The Billionaire’s Baby(34)

She hesitated, glancing up at him uncertainly for a moment before flushing and looking away, "It's silly." She repeated.

"Oh, come on. Let me guess, true love?" He gently teased, chuckling as the reverberations rumbling against Nia's cheek, "That's what all women want their prophecies to be about, right?"

She shrugged, looking away for a second, "I don't know exactly what it means."

He cocked his head just slightly, arching an eyebrow and looking down at her, his curiosity multiplying.

She sighed in defeat and rolled her eyes, "I wasn't really listening..."

The vampire burst out in derogatory laughter for the millionth time that day, thought this time it wasn't so loud and obnoxious, it was much more quiet. "Didn't listen to your own little prophecy?"

The girl's face was turning an embarrassed shade of red fairly quickly, shrugging once more and continuing to look away, "I only heard the first part," She paused to prepare her voice, which was struggled to deepen into a gravelly purr, "'You will find a very important person in the forest west of this village'"

She cleared her throat, eyes rolling. As she spoke, her voice was suddenly back its shrill normality, "Do you see why I couldn't listen? It sounded so silly."

Ellis tried not to laugh, rolling his eyes, "Well, tater tot, I'd like to imagine I'm a pretty important person."

She heaved a slightly annoyed sigh, grumbling "I guess it might've been you."

Unwilling to talk about it anymore, she slowly let her eyes drift shut. Ellis quit talking as well, gazing quietly down at her, and within minutes her even, deep breathing told him she had fallen asleep.

As another yawn tugged at his lungs, the vampire wondered briefly if this was how lovers would lay. With a humored smile he looked down at the childish female held snuggled within his arms. The thought almost made him laugh. It was impossible to conceive that a human and a vampire would ever be lovers.

He did admit though, that he liked how they looked nestled together.

She was a rich, coppery tan color, obviously fond of being in the sun, and the contrast of her skin and his own creamy complexion were rather pleasing to the vampire's eyes. Her outfit was simple, much like his, her thick cloak had long been discarded in the corner of his home, and she was left in brown leggings that fell just below her knees and an off-white colored tunic, tied around her waist with a green belt.

'The color of her eyes', he mused, letting his fingers wander across the emerald fabric, feeling it as well.

She shifted, sighed, and slowly slid one arm from the confines where it had been held between their bodies so it wrapped softly around him. He swallowed thickly and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her flush against his body, tensing for a just moment when she nuzzled her face into his shoulder.

Holding her pressed against him, he could feel the steady rhythm of her heart pulsing gently against him, and he closed his eyes, latching onto the sound. He could remember, very, very vaguely his mother so long ago holding him as a child against her heart. The thought made him cling to Nia even more.

Eventually her warmth and softness caused him to relax as well, however, and he slowly fell into a peaceful sleep.

Ellis was eventually stirred awake sometime late in the afternoon at the feeling of a gentle hand rubbing at one of his shoulders.

He lay silent and still for a moment, soaking in the gentle contact before snapping with surprising bitterness, "Will you quit touching me?"

Nia's tiny hand was instantly retracted, and though his eyes were still closed he was fully aware of the blush on her face which came through so clearly in her faltering voice, "S-sorry! You were twitching around so much, I thought you were having a nightmare. You almost threw me off the bed fourteen times."

The bed.

They were still lying together. He was suddenly very aware of her body still molded pleasantly against his, and the feelings coursing through his body at the realization. He sighed, thrusting a palm against her stomach without even hesitating, knocking her easily off the bed.

She yelped, landing clumsily against the floor, "What was that for?" She cried, green eyes blazing as she rubbed a newly tender knee.

"Had enough of your short, human self trying to snuggle with me." He responded, swinging his legs over the side of the bed so he was sitting up, "And it wasn't a nightmare. I was dreaming of sleeping next to a certain redheaded woman."

The girl's cheeks burned a faint shade of pink, eyeing Ellis in slight apprehension, slight tentative inquisitiveness, "Oh yeah?"

"Yup, munchkin. She had green eyes…" He made of point of staring deeply into her face at those words, sincerity oozing from his pores.