Chapter 175: Boundaries and Finding Balance
After concluding her own outing during the day, Ashlynn’s second ’date night’ with Nyrielle involved a more subdued visit to a musical performance that the vampire referred to as a ’symphony.’ There were even more musicians than at the opera but thankfully for Ashlynn’s troubled heart, the performance lacked a distinct narrative. Beautiful music could be enjoyed for its own sake.
The dinner that followed was luxurious but even Nyrielle could tell that her lover’s heart wasn’t in it. Their previous evening had been too intense and they were both holding themselves back from going too far tonight.
For Ashlynn, the memory of teetering on the edge of a dark abyss as Nyrielle fed on her was far to fresh. For Nyrielle, it had been even worse. As Ashlynn had once surmised, there had been times in the past when Nyrielle lost control while feeding and killed people she hadn’t intended to.
Last night, after her close call with Ashlynn, the dreams that haunted her were recollections of the people she’d lost to her hunger because she failed to restrain herself. By the time she woke this evening it took her several minutes to regain her composure before seeing Ashlynn again.
"You should take the rest of the night to rest," Nyrielle finally said at the end of their meal. She had other plans but dismissed them when she realized that they wouldn’t bring Ashlynn any joy.
"I’d hoped that this place would revitalize you more. You deserve to enjoy the finer things in life and I’ve given you far too few of them. It seems I’ve misunderstood, my darling," she said, tracing a finger gently down Ashlynn’s cheek.
"No, I," Ashlynn started, only to stop herself short so she could choose her words with more care. Nyrielle had a way of making her lose her composure and while she never felt that she said things that were untrue or hurtful when Nyrielle left her flustered, she did feel that she wasn’t always clear when she needed to be.
"I love you," Ashlynn said, stepping closer and wrapping her arms around Nyrielle’s slender waist. "With all of my being. And I’m afraid of you sometimes," she added hesitantly. "More like, I’m afraid that loving you isn’t as simple as ordinary human love. Last night was dangerous. I think, if I didn’t pull back, I could have gotten hurt. It would have been an accident but still..."
"And that makes you fear me," Nyrielle said, her voice trembling ever so slightly. Her hands froze just short of wrapping around Ashlynn’s shoulders as she hovered uncertainly on Ashlynn’s words.