Chapter 14 #2
Our fingers entwined and we sat in silence for a few moments, just looking at each other.
I was in bed with someone else for the first time, a man—a vampire—and I knew that I would fret about that later.
But seeing Levette look at me with hunger and warmth and compassion, all I wanted to do was fall into his arms.
“You should feed more,” I told him, moving my hair to expose my neck.
Levette shook his head, pressing a kiss to the back of my hand. “No, I will be alright with what I had. I fear what taking too much will do or what will happen if I lose control.”
“Levy, you starved yourself for days because you were standing outside my apartment and begging me to see you. Here I am, and I see you—which means I see your hunger. I’m strong enough to do this for you.”
The vampire smiled, staring at me in disbelief. “I do not doubt your strength. I worry about mine.”
“Then let me have enough strength for us both. I trust you, and I know that when you need to stop, you will.”
I touched my fingers to my neck and swiped them over the blood, pressing them to Levette’s lips. He sighed against my touch, his tongue darting out to lick the crimson away. Seeing him do that felt like witnessing the lewdest of acts, awakening a hunger of my own.
My body felt like it was on fire as Levette moved, his hand holding one side of my neck while his mouth moved to the other side, kissing over the puncture wounds there.
I hummed my approval before he sank his fangs into me again, and my body arched into his touch.
He had let go of himself this time, taking more as he drank.
It was like he was taking my blood but replacing it with a piece of himself; the more he took, the more infatuated I became.
I craved to feel every part of him, his skin on mine, his hands roaming my body.
“I could live only on your blood forever and be more satisfied than I have been before,” Levette said against my skin, running his tongue over the bite so slowly that it sent a delightful shiver down my spine, eliciting a low moan from the back of my throat.
He chucked, doing it again and pulling back to watch my reaction for himself. “My responsive cher, aren’t you?”
I grabbed him by the back of the neck and crushed our mouths together.
The taste of my blood was on his tongue, and it should have disgusted me, but all I felt was power in the knowledge that he was mine and I was enough.
Enough to please him, to make him vulnerable, to feed him.
For the first time in my life, I was enough for someone.
Levette bit down on my lower lip, piercing it with a fang and running his tongue across it. I shuddered and pressed closer to him, my hands running down his exposed back. My tongue explored his mouth while my hands traced his skin.
Reaching between us with one hand, I started to unbutton my own shirt, but Levette placed his hand over mine to halt the movement. I looked at him, panicked, worried that he had somehow changed his mind.
“Not tonight,” he said softly, pressing a gentle kiss to my jaw. “All of these are your firsts and I will not overwhelm you or rush through them, mon amour. I don’t want you to regret anything.”
I sat up, trying to take his hands in mine, but a dizziness muddled my mind. Levette chuckled, guiding me to lie down against the pillows.
“Moving too fast will cause you to be dizzy or nauseous, so it is best to stay still, darling. You lost—gave—a lot of blood at once which is something your body is not accustomed to.”
“Does it happen every time?” I asked inquisitively.
Levette shook his head, lying down beside me on his side, propped up on his elbow to watch me. His hand traced lazily over my chest, his fingertips skimming my neck and jaw. “Only the first time or two. If it were a regular thing, I would give you some of my blood afterward to heal.”
I raised my brows in surprise. “Your blood can heal?”
“How do you think I saved you after your brother attacked you?” he countered, chuckling.
“You fed me your blood? Without my permission?” I was angry at the violation, though part of me was also incredibly thankful to him for saving me. “What if you had turned me?”
Levette sat up, looking down at me with furrowed brows.
“I would never turn you against your will. If I had not given you blood, you would have died before I even brought you home. A few drops were enough to stem the internal bleeding without fully healing you. To become one of us, you would have needed slightly more than that. I was careful.”
I leveled him with a hard gaze. “You should not have done that. I should be angry, furious even, but I understand somewhat. But do not ever take that choice away from me again.”
“Je suis désolé, mon amour.” He lifted his finger to his mouth, pricking the skin on his fang. “Will you let me heal your wound?”
“Thank you for asking,” I said pointedly, trying to hide my smirk. “Go ahead.”
Levette ran his fingertip across the bite on my neck, letting his blood mix with mine. I blew out a breath, the sensation overwhelmingly inviting. I was slowly learning that the more time I spent with Levette, the more I wanted him.
“Will you let me taste it?” I surprised myself by asking, my eyes locked on the bead of blood on his finger.
“Non, mon cher,” Levette replied, licking the blood away. I watched in apt fascination as the small puncture mark stitched over and disappeared completely. “You don’t know what you ask of me by requesting that.”
“It seems only fair.”
Levette sighed, running his fingers through my hair as he watched me.
“Warren, sharing blood is a sacred thing to me. Bloodletting would bind us, forming a connection between us that you could not escape, human or not. I would do it now without hesitation for my own pleasure and heart, but I refuse to do it when you are still battling with yourself in here,” he said, pressing a hand over my heart.
I thought about arguing the point, but he was right. It was going to take more than one—albeit glorious—night of his lips on mine for me to be okay with what was happening between us.
Still, a part of me wanted to taste him, feeling his blood on my tongue and knowing it was my choice to have him in my system. I hoped I would get there one day and be able to share that with him and give Levette the joy of it, the permission to love that he deserved.
He shifted so he was lying on his back beside me, taking my hand in his and locking our fingers together. “Get some sleep, my love. You need it, and frankly, so do I.”
The mention of sleep made the exhaustion I was trying to keep at bay rise to the surface, and I let out a yawn, making Levette laugh.
I snuggled closer to him, resting my head on his chest, and allowed myself to fall asleep in his arms. I decided that I could panic and wonder about eternal damnation tomorrow.
For now, all I wanted was to feel content that I had decided to be happy, even for a fleeting moment.