Chapter 17
Seventeen
Blake
My senses were alive as I took in everything around me. My skin felt like I’d touched a live electric wire, and the tingling pain of it made me ultra-aware of every sensation. Including the sound of a beating heart and the smell of blood.
“Blake?” a familiar voice said, but it wasn’t nearly as loud as the beat of his heart.
“You cannot feed from him.”
“Thirsty,” I said. My lips twitched with the want to feed as my mind raced with ways to get to the heartbeat, but the pull to the man standing in front of me was nearly as strong.
“You’re going to come with me, and we’ll feed, but you are not to harm Aaron or any other human. Do you understand?” My eyes met his, and flashes of him burst through my memory. He was my mate and my love, Marlon.
“Marlon, please,” I begged. The need for blood was too strong for me to ignore. He held his hand out to me, and when my hand touched his, the—heartbeat? human? He was trying to hide from me, faded from my consciousness and there was only him.
“Come with me, love,” he said and led me out the door. The night air was warm and sweet, with many scents drifting on the breeze. Some drew me to them more than others. “This way.” He led me to the edge of a field before we ran.
“I don’t remember what happened,” I said to Marlon.
“When we’re far from town, I’ll explain everything.
” We picked up speed and ran toward the foothills in the west. The land was all familiar but more like a fond dream of a place I’d visited in the past. We ran for a while longer, and another scent hit me, pulling me to a stop.
Again, my senses were on alert, and my mouth watered in anticipation.
“Feed.” As soon as my mate uttered the word, I was changed.
I was driven by one need, and it overwhelmed all my senses.
I was unbelievably hungry and craved—something.
Blood. Blood was everything I needed. My mind raced and crawled at the same time.
I could sense so many things around me, but I could catalogue each one and I knew what was and what wasn’t worth the trouble.
The darkness was no longer deep and black.
Now it was bright, and I could see every detail of every rock and tree we passed.
I also knew where every nearby beating heart was.
I bolted away from him when I heard a strong heartbeat just up the hill, and I didn’t need to look behind me to know exactly where he was.
Then, a movement to my right diverted my attention.
A large bear lumbering across the mountain, unbothered or unaware we were near.
It looked our way and paid us no mind until I was on its back and sinking my teeth into its neck.
Twisting around, it gripped my arm in its teeth and threw me against a rock.
Immediately I sprung off the rock and in one move broke its neck while sinking my teeth into it to feed.
A hand on my back took my attention away from my kill and put me on the defense.
I crouched, ready to attack. But there was only Marlon, my mate.
I launched myself at him, and the two of us rolled around on the ground before I landed on top of him and leaned down to kiss him.
The taste and smell of blood mixed with his scent quickly drove me into a frenzy of lust and need.
I looked down on him and held his hands above his head while I pressed my tongue into his mouth.
He pushed me back, and I fought it for a moment before I met his eyes. “Blake, you need to feed.”
Before my mind could catch up, my teeth were sinking into the bear again as I drew out more of the warm blood. Finally, feeling bloated and somewhat satisfied, I stood and walked over to where Marlon sat on a rock.
“Love, we need to talk,” he said, and took my hand.
Again, I felt strange and confused. I knew something had changed. “Is everything okay?” I asked because while my thought process was moving fast, my ability to speak hadn’t caught up.
“You’re doing really well—considering.” Marlon waited for me to speak, but I didn’t know what to say, so I waited for him to say more. “Tonight, someone killed you, and I brought you back.”
“What?” I replayed his words over and over in my head but didn’t understand.
“You died at the hands of the man who had imprisoned me in the grave you saved me from. Do you remember?”
He waited and watched as I tried to make sense of his words. “You were buried alive.”
“Yes, many years ago, and you saved me. The same man who did that also hurt you. Only he’s no longer human, and he fed from you. You were near death, and I could not bear to lose you. Your friend begged me to save you. Do you remember your friend?”
“Aaron?”
“Yes, your friend Aaron. Do you remember what I am?”
My eyes bounced back and forth as I struggled to focus on his. “Mate.”
“Yes, you are my mate. But, Blake, what am I?”
“Vampire,” I whispered. Not sure why there was so much emotion and power attached to the word but not willing to say it too loudly even out here with just the two of us.
“You are now a vampire too,” Marlon whispered to me and brushed his thumb across my lip before pulling it into his mouth and sucking off the blood he found there.
“What does it mean?”
“It means you and I will never be apart.” His voice was full of confidence, even though his eyes were shadowed with doubt. “It also means that you will have to drink blood.”
I wiped at my mouth and looked at the bear. “I—”
“I know, my love, but I will teach you. You will learn to survive without ever knowing the horror of killing a human. I promise you that.” He gathered me in his arms, and I felt safe in his powerful embrace as he held me close. “It will not be easy.”
“You’ll help me,” I said, and felt his head nod next to mine.
My breath sped up as he continued to hold me, and a part of me wanted him at least as badly as I’d wanted to feed from the bear.
He pulled back enough to meet my eyes, and I pushed him back down onto the rock before climbing into his lap. “I need—”
He held me back with my arms before pushing me off him and standing.
I didn’t move as he stripped me bare before pulling me back onto his lap.
“What do you need?” His voice was rough with need and something else I couldn’t name, but it made me want him naked too.
I pulled at his shirt and ripped the neckline before he gripped my hands, stopped me, then stood.
“You’re far stronger now. I’m going to fuck you, and afterward you will be tied to me.
You are my mate, but I need to claim you as a vampire.
” His lips lifted, showing his teeth. “I had hoped to feed from you a while longer. Your blood was so sweet and tempting,” he said as he pulled off his clothes.
He stepped close enough to run his fingers through my hair before gripping it and shoving my head to the side. “You are mine.”
The feel of his fangs in my neck sent a bolt of lust through me.
I was hard, and so was he. My only thought was of my mate and doing whatever he needed me to do.
I was his, and if anything tried to come between us, I would die defending him.
Images flashed through my mind. Of him in pain while comforting a bloody human, then I realized, that human was me.