Transformed - 7. First Kiss

Dinner could not have been any more awkward. All the male vampires had gone out on the pretext of work when Amna said everyone had to sit with my family for dinner. Obviously eating dinner was a horrifying prospect for a vampire. Aaliya had been furious when Ali left. She had used a string of swear words on him, some I had never even heard of until Amna forbade her from using such words. Rehan would have stayed, only he had a condition that I should go with him into the forest. When I asked why, his thoughts had turned so dirty that I yelled at him, refusing to do so and he went to the forest for hunting with Farhan, while Salim had gone to the hospital.

Amna, Mehreen, Aaliya, me and my family were seated around the dining table. Mehreen had cooked something which looked delicious to my family, but all I could smell was rotten garbage. Aaliya did not eat anything, she only put something in her mouth when either mom or dad happened to glance her way and grimaced at the taste. Mehreen occasionally put the food in the trashcan under the table. Amna and my mom were chatting away, while Aqsa was eating from Aaliya's lap. I stared at her enviously. Aaliya looked at me and thought, "She's so adorable, I can't help it." They both had bonded within minutes.

Mom looked at me and frowned. "You haven't eaten anything." she remarked. I looked at the bowl of soup in front of me and hastily put a spoonful in my mouth. Its vomit-like taste made me regret it instantly. I choked and Mehreen thumped me on the back. I could see mom's eyes on everyone's almost full plates. Amna had told my mom that I could eat only liquid foods now. I said I was not hungry and went to my room after drinking a glass of water.

It was amost eleven thirty now. I was simply sitting in my room, staring blanky at the walls as I could not sleep and had nothing else to do thanks to Rehan who had taken my cell with him to the forest. That bloody bastard. He thought I might come to him to retrieve it. Well, he must learn to live with disappointment because I would never go to him at all.

I looked out of the windows. It was a full moon night. Mom, dad and Aqsa were sleeping in the room next to me. I opened the window. A cool breeze fanned my face. Oh well, a small trip to the forest wouldn't hurt. I climbed out of the window and landed on my feet on the ground. I could smell Rehan's scent. It was nice, kind of like peppermint. Inhaling his scent for a second, I sprinted off in the opposite direction to avoid him.

Running through the forest was a nice experience. The wind whipped my hair and I could smell out different animals and birds sleeping in their homes. I ran at full speed for a minute before stopping. This was cool. I wasn't even out of breath and I must have run at least five miles. A stream bubbled silently ahead of me. I moved towards it when I heard a voice, "I knew you would come."
I turned around to face an amused Rehan, who was leaning against a tree. He looked totally sexy, with his jet-black hair falling over his golden eyes. "You!" I hissed angrily, even though my insides were dancing.
"Me." he replied calmly.
"What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you. What else, sweetheart?" He smirked, then added, "Couldn't keep yourself away from me?"
"I just came here to get my cell back. Give it or else I will rip you apart." I snarled. He didn't even blink.

"Not so fast, sweetheart. I must get something in return."
"You will not get anything from me, bastard."
"No? How about a deal then, sweetheart? You get your cell back only after I get a kiss from you."
"In your dreams, moron."
He shook his head. "You don't have much vocabulary on bad words, it seems. If you wish I could give you a few 'private' lessons."
"No, thanks. Filthy fortune teller."
"What's so important about this cell anyway?" he asked, removing my battered Nokia E90 from his pocket and twirling it in his hands. "I mean, it looks like a single touch could shatter it." He was extremely curious.

"It's special." I whispered. He raised an eyebrow. "I mean, my mom had forbidden me to watch movies, read novels, surf net or listen to music. But I broke all her rules with the help of my little gadget." I pointed to my cell. "I used it to download movies, books and songs. Every night, after everyone had fallen asleep, I used to watch movies and all with the help of earphones." I took a deep breath. "It's the only thing that kept me from running away from home all these years."
"How romantic." he sneered
Moron. I reached for my phone. As my palm closed around it, he moved so fast next thing I knew I was pinned against the tree and his face was inches away from me. I dropped the phone. "Hey!" I yelled. "Are you nuts? Let me go!" I tried to move but his hands pinned me harder against the tree.

"Remember the deal?" he whispered. I froze. When did he move so close that his forehead touched mine? He raised one hand. I tried to escape but it was a big mistake. He pressed his body against mine, almost making me shiver. I put my hands in front of me, between his body and mine, on his chest.
This was uncomfortable. My hands were on his chest. I could feel the electricity passing between us. He was staring at me, drinking in my features. He raised his hand and trailed the back of his fingers across my cheek to my jaw. I could not suppress a shiver. He smiled at me. "Lovely." he breathed in my ear. His fingers began to move up along the length of my arm. I shuddered. He rubbed my neck softly before winding his hands in my hair and removed the band securing my hair so that it tumbled down on my face.

Oh god! What was I doing? I was in the middle of a forest with a jerk and I was allowing him to open my hair? No guy ever saw my hair. Or my face. And here I was, standing in a guy's arms and my hair was openly waving around me. I was going insane. I had to get out of here before he did anything else. I struggled to get out of his arms, but it was useless. Though I was newborn, I was weaker than him as I drank water instead of blood. A newborn remained extremely strong for seven months. But I had become weaker now itself as I drank water. Or maybe it was because I was standing in the arms of a vampire on whom I was secretly crushing from the time I woke up as a vampire, my feet were unwilling to move.

Rehan brushed away the hair covering my face. I stared at him, my breath heavy. He closed his eyes and slowly began to lean in. "No, don't." I breathed. He stopped and said in a breathless voice, "Why not?"
"Don't play such a dirty joke on me."
He didn't open his eyes. "I'm not joking, sweetheart." he said, now annoyed
"Stop calling me sweetheart."
He didn't reply. He placed his hands on either side of my face and leaned even closer. There was literally no space between our lips.
"Please," my voice was a scratchy whisper. "Don't do this."
"All those years I have been waiting for this, for you. I can't wait any longer." His voice was desperate, strained, he seemed to have lost control of his senses.

"I...please don't" I was cut off as his lips finally met mine. His lips were extremely soft and warm. He kissed me slowly, desperately as his fingers twined in my hair. My eyes widened. I froze. I didn't even move, not even to push him off me. He kept on kissing me, while I made no move on him. Then his thoughts invaded my head, "Close your eyes, sweetheart, and kiss me back." I didn't know what to do. My whole body was heated even though my skin felt cold, my mind was strangely unfocused. Against my will, my eyes closed and even though my mind was screaming no, I began to kiss him back.

His hands tightened in my hair and his lips began to move faster against mine, crushing my lips. I moaned. His left hand left my hair and wrapped itself around my waist, pressing me close to him. My hands twisted in his hair, ruffling it. He groaned, clearly enjoying it. His tongue traced my lower lip. I froze.
My eyes snapped open. I realized what I had been doing. My fingers loosened themselves from his hair. Summoning all my strength, I pushed him away from me.
His eyes opened. "What?" he protested. We both were breathing very heavily. I stared at him. His hair was messy from where my fingers had run through. His thoughts were confused. He looked at me, wanting to kiss me again. I shook my head. "Sorry." I breathed. "For what?" he asked, now irritated. "For kissing me?"
I flinched but didn't reply. Turning around, I picked up my cell and was about to run off towards the house when he said, "I love you."

I spun around so fast that I dropped the phone again. Damn it. I stared at him, disbelief clearly etched on my face. "I love you." he repeated again, his voice rougher. "Nice try." I hissed. "But I think you can make a better joke than that."
"Joke?" he asked, anger flaring inside him. "You think I am joking?"
I nodded and said, "That's what every guy does. Make an innocent girl believe in his jokes, totally fuck her up and then break her heart. That's what you're trying to do, but I'm sorry to say it won't work on me."
That seemed like adding fuel to fire. He grabbed me and wound his arms around my waist so tightly that I was almost crushed. I looked up, to see his eyes blazing angrily. I gulped. I had never seen anyone so angry. He weaved a hand in my hair again and crushed his lips on mine. This time it was different, more rougher. His tongue had somehow entered my mouth and he was pressing me tightly against him.

I tried to move, but I couldn't even breathe. I had to do something before things got out of hand. My foot searched for his and I stamped down hard on it. He stopped kissing me, instead his lips landed on my neck. I tried to move but his arms held me prisoner. He brushed his lips along the length of my neck to my jaw.
I pushed him off me. He leaned back and stared at me, still keeping his arms wound around me. His breathing was ragged, heavy and his voice was husky as he whispered for the third time, "I love you, and I'm not joking."

I stared at him, unable to say anything. He wasn't lying, I could hear his mind begging me to believe him. I turned away from him, grabbed the phone and sprinted away before he could do anything else.

Climbing into my room, I closed the window and collapsed on the floor. What have I done? I must have gone nuts, kissing him like that. I sniffed myself. I smelled like Rehan. If anyone noticed it, I would get screwed. I was just about to enter the shower when the door opened and Aaliya entered.
"Where have you been?" she asked indignantly, but stopped when she saw my face. Her eyes widened when she saw my hair all ruffled and spread in a wild mess around me. "Oh shit. Where the fuck have you been?" she repeated. "Forest." I replied. "What happened to you?" she thought. I shrugged, "Nothing."
"Liar." she thought. "You were with Rehan, weren't you? What were you doing?"
"What? No way I was just-"
"Oh My God, you did you-know-what with him, didn't you?"
"EW! Stop it. I was just running through the forest. I didn't do anything!"
"Yeah, yeah. For your information you reek of Rehan's scent."
"For heaven's sake I didn't have sex with Rehan. Or anything else for that matter."
Aaliya gave me a devilish grin. "Fine, don't admit it. Rehan will tell me." saying this she opened my window and leaped out of it. I groaned.

"Your first time in the forest under the full moon. That's so romantic." Mehreen thought. I snorted, "Yeah, right. I didn't do anything, for your information." Thank goodness Farhan, Amna, Ali and Salim were out or I would have died out of embarrassment.

What the hell was wrong with me? First, I let him pin me close to him and I let him open my hair. Then I not only let him kiss me, but also kissed him back! I must be out of my mind. But I couldn't shake it out of my head. The way he had kissed me, the way he had said that he loved me, the way I had kissed him back kept tormenting me as I took a quick shower to remove Rehan's scent from my body. It was my first kiss.

Breakfast was very uncomfortable. No one had been able to escape this meal. Farhan would put something in his mouth, only to grimace and almost puke. Aaliya did not eat anything, whenever Ali was not looking she would put pieces of food from her plate into his. Mehreen was still using last night's strategy, throwing food in the trashcan under the table. Rehan didn't even look at his food. All through breakfast he kept staring at me. His hair was still messed up from last night and now almost everyone knew what had happened, because my scent still lingered on him. And thanks to Aaliya for the gossip.

Mom frowned at me, "You're not eating anything."
"I'm not hungry."
"You didn't eat anything last night either."
"I feel sick."
Mom turned away from me and her eyes landed on Rehan. She saw him staring at me. Her mood lightened. At least he seems to like her, she thought. He sure will make a good husband for Rumana. I groaned inwardly. What the hell is wrong with my mom?
I looked over at Dad. He didn't seem to have much thought on his mind. It was strangely calm and blank inside there, while mom's mind was filled with thoughts of uniting me and Rehan. God, did she ever think of anything else besides marriage?
Aqsa leaned across from my mother's lap to me. "Sistah Lumana." she smiled, showing all her dimples. I grinned at her and leaned towards her. Every vampire in the room stiffened. Ignoring them, I picked her up and put her on my lap. My throat burned a bit but I ignored it.

Aqsa grabbed the spoon on the table and began banging it against the table. Mom winced. "Stop it." she ordered Aqsa. I smiled at my sister and removed the spoon from her hands. She left my lap and began running around the table. Everyone watched her, fascinated. Well, my sister was one attractive kid.

Rehan was still staring at me. It was annoying. I aimed a kick at him under the table but hit Aaliya instead. She cursed, "Oh fu.." but stopped short when everyone glared at her. She sent me a 'what the hell was that for' look. I mouthed sorry at her.

It was almost noon. I was on Facebook through my mobile, thanks to the Wi-Fi in this house. I had three new messages. First one was from Daphne. It read: Yo dude! R u still alive? :)
The second was from Noor: Man, do u ever cum online? Miss u lots. Reply asap.
The third was from Rohini: Hey was sup. Did u do any assignments yet? I just did half of eco and business. Rply back soon. Enjoy you holidays.

Mom entered the room. "We need to talk." she said. Oh no. I could see what this was about. Please don't speak mom, everyone can hear you. Too late. She started speaking.
"You know Rumana, we have been trying to find a husband for you." We? Hello, no one was as interested in finding a husband for me as you, mom. I'd say 'I' would fit perfectly instead of 'we'. "Well," she continued, "After your disappearance, it will be difficult to find a good husband."
"Cool."
"It's not cool! We won't be around to look after you forever. You must have someone to depend upon."
"Why can't I be independent, mom?"
"You are a girl. You don't have to be independent. Now I was thinking about someone perfect for you. What do you think of Rehan?"

Thanks to
Surabhi, Danielle, Brit and Pappu for commenting

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