Taken by The Hunger: A Blood Thirst Novel (Book 1) Paranormal Romance/ Erotica/ Urban Fantasy

by Spade, Harnet

  He shot up and crossed over to me looking like he was going to climb in and drag me out of the tub by my neck only to strangle me. I sprang up, fumbled, and splashed away from him… watching as he changed course and punched through the stone wall. I screamed as I heard the pieces falling from the wall.

  “Emma, I told you never to run from me,” he took a deep breath as he rested his temple on his forearm while his fingers picked at the broken tiles. “Your fucking beautiful tits are slaying me baby, swaying…” he sucked in his bottom lip, “so fucking beautiful… begging me for touch. Stop fucking moving will you!” He warned.

  I choked, shocked while trying to hold still, and cover myself.

  “Emma you’re trembling now and that only makes me wonder if you’ll tremble like that underneath me while I take you… please stop, or I will soon find out.”

  My teeth started chattering, so I bit my lip and tried to stop moving as if my life depended on it.

  What the hell is wrong with me! Get it together.

  “God, you need to put some clothes on because I’m about to lose all control.” He stayed against the broken wall for mere seconds… then abruptly turned away from me when he roughly said, “Now, I feel I have to answer this question, to get it through to you, but never ask something so ridiculous again.”

  “Do you understand me?”

  He looked at me then, and I nodded yes.

  “I put your life above all others including my own, and I do it because it’s the only way I know how to LIVE, it’s in every fucking breath I take, so don’t ever imply I do it for something as dirty and worthless as money. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME EMMA?”

  I shook my head no while trying to remain perfectly still. How could I, understand? No, I refused to believe that he was telling me he loved me when all he did was push me away causing me pain.

  He moved so suddenly, he didn’t even give me time to try and move away. He was breathing hard and his hand was shaking when he reached for my face as his thumb touched my lips.

  “No of course you don’t... I’m doing what I can to wait Emma, to give you the time to heal your scars from within… the ones you have buried deep inside, but stop making it so completely impossible for me.” His hand lowered to my neck caressing my pulse there. “Don’t ever socialize with the guards for the safety of everyone involved.”

  When I went to reply, he grabbed my jaw while looking down at my lips with a dark glint in his eyes and said, “If you get lonely you now have Kamila, or come to me… I’ll figure something out, but don’t ever again try to make Angels out of mere mortals.” He turned, walked away picking up the chemise from where I must have dropped it, fisted it within his grasp, and left.

  My legs couldn’t sustain me any longer. I fell into the tub and clasped my hands over my ears to keep the humiliation along with so many regrets out of my mind. I never forgot Jeffery, and I never tried to escape again… the guilt was too much; it never left me following me like a dark shadow. From then on Darius kept a closer eye on me never trusting me again.

  Chapter 5: Lucid Need of Mine

  I started having nightmares from that night on of someone coming for me while I tried to get away unsuccessfully. I sometimes thought it was Jeffery, but I would wake up screaming and very frightened, and thought it surely wouldn’t be Jeffery’s ghost because I would like to think he would protect me, not seek revenge.

  Darius would always be there in my room shaking me awake from the nightmares. He’d gently caress me soothing me back to sleep, and in the state I was in it was the only time I allowed him to be near.

  Through unshed tears, gasping for air, I told him he didn’t have to keep waking up every night. But he always said he didn’t sleep that he usually kept watch outside my door. I decided to let the lie stand and not confront him. I knew him to sleep in my bed. For almost two years, this was our moment of truce- the only moment when we were in such close proximity that I could hear his heartbeat while my cheek lay against him, breathing him in, as he caressed my back soothing away the tears until I fell back to asleep. I don’t think he went back to his bed, in fact, in my sleep I sometimes felt his skin against mine, and I welcomed it. Later, I would always find the time to hate myself for it, but in those few moments his company kept me sane… safe.

  Until one night when I woke up straddling him, trying to take a chunk off his neck. His shirt was gone. I awoke kissing and biting his bloodied lips. I saw him through a haze laying beneath me with half cast passion filled eyes. It thrilled me as I drank him in. I was barely aware of my actions only enjoying all the sensations, the power of this man’s captivating blood, and the taste of his strained hard body underneath mine. He kept repeating my name, “Emma, Emma… not like this. I want you to know it’s me, say my name Emma.”

  “Names who gives about names, I just want. I’ve wanted you so bad for so long, I hurt. I feel empty… I need you to fill me,” I argued as I licked and bit his jaw.

  “Yes, fuck baby… your kisses burn my soul, I’ve wanted to be inside you for so long now… longer than you’ll ever know.” He groaned, lifting his hips and me in the process as his hands left my thighs to unfasten his jeans. I laughed biting into his neck… knowing he would soon be inside of me. I’d wanted this for so long I was panting with anticipation, but then… something unexpected happened.

  I saw us very much as we were now- only it wasn’t. We were in an indoor patio with the sound of a fountain nearby and he was shaking me, telling me my plan was madness that she would find us out. “It will never work. She will come to me and know.”

  “I can’t stay away from you anymore. I don’t care if she thinks you’re a slave. I want you Darius… you are a burn in my heart. What will you have me do? Come to you, seek comfort with you, or find solace with ano…”

  “I know what you’re doing, but don’t… do not think to play games with me. I warn you, don’t you fucking say that, or your first time with a lover will only be about me imprinting myself in every cell of your body… you won’t be able to find yourself any longer when I’m through. You want only me Eva… and fuck the world around us.”

  He continues, his gaze dark with lust, “If this is what you want then fine have me. I’m done with fighting you, but you will doom us all to hell.”

  Was I fearful I’d gotten the desired result? A part of me was, I can’t lie, but the other demanding part met him half way because I knew I would find pleasure like no other… I existed only to be with him. It was that simple.

  We came together clashing in a tangled mess of arms, legs, and lips. He grabbed and lifted me over his waist. I climbed as he went down on his knees, and I felt the cold rough floor at my back. Our actions were rushed. He wasted no time as he tore my dress placing himself between my thighs, and I lay moaning at the feel and smell of his nearness. I didn’t recognize myself as I tore at his tunic. He lifted my blush silk muslin dress all the way up over my hips to my waist, exposing luminous, smooth, pale skin. His eyes where an iridescent blue which from his kind, I had learned, only meant one thing... he was marking me as his own. He’d formed such a deep attachment to me, he was claiming me. We were too far gone to notice my mother and Eros the King, her favorite lover, were watching us.

  I only felt how I was burning, sensually covered, and cherished one moment, and then the next… bare, his weight was gone as he was thrown off of me. I screamed from the pain of my heart being squeezed a feeling triggered from no longer being near him. The sound of his shoulder dislocating against the marble column and both falling had me crawling towards him.

  “Darius please look at me,” I begged. Need to know he is alright, he needs to be alright for both our sakes. He did as I asked, and it’s when I saw his face was bloodied and swollen from what I could only guess was a kick Eros had struck in order to get him off me.

  “HOW DARE YOU, I should have you put down like the dog you are for having marred the Princess, and soon to be Queen of the Vampires with your touch,” my mother
yelled. “As fitting as that would be I think it would be a worse punishment having to see what I have planned for her future.” Then she looked towards Eros and nodded.

  Instantly, I sensed his presence behind me… moments before, I felt his forearm under my breasts lifting me against him as my hand reached for Darius while the other tried to ease his hold. Tears fell down my face. “Mother if you hurt him,” I said as I struggled against Eros, “You won’t have a future. I’ll tear out your black heart.”

  “You dare cause us shame. All of this fight for a worthless slave, You Dare!”

  “Let me go… Eros, I demand you to,” I ignored my mother and uselessly fought to free myself. He growled in my ear and whispered so my mother wouldn’t hear, “You are fortunate you are my mate, and that I thought twice before killing you.”

  “You are mad. What you say is impossible,” I replied. “No vampire has ever mated to one such as I. My blood is poisonous to your kind.”

  “Yes… there’s my merciless daughter, always trying to fight no matter if it is a worthless battle over a worthless slave. Gone is your father’s kindness and pathetic conformity; all the attributes you share with him. I knew you had my will. I knew you were your mother’s daughter,” she laughed as she approached Darius and grabbed his long hair pulling his head back. She’d never before mentioned my father to me, “Take her to her quarters and lock her in while I have some fun with my favorite pet.”

  “And don’t worry Emmaley, I’ll make sure you hear every last one of his screams, so maybe next time you’ll learn to stay away from the paid for warrior. Yes Darius, I shall enjoy teaching you your place.”

  Darius looked directly at Eros when he said, “Keep your defiling claws off her, or I’ll behead you, my king.” Then while still looking directly at Eros, he said to my mother, “It is a shame, you my queen have allowed for him to lie to you since the beginning- so blinded by your desire for him. Did you know, Aurora… that while your lover fucks you, crawling his way into your heart all these years, all he’s ever thought about is… your daughter? I recognize the look in his eyes when he sees her, he wants her as his mate. All these years… using you… just with you as a means to your daughter, my dishonored queen. You think she is safe with him because he cannot taste her blood?”

  “Darius, No!” I screamed feeling panic at his words. She would kill him.

  My mother’s shriek broke the mirrors hanging on the walls around us, as Eros lunged himself at Darius. I pulled Eros back by digging into his back with my bare hand and upon reaching his heart I squeezed… but it wasn’t beating, so I drew away terrified from the heartless bastard. That hesitation nearly cost me my life because he yanked me around, and drove his fangs into my artery while he fondled my left breast through the thin fabric of my dress, anchoring- holding me against him, so they could see. I felt his fangs momentarily release me, “Ah… sweeter than ambrosia. Emmaley my love, there’s no need to try to take my heart, it has always belonged to you. It is time you give me yours in return.” I fought him, but his fangs returned, pinning- claiming me he drank. His voice was in my head.

  Now you are finally mine. Finally, I’ll know what it feels like to openly love you without restraint. To sink myself deep into your heat and not just pretend to anymore.

  I felt and heard his elation, making me sick, while I was slowly losing consciousness. I stood in front of the two people who loved me most being drained right before their eyes. Darius was immobile due to my mother’s spell, but his gaze was filled with such desolation and fear it cut right through me like a sword.

  My mother of all the people came to my rescue, but right before she reached me he traced us from them. The last I saw was her falling hysterically to her knees while she brokenly cried, “What have I done, forgive me my precious child.”

  Chapter 6: Kiss Me One Last Time Before I Kill You

  Abruptly, I came out of whatever trance I was in. Ashamed with my actions at finding myself straddled over his naked chest, wearing only a satin camisole and matching hipster panties, I quickly jumped out of bed taking the sheets with me. I saw the sheets covered in his blood, and immediately dropped them, nearly coming out of my skin. I was losing my mind. I had to be hallucinating as I watched him grunting incoherently coming down from the high he got off of me practically gorging myself on his blood. I was shaking uncontrollably covered with his blood when he looked at me and his gaze was that iced blue gaze I had seen in my dream. I tried to back pedal out of the room, but I hit the wall hard instead.

  “What the hell just happened? And why… how can you do that with your eyes?” Shaking my head because I could barely control myself, I wanted his eyes on me while I took him. I was fighting the intense need to go back to him.

  As he opened his mouth I interjected, “No, no don’t even tell me… this is just from the drugs you’ve been feeding me to keep me alive. This, none of this is possible... are you even human? What the hell am I? Fu..mmn,” my hands came up pressing my head. It hurt so much, “… is that what this facility is about? My god, where are we?” With my hands buried in my hair, trying not to look at his eyes I said, “I need you… to go. And never come into my room again; no matter how much I scream,” I had to get him to stop coming in.

  He was sitting up in my brass bed, breathing hard and fast, while trying to soothe me with calming words. The room was washed with the moon’s radiance because I had left the curtains open. He was illuminated with it. Every plane of his sculpted body was bathed by the soft light. I watched right before my eyes as his body repaired the damage I had done, but the blood was left to remind me what we both weren’t.

  “It’s all right Emma, you can get through this. You need to calm down baby.”

  “Get out! I can’t think clearly when you look at me as you are.” His eyes had me trapped, enslaved by a need so great I would soon be over him again, so I looked at all the blood instead.

  I couldn’t keep looking at it because it reminded me- I was a monster. I kept shaking my head no. This couldn’t be real.

  His gaze came up to meet my eyes as he said, “I know what you saw, and don’t you forget you are Mine. You’re mine Eva, always have been no matter what he did to you and what you stopped us both from seeing- You… Are… Mine. I don’t fucking care how many times he touched you, how he touched you, or even if you enjoyed it… you are fucking Mine!”

  I lost all the air I had, or the ability to breathe. I went down to the cold wood floor in a crouch and tried so hard to get air in my lungs as tears fell from my face.

  Without raising my head I asked him, “How dare you be so callous? What did I ever do to you to deserve such raw insensitivity from you, you bastard?”

  “You allowed him to take you from me. You had the opportunity to end the fucking worthless scum and you hesitated! You have proven your strength against his, yet you let him take you.”

  “Of course you’ve blamed me all along. He drained me while you were hurt and immobile! I was paralyzed from the fear of him hurting you further. You coward! Get out… just get out, Damn you!”

  “Look at me Eva.”

  I lifted my head, and saw his upper body covered with dried trails of blood running down the valleys of his muscular chest.

  “I don’t blame you. I’m angry because we both lost control, and they took advantage, baby. I lost you then, but it won’t happen ever again. I will always find you. Let me in.”

  I shook my head, “So you don’t even try to give me an excuse for the unexplainable shit that is happening? You expect me to just accept everything.”

  Only silence and his glowing ice blue eyes penetrating me, answered me.

  “I can’t take this… it’s too much! Answer me!”

  He stabbed me with his gaze, “You don’t really want for me to give you the answers you think you want because Emma, if my eyes scare you, make you quiver- the way you are…,” I looked at him then out of defiance, “little girl you’re not prepared to hear the truth because
it is so much worse than you could ever imagine. Do yourself a favor... do what I ask, when I ask, and do not even hesitate for a second.”

  After moments of staring at one another, I sit back on my heels and answer him.

  “Just so we’re clear, I may do what you ask for as long as I deem necessary, but don’t let there be a shred of doubt when I tell you… I don’t belong to anyone. Stop talking like there was anything between us, Darius. It isn’t real… what I saw as far as I’m concerned was just another nightmare.”

  He smiled a sad halfhearted smile, “Hold on to whatever helps us get through this, but I need you to dig deep inside. I need you to let yourself remember how you escaped him because ever since you tried to run away from me… he can reach you. He’s driving you to do these things in your sleep.”

  “It is why you don’t have a moments rest while you dream… he realized I was tracking him, that I too can tap into your mind. He tried to have you kill me.”

  I covered my ears trying to silence him, but I could still hear him.

  “Tell me, how do you explain what you did to me? You’re more alive now than when I give you all the drugs I pump you with to keep you alive.”

  He wouldn’t get out, wouldn’t stop talking of things I didn’t want to remember. “Please just let it be.”

  “Did he turn you? Is that why he seeks you in your dreams?” He continued.

  “Shut up! Shut up damn you! What took you so long to find me, to find a way,” I cried only now realizing what I had just let slip, quickly covering my lips with my bloodied hands. He fisted the sheets and looked at me hard, his whole body going rigid. I knew he wouldn’t give me answers, and of course he was right, if I was honest with myself I really didn’t want to hear them.