Chapter 7

Lisette went home with Aurelia that day and showed her how quickly her chores could be done with her help, leaving them with more time to spend together. This quickly became something they did every day, but they kept it a secret. The moment Aurelia's family was gone, Lisette would come by and help with the chores and in less than fifteen minutes they had the rest of the day to themselves, unlike the two hours it had taken before.

They sat side by side on the beach one morning, they had come straight here after finishing chores and for a while sat in comfortable silence, just listening to the sounds of the ocean.

"Liss?" Lisette smiled at the nickname Aurelia had taken to using.

"Yeah?"

"What happens when I die?"

Lisette breathed in sharply, she didn't want to think of Aurelia dying.

"I don't know, technically, I never died," she said sadly.

Aurelia looked up with a small smile, "I wasn't asking about the afterlife silly, I meant, what happens to you? Do you just keep on living and maybe in another few years you'll meet someone else?" The look on her face was so sad that Lisette felt a pain in her chest as if her heart were aching.

"I guess that could be what happens, although I couldn't imagine ever being with anyone but you." She turned to look at the girl she'd fallen madly in love with in a short matter of weeks and Aurelia's lips brushed against hers. Lisette would never understand how this girl could turn her insides to mush, put a smile on her face and give her butterflies with a simple kiss.

There was still so much she needed to learn about the human girl and so much she needed to share about herself, but she didn't care. Lisette felt like she'd never been in love before now and it was wonderful, but she was careful not to let it cloud her judgment and get one or both of them killed. In love or not, she was still a killer and she knew that Aurelia was no longer completely safe, but was absolutely confident in her ability to protect her.

"You'll stay though right? You'll stay until the end?" Aurelia pleaded and Lisette turned to look her square in the eyes.

"Why are you being so morbid all of a sudden?"

"I have this feeling that something is coming and that it has something to do with you. I don't know if it's good or bad, but either way I just want to know that you're going to be by my side, whatever happens."

Lisette took one of Aurelia's hands in her own and lifted it to her lips, kissing each knuckle and then her finger tips.

"I will be by your side until you take your last breath, I promise you that." She slid her other hand into Aurelia's hair and gently pulled her face closer for a kiss.

"I love you," Aurelia whispered against Lisette's lips, Lisette pulled back to look her in the eye once again. Aurelia's heart dropped into her stomach, she'd said too much too soon and now she was going to scare Lisette away. Panic was starting to set in.

"I don't know how or why, it is beyond my logic to understand why you love me so easily, but I am inexorably and madly in love with you too."

"You know you could have just started with 'I love you too' and spared me the heart attack I was just having." Lisette opened her mouth to apologize, but before she could say a word, Aurelia's lips were on hers and their arms were wrapped around each other as they slowly laid back on the sand.

Aurelia was basking in the warm glow of being in love with Lisette, she didn't care what she was or give a single thought to how dangerous she could be, all that mattered was that they loved each other and the rest would work itself out. She couldn't help wondering if she was being foolish, but she didn't want to rectify the situation if she was. Finally, she was happy, after so many long years of wishing to find her knight in shining armor. It didn't matter that she had ended up with a vampire, it was close enough, Lisette was still her prince...or princess Charming.

The thought of Lisette being a princess made her laugh to herself and Lisette looked over.

"What's so funny?" Aurelia couldn't stop the giggles that had started and Lisette reached out to tickle her.

"Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Lisette insisted, laughing right along and then suddenly she stopped and put her hand over Aurelia's mouth before looking into her eyes and holding a finger up to her lips to say "Be quiet." Before Aurelia had realized what was happening, Lisette had disappeared.

An uncomfortable feeling settled over her as she waited for Lisette to come back. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged her legs, slightly afraid of why Lisette had switched from loving and carefree to stealthy and vigilant. A feeling that someone was watching her made the hairs on her neck stand up and goose bumps rise on her arms.

Suddenly she heard a scuffle in the bushes and stood to see if she could get a glimpse of what was going on. She saw trees swaying far too much for the slight breeze that was barely moving her hair, which meant Lisette wasn't the only one out there. Unsure of what she should do, Aurelia simply stood there. Lisette had given her no instruction other than to be quiet which she took to mean that she should stay where she was. Running would make noise and obviously, so would calling for Lisette to see if she was okay.

So Aurelia did nothing, she simply stood there helpless and praying that Lisette came for her before whatever else was out there did. It was literal hours that she stood, watching as the trees moved all over, first they would be moving to her right and then the movement would shift to her left as if a giant was walking through the forest. The cracking of branches made her jump as the sound seemed to get closer and closer to where she stood, only a few yards from the tree line.

Think Aurelia, think, she fought to come up with some way to protect herself. Vampires don't like water, she had read somewhere that they didn't like running water, she wasn't sure if the ocean really counted, but she went to stand in it anyway. Stupid, Lisette has no problems with water! She realized this just as her feet began to go numb in the tide. She had walked in up to her knees. Lisette had washed her hands, walked along the waters edge with her while it lapped at their toes, checked out tidal pools when the tide was out and lived by the ocean.

Water wasn't going to stop a vampire. Then she realized that she had assumed a vampire was what they were up against, but what if it was something else? If vampires existed, surely there were other things out there that she probably never considered. Her heart was pounding like crazy at this point and her brain was about as numb as her feet.

Suddenly a horrible thought came to her, people were going to notice the commotion in the woods and come out to investigate if they hadn't already. What if someone got hurt or even killed? She was helpless to stop whatever was going on and clearly Lisette was more concerned with protecting the two of them than keeping things quiet. As badly as she wanted to run, she knew she couldn't just leave Lisette behind, even if she was more than capable of defending herself, she had to see for herself that Lisette was alive and okay.

A loud rustle behind her made Aurelia jump and turn toward a person coming through the trees, her heart lifted, as she watched for the bright red hair that she loved so much, but it never came. A man with dark hair, a five o'clock shadow and terrifying eyes came charging toward her, not at super speed the way Lisette had disappeared, but at the pace of a human on a mission. She relaxed slightly at the idea that one of the men from the town may have been scouting the woods and had seen her out here looking ridiculous standing alone in the water, but something told her not to let her guard down just yet.

A smart girl she was too, because she quickly found out that he wasn't from town and he sure wasn't human. He bared his fangs as he got closer to her and she could see that he was covered in blood. She was sure that her eyes were playing tricks on her as she watched a gash in his face slowly, but steadily heal and disappear completely.

He reached out to grab her arm and there was no stopping the blood curdling scream that came out of her mouth as she began to fight against him, not caring if it was a losing battle. If he was going to kill her then she was going down fighting. He quickly clapped his hand over her mouth and she fought to bite him as hard as she could, but her teeth could find no purchase against his cold hand.

He used his hold on her face to pull her head to the side, exposing her neck, she squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see what was coming next. Then a voice colder than ice reached her ears.

"Let her go," the last word was said with force as if something was being done while it was being uttered. Aurelia felt the mans body stiffen and then his hand fell away from her mouth along with the rest of him as he crashed to the ground.

"Just keep your eyes closed, it's going to be ok," Lisette promised and Aurelia did as she was told, suddenly realizing that she was shaking. Whether it was from the cold water she was standing in or the terror that she was still experiencing, she didn't know, but she couldn't make it stop as heaving sobs began to escape her chest. A terrified squeal escaped her lips as she found herself being lifted into a pair of arms.

"Shh, it's okay, you're okay, it's just me. Keep your eyes closed for just a bit longer, alright?" Aurelia could barely nod, she was shaking so violently and Lisette held her as close as she could. Suddenly there was a breeze blowing her hair around her face, but she didn't dare open her eyes to see what was going on. Moments later, the breeze had stopped and she could feel Lisette walking, then came the sound of a door being opened and closed as they passed through it.

"You can open your eyes now," Lisette said gently and Aurelia opened her eyes to find that they were in Lisette's house. A light bulb went on in her head as she realized that Lisette had run back to her house with Aurelia in her arms.

"Y-y-you...you're fast!" Aurelia managed to gasp out and Lisette's lips turned up in the slightest hint of a smile.

"You're in shock." She said and carried Aurelia to the bathroom where she turned the water on in what was more like a hot tub than a bathtub. It appeared to be made of marble, had jets and was sunk into the floor, it was a bath takers dream.

"Do you think you can stand up?" Lisette asked and Aurelia nodded. The shaking had calmed down a lot and she could barely remember what had happened, like her mind was blocking it out. Lisette set her gently on the floor, holding on to make sure her legs would hold her up.

When she was sure Aurelia wasn't going to fall, Lisette let go.

"I'll just wait outside if you think you can get in by yourself."

Aurelia latched on to her arm with a grip of steel, "Don't leave me alone," she pleaded desperately. The last thing she wanted was to be by herself.

"Alright, I'll stay, it's okay, you're okay." Lisette pulled her close and held her for a moment. "I'm so sorry, baby, so sorry," she repeated over and over again. Aurelia wrapped her arms around Lisette and just held on, like the world would fall apart if she let go. Finally, Aurelia looked up into Lisette's face, their noses brushing each other with the movement.

The eyes she saw told her everything she needed to know. Lisette would never let anything happen to her, she would go to the ends of the earth to keep her safe, no matter who she had to fight or kill. She wasn't sure exactly why that was romantic in her head, but she was overcome with emotion as she fastened her lips on Lisette's and ran her fingers into her hair.

Before she knew what was happening, Lisette's deft fingers were peeling her clothes off, shirt, bra, jeans, panties, they were all gone before she really realized she was naked. Aurelia blushed slightly, but wasted no time in tearing the bloody clothes off of Lisette, she wanted to make everything that reminded her of what had happened, disappear.

Then they both stood naked with their arms around each other, breast to breast, as Lisette gently led them into the water, still kissing. The water felt so good on Aurelia's cold skin, especially after all the time she'd been foolishly standing in the ocean. As she sat she realized the marble beneath her wasn't cold at all like she had expected. But why was she thinking about the marble? She was in this tub with the most beautiful girl she'd ever seen and was totally turned on.

She had no idea what she was doing, that's why and each passing second made her question whether or not she could live up to Lisette's expectations. So when she suddenly stiffened, Lisette noticed.

"Are you alright?" Lisette asked, pulling back and looking her directly in the face.

Aurelia nodded, "Yeah, um, why do you keep looking me in the eye like I'm lying to you?"

"Because you've just been through a traumatic experience and now would not be the time for you to lie to me about how you're feeling, I need to know that you're completely okay and you can't lie to me when I look you directly in the eyes." Lisette responded.

"How did you know that?

"Most people tend to tell the truth when they're forced to look you dead in the eye, it makes them uncomfortable and they crack under the pressure. You don't take long to spill it." Lisette replied with a smile that suggested that she found the trait endearing. Aurelia let out a heavy sigh and nodded.

"I'm worried about this. I've never done it before," she waved her arms around, not gesturing to anything specific.

"You've never done..." Lisette trailed off as she understood what Aurelia was getting at. "You've never had sex before." She said, out loud, though she'd meant to just think it, and watched as Aurelia turned a brilliant shade of pink.

"We don't have to go there yet if you don't want to; we can just sit here and get you warmed up." She suggested and Aurelia nodded silently. They sat, quietly holding hands for what seemed to be an eternity, until Lisette reached over to turn off the water and her n****e accidently grazed Aurelia's left breast. Then it was all over.

They both reached out at the same time, lips coming together, their bodies plastered against each other. Lisette ran her hands down Aurelia's sides as far as her reach would go and then came back up to cup her breasts in her hands. A moan escaped Aurelia's lips as Lisette took one of her n*****s into her mouth, gently sucking on the small pink nub. Lisette's right hand traveled down between Aurelia's legs, parting her lips and rubbing gently until she extracted another moan, the wetness between her legs was obvious even beneath the water.

Finally Aurelia couldn't hold back and leaned down to take one of Lisette's pink n*****s into her own mouth. It was an amazing experience, Lisette's skin was a mix of salty and sweet and her n****e felt like it was made for Aurelia's mouth as she sucked a little harder, drawing a moan from Lisette who exerted more pressure between Aurelia's legs.

Aurelia got caught up in the heat of the moment and found the courage to slide her own hand down between Lisette's legs. The soft wetness that she found was intoxicating and turned her on more than she ever thought possible. She found that she couldn't focus though, between Lisette sucking on her n*****s and rubbing between her legs, she was forced to put her exploration on hold and give in to what was happening to her.

It wasn't long before she felt her orgasm building as Lisette's fingers moved faster and faster, just before she came, Lisette slid two fingers inside of her and pushed her over the edge. She rode a wave of ecstasy for what seemed like forever before she was able to focus on the girl in front of her.

"Oh, my god that was amazing," she panted, barely able to catch her breath as Lisette continued to kiss her way down her body, her fingers still inside Aurelia.

"I want you to do it again," Lisette murmured just as her lips reached Aurelia's belly button. Aurelia thought she understood where she was going and moved to get them both out of the tub.

"What are you doing?" Lisette asked.

"I thought you might want to get out for this part..." Aurelia trailed off, confused as Lisette reached over and turned on the jets.

"I want you to stay right where you are, I guess I forgot to tell you that I don't have to breathe." Lisette had a sneaky smile on her face as Aurelia stared at her dumbfounded just before her head disappeared beneath the bubbly surface and she proceeded to prove it.