Chapter 2 #2
I feel Saxon climb up onto the bed behind me and run a hand over my now feverish forehead.
“Hold on, Lila, it won’t be long. I promise.
” Just as he finishes saying this, I feel my body start to seize up.
My muscles lock into place, and the blood beneath my skin begins to heat.
Soon, it feels like I’m boiling from the inside, but I can’t even open my mouth to scream because I’m frozen in place.
My eyes roll back in my head as the searing agony feels like it’s rearranging my insides.
All my bones beneath seem to throb, and my skin stretches so tight across my body it feels like it could split at any second.
An inferno rushes through my internal organs, and when it hits my heart, I finally blackout.
A thudding sound in my ears is the first thing I notice when I return to consciousness.
No, it’s a double thud, kind of like two hearts beating followed by a rushing sound, like water running through a drain.
I cock my head to the side, trying to work out what I’m hearing.
My mouth is dry and my gums ache, so I try to swallow.
It feels like knives are stabbing me in the throat, and I groan and roll onto my back, but I move so fast, I roll too far and land on the floor with a heavy thud. Pain shoots through my tailbone.
A quiet chuckle has my eyes shooting open before I scream and clamp my eyes shut once more, slapping my hand over them as I try to block out the obnoxiously bright light.
“Well, it seems my blood may have changed you a little more than I thought it would.” Saxon’s voice is growly and deep and oh so sexy.
“What’s going on?” I ask and squeak as I clamp my hands over my ears. What the fuck? Did I just scream that? I feel Saxon help me to my feet and move me back to the bed, my eyes still slammed shut.
“Just a moment,” he tells me, and he disappears but returns in a flash, a small breeze washing over me.
“Okay, try to open your eyes now.” I reluctantly peel them open, and when I’m not instantly blinded, I look around and sigh in relief before removing my hands from my ears.
I go to say something, and he presses a finger to my lips.
“Just whisper until you adjust to your new senses.” I nod, and he removes his finger
“Oh thank god. I’m not sure what you did, but fucking hell, that was bright.” I go to sit back down on the bed, but my body smashes into a wall instead. A blinding pain shoots through my skull as I slide down the wall into a puddle of Lila at the bottom. “What the fuck is happening to me?”
I may have screeched that at a nearly inaudible level, but I’m having a small freak-out here. I put a hand against my throbbing head, hoping to ease the pain.
“You seem to have gotten the Vilaxian increased senses and speed. I’ve dimmed the lights back down to what they were when we first came in.
” Huh, it seems like broad daylight in here.
How am I going to cope with being out in the rest of the ship?
I’m not sure about the strength, because the walls are reinforced.
“I would be careful for the next few days until you get used to the changes in your body.”
He speaks those words so fucking casually, like it’s no big deal, but before I open my mouth again, his advice shuts me up.
Changes in my body? I think about what else I know about Vilaxians.
They drink blood, are fast and strong, and…
. “Oh my god, do you think I can fly?” I exclaim, not even hiding my excitement.
I have absolutely no chill, but this is flying.
Like a superhero. My brief episode when I drank the water was enough to hook me.
Once again, Saxon helps me to my feet and guides me back to bed, not removing his hand like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he releases me. He may be right, because my body is practically vibrating with energy. He helps me down onto the bed—again.
“I don’t know, but a little later, we can go out into the arena and test your abilities.” Gone is the feral vampire, and in his place is the calm and rational man who was going to teach me to shoot. I can’t believe the change in him. Is this just from him giving me his blood?
“Why are you so calm all of a sudden?” I ask suspiciously, narrowing my eyes at him. “Before you were like a rabid beast. I thought for sure you were going to rip my throat out.”
“Blood rose bonding does tend to make a vampire crazy, but I managed to get myself under control once I heard your sweet voice and your assurance that you wanted to do this. Having you drink my blood managed to lock the rest of the feral beast down… for now. I’m sure it will return the minute I smell your own sweet nectar.
” My blood quickly rushes to my cheeks as they turn red at the thought of him smelling me, but I realize he’s actually referring to my blood as his eyes lock onto the side of my neck.
“So how do we bond?” I’m low-key vibrating with nerves and excitement over all these changes I hadn’t even dreamed of.
“We need to do a blood exchange. Although mine has changed the structure of your DNA, allowing for you to be compatible with me, it was spelled through the goblet, so we need to do this part simultaneously to activate the bond.”
It’s a struggle, but I manage to keep my face blank.
I don’t want him to see how the thought of drinking his blood again revolts me.
It really was gross, and it took everything inside me not to vomit it back up.
“Ah, okay, but how? I don’t have fangs like you.
” I look around for a knife, but he leans back against the headboard and gestures for me to come to him.
I move extra slowly as I crawl up the bed and into his arms and successfully avoid hurting us both.
I breathe a sigh of relief as I settle between his legs, my back to his front.
He wraps both his arms around me, cradling me.
“I will bite into my wrist, and while you drink from it, I will drink from your neck. Is this okay?” he asks, holding me like I’m precious glass and he’s afraid to hurt me—both physically and emotionally.
“Will it hurt?” I can hear the hitch in my tone, and I feel him shake his head behind me.
“There may be a brief pinch, but then it should be all pleasure after that.” His voice has dropped an octave, and I feel him harden against my lower back.
Well okay then.
“Okay,” I agree, and he leans down. His breath brushes across my ear, causing a shiver to run down the entire length of my body, and goosebumps appear on my skin.
“Thank you, Lila. You do not understand the gift you have given me, but I promise I will do everything in my power to protect and cherish you for as long as we’re both alive.
I am forever your servant.” Without waiting for me to respond to the beautiful words he just floored me with, he brings his wrist up to his mouth and bites down, the pop of his skin echoing in my ears.
He brings it around in front of me, and the smell suddenly hits me.
Holy. Fucking. Shitballs! He smells like toasted marshmallows and chocolate.
I feel a click in my mouth and a searing bite of pain that quickly diminishes.
When I use my tongue to investigate, I cut it on one of the fangs that have unexpectedly erupted from my gums. My mouth waters, and I feel my rational brain take a sidestep for something similar to my beast—something primal and possessive—and with my own tiny growl, I grab his arm, bringing it to mouth.
I run my tongue over the blood welling there, and my eyes roll back in my head as the flavor hits me.
The heavy groan that leaves my mouth portrays my need.
I seem to lose all rational thought, and it’s like I’m watching what is happening through a TV screen.
Feral Lila growls when the flow of blood slows and uses her own fangs to rip his skin open to get at the luscious liquid inside.
As the blood flows more freely, his healing restricted by my venom, I guzzle the flavorsome red liquid, lost in the taste and sensation, but behind me, I feel Saxon’s body stiffen and the length against my back harden even further as he moans a long keening sound.