Once Bitten, Twice Seduced [Revenants 1] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Mackenzie Williams

  After a few seconds, she knew that Luke had heard her. Would he come right away? Would he come at all? She could sense that her message had hit its target, but that was all. It seemed that Luke was now the one with the wall up. Addison started to tear it down. Her control on their connection was always stronger. As she worked, a giant red flag popped up in her mind.

  “Don’t.” Luke’s voice was telling her to stop invading.

  That response cut her deeper than anything could have. She was alone.

  “I can help you. You are more powerful than you know. I can show you how to live as a Revenant. My brother just exists. He doesn’t fully embrace this life. I can show you a better way. You having the pain energy just proves you want the same as me. You want to be a Feeder.”

  As he spoke, Gabe walked toward Addison. She could see that he was sincere in his speech, but she could also see that his intentions were not entirely noble. Addison’s intuition told her that he wasn’t trying to help her just for her sake. Is he doing this just to hurt his brother? Is he doing this so he can have me? Is he trying to redeem himself from something?

  Still, Addison couldn’t deny that when Gabe had spoken the word “Feeder,” something surged up deep inside her. It was very close to lust. The desire to suck the blood from a person was intimate and felt closely related to the desire to fuck them.

  Even if she decided she didn’t want to be a Feeder like Gabe, would her willpower be enough? Lord knows her willpower, when it came to sex, was lacking.

  “Suppose I do want to be a Feeder. That doesn’t mean I should, or would.”

  Gabe reached her and stood staring down at her. She saw a hint of regret in his expression. She was sure that that feeling applied to many things in his life, her being just one of them. He reached a hand up to touch her cheek, but Addison pulled back from it.

  Gabe sighed and let his rejected hand fall back to his side. “If you won’t listen to reason, I’ll just have to force it on you. You will feed with me, and then you will see what you are missing.”

  A real fear formed in her gut and started to spin. Addison had no doubt he was right. If she ever really tasted someone, fed on someone, she knew she may never be able to give it up. It would be like a drug and she would be hooked, no doubt in her mind.

  Just then, a quiet rustle pulled her attention from Gabe. Several feet away, she saw a bicycle with a young male riding along through the trees. He was far enough away that he probably couldn’t see her or Gabe, but with her heightened senses, she could see and hear him fine. Bike trail. She hadn’t realized it was here.

  “Perfect.”

  Addison looked back at Gabe to see that all regret was gone from his face now. An evil grin lifted one corner of his mouth. He turned away from her and started in the direction of the path. Addison grabbed his arm and pulled.

  At first, he didn’t acknowledge that she was even trying to stop him. He picked up his pace toward the biker. Addison dug her fingers into his arm and her heels into the ground, pulling harder on his arm. This time, he halted and turned to look at her. She knew that he was stronger than Luke, maybe a match for her strength. Is that the evil side?

  “Oh, sweet. Do you want to capture one for us? Do you know how hot you’d look tackling that guy? Biting him, ignoring his screams as you drink from him?”

  Addison’s grip loosened on his arm. The mental images of all those things ran through her mind. She saw herself running after the young man on the bike. She then saw herself leaping onto his back, causing him and his bike to topple over and slam into the ground.

  Next in her mental movie, she rolled the man over onto his back. She could actually feel his fear and shock. With a wide smile, Addison leaned down and licked his neck. The man was too stunned to fight her off. He most likely was too confused, but maybe turned on by this girl sitting on his groin.

  Addison sat up and smiled down at the stranger again. “Scream for me, pet.”

  “What?” The man still didn’t look scared.

  “Scream.” With that, Addison bent back down, but not for a lick.

  She bared her teeth and let them sink into his flesh. They were quite a ways in before the man screamed, obviously unprepared for the attack. Once the full pain hit him, the man started to thrash around violently under Addison. Lay still, fucker. How can I suck the life out of you if my teeth keep sliding around?

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Addison now realized the full benefit of the calming energy. She let a wave of it wash over the man. His body instantly went still. Addison then took the opportunity to take her first drink. She closed her eyes and sucked hard on his neck. The warm, sweet taste of blood filled her mouth. It felt like heaven and hell rolled into one cocktail. Her eyes popped open and she tilted her head so she could watch the man’s face as she took another gulp.

  He looked so serene. More fun. Addison pulled her fangs from the man and sat back up straight. Her hands then rubbed up his chest. She halted the calming wave and replaced it with the pain one. She watched in silent delight as the man came back to life. His face scrunched up in agony while his limbs started to fly and wriggle. Addison felt his pelvis grind under her as she let her head fall back.

  The spike of sexual electricity swirled with the bloodlust that was coursing through her body. She felt at one with her victim, but also far superior. Addison felt invincible and in a state of complete blissfulness.

  She then looked back down at her pet and pressed harder against his chest. He struggled under her and she let his fear and pain flow into her chest and fill it. This was what she wanted. She wanted to feed on his blood, but also on his emotions.

  Addison stopped the pain wave and smiled at the man. His body stopped its big movement but was still twitching some. His eyes were staring into hers, but were glassy.

  “Thank you,” Addison said, before returning to his neck.

  An actual scream ripped from Addison as the mental images faded and she was brought back to real life. The alternate reality had seemed like many long minutes, but judging from Gabe’s expression, she had just been in her head for a few seconds. That was long enough, though.

  She stumbled back in horror, away from the bike trail and away from Gabe. That had been the best and most horrific experience. Addison now understood Gabe’s speech. She could revel as a Feeder, but she now saw that her willpower would never be strong enough. She might even go further than even Gabe expected.

  “You saw it, didn’t you? You saw what your future could be.” Gabe walked toward her, forgetting about the bicyclist.

  “Yes, and it was horrible.” Addison took another step backward and tripped.

  Just before she hit the ground, Gabe reached her and held her steady. “That’s not the whole truth, now, is it? You liked it.” His eyes flashed.

  “Let go of me. I have to get out of here. I want to go back to Luke.”

  Gabe’s arms squeezed her tighter. “You aren’t going anywhere until you feed with me. I wasn’t joking.”

  Addison fought his hold. She once more sent out a cry to Luke. Was he still listening? This time, she got a much better answer.

  “I’m here, beautiful.”

  Before she could return a message or react, there was a loud thump coming from far off behind Gabe. She watched his face switch immediately. He was on edge, now. An instant later, Gabe was being ripped from Addison. The force threw her to the ground as she watched the vampire fly through the air. He finally landed several feet away, but not alone. Luke was on top of him.

  Addison’s mouth popped open as she twisted on the forest floor to get a better view of the commotion. It was almost beautiful, watching the twins fighting, almost like a violent dance. Luke took a swing at Gabe, who was still under him on his back. Gabe managed to avoid the fist by tilting his neck. Luke’s punch hit the ground and Addison felt it vibrate under her.

  Gabe took this opportunity to kick his brother off him. Luke flew off to the side and Gabe was immediately on Luk
e’s back. He landed a solid jab to Luke’s side, just under his ribs. Addison heard the sickening sound of her lover exhaling in pain.

  “Stop it!” Addison got to her feet and started to walk toward the brothers.

  “I told you to stay away from her.” Luke growled as he rolled over, causing Gabe to fall off his back.

  Both men stood up and glared at each other. They started a strange, posturing dance, both walking in a circle around the other, throwing in grunts and snorts every so often.

  “You don’t have the authority to demand that. She was my bite. You shouldn’t have saved her, but since you did, let’s discuss our little one.”

  Gabe’s expression lightened some and he nodded toward Addison, who was standing just outside their fighting ring now. Luke looked over at her as both men stopped walking. The look he gave her almost had her falling to her knees. It was a look of pity and remorse, she wasn’t sure what for.

  “Yes.” Luke turned back to glare at his twin. “Let’s discuss Addison. She obviously wants to be with me, not you.”

  “Yes, brother. But should she be?”

  “Stop talking about me like I don’t have a mind! I’ve already told you.” Addison’s fear was starting to slip into anger.

  Both men ignored her outburst. “So now you know, Luke. You see what she really is. Do you still want her? Don’t you think she should be with someone that will understand her?”

  “Shut the fuck up! Don’t talk like you have only her best interests at heart. You are a selfish bastard! That’s all this is.” The men started their fight-walk again.

  That insult must have really struck home because, like a bolt of lightning, Gabe was on Luke. His fists were flying from every direction. He let out a primal shriek as he landed his second punch. Luke stumbled back a few steps, but then recovered and returned his own fist to the side of Gabe’s face.

  “God damn it! Stop!” Addison desperately wanted to jump in, but part of her knew that this had to come to a head between the brothers.

  Luke shoved Gabe, who tripped on a fallen tree limb. He fell to his ass, but crawled back to his feet an instant later. Luke stood still, panting and clenching his fists. Addison took this momentary halt in the action to run in between the twin Revenants. She first looked into Luke’s eyes. They were full of so much violence and hatred, it scared her. She turned her head quickly to look into Gabe’s eyes and saw they were exactly the same.

  “Listen to me!” Addison’s anger was starting to boil over. “How do you think this is going to end?” She was staring at Gabe now.

  He acted like he saw right through her, like she wasn’t even there. If that didn’t show her the truth, nothing would. Gabe’s fight was with Luke, and there was certainly a lot of history Addison didn’t know about. Maybe she didn’t want to know about it.

  “Gabe, you’ll have to kidnap me, because I will never follow you willingly. I think you know that Luke won’t lay down and let that happen.”

  When she spoke the last few words, she turned a worried eye to Luke. She was hoping her statement was true. Would he still save her, want her, now that he knew her secret?

  Unlike his brother, Luke stared back at Addison. Some of the hatred started to soften and she saw a very small flash of kindness in his icy blue eyes. For a few second, she fell into them and forgot what was happening around her. This wouldn’t be easy, but she wanted to fight for him. She knew that now. Her attention turned back to Gabe as he spoke up.

  “I’m not going to just walk away, Addison. You will never truly be happy with him or his lifestyle. You will always feel like you are missing something, or worse, you will always feel like you are bad, like you don’t belong.”

  “Like you did.” Luke’s words were a statement, not a question.

  Addison could see that those words sliced through Gabe. His violent expression started to fall into an expression of hurt and pain.

  “Sweet, when you wake up and finally have the guts to be yourself, I won’t be far away. And, brother, fuck you. She will be mine no matter how much you fight it. Maybe not soon, but it will happen.”

  With that declaration, Gabe turned away from the pair. He took a few slow, unsure steps, but then vanished.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Addison turned to Luke and stood still, just blinking. She had no words and was scared of his. Luke was staring off at the place where his brother had just disappeared from.

  “It’s okay now,” he spoke into her mind. She was a little uncertain if he was completely talking about her situation. Part of that statement might have been for Gabe.

  “I’m sorry.” Addison turned her full attention to Luke.

  She raised a hand, intent on touching his chest, but stopped short. She was unsure where things stood now. Luke could obviously feel her questions. He helped her out by grabbing her arms and pulling her into a hug. This gesture broke her dam. She started to sob on his shoulder. He didn’t speak, at first. Luke just lovingly stroked her hair while she continued to cry.

  After several long minutes, Addison’s tears dried up. She pulled her head back to look up at Luke. He kept his arms wrapped around her back and stared down at her. His eyes were sad.

  “Why did you shut me out? I thought you’d left me.”

  “I couldn’t risk my brother sensing me. He might have felt my emotions or sensed a change in yours. He would have taken you, captured you. I’m sure of it. I couldn’t risk not being able to find you.”

  His words had fresh tears threatening to fall from her dark eyes. Addison’s lips started to quiver. She watched Luke’s face lift into a smile before he bent down to stop her quivers with his own lips. His kiss was sweet and full of love. Luke’s warmth was flowing into her and she felt like he was mentally encasing her in a soft robe.

  Luke pulled back from the kiss. Addison still leaned into him, not wanting the kiss or hug to end. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw that some of the sadness had returned to Luke’s face. A stone of worry settled in her gut.

  “Come on. We have much to discuss, but let’s do it at home.”

  Luke let go of her back but wrapped one arm around her shoulder. He started walking toward the small town, pulling her with him. As she walked with him, Addison took a small amount of comfort in the fact that he had just said “home” and had not added a “my” in front of it. She hoped it meant as much to him, as well.

  * * * *

  They found Luke’s luxury car where it had been left, just down the street from its first parking spot. Luke had started for home when he had heard Addison’s call for help. He had then just hastily parked on the street. Addison noticed that the car was parked cockeyed and not even completely within the lines. He must have been in a hurry, she thought. That had a feeling of love, but also of guilt, rising up inside her.

  Their drive home was silent. Addison nervously played with the hem of her skirt. Every once in a while, Luke would look over at her, study her, and then look back at the road. Addison seriously wanted to jump into his mind and read his thoughts, maybe even push some of her own in, but she decided not to. He needed some space right now, she sensed.

  When they arrived at Luke’s house, he quietly put the vehicle into park and shut off the engine. Instead of exiting right away, he closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. The image of his brother doing the same thing in the woods popped into Addison’s mind before she swept it away.

  “Today wasn’t supposed to go this way. I wanted a nice, relaxing day as a couple. Now the world has been turned on its head.” Luke blew out a rough breath.

  “Luke, I’m sorry. It’s my—” Addison reached for his arm.

  “It’s all of our faults,” he cut her off.

  Luke then opened his car door and stepped from the car. Addison watched as he walked to the front of the gray vehicle and leaned against the hood. He just stood there, shaking his head. Again, she had to squash the urge to take over his thinking.

  She just sat there inste
ad, waiting. Addison knew that Luke had a lot to think about. Clearly, her, but also Gabe. Did he regret saving her now? Did he regret losing Brooklyn? Her emotions were getting hard to hold to herself. Finally, a little did break free from her and she saw the moment it hit him. Through the windshield, she watched his back straighten and then he turned to look at her.

  A very slow smile crept onto his face and then he stood from the hood. Luke walked over to her side of the car and opened her door. Addison hesitated a bit, but then reached for his outstretched hand. When she reached his eye level, she saw that he looked a bit more relaxed, like maybe he had come to a decision.

  “Come on, beautiful. Let’s go back and start this day over.”

  * * * *

  As Luke walked Addison into the house, his mind was made up. She is mine. I will do what it takes to keep her, keep her for myself and keep her safe. She is strong enough to hold back her cravings and evil thoughts. She just needs practice and guidance...and time. Gabe was right, though. She can’t hide from her real self. She has to embrace it and control it. Gabe might be a better guide, but the results would be worse. No, she is mine. Addison will stay mine. I will protect her.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Addison sat curled up on the couch, listening to Luke rummaging around in the kitchen. He was making her tea, to soothe her. He had actually asked her to lie in bed and wait for him, but she had refused. Something just didn’t feel right about that. She needed to deal with one emotion at a time. Lust and sexual desire, or love and cuddles, all needed to wait.

  As the tea kettle started to whistle, Addison was running through questions that needed to be answered or sorted out. Could she live a “good” life as a Revenant? Did Luke want her to live it here, either way it would go? What about Gabe? What was in the twins’ past? She doubted she would ever get a full answer to those last two.

  “Here, sweet. Careful, it’s hot.” Luke walked up to the couch and held out the steaming mug.