Chapter 20
Twenty
Marlon
After Blake double checked he’d packed any supplies he thought we’d need, we drove away from the town I hadn’t left in nearly a century.
Once again, I was caught up in how strange everything around me was, and how much it had changed.
Lights from homes or perhaps businesses dotted the landscape as we drove on what Blake had called a freeway.
There was so much more noise and motion around us.
The sheer number of automobiles shocked me and nothing like the road we drove on existed when I was here before.
“Are you okay?” I asked Blake. He’d only just been changed, but so far, he was amazingly in control of his urges.
“Yes, but the different scents are so distracting. I have to restrain myself from chasing after every scent I catch.” Reaching across to him, I smoothed my fingers down the back of his hand. He loosened his hand and took mine before pulling it over to rest on his leg.
“You are doing really well. When I was first turned, I was crazed with the many senses I experienced and my need for blood. I thought of it as a calling, because the blood screamed at you over a distance.” The memories of that time were still sharp and thinking about how much I wanted blood elicited a growl.
“What is it?” Blake asked, his eyes darted left and right, and his fangs showed.
“Just a memory,” I said. He glanced at me and squeezed my hand but stayed silent. “I was just remembering what it felt like when I was first changed. The memory is so clear.”
“I don’t want to remember everything,” he whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“Digging you up and realizing you were still alive under there. At first, I was terrified.” His eyes narrowed as he replayed it in his mind, and I could feel the shame and guilt rolling off him. “I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact you were still alive.”
My hand tightened into a fist as I looked out across the darkened landscape and forced myself not to think of all the years I’d hoped for a death I knew would never come.
“I hated knowing you’d been there for so long and people knew it and did nothing to help you. They knew you were a vampire, and you’d probably be alive, but—”
“They didn’t understand what I was. They only knew what Josiah had told them, and between him and Rupert, they would have made sure no one felt guilty and ensured no one dug me up to check if I was alive or dead.”
“They did all this for gold?” Blake asked.
“Yes, and to gain my ability. I have no memory of them draining my blood or burying me. It’s all a blur until I woke up in the grave.
” This was part of the change. Some memories were sharp while others faded, and it appeared for him the part that faded was when Josiah had confessed to what he’d done.
“I don’t understand how that happened if you didn’t bite him and give him your blood,” he said.
“When all of this is behind us, we’ll find out what really happened.
I don’t believe anything he said. It’s not as simple as drinking our blood,” I said, and realized that was true.
He had lied to me so many times, but one thing he didn’t lie about was the fact he’d had my blood in him when he’d been turned.
“I know he consumed my blood because I can feel him. We’re going in the right direction. ”
“Good,” Blake said, and for the next while neither of us spoke as he drove fast enough to get us to the hotel before sunlight would put us in danger. “Don’t worry, we have time.”
“I know, but I worry. You’re my responsibility now.” I tried to think of a time I’d ever felt responsible for another. Possibly my parents, but the emotions I had attached to them were foggy now, and not clear.
“We take care of each other. This is new to me, but I’m not weak,” he said.
Pulling his hand to me, I kissed his palm before holding it between both of mine. “I know, love, but every part of me wants to protect you. My mate.” Those words carried so much weight, and so much responsibility, whether he accepted it or not.
“What will happen when we find Josiah?” he asked.
I knew exactly what would happen, but I didn’t want to worry Blake with those details.
He knew I was going to destroy Josiah, but the reality of that wasn’t going to be easy.
I could tell where he was headed, but I didn’t know where he was going or why he’d gone in this direction.
He’d had decades to learn about this strange world that was not at all like the world I knew when he’d trapped me.
“I have to destroy him. I know you may not like to hear that, but he will never stop trying to come after you,” I said, repeating what we’d discussed earlier.
“I know, and I understand why. But before today I’d never seen a dead body before. I mean, you looked dead, but you weren’t,” he said, and grinned, showing me the part of him I loved with every part of me.
“The sun will be rising soon,” I said, unable to ignore the warning my body always gave me.
“I feel it too. The hotel is close.” He drove a little farther before turning onto a smaller road and parking in front of a long building where a few cars were already parked out front. “It’s older but they won’t question us sleeping all day.”
He hurried inside and again amazed me with his control.
I watched through the window as he chatted with the man inside, explaining we’d need to sleep all day since we’d been driving all night.
The man didn’t react in any way other than to hand him a key and to wave to me.
I waved back and wondered if he’d feel so friendly if he knew what we really were.
“We’re in the room on the end,” Blake said as he slid back into the truck and slowly drove us in that direction.
It was darker here, the lights of the building not quite reaching this far, and trees from the forest cocooned the building, which would be even better once the sun came up.
Blake grabbed the bag he’d packed and led me to the door.
“These older places are usually clean, and they don’t care so much about the rules when you’re here.
Plus, they get a lot of truckers who need to get some sleep at all hours of the day or night, before going back out on the road.
” I didn’t understand all he said, but I knew he thought this was a safe place to stay.
The room was small, but clean, and the curtains were thick. Blake took a roll of tape out of his bag and taped all around the edges, sealing out any spaces the sun could peek through. When he was done, he dropped the tape back into the bag before rushing into my arms. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?”
“For everything. I’ve taken your life from you,” I said, finally putting into words the hurt my heart couldn’t hold.
“Marlon, I love you. It may have started out with a weird obsession to find out more about how you were still alive. But I can’t deny how I feel, and I know you think it’s that you changed me, but I felt this way when I was human.
” He took my hand and tugged me over to the bed before slipping my shirt off and gliding his hands down my chest and sneaking his fingers inside the band of my jeans.
“Never have I wanted someone the way I want you,” I whispered, and a bit of my accent slipped in. His eyes fluttered closed, and he pressed his lips to my neck. I knew how badly he wanted to bite me, but he was gentle. Proving again how strong he was.
“It’s my turn,” he said with a growl and stripped off the rest of my clothes before shoving me back on the bed.
He slowly undressed while staring at me like I was a meal he was about to devour.
My breath sped up, and my cock hardened under his gaze while he took his sweet time revealing himself to me.
His fangs showed as he reached for the bottle of lube that he didn’t need anymore, but when he poured some on his fingers and slid them into my ass, I wasn’t going to complain.
He knelt between my legs and watched me squirm as he brought me so close to release I could nearly feel it before guiding me back to that edge I wanted desperately to fall off.
“Take me,” I groaned. He pulled his fingers out and pushed my legs to my chest. His cock was just at my hole, and he leaned down close enough to brush my lips as he spoke.
“You and I are meant to be,” he whispered before shoving his cock into me and biting my neck. My back arched as I gave up control to him. The one vampire or human who would ever control me and the one who could destroy me far easier than he knew.