Darren's POV
I drove home in the dead of the night and found Diamond sleeping on a couch in the living room.
Her closing time was long overdue and I was very sure her mother never told her to wait this long. It was already too late for her to go home and I couldn't take her because I didn't have the time.
I walked up to the couch and watched as she took light breaths in her sleep. She looked so peaceful even in the wrong position she slept in. It didn't feel right to wake her up and drive home. She just looked perfect as she lay there. I didn't know when I picked her up in a princess carry and took her up to my bedroom.
I placed her on the bed and proceeded to activate the portal. I couldn't leave her to spend the night all alone in the cottage house. Once it was ready, I picked her up again and surfaced in my study. As I walked out, I spotted Kristin hanging around the balcony.
Not wanting to wake Diamond up, I took her to my room and placed her underneath the covers. I turned away and walked to my closet to take off my clothes. Tossing them aside before putting on a pair of shorts, I closed my eyes to clear my head for a bit just before I felt small, warm hands wrap around my waist.
"Mr. King, cuddle me to sleep like you did when I was just a little girl. I miss sleeping in your arms."
The shock I felt was unimaginable because I had wiped those memories a long time ago. There was no way she should remember any of it.
I turned around slowly and noticed that her eyes were half closed with a little grin on her face. I smiled and kissed her forehead while I inched us both closer to the bed.
Before she climbed into bed, she struggled to take off her clothes. In the end, I had to take them off for her. She unhooked her bra from behind and I had to turn away and grab one of my T-shirts. With my inhuman speed, I rushed behind her, pulling the T-shirt over her head.
I set her down on the bed again and pried her hands from my waist, placing them under the covers. I got into bed and she didn't waste a moment before she wrapped herself around me again.
It's been a while since I shared a bed with someone who I didn't just have sex with. It was a really different feeling altogether as I felt her fingers brush up against my bare skin and her breath on my chest.
I felt a bit of humanity in that moment as her small and feeble hands rubbed on my rigid muscles. I felt a slight electricity course through me. Slowly but surely, I eased her hands off me, leaving her head on my chest.
I ran my fingers through her hazelnut hair as I took in her scent. It smelt damp and sweaty, likely because of how strenuous her day was. I planted a kiss on her forehead and felt her snuggle closer to me. I could feel her breath glide over my chest with her cheek planted above my heart.
I closed my eyes as sleep washed over me, with Diamond in my embrace.
I woke up in the late hours of the morning and found my bed empty. I guessed that Diamond had already left because I didn't find her clothes where I left them last night and my T-shirt was neatly hung.
Groggily, I got out of bed and headed for the bathroom while I took off the shorts on the way. Even before I stepped in, I noticed the scent of my soap and found my towel was wet. She must have taken a long and hot shower.
I opened the door and walked in, shutting it gently behind me. Standing naked, I picked up my toothbrush and began to work on my teeth. Pushed out my fangs and looked at them closer in the mirror.
Even after all these years, my teeth were as white as ever. As hard as it was, I made it work. I finished up with my teeth as I walked into the shower. I just let the cold water run down my body as I reached out for the soap. It was a quick bath; at least shorter than the ones I normally took. Today was an off-work day for me since I would have to focus on more vampire-related matters soon.
I got dressed in plain, casual clothes as I headed downstairs to the dining room. I could even taste the pancakes from just the scent that reached me on the stairs.
I could see the table perfectly set, but Kristin was nowhere in sight. It also felt a little off because Kristin hardly made pancakes without serving herself too. I called out for her, only to get her telepathic response saying that she was in my study; getting things in order for my trip to London, for both business and ceremony.
I asked her about the meal and she said it was Diamond that made it. Slightly shocked, I found my seat before the food as I ruminated over the events of last night. She still had memories of me in her childhood, something I had made an effort to erase, and I needed to find out.
I wolfed down the food in minutes, lost in thought. Being a tribrid, blood wasn't a necessity for me to survive; but there was always the occasional drink here and there. Sometimes in my numerous sex episodes, the unfortunate criminal or crime boss, or even the sick dying man on his death bed.
The moment I was done, I looked around for Diamond but couldn't find her. I used the portal to return to the cottage and found her instructing the workers as needed. I smiled as I looked through the window before I walked out through the back door and headed to the garage.
I drove off into the city and went to have a good drink, though I knew fully well that no mortal drink could ever get me even slightly tipsy. I just needed that noisy bar air; the one that gets all loud because people come over to drink away their passing sorrows and to drown themselves in alcohol.
Sitting in a corner of the bar, I sipped on a glass of tequila and watched the people inside the bar. I could hear almost all of Romania from my cottage if I just listened but for this bar, I toned down my hearing to the barest minimum. I just listened to their chatter and smiled with glass in hand.