12. Alena
TWELVE
ALENA
The Prophet pets my head before I sense him leaning close and sniffing my hair.
My skin literally wants to slide off my bones and run away screaming.
But I can’t.
I’m trapped in this twisted metaphysical… Hell.
With no one to help me.
No matter how hard I try to will myself to wake up, I can’t. I know this is some kind of nightmare, that my body isn’t truly here, because the Prophet just sent Jeffrey off to retrieve it.
Yet knowing that doesn’t help me one bit. As far as my mind is concerned, everything here is real.
The Prophet’s nose begins to drag down to my throat, and I hear him take in a deep breath.
Oh god, why does he keep smelling me?
“I want to taste you,” he rasps as his teeth scrape against my skin. “But I know it won’t be as good as when we’re finally together.”
I can’t stop the shudder that runs through my entire body.
Everything about the Prophet, from his hollow, unnatural voice to the way he looks, is repulsive. It’s as if my very aura wants to shove his presence away.
He’s not the right one , my body seems to be telling me.
He’s not Raphael.
The place between my breasts, the spot I found so annoying earlier, throbs hard. As if simply thinking Raphael’s name caused it.
Raphael , I think again, testing the theory, and feel the throbbing between my breasts growing stronger.
Cold fingers suddenly dig into my chin and the Prophet nearly rips my head off my neck as he forces me to look at him.
“You will not think of that pretender while you are in my presence!” he commands. His words rubbing against my nerves like sandpaper. “You will not think of him at all! He doesn’t exist!”
All the candles in the room flare, as if they’re in tune with the Prophet’s anger. Glowing so bright their light stings my eyes.
I squint against the bright light and resist the urge to cower in fear.
Instead, I let the pain the Prophet is causing to fuel the anger that’s awakening inside me.
An anger that wants to break through all the chains shackling it.
And start chanting Raphael’s name over and over inside my head.
I’m so tired. So damn tired of being hurt. Of being brutalized by this… whatever he is.
He may call himself the Prophet, but he’s a false prophet. He’s a sick fuck that gets off on controlling others and hurting those that are weaker than him.
“Stop it!” the Prophet demands, and the candles glow so bright I can’t see anything at all.
I know I should be afraid. He can snap my neck at any second. And I don’t know if dying here means I die in reality.
But the anger raging furiously against its chains won’t let me stop chanting Raphael’s name.
Won’t let me stop from reaching out to him.
With each try, the throbbing behind my ribs becomes stronger. And maybe I’ve completely snapped and lost the last of my sanity, but I swear I can sense him.
Sense Raphael pouring inside me and filling in all my dark, empty places.
The dark places where I’ve let the Prophet exist.
“You are mine!” the Prophet roars. “You have always been mine and mine alone!”
And that’s the last straw.
The words that send me completely over the edge of the abyss.
Without a care for my own self-preservation, I scream back. “No! Fuck you! I will never be yours!”
I don’t know where the rage comes from or the words.
But I embrace them.
I let them wrap around me like the black tendrils that melted off Raphael’s body. I let them embrace me in their protection.
“What?!” the Prophet hisses a moment before he’s blasted backwards, much like he did to Raphael.
With the blackness surrounding me, I can finally see again.
See the Prophet’s throne topple over and crack in half.
His body spills onto the floor, the bulkiness of his robe covering him.
Then I hear a low, vicious growl.
But the growl isn’t coming from the Prophet.
It’s right beside my ear.
A black mass lunges forward and a gigantic mouth full of fangs snaps at the Prophet’s body while something tightens around my middle.
I glance down and see what appears to be a thick tail as dark as a starless night wrapping around me.
“Begone, foul beast!” the Prophet shouts before he adds something in Latin.
The world in front of me smears and blurs, causing my head to spin.
I sway on my feet, but the tail wrapped around me holds me tight.
Experiencing a moment of nauseating déjà vu, I squeeze my eyes shut then open them again.
Now there’s only darkness, and no matter how hard I try I can’t see through it.
It’s so impenetrable, my heart begins to race with fear.
I don’t know if all the candles were snuffed out and the Prophet is lurking somewhere I can’t see him.
Just as panic grips me in its tight fist, I hear a purr and something wet bumps against my cheek.
I try to jump back, but whatever is wrapped around my middle won’t let me move.
My thoughts a mess, my brain melting from all this weirdness, I don’t know if I should be afraid of the thing wrapped around me or not.
I mean… it did attack the Prophet.
What if it decides to attack me next?
The wet thing bumps against my cheek again and the tail begins to tug on me, forcing me down until I’m on my knees.
“What do you want?” I ask, my heart hammering harder against my ribs.
Only a deep, rumbling purr answers me back.
I bite my lip in consideration.
If whatever is holding me wanted to hurt me, it probably wouldn’t purr…
The tail tugs on me again, pushing me until I’m lying on my side. Then I sense either more of the tail or something else coiling around me, like a snake.
Oh god, please don’t let it be a snake!
A puff of hot air hits me in the face then the impenetrable darkness is broken by two large golden orbs.
No, not golden orbs.
Golden eyes .
Eyes that are staring at me without hunger or malice.
“W-what are you?” I stammer as a huge, monstrous face begins to take shape.
But as soon as I ask the question, I already know the answer.
I’ve seen the look in those eyes before.
It’s the same way Raphael looks at me…
With love and devotion so strong, it takes my breath away.
A wave of warmth washes over me simply thinking Raphael’s name again. And the place between my breast, where the mark stains me, pulses.
The dark monster peering at me purrs in pleasure and nuzzles against my face before laying its head gently in my lap.
I stiffen at first then remember this monster saved me from the Prophet. Why? I have no idea. But I’m sure it doesn’t want to hurt me.
The way it’s curled and coiled around me is protective.
Perhaps even possessive.
“Thank you,” I say quietly and suppress a shudder.
If this creature hadn’t shown up when it did, who knows what would have happened to me? I doubt it would have been pleasant.
The Prophet most likely would have tortured me with more pain or worse.
As if it knows exactly what I’m thinking, the creature nuzzles its face into my stomach and purrs so loud the vibrations travel through its body, surrounding me with a comforting sensation.
Looking down at the top of its head, I have the sudden urge to touch it. To show my gratitude.
Tentatively, I move my arm and place my hand on top of its head.
The creature purrs softly now and moves its head, rubbing it against my palm.
Closing my eyes so I don’t burst into tears, I start to stroke the top of its head. Petting the monster like it’s a pet.
My pet.
My protector.
I don’t know how long I pet it, feeling completely safe for the first time in my life, when I sense a sudden shift in the atmosphere.
My mark doesn’t throb or pulse. It pounds, sending waves resonating up and down my skin.
Opening my eyes, I look up to see Raphael standing in front of us. Staring at us with a befuddled expression.
Despite his expression, every fiber of my being rejoices at seeing him alive and well.
“Raphael? Is it really you?”
He slowly nods his head and says gently, “We need to leave, Alena. You’re safe now. Fred and I made sure of it.”
I frown, confused. “Fred?”
He points at the monstrous head laying in my lap. “That’s the name I gave my berserker.”
I glance down at the head, whose golden eyes are peering up at me, then back at Raphael. “You named him Fred? Seriously? That’s the best you could come up with?”
As if he’s agreeing with me, Fred purrs a deep rumble and nuzzles against my stomach.
Raphael sighs and reaches his arm out to me. “Yes. That’s the best I could come up with. It seemed ironically fitting at the time.”
I stare at his hand for a moment then look away.
Continuing to stroke Fred’s head, I state, “I don’t want to leave. I like it here.”
Raphael doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, but I can somehow sense he’s perplexed and impatient, like they’re my own emotions.
“You can’t stay here, my love,” he says, his tone remaining gentle. “You must return to your own body.”
I jerk my eyes back to Raphael’s face. “My own body? What do you mean?”
Raphael’s eyes gleam, and though he wants me to leave, desperately wants me to leave, he’s also trying to suppress his delight over this situation as he explains, “You’re inside me.”
“What?” I shake my head, unable to wrap my mind around it. “How am I inside you?”
He steps closer, thrusting his hand out to me. “I used the bond to pull you into me.”
That… makes absolutely no sense to me.
“Come,” he coaxes. “I’ll explain it all later.”
I’d refuse again, but I can’t block out his growing urgency. He’s worried about something but doesn’t want to say it.
Even Fred begins to uncoil his body from around me and nudges me toward Raphael with his wet nose.
Still, I hesitate and ask, “Will I be able to come back?”
Finally losing the last of his patience, Raphael lunges forward with that vampire speed of his and latches onto my hand. “Yes.”
Before I can say goodbye to Fred, Raphael spins me around in his arms and shoves me into the black, gaping maw of the abyss.
The world doesn’t blur, smear, or spin around me.
I’m swallowed up by the abyss and drop into an endless oblivion.
I fall…
And fall…
Flailing my arms and legs in an attempt to stop my descent.
Then something tugs hard on me, yanking me back.
Gasping, I open my eyes and stare above me. Stare at a concrete ceiling as I try to figure out what just happened.
“Alena…” Raphael groans as if he’s in pain.
Then his beautiful face is in front of me, blocking out the ceiling.
There’s blood all over him. Dripping down his lips and chin.
I roll my eyes down to my own body and see my shirt ripped open.
But being exposed in such a way isn’t what disturbs me the most.
It’s all the blood soaking me.
“What the hell happened?!” I shriek and scramble to sit up.
Raphael presses his hand against my chest and pushes me back down to the bed.
Unfortunately, he presses his hand right on top of my mark, and an extreme surge of pure euphoria rushes through every little nerve in my body.
“Oh… god…” I moan.
Caught in intense throes that dance across the line between ecstasy and agony.
Raphael’s eyes widen in surprise, and he watches me for a second too long before he rips his hand away.
Swallowing big gulps of air, I struggle to get my body to calm down again.
But it’s like he’s lit a spark inside me, and I can’t shake off the awareness of every little nerve beneath my skin vibrating with unfulfilled tension.
Tears burning at the corners of my eyes, I ask breathlessly, “What did you do to me?”
Expression softening, Raphael says, “I repaired our bond.”
His hand reaches for my face, but I quickly turn my head away, avoiding his touch.
Afraid of it.
Raphael recoils, and the pang of pain that hits his soul hits my soul, too.
Immediately, I feel guilty for hurting him.
It’s not that I don’t want him touching me…
I’m just afraid his touch will make me experience that extreme surge again.
“It shouldn’t,” he says, and my gaze snaps to his face.
Did he just read my thoughts? Like he did in the dream?
“ Yes ,” he purrs inside my head while staring into my eyes.
My heart quickens with anxiety. “Am I awake or still sleeping?”
Everything that’s happened has been such a… mindfuck , I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to tell the difference again.
Raphael grabs my face with both hands and I tense and wince.
But there’s no rush of euphoria. No unbearable pleasure.
Only heat radiating from his palms.
A heat that is slowly but surely flowing down every inch of my flesh and pooling between my thighs.
“You’re awake, Alena,” he assures me with a husky rasp. “And you’re here with me.”
Staring into his eyes, I sense the same heat that’s flowing down my body is flowing down his.
“What’s happening to me?” I groan and squirm against the bed.
My legs want to rub against each other, to ease some of the pressure growing between them, but I resist the temptation.
Raphael’s expression changes in an instant.
Shifting from gentle to predatory.
Lids lowering, his eyes gleam at me like I’m something he wants to eat.
And I experience the uncomfortable sensation of feeling like a rabbit caught in a snare.
“You’re finally manifesting,” he growls.
Manifesting? What the hell does that mean? I wonder a second before his lips crash into my lips.
His lips pressing against my lips creates the most delicious sparks. Sparks I can’t get enough of.
Kissing him back, I wrap my arms around his neck and give myself up to all the wonderful sensations.
Growling deeper, he presses me harder into the bed.
His fangs nip at my bottom lip, causing something in my center to clench.
Then his tongue presses against me, spreading my lips open with a force impossible for me to defend against.
Not giving me the chance to deny him entrance.
The moment his tongue touches mine, though, I want to melt into the mattress.
He tastes fucking delicious.
It’s like he was recently drinking honey.
A honey so sweet, my tongue lashes at his to get more.
I’m falling so deep under the spell he’s putting me under, it doesn’t even register in my brain that what I’m tasting is probably blood.
His or my own.
In the end, it doesn’t matter.
I just want to devour him.
Matching his ferocity, when the taste of honey fades I bite down hard on his bottom lip.
His skin splits for me and more honey pours into my mouth before he tears himself away.
“Why, you little beast…” he says huskily. “Did I give you permission to do that?”
Slowly and purposely licking his blood off my bottom lip, I smirk deviously up at him. “No.”
I don’t know where this new Alena has come from. If it’s his personality influencing my own. Or if I’ve always secretly been like this…
But at this moment, I really don’t care.
He’s awakened a hunger buried inside me, and that comes with a price.
A price I want paid in blood.
Preferably his.
Arching up, I try to capture his lips again, but he shoves me back down to the bed.
Looming over me with some of his black hair falling in front of his eyes, he says, “Then you must be punished.”
“Punished?” I repeat in confusion.
Then I gasp when his head dips down and he licks the mark between my breasts.
Purposely taking his time, he slowly laps his tongue up the red figure eight, throwing me back into the throes of extreme ecstasy.
My blood boils inside my veins and my middle is filled with so much liquid heat I fear it will burst through my skin.
When he finally finishes, I push my hands against his chest and screech, “You’re the beast!”
Chuckling, he ignores my pushing hands and runs his tongue down my body, occasionally taking a little nip.
Reaching where my shirt is still buttoned, he simply rips it open and continues his descent.
Panting to catch my breath, I watch the top of his head, wondering when he’ll stop and kiss me again.
Once he reaches the waistband of my pants, I give a little buck of my hips, urging him to come back up and give me his lips.
But he only chuckles again.
Grabbing my waistband, he rips through it as if it’s made of paper.
“Hey,” I grumble, not understanding his intention. “Did I give you permission to do that?”
Tipping his chin up to look at me, he smirks. “No.”
Then he grabs my panties and shreds them, too.
My jaw drops in surprise.
He just completely revealed my… my… private parts.
Reaching down, I grab him by his hair and try to yank him back up.
But it has absolutely no effect.
His smirk sharpening, he says, “I don’t need permission.”
Then his head dips again.
I slam my knees together, blocking him. “Don’t you dare bite me down there!”
Grabbing both of my thighs, he easily spreads them apart before his face disappears between them.
“Trust me, you’re going to like this,” I feel him breathe against me, and can’t fight the shiver that rushes up my spine.
“I already hate—” I start to say.
Only to cut myself off when I feel the first stroke of his tongue against my clit.
Like he licked my mark, he purposely drags his tongue slowly upwards, catching the tip on it before releasing me.
Exhaling a gush of air I didn’t realize I was holding, I yank on his hair again.
Growling in irritation, his tongue lashes hard at my clit as if to punish me. Then his movements become faster and faster.
“Fuck. Oh, fuck,” I hear myself crying out, but it sounds faraway to my ears.
Drowned out by all the pleasure he’s attacking me with.
Not only am I losing myself in the warm, wet rapture of his mouth on me, I get to experience how much he’s personally enjoying it at the same time.
How the taste of me is sweeter than any blood he’s ever drank.
And he can’t get enough of it.
It’s driving him into such a frenzy, he almost forgets his original purpose.
When he slowly pushes a finger inside me, stretching me open, my hips buck up, shoving my pussy into his face.
Half-groaning, half-growling, his mouth and tongue move at a speed no human could hope to match.
And I’m no longer yanking on his hair.
I’m clawing at the top of his head as I experience a bliss so intense I’m about to explode.
“ Do it ,” he urges inside my head. “ Come on my face. ”
He pushes another finger inside me, pumping them both in and out as he continues to focus his mouth on my clit.
Unable to stand it anymore, my walls squeeze around his fingers, trying to hold them in just before he yanks them out.
Then a dam inside me bursts open.
Throwing my head back, I cry at the heavens as ecstasy embraces me and carries me away.
When I finally return to my body, I become aware of him pressing his face harder into me and licking and swallowing every drop of my release. As if he doesn’t want any of it to go to waste.
Overly sensitive, I jerk, twitch, and beg him to, “Please stop. It’s too much.”
Instantly pulling away, he lifts his head and licks the last of my wetness from his lips.
Then he grins that devilish grin of his and prowls back up my body.
If my eyes weren’t still glazed over from the orgasm, I’d probably feel like prey again.
“You did so good,” he purrs out loud.
Then he purrs, “ You’re such a good girl,” inside my mind.
Something inside me preens at his praise. Loving it and wanting more of it.
“You deserve a reward,” he declares a moment before he sinks his fangs into his bottom lip.
A drop of his blood drips onto my mouth before he lowers his head and kisses me with all the passion he’s kept pent-up inside himself.
Lost in the storm of his desire and the taste of his blood, I wrap my arms around his neck and barely notice him shredding off his own clothing and fitting himself between my legs.
But nothing, not his passion nor the taste of his blood, can stop me from noticing him nudging at my entrance.
Yanking my mouth away from his, I peer down between us and see the crown of his cock pushing into me.
Grabbing me by the hair, he pulls my mouth back up to his.
Kissing me hard, he sucks and nips on my lips as he thrusts his hips forward slowly, burying himself deep.
I gasp between his rough kisses as he stretches me open with his thickness.
When he can go no farther, he stops and stares into my eyes. Giving me time to adjust to the fullness.
Giving me time to feel what he feels.
Completion.
After centuries of waiting, waiting for me and only me, he’s finally whole.
“You are and will always be everything to me, Alena,” he says, his voice thick with emotion. “No matter what happens, never forget that.”
Once he sees the understanding in my eyes, the acceptance of the weight he’s laid upon my shoulders, he begins to kiss me again and gently rocks his hips.
With the taste of honey on my tongue and the gentle pleasure slowly building in my core, I give myself fully to him.
Finding just as much joy in this moment.
Or maybe it’s only his joy…
But whatever is his is mine, too.
From this moment forward.
There will be no barriers between us.
We will be one, in all ways.
It should terrify me.
But after all the shit I’ve been through. After all the years of misery, to finally be cared for again is something I never thought I’d have.
And I can’t run away from it.
I have to run towards it with open arms.
Otherwise, what’s the point of existing?
“I love you,” he grunts, his hips beginning to rock faster. “I’ve loved you before I even met you.”
The headboard begins to crack rhythmically against the wall as he moves against me. “And you never have to love me back.”
Releasing his grip on my hair, he places his hands on either side of my head. “Just stay with me. Bear me. Suffer me.”
He thrusts forward hard and grinds into my clit. “And I promise I’ll fill your nights with joys. I’ll give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”
My eyes begin to roll into the back of my head as he pumps into me faster and faster. Driven by his own desire.
But the bed creaks and groans beneath us in protest.
“Fuck,” he growls. “I’m going to break this piece of shit.”
I hear fabric tearing close to my ears and then suddenly I’m levitating.
And not metaphorically.
Somehow he lifts us both into the air and flips my world upside down.
Closing and opening my eyes to make sure I’m not hallucinating, I see him still above me but the room is now below him.
Turning my head, I look to the side and notice the blanket that was beneath us on the bed is under me.
But we’re somehow pressed against the concrete ceiling.
“Much better,” Raphael groans in satisfaction and pumps in and out of me harder.
Wrapping my legs around his waist, I dig my nails into his shoulders and hold on for dear life.
The way I’ve positioned myself, though, has given him the ability to drive into me even deeper.
Causing each stroke of his cock to rub against a spot that’s even more sensitive than my clit.
The pleasure and pressure building inside me increases, causing me to thrash my head back and forth.
It’s almost too intense.
Almost.
“Raphael…” I whine, but I don’t know what I’m whining for.
“Yes,” he grunts in response, his hips starting to crash hard into my hips so he can smash himself against my clit. “Cry my name, my love. Cry it for all the unholy gods to hear.”
I’ve never felt anything like this before, and I never want it to end. Yet he’s driving into me so fast and hard, it’s becoming difficult to hold off my impending orgasm.
But still I fight it. Fight it off with every ounce of will I have.
I sense his displeasure before he says it.
“ Come for me ,” he demands.
I feel a tug behind my ribs, urging me to give in. But dammit, I’m enjoying myself too much.
So, I fight that, too.
“Alena…” he growls viciously.
And I know, thanks to our bond, that he would fuck me harder and faster if he wasn’t so afraid of hurting me.
He’s holding himself back, to my advantage.
There’s a tearing and cracking sound. Then bits of ceiling and blanket begin to fall down around us.
Sinking my teeth into my lip, I close my eyes.
Focusing all of my attention on holding my release back.
“ Come for me! ” he commands, his own release dangerously close.
Ignoring the tugging feeling again, I grit out, “No. I’m not ready yet.”
And it’s the wrong thing to say.
With my eyes closed, I don’t see what happens next, but I certainly feel it.
Suddenly his fangs are sinking into my neck.
And it’s even more amazing than that sensitive spot being stroked by his cock.
It feels like a hundred of those spots being touched at once.
My orgasm hits me so hard and fast, I swear my mind and body are transported to another dimension.
A dimension where there is only pleasure.
I cease to exist as a being.
I am simply sensation.
Incredible, indescribable sensation.
And when it finally ends, all I want is to go back.
Until I become aware of my body again.
My walls are squeezing around his slowing cock and he’s filling me with a wonderful heat.
But he’s also literally sucking the life out of me.
Latched onto my neck, his mouth pulls and pulls.
Matching the rhythm of my pussy fluttering around him.
I knew deep down that this would happen eventually, but I thought we would have a discussion about it first.
Survival instincts kicking in, I try everything to get him off me.
I shove at him. I try to move my neck.
I even try to knee him in the balls.
But he’s stronger and can anticipate everything through the bond.
“Stop,” I demand breathlessly.
But he ignores me, sucking even harder.
“ Stop! ” I scream inside my head, trying to get through to him.
Either he’s too far gone or he doesn’t hear me because he keeps going, ignoring my distress.
I don’t want to die yet. I don’t!
I want to live.
All I’ve ever wanted is to live .
My heart slows to the point that everything in front of my eyes becomes fuzzy and I can barely take a breath.
Finally, he pulls away from neck and rips his own fangs across his wrist.
Pressing his wrist against my mouth, he orders me to, “ Suck .”
So weak I can’t resist him, I suck on his wrist and swallow his blood.
And the last thing I think before I seize up in pain and everything goes black is…
I’ll pay him back for this .