by Ginna Moran
My head spins, shadows edging my vision. Something inside me snaps at the potent scent of Hudson’s tantalizing blood. But I don’t attack him. I can’t get my feet to work. Rylie screams as Berkeley forces her to let go of Hudson without dislodging his heart.
Torrance grabs Rylie from Berkeley and shoves her back into the wall. She cries out again, her wide eyes meeting me as she yells my name.
Aspen locks his hands around my waist, spinning me toward him. “Don’t hurt Ms. Reynolds. She’s doing what she was trained to do if Fiona’s life is jeopardized.”
Torrance flashes his fangs. “She nearly took Hudson from us.”
“Don’t hurt her,” Aspen demands again.
“Fiona, fight!” Rylie yells. “You have to fight! They know.”
I struggle in Aspen’s arms, but not in an attempt to fight him. My emotions run rampant, and I can’t think straight. All I can smell is Hudson’s blood. It sets me off like crazy.
Aspen relocates me to his bed and pins me down. Bringing his hand to my cheek, he caresses my skin, shifting my hair out of the way of my face. “You don’t have to fight, Fiona. Just look at me. Take a deep breath. You can’t drink from Hudson. He’s too injured.”
A shadow falls across us, and I grind my teeth, darting my attention to Berkeley.
Aspen growls at him. “Stay back, brother. She’s scared.”
“I’m not. I’m starving,” I cry, my voice rising.
Leaning closer, Aspen blocks the view of the room from me so all I can see are his startling blue eyes. “I give you permission to bite me, Fiona. It’s okay. You don’t have to be scared. I just—I wish I knew sooner.”
I release a shudder of a breath and bite Aspen just above the crook of his neck, filling my mouth with his blood. Tears burn my eyes as the weight of everyone’s gazes lock onto us. A soft moan escapes Aspen’s mouth, and he tightens his arms around me, lying on top of me like he needs to shield me from his brothers, from the world even.
“Oh, shit,” Berkeley says. “Careful, Aspen. She looks like she wants to drain you.”
He groans. “She might. She is a dhampir after all.”
Chapter 17
Dhampirs 101
“DAMN IT. I WANT HER mouth all over me. Give her here, Aspen.” Hudson waves his arms from the floor where he fell after Rylie tried to cut his heart out. “I don’t give a fuck if I’m injured. She’ll make me better. Her kiss will take my pain away.”
I groan before a laugh escapes me, and I ease away from Aspen’s neck. He’s not quick to let me go, continuing to lie on top of me. Grabbing his discarded shirt, he runs the soft fabric across my mouth and kisses me so passionately that I lock my legs around him.
“Don’t get carried away, brother,” Berkeley says. “I need you to give me a short Dhampirs 101 course. I’ve heard a tiny bit about them, but nothing substantial has been included in my donor training, only that they’re basically mythical.”
“So our girl is a unicorn or some shit?” Hudson says. “Explains her choice in hair color.”
Torrance kneels on the floor next to Hudson, checking out the wound on his back that cuts through to his chest, acting like his injury isn’t a huge deal. “Well, she’s not a mermaid. I don’t think she can swim.”
“Of course I can,” I mumble against Aspen’s mouth. “There was a lake near home.”
“Fiona!” Rylie’s voice cuts through the air, wiping the laughter from my lips. I had nearly forgotten she was still in the room, standing in shock against the wall. My blood hunger and lust plus the huge presences of the King brothers makes it impossible to focus on anything else.
Hudson growls from the floor, and I manage to nudge Aspen until he rolls off of me, though he stays super close, linking our fingers together before pulling me into his side in a half hug. I can’t tell whether he’s protective or possessive, but my bite obviously affected him. In what way? I’m sure to find out any minute now.
“Hudson, please. You have to calm down. Rylie didn’t mean to hurt you,” I say, forcing Aspen to close the space with me.
Rylie waves her hand, her face twisting in anger. “She’s right. I meant to kill you.” Rylie swings her attention to me. “You have to do it, Fiona. They know about you. It’s not safe. They have to die like their brother.”
Ah, hell.
I throw myself at Hudson, landing on top of him before he can get to his feet. It helps that his blood loss weakens him a bit. Flipping me off, he flashes his fangs, growling in annoyance that I dare tried to intervene.
Huge mistake.
Aspen grabs Hudson by the arm and throws him into the wall. “Don’t you fucking growl at my girl.”
“Your girl?” This comes from Torrance. “She is our girl. Get that straight. Just because she left her mark on you doesn’t mean you get to personally claim her, Aspen.”
The two of them start shoving each other, and Berkeley scoops me off my feet and spins me out of the way. I screech at the sudden movement, drawing everyone’s attention to me. My fear instincts ignite as Torrance, Aspen, and Hudson close the space to us, their eyes flashing. They look ready to steal me away from Berkeley.
Berkeley growls. “Stop it with the bullshit and pull yourselves together. You’re scaring our girl. She thinks you’re going after her and not me.”
A door slams, cutting through the silence. Hudson whips his head toward the living room. Everyone was so focused on me that they missed Rylie sneaking out.
“Go get her, Aspen,” Berkeley says. “Lock her in her room until we can figure out what to do.”
Aspen disappears without a word, and I hear Rylie’s screech grow in volume as he carries her back into our suite like a child having a meltdown. Her interruption eases the tension between the guys, and my heart settles down, my body no longer expecting to get ripped apart at any second.
Berkeley rubs his big hand between my shoulder blades. “Fi, are you okay? Can we sit down?”
I bob my head, my throat tight with nerves. “Yeah,” I manage to whisper.
Wrapping his arms around me, he engulfs me in a hug that pushes my trembles away. “I want you to know that you’re safe, okay? We won’t harm you. This is all a...surprise, but you obviously aren’t a threat to us. We just need some answers. Did you know? I mean, about what you were?”
I rub my lips together. It’s not like I can lie. I’ve been drinking vampire blood all my life, starting at maybe a couple of times a year as a kid and then more frequently as a teen. By the time I hit maturity as an adult, blood consumption had turned into a regular every other day occurrence or as often as I could sneak it. But ever since Culver bit me, I struggle if I go more than a few hours.
I don’t want to spill a lifetime of secrets just yet, so I force my head to nod. “I did. It’s what brought me here. I ran away from my home because the elders wanted me to produce an heir and then join the soldiers in their fight. It’s what they did to my parents. I never even knew them. I was basically raised by other moms in the community.”
Berkeley puffs out his bottom lip in an irresistible pout I can’t help but kiss. He hugs me tighter, just breathing into my hair for a minute. “I had no idea, Fi.”
“Of course you didn’t. I’ve never talked about it. Haven’t thought about it either.” I ease away and glance at his brothers. “But it’s fine. Just my life.”
Aspen returns to my side and takes my free hand. “A fascinating life. I want to know everything about you.”
Berkeley squeezes my other hand. “I think we all do.”
Instead of strolling to the couch, I pull the two of them toward Aspen’s bed and flop onto it face first. Hudson doesn’t hesitate and climbs onto it next to me, tugging me by my hands until I lie on top of him. I lean up and tug his shirt up, unable to resist looking at his chest. A small cut already coagulates.
“You want to lick it, don’t you?” Hudson asks, a chuckle lightening his words.
“I want to do more than lick you there.” I t
ry to keep my face straight. I draw my finger up his broad chest to his shoulder. “I want to lick you here, too.”
“Damn,” he breathes. “Look at her face. She wants to devour me.”
I laugh and pat his cheek. “You have no idea.”
“Can’t possibly be more than how much I want to taste every inch of you, love.”
Aspen plops down next to Hudson and extends his arms to me. “My bed, my arms, brother. Give her here.”
I raise my eyebrows.
“If that’s okay with you,” he adds with a smile that already has me stretching my arms out to him.
“That seems fair enough,” I say, brushing my fingers along the killer bite mark I left on him. “I did ravage the hell out of you.”
He shivers. “How often will you want to?”
And here comes the questions.
I take a breath and shrug. “Want to or need to? Because there’s a huge difference.”
Berkeley chuckles and climbs onto the bed and sits cross-legged between his brothers’ legs. “This is—”
“Crazy?” I say, cutting him off.
“Interesting. Fascinating. Hot.” He touches the top of my bare foot. “Do you know others like you?”
I shake my head. “Just me. I’m the first person born with a symptomatic dhampir mutation since my ancestor was bitten while pregnant during the uprising.”
“Shit,” Torrance says, finally joining us. “You drink vampire blood. You have traits like us but different weaknesses.”
“Blood Rebels refer to me as a gift to humanity. They consider me a vampire’s only real predator.” I stare at my bare legs resting between Aspen’s as I lean my back on his chest. I was partially right about the bed being big enough for the five of us, though only Hudson lies down with one hand behind his head and his other on my knee.
“But you don’t hunt us,” Hudson says. “Right?”
“Not actively, no. And some of these side effects are new.”
I go on and explain everything that has changed since Culver bit me with venom. The four of them listen quietly, letting my words sink in. I’ve never in my life felt so comfortable talking to anyone, not even Rylie. I kept a part of myself from her, a huge part of myself, if I’m being honest, because she feared vampires. I feared the feral dickwads that wanted to murder me. Never the blood sources that fed me in the community, and especially not the four King brothers who all gaze at me and hold onto my every word like I’m the most amazing person in the universe.
“I know you think, or at least the Blood Rebels think, that you’re some kind of salvation or weapon to use, but I question the hell out of that,” Aspen says, hugging his arms around me. “While I’ve heard of the dhampir mutation and know how your existence is rare, that’s about as much as I know. But now? Just being with you and knowing the truth? I couldn’t explain the feelings I had before but now things are starting to make sense.”
“Like the innate need to keep that cute ass of hers safe?” Hudson says, smiling at me.
“Or feed her,” Berkeley adds. “And not just human food. You’re the first person I had ever given my blood to. Like I could sense that it’s what you needed without realizing it.”
I can’t help smiling at him. “You know, one of the perks about me is that we can technically survive on each other.”
Boy, does that elicit all sorts of sexy reactions from all of them. Aspen kisses the nape of my neck, his building arousal suddenly flexing against my lower back. I squirm under their delicious intensity, causing Aspen to tighten his hold on me so that I’ll stop wiggling against him.
“Careful, love,” Hudson murmurs. “I’m starving. Rylie really took it out of me with that shit she pulled.”
Aspen extends his fangs. “I’m hungry myself.”
The familiar clicking sound turns me on, and my vagina clenches, totally begging me to do something more than squeeze my legs together. Torrance licks his lips, noticing my reaction, but he doesn’t point it out. All he does is shift a bit closer to rest his hand on my shin.
“I could give you a bit.” I tilt my head so that my hair falls away from my shoulder.
“Gen. pop. blood will be fine for them,” Berkeley says. He reaches over to where he left the thermos he grabbed earlier when Aspen thought I needed human blood.
Hudson groans. “It feels wrong to drink in front of her.”
Berkeley points to the door. “Then leave the room. I don’t want to risk Fiona’s health. I want to do a more thorough exam. If she is like us, maybe there is more to things.”
I take the thermos from Berkeley and hand it to Hudson. “It’s fine. Do you think I’ll get jealous or something?”
He smirks at me. “Well, if you’re half vampire...”
I roll my eyes and motion for him just to drink the damn blood already. He watches me watch him, bringing the cup to his lips to take a sip.
“Fuck,” he mumbles, shifting to turn away. “I was right.”
I flick his shoulder. “What are you talking about?”
He peeks at me from over his shoulder. “You are jealous. You’re frowning at me.”
“She is,” Torrance says, agreeing.
I shake my head and fake glare. “Oh, shut up. I am not. I just...don’t like knowing that you’re drinking someone else’s blood.”
“Because you want to take care of him,” Aspen says.
“And you.” My eyes widen as my thought sounds from my mouth. “Ah, hell. Okay, maybe I am a bit jealous. But it’s not a big deal. It’s a damn cup.”
“What if it were another donor?” Berkeley asks. “How would that make you feel?”
“Pissed the hell off. You better not. You’re mine.” I slap my hand over my mouth, surprised how much even the thought bothers me. And what the hell? There are four of them and one of me. I can’t be jealous because I don’t even know if I could provide enough blood for all of them. Berkeley won’t even try.
Torrance releases a deep, sexy, throaty noise from his lips like the cross between a moan and a purr. His eyes flash silver, and he moves closer so that he can reach my face to touch my cheek and give me all his attention.
“I’m yours, huh?” he asks, his sultry voice doing all sorts of things to my body.
I scoot closer until our mouths are only an inch apart. “Do you have a problem with that?”
He tilts his head and waits for me to make the first move, obviously wanting me to kiss him. I give in to his need for affection and savor how soft his full lips feel against mine. “No problem at all.”
“Good,” I say with a smile. I ease away and look at Berkeley, Aspen, and Hudson. “What about you? Is that something you can agree on?”
“Hell yeah, you can claim me,” Hudson says, grinning. “Bring that mouth over here. I’m ready to give you what you need right now.”
I laugh. “And Mr. Jimenez thinks I’m the one who bonded with you.”
He fake-glares at me. “You have. Don’t deny it.”
“I’m not,” I say, hugging him. “I think I’ve kind of bonded with all of you. It’s the strangest thing. Rylie’s going to freak. She wants us to leave.”
“Do you?” Berkeley asks. “It wasn’t like you had a choice in enrolling here. I couldn’t blame you if you wanted to go.”
“You’re wrong. If I wanted to leave, I would’ve already. I chose to stay.” I look at each one of them. “I wanted to see exactly what was in store for me with you. You guys are different.”
“Maybe because we bonded with you as well,” Aspen says softly. “I know I feel it. It’s one of the reasons possessiveness can be a problem.”
“But not with you,” I say.
“Except for a few minutes after you bit him. And damn it do I want you to leave a mark like that on me,” Hudson says.
Torrance shakes his head. “Of course you do, Hudson.” Turning to me, he adds, “So do you like to bite like that all the time?”
“Shit, he’s nervous,” Aspen comments.
Torrance growls. “It was just a question.”
Hudson leans in to look at Aspen’s neck. “It is a bit savage, isn’t it?”
Warmth blooms on my cheeks, and I flop between Aspen and Hudson to separate them and hide my head under a pillow.
The bed bounces and a thud sounds through the air. Berkeley tugs the pillow from my head, now sitting in Hudson’s spot while he grins at me from his place on the floor.
“No shame, love. I wasn’t teasing you. Just admiring what you can do,” Hudson says, winking at me. “No donor can bite like that. Neither can a vampire. The power of your mouth is exciting, like a surprise if you’ll be gentle or a complete savage.”
“I’m sorry, Fiona. I didn’t mean for my question to turn my brother into an idiot.” Torrance twists his lips.
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t want you to think you can’t ask me something.” I look at the rest of them, so they know that includes them.
“The same goes for us, Fi,” Berkeley says.
I nod with a smile. “And to answer your question, no, I don’t need to bite. I just sometimes...enjoy it. I mean, if it’s something you like too.”
“Like? I’m going to fucking love it. I can’t wait,” Hudson says.
I bite my lip. “Me either.”
Silence draws between the five of us, the weight of the revelations of tonight sinking in. It feels like I’ve been underwater for so long and I finally reached the surface so I can breathe again. I nestle between Aspen and Berkeley, yawning like crazy.
Berkeley kisses my temple. “Why don’t you get some sleep? We only have a few hours of the day left.”
Torrance stands up. “What about Rylie? What do we do with her?”
They all look at me, like they want me to make a suggestion.
I hug the pillow to me. “Can you just leave her alone for a bit and let me talk to her in the evening?”
“What are you going to say? She’s not going to be on board with any of this,” Berkeley says. He rubs his fingers through his hair, his muscles flexing with his movements.
I press my lips together in thought. I already know what Rylie’s probably thinking—that I’m either going to die at any moment or that I’m a traitor. And in either case, she probably feels all sorts of hopeless. But I can’t go to her right now. She is too upset. She looked as if I betrayed her by not attacking the guys and making a run for it.