A Vampire's Life Book 6

Chapter 12

Zane was moving a barrow full of green waste when he saw Ariella under a tree with the most beautiful pink flowers he had ever seen. She sat on the grass, her legs to one side, looking down at the ground like she was talking to someone. Her hair cascaded down her back, long waves of lustrous brown hair over soft pink skin. The lacy dress was beautiful, soft and floaty around her frame. One sleeve had fallen off her shoulder, revealing the curve of flawless skin. His mind raced back to yesterday, their swim in the lake and to her wet underwear. Ariella was a glorious creature, stunning in beauty, a sharp mind and a wicked sense of humour. Though today it looked like any humour she might have had was gone. Zane thought she looked sad. Curiosity struck him, wanting to know why. He quickly looked around for the keeper and found he wasn't around. It was late in the afternoon; the keeper had obviously started on his liquid dinner early. The afternoon was hot, unbearably hot. In the distance the clouds were black, moving to the property fast. He had never seen storms like these, the storms here were harsh and a little scary.

'What kind of tree is this?'

She looked up at him, again shirtless, she wondered if he actually owned any.

'Cherry blossom. I'd like to be alone thanks.'

Zane wasn't prepared to give up on her that easily.

'Did you plant it?'

'No, my grandfather did.'

'I haven't seen him around; does he live here?'

'Doesn't give up, does he pops?' she mutters quietly.

She gets up from the ground, the branches hanging low around them.

'You do realise that for my father to be king, it means that the predecessors are no longer in existence, right?'

'I thought your kind lived forever.'

'Not when there's rogues around.'

Zane knew he had upset her, as she moved around him to leave, he grabbed her by the arm.

'Ariella, I'm sorry, I didn't realise, I shouldn't have been so pushy.'

'You weren't to know.'

He pushed her to the tree as the lightning cracked to the ground nearby, the sky darkened to a heavy purple. The wind was heavy, bellowing past them as the tree heaved with the force. The little pink flowers started to fall around them, swirling with the wind. The barrow was tipped over, the clippings getting caught in the strong wind.

'You can't be out in the storm, if you get struck by lightning you could be dead.'

He shrugged as he moved closer to her, his lips hovered over hers, his eyes stared into hers. She felt unknown emotions building inside her. She had fed and wasn't hungry, this was something other than hunger, it was more than the lust that she had felt for him. The thunder rumbled so loud it felt like the ground shook. Ariella took his hand dragging him out from under the tree. As the rain pelted down over them they heard an almighty crack. She turned to see the cherry blossom had been struck by lightning. She sank to her knees, unable to stay upright, her only connection to her grandfather now in flames. Zane tried to lift her to her feet but she was unresponsive to him, she was lost to her emotions. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder moving quickly to the patio. He watched the tree burning, pulling her into his arms he tightened his embrace. Now he understood why he shouldn't stand under trees in one of these storms.

Something burned inside of Ariella, this man that held her tight was what she wanted, and she wanted him now. Taking his hand, she lead him along the breeze way to the castle, sneaking him in past the keeper's quarters and into the castle. Zane had forgotten how large her room was, as big as the slave's quarters he thought as he followed her across the room. Her quarters were elegantly furnished. It wasn't overly feminine nor masculine either. Dark polished floorboards with a large heavy rug in the centre of the room dominated the ground floor. He spied the piano that he heard her play on a regular basis, it shined bright in the flicking light from the storm. They passed through the room, in its centre was a huge lounge suite with a large light hanging from the ceiling. Zane had no clue about lights, it was lots of little trinkets hanging down from these swirly metal things that held the lights. And there were a few lights too. He didn't understand why there was a need for something so extravagant but said nothing. Ariella led him to the stairs, ones that were all too familiar to him. He had slipped into her room, not so long ago. Sneaking through the window and up the stairs to her bathroom. As the ascended he saw the bathroom and the fond memories of that day in the bath. Fond but scary too. Next to it was two sets of doors, one was closed and he didn't know what lay beyond it and the other was the walk in robe that was as big as his quarters. On the far side of the room was her bed, how he craved to lay on it with her but instead she walked past it continuing through the large open doors onto the patio area. He sat beside her on the day bed, watching the storm, understanding why she brought him here, the view was spectacular. The cherry blossom tree was no longer on fire but the storm was raging. The lightning cracked down to the ground so many times that Zane lost count.