The Beautiful Monster

Chapter 270  Answers

Melina took in a deep, steadying breath before she knocked on the door to Tyler's dorm. She didn't even know if he was here, but it was the best place for her to try.

She waited a few minutes, lifting her hand to knock again when the door swung open.

Before he could register who was at his door, Tyler looked completely distraught. His eyes were red. His mouth was twisted down into a frown.

It looked like he had lost all hope. Then, the light flooded back to his eyes when he realized that she was there.

"Mel," he breathed out in relief. "I turned around and you were gone… I thought she took you."

Melina frowned, not realizing that she had freaked him out that much. She hadn't meant to. Things just got too intense, and she had to go off somewhere else just to breathe.

"I just needed some space. I'm sorry that I worried you," she murmured as she lowered her eyes. It was hard seeing him like this.

Despite everything, she still cared about him. She didn't think that anything could change that because plenty had happened, but she still went back to him.

"Do you want to come in? I know you want to talk," he said as he held the door open for her.

Melina nodded and walked into his dorm, which looked the same as hers. However, he didn't have ingredients and spell books.

Vampires had small fridges in their rooms to store their blood bags. She moved to sit on his bed, needing to be seated for this.

"So, you were hired to watch over me," she said, launching right into the conversation. She wanted to know everything.

Tyler stood in front of her, looking smaller than usual. He looked deflated.

"Yes. It's what I do," he explained to her. "You're not a job to me, though."

"I started off as one. My real parents hired you after the attack," Melina said, ignoring his last sentence and bringing them right back to the background information.

She needed to fact check with him to make sure that no one was lying to her. Her trust issues had become severe lately, but she couldn't even blame herself. Literally everyone lied to her.

"Yes. They told me to just do recon. Watch you from down the hall. Inspect your friends," Tyler replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I wasn't told to engage with you."

"Why did you?" Melina asked him.

"Well, it was an accident at first. I was looking for your dorm and didn't even realize that I had ended up right in front of it until you walked out.

 I could've just walked off, but… you caught my eye," Tyler admitted with a sheepish shrug. "I had to introduce myself and get to know you. Even if I was supposed to, I wasn't thinking about work in that moment."

Melina felt her heart flutter, but she tried to ignore the feeling. She didn't want to lower her wall that quickly. She wanted to make sure that what they had between them was real. She didn't want to be lied to.

"You talked to me and got close to me because you liked me?" she asked him.

"Yeah, not really professional, huh?" Tyler replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I made so many mistakes with this job because I was so distracted by you. I let you get to me."

Melina looked down at her lap as he stepped closer to her. She could feel her skin tingling as he stopped right in front of her.

At least she wasn't alone in feeling drawn to him immediately. It seemed like they had been drawn to each other.

"Nothing is as it seemed," she breathed out, feeling tears gather in her eyes. The weight of everything crashed down on her, and her wall crumbled.

Tyler wrapped her up into a tight hug, rubbing her back in a comforting motion.

"I've got you," he promised her.

Melina buried her face in the crook of his neck, holding him tightly and not wanting to let go. She believed that all of these people had her best interest in mind, but she hated that she had been left in the dark for so long.

She felt like her entire life was a lie, and she had trouble getting a grip on herself.

"I don't even know what's real," she whimpered.

Tyler pulled back to cup her face, making her eyes land on his.

"This is real. I'm real. What we feel for each other is real," he reminded her.

Melina's bottom lip trembled as she gazed at him. He was right. He was one of the few things in her life that felt real.

She needed to latch onto him. In a surge of emotion, she leaned forward and kissed him hard, crushing her lips against his.

Tyler leaned into the kiss, returning the touch before pulling back.

"I care about you, Melina. This isn't a job to me. I want to keep you safe. I want you by my side," he told her.

Melina blinked away her tears as she nodded. She believed him. She could feel how much he cared about her in his touch, in his kiss.

Now, all she wanted was him. She wanted to be reminded of what it was like to be cared for, of what it was like to be real.

"I need you," she told him with a pleading look on her face. "Please."

Tyler nodded before kissing her passionately, cupping her tear-stained face in his hands. Their kiss was soft and slow for only a few seconds.

Things started to heat up as their hands started to move, gripping and caressing wherever they could reach.

Melina broke from the kiss to take her shirt off, reaching behind her to unclasp her bra while Tyler tore off his own shirt.

She grabbed the front of his belt and pulled him back between her legs, kissing him hard as she undid his belt and jeans.

She didn't want to waste any time. She had to have him now, to feel him as part of her.