Lunar Love

Dedicated to Sukidayo for Christmas o6

"The moon always sees the things we do."

With a startled jump, I turned my head to see a dark-clad figure sit down on the bench beside me.

Now, I guess I should try to explain why I was sitting alone in the park. It started about a week ago when I caught my boyfriend cheating on me with some sleazy girl at a party. I didn't scream, I didn't cry, I didn't pitch a fit... all I did was walk away.

But we never fought. We never even got a chance to fight. At about two in the morning when I was just leaving the party, I got a hysterical call from my mother, making sure that I was alright and that I was alive. Then she told me that my boyfriend and that sleazy girl had been in a car crash and both were killed instantly. I dropped my cell phone in shock, watching the pieces shatter against the cold gray sidewalk.

There was nothing unusual about my boyfriend getting drunk at parties, but never drunk enough to drive off with some other girl and forget to take me home. And yet, the one time he ever forgot me, he crashed into a tree.

I was in too much shock to even know how I felt about the situation.

All week long, I had been a hollow shell. I didn't sleep, I barely ate, and I didn't talk to my friends or parents. Locked up in my room with all the lights off, I blasted music as loud as it would play and stared out the window.

I started skipping classes during the day as well, wandering off the school campus and taking long walks around the park, over and over until I lost all sense of time. All the while, I never noticed a certain presence that had been following me around all week, a dark shadow that was always near.

But now, at one in the morning sitting all alone on a bench, I noticed him.

Yeah, I noticed him right as he plopped down beside me and started talking about the moon.

"In fact," he continued on, "you wouldn't believe the number of people that seek solace from the moon instead of the sun. Thousands of depressed and miserable souls come to the park at night, trying to find some meaning in life. They seek answers from the moon. The sun just blinds people."

His voice was enticing, with a rough edge to it and the slightest hint of an English accent. Despite all that had happened this week, I couldn't help but feel my pulse start racing just a little quicker.

"Yeah," I laughed shakily, "I've never liked the sun that much."

"It's nothing that one would ever miss."

I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but the fact that he said it intrigued me all the same.

"So, what are you doing out here?"

"I seek answers from the moon as well, only answers of a different kind."

He spoke again with only vague comments, but then again, meeting a mysterious man in the park at night was pretty vague as well. I decided to ignore it for now.

"What's your name?" I asked.

The man turned his head and I was caught by the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. They were a bright violet, lined darkly in black eyeliner. While he was barely visible in the dark, the moon cast enough of a glow for me to see the outlines of his other features. I was so entranced that I gaped, quietly taking in the strong jaw line, the high cheekbones, and the most delectable lips I've ever seen on a guy. Blond wisps of hair that looked almost silver in the moonlight fell messily into his face and, with a sweeping motion of his hand, he tucked them back behind his ear. He was sinful. He was gorgeous.

But who was he?

I needed to know what this guy was up to and why he was sitting beside me.

"My name is of no importance." he said huskily, sliding down the bench until he was right beside me. Then he smiled, flashing a set of perfect teeth at me, and raised his hand until it rested on my cheek. I inhaled sharply, pulling away from him and standing up from off the bench.

The mystery of who he was became no longer an issue, and he became more of a threat than a mystery. But that didn't stop me from thinking he was gorgeous.

Swallowing uncomfortably, I licked my dry lips and tried to steady myself.

"Please," I croaked, "tell me why you're here."

"I'm here to help you."

He was standing up now, and I took two steps away right as he tried to approach me again. With a warning glare, I held up my hand.

"I don't want your help. Please leave me alone."

I started to walk away, down the cold and dirty sidewalk towards my home, when he called out to me once more.

"No one wants to be alone! Aren't you here because you're mourning over the fact that you are alone?"

That's when I froze in my tracks.

He was right. Why was I telling him to leave me alone when that was the last thing I wanted?

I turned back.

"What do you want from me?"

"I want nothing but to help you."

The smirk on his face did not go unnoticed by me, nor the saunter in his walk as he approached me and rather effectively pinned me against a tree. My breathing hitched, my pulse quickened, and I was pretty sure my mind gave into my lustful thoughts as I gazed into those violet eyes, now almost completely swallowed up by his pupils. Such a sinfully perfect face was barely inches away from me and I let out a gasp, closing my eyes in need.

I wasn't even sure exactly what I needed, but I knew he could give it to me. As he lowered his head so his lips brushed my ear, I whimpered and pulled him to me until our bodies were completely aligned.

"I can make you forget," he breathed softly before nipping at my earlobe, "I can make you forget all about your past until you don't even know your own name."

Ignoring the uncomfortable pain of being pressed up against a tree, I clutched tightly to this guy's shirt and threw my head back in ecstasy. His lips now trailed from my ear down to my neck, licking and sucking gently until he reached my collarbone and pulled away.

"Why did you choose me?" I breathed harshly, tearing my eyes open to look at him once more.

My rational mind had finally overridden my passion, and I was more than just a little freaked out at the idea of being molested by a mysterious guy in the park.

"Because you make my pain go away."

"Whoare you?"

"I'm the one you need. I'm the only one that can help you."

"Help me? You still haven't told me who you are, much less how you could ever know how to help me!"

I tried to get out of his grasp, but he wouldn't have it, and I found myself pressed up against the tree once more. Screaming and kicking for him to let me go, I fought blindly until he let out an irritated growl.

"Why must you be so... infuriating! My name's Raven! Are you happy now?" he sounded furious and, for a second, I had the urge to cower in fear. But then I remembered that I was still pinned against a tree and being held hostage.

"No,Raven, I'm not. What's all this shit about you saying you can help me? How do you know I need any help? And what about molesting me? I could report you for that, you know."

His face contorted in fury, so enraged looking that I thought he was going to hit me, but then he turned away and let out a deep sigh.

"I can help you get over your grief. I know how it is to lose a loved one."

Funnily enough, Raven had distracted me enough that I almost forgot about my dead boyfriend until he brought it up again.

"Surely you aren't doing this without wanting something in return." I voiced, not exactly sure how he'd react.

He looked flustered for a second before regaining his composure and smirking at me. I wasn't pinned up against the tree anymore, but I still felt trapped when he locked gazes with mine, those violet orbs so hypnotizing that I felt my knees start to give out on me. Luckily he wrapped a strong arm around my waist before I could fall.

"I want you to love me just as much as I love you."

"You love me? I don't even know you!"

"Do you need to know anything else besides that I love you with my entire being?"

I was so confused, torn between hitting this guy and kissing him. Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes as I tried to back away only to be pulled closer to his strong, lean body by the arm still wrapped around my waist.

"Please don't cry," he begged, gently wiping away my tears. But his actions only caused me to sob harder. What was with me being so emotionally unstable tonight?

"Why me?" I finally managed to choke out.

I wanted to run. I wanted to hide.

I wanted everything to be back to normal.

"Because," he whispered softly, his burning gaze never once leaving me, "you're my mate."

Okay, so I had heard rumors about vampires being real all through my life, but to actually see one was an entirely different issue. And to find out that you're a vampire's mate? It was nothing short of life-changing.

And with all this information running through my head, I did something that I'll never regret. To this day, I still don't know what came over me to do such a thing, but so torn between my emotions, it seemed like the only thing to do.

I kissed him.

Pulling his head down by those silvery locks of hair, I met his lips in the most passionate and desperate kiss I've ever experienced. At first, his entire body went rigid with shock, but he soon began to kiss back hungrily, prying my mouth open and slipping his tongue inside.

I wasn't really sure how long we stood there kissing, but I know I was the first to pull away, gasping for breath and trying to assess what I just did without looking Raven in the eye.

"Stay with me," he pleaded, gently lifting my chin up with his hand until our eyes locked once more, "and I'll give you everything you've ever wanted. Stay with me and live in the moonlight forever."

And I made the first impulsive decision of my life – I agreed to stay.

I was never really sure what my family and friends thought about my sudden disappearance, whether I was killed or had committed suicide, but I never took the time nor energy to figure out.

I was happy and nothing else mattered.

That fateful night when Raven and I walked off in the moonlight, hand in hand, I only paused once to say something to him.

"You know, I really don't deserve someone like you."

"Nonsense," he whispered back to me, "Everyone deserves true love."