by Lucinda Dark
He took a step forward and I scrambled to my feet, backing away. “I came for you,” he said. “I saved you.”
“You—w-what?” I didn’t understand. Spinning in a circle, I sought out an exit, but there wasn’t one. In fact, there were no doors or windows. There was only white. For eons and eons, it stretched into the vast distance. There was only white, and him and me. And the blood.
Torin waded through it, his bare feet turning red the closer he got to me. I looked down at it all. I didn’t know how long had passed since I’d passed out, but I knew I hadn’t been wearing the white shift currently covering me. And while I was grateful that I wasn’t naked, I also didn’t care for it.
“Did you dress me in this?” I asked. “Seems a bit sacrificial virgin to me, don’t ya think?”
He chuckled, that rich voice of his vibrating through the air until it hit me square in my nether regions. Holy mother of fuck. I clenched my thighs against the urge to attack him as he stopped in front of me. Lust bolted through my core, wrapping thick long fingers around my throat and squeezing until it was difficult to breathe without the desire to jump him.
“W-what’s happening?” I gasped out. I urged my feet to move away from him—to take me far from the creature that was currently the only thing I could focus on. He was the source of my newfound hunger. My libido was charging at him, though, and while she and my will to back away collided, neither won the fight and I stayed right where I was.
Red eyes met my gaze and I gasped again as he reached out and stroked my face down to my neck. My breath stuttered in my chest, stopping altogether when his hand moved down to where my heart beat a doubled rhythm. I couldn’t have slowed it had I tried. Shit. Shit. Shit.
“You’re not Torin,” I said, the realization coming as his ruby colored eyes darted back up to my face.
“No, I’m not.”
“Who are you? Why do you look like him?”
“Because I am part of him.”
I frowned. “You just said—”
“I am not him, not fully,” he interrupted, flipping his hand over and sliding it back up until he gripped my jaw in his palm and tilted my face up. “I am his other half.”
I scowled and jerked my chin from his grip. “Don’t touch me,” I hissed.
He didn’t act offended. To the contrary, he grinned, revealing sharp fangs. “Such brazenness. No wonder he’s taken by you.”
“What are you talking about?” I still couldn’t move. My feet were rooted to the ground.
Plop. Plop. Plop. I closed my eyes against the sound of droplets of blood as they hit the ground at my feet.
Vampire-Torin’s eyes flared bright. “You were damaged, you had to be healed. We allowed you to drink our blood.”
“What!” Shock rippled through me. No, he wouldn’t have. Not without my permission. Maverick wouldn’t have let… My thoughts trailed off as I released the futility of my denial. Maverick wouldn’t have known my wishes. Maverick wouldn’t know how abhorrent I would have found the idea of drinking vampire blood, even if Torin wasn’t a complete monster. I would have refused. But that didn’t matter. The choice had been taken from me.
Soft fingertips feathered against my cheek and I jerked back automatically. Vampire-Torin caught me, sliding a hand around my waist and pulling me into his body with a rush of speed before I could fight back. With my hands against his chest, I leaned away from him. My legs went weak as his breath fanned against my skin and he bent his head to lick at my skin, cleaning the blood away.
The muscles of my stomach tightened, and as much as I wished it were in revulsion, I knew better than to lie to myself. I was attracted to him. To this … creature. I panted as he slid his lips over my shoulder, pushing the strap of my dress down as he scraped the roughness of his tongue against me.
“Is there a reason for this?” I asked dryly. “Or are you just trying to make a point here?”
Vampire-Torin chuckled, the sound sifting through my ears and causing a shiver to run up my spine as he pulled back and looked down at me. “Are you saying you don’t enjoy being in my arms?” he inquired, lifting a brow.
“I’d rather eat glass than be in your arms,” I lied. In actuality, I wanted to climb him like a fucking tree. I wanted to wrap my legs around him and slide down until his cock pressed inside and relieved me of this horrible, god-awful ache that was swelling up in my core.
“You already did, in a manner of speaking,” he said. “Torin had to remove glass fragments from your skin.”
I frowned. I thought I’d managed to pick out all of the larger pieces mid-fight. I hadn’t felt anymore, but then again, I’d been kind of woozy at the end and growing numb to the all consuming pain. I hadn’t exactly just laid down and decided to take a nap of my own accord. My body had simply failed to stay awake.
“What happened?” I asked.
Vampire-Torin drew me farther into the curve of his arms despite my fragile resistance. He gently urged my head into the crook of his neck and the scent that hit me bowled me over until I couldn’t refuse his nearness. I pressed my nose to the column of his throat and inhaled. My mouth watered.
“You sustained multiple injuries, Barbie,” he answered. “You were not well. Unless you had made it to the hospital there was nothing else that could have been done. I am certain now that I’ve been inside you—”
“Been inside me?” I interrupted, my mind fogged over as I licked my lips and stared at the pulse of his throat.
“Blood, Barbie. You were given my blood to heal your wounds.”
“That’s why you’re here?” I asked before adding, just to make sure, “in my dream?”
He nodded. “Yes. Now that you’ve had some of my blood, I will remain in you until you are healed completely.”
“Will I continue to have dreams about you?” I grimaced at the idea.
A puff of air slid over the top of my head as his chest vibrated with a quiet laugh. I liked that feeling. My hands moved to his sides of their own accord, my fingers squeezing against his skin as they slid beneath his shirt and over the small of his back. I groaned and closed my eyes, pressing my forehead against his sternum.
He rumbled. “Yes, you may continue to see me in your dreams,” he answered. “Now, do you want to hear what happened or are you too overcome by the bloodlust?”
“Bloodlust?” My eyes popped open and I leaned back to look up at his face.
His eyes glowed with desire. My teeth clenched at the expression on his face—the tightening of his features, the fullness of his lips drew me in. My gaze zeroed in on them. He broke the spell when he shook his head.
“You drank vampire blood, there are certain … side effects that have taken hold of you.”
Holy shit. My crazy, out of control libido. He meant my lust for him and … his blood? I struggled weakly, trying to fight my way out of his arms. With a sigh, he merely settled me more firmly against him.
“Do not be afraid, Barbie. I will not let you do something you would regret,” he said. “Not yet.”
“Yeah,” I said. “That makes me feel loads better.”
“Regardless, you need to listen,” he said. “I am certain that without my blood, you would have died. You suffered internal damage in your battle with Delia.”
“I killed her,” I said.
His hand came up to the back of my head and stroked through the strands of my hair. “Yes, I’m aware.”
I swallowed against a suddenly parched throat. “What is that going to mean?” I asked. “There are others—your coven—will I have to leave?”
“You weren’t willing to before,” he said with a huff. “Would you truly be willing to now?”
I thought about it for a moment. “No, probably not.”
“Why does that not surprise me?” He shook his head as his fingers continued to move and stroke, lulling me into quiet serenity. “You needed a blood transfusion,” he continued, bypassing the rhetorical question he’d asked and moving onto the heart of the matter. The
fact that I now had semi-vampire blood running through my system. “Without a hospital, that wasn’t possible. You cannot be angry with Maverick for making the decision for you.”
I didn’t like it, but he was right. “I know.” I sighed. “I’m not angry with him.”
“Good.” He nodded, his chin bumping the top of my head.
“Where does that leave me, though?” I asked. “I’m not leaving.”
“You’re lucky. The vampire you killed—Delia—her absence won’t be noticed for a while. I’ll come up with a story. Something believable that will explain her death. I’ll claim that I killed the hunter responsible, but not in time to save Delia.”
“Okay.”
“That means you have to stop hunting, though.”
“No!” I shoved at his chest. Any sense of security fell away with that announcement. I glared at him, but his expression didn’t budge an inch.
“This is not up for discussion, Barbie. You will need to stop hunting or they won’t believe the lie.”
“I have to find out who killed my family,” I said. “I’m not going to stop until I find the vampire responsible and put him in the ground.”
“You will get yourself killed, is that what you want?”
“If that’s what it takes,” I replied.
“Even if it gets Maverick killed in the crossfire?”
I froze. “What do you mean?”
“He knows now. About me. About you. About the whole ordeal. Vampires. Everything. Do you really think he’ll stand back and let you do this alone?”
“I’m going to give him a choice,” I said.
“You’re not leaving, but you’re going to demand that he not intrude if you’re in trouble. Do you really think he’ll listen?”
“He will if he wants to protect his family,” I bit out. But even I wasn’t convinced. He would want to protect his family, but something had changed in the time since Maverick and I had come to know one another. He’d want to protect me too.
“You’re part of his family now, Barbie,” Vampire-Torin said softly. “He’s not going to leave you alone to face death.”
“I can’t…” I couldn’t just let go of my vengeance. It still burned red-hot inside of me. My parents had given their lives for me; they’d died because of me. As did Brandon. Guilt was a living, breathing monster inside of me.
What right did I have to keep living if I didn’t avenge them?
“I will help you,” he said.
I jerked my head up, shocked by the offer. “You will?”
He nodded. “If—and only if—you listen to me. I will help you in your vengeance, but not at the cost of your life and not at the cost of his. Do you understand?”
Hope blossomed. I shouldn’t trust him—I knew. He wasn’t completely human, but what other choice did I have? And he had saved my life. I bit my lip as I stared back at him and then I nodded. “Alright,” I said. “Yes, if you’ll help me, then I’ll listen.” He waited a bit, watching me, his eyes hooded. Then he stalked forward, a predatory shadow against the white of the rest of the dream world. “W-what are you doing?” I asked as I backed up.
“Sealing the vow,” he said as he grasped my arms and pulled me to him. His head came down over mine, his mouth slanting against my lips in a quick—almost too fast—movement.
Electricity raced through my veins. My eyes slid closed as the desire I’d been fighting all along broke free from its chains. My hands sank into his hair, yanking at the locks as I plastered myself against his front. The kiss was a wave of torment rippling through me, devouring every logical thought I had ever had or ever would have. The rest of the world fell away. The white. Reality. Nothing could compare to this.
No kiss I’d ever been given had been as all consuming. The one time I’d drowned my sorrow in alcohol and mistakenly given up my virginity to a fumbling foster kid from the same Youth Home paled by comparison. That was a murky night to this clear galaxy. The kiss stretched onward, vast and enthralling.
“Barbie.” Vampire-Torin gasped my name as he drew away. He chuckled, the sound thick and bountiful with his lust. “I think that’s enough for now, though I appreciate your enthusiasm.”
“No…” I locked my fingers at the back of his neck and drew him back down, ignoring his surprised expression. “It’s not enough.” I took his mouth this time. Diving in deep and thrusting my tongue against his. Acute passion swelled within me, driving me to clutch him closer, hold him harder. I rubbed my breasts against his chest until my nipples prickled with the sensation.
Lips against lips. Tongue to tongue. I let myself drink from his taste, loving the shockwaves of fire trembling along my nerves. I craved him.
My muscles clenched as I drew closer. I jumped. He caught me. Blood—still wet—slid between us, marking his white skin, marking mine. I didn’t care. Nothing else existed but him and me. My thighs burned with the friction of how hard I was squeezing them against his sides.
Gasping, my mouth broke free and slid down to his throat. My lips parted. My teeth scraped against his cold flesh. A hard hand sank into my hair and gripped, jerking me away.
“Barbie, no!”
“I want it!” I screamed. I needed it.
Barbie … you have to stop. It’s time to wake up. Wake up, Barbie.
“No!” My body cramped with the desire to sink my teeth into him. The kiss had ignited something darker inside me, a hunger I hadn’t known before.
I’m sorry, Barbie. So sorry. Open your eyes, sweetheart. Open your eyes. You’ll thank me later.
“No, I won’t. I want it. Please, Torin. Please…”
I’m protecting you from yourself, Barbie. And from me. Now. Open. Your. Eyes.
Twenty-Nine
Barbie
My eyes bolted open and I blinked at the bright room. Sunlight poured in from the windows alongside the bed. I squirmed beneath the fluffy comforter covering me, feeling my bare thighs rub together. Fingers grasping at the edges, I lifted the blankets away to look down my body and sighed with relief when I realized I was somewhat covered, just missing pants.
Where the hell were my fucking pants?
“We had to cut them off,” came the answer from the doorway.
I looked up, my eyebrows shooting into my hairline as Torin—real, actual Torin—rested against the frame. Looking exhausted and haggard, Maverick ambled up behind him and rested against the opposite side.
“I didn’t say that aloud,” I pointed out. It wasn’t a question, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew what I was getting at.
“A result of drinking my blood,” he said. “Don’t worry, it’ll fade.”
So, it hadn’t been a dream after all. I supposed I knew that, deep down, but as the memory of my last reaction to Torin—or rather, Vampire-Torin—surfaced, I blushed and wished it had been.
“What level of Hell is this?” I asked to distract him from the thoughts rolling through my mind. Flashes of Torin’s skin under my nails made me ball my hands into fists.
“It’s not Hell, Barbie, you’re alive,” Maverick said as he moved past the doorway and headed for my bedside. “We’re in one of Torin’s guest houses.”
I sucked in a breath and threw off the covers. “We need to leave,” I said. “We can’t be here. I can’t be here and you certainly can’t be seen with me.”
“Slow down there, killer.” Torin flashed to my bedside and without thinking, I punched him in the face. Everyone froze.
With a grimace, I apologized. “Sorry,” I said. “Habit.”
“Vampire speed set it off?” He inquired as he lifted his hand to his now bleeding nose. Red droplets dripped past his upper lip and for some reason, I found my eyes drawn to them. I was fascinated by the way they glittered against the sunlight, shining a bright ruby color. My mouth watered.
I clamped a hand over my mouth and stared at him in horror. “What have you done to me?” My question was muffled by my fingers, but they heard.
Maverick sighed, grabbin
g tissues from the bedside table and handing them to Torin. “I asked him to save you,” Maverick said.
“That’s not what I mean.” Slowly, I let my hand return to my side. “What are these feelings?”
Maverick frowned and looked to Torin who took the tissues and wiped the blood from his upper lip and nose. “They will fade as well,” Torin said.
“That doesn’t explain what they are,” I snapped. “You haven’t answered my question.”
He grimaced. “Because you won’t like the answer.” I waited. He sighed. “When you consume a vampire’s blood and you aren’t turned, you will experience some…” His jaw locked and he looked away as he crumpled the remains of the tissues in his fist. “You may experience some attachments,” he finished.
“Why didn’t you fucking say anything last night?” Maverick growled.
“We still wouldn’t have had a choice,” Torin said.
“What kind of attachments?” I asked before they could get into it.
Torin turned back to me. “Dreams. Cravings. Projecting your thoughts to me. It will fade,” he said. “It’s not forever.”
I shook my head. “You shouldn’t have done it.” I pushed away Maverick’s arm as my feet reached the floor. The flannel shirt I was wearing fell to my upper thighs.
“We didn’t have much of a choice,” Maverick said. “You were dying.”
“Had you left when I told you to, none of this would have been an issue,” Torin reminded me.
I shot him a dark look. “Why don’t you row row row your boat quickly the fuck away from me, hmmmm?” I stomped past the two of them and into the hallway.
“Is that any way to thank someone for saving your life?” Torin called back.
I ignored him. “Maverick, come on, we have to go,” I snapped.
“Barbie, wait, hold on.” I didn’t wait. I didn’t hold on. I strode to the front door of the guest house, but as I reached for the handle, I was snatched up from behind and catapulted across the room. My back landed against the couch and I rolled as Torin came down on top of me, narrowly missing me as I slid to the floor and popped back up on my feet.