| �What?� she looked at him eagerly. He laughed. �This is something that I want you to wear always so that no matter where you go, I�m always with you and you�re always with me.� He opened the box to reveal a pair of silver rings. She gasped. �They�re exquisite.� She breathed. �Here.� He took her hand and placed one of the rings on her index finger. �Thank you so much.� She hugged him. �Now tell me, what is making you sick?� �I told you nothing.� �Are you sure?� he looked at her worriedly. �I�m fine. Nothing you holding me could cure.� �That I�m willing to do anytime.� He curled up next to her and held her. They held each other and talked until nearly dawn. �You know what, Tristan?� �What is it?� He didn�t get a response. He looked at her and found her slumped against her. He tried waking her up but found he couldn�t. He panicked and began yelling. Her eyes opened. �I�m sorry darling. I guess I fainted for a moment. I�m just so weak.� �You haven�t had blood in a while, is that it?� �I couldn�t bring myself to bite you and I was too weak to hunt.� �Do it now.� He brought his neck to her lips. �No! I could kill you this time.� She pushed him away. �I don�t care. I don�t want to see you sick.� He forced his neck against her lips again. She could smell his blood. She could almost taste it. His sweet blood. She wanted it. Needed it. But she refused to hurt him. �NO!!� she screamed and pushed him away with all her strength. As a vampire, she was stronger than he was even when she�s ill. He flew across the room and hit his head against the wall. He slumped to the floor, unconscious. Diana gasped and ran to him. His head bled a little and his breathing was shallow. �I didn�t want to hurt him. It was an accident. If I hadn�t pushed him, I would have succumbed to my hunger and killed him.� She babbled to no one. Even now she fought her urges as she smelled the enthralling scent of his blood. One beam of sunlight fell into the room, feet away from her. She knew what she had to do. She walked to the window and threw open the curtains, letting the sunlight spill into the room. The light knocked her out completely and crumpled to the floor in a heap. |