“You sound rather knowledgeable,” I told him, surprised he understood something I’d felt for a long time. So many well-known people I’d called friend. And they were all dead now. Well, most of them. “Who’d you know?”
“I fought in the civil war, remember? I knew a lot of the officers. I met President Lincoln once. He smelled like shoe polish.”
“What side did you fight on?” I’d already guessed, but I wanted to ask.
He smirked and looked away. “Not the side my family did, I can say that.” We stopped at a hot dog stand to get some lunch. The owner, a young human, took one look at Knight and started to scowl.
“Sorry,” he said curtly. “I don’t want your business.” Knight’s face fell for a second before it went blank.
“Why not? We haven’t done anything,” I countered. I was James’s main squeeze. All the humans should be doing whatever I wanted. Speaking of squeeze, I wondered how Knight would react if I pinched his luscious ass.
“My best friend is a vampire,” the man spat. “Lycans killed her brother. James told everyone that this guy is a Lycan too. We don’t want his kind around here.”
I stared at the prejudice hot dog vendor, my mouth curled down and my good mood gone, until he looked me in the eye. “Please. We just want some hot dogs. We won’t bother you anymore if you just give us some food.”
To my surprise, he blinked, reached down, and handed me four hot dogs that were already prepared in a paper carton. Knight grabbed my elbow and tugged me away before the vendor could start complaining again.
“What the fuck just happened?” Knight asked when we’d turned the corner.
I knew exactly what had happened. I’d controlled the human. And I liked it.
21. I control you
Knight wasn’t happy. I handed him three of the hot dogs that he wolfed down, and I ate the other one while we walked. Once I was sure no one could see us, I pulled Knight into an alley and kissed him in between bites of hot dog.
I’d controlled someone’s mind. It was a first for me. I wasn’t sure what to think of it. On one hand, being controlled was horrid. Even in my current state, I remembered how it felt, though I had a hard time feeling sad about it. But on the other hand, I liked it. That hot dog man had been rude to my friend and I’d made him do what I wanted. That was a win in my book.
My kisses didn’t distract him, and I looked up into his eyes, feeling only a tiny sliver of guilt. I didn’t regret what I’d done. But I didn’t want Knight to be mad at me.
“Eat your hot dog,” was all he said.
I was still scared I’d made Knight mad. If he was mad, he wouldn’t kiss me, and I liked it when he kissed me. Luckily, another drink from Knight before lunch took care of that for me. I no longer felt upset about what had happened, and I didn’t care what Knight thought. I also wasn’t totally feeling it when he started running his hands on my ass, but he stopped once he saw my disinterest.
We went downstairs to the kitchen, and Sara was there wearing green coveralls, her pink-tipped hair in two little buns.
“I’m about to start some falafels!” she said brightly, holding up a bowl of chickpea batter. I groaned and wished she would order pizza. Before, I’d found her odd taste in food quite charming. Now I just wanted her to stop being weird. Her face changed and she put the bowl back into the fridge. “On second thought, let’s just order some pizza.”
She trotted out of the room to get the hotel phone, leaving me in utter shock. Did I just influence her thoughts? Wicked!
Knight was equally surprised, but for a different reason. “I didn’t know she liked pizza. I thought she hated it.”
I needed to test this. I focused on where I knew Sara was standing in the other room and sent, “No mushrooms or peppers, extra meat, and breadsticks,” to her.
She walked back into the kitchen and said, “I got extra meat, no mushrooms or peppers, and some breadsticks!”
That was the seal on my assumption. I’d influenced her thoughts. Knight was happy to get the pizza and didn’t notice anything was off. I decided to not tell him what had happened. He’d just lecture me anyway. I didn’t like lectures. I liked kisses.
After we ate, I drank from him again. I had to hold his arms to steady myself as a sonar pulse suddenly burst from my head. I knew where everyone in the town was without even thinking about it. I could tell their gender and smell their scent. It overwhelmed me and I whimpered slightly, wishing it would stop. Knight’s fingers gently brushed through my hair.
“It’s getting too much, isn’t it,” he asked me softly, his lips brushing over my neck.
I gasped and tightened my grip on him, willing myself to focus on only what I could see with my eyes. I lost a little of that giddy feeling I’d had before. “I have to keep going. I can handle it.” My senses snapped back and the room became clearer. I could still sense everything at once, but it was dull, like a slight headache. “I just have to stay focused on my surroundings.”
His hand slipped through my hair to rest on my shoulder, then lower to press me against him. “Remember, I’m here.” I felt so warm and I wanted to feel him inside me. No more rubbing, no more underwear.
“We can’t be intimate anymore,” I groaned against him. “I’ll go too far, it’ll ruin everything.”
His hands stilled, but he didn’t pull away from me. “I understand.”
By the next morning, I’d gone back to being giddy again and I wasn’t upset about the lack of sexy times with Knight. When I went to James’s, I truly had a full conversation with him without getting bored once. I still didn’t want to stay here with him forever, but I couldn’t remember why I didn’t like being around him. I was careful to not act too weird, though. I didn’t want him to know what I was up to. He checked his bite again, and despite the enormous amount of blood in my system, it hadn’t faded. Not even a little.
On the way back to the hotel with Drake, I chatted him up with questions about his parents, which was completely inappropriate, but I didn’t care. I even mentioned how he was not-human and human at the same time, and that it weirded me out. He ignored me.
Poo on you, Drake. I don’t need to know your secret. It’s probably boring anyway. Like you. You don’t even go by your real name.
Knight isn’t boring. Knight tastes good. He makes me laugh, and gives me beautiful pleasure. I might keep him. Provided he stops being such a Debbie Downer all the time.
My mind control powers worked on every human. They didn’t work on Knight. Maybe it was a werewolf thing, or maybe I just didn’t want to control him.
He was so fucking bossy. We went to the movies after I’d been bingeing on his blood for almost a week. I wanted to control the humans serving food, but noooo, he told me to stop talking and stand in the corner like a little toddler that had stolen cookies. He paid for the food, like a moron. I could’ve saved him ten bucks, but whatever. His loss. He also wouldn’t let me take someone else’s seat. It’s not my fault that the seats I wanted were already occupied!
“There are 32 people in here,” I informed him once we’d settled in our seats and I’d stolen the popcorn from him. He grabbed a few handfuls when I was distracted by the smells and sounds in the room.
“Fascinating,” was his response. Humph. He can’t even appreciate how awesome my powers are. What good are you? You’re supposed to be impressed. Cameron would be impressed. He’d be like, ooo Lisbeth, you’re so awesome, like some superhero I forgot the name of. I needed a cape. People with powers have capes.
“Stop talking out loud or I’m going to spank you,” Knight bossed. Like I said, so bossy. The spanking sounded nice though. “I am not bossy,” he added. Oh. I was talking out loud again. I stuffed my mouth full of popcorn before I could reveal the location to my secret superhero bunker.
22. I smell fudge
The next day, I could feel the emotions of everyone near me. Sara enjoyed the taste of guacamole far too much. James thought my smile was pretty, but he also th
ought windows were too flat. The ice cream man hated the smell of dairy. And Knight. He was worried about me. So worried. Also annoyed that my internal monologue kept spilling out of my mouth, and most of it was about how fluffy cotton candy was. I patted his cheek and told him to stop fussing over me, and also to learn to appreciate fluffy things.
Knight and I had started at three feedings per day. Then four. Then five. By the time we were up to six times per day, it had been almost two weeks, and the giddiness I’d felt at first was gone. Now I just felt powerful. Sara automatically cooked foods I wanted. No one in town charged me for anything. Men didn’t flirt with me. Women didn’t stare at Knight. And James. Dear James. Seeing him was easy. His bite was still there, but even though I’d grown considerably stronger, it wasn’t enough to tip him off. Or I’d just gained the ability to fool him.
But the cost. The cost of the blood binge was starting. I became short-tempered if someone messed up what I’d asked for. Sara had a constant stomachache from the rich food I enjoyed. I didn’t care about anyone’s feelings. I was the only one that mattered, including with Knight. We barely touched anymore, and I missed it so desperately that at every turn I was prepared to tear his clothes off to have him back in my arms.
I’d reached that level of power that I feared so badly. I was uncontrollable and unstoppable. And I wasn’t afraid of it anymore. I liked it. I wanted more. I never wanted to come down. With this much power, I could stop Arthur and the Hunters. I’d be free. Maybe I’d start my own little town somewhere with nice humans to do my bidding and Knight in my bed. With my powers, I’d be able to tell exactly what they were doing at any moment of the day. There’d be no crime, no insurgency, only me and my whims. And they would all obey me. I had no doubt about that.
Knight questioned me every day to check on my mental state. I knew he could tell I was getting worse, so I had trouble understanding why he kept bothering me with the constant questions. The irrational part of my brain that was taking over didn’t want to care what he thought about all of it, but somehow, I still did. When he got mad at me, I felt sad, and all I wanted was for him to forget whatever I did to anger him and say he liked me again. I hated upsetting him. Even so, it didn’t make me stop. Not even a little.
On day fifteen, I’d decided to stop humoring him and his little checklist.
“Enough,” I told him. We were sitting in my hotel room, and he was trying to ask his daily routine of questions. “This is stupid. I’m fine. It’s time for more blood.” I didn’t crave the blood, no. I wanted more power. I wanted to reach into the sky and bring the stars down.
He ignored my complaints, so I got up from the floor and sat down on his lap. We hadn’t been that close in days, and he didn’t even react, he just shifted so it was more comfortable. No phone in his pocket, no sir-ee. He did not have a boner for me.
“Okay, next question. Is your tongue numb?”
I traced his jugular with my finger and thought about licking it. “Nope.”
“Do you smell fudge when there is no fudge?”
I rolled my eyes. “Have you always been such a nerd?”
“Answer.”
I planted a long lick on his neck. “The grocery store down the street has some fudge bars for sale, they smell good. Other than that, no.”
“Stop licking me,” he ordered. I still couldn’t control him. I’d dismissed it as a wolf thing, but sometimes I tried just for fun. Make mad passionate sex to me. Sexxxx. Nope. He stood up, carried me to the bed, and sat back down on the edge of it. I could’ve drunk from him in the chair, but he preferred the bed so he could collapse on it if he needed to. I also preferred the bed, but not for drinking. “Drink. I’ll ask the questions later.”
I sunk my teeth into his neck and oh my fucking god did it taste good. His blood was the best I’d ever had. Other blood tasted too salty or like a cup of dishwater. His was like honey wine, deeply satisfying and crisp. Crispy blood. More crispy blood. Maybe when I was done feeding, he’d touch me again. I so wanted him to touch me.
“Lis...” his voice was strained and his hands gripped my rib cage tightly. What did he want? I was busy. “Lis please,” he begged. I liked begging. Maybe he’d have sex with me now.
Something clicked in my head and I registered what was happening.
I was draining him.
I shrieked in horror and pulled away. His body slumped down onto the bed and he struggled to breathe. I’d drunken so much of his blood. Clarity slapped into me and I felt my body go cold like someone had dumped ice water on my head.
“Knight!” I screamed. His hand reached up and he took mine, squeezed it, and then he closed his eyes.
It took Knight over an hour to recover. I felt his heart almost stop once, but his body worked quickly to keep him from dying. He held my hand the entire time, squeezing it like it gave him strength. When he could finally sit up, I threw myself into his arms and started crying.
“I almost killed you,” I sobbed into his shirt. His arms went around me and he held me close.
“I know,” he soothed. “But to be fair, I almost killed you once.”
I beat a fist against his chest. “You should’ve stopped me!” I was talking about me almost draining him, but I also meant everything else. He should’ve stopped me. He promised me he would. And he didn’t.
We sat like that for a long time. I could feel every muscle in his body, every sinew, every intake of breath. It was all too much. The smells, the sounds, the emotions. I started to sob and grab my head.
“Knight,” I whimpered, his hands coming up to hold me closer to him. “This is too much. It’s my limit. I can’t do this anymore.” The overflow of Knight’s blood was working through my system and I started to get flashes of things going on around town. Make it stop. Please make it stop. In the midst of it all, I felt something snap. The hold James had over me dissolved, and the bite on my neck slowly closed over. I was free.
I passed out.
When I woke up the next morning, Knight was sitting next to me on the bed eating a bowl of kimchi and eggs, watching something on the flat screen tv about the Civil War. One of my many orders to Sara had been buying a tv. He saw me stir, so he handed me a glass of water he’d had waiting for me.
“Morning,” he greeted around a mouthful of food. I took the water and downed it in long gulps.
I wiped my mouth on my sleeve when I’d emptied the glass. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he said simply. He went back to watching the tv, so I put a hand on his knee, drawing his eyes up to my face.
“Knight,” I said slowly. “You didn’t stop me. You promised me you would. And you didn’t.” I felt tears form and roll down my cheeks. “I went into this trusting that you’d be there to pull me out of it. I was there. I was on the precipice, and you let me go over.” I knew blaming him wasn’t entirely fair, but I couldn’t help it. I’d been so scared seeing him almost die. And I couldn’t shoulder that blame on my own, or I’d never be able to live with what I’d done.
He set his bowl down on the nightstand and folded me into his arms without hesitation, stroking my hair and tucking a few strands behind my ear with his fingers. “Lis. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I know you trusted me, and I broke that trust. I’m so sorry,” he repeated, and I heard tears in his voice, but I couldn’t see past the droplets in my eyes. “You couldn’t see yourself like I did. Pulling you back wouldn’t have worked. Not with how far you were gone. Sara and I talked it over. I had to let you almost kill me. It was the only way to bring you out.” He sniffed and tears spilled onto his shirt. “I’m so sorry.”
I was in the only place I felt safe anymore, in Knight’s gentle and strong embrace. We both cried. He cried because he knew how much he’d hurt me, and how he’d broken my trust. I cried because I’d never felt so scared in all my long life. What if I had killed him? I would’ve still been high on blood, and there’s no telling what crazy notion would’ve gone through my head. Maybe I would’ve tra
cked down and killed the Hunters. Or run away to start my own slave town. Or maybe I would’ve killed James and kept this town for myself. If I had killed Knight, no one could’ve stopped me.
If I’d killed him, I would’ve lost what we had growing between us. The fevered kisses, the passion, the… love. He would’ve never known how I felt about him. Maybe I didn’t even know, but that didn’t matter. What I’d become, and the things I’d done, even the things I hadn’t done but wanted to. It violated almost every moral code I had. I felt so ashamed. I wanted to die from the shame.
Knight was my lifeboat now. I clung to him until I ran out of tears. He’d long since stopped crying and was gently stroking my long brown locks. We’d been silent for several hours, just sitting there together, until he spoke.
“I’m sorry I left you.”
“What?” I asked in genuine confusion.
“When I shifted and attacked you. I was so mortified at what I’d done. I know I can’t control myself when I’m shifted, but… I was still ashamed. I hurt you. I’m supposed to protect you.”
“Because of the bracelet, right?” Somehow, I was let down at the thought, and I tried not to think of why that was. Before he could answer, I remembered I’d broken James’s hold on me the night before and I pulled away from Knight to sit back on my heels. “Wait, why haven’t we left yet? James will know I’m not under his control anymore. He’ll come after us and bite me again, and all of this will have been useless.”
Knight wasn’t concerned, and automatically he reached out for me to sit back in his arms. “Sara’s handling him right now. He’s too focused on her list of complaints to be bothered with you for the moment. We needed time to recover.” Staying where I was, I felt Sara at James’s house and the turmoil of emotions going on there, most of which were coming from her. He was truly occupied.
The Born Vampire series: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (The Complete Series, NSFW Edition) Page 15