Vincent's secret followed the two men down the hall as they made their way to their rooms. A hush, as unshakable as pain, witnessed tendrils of memories snake around the lord and reach towards his angel.

Through a sliver separating two crimson curtains just before the chambers, Kylo witnessed dawn trying to creep over the land. Moving to the drapes, he drew them closer together until there was no more light.

"Thank you," Vincent said once Kylo had returned by his side. "Not just for that." He gestured to the window. "But for being here by my side. For listening and for accepting. Others would have fled, others would have..." his words trailed off as thoughts of his ex-wife, Esme popped in his head. When she had found out his secrets she had slit her wrists in her tub and turned her bathwater a deep crimson. It was a stain the lord could not remove. What Vincent was, how he became a vampire, had been too much for his lovely wife to endure.

Slipping his hand into Vincent's, Kylo curled his fingers around the lord's. "I will always be by your side."

Vincent felt a faint flutter behind his breastbone. Squeezing Kylo's hand, he pulled him close. "Always is such a long time."

Kylo bit his lip. Remembrance of their night together among the rosebushes of Vincent's German home flooded his mind. Kylo had offered himself to the lord: heart, body, soul...and blood. Though Vincent had leaned in, ready to bite and make Kylo his, something had stopped him.

"I cannot," Vincent had said and those worse still echoed in Kylo's ears.

Under a star-filled sky, the pair has spent the night curled up in each other's arms. Although Kylo had granted the lord everything, Vincent did not take it all.

"Yes," Kylo agreed, "always is a long time, but I have not come all this way only to leave." Tugging Vincent's hand, he made the lord stop walking just outside his bedroom. Kylo stepped around to face him so they stood toe to toe. "Do you desire me?" he whispered.

Vincent's free hand flew to his chest. He pressed it against his body, willing his heart to stay inside its cage. "Do I desire you?" he gasped. "More than I desire blood. What kind of question is that, my angel?"

"Then why do you not take me? Didn't I make myself clear that night under the roses?" His hand lifted and ghosted along Vincent's jaw.

"Crystal," Vincent muttered.

"I don't understand why you keep a distance then."

Shivering, Vincent reached up and grabbed Kylo's wrist. "I cannot drag you into my hell."

"My lord..." Kylo's hand fought to find its place back on Vincent's skin. "You did not drag. I came willingly." Watching Vincent's eyes storm, Kylo shook his head. "You were so close that night under the roses. You had said you wanted me soft-skinned and pale among a bed of red, and I gave myself to you."

Wincing, Vincent turned his face from Kylo. He remembered.

"We have shared the same home for nearly a month yet we reside in two different rooms." Kylo longed to be loved but by Vincent alone and he thought the desire would tear him apart. "Do you still see me as a Cinder-boy, dirty and broken?"

"No!" came a bellow from the lord. Swiftly, he took hold of Kylo's face and looked him in the eyes. "You are my angel. And you were never dirty or broken. You have always been clean. You have always been whole."

When Vincent groaned and cast his gaze away, Kylo asked, "Then why?"

"It is I...I want you so much at times I think I'll combust."

Inching up, Kylo whispered, "Then share my room with me."

Vincent shook his head. He could not bear it. Stepping over that fine line would make him want Kylo even more and he feared he would do what his father did, turn Kylo against his will. Although his angel had granted him permission long ago, the lord felt as though Kylo had not thought it through. "I cannot," he said softly, "not tonight." Stepping away from his angel, Vincent felt his heart slowing its beats.

"Then perhaps another? Soon?" Kylo asked hopefully.

Reaching for the handle, Vincent nodded faintly. "Perhaps." Before another word could be uttered, Vincent slipped into his chamber and closed the door.