect from an assortment of candles and not electricity. At the far end of the library there was a large table with six big chairs all around it, looking excellent to do homework on. A few armchairs pressed near the windows, but my favourite were the large pillows in front of the fireplace. The library had the smell of old paper and warm vanilla, which combined was enough to lure any bookworm to follow you into even the creepiest of places.

I walked further in, unable to contain my grin. I trailed my fingers along the spines of the books, making note of some titles as I made my way past a few shelves. The slight doubt that I had that Alaricus was the type to read only non-fiction was quelled as I caught sight of some of my favourite fiction novels. Due to his age I had taken him for one of those that would only like classics, but he had the works of many fairly new authors as well. Although I did love the classics, I also enjoyed reading books written by current authors, they were so much easier to understand and relate to.

Overwhelmed by the amount of choices, I soon gave up on choosing a book to read for now, and instead made my way to one of the armchairs. It was raining outside, and I couldn't resist the temptation to watch the rain. The beige armchair I sat down in was so soft I completely sank into it. It felt as though I had fallen to the ground and I got up giggling to myself, forgetting where I was I spun around a giddy feeling overcoming my senses.

I was in love with this library, it reminded me so of my own home. My dad would have loved this, but he wasn't here, and just like that was I broken out of my ignorant trance remembering where I was, in whom's presence I stood.

I looked up embarrassed by my childish behavior and saw Alaricus staring at me, adoration clear in his eyes. He seemed to be in a trance. I cleared my throat awkwardly, and he blinked deliberately, a slow grin forming on his face.

Maybe it was the library, or maybe I was grateful to him for sharing this little piece of heaven with me, but I grinned back.

Alaricus had shown me a couple of his favourite books, explaining the order in which the books were stacked, and for a few hours we simply sat there in opposite corners of the room reading our choice of novel. At times I could feel his gaze on my face but I refused to meet his eyes. We had bonded too much, he had gotten too close, too comfortable, it was wrong I couldn't let it happen. The more I let him get to know me, the more overpowering the bond would become for him, then he would never let me go.

It had been hours since the faint light from the windows had faded, my eyelids were almost falling shut but I refused to give in to the need to sleep. I wanted to finish the book. I heard a slight rustling in the library but I ignored it too immersed in the amazing classic by Charlotte Bronte.

"Amara." Called out his deep voice, and I looked up slightly startled to see him crouched in front of where I sat leaning in towards me. I let out a soft hum in question only now realizing how tired I was.

"Darling it's late, we should go to bed." He said and I nodded in response. He held out a hand to me that I pretended not to see in pretense of fiddling with my cardigan, but it was useless I was so tired and bleary eyed from reading in the dark I could barely walk. An hour into reading I had turned off the lights, relying on the moonlight to read since the light was beginning to give me a headache, and since Alaricus was sitting near the fireplace, he too had not protested. I stumbled forward about to trip over the edge of the chair, but Alaricus caught me in his arms, pulling me close so that I was pressed close to his warm chest. I was so tired and so cold, and he was so large and so warm that I forgot where I was and who I was with. I allowed myself to stay there, nestled into his chest.

He let out a soft hum in approval knocking me out of my reverie and I slowly pulled myself out of his arms, opting to hold his arm instead. There was absolutely no way I could walk on my own, my legs had turned into jelly.

"Would you like to take the book with you?" He asked.

"Yeah I'll finish it in the morning. I don't want to rush through the ending." I replied.

"I too love that book." Alaricus mumbled and even without looking at him I just knew he was smiling. He liked that we were similar in some ways, I suppose it proved to him we really were mates despite all the obvious differences between us. I pressed my lips together choosing not to reply.

"You can come back here to finish it, you looked very comfortable near the window, come here anytime you would like. Think of it as an extension to your own room." He said.

"I might just." I mumbled, covering my mouth with my hand as I yawned tiredly.

"Lets get you to bed beautiful." Alaricus muttered softly, my eyes flew to meet his, my cheeks colouring at his words. There was no way that I looked beautiful, I hadn't washed my face since morning and whenever I got tired my eyes would close halfway, the skin under my eyes darkening.

I peeked up at him from the corner of my eye to see he had a small warm smile on his face and in the moonlight I couldn't help but notice how handsome he looked. The light seemed to highlight how high his cheekbones were, and even though moonlight made everyone look a bit pale, his skin still looked so warmly tan I felt tempted to reach out to touch his cheek and see if it was actually how warm it looked to be. It was frustrating that I couldn't, so before I did something stupid I looked away from him, staring at his feet instead.

He steered me out of the library and through the dimly lit halls, careful not to let me walk into anything since I was a bit too tired to care about where I was stepping. As we reached my room Alaricus let me walk in before him, mumbling a quiet goodbye before leaving, closing the door behind him silently.

As soon as he was gone I clumsily stripped out of my clothing, throwing it onto one of the chairs messily and stumbling into my bed in only my underwear. I slipped under the heavy covers, nuzzling into them, and as soon as I found a comfortable position I was out like a light.