Chapter 12
twelve
BLAIR
The water immediately soothed my tense muscles and eased the adrenaline racing through my veins.
I took my time swimming to the bottom of the pool, and when I got there, let out a slow breath as I settled along the smooth basin of it on my front. Propping my cheek on my arm, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the silence.
There was just something peaceful about water that nothing else could ever compare to. It was blissful.
Tranquil.
Calmin—
A pair of thick arms banded around my middle, and I shrieked into the water as I was yanked upward and dragged toward the surface. My back was to a chiseled bare chest, and as soon as the initial shock faded, I knew exactly who the arms belonged to.
We broke through the water a minute later, and Damian hauled me onto a rock, glaring at me while his gorgeous chest heaved. “I locked you in that room.”
“I had no problem opening the door,” I said innocently, my chest rising and falling quickly as I recovered from the surprise. “And I didn’t think you could hold your breath that long. I knew vampires could last a while beneath the water, but damn.”
“I wouldn’t build my mate a pool I couldn’t swim to the bottom of,” he growled back. “And that’s not what we’re talking about. You let me nearly drain you dry, and you were fucking gone when I got back with food.”
Whispers around the corner met my ears.
“If a picture of my mate naked is uploaded or sent anywhere, all parties involved will be removed from Mistwood and inserted into a tiny clan in the middle of nowhere,” Damian said loudly, his voice ringing with authority.
The whispers cut off abruptly.
One last voice said, “Sorry,” and I heard the footsteps grow quieter as the intruders walked away.
Finally, we were alone again.
“What did I say about your swimwear?” he asked, shoving a hand through his damp, crusty, tangled hair.
Yeah, I felt a little bad about that.
Not the lack of swimwear—the hair.
I lifted a hand to mine, and winced when I remembered that I hadn’t washed it. Thankfully, my magic would cut through and purify any gunk in the water. Including my blood.
“I told you I wasn’t arguing about that anymore,” I said.
“You’re going to make me lose my fucking mind,” he snarled, shoving a hand through his hair again. “You need to eat. You couldn’t even focus your eyes on me when I was done feeding you. I’m going back to the fucking blood bags. I—” I grabbed him by the hair, since his shirt was discarded next to mine.
And, because I didn’t know what else to do, I kissed him.
Hard.
When I slipped my tongue into his mouth and took some of his fury and fear away, he let out a long breath and kissed me back.
Just for a moment, though.
When he pulled away, he still looked pretty pissed. “We’re not done talking about this.”
“We’re not talking about it. You’re lecturing me.”
“I’m not lecturing you.”
I lifted an eyebrow.
He scowled. “If you’d start listening to me, I wouldn’t have to lecture you.”
“Oh please, the last thing you need is a submissive mate. You’d walk all over the poor, delicate thing.”
He flashed me his fangs. “At least she wouldn’t let me drain her dry.”
“Our bond won’t let you kill me.”
“ Theoretically .”
I rolled my eyes. “Has any vampire ever killed their blood mate before?”
I didn’t know much about Kara, but I had the feeling that she wouldn’t spout information that wasn’t factual, or at least pretty damn near that.
“No,” he admitted. “But there’s never been a vampire as powerful as I am with a blood mate.”
“It has nothing to do with power, though. Kara said that our bond connects you to my life force while you’re drinking from me, so you can tell if you ever take too much. Which you didn’t.”
“Of course Kara put you up to this. Lou was involved too, wasn’t she?”
Oops.
I was supposed to be calming him down so he didn’t want to kill them.
“I’m starving,” I said, reaching for the food tray he’d set next to the edge of the pool. It was close enough to the rock that I could reach it if I stretched. “And you look amazing with this much blood in your system.”
Both facts were true.
He grabbed my wrist. “You’re eating in our room, where I know no one is going to walk up and see those perfect little tits.”
Right, I was naked.
And even more glittery than I’d been before my swim.
Glitter aside, he’d never seen me naked before.
I probably should’ve cared that this was the first time, but considering he’d had both his hand and cock inside me, a little nudity didn’t really seem like a big deal.
And I’d seen him naked, so it was kind of necessary to level the playing field.
Not that I wanted it level .
I wanted to be in complete control until he agreed to my terms. He had his turn being in charge when he made me agree to a mate bond in exchange for my sisters’ safety.
Maybe it would give him the feeling of us being level, at least. That would give me even more control.
“I think that was an insult,” I said, reaching for my shirt instead.
If he wanted to eat in our room, that was fine. I’d let him control that.
“I called your tits perfect. How is that an insult?”
“You called them little. Societal expectations require breasts to be big to be attractive.”
He scowled.
Then he grabbed me off the rock, set me on his lap, and took one of those perfect little tits in his mouth, sucking hard enough to make me swear.
And squirm.
He cupped the other one in his hand, stroking my nipple with his thumb while he dragged his tongue around the first.
He licked.
Sucked.
Nipped with his teeth.
And by the time he released me, I was panting and wet for him yet again.
“Convinced I like them yet?” he drawled, when he finally set my bare ass back down on the rock.
“You are a terrible tease.” I caught my breath as he grabbed my shirt.
Well, his shirt.
I held my hand out for it, but instead of giving it to me, he pulled it over his own head. “Since you’re so obsessed with being naked in public, you obviously don’t need any clothes to wear on your way to the elevator.”
My eyes narrowed as he stood smoothly. “You are not going to convince me to have that argument.”
“I didn’t say I was.” He picked up my food, and gestured for me to walk in front of him.
Biting back a harsh reply that would only make him feel like he’d won, I put a smile on my face as I grabbed my phone and stood, striding in front of him so my bare ass was directly in his view. “Well, I’m so glad you’ve decided you’re comfortable with me being naked all the time. It’ll be a relief not to wear your oversized shirts and sweatpants anymore.”
“I’m sure.” His murmur was one of appreciation, and my lips threatened to curve in a smile.
“I’m feeling like taking the stairs, Big Daddy Hale,” I called over my shoulder as we reached a hallway intersection. I could still feel his release dripping down my thighs, so I obviously hadn’t swam for long enough. Maybe I should’ve scrubbed down there or something. “Left or right?”
He muttered something that sounded like, “Fuck me.”
“I already did, and you forgot to even acknowledge it,” I tossed back, deciding to go with left.
He followed me without pause, which made me think I’d picked the right way. “I acknowledged it.”
“ It was great isn’t a compliment when a woman tells you it was the best sex of her life. You basically said I’ve had better . You could at least mention what I did wrong.” As the words came out, I was forced to admit to myself that he’d hurt me just the tiniest bit.
Well, fine.
Maybe more than the tiniest bit.
I’d only had sex a few times, so it wasn’t like I was a professional. And I’d never left afterward saying, “I want to do that again.”
So yeah, maybe I was shit in bed.
But I didn’t want to hear that.
Maybe I needed to ask my sisters for pointers or something. I?—
He grabbed my hip, turning me around and walking me backward until my ass met a cold wall. I tried not to shiver.
His eyes were narrowed at me when I looked up. “I haven’t had better. Between sating myself on your blood, fucking you while I fed, and feeling you come around me three times, that was the most erotic experience of my life. I just shouldn’t have let it happen.”
“And there you go again.” I tossed a hand toward him, hurt and anger still curled in my abdomen.
“Powerful vampires should never have sex while they feed, Blair. It’s addictive. People get hurt. I should never have risked your life the way I did, and I am never going to be okay with what happened, regardless of how fucking good it felt.”
“Do most vampires refrain from screwing their blood mates?”
His scowl answered my question.
I pushed his hands off me, and started back down the hallway. A door opened behind us, and he snarled at the person to wait five minutes.
The door shut again quickly.
My phone vibrated in my hand, and I looked down at the screen.
The message said I had been invited to join VAMP MANOR HOMIES.
Biting back a grin, I hit accept.
My phone vibrated repeatedly, until I muted the chat and pulled it up to see the messages.
“Who are you texting?” Damian still sounded frustrated.
“No one.”
A message popped up.
Sylvester
Hale just snarled at me. Think I saw Blair’s bare ass in front of him
Allie
Big Mama B isn’t taking it lying down
Damn straight I wasn’t.
Damian plucked my phone from my hand, ignoring my noise of irritation as he read the messages.
“You don’t want to be a part of that chat,” he grumbled, handing it back.
“Whatever you say, Big Daddy Hale.”
He swatted my ass, making me laugh in protest and take a few steps forward. My legs were still a little shaky, so I tripped a tiny bit as I did. He caught me with a growl and an arm around my waist.
“See why this is a bad idea?”
“If you hadn’t been starving yourself before, you wouldn’t have needed so much blood, and I would be perfectly fine,” I said.
“Stop listening to Lou.”
“I’m pretty sure talking to your sister is a normal part of being your mate.”
He grunted. “I wasn’t starving.”
“The way your skin is basically glowing right now proves that wrong. Kara says you should be feeding every day.”
“Kara is full of shit.”
“And scientific knowledge.”
“No one needs to feed every day.”
“Normal rules don’t apply to you, and you know it.”
We finally reached the staircase. Instead of letting me walk up it in front of him like I’d been planning, he scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder, holding my thighs so I didn’t tumble off.
He took the stairs two at a time, and wasn’t breathing hard when he reached our living space, a few stories up.
After tossing me onto the bed, he put the tray of food down next to me. “Eat, Blair. I’m not joking. If you leave this room without emptying that tray, I will assign you an around-the-clock guard. No more swimming naked. No more walking around hungry, with your magic drawing people to you. No more?—”
“I agreed to be your mate, not your prisoner,” I snapped.
“My mate should know better than to force me to drink more than I need, risking her life in the process. I’m done fucking around.”
“You are such an asshole.”
“In the flesh.” He gestured to himself sarcastically. “I have work to do.”
“Fine, starve yourself,” I called behind him, as he walked out. “Two can play that game, too.”
The door shut behind him, and I huffed as I grabbed the first plate of food with one hand, sending a text to Lou and Kara.
Me
He’s pissed about the feeding thing. Knows you two are involved. I’m sorry
Kara
He’s been pissed at us for bringing it up for ages. Don’t feel bad on our behalf
Lou
What happened?
Me
Long story, but basically, he threatened to assign me a guard if I keep pushing him. Convo ended when he stormed out. I may have threatened to starve myself if he refuses to eat enough
Kara
Fuckkkkk
I am not getting behind that plan
Lou
You starving yourself isn’t the answer here
Me
I’m not feeding on him if he’s not feeding on me
Lou
Just give him space for a few days and he’ll come around.
Kara
Don’t starve yourself, though
Me
Fine.
It was a lie.
Despite Lou’s words, I didn’t think he’d come around.
We were evenly matched, as far as stubbornness went. The only reason I’d been able to force myself to feed every month was because the alternative was dying and leaving my sisters alone. I truly, whole-heartedly despised kissing strangers and drinking from them that much.
The vampire king had finally met his match, because I would not let him win. I’d play along with his rules for a few days, but if he wasn’t feeding, he could watch his mate go hungry alongside him.
And even though I was aware that was a horrible, absolutely toxic way to make my point, I was also sure it was the best option.
So, I was all in.