"Sacred?" My arched brow thickened the sarcasm.

He breathed out through his nose, closing his lips into a thin smile. "Yes, my love. You will always remember your first. If you choose not to come with me, one day you will fall in love with someone else, and you'll want to be pure-untainted-for him. If I take you now, you can never go back. I would hate for you to regret any of our interactions one day."

"David. This is the new world. It doesn't work like that now."

"That may be so, but it still works that way for me." His wide, sincere eyes looked right into mine, his voice intense with conviction. "In my society, virginity is a virtue to be praised and cherished, not something girls give away without reflection or care."

"But-"

"Ara, please? It's what I want for you." His harsh tone forced me into silence. "Sometimes you can think too much with your heart and not enough with your head. I have to be the adult here. I have to protect you from yourself-from your human nature."

"But, David, I can take care of myself. I'm a big-"

"It's my job to protect you," he scolded then softened. "Even if it means I'm falling apart."

"Fine."

"I'm sorry, Ara."

"I said it's fine." I looked to the side, tears coating my eyes.

"Come on then-" He pulled away a little, helping me to my feet, standing closer while I closed my eyes, waiting for the world to stop dancing. "You okay?"

I nodded, rolling my undies back to the correct position.

"Okay, let's get you home before you catch a cold."

"No." I threw my arms around his ribs and cupped my wrist, forming a chain of unyielding force. "We're staying a little longer today."

"Is that so? And..." He tried to lift my chin; I held fast, refusing to even look at him. He gave in. "What exactly are you going to do if I decide to force you?"

"You won't."

"Hm, you're so sure of yourself," he said, but I heard the smile in his tone, and the fact that he did nothing else except tangle his fingertips in the hair at the nape of my neck and hold me, proved I was right.

My bones turned to rubber inside my flesh, loving the closeness of skin on skin, with my vampire. And though the summer rain continued, I felt only warmth. His blood had awakened me, like a powerful drug, and mine had filled his veins-giving him life, fuelling his movements. There was no fear-no weight to the truth right now that, one day, he'd be gone, and my arms would fall empty to my sides-the feel of his embrace gone, his body gone, his smile just a memory fading, and his lips, never more a kiss that belonged to me.

But I owned it now.

I smiled into his skin.

Despite everything that waited, despite everything I knew would happen, it felt like I could exist eternally, living forever in this one breath of closeness with my everlasting knight. For today, there was no tomorrow.

Chapter Twenty-Four.

"Ara-Rose?" Vicki called from downstairs.

"Yeah?" I answered quickly so she wouldn't come up and spot my vampire pillow.

"Emily's on the phone," she said.

"Ergh! Why'd she call the home line?" I said to myself. "I have a mobile."

"She was probably hoping your dad would answer," David said, his voice a gentle hum against my ear through his bare chest.

"If that's the case, she needs therapy."

"Good, then you could go together."

I slapped his arm; he pretended to be hurt, rolling up a little.

"Ara-Rose! Now!"

"Coming," I called to Vicki.

David grabbed my hand as I fell away from his arms. "Don't go? Emily can call back later."

"No-I'm up now. I won't be long, okay?"

He groaned, then rolled over, snuggling into the pillow where my body had just been. "Be quick. It's cold here without you."

"I will."

Since David closed my curtains when he came through my window earlier, I didn't notice the grey day until I stepped into the fresh, cool air of the hallway. The windows all around the house were open, same as every weekend, and the soft lemon scent of Vicki's bathroom cleaner mixed with the moist weight of freshly cut grass, drying the back of my throat as I drew a deep breath. I tucked my hands under my arms, wishing I'd put on a sweater to come down. "Morning, Dad."

He smiled over his newspaper. "Morning, honey."

"Any good news?" I hurried past him to the phone on the wall.

"You know what I always say," he moaned, lowering his nose into the paper again.

"Yes, I do. No need to say it, Dad." I took the phone from Vicki. "Hey, Em."

"Hey, Ara. What are you two doing today?"

By 'you two', I assumed she was referring to David and I. "Lazing around. Why?"

"Everyone's going bowling tonight. You guys wanna come?"

"Um-" Bowling versus bed with David. I leaned against the wall. "Maybe. What time?"

"About six."

"Oh, okay, well, yeah. I'd say we will, but I'll have to check with David."

"Okay. When will you see him?"

"When I hang up the phone." I grinned, watching Vicki. She had no clue what I was talking about, thank God.

"Oh my gosh, Ara. You rebel. Did he stay last night?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. Just...early," I hinted, hoping she'd catch my drift-and couldn't help smiling suggestively.

"Oh. Okay. So, like, sneak through the window sort of thing?"

"You got it." I giggled; Vicki looked at me with a raised brow. "So, six then?"

"Yep."

"Okay, see you then."

"See ya."

The phone clinked, and suddenly I was back in the kitchen with my parents.

"What did Emily want?" Vicki asked.

"They're going bowling tonight."

"Are you and David going?"

"Yeah, so far. I'll have to check if he wants to-but I'd say we probably will." I shrugged.

"What time is David coming over today?"

He's already here. "Don't know. But I'm going to get some more sleep before he does."

"Sleep? It's nine in the morning, Ara," Vicki stated.

"So?" I shrugged. "I'm a teenager. Aren't we supposed to hibernate?"

The only other sound Vicki made as I walked away was a loud sigh. What could she say, really? This is what she wanted; a normal teenage girl.

The soft strumming of guitar filled the hallway with an easygoing air as I stomped back up to my room. When I pushed my door open, expecting to see the outline of a vampire, my smile dropped as the bright yellow light of morning shone through my open curtains-onto my empty bed. My eyes darted quickly to the iPod, in its dock, with a song playing at a volume my dad would approve of. And as I watched the rain spatter on the glass of my window, blurring my vision of the outside world, I listened to the words, gathering that my vampire meant them as a musical sticky-note saying, My love, I shall return soon.

Not that that's what the words were, but that's how David would say it.

With the absence of an all-hearing vampire in my room, I took a moment to be human, then jumped into the welcoming, enveloping heat of the shower, washed my hair quickly and jumped out, wrapping the towel around my chest and tucking it under my arm.

As I stepped back into my room, a sudden breeze swept through my window and knocked all the papers off my desk. "Damn it, David," I said to myself, squatting down to pick them up. I was sure that was closed a second ago.

"It was. I opened it."

"Agh! David!" My heart splattered in my chest; I looked up from my precarious squat on the ground to the vampire perched on the windowsill like a pterodactyl. "You scared the living bejeezus out of me."

"Sorry."

"What were you doing out there?" I stood up, tapping the edges to force them into a neat stack. "You ruined my homework pile. Now I have to reorder these before I hand them in to Dad tomorrow."

"I'll do it for you." He shrugged, obviously in no hurry to remove himself from the path of the whipping breeze.

"Why are you just sitting there?" I looked at him suspiciously. "Are you hiding something?"

He shook his head, one of his eyes narrowing slightly into his smile as he looked over my wet, towel-covered body. "I'm just admiring the view."

"You better mean the stunning panoramic view of the hills and my backyard, David Knight." I dumped my disordered papers on my desk and took a step back.

"Nope. I meant my beautiful, almost-naked girlfriend." He jumped down from the ledge, slowly pushing the window closed behind him. "So-bowling?"

"That's the plan," I said, inhaling the fresh cologne wafting off this suave boy as he stepped in front of me, hair all wet and brushed back, for once, showing his forehead. He looked more like a man today in that black hoodie and grey V-neck shirt than he ever had before. It almost made me sad that he'd never grow older than nineteen. "So, do you actually want to go bowling?"

"As long as I'm with you, I will do anything." He smiled down at me, his eyes becoming small with warmth. "But you shouldn't stand in front of me like this, my love. You make me think inappropriate things."

"Oh. Sorry. So-" I took a wide step back, "-are you any good at bowling?"

"You forget-" he used a louder voice to call out as I disappeared into my wardrobe, "-I lived through the fifties. Bowling was huge then."

"Doesn't mean you're any good at it," I stated, slipping my emerald-green sweater over my head.

"True. It's more like I have to try to be bad. I'm a little too precise. I've also been known to break a pin or two."

I turned around, buttoning my jeans, and met cheek-to-chest with the rain-dotted fabric of David's jacket. "Hey! How did you even know I was finished getting dressed in here? I could've been naked."

He tapped his temple, grinning.

Hmpf! "Is there any point in me even dressing in a different room-with you and your mind-reading invading my privacy?"

"Etiquette?" He shrugged. Then, as his eyes traced over the low, rounded neckline of my sweater, his finger copied. "I like this."

I closed my eyes. "I like you touching me like that."

"So-" His finger came away, a sudden tone of urgency making my eyes open. "Are you up for a little outing today?"

"I can't. I have a few notes and references to finish on my paper."

"Which paper?" He followed me out of the wardrobe.

"The mythology one-on vampires," I teased.

"The subject I told you not to do?"