Only Exception

I stayed with him through the night despite being stuck in the forest. I had found a quiet stream nearby for use to wash his wounds and keep him from burning up. I could slightly feel a fever upon him when the rest of him was cold.

As I was dabbing my handkerchief upon his forehead I could see his eyes flutter and then slowly blink open. Removing my hand, I waited for him to wake up. Biting my lip I was nervous as to what would happen.

Once his eyes opened and adjusted to the sun he easily found me. I could see that his eyes were a warm, chocolate brown. Inside them I could see vulnerability and a bit of fear. “Are you okay, sir?” I asked.

“I’ve been better,” he said sending me a lopsided smile. His body was smudged by dirt and I could only imagine bruises. His eyes roamed the clearing, him seeming almost casual by his nakedness. “Have you been here the whole night?” he asked curiously. His eyes found mine again and I was suddenly aware of how handsome he was.

“Yes, sir,” I said swallowing the lump in my throat. “I had accidently stumbled upon…” My voice trailed off as I realized I didn’t know what to call it. I nervously bit my lip again. The man didn’t seem upset about it at all though. Instead he simply disarmingly smiled.

“Thank you for helping me, madam. But you shouldn’t be here, in the woods. Or with a man unsupervised.” Immediately I could feel myself blush red.

“Yes, well…I’m not really one for following rules,” I admitted. His smile turned to one of amusement as he looked at me. Once he didn’t say anything I awkwardly shifted my gaze to the ground. “My name’s Victoria,” I said looking up at him through my eyelashes.

“You can call me Klaus,” he said. “It has been a pleasure meeting you, Victoria. You are quite a compassionate girl.”

“I had said I would help you and I would like to believe that I have,” I said.

“My dear girl, you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into,” said Klaus with a smile, slightly sinister.

“What do you mean?” I asked. In the blink of an eye Klaus was suddenly standing in front of me and holding out his hand, ready for me to take it. My eyes grew wide with wonder and slight fear. Hesitantly I took his hand and he helped me stand up. I knew my skirts were probably soiled but I did not want to look away from him to assess the damage.

“I just need one more thing from you,” said Klaus once I was standing. I could feel my heart beating quite quickly.

“What’s that?” I asked feeling like I would not like the answer to that question.

“Your blood,” he said and I could tell he was just waiting for me to become scared and run.

“You’re a vampire,” I stated. It wasn’t a question but Klaus still answered.

“Yes, I am. And I am quite thirsty. What you saw, took a lot out of me.” His face still held the hope that I would run.

“You want my blood?” I asked. My mouth felt completely dry.

“Indeed, darling.” His eyes, filled with hunger traveled to my throat. Slowly and almost like I was in a trance I moved the hair away from my neck exposing the soft, paleness of my skin.

“You can take what will help you,” I said tilting my head. A confused look passed over his face. He seemed to consider something for a moment before grabbing my shoulders and roughly pulling me towards him.

I wasn’t ready for the rapid movement and I tripped. I fell into his chest, his hands the only the only thing keeping me from falling. As I stared up into his face I felt my heartbeat jump. It moved into a rapid pace.

“About time you felt fear,” he said pleased. But he was wrong. My heart wasn’t racing with fear. I could feel the fear in me but overriding the instinct was a strong sense of desire.

Bending his head down towards me he kissed my throat once. It was a slow passionate kiss that left me feeling breathless. Then the next thing I felt was a slight sting at my throat. On instinct I tried to pull away from him.

He held me easily though and the pain only increased. Closing my eyes to try and block out the pain I made myself relax into him. As I did so the pain lessened and became more pleasurable. Quickly I lost myself in a dream like state that I wasn’t sure was consciousness or not.