Halfling (Black Petals Book 1) (24 page)

Aiden’s hand then moves down to my bracelet where he moves the chain around my wrist so that the silver pendant with the word ‘strength’ engraved on it is facing up. He runs his thumb over the word carefully.

I get lost in his eyes. I don’t even know who leans in first, maybe it’s him, or maybe it’s me. It doesn’t matter. In that moment we are one person as our lips meet. This kiss isn’t like the last we shared a few days ago. It’s much more tender and soft, yet it’s urgent. Unlike when I kissed Crispen, neither of us pull away, I don’t think we have the strength to. He pulls me closer to him and our bodies touch. I’ve never felt such a strong connection to anyone, not even close. It makes shivers run through my body and makes my heart pound hard in my chest.

A short, gruff moan escapes his lips as he presses them harder into mine. The sound makes me shiver. I become dizzy and my head woozy. I wonder if this is normal.

The palm of his hand finds the back of my head, and he manages to swiftly pull me on top of him. He pulls back a moment, resting his forehead on mine, eyes closed. His breathing is deep like he’s out of breath. It should take much more than a bit of making out to have a demon lose their breath.

He kisses me one last time, lighter, and then carefully pushes me off of him.

“I’m sorry that got a little out of hand. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that,” Aiden pants, opening his eyes.

“Don’t be sorry,” I encourage. The thought that he’s been waiting to do that to me for a long time makes me jittery.

He sits up and uses his fingers to brush his tousled hair back into place. “I must be. I could’ve hurt you if I got too carried away.” That’s right, when demons get all hot and bothered they tend to unintentionally suck out souls. I swallow hard at the thought. What if he did go too far and ended up accidentally turning me into a demon? “I
can
control myself, I promise.”

A part of me wants for him to not control himself. The other, the more rational part, warns my heart and sex drive to calm the hell down and think this through thoroughly.

We stare up at the roof. “How long have you known?” I ask him, referring to how long he’s known that I’ve had feelings for him.

He doesn’t ask for clarification, he knows what I’m asking. “Since before you knew yourself obviously. I really wasn’t sure, but I began suspecting it a few weeks ago. I have a
knack
for picking up emotion. It’s not something I can control. It just happens now and again. The emotion has to be strong.” I know he’s talking about a demon ability he has. “I first felt it when we were training, and I landed on top of you. I thought maybe it was just lust, but then I felt it again and again off and on for the last few weeks. Then tonight while we were lying outside in the grass…I just knew.”

I feel a tad embarrassed, but I push it away. Now is not the time for embarrassment.

“When you got out of the vehicle that dropped you off here for the first time, I knew something was different about you. I don’t believe in love at first sight, but I was definitely intrigued by you when we first met.” Aiden straightens his clothing. He grins wickedly like he’s never been so happy in his life. Then his smile fades. “I never fell in love until I met my wife, because I didn’t believe that anyone could ever love a demon not even another demon. She didn’t leave me because of her demise. She left me before then, after she found out what I was. She then grew ill and passed afterwards, leaving me my daughter who then later was murdered. Anyone I’ve ever cared about has run from me upon finding out the truth about me. Crispen, Mason, Aria, my wife, my step father and his wife. Even the halflings I’ve mentored all chose death before the end of their training because of the monster I am. Thankfully, my daughter didn’t know what I was or she would have run too, I’m sure. Everyone except you has fled, Megan, and after all that you’ve been through while living with me, after all you’ve learnt about me and what I am, you still are able to care about me. I don’t get it.”

It takes me a minute to gather my thoughts. “You didn’t choose to be what you are, and you can’t change it. You were born the way you are, and as you explained to me earlier, you aren’t a monster, Aiden, you actually save many lives when you look at the big picture. I know you, and you’re far from a monster, I promise you.”

“My step parents Anna and Thomas were told by the demons who came to take me what I was. They didn’t believe it at first, but then they thought about some of the strange things that they’d seen me do, like accidentally move too fast or heal too quickly. They turned on me, and I was going to let them kill me. I just sat there waiting for it. I had no idea that I couldn’t be killed in such simple ways. My biological mother never told me much about me, just need to know stuff. The two demons who came to take me, had no patience at all. One of them had the ability of telekinesis, and with a flick of his wrist, my parents’ necks snapped like twigs. It’s my fault that they died and although Crispen, Aria, and Mason don’t know this truth, I’m sure they’ve assumed it. I don’t blame them for wanting me dead honestly.”

“It’s not your fault. You were young, and you knew next to nothing about what you were let alone
who
you were. What were you supposed to do, find an entrance to hell or search out other demons? How were you going to do that?

“I don’t know, but I could’ve tried a little harder. I was twenty-six and still living with my parents. Back then, that was very strange. I should’ve been married with kids by that age.”

I look at him and cock my head to the side. “
Yeah
, but if that was the case, then it would’ve been your wife and kids that got killed.”

“A few minutes earlier or later and it could’ve been my siblings,” Aiden reminds me. “I should’ve
done
something.”

“A few minutes ago weren’t you talking about accepting things and moving on?”

He goes silent, obviously catching my drift.

“It was like three hundred years ago, Aiden. Time to move on.”

“Let’s talk about something less depressing, shall we?” he offers and repositions himself on the bed. He lies down beside me again and uses his finger to trace my jawbone. “Have I ever told you that you’re beautiful?”

I giggle. Only a million times.

“Maybe we should get in one more training session before tomorrow,” I suggest and nod to the bedroom door. I’m pretty tired, but I feel like if we’re going to hell tomorrow morning, I should probably practice my right hook or something, not that one more practice is going to make me a pro. I also really don’t want to get out of this bed where there’s the chance that Aiden might kiss me and make my head spin again, but reality is a little bitch.

Aiden is normally the one pushing that we train, but when I mention training this time, he makes a pouty face.

“What?” I ask him, squinting as if looking at him through squinted eyes will help me read his mind.

“Nothing. Let’s go.”

We both reluctantly get off of the bed and head to Aiden’s massive training room. I’m in pajamas from this morning, but I don’t really care. Aiden doesn’t seem bothered by this either.

He carefully removes his expensive cufflinks and unbuttons his shirt. There’s no point in ruining a shirt that probably cost more than my car. He tosses it into the corner of the room. Seeing Aiden’s bare torso isn’t anything new. Each time it takes my breath away. He has the most perfectly sculpted body that I’ve ever seen.

Before I even have the chance to stretch, because I’m momentarily distracted, Aiden throws me down onto the mat. Even though the mat is soft, my head still hurts from the blow. I look up, and he smiles over top of me.

“
Ow!
” I shout playfully and jump up. “I wasn’t even done stretching!”

“Do you think that a crazed hunter or demon is going to give a crap if you’ve
stretched
?” he asks me teasingly.

He’s right, no, no hunter or demon or anyone with the audacity to attack me is going to give me time to stretch. With my slow reflexes and snail speed, I know I have no chance against a demon or a hunter, but this training is so that I can protect myself after becoming a pure demon. That’s what it’s meant for anyway. I won’t be becoming a demon, but I find relaxation in sparring with Aiden. It takes my mind off of all that is going on around me, and maybe if I’m lucky, if it ever comes down to a fight against someone with super speed, I’ll at least be able to stall them for a moment so that Aiden can reach me and save my ass. That’s what I tell myself anyway.

Aiden instructs me to come at him, so I lunge for him. He plays along, pretending that his reflexes are as slow as my own like he always does. He still catches my arm and throws me around. His arm wraps around my neck in a headlock and he says, “Crack, you’re dead.”

Our training sessions always go like this, for hours of the day. There’s no reason that someone as old and experienced and fast as he should ever let me actually land a significant blow. It’s not plausible. I think back to when I stabbed Crispen with the ruby knife that day at his house. That was a complete fluke. He was distracted, and he never thought I would stab him in the back...literally stab him in the back.

Aiden releases his hold, and I turn around to face him again. He crosses his arms and raises his eyebrows, waiting for my next attack. I come at him but at the last minute, I swing my legs up to hit his jaw. I use so much force doing this that when he backs up, missing my blow, the force sends me flying over backwards onto the mat. I curse and again stare up at his grinning face.

“I suck,” I groan.

“Nah, I’m just skilled,” he fires back, his grin widening in a teasing way. He reaches down and helps pull me up.

“Yeah, no kidding. I’ve seen you kick ass,” I mutter as my head spins. He lets go of me, and I struggle to stand up straight.

His lips twitch. “Are you talking about me taking down my siblings? That was nothing. You wouldn’t believe what else I can do.”

“Speaking of which, I watched you fling Aria across the room like she was a piece of candy,” I accuse, remembering his display of what appeared to be magical powers or something.

“
Like a piece of candy?
What? That’s what comes to mind? Candy?” he wonders, amused.

I nod, waiting for his answer and ignoring his jab at me. I’m having a sweet craving.

“Telekinesis. One of my…super powers as you tend to call them.” Aiden chuckles. “I’m not much of a show off. If I don’t need to use them, then I don’t.”

Not much of a show off? Ha! Maybe he doesn’t mean to be, but to me he’s like some sort of god.

“So you can just move shit around with your brain?” I ask, mouth sagging open a bit.

He smirks and trouble fills his eyes. “Yes.”

“Show me,” I plead. I’m still not sure if what I saw earlier really happened.

Suddenly my feet are not on the ground any longer. I’m hovering nearly a foot off the ground. I’m sure my expression contains both astonishment and fright. I scream. Then when I realize what’s happening, I kick and yell for him to put me down.

He laughs deeply and sets me back down. I warn him that he better not do that again, or I’ll kill him. He laughs at my threat. We both know that I can’t kill him.

“Sorry, but I had to,” he says through another laugh.

“You
had
to?” I ask, crossing my arms. My heart rate begins to slow down, and my anger starts to dissipate.

His humor fades. “Sorry, Megan, I shouldn’t have done that. It was rude.” His playfulness begins to fade, and his usual, more serious attitude returns.

“You just scared me is all,” I mutter, almost embarrassed. God, I’m such a baby. All he did was lift me a foot or so off of the ground.
Yeah, with his fricken mind!
Okay, a little freaky, but I’ve dealt with a lot of strange things the past few months. Why I am freaking out over something as small as this, I don’t know.

“Sometimes it’s too easy to be myself around you, and I forget that we are more different than we are alike. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he apologizes again.

His words sound almost sad, and I feel bad for getting upset. He
was
just being himself, and can I really be angry about that? No. I
want
him to be himself. He shouldn’t have to tone himself down for me, because I’m faint at heart and ‘breakable’, as he never fails to remind me. He puts on a human persona for me, and I know a lot of it is tough for him. How terrible would it be to have to slow yourself down for someone and hide a huge part of yourself from them at all times, just so you didn’t scare them off?

Aiden sometimes seems embarrassed by his true nature. He never wants to talk about himself and what he is. He avoids the conversations at all costs. When he does talk about these things upon my questioning, it’s very reluctantly. He likes to leave all the demon lessons to books and not lectures.

Now, he finally acts like himself, and off I go freaking out like some child. No wonder he looks hurt. He thinks that he can’t even be himself around me without scaring me off.

“Don’t apologize. It just caught me by surprise is all,” I try again. “Aiden?”

He makes eye contact with me.