Close Proximity

Charlotte was beginning to feel weak with all the blood that was drained out of her body, but she tried to keep herself awake and alert by pinching herself and letting the pain be her guide so that Vincent couldn't keep on taking the lead since despite her putting her body on the line, she was actually quite comfortable in his lap.

She and Vincent had an interesting dynamic because she couldn't tell if they had sexual tension running between them, but when there was, it was so thick that it was choking her breath.

There were many thoughts that ran along the same lines that they were both stressed and in close proximity to one another which would cause them to lean on one another more often than not.

If they were out in the real world, would they have even crossed paths if she didn't like to walk on the streets of the outer ring? It was only luck that she encountered the vampire that went berserk for no reason. It felt so long ago that she forgot a lot of the details from the first encounter she had with Vincent and the other vampires.

The vampire that went on a rampage and attacked the woman long ago could have been ailed with the same illness that the young vampires had. But she didn't know if that was the truth considering it was only a passing thought. However, Vincent's job was to hunt down people like that so she wasn't too sure.

There were many unanswered questions that she had, and she knew that Vincent was working hard to uncover them. Whenever they were stuck together, it always felt as though they were stuck on the brink of death every single time.

She still had so much to discover about the new world around her, and she knew that having Vincent by her side was the key to doing so.

Vincent retracted his teeth away from her neck, and Charlotte scrubbed a hand down her face tiredly. His eyes were getting back to normal until it flashed golden again. She pressed the back of her hand to his cheek which was flushed back with more color or rather as much color as his washed-out face could get.

"Charlotte," he whispered.

His voice came out hoarse, and Charlotte smiled up at him. "I'm here. How are you feeling?"

He grimaced and touched his stomach where the wound had been stitched closed by the vampire's powerful healing abilities. Despite it closing up quickly, it seemed that it was still painful for the moment, and Charlotte was careful to not hit the spot where it was considerably more tender than the rest of his wounds.

"Did you manage to kill the vigilante who hurt you? How did you get out of the building in that condition? You should have laid low somewhere closer and not put so much stress on your body. Were you able to get more information about the vigilantes or was it only bait for them to crash a vampire safehouse?"

She shook his body when he didn't answer any of her peppered questions that she was raining down in worry. "Can you hear me?"

Vincent nodded jerkily as if he were drunk and leaned his forehead on his shoulder. "I'm so tired, angel."

She smiled up at him. "That's the first thing you say?"

He leaned in and licked the spot where he bit her to close the wound that he made eliciting pleasurable shivers down her spine. "How have you been, angel?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes and was startled by the hard manhood pushing into her that she had been ignoring, but now that he was rolling his hips up, she pushed against his shoulders. "I should be the one asking you that."

"You already ask too many questions."

Vincent nipped the bottom of her jaw, and she sighed. "We have company, Vincent."

"And that's our cue to leave before it's too late," Stone muttered. "You're coming with me little one."

Lucia was scooting herself as far away as she can from Stone with displeasure since she knew that she was clearly unable to leave, and it would be futile to even try once more. Charlotte nodded to her to let her know that she was fine when Lucia sent her a look to check in without she was doing.

Stone slid a glare over at Lucia since she wasn't up and moving out of the room yet to give her and Vincent some space. "If you want to die, stay right there and be my guest. Vincent will take out anyone in the room who's not Charlotte to take her."

She got up to her feet and ignored his words before inclining her head over to Charlotte. "I'll be back, and I want to see you in one piece, Charlotte. I didn't join only to see you die."