Note for any re-readers: Most of this chapter was edited in 2014 due to the ridiculously annoying amount of Twilight freakin' comments ha, yeah. ha. no.

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I opened my eyes when a click sounded somewhere in the room.

At first, yes I thought all of last night was a dream. I thought everything from when I left the lecture hall up to the part where I settled into bed with Michael Reeves was my imagination. But inhaling deeply and smelling the wonderful aroma of orchids around me, I knew it wasn't a dream at all.

I turned my head toward the click and watched a ruffled Michael walk to the centre of the room in jeans and a black shirt.

He sent me a dazzling smile and ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

"Good morning," He said in his honey sweet voice.

"Good indeed." I mumbled and yawned.

He moved into the closet and back in wearing long shorts and a worn dark blue tee. He then slipped back into the cool sheets next to me and rested his head in front of me. His green eyes being the only thing I could see.

"This is much better. " A smile lit up his beautiful face.

"Much." I mumbled and closed my eyes.

"Are you just going to repeat a word from everything I say?"

I made a humming sound not really paying attention.

I felt a slight soft pressure to the side of my neck and let out a quiet sigh in pleasure. "What time is it?"

"Almost eight-thirty." His voice grumbled deeply beside my neck.

"Why won't you let me sleep?"

"Because I'm deprived of your affection." He continued leaving small trails of kisses up and down my neck sending small shivers down my spine.

I ran my hands through his tangled velvet soft hair and instead of giving him full access to my neck, pulled him so his head rested in between my chin and my collarbone.

"Just a few more minutes and I'll give you enough affection to last you another one hundred years." I wrapped my legs around his waist and stroked my hands through his hair.

He let out a small chuckle and brought his arms to encircle me into him. "I'll give you ten minutes."

"Oh, aren't you the greatest man that has ever lived." I mumbled before pressing my lips to his forehead and settling into him.

I quickly drifted off to sleep at the feel of Michael's hands stroking up and down my legs, arms and hands.

It was such a peaceful little nap... That was, until I heard my phone go off on the bedside table. I slowly opened my eyes and looked down to see that Michael and I had switched positions and I was now buried into his chest instead of the other way around. His breathing was slow and even telling me that the damned ringing didn't wake him up even though he had the most sensitive hearing ever.

I carefully reached over to the side without stirring too much and answered, "What?"

"Morning Miss. Disappear. What the hell happened to you last night?"

I rubbed my eyes with my free hand. "I... Left."

Laura laughed. "No shit. You left your bedroom door open so wherever you are, let me just say, Reeves' class was cancelled anyway. So you didn't miss anything."

I yawned and felt Michael's arms tighten around me but he still didn't look like he was awake. "That's good. I don't need to catch up then. What time is it?"

"Almost one."

I sighed. Ten minutes my ass. It had been another five hours. "Listen, I'll be home later. You can tell me how the rest of the party went."

"Will do, Evangeline! See you later."

I hung up and just sat there staring at him. He looked so peaceful and vulnerable. I wonder why he chose me? I wonder what changed in my life for me to become so lucky? He was too beautiful; too perfect. It just makes me wonder...

I was leaning forward about to press a kiss to his lips when he surprised me by saying, "Stop staring at me."

I let out a small chuckle and slipped out of Michael's arms to use the bathroom. My reflection was bad but fixable. My hair was a bird's nest from all the damned clips from last night. I took a long hot refreshing shower and grabbed a shampoo off the side to was my hair. I looked down at the pineapple logo in the corner and squeezed a handful into my hands to massage into my scalp.

As I stepped out of the shower, I wrapped the towel around myself and grabbed a hand towel for my hair.

But then I realised the only clothes I had was my dress.

I let out a small sigh and slowly opened the bathroom door only to find room empty. I walked to the bed to find a worn out white t-shirt and a pair of dark blue shorts.

I smiled at it and laughed when I saw a pair of black Calvin Klein boxers next to the shorts. I decided on slipping on the boxers, the shorts, grabbing my bra from the bathroom and putting the t-shirt on.

I towel dried my hair as best as I could because the dryer was still in the downstairs bathroom so I left it in a fluffy red mess.

I moved down the hall slowly noting how much bigger the hall looked in the day. I walked down the steps and was welcomed by a very inviting smell of bacon. I snuck into the bathroom next to the guest room and quickly brushed my teeth and grabbed the hair tie I left in there last time.

I followed the smell into the kitchen and saw Michael's back to me at the stove. I looked to the island beside the stove at the orange juice and plate of pancakes, eggs and now bacon.

He turned to me with a bright grin. "Brunch?"

"Is this why you were out this morning?" I inhaled deeply and sat down in front of the plate of food. It all looked too perfect. Michael handed me syrup and I smothered the pancakes in it. My mouth watered just looking at it.

"I don't want you to starve do I?" He said as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pecked my cheek. "Now eat as much as you can. And when you're done, meet me outside?"

My eyes widened. "Outside?"

He squeezed my shoulders. "You're still repeating a word from my sentences. Just meet me out back. Go down the hall turn left and the door is in the study."

"I haven't got any shoes..."

"You can borrow mine."

I laughed. "You're like a size 14!"

He scoffed. "Don't over exaggerate. I'm a size 12 and a half. Borrow my boots."

He went to walk out but I grabbed his shirt and planted a kiss to his lips. His hands cupped my face and held it firmly in place to deepen it but I slapped his chest and mumbled against his lips, "Let me eat, or it'll get cold."

He kissed me one last time before stepping back. "You initiated it, Dimples. Finish what you started next time." He winked before walking down the hall leaving that strong heady smell behind.

I devoured the breakfast within minutes but managed to savour each bite. I dropped the plate into the sink and walked down the hall with a full stomach. I turned left into a large study with a glass wall and a door. There was a stack of shoes in the corner of the room so I grabbed a pair of dark brown hiking boots.

My eyes widened. I was expecting a large garden at least not a whole forest. It was endless.

Everywhere I looked was trees. I walked down the steps and look around for Michael.

When he didn't pop out or make himself known I bent down to the laces on the boots. Thank god it wasn't too cold today.

"Boo."

I jumped up and spun around to come face to face with a grinning Michael. He looked like a little child ready to show his mom how his new toy worked.

"What--"

"Come on, Evie." He grabbed my hand. "I want to show you something."

He led me through the woods twisting in and out of trees straying off different paths. The sun was blocked by different parts of the trees sending separate rays of light in different directions.

"What is it?" I asked.

He stopped and lifted my hand to press a kiss to it. "Don't get too worried, okay? I just want to show you what would happen if I took this ring off in the sunlight."

I tilted my head in confusion and watched as he dropped my hand and slip the ring off.

Right now, we were standing in a pretty shaded area. But when he lifted his hand to a ray of light, the smell was what hit me first.

The burning of flesh made me hold back a gag. The sight of his hand smoking and burning had my heart go into an erratic rhythm. I stared at his hand, all blood draining from my face.

"When I don't have this ring on this is what happens. I burn."

I was literally about to yell at him when he pulled his hand out of the sun to show me his skin. His flesh looked like it had been pulled off and the tissue underneath was left on show exposing it to the air.

A wave of emotion hit me as I stepped forward to take it in my hands. I could very slowly see it healing but I knew it would be a while before it was gone completely.

"Don't worry," He said with a chuckle. "It'll be fine in a few hours." He slipped the ring on his uninjured hand and I frowned. "Evie stop. It was just an example. This ring helps me walk around. As I said last night: it's charmed. If I keep it on I'm fine. John has one exactly like it before you ask. But the vampires killing these people do not. That's why staying out in the day is fine. I wouldn't want you out here otherwise."

He started to sit down on the floor so I joined him. I knew this was going to be an interesting story just from the word, 'Charmed.' "Explain to me how your ring is charmed?"

This made him grin but it was a mysterious one I'd seen on his face before. More secrets... Great. "Remember you said you found a website explaining there are others things except for Vampires?"

I nodded slowly but cautiously. Oh, dear. "Tell me there is not werepanther's in this world."

"I haven't come across any in my years," He chuckled. "But no not werepanther's." His green eyes were twinkling with excitement as he started his story. "After I turned into this in 1922 it was hard to get around. And after I met John we found a very, very special family that could help us. A family of witches."

I gasped. "Don't lie to me."

He smirked. "I never would."

"Witches?" I said completely shocked. "Witches." I repeated.

He nodded. "They despised vampires, but after a while they realised that me and John were different. We were finally invited into their house and the mother of the family used herbs, a spell and other ingredients as well as a ring to make us these." He held the ring up to my face. "The family still lives on two or three generations down the line. The mother remembering us as if we were back in the thirties even though now she just hit one hundred and something."

"Witches?" I said again.

He laughed. "Yes. Witches." He dropped his hand into his lap. "They exist. Just like how we exist."

I had a hard enough time getting over the fact vampires existed but witches? "Wow." I whistled. "Can I meet the family? Or am I not allowed or something. Is it part of their... Beliefs? I don't know..." I scrunched my nose.

This, he smiled mischievously at and it made me narrow my eyes. "You can meet them. I promise."

I turned my back to him and dropped down so my head was rested on his lap. His hand came into my hair and pulled my loose ponytail out. "Anymore questions?" He asked.

I nodded my head and stared up at his chin. "I know this will sound very childish but... Can you show me some of the things you can do?"

He let out a booming laugh. "What do you want me to do?"

I bit my bottom lip and shrugged. "Anything. Surprise me." I sat up.

He wrapped his arms around my sides and started standing so I followed. Michael turned me around and smiled softly. "Close your eyes."

I raised a brow briefly before doing as I was told. I wanted to see what he did, not close my eyes. There was silence as he removed his hands. I couldn't hear anything except for the wildlife wandering around, scurrying across the ground and the birds chirping above.

I opened my eyes after a moment and spun around in a circle a few times when I realised he'd completely disappeared.

He must be--

"Up here, stranger."

I looked up into the trees and grinned. "Well, hello up there."

He was standing casually on the tree trunk with a huge grin on his face. I loved this about him. I loved how casual he was with me now. It looked so easy for him to just be up there, talking to me. To think a month ago he was trying his hardest not to talk to me.

He surprised me by climbing further up, using an agility only immortals posessed to jump higher using his hands to hook onto the branches and manoeuvre himself onto the thicker branches. "Is this immortal enough?"

"Immortal enough, sure. But how fast can you run?" I laughed.

He chuckled and dropped from the tree to land easily on his feet. If a human jumped from that, they'd have two broken legs. "Come on. On my back, I'll show you the lake not far from here."

I burst into a fit of laughter. "Seriously."

He nodded. The laughter died on my lips. "Can't we walk?"

"Trust me, Evie. It'll be faster if I run."

I stared into his green eyes a moment before asking him to turn around and jumping on his back. Of course I trusted him. He held onto my thighs firmly and I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Now what?" I asked.

A very evil but playful chuckle spilled from his lips.

And before I could even comprehend what was going on, he'd started running. I squeezed my body to his back and buried my face in the crook of his neck.

"Open your eyes." He'd managed to say while he ran at lightening speed.

I slowly but surely opened my eyes. It was so amazing. The trees went by in a rush but everything I caught was exhilarating. I'd never experienced anything close enough to this. I inhaled an unsteady breath as the colours blurred past me, the muscles in his back tensing and jolting as he travelled in an inhuman like speed.

Finally, probably no more than thirty seconds later, we'd stopped beside a lake. Trees lined the very edges, circling all the way around and across the vast river. He dropped me onto my feet and I took a moment to inhale and steady my wobbly legs. "Jesus."

"What about that? Was that immortal enough?"

"Amazingly so." I mumbled trying to fix my hair. Where did he put my hair tie? My hair was worse than this morning. I flattened it down and uncerimoniously dropped on a small edge beside the lake. "You are amazing."

"Not really." He said dropping beside me. "I'm no different than any other vampire."

"The cocky smile on your face says different." I smiled. I nudged my shoulder to his. "You are extremely amazing, Michael. There's no denying it."

"I can't deny it around you any more. You're too hard to argue with now days." His arm wrapped around my sides and I rested my head on his shoulder. It was so relaxing out here. A little chilly, sure, but it was still wonderful. I turned my head up to look into his relaxed face. He was too perfect for me.

Michael caught my eye for a moment before saying, "I haven't explained to you how much you mean to me."

I smiled softly, allowing him to cup my cheek within his large palm.

"You're real. So fun, sweet, kind, adorable, snappy at times, friggin' annoying," I giggled. "But that's what makes me want to find out so much more about you. It draws me to you. I've been drawn to you since I met you at the cafe. The first thing I ever heard you say was, 'What the hell is wrong with you.'" He chuckled. "I'll always remember your burning red cheeks and your angry face."

"That wasn't my best day." I mumbled.

"It made me notice you."

"Oh, and why did you buy a coffee that day? You don't drink right?"

"It was for a colleague but obviously that never happened." He laughed. "He and I were going to our classes but he wanted a coffee."

"Sorry!" I smiled sheepishly. "That stupid man-"

His thumb brushed over my bottom lip, immediately silencing me. "If it weren't for that clumsy guy, I wouldn't have met you."

"Well not technically, I'm still in your class." I winked.

He smirked back, he leaned in and kissed me. His lips parted mine before deepening the kiss creating a slow but passionate burn deep within me. Oh, I loved the way his soft lips moved against mine. We stayed by the lake for what felt like hours, not much being being said. There wasn't much really to say anyway. The scenery was enough.

When I noticed the sun had moved considerably we both stood and I jumped back onto his back for the run. He ended up stopping halfway anyway. As we walked, me still on his back, I told him whatever he wanted to know about my life, most of the stuff random. Stuff like how my brother needs a smack upside his head, how my mother explained to me that she didn't mind me dating a teacher which made him burst out laughing and how to get my father's stamp of approval.

"You're father sounds interesting." He said.

"He is. You have to be a saint in his eyes." I rested my chin on the crook of his neck.

"Then I'll be the saint."

"Be you." I mumbled as I shut my eyes.

"So, you're actually going to introduce me to your parents?"

Of course I would! Even though I have never introduced a boy or man to my parents before I'm pretty sure they would know something was going on.

"Yes. I would."

"Excellent." He said and there was a sudden slight bounce to his step. It brought a smile to my face.

We walked around a bit more and soon enough the sun had moved so far that I assumed it was almost three or half past.

Michael had suddenly stopped and he let out a loud sigh.

I frowned. "What?"

He turned his head to the side and smiled. "Oh, nothing. I just think we should go back to the house."

"Okay. Is something wrong?"

"Well... Yes. Actually there is." He turned around completely and started heading in a completely different direction. "Just don't judge on sight, honey."

"You're scaring me." I said.

"Don't be scared. There's nothing to be afraid of. You just need to trust me."

I didn't reply. What was going on?

We didn't speak a word as we got back to the steps. The sun had moved further across the sky but suddenly something else felt different. The house felt... Weird.

He dropped me carefully onto my feet and held my hand firmly in his as we slowly made it up the stairs. I paused in my tracks when I saw movement in the study.

"Michael," I started but he turned to me with a small reassuring smile and opened the door.

The male lounging on the couch turned the lamp on and looked toward Michael and I with his deep chocolate brown eyes. "About time."

The man stood up and I found myself staring at him. His body was toned, tall, and very handsome. A bright and very familiar smile contrasting against his olive toned skin made me stare harder.

Why does this man look familiar?

"Aren't you going to introduce me, Mike?"

I looked up at Michael's strained face. "Evie this is Samuel. He's a witch."

His eyes widened but he smiled. "Right, yes." He turned to me. "Nice to meet you." He held his hand out.

I was about to shake it when Michael put my hand down. "One touch is all he needs to discover whatever he wants. No touching."

"That's what she said," He let out a loud and very familiar laugh at his own joke.

Wait...

Olive skin.

"What's your last name?" I demanded.

And before he could answer a female voice shouted, "Michael you boob, you bought food! That must mean..." And then she walked in. "Ah,