Music Recommendation: Dances for Harp- Lavinia Meijer

Vincent's words stirred something deep within Eve's body. If Lady Paloma or the others in the house had as good hearing ability as this pureblooded vampire, they would have heard the loud thumping of her heart. Her heart had betrayed her.

Eve felt the slight pressure of Vincent's hands around her wrist, not in a painful way but one that kept her in the same place, and she noticed the wicked smile starting to appear on his lips, similar to a bud blooming into a flower. She replied,

"I don't need your kind generosity."

"It isn't generosity but a necessity in both of our lives," came the prompt words from Vincent. His hands moved down her wrist, feeling the softness of her skin on her forearms with the brush of his fingers. Now as she was in front of her, within his reach, he didn't want to let her go. In fairness, Eve had only told him that she was falling for him, though her actions were profound for him. He then declared, "Invite me for dinner."

Eve, who was lost in his coppery-red eyes, her eyebrows furrowed, "This is not my house, Mr. Moriarty."

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"But it is your aunt's best friend's house, isn't it?" Vincent wasn't particularly fond of how Eve chose to address him formally when he made his intentions clear to her. But that was alright. This was the woman he wanted to keep next to him, and he didn't mind her weak resistance to him.

By now, Lady Paloma had walked away from the room's front door, but Vincent didn't step away from her. Instead, his hand continued to lower down to her elbow until it came to settle on the sides of her waist.

Eve turned weak to his touches and words. She said, "Why do you want to be invited for dinner, when you can have a much more lavish one wherever you are staying?"

"I have been hanging on the trees in the cold," Vincent deadpanned, and he continued, "I would like to speak to your aunt about something. As she's important to you, I would like to take her blessings."

Eve's eyes narrowed because Vincent didn't take blessings from anyone. Was he planning to convince Aunt Aubrey to take her back with him?

"Why does it seem like there's something more to it," Eve's words turned much quieter than a whisper when Vincent moved his face closer to her once again, with his face angled, and she saw his lips part to speak.

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"Isn't it always something more than what it is?" His cold breath elicited a current that ran up her back and between her legs.

Remembering how he could pick up the scent of arousal, Eve was ready to pass out. Thankfully, the vampire didn't point it out this time, but his eyes were on hers as if trying to pull more emotions until her knees went weak. When Vincent's lips were barely away from each other, as if, if one were to move even a little, it would brush against each other, he pulled away from her with a crooked smile.

"It would be rude to extinguish the fire that I have lit. Let me watch you burn for me a little more. I must say I have always been fascinated by your expression. Something so enticing that makes one want to corrupt it."

To Eve's disappointment, Vincent pulled away from her. Her back leaning against the door, she said, "I thought you didn't want to corrupt me."

"I was being a gentleman with you, I gave you an option to choose someone else, but apparently you didn't like it and neither did I," Vincent stated, making his way towards the window. Outside the house it had turned dark, and he pushed the window upwards.

Eve moved away from the door and watched him turn into a bat in a blink of an eye before he flew out of the room. A frustrated sigh escaped from her lips, her body erratic and her thoughts all over the place. She needed some time to sink his words, where most of them made her happy, and her heart soared. But when she thought about the past, it worried her.

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Walking near the window, she closed and then locked it before drawing the curtain. Undressing, she stepped into the bath. Once she was done, she stepped out of the bath and dressed in an off-white dress and a peach ribbon that went around her waist.

Stepping out of the guest room, Eve walked towards the living room, where she could hear people talking. But her feet stopped, and her eyes widened when she heard Vincent's voice, and she quickly reached the room, finding him sitting in one of the fanciest chairs of the Lowe family.

When Vincent turned and met Eve's eyes, she held a baffled expression on her face. It looked as if in the time between him leaving the house and her finishing her bath, he had made himself comfortable, as he now held a teacup in his hand.

"Oh, Eve! Look who is here. It is your employer, Mr. Moriarty," an excited Lady Paloma said to Eve with a bright smile as if happy to have such a well-known person sitting in their house.

Eve offered a stiff smile to Vincent, who offered her a polite smile. She asked him with a slight glare, "What a surprise, Mr. Moriarty. What are you doing here?"

Lady Paloma quickly answered, "Mr. Moriarty was apparently in town for some work, and remembering you telling him about you and Aubrey here, he decided to visit to see Mr. Lowe's condition. It is good to see that you work for such an admirable and handsome man, Eve."

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Used to work, Eve thought.

That's what you think, Vincent thought right after reading her expression.

At the moment in the room, there were two unhappy people in the room. Eve stared at Vincent once she sat down next to her aunt. She didn't know what he was planning in his evil mind. The second person was the young man, Theophilus Lowe. It was because he noticed the vampire staring at Eve as if he was in love with her.