Heartbeat [Alec Volturi]

Reverence

It was my turn to stare at him.

He had flipped the pages of the book in his hands several times already, his eyes running over the lines at an exaggeratedly human pace. His eyes never left it, but there was the tiniest hint of a self-satisfied smirk resting on his lips.

The tickle of the sea salt in my nose and the breeze off the ocean was almost strong enough to distract Alec from my scent. Or so he claimed. We'd made a mutual decision not to go back downstairs until everything calmed down. It was quiet and the sun was hiding behind the clouds, so after I re-wrapped my hand, ignoring the guilty, puppy dog look on Alec as I did, we ended up on the balcony off of the guest room.

I'd quickly abandoned my own version of a book - the journal, opting instead to lean against the railing and look out across the water. I'd missed being able to exist outside. But the ocean hardly held my attention much longer as it eventually drifted to the smug vampire behind me, and now I couldn't look anywhere else.

I sighed dramatically as he wove a hand through his hair, combing through silky locks with the artful shine of an obsidian rock. Locks just thick enough to wrap around a finger before falling back to caress the nape of his neck. It was more tousled than he usually wore it and I attributed this to his half rumble in the woods. Though I was more curious as to why he hadn't bothered to fix it, because he'd changed clothing and might as well have adjusted the strands out of place on his head. Instead, he'd left them alone and I quite preferred it, if I was being honest.

Alec peeked up at me, and the corner of his lips turned up into a total shit-eating grin as he leaned back in his chair.

"See something you like?"

I dismissed his statement, rolling my eyes at the shamelessness he exhibited and finally looking away. Though a part of his response pleased me, as it was a break from his stoic persona. He chuckled, the sound setting fire to my nerves and surely notifying my heart of his behaviour. His arrogance had always been infuriating, only now I was able to pick out the emotion that spread just as passionately as the annoyance did: a rapturous, frenzied fervour. The acknowledgement only made me glare harder into the horizon.

In a honeyed voice, he pressed on, "is that a yes, tesoro?" [darling]

I huffed, turning my back on him completely. "Not a chance."

I sensed him before he touched me. A tender hold appearing on either side of my waist as his arms overlapped to encompass my midsection. I leaned into the safety of his embrace as he pulled me closer, not willing to forgo this feeling for the half-hearted anger. His chest joined the rise and fall of my own, synchronizing the pace even if he wasn't truly breathing. The light pressure of his chin on my shoulder came next and he nuzzled the bridge of his nose into the crook of my neck. His lips brushed over the skin behind my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. I could feel the prideful laughter reverberate in his chest.

It was still new, the open and bashful desire to feel the skin, the presence of each other. Something we were stalling to admit, still too timid to say it aloud, but now all too willing to engage in the behaviours. Without the full discussion.

I turned in his arms, finding his face only inches from mine. And though I knew he was behind me, I didn't expect us to be quite so close. My heart trembled — or was it my knees that were losing their balance in anticipation of what was to come. As if he knew, he moved closer to me. His chest pressed to mine and he placed his hand on my back, supporting my body on the balcony's railing and protecting me from the metal.

Those same, oh so familiar butterflies were fluttering at a pace that nearly made me nauseous. And yet, it was intoxicating. His eyes searched mine before dropping to my lips. I wet them as if second nature, struggling to employ the patience he seemed to have mastered. I missed the smoothness of his lips, the taste of his tongue, and the claim he had on me every time we touched. I craved the spark, the connection, the completeness that came with it.