The Taste of Seduction

Meredith\'s hand cupped his jaw line gently and she lightly brushed her thumb over the plane of his

cheekbone.

"Look at me….Atlas….please." she said softly, gazing up into his sorrowful, blue eyes.

Pain, anger and love coursed through his veins as he finally gazed at her beautiful face, aching to wipe away her tears and pull her into his arms.

"I love you…. Only you." She smiled faintly at him.

Atlas looked away again, balling his hand into a fist.

A deep feral sound of agony rumbled from his

throat.

"It\'s going to hurt too much if I touch you now, and then have to say goodbye. I\'m not certain I could bear it." He said, still refusing to look at her.

Meredith broke into tears and pulled away from him. Her lips curled up into a sad smile and nodded,

"I shouldn\'t have come…..I\'m sorry….sorry…I thought you would be happy to see me…."

A great sob escaped her, and she covered her face with shaking hands. Her heart broke into pieces.

The lump in her throat was unbearable. She wiped her tears and glanced up at him.

He looked into her eyes, and her breath caught in

her throat as she saw the sadness in his eyes. She had never seen him so vulnerable.

He opened his arms, as if asking her to run into him now. "Come here," he whispered.

Meredith ran into his arms and he hugged her tightly.

Burying his face in her hair, he inhaled deeply the familiar scent he was so obsessed with.

Meredith pulled away, looked up at him. His pain, frustration and anger smoldered in his eyes.

With a groan, he lowered his mouth to hers. He couldn\'t hold back. He didn\'t care at the moment if she was betrothed to another or if she was never going to be his, he just wanted her.

Nothing in the world would have kept him from kissing her.

Meredith moaned in delight. Oh how she

miss his kisses and now that his lips were on hers, claiming her once again she remembered how his lips always feel so right against hers.

Atlas pulled away and leaned forward to touch his forehead with her forehead, while having a gentle smile on his face.

She blushed in reply and locked his neck in her arms. He rested his palms on her waist.

"I have to tell you something…."

Meredith\'s heart froze in place when she saw that his eyes were glistening with tears.

"What?" She rasped, her voice shaking.

"I love you, Meredith ," he said the three words, and her heart felt like it was about to explode out of her chest.

"I\'m not losing you." His voice was firm as he said the

last sentence, like he wouldn\'t let anyone take her away from him.

Meredith knew….knew there was something he wasn\'t telling her but she didn\'t care.

For now there was nothing important and nowhere else she would rather be than here, in his arms.

"I love you more….more than anything." Meredith replied with a smile on her face.

Atlas stared at her, as if imprinting this moment in his mind.

Then he brushed his lips against her and kissed

her slowly while holding her close to him.

Meredith responded to his kiss with pure happiness, and for once, she didn\'t give a damn about the world --it was only the two of them at the moment.

"God, I missed you," he whispered between their

kisses as he pulled apart.

"I miss you more. So tell me are you coming to the city with your uncle? I can\'t wait to meet you. I\'m lone-"

Meredith paused when she saw the subtle shift in Atlas\'s emotions.

"Atlas….you\'re coming right?"

A deep pain etched in Atlas\'s eyes, but his voice was

strong, unwavering, "I don\'t know…yet"

"What?" Meredith whispered, her heart hammering in her chest.

"My uncle said only the first born male is destined to be the knight of the royal family and I\'m not the first born. Ace is.

Also there is a possibility that one of us is human and the other is a werewolf since our father was human.

Ace is the eldest and even though we haven\'t done the seal removal ritual yet I\'m sure it will be him since he is the eldest."

I might be powerful here, Angel….but there I\'m just a nobody, I can\'t protect you from powerful supernaturals.

And if there is something I hate more than losing you, is my inability to protect you.

"Also I asked my uncle what would happen if you refused to marry the prince."

Atlas took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair.

"He said a lot of people would die. How many people are we willing to die for our love?"

He asked, his tone tight. "100? 1000? More? Because that is what will happen if you run from your responsibility. Vampire wars are vicious.

Blood will flow.

More blood than you can imagine and I know you Angel. You would never forgive yourself. The guilt would eat you away slowly.

You would never be happy with a love built on bloodshed. Also apparently a knight can\'t marry the queen. Only someone of royal blood can marry the queen."

"No," Meredith\'s voice broke.

"So are we just giving up? Is this it?"

Atlas gave her a sad smile and shook his head, "No….we are never giving up. I wouldn\'t stop fighting for you.

I don\'t care how long it would take but I will trained until I\'m stronger and powerful enough to stand beside you.

I don\'t want to be your weakness or distraction. I want to be a shoulder for you to rest on when you get tired.

Only then would I truly deserve you. And even you can\'t be mine I would be happy just being by your side, watching you bloom into a powerful queen."

A deep sob broke from Meredith\'s throat and she nodded in understanding.

It took every bit of strength she had to force her emotions back down.

She couldn\'t fall apart.She needed to be strong for him.For them.

She didn\'t know when he would hold her like this. When they might whisper sentiments of love.

Loss and emptiness stronger than she had ever felt, strangled her in its grip. She stared into his anguished swirling blue eyes and whispered,

"I love you, always and forever."

Atlas pulled her into his arms. He held her close as time ticked by, and muttered brokenly against her neck"

"I will love you forever, Angel.."

He kissed her lips one last time, "Remember our initial plan?"

Meredith sniffed and nodded, "Yes."

"Good. Nothing has changed. We will go through it, until I come. If we remove the seal tomorrow and I\'m the werewolf then I will come back with my uncle.

If it\'s Ace, I\'m sure he would protect you with all that he got until I\'m powerful enough to come for you. Only when you\'re powerful enough can you take control of your life, until then be the hunter."

A/N: Okay so like I said the last two chapters wasn\'t how my initial outline was. I just wanted to bring Atlas back as gift to you guys and give Meredith a reason to keep fighting. It seems I had forgotten Atlas already knew about the betrothed.

But…they didn\'t know how serious the situation was. A lot of people are engaged on earth but keep fooling around.

The soul-tie and no divorce makes things complicated for them and the possibility of Atlas being mere human makes matters worse. He can\'t compete with a powerful vampire and protect his woman that\'s why he was disheartened and was drinking.

But he is THE ATLAS… hehe just a moment of weakness but he would bounce back so stay tuned^^ I hope I have clear any misunderstandings if you have any issue please let me know. Thank you!