Chapter 15 Kyle #2
At first, she gagged and resisted my offering, my gift, but then she latched on and began to suck, accepting the life I was giving to her, accepting me. My cock twitched as I watched her, and she moaned, which only aroused me more.
I needed to complete this, though, if she was going to live. Being with a mate was always an erotic experience, but we had plenty of time for all of those in our future. I just had to get this part right.
Anxiety chased away my earlier panic as I leaned toward Sam’s neck. Color had returned to her cheeks, and her pulse was more evident now. I’d always wanted to share this moment with my mate properly, but this was very much an emergency situation.
It was a long way from the candles, soft light, and quiet words I would have wanted for Sam.
The sharing, the tenderness, and the knowledge of giving and receiving.
But this moment wasn’t about that. I didn’t have that luxury, although love had never struck me as a luxury before.
This moment, this action, was about preventing Sam’s death.
I could save her. I had to.
I pressed my fangs into her vein and blood rushed into my mouth and down my throat, closing our circle and creating our bond. Energy flowed through me unlike anything I’d ever felt before.
It was actual ecstasy on my tongue, in my throat, in my veins as Sam consumed my blood and I consumed hers. It was like nothing ever before. Truly nothing.
Camille. Her name came unbidden. But this was nothing like Camille. I’d loved her, but she had never been mine. My attempt to turn her had been misguided. Selfish. Wrong. And I hadn’t known any better.
Everything about this, with Sam… With my mate. It was right. As things needed to be.
My mate needed to be with me. We belonged together, and it was always a vampire’s duty to turn their mate so they could experience eternity as a pair. We lived for this — to find the other part of our soul and keep them with us.
Nic had done it, Seb had, too… and I hadn’t understood why. But now I knew everything, and I understood. Nothing could be better than this.
I relaxed my sucking, just enjoying the teasing trickle of Sam’s blood. I didn’t want to take too much. Memories coursed through me alongside fresh energy, memories of when I’d been turned.
Truthfully, I usually shoved those memories to the deepest corners of my brain. It had been violent and it had been bloody, but it had led me to this, so now they held value. My whole journey held value because it had brought me to this moment, to Sam.
When Nic had found me, he’d changed everything about my life. I’d nearly died of consumption, been turned by a rogue who ripped through the hospital, and I’d killed the only woman I’d loved in a haze of bloodlust. I’d tried to turn her, but it had been too late. I’d gone too far.
But I’d also heard plenty of stories about human bodies that rejected venom, and as I drew away from Sam, I looked her over carefully.
Would she be all right? Both Leia and Kayla had survived, although the transition had been harder for Leia, according to the things Nic said when he told that story, and the way he still paled when he recalled those days at Leia’s bedside.
I shuddered. I didn’t want that for Sam. I wanted her to join me as a vampire without a struggle. I couldn’t imagine a life without her. Not now.
She appeared peaceful as I sealed the bite marks on her neck, healing them with a soft swipe of my tongue.
When she appeared to be sleeping quietly, I stepped toward the small kitchen and pulled out my burner cell. I’d sworn never to call this number, but I needed to talk to Nic. It was an emergency.
“It’s me.” I grunted out the words as soon as he answered.
“Hmm?” Even though he sounded distracted and not at all invested in our conversation, I knew I had his full attention. He hadn’t been expecting to hear from me, so he’d be on alert — especially if he’d already spoken to Sebastian, which he almost definitely had.
“I… Uh…” I didn’t know how to tell him all the stuff. “I’ve found my mate.” Well, there it was. I’d just needed to blurt it out like a fucking goon.
“Wait… What? You have? In New Orleans? In the Blackbloods?” Nic reeled off questions.
His last question caught me off guard. Was Sam a Blackblood? “Not really?” I sounded like I was guessing.
He chuckled softly. “You didn’t really find your mate?” He teased me over the answer I’d given to his initial flurry of questions.
“No. Yes. Yes, I did.”
He chuckled softly. “So which part is the not really part?”
“She’s not a Blackblood.” I made it more emphatic now. “But I did just take her away from them. She was the second’s thrall.”
Nic whistled, the sound low. “Risky business, then.” Then he sucked in a breath. “Jason has told me some of this, but I’m interested to hear it from you.”
Nodding, I rubbed my hand over my head, my fingers automatically finding my scar. “You don’t even know the half of it. Esmé nearly killed Sam. Sam’s here now, with me.”
“At that rathole Temple organized for you?” He sounded disbelieving. “You’ve taken your mate there?”
Something akin to shame burned my cheeks.
“I’m on a mission.” I shrugged. “I have no choice. I need to work but Sam needs to be safe, and she’s safest with me.
Don’t you think?” I added the last part when he didn’t say anything right away, and there was a note of pleading in my voice that I rarely used.
“The mission.” Nic sighed, the release of air from his chest bridging the gap between us.
“Yeah,” I confirmed as I glanced over my shoulder at my still sleeping mate. I pulled my hoodie from the chair where I’d slung it, and draped it over her, my movements gentle.
“She’s sleeping now, but I’ve started the turning process.” I brushed strands of hair from her forehead as I gauged the color in her cheeks.
“Okay.” Nic sounded entirely focused now. “Okay, then we need to get things moving. No more pussying around. We need to show those Blackbloods that the Duponts own Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and that our way is the only way.”
“I’ve got this, Nic. I don’t want you to worry.” I’d volunteered to infiltrate the Blackbloods, so I’d see it through.
“I’m not worried. Do I sound worried?”
Shit, yeah. He kinda sounded worried. That or genuinely distracted now.
“Listen, I’m getting in touch with Ben. I’m going to have him oversee everything here, and I’m going to fly out to join you guys in New Orleans. Maybe I need to be present for this, you know?”
“You don’t need —” I started.
“I think I do.” His voice was commanding, definitely my king in that statement, and I pressed my lips closed. “Now that you have a mate you need to take care of, we need to bring this Blackbloods shit to an end as soon as possible. I’m coming out there.”
“Yes, my king,” I murmured before he ended the call.
I slid the phone into the back of a drawer in the kitchen. I tried not to have it on me too often. Although it was a burner and held only other burner numbers, it was too risky to get caught with.
Then I turned and rested my ass against the edge of the counter as I watched Sam.
Shit, I was so out of my depth now. Nic coming out was actually a relief.
I could handle all of the military shit with the Blackbloods, the mission, infiltration, subterfuge…
That was all fine. A walk down Easy Street, even.
But I didn’t know what to do with a new mate, and I didn’t know how to get her through her transition.
I sighed and rubbed my hand over my head as adrenaline started to course through me, readying me for the next stage of battle.
The Blackbloods needed to start their prayers. The Duponts were coming.