Chapter 10 #2
She sets the bag down and cups my face with both of her hands, lifting my head to get a good look at me. “What happened, My Kokoro?”
“Are you going to tell me what that means, Sugar?” I wheeze.
“Maybe tomorrow.” She winks, turning her hand over to feel my forehead. “You’re burning up. I didn’t think vampires could get sick? What is happening?” She pushes my damp hair out of my face, and her wrist is close to my nose.
I move as fast as the speed of light, snagging her wrist, and inhale her scent. My mouth waters for a taste. A bite.
One. Small. Bite.
“You smell so fucking good.” I lick the vein on her wrist, tracing it, her blood so close yet so far.
I’m tempted to take it.
I want to. I need it. I’m dying without it, without her. I can’t wait much longer.
“Oakley, what’s wrong? I need you to talk to me.”
My eyes hood from exhaustion, my body succumbing to peace since she’s near.
“Let’s get you to bed, and then we can feed you.”
I shake my head, not wanting her to help me. I can do this by myself. I can’t let her see me any weaker. And whatever she has in that bag, I know it isn’t what I need.
What I need is the blood in her veins. No one else’s. No bagged blood. No random person from town.
Only Nariko’s.
The thought of anyone else’s blood makes my stomach curdle in disapproval.
I have no other choice but to have the conversation with her I’ve been avoiding.
“Look at me.” She slips her fingers under my chin, tilting my head up so I have no choice but to look at her.
“Something is wrong, isn’t there? Why are you like this?
” She examines me, her eyes traveling up and down.
She snags my hand, tracing every fingernail bed with the shadow of her fingers. “This looks so painful.”
“I look worse than I feel,” I try to tease, chuckling to ease the tension. A coughing fit takes over. It comes from some place deep within me, the phlegm wet and metallic again. I cover my mouth in time, so the blood doesn’t spray in Nariko’s face.
I’m supposed to be the one taking care of her. I’m supposed to be the strong one. She isn’t supposed to be worried about me.
I’m fucking terrible at this fated mate thing.
She pulls my hand away from my mouth, and she gasps, her worry and fear soaking into me. Only this time, her emotions don’t hurt me. I find so much comfort in them. I love that she’s worried about me.
Everyone else’s emotions are heavy, and when I’m around a lot of people, the weight becomes crushing.
“How long have you been coughing up blood? Why aren’t you healing?”
The truth is about to be set free. “I’m sorry,” I say, lifting my arm with the strength I have left. I grunt when my muscles burn. I need to touch her. I need to feel her on my skin.
She’s the only one who can relieve the pain.
“For what?” Nariko leans her cheek into my palm.
“For leaving you in the dark. For not telling you everything.”
“You can tell me now. Maybe you can explain why my body hurts, or why I can’t stop thinking about you, or why fire seems to live within me now? A fire that only seems to tame itself when I’m near you?”
“I’ll tell you everything and answer any questions you have. No more putting it off. I can’t. Not if…not if I want us to live.”
She presses a kiss against my forehead, and I close my eyes, relishing in her nearness. I can’t believe I’m too weak to be feral. I would think I’d be uncontrollable and feeding off her, whether she likes it or not.
I’m also grateful. I don’t want her to be afraid of me, and if I were feral, she might be.
“Come on, let’s get you to bed, get some food in you, take a nice hot shower, and then, we will take it from there, okay?”
I’m not fighting her anymore. The fighting is only killing us.
She wraps an arm around me, and we both groan, her from bearing most of my weight, and me from having to move an inch. I hiss with every step back to the bed, sliding my feet across the floor.
My eyes catch on the side of her throat. I can’t help but stare. My vision pulsates, bursts of red exploding like fireworks with every beat of her heart. Blood is a rushing river flowing in her veins.
My mouth waters. My instincts return.
I can bite. I’ll be quick. She’ll forgive me, right? She’ll understand eventually that I had no choice but to take the next step in the mating process.
I’ve already started it.
When I licked her wound and her blood coated my tongue, she became part of me.
The problem was that it wasn’t enough blood, only a tease to ease the ache.
The next step is drinking from her, fangs in her throat, preferably while she’s riding my cock.
And then the third step, she’d drink my blood.
Lastly, I’ll come as deep as I fucking can inside her, marking her, claiming her as mine.
And then she’ll be mine for all eternity.
No. No. I can’t do that to her. I have to give her the choice. I have to control myself. I’m better than temptation, even on my deathbed.
“Here we are.” Nariko is slow and gentle, easing me down on the bed.
I’m grunting and sneering with every motion. “Fuck,” I hiss. “Sorry for the language, Sugar. I’m not myself.”
She tucks a pillow behind me and fluffs it up, easing me back to get me comfortable. Her care warms my slow beating heart. Nariko lifts my legs onto the bed next, then covers me with the blanket, pausing when she notices the blood on the comforter.
The rain slams against the window harder, thunder rolling in the distance, and it’s loud enough to vibrate the clock I have on my nightstand.
“I’m surprised you’re not out there.”
Nariko takes out everything that was in the tote, setting it on the bed one by one. Whatever it is, the smell warms me. It reminds me of a time when I was a child—a time I haven’t thought about in decades.
“I checked the radar. There are no supercells. It’s just rain. The team is out. They are getting footage for our social media accounts, updating our followers with what has happened.”
“Are there no supercells anywhere else? You storm chasers travel, usually, don’t you?”
She unscrews the top of a thermos, pours hot tea into a travel mug, and then hands it to me. “Drink.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I blow on the steam and take a small sip. The hot liquid soothes the back of my raw throat and warms my stomach. “It’s delicious. Thank you for—” I stop talking when I notice something in the aftertaste.
I lift the cup to my nose and inhale, staring down at the reddish liquid. “Did you put your blood in this?”
Nariko ignores me, pulling out a plastic container of what seems to be soup. She even pulls out a spoon.
I take another sip of the tea, focusing on the blood. The more I drink, the more my pain fades. Even the ringing in my ears dims. The colors in the room become brighter. While a slight ache is still there, I can breathe better now.
“Open,” she demands, scooping a spoonful of soup.
“Nariko, you don’t have to feed me.”
She points to my hand that isn’t holding the mug. “You’re trembling. While I’m feeding you, you can talk to me about what’s going on between us.” The spoon hits my lips, and she huffs in annoyance. “Open, Oakley.”
I do as she says, not wanting to fight with her. The soup is delicious. I moan, the flavors healing every weak and bleeding spot in my body. Then, there’s the blood.
The same blood that was in the tea.
I grab her wrist before she can dip the spoon in the soup. “Is there blood in this and the tea?”
“Yes.” She points out the bandage on her hand. “Vampires like blood, right? You need blood. I have blood. Seems like a simple fix. And your color is already better. You don’t look like you’re about to fall over and die.”
She pushes another spoonful into my mouth, her blood stitching me back together from the inside out.
“Sugar, the blood I needed was yours. No other blood will do.” I take the bowl and spoon away from her, setting them on the nightstand, and take her hands in mine. “Anyone else’s blood will make me sick.”
“Just mine? Why?”
Why.
The question I’ve been dreading the most.
“Do you need more soup? Maybe you need more blood for this conversation?” She leans over to pick up the bowl, scooting closer to me.
I’m able to wrap an arm around her now, my fingers drifting up and down her side. “I’ll never say no to your soup. It’s delicious. What is it?” I open my mouth when she feeds me again. I wrap my lips around the spoon, sucking the soup down.
“It’s zosui. It’s rice gruel with dashi broth, beaten eggs, chives, and A-negative blood of yours truly.” She beams, gathering her long hair only to place it on the opposite shoulder, teasing me with the slender column of her neck.
I lick my lips. “A-negative? Happens to be my favorite.”
Her cheeks pinken, and they become brighter as she feeds me again. “That’s good. That would be a shame if you didn’t like it.”
Our eyes lock. “Is it?” I ask, my energy returning, my body healing enough that I’m able to flirt with my mate. “What’s good about that? What’s good about you giving your blood to a vampire, Nariko? You should be running.”
“Would you chase me if I ran?”
I growl, matching the tone of the thunder outside. My eyes continue to blaze as I lean in closer, smelling the natural floral scent she radiates. “To the edge of the earth,” I admit.
“Why?” Nariko stirs the soup with the spoon, her eyes full of curiosity.
I take a deep breath, risking everything, not knowing if she’ll run away screaming. “Because you’re my fated mate, Nariko. For paranormals, that means I can’t live without you, and unfortunately, you can’t live without me, either.”
I expect her emotions to be all over the place and panicked. I prepare myself for the onslaught to hit me. As always, she’s calm, as if she didn’t just hear the news that her life has changed forever.
“Is this why you’re sick? Is this why I’ve been feeling different, too? Right now, I get really hot at times. Unbearably hot and…” Her blush deepens, and embarrassment is what I feel from her next.
I squeeze her leg, then reach for her face, pressing a finger against her jaw to make her look at me. “And?”