by Brianna West
“I am surprised,” Victor responded as he cupped his face in wonderment and gazed at Lucas. “You have never drank from anyone in all the years I have known you. Impending death or not, this is quite unlike you.”
“I...” Lucas stuttered, which was very unlike him as well. “I could not let her die when it was my fault for her being injured in the first place.”
So not true. It was at my insistence that I go, I thought, knowing it would reach Victor.
He gave me a small smile before returning his stare to Lucas.
“Is that so?” Victor questioned. The moments of silence that passed between the two men had a tense atmosphere before Victor was once more fixing his gaze on me and offering me yet another warm smile. “I am glad that Lucas healed you. I was quite worried. I see that you are well protected, but I will be joining your investigation from here on out. I suspect that there is much more to come.”
Lucas set me down reluctantly as Victor held his hand out to me. I took it and felt the familiar warmth and electricity his body exuded. His blue eyes settled on me, and immediately I felt lighter and healthier than before. Any pain I might have had was gone in that instant.
He then pressed a hand to my face, his thumb sliding over my cheek as he continued to gaze at me. I knew he was reliving my memory of the event because of the way his lips twisted and settled into a frown before he pulled away.
“You are very powerful indeed,” he whispered as his eyes held mine. “You destroyed many demons tonight with only a little of your power, though it was instinctively done.” He glanced towards Pavel and Lucas before pulling away entirely. “I shall retire for the evening, but make sure to inform her of what's to come as a result of your drinking her blood.”
I glanced back towards Lucas, but his face was as hard as stone. I had an unsettling feeling that whatever the result of his feeding from me, it would be uncomfortable for the both of us.
“Lucas?” I asked.
Lucas sighed deeply before saying, “Come to my room, Izzy.”
If I hadn't known better, I might think he were inviting me for more interesting reasons, but I knew that he was only looking to speak privately. So, I followed him dutifully to his room, closing the door behind us and sitting atop his bed as I waited for him to start.
“When a vampire feeds,” he said as he began to pace a small length of the room, “it causes their victim to have certain urges towards their vampire. Most vampires kill their victims as to avoid this inevitable result. But those who do not, have a slave to their desires.”
Okay, not following.
He seemed to grasp as much because he explained further. “The victim craves the vampire and their bite. It is similar to having been given drugs and going through withdrawals. You will start to seek me out and beg me to take blood from you. You will also have urges of a...sexual nature towards me.” This was the part he seemed most uncomfortable with. I almost laughed because I already had sexual urges towards him, but I figured I would keep that part to myself. “In order for me to make this as easy of a transition back into your regular self, you will have to spend the next few days with me. I suspect that with close contact, we can subdue some of those urges though it may become uncomfortable.”
No kidding.
“So basically,” I rehashed, “you're going to be my own personal drug that I have to withdraw from. Sounds lovely.”
“Izzy,” Lucas responded softly. “It's not just you that will be suffering during this. I will be tempted by you as well. I will want nothing more than to taste you again because the smell of you is already causing me to hunger for your blood.”
I felt a bolt of heat as his eyes captured mine. The desire I found there was raw and powerful. I turned away in an effort to dispel my sudden need.
“Victor said you've never drank from anyone,” I said, changing the subject. “Is it because it does this?”
“Partially, yes,” he answered honestly. “Another part is because I have always hated the part of myself that was like my mother. It is not against our laws to drink from the source, as long as we do it to a willing participant, but I have never wanted to give into that part of myself.”
“So why...?” I asked hesitantly.
“I am not sure, Izzy,” Lucas responded reluctantly. “It may have been as a result to my guilt for your having been injured in the first place. I should have prepared for an attack and locked you up to keep you safe.”
“That hardly seems like a better idea,” I laughed against my will. “What if they were prepared for your leaving me behind?”
“You make a valid point,” he concurred.
I smiled in triumph. “So you agree that whatever you might have done, I would have been in the same situation.”
“Not entirely,” Lucas argued. “If I had succeeded in keeping you with Victor, you would not have been injured.”
“Jesus,” I groaned. “You are one stubborn bastard.”
“The same could be said about you,” Lucas responded in kind.
Touché.
“Well, it doesn't matter now,” I interjected. “I'm fine now, and I think the next few days will definitely be worth my life.”
“You say so now,” Lucas responded, but a smile played at his lips.
I turned towards Lucas, becoming serious for a moment. “Thank you, Lucas. I know that you would have otherwise never done such a thing, but I'm grateful that you did. And I'm sorry,” I whispered sheepishly, “that you'll have to battle your urge to drink my blood.”
“I do not regret it,” Lucas offered as he cupped my face and forced me to meet his gaze. “I would do it again if it meant keeping you safe.”
–
After dinner—Victor had ordered a pizza for those of us that did eat food—I followed Lucas to his room. Pavel had seemed a bit out of sorts during dinner; I continuously caught him staring at me, but he would advert his gaze anytime I returned it.
Victor was a chatterbox. He never stopped conversing, be it with Lucas, Pavel, or myself. He had a great sense of humor though and even shared in the teasing of Pavel's less than willing attire when I showed him the picture from my phone.
Lucas closed the door behind us as I entered the bedroom. I had felt my usual lust towards him and barely noticed any difference until after we left the table. I had absently touched him which caused him to lead us back to the bedroom. I guess he figured that I wouldn't want my urges to be made public to the other two; he was right.
He deftly removed his shirt, displaying the hard curves of muscles once more to my greedy eyes before he laid himself out onto the bed and beckoned me to join him. I did, though not with as much grace. I nearly fell on my face because the damnable silk sheets slid beneath my hands and out from under me. Thankfully, I made it work and used it as an opportunity to fall into place beside him.
“So,” I started lamely.
Lucas pulled me towards him, pressing our bodies together. “I realize this might be uncomfortable for you, but I want you to feel free to touch wherever you need to. This is a natural reaction, and I will not shame you for it.”
So I could touch him under the guise of reactions to his drinking from me? Score!
“I guess I don't have much choice,” I said while pressing my over-eager hands to his exposed chest.
I get to feel his muscles...I get to feel his muscles, I hummed in my head.
I moistened my lips as my fingers traveled across the vast expanse of skin. It was smooth and flawless beneath my touch. It trembled when I would touch a sensitive area, and I would peek upwards to see if it was affecting him the way it was affecting me. It was by the look in his eyes and the tautness of his jaw. His fingers were eating into my hips.
The pulse in his essence I could now recognize as desire from the way it felt and ran through me. I was starting to believe it had been a long time since he felt another person's touch and who was I to deny him?
I continued my venture from the round curves of pectoral
s to ridges and hills of his abdominal muscles. His breathing became labored, and the hard mass against my thigh was enough evidence of his arousal. I felt guilty, but a bigger part of me felt incredible that I had made him react this way. My fingers continued to dance over him before I felt his hands splaying and delving beneath the cover of my shirt, which I had freshly changed since my previous one was covered in demon and torn to all heaven.
I gasped at the cool touch before it began to warm and subsequently caused a throbbing between my legs.
Oh lord.
I pulled away, nearly panting. “I think I'm good,” I said in between soft pants.
Before I could say anymore, soft lips pressed against my own, effectively silencing me. I moaned, my lips parting with the sound, and a tongue immediately slid inside and dominated my mouth. Lucas was growling as his hands clenched the soft flesh of my backside, and he kissed me with a hunger that startled me.
It was as if he had been holding back, forcing himself to ignore his desires, and now all of those feelings came flooding out of him.
I encircled his neck with my arms, pulling him harder into the kiss and responding to his passion with my own. It was by far one of the best kisses of my life time. Who was I kidding? No one had made me feel half as amazing as Lucas did now.
His lips were as delicious as I imagined: plump and soft, rough and dominating. They moved against mine as if they knew exactly where I would feel the most, taste the most. My tongue explored his mouth, and I could feel the extended incisors and was suddenly struck with the need to have them inside me, drinking me.
I pulled away from the kiss, breathing with effort. “Lucas,” I moaned as I pulled his face towards my neck, lengthening it so all of it was lain bare before him. “Please,” I insisted in a raspy whisper.
I could barely recognize my voice, but the urge to have him bite me was so powerful that it overtook any thought I might have against how needy I sounded.
“No, Izzy,” Lucas groaned, his breathing as labored as my own. “I cannot...”
“Please,” I urged. “I need to feel you inside me.”
If I were in my right mind, I might have laughed; as it were, I only moaned in eager anticipation.
“Izzy,” Lucas continued, his body trembling like my own. “If I drink from you, this will never end. You will continue to want it. I cannot...I should not.”
He talked too much.
I pulled his face closer, my body opening to fit his larger one in the gap between my legs. “Just once more,” I requested. “Just one more time,” I promised.
Lucas was growling, an animal-like sound that left me wet and wanting. I was about to beg further when he pressed his lips to my pulsating jugular, tasting the flesh with his lips, and then with his tongue before he pierced me.
I cried out in relief as pleasure coursed over and through me like a warm bath. His body settled on top of me. His growls and groans of pleasure caused me to shift against him in attempts of feeling him. His hips responded, jerking into me roughly, undulating and causing moans of pleasure to escape my lips.
And in an instant, he was gone. I groaned in frustration as I looked about the room for where he could have gone, but he was no longer in the room. And furthermore, I couldn't feel his essence nearby. Throwing my hands down on the bed in anger, I sat up and adjusted my clothing.
I fought the tremors coursing through my body as a result of the residual pleasure and stood up. I looked about the room once more in hopes of finding Lucas, though I knew I would not. Grumbling, I left his room and headed towards my own.
Damn him. Damn him and his sense of morality.
–
I woke panting and my body covered in a thin sheen of sweat. I couldn't remember what I had been dreaming, but upon waking, I knew immediately there was another person in the room. I searched the darkness, breathing in short gasps as I felt out the person. I sighed in relief when I realized it was Lucas.
“Were you having nightmares?” he asked as he came to the side of my bed.
I breathed out the remainder of my fear and replied, “Nothing coming close to the living nightmare of you leaving me all hot and bothered earlier.”
“I was weak,” he whispered hoarsely. “I gave in so easily despite knowing that this was a result of my drinking from you. I should have controlled myself better.”
I groaned in frustration before pulling him towards me. “Stop blaming yourself! At least let me take credit for what happened earlier.”
“You were not yourself,” he reminded, and I wanted to punch him in response.
I sat up, the shirt I wore dipping and exposing me. I ignored it, figuring that Lucas had seen more than that small bit of skin.
“I meant it when I said that I was thankful. Since you did it to save me, I'll do what I can to make sure the next few days I stay away from you. I know it must be especially difficult having these feelings for me when you had not once given into your urges over the course of seven hundred years. So I'll do what I can,” I finished softly. “Maybe I can stay at my place and have Victor watch over me until this thing runs its course.”
“Izzy,” Lucas called gently before taking my hand in his. “You do not burden me by staying.”
“Not right now,” I retorted and pulled my hand away. “But what about when my blood calls to you again? No, I should distance myself for right—“
I was cut off by his lips pressing against my own. I responded almost immediately, clutching the material of his shirt and opening my mouth to him. His hand cradled my head, deepening the kiss and firmly pulling my face into him. Our lips tasted each other, sliding and moving in a crazed madness before he was pulling away.
I watched him through the haze of my desire as his thumb traced my lips and then trailed down the length of my neck.
“I do not want to take advantage of you,” he finally admitted.
“But—“ I began to argue.
Lucas pressed his fingers to my lips, and then brushed a chaste kiss to my forehead. “You are under the influence of my bite.”
I laughed. “Probably shouldn't drive then.”
His eyes were serious, and I swallowed my sarcasm. “You will regret this, and I cannot bear the responsibility of taking advantage of you when you come out of it.”
“I won't,” I argued.
Lucas shook his head, as if rejecting anything I might say, and left the room.
I threw myself back into bed, feeling close to crying. I wouldn't cry. I couldn't.
I left the room behind me in search of an angel. I found him favoring a glass of whiskey and my book.
Snatching the book away, I glared at him angrily. “I need to stay at my place for a few days,” I began as I tossed the book on the coffee table.
He fashioned me with a small smile before standing. “I suspect this is as a result of Lucas,” he questioned rhetorically. “Very well. I shall offer my protection in his stead. Lead the way.”
And I did without looking back.
Chapter Six
If I thought having Lucas in my apartment would make it seem small, having Victor there would definitely make it feel small.
The head honcho caused a few of my neighbors to peek from their windows in awe. Mrs. Needleman from apartment thirteen even came out of her front door to get a full view of the beautiful man following me into my apartment.
I almost blushed. Almost.
I cursed as my key got stuck in the door as we entered my apartment. I finally freed it after a hard-fought battle. Victor had already made himself at home, browsing through my collection of DVDs and choosing one...appropriate by no means at all.
I watched with wide eyes as he popped in 'Twilight.' “Hey,” I started as I made my way over after slamming the door behind me. “This isn't movie time!”
“Oh?” he questioned as he crossed one of his large legs over and used the DVD remote to get to the main menu.
An angel that watched love stories about vampires. Yeah, t
hat wasn't weird at all.
I snatched away the remote and turned towards the television. He had already played the damn thing. Sighing, I threw the remote down and made my way into the kitchen. He was doing me a favor by bringing me here, so the least I could do was allow him to watch a movie he wanted.
“Do you like coffee?” I asked begrudgingly.
“Quite,” he replied from my couch as he brushed back strands of his amazingly gorgeous hair.
I wasn't a man-eater by any accounts, but I kind of wished I was with all the hotties I was forced to work with now. I mean, dear lord, these men looked, smelled, and tasted—assuming as much from my previous make-out session with Lucas—incredible. I was assuredly to find a husband.
I thought of Lucas and immediately squashed the image of him and also slammed a bit too roughly at the coffee mugs I had removed from the cabinet.
“He'll come around,” Victor offered from the living room. “He has never met someone like you.”
A thought struck me. “Can you read his mind?”
Victor gave way to a chuckle before shaking his head, silky strands showering over his large shoulders. “No,” he finally said, “I cannot. I have not been able to read his mind since he was a child. You will learn to control my entering your mind with a little instruction. But for the moment, I quite enjoy reading your thoughts.”
Well, isn't that just lovely and invasive wrapped up in a bright yellow angel bow?
“I will do my best not to be,” Victor replied with a small upturn of his lush lips.
I was momentarily stupid with the beauty of him before I returned to my task. “So do you think that he'll come around to this whole idea of me being a Guardian? I mean, if I can be one that is...”
“You are more than qualified,” Victor said as he stood from the couch and made his way over to me.
I did my best to ignore the sudden thumping of my heart, but dear lord, this man was scrumptious.
Shit.
He smiled knowingly before bending over the bar and fixing me with his gorgeous gaze. I mean, not gorgeous.