Her senses got heightened as her eyelids closed on their own accord, leaving her defenceless in his arms. She felt his cold breath fanning her face as the distance between their lips decreased inch by inch. His hands gripped her arms strongly, as if he were afraid she would disappear from his sight. His strong masculine scent wafting into her nose, was getting harder and harder to ignore. She couldn't pinpoint it. But she sensed traces of rain in it. Petrichor. The fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek Mythology. She wanted him to fill her with it too.

He pulled her out of her trance by releasing her with a sudden jerk, moving away from her with lightning speed. She still hadn't got used to his supernatural ways. She stood there breathing heavily, eyes wide. 'What is happening? Did I do something wrong?' She pressed her lips together.

Looking up, she found him leaning against a wall staring blankly at her. 'How can he be so unaffected? Here I can't even keep my breathing in check.'

"Ares." She called his name after calming her racing heart.

"Lord Ares." A feeling of Déjà Vu washed over her.

"You're not my Lord, ." She put a little more emphasis on his name this time.

"Descendants bow down to their ancestors' Lord too." He replied with a stoic face.

Confusion was clearly written on her face, "What do you mean?"

"Poor little girl, ignorant to her own pedigree." He smirked slightly, crossing his arms in front of him.

What does he know about her lineage? Does he know something about her mother? She remembered he called her 'Daughter of the Abbot' in her dream.

She frowned at him, "State clearly whatever you're trying to imply there. Don't talk in riddles, ." She made sure to state the last word in a mocking tone.

He tilted his head, observing her with his scrutinizing gaze. "Do you think you're in a position to command me?"

"Are you going to tell me or not?" She gritted her teeth. He was testing her patience.

"No." His monosyllabic reply infuriated her.

"Don't start something if you have no intention of finishing it."

Her reply amused him. He took slow calculated steps towards her. She stood in her place, trying to match his heated gaze. "Is that disappointment I heard in your tone, Faith?"

A blush spread across her cheeks after realising the mistake she had made. To save herself from further embarrassment, she tried changing the subject quickly, "Why are you even here?"

His hand sneaked up her neck, spreading tingles in its path. He tangled it in her hair, tugging them gently. "I'm here because my beloved couldn't stop thinking about her Vampire Lord. Forcing me, through our bond, to severe the distance between us." He caressed her lower lip with the pad of his thumb.

"I didn-" He cut her midsentence, placing his index finger on her lips.

"Shhh. Don't." He placed his forhead against hers. "Have you already forgotten that I can read your mind?"

He was close. Too close for her liking. His proximity was doing things to her. She had so many questions about these newfound feelings roaring inside of her. She needed answers. Now.

Being stubborn was getting her nowhere. She had to approach him in a different way. She had to be real with him.

Looking at him carefully, she took a step back, gingerly placing her hands on both of his cheeks. She grasped his face gently. "Why do I feel this way? What is the meaning of this bond? What is beloved?" She was firing questions after questions at him, revealing everything before him that was bothering her. She looked straight in his eyes. Her own eyes mirroring her desperation.

"I'm scared. I'm scared of all these things I've recently discovered. I'm scared of this new world I've accidentally unleashed. I'm scared because I can't even tell anyone about it. No one would believe me. No one. Except for you," She paused for a second.

"And this is what that scares me the most. I'm starting to trust you. A man I met less than 2 weeks ago yet it feels like he'd been with me all my life. A vampire who claims me to be his beloved. A mystical creature who gives me a feeling of being home whenever he's near. I'm scared of you, Ares. I'm scared of falling for you."

The water pooling in her eyes overflowed as tears, trickling down her cheeks. She had allowed him in, letting him see how vulnerable she had been for the past few weeks. It felt good to finally let it out.

She kept staring at him, waiting for answers. But what came next, shocked her to the core.

He crashed his mouth to hers, sucking the air out of her lungs. He kissed her fervently. Giving attention to her upper lip and then taking the plump bottom one between his teeth. He pulled at it with a little tug igniting a fire inside her. His kisses became urgent as he became a bit forceful, seeking entrance. Her lips parted subconsciously, allowing him to enter his tongue inside her mouth. He gripped her waist tightly, bringing her closer. Her heaving breasts dangerously close to his firm pectorals.

She remained still as his tongue explored the inside of her mouth. He continued his sweet torture while her mind was raising red flags at her. Is he trying to reassure me? Or is this his way of escaping the questions?

His lips froze on top of hers. His grip on her waist loosened as he backed away slowly, without making eye contact with her. He was looking down with an unreadable expression on his face. She had wanted him to stop because she wasn't sure about his intentions. This is what she had wanted. Then why was she feeling so disappointed?

'He didn't like it? Why did he s-' she stopped thinking. Her eyes widened, 'He read my thoughts.'

Midnight hair hung over his forehead, covering his right eye like a silk curtain. His left eye rose up slowly to allow her a glimpse of it. She gasped. It was no longer the beautiful emerald she had gotten used to. It was a deep crimson, gleaming ominously in the dark.

His lips matched the colour of his eyes, swollen due to the intimate act shared between them a moment ago. They parted as his resonant voice echoed in her small apartment.

"This is my way of loving the daughter of a traitor."

Before the weight of the words could be settled inside her, he was gone. She blinked her eyes. He left? Was he even there in the first place? She raised a hand to touch the place where his lips had been. Those tingling lips were a sign of his lingering presence.

She curled her fingers into a fist. Instead of answering her previous questions, he left her even more confused than before.

"Ares!" She shouted his name, hoping he'd come back somehow. But only silence answered her.