Chapter 9

Rapidly scribbling down the order, her gaze quickly returned to the customer.

"Would that be all, miss?" She smiled at the nice young lady, receiving only a nod before she turned to go and take another one's order.

"What can I get you..." The words died out within her throat, immediately freezing when her eyes meet those dark brown ones, so intensely gazing right back into her own.

What the...

"Miss? Miss? Are you okay miss?" The unfamiliar voice lastly reached her ears, blinking a few times before her gaze fell upon the unknown male sitting at the table and rather worriedly looking up at her.

Lightly shaking her head, she forced herself to come back to her senses and quickly gave the random customer a nice smile.

"Y-yes I am sorry, what can I get for you sir?"

"Just a cup of black coffee, please,"

She only nodded and then practically ran to the bar like a crazed person before shoving a capsule into the coffee machine and then pressing start, all the while Dan closely watched her with a worried frown.

"You okay hun?"

She quickly nodded, not even sparing him a single glance as she placed a cup into the designated space and waited for the machine to start pouring.

"You got the wrong capsule there honey," He informed her, right before she noticed that the milky white foam was starting to gather at the top, some of it even spilling over as the cup was too small to contain it all.

"Shit!" She cursed under her breath and quickly pressed the stop button, hurrying to take the overflowing cup away and place another clean one before putting in the correct capsule this time.

"You sure? You seem a little off today," The male told her as he pressed the start button since she had obviously forgotten even how to properly use that, the girl letting out a long and tired sigh.

"Yeah I'm just..." She lightly shook her head, lowering her gaze to the tiled floor. She could not even understand what was going on with her and why she couldn't even focus on the simplest tasks anymore.

What was happening? Why the sudden change?

Ever since that man had started gracing them with his presence and practically ruined her once peaceful breakfasts with miss Nancy, she wasn't even herself anymore. At first, she would wake up all cranky and frustrated, knowing that she would have to endure yet another quiet and awkward morning. Then, the little accidents followed. She would spill things, knock stuff over and even trip over her own feet.

And now I'm seeing his face over a random stranger's...

Good god.

She blew out yet another long and tired breath, deciding to just let it go for now and focus her mind on some other, more important things than Mr. King's annoyingly handsome face and those beautifully tattooed red roses of his that she'd been admiring ever since she'd firstly laid eyes upon them.

She suddenly remembered that she'd been dying to start fixing that beautiful greenhouse, and an amazing idea popped into her mind.

"Hey Dan, would you want to swing by this weekend and help me out? They have this amazing greenhouse but it's in a very bad shape and I would like to fix it. I'm sure miss Nancy won't mind," She told him with a small smile, hopefully peering up into his adorable baby blue eyes.

"Yeah sure babe. I'd love to do me some manly activities," He wiggled his eyebrows, grinning as he raised his thin arm and flexed his tiny bicep, the girl barely seeing it move, despite the fact that he was actually wearing a t-shirt.

She let out an amused laugh, lightly shaking her head at his goofiness.

"Yeah, okay. I'll let miss Nancy know..."

.•**•.

She got out of the car and practically ran all the way inside and to her room since she had gotten there so damn late after helping Dan sort out the new stock of frozen deserts they had received today at the coffee shop, throwing away her jacket, boots and purse, not even bothering to change her clothes first as she ran to the cleaning supplies closet and took everything she needed before running to the living room.

She had to clean up that damn piano and she had to do it fast. She didn't need yet another awkward encounter with the master of this house. Once per day was more than enough.

Placing everything on the floor, she went all over the place and started to scrub and clean like a madwoman hyped up after a dozen of energy drinks, not even realizing when she'd moved around an ended up cleaning the entire room as she'd been so lost into her own thoughts about a certain tattooed male that scared her to no end but also intrigued the living hell out of her.

Why the sudden change? What made him finally come out of his lair?

And most of all, why was he affecting her in such ways? What was going on with her?

What is going on with me?

She wondered as she eventually took a seat on the couch to rest for a little bit since was already feeling so tired...

So tired that she felt the compelling need to close her tired eyes for a little bit...

"Just for a little bit..."

.•**•.

Few hours passed, the mansion's gravely silence suddenly disturbed by a set of heavy footsteps descending the marble staircase, slowly approaching...

And the moment they halted within the living room, dark brown eyes fell upon the silhouette of a graceful and beautiful girl nestled between the couch's plushy cushions. His newest guest. The amazing-smelling human.

Stepping closer, he dared admire her delicate features as she slept so peacefully even in such an uncomfortable and cramped up space, her long and dark lashes resting atop her cheekbones as her luscious and pouty lips remained ever so slightly parted, the soft light coming from a floor lamp nearby giving her skin such a warm glow.

He immediately started to feel his fangs descend. He'd been itching to trap her in between his arms and finally taste that sweet nectar that flowed inside that pulsing vein on her neck.

Soon... he whispered to himself with a wicked smile. He'd planned to play with her for a while. Just so that he could discover what it was exactly that it did to that wretched creature that had his soul in a deadly grip. How it affected him. It was only fair after all. After he had so callously threatened to hurt his Addy's precious soul. This puny little creature only had to fall prey to his special charms first. And it will all work out seamlessly from then on.

Slowly pulling himself back from that lustful haze, he peered at the human's peacefully resting form again, realizing that he could not leave her like that to sleep for an entire night over that tiny couch. The frail being did not deserve such punishment. He had other types in mind but not for now.

And slowly and careful not to wake the sleeping beauty, he gathered her into his arms. That mouth-watering scent of hers suddenly hitting him with the intensity of a tall wave. It made his fangs quickly descend again. He could even feel his eyes change to that blood-red colour.

Fuck.

It was strong. This was the very first time he was actually touching her and the scent of her blood was so fucking strong it almost made him weak in the knees. Even his throat hurt. But he forced himself to remain calm, standing frozen for a moment.

She was definitely going to be a problem during the Blood Moon. Which could only mean that he needed to hurry if he wanted to discover anything at all about the demon's weakness.

The human's soft sigh suddenly reached his ears, casually drawing his attention.

Such a peculiar being indeed, he mused upon taking notice of the feel of that small palm gently touching the middle of his shirt-clad chest, her cheek pressed against his pectoral as she slept as if she were being held by a loving parent, and not a vile and dangerous monster as himself. He wanted to chuckle at the thought.

He carried her all the way upstairs and down the corridor, to her given bedroom, using his vampiric speed.

She thankfully remained unconscious, not moving a single muscle.

The door was slightly ajar, so he pushed it open with a mild nudge of his shoe and entered, going straight for the bed.

He then placed her gently over the bed, wasting but a moment to peer down at her unsuspecting and vulnerable form.

He smirked, entirely delighted by what he was about to do next. Mark her with his pheromones. He knew that that would only speed the process of making him completely irresistible to her.

So he climbed on top of her with the grace of a panther, his eyes already glinting blood red at the feel of her sweet scent hitting him so hard. He wanted to taste her, but he would settle only for her skin. For now.

Let the games begin, my little shiny toy.