Chapter 76 - The Right Way To Show Gratitude

I knew JJ was in the office, burning midnight oil and electricity again. As I walked down the stairs, I asked myself once again if I really wanted to do it. Was it a calculated risk? Sort of. Would it be worse if I didn't even try? Definitely.

I forced myself to act casual as I entered the room.

JJ turned towards me as I approached, his eyes questioning, but I wasn't in the hurry to explain my reasons for coming around this time. Instead, I came to stand over his shoulder and peered at the computer screen. Instead of another Wikipedia article, JJ had the vampire forum open in front of him.

I haven't visited it since the mess with Christina. Something I should change, but right now I had other concerns. The object where they were focused stared up at me with green eyes, his short hair flowing around his head like a golden cloud. Beautiful, though still disturbing in how unfamiliar it felt.

"Did you want something, ma chèrie? Perhaps, a continuation of our interrupted discussion?" JJ prompted me at last, pulling me out of my staring. He smiled jokingly. "I expected you to ask for more time to mull over my words, not less."

I coughed, shifting on my feet, and gathered the determination I felt earlier. Like diving headfirst into cold water, like fighting mad vampire harpies.

"Well, you can say that, but not really? I just thought about something, JJ."

JJ shifted from a half-turned position on the chair to face me fully. "Yes?" 

"I realised I never actually thanked you for saving me from that explosion. No matter the other stuff, it cost you half of your skin and…" I looked away from his face, because this was the only way I could say the next part and not a) blush like mad, b) erupt into hysterical giggles, or c) all of the above. I had to clench my fists at my sides to hide the shaking of my fingers. "And I thought that I'd like to thank you properly, especially since I'm so late with that."

I watched JJ's eyes narrowing as he tried to understand the meaning of my words. Before he could decipher what I meant, I put my hands on the back of his chair and swooped in.

JJ's eyes widened in surprise at my actions, but it disappeared before I could even finish my movement. Still, he sat without movement until my lips found his.

They were just as soft as when I touched them earlier today with my fingers; but they might've been stone-hard and I couldn't have cared less. I pulled back only a moment later, feeling like a shy schoolgirl again. My heart pounded in my chest, and my lips tingled from the memory of the touch.

My eyes were glued to JJ's as I waited for his reaction. I had no idea what to expect. If we had a normal relationship… Maybe then I'd be more sure. But in the weird dance we were in, I felt like I was making my steps blind.

I saw the first flickers of red in the green of his eyes as JJ stood up. On some instinct, I took a step away from him, but he immediately crossed that distance. A predatory smirk appeared on his lips, freezing me in place completely.

"Oh, ma chèrie. Who gives their saviours a kiss like that in gratitude?" JJ chastised with a shake of his head. He raised his hand to rub a thumb over my cheekbone, the touch of his fingers sending more tingles over my skin. "Let me show you how it's properly done."

My eyes widened and my lips parted as I stared at JJ. This man! To say something like this, in this moment; only he…

Then his mouth met mine, and I forgot my shock. My world narrowed down to the feel of him on me, and then in me, when his tongue slipped into my mouth. My knees felt weak, and when his hands gripped my waist, steadying me, I leaned on JJ as if he was my only pillar of support. The scent of his cologne entered my nostrils, floral and spicy, with a hint of musk.

A moan of bliss left me, only to be muffled by his mouth on mine. JJ kissed with an expertise that could've only come from centuries of practice, and with an amount of passion that I didn't expect to feel coming from him. My eyes fluttered closed. In moments, I burned with enough heat for both of us; all my pent-up lust had found an outlet at last.

This was both what I yearned for and was afraid of, but at the moment, there was no place for fears. My bravery increased exponentially with each passing moment. Soon, I had built up enough courage to put my hands on the hard, yet shapely, plane of JJ's chest—cold, but no less desirable from that. I explored JJ's mouth with my tongue, mindful of his fangs, and forgot about everything outside the kiss.

A minute or an hour might have passed by the time we finally disengaged. I was heaving like I just ran a marathon. Contrary, JJ appeared almost unruffled, if not for his eyes, the green in which disappeared completely, replaced by pure scarlet.

He looked demonic now, with these eyes, with a hint of fangs visible through his slightly parted lips, but I didn't have even a thought about running in fear. Instead, I wanted only to kiss him again.

"J…" I stumbled over a two-letter word and tried again, but like the moment deserved. "Jean-Jacques…"

"Yes, Diana?" he asked, leaning close enough that his words caressed my skin with the air he exhaled.

I tried to pick something to say from the jumbled mess of thoughts in my head, and one of them jumped to my tongue before I could stop it. "You won't walk out on me now, right?"

JJ chuckled—a deep, throaty sound that stirred up the flames inside of me even more. "What a silly question, ma chèrie.. How could I? We still have so much to do, you and I."