Eve noticed a maid light the wood logs in the fireplace, and in a minute the room started to brighten apart from the light that came from the candles already burning in the room.

"If you need me, I will be in my room. It is two corridors away from here," Vincent said, watching Eve look at the painting that hung on the wall.

Eve nodded, "Thank you for offering us to help us this early."

"Well the mansion has plenty of rooms, it would be a sin to not use it when in need," Vincent remarked, turning to look at the closed door, "You should get some sleep."

"Yes," a sigh escaped Eve's lips, and she said, "Earlier today when I was taking a bath, I had this weird dream when I was still in the bathtub."

"What was it about?" Vincent inquired in curiosity, watching Eve purse her lips and her eyes met his coppery-red eyes. "Another bonfire? Or something ominous?"

"It was ominous," Eve tried to remember the dream and the person who had tried to choke her. But she was a half mermaid and half siren to be drowned in the bathtub. She said, "I couldn't see who it was, but the person appeared to want me dead. The bathtub broke."

Vincent stepped closer to Eve and brushed his hand against her hair resting near her neck. His eyes narrowed, and he said, "It wasn't a dream. You have fingerprints on your skin here. It is good that you are here now."

Eve turned alert, while she hadn't paid attention to her neck until now. She said, "But Eugene said there was no intruder, and no signs of breaking."

Vincent wondered who had tried to enter Eve's room and hurt her. He said, "It could be the shadowers. A person's shadow is controlled and manipulated so that it behaves as a person, by leaving the person's side and doing the work. It is probably why you didn't see a face."

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"Are they different kinds like vampires, mermaids?" Eve asked him.

"They can be anyone from any kind. There are certain conditions to be met, if you want to be a shadower. It isn't an innate characteristic, but something you achieve over the time," Vincent explained, and on noticing Eve's curious eyes waiting for him to speak more on it, he said, "If a person wants to use their shadows as a shadower does, they need to kill the person, who is closest to them. Rip the victim's heart out, and make a binding and offer it to their shadow. Along with a few other sacrificial rituals and spells."

"This doesn't sound good," Eve whispered, as if one thing wasn't enough to worry her, now there was some stranger who wanted to kill her.

Vincent took Eve's hand and said, "It isn't, but I will help you protect and fight the shadowers. You aren't alone and have me." His words felt warm, and they put her mind to ease.

Her eyes lowered for a moment before she looked up at him, "Thank you for standing next to me and always having my back."

"I don't mind having your front," Vincent shrugged before a wicked smile appeared on his lips. Leaning forward, he kissed one side of her temple and took a whiff of the flowery scent wafting from her hair. "You smell nice. Sweet, ready to be devoured."

Now that they were once again alone in the middle of the night with no one to bother them, Eve felt him press his nose in her hair.

Vincent whispered, "Were you planning to tempt me tonight, my little girl? No shame in admitting it," and he wrapped his hands around her waist. Bringing her close to him, he lowered his head to her ear and said, "If you admit it, you might get what you have been craving."

A sigh escaped from Eve's lips, and for a moment, she closed her eyes to feel the pressure of his lips, and it started to stir the emotions in her heart and the other parts of her body.

Vincent continued to circle his hands around Eve's waist before he pushed her back further towards him, and she stared into his eyes, a breathless breath escaping from her lips as if waiting for him to breathe life back into her mouth.

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"So what is it, my dear Eve?" Vincent questioned her, bringing his head back to trail the tip of his nose down her cheek and neck.

"What?" Eve asked, lost in her thoughts, and a smile emerged from Vincent's lips.

"Is there anything you are interested in tonight? A goodnight kiss perhaps?" Vincent whispered those words reverberated against her neck. His sinful lips didn't touch her skin, but they hovered, evoking Eve's arousal, and she clutched on his arms. The grip of his hands on her lower back had her legs pressed against each other, and she started to feel heady.

"A quick goodnight kiss?" Eve replied breathily, and Vincent raised his head, taking a good look at the woman in his arms.

"I doubt you will be satisfied with something so small, and now that you are home, I don't think there's any hurry to it," Vincent hummed before lowering the height of his body from Eve's by bending down, while releasing his hands from her waist.

Soon, Eve felt Vincent lift her with his arm going around to settle on her bottoms, and he instructed her, "Wrap your legs around my waist."

Eve blushed at his words but shyly did what he asked her, putting her arms around his neck so she wouldn't fall. Vincent walked her to the table present in the room, letting her settle there for a moment, and she released her legs to let them dangle at the edge of the table.

Vincent looked straight into Eve's eyes. He placed his hands on her knees and stepped close enough, and pulled her towards him such that he balanced her.

"Someone will come in," Eve whispered, and when her eyes shifted from him to look at the main door of the room. But feeling his hands move up, her blue eyes quickly looked back at him.

"No one is going to disturb us. Most of them here have common sense to not interfere when I am busy," Vincent's hand continued to trail up such that Eve's skirt hitched up, and she heard him ask her, "So far good?"

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"This is in no means a goodnight," Eve stated, noticing Vincent's lips spread with a wide smile while his eyes seductively looked at her.

"Hm, is that so? You are mistaken, but this is exactly how you start a goodnight..." Vincent's voice trailed, and soon his lips touched hers.

With her feet dangling and being supported by Vincent, she felt slightly more vulnerable, and her toes curled. Prying her lips open, he took in her upper lip to suck at it first and then bite into her lips. She winced because of the sharp pain and felt him run his tongue along the length of her lip before sucking it between his teeth.

Eve sighed in the sweet tantalising sensation, getting lost in Vincent's lips, which sucked and bit her. She realised it was something she very much liked and was aware of his hands that moved higher and higher, which came to settle next to the sides of her bottom. She felt her heart hitch when he pulled her such that she pressed against him.

"Ouch!" Eve yelped, feeling one of Vincent's fangs nip into her bottom lip so that he could taste the blood that he had missed for so long.

Vincent's eyes glowed bright red, like burning charcoal that could burn anything that touched it, and he let her burn in his arms. When she felt he was going to bite her again, her fingers gripped his hair near the nape of his neck, which did the trick of pulling him away from her lips. She saw him send her a slight glare, where he looked like a beast that wanted to consume her.

A gasp escaped from her lips when Vincent locked his hands on the back of her knees and pulled her such that she almost fell off the table, but he caught her.

Lifting Eve up in his arms and having her legs wrapped around his waist, Vincent walked them towards the bed. Once they reached the edge of the bed, he let them fall on the surface of the bed such that her back was pressed against the surface of the bed, while he hovered above her.

"I am hungry," Vincent murmured.

"Eugene is an excellent cook. If you want to eat no--" Eve's words were hushed by Vincent's thumb that brushed against her bottom lip.

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"Why look for the cook when the sweet delicacy is right in front of me like an offering," Vincent hummed with a wicked smile. He whispered to her seductively, "I can eat you... can't I?"