The Billionaire’s Baby(32)

"Aren't you going to like, I don't know, cook them or something?" The girl asked, cringing as he pressed his pale nose against the brown flesh of the potato, dirt rubbing on his cheek.

Ellis laughed in response, shaking his head at the girl's utter foolishness, "Why would I want to do that? Cooking them makes them soft and mushy. That's pretty gross, kid."

He bit into the biggest of the potatoes, crunching through it like an apple while the girl watched with a crinkled nose.

"I'm tired." She announced, hands planting on her hips, "I want to go to sleep." She briefly scanned the room, noting the distinct lack of furnishings – minus a tiny a bed and a few wooden, ragged chairs.

"The suns about to come up, don't little girls like you play during the day?" He asked, mouth full of the crunching vegetable.

The girl wanted to ask why he was eating a vegetable, and not sucking blood, but she was too tired to care at the moment.

She crossed her arms, flipping her braid over her shoulder, "I didn't sleep last night."

Ellis didn't look up, already on his third potato, "Alright, Potato Princess."

The girl's eyebrow twitched slightly, "Quit calling me such weird names!"

"Well if you'd only tell me your real name, then this wouldn't be a problem." He was on the last potato now, finishing it quickly and sucking on his fingers – mourning the absence of such a wonderful vegetable.

"It's Nia."

He glanced up, scrutinizing her swiftly before sucking on his fingers again, "'Kay, kid."

"N-i-a, Nia!"

"I heard ya, shortcake."

"Ugh, it's Nia!"

He shrugged and stood up, ambling towards her with a yawn, "I'm tired too."

He grabbed her arm, dragging her over towards the small wooden bed, "I'm making you sleep with me tonight."

"What!?" Shrieked the shocked redhead, struggling to pull herself away.

"Did I stutter?" Ellis hauled her across the room.

He wanted to make sure she didn't find a way out of his little cave home and run off and tell people where he lived. Plus, he wanted to feel her warmth just a bit more.

"ASSAULT!" Nia suddenly screamed to no one in particular, ignoring that they were underground in the middle of a vacant forest, writhing around like a crazy person, a hazy blur of small arms and legs flinging everywhere.

Ellis choked in shock, staring over his shoulder and releasing the girl as though he'd been burned, "What?"

"Assault! Help!"

"I wouldn't do that to-"

"Assault!"

"Someone as ugly as-"

"AHHHH!"

"You! Now get your filthy head out of the gutter!" Ellis reached out and grabbed her elbow, throwing her headlong into the bed where she all but disappeared in the scratchy, tattered woolen blanket that was probably older than she was.

The vampire glowered down at her for a long moment, standing beside the bed. When she opened her mouth to scream again he pounced on her, straddling her and covering her mouth with his hands. He could still hear her screaming muffled accusations against his hands.

"If you had just waited for a second then I could have explained! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that I wanted you to sleep in the same bed as me!"

For some reason that Ellis simply couldn't imagine, her stifled screams didn't stop, and her bright, angry glare did not recede. He honestly didn't understand why she wouldn't want to sleep next to a hunky vampire like himself.

"If you do me this one favor then I'll take you back to wherever you came from tomorrow, ok?" He sighed, rolling his dark eyes.

The screams abruptly stopped, her eyebrows rising quickly. She responded with a subdued noise behind his hands, and the vampire hesitantly moved them aside.

"Promise?" She asked, apprehensive.

He sighed, then nodded. It was about time he left this forest anyways, he'd already been there for quite some time. It wouldn't matter then if she told anyone where he was living. He'd intended on hanging onto her a bit longer, but she was completely insufferable, it'd be better just to get rid of her.

He rolled off of her, lying next to her on his back. They were awkwardly close together, for his bed was not exactly made for two people. In fact, he had trouble sleeping on it when it was just him.

She suddenly rolled on her side so she was facing him, dangerous glare honing on his face, "Does that mean that you originally didn't plan on taking me home?"

"Well, I was going to just suck you dry and leave your body in a ditch," He grinned at her, though his face was somewhat contemplative and Nia was unsure if he was joking, "but then you did that potato trick and I decided I could use you for company instead. Anyone who can make potatoes grow whenever they feel like it might as well live."