Blood Type

by K. A. Linde

  “Becks,” she repeated softly.

  He turned his head away from her hand, refusing to look at her. “I lost control,” he said gruffly. “You shouldn’t have had to see that.”

  “You saved my life.”

  She wasn’t sure what part of that wasn’t clear to him. She could have died out there. She was so close to dying, and he had come in and saved her. Everything that had been foggy before was now clear. She didn’t need to fear Beckham. He wasn’t going to hurt her, and she needed to start to trust him. He wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to protect her if he was going to hurt her himself.

  “You shouldn’t have even been in that position,” Beckham said. “You were in the club and then suddenly you were gone.”

  “You followed me?”

  He met her gaze again. “You were lucky I did. Otherwise I never would have found you when I did.”

  “Yes. I was very lucky,” she whispered.

  It was easy to remember the horrible way the vampire had approached her. The way he had fed on Everett. The way he had come after her.

  “What happened to Everett?” She sat up quickly at the realization and her vision blurred. She put her hand to her head and moaned, relaxing back into the cushions.

  “You need to rest, Reyna. Everett has been taken to the hospital. He lost a lot of blood and needs a transfusion. I had my medical team look at you and him, and then after we bandaged you up, they took him.”

  She touched the back of her head where she had been pushed into the dumpster. There was a large square bandage in place.

  “How long have I been out?”

  “About a half hour. We had to stop the bleeding.” He reached back and touched her head tenderly.

  The bleeding. Her blood. What had the other vampire said about her blood? Of all the strange things that had happened tonight whatever that thing had said about her blood made the least amount of sense.

  “Beckham, that vampire…he said something weird.” He arched an eyebrow at her in question. “He said that my blood smelled good…like the nectar of the gods and that he’d heard of blood like mine.”

  “You were probably just delirious and are remembering wrong,” Beckham said.

  “No,” she insisted. She remembered that. She swore she did. “I wasn’t delirious. He said my blood smelled different.”

  “He was starving. A pathetic vagabond, who refuses to get into the new system. I’m sure your blood smelled like life itself to him.”

  Reyna bit her lip and stared up at Beckham under thick dark lashes. “It didn’t smell any different to you?”

  Beckham paused for a moment before speaking. “No.”

  She remembered how he had inhaled deeply when he had gotten close to her, and then didn’t say anything, as if he was holding his breath. It had to mean something. But why would he lie to her? What could he gain from that?

  “Okay,” she finally muttered. “When can I see Everett? I need to make sure he’s okay. He was only out there because of me in the first place.”

  “Tomorrow,” he said decidedly. “The transfusion takes a couple hours, and he’ll need to rest. Like you, Little One.”

  Reyna slumped back against the pillows. “This is all my fault,” she murmured. “If I hadn’t gone into that alley this would have never happened.”

  “Why did you go in the first place?”

  He looked none too pleased, but Reyna realized this was the first conversation they’d had where they hadn’t argued. This almost felt…normal.

  But his question brought up a whole new wave of emotions. She remembered all too well what had drawn her out of the club and led her to that alley. She had been so desperate to get away from Everett and the intimate look on his face. She was confused with why her mind kept drifting back to Beckham instead of the cute boy in front of her that she had just run.

  “Little One?” he prodded.

  She looked at him tentatively. “I was thinking of you.”

  Beckham stiffened under her gaze. She knew she wasn’t hiding her emotions. Her heart was fluttering in her chest and against her throat. In that moment, her eyes were a window to her soul, and she knew that he could translate what she was thinking.

  “How?” he finally asked.

  Reyna’s blush deepened.

  He reached forward and touched her dark hair, which had fallen out of its updo. His fingers threaded through the strands, careful not to touch the knot on the back of her head. Beckham was normally rough and demanding, but here he was so gentle. His thumb ran along the inside of her neck.

  “That blush is dangerous,” he growled, clearly trying to restrain himself.

  Reyna thought about looking away at that comment, but she didn’t. She held his gaze, her breathing making her chest rise and fall heavily.

  “Touching me like this is dangerous,” she replied.

  He tilted his head to consider her. His eyes flicked from her eyes to her lips to her neck and then back up.

  “Because I could break you.”

  She paused at his words. She knew he meant physically, but her heart was speaking volumes to the truth of that statement emotionally. There was a reason that she kept being drawn back to him. And why she replaced his face with the one that wanted her. It was all laid out before her. It had all started with that first touch of his lips. Oh, yes, he could break her.

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  “I think I’ll take my chances.”

  Beckham leaned forward and everything narrowed down to this one moment. His eyes bored into hers. Not asking for permission. Not asking for anything. Just looking into her soul and letting her know that he was taking her.

  And she let him.

  God, did she let him.

  His mouth landed on hers, and it was like every kiss before this vanished into thin air. This was her first kiss. Because nothing else could hold a candle to the way his lips felt against hers. If she smelled like ambrosia, then Beckham truly tasted like it.

  Sweet. Tempting. Addicting.

  He was the real deal. The perfect package.

  His lips as soft as feathers molded to hers with a tenderness she would have never expected from Beckham let alone a vampire. Her hands moved up to grab his suit and pull him in closer. She needed more. She needed this taste, this sweetness on her tongue, touching her, holding her.

  Reyna opened her mouth and ran her tongue along his bottom lip. He groaned into her mouth, and all of his tentative movements evaporated. His tongue darted out and caressed her. They volleyed as if there were a winner to their match.

  Their kisses turned heated and desperate. Reyna hadn’t actually thought he would ever want this from her. Did Beckham feel the same way she did when he kissed her? Or was this another part of ownership?

  Something in the way he held her and the intensity of his kisses told her that she was not his whore. He was not paying anything for this. He was kissing her like a man kissed his woman. And she wanted this.

  His hands moved from her hair down over her shoulders to trace the curves of her waist and her hips. She moaned at the feel of his hands on her. She wouldn’t stop him if he went farther. She knew that she should. That this wasn’t appropriate for a professional relationship. That if she went further there was no going back. But his hands on her body and his lips on her mouth were telling her to ignore all logic. There was here and now. There was only Beckham.

  He dropped soft kisses on her cheek, to her ear, and then down her neck. She braced herself, anticipating what was to come. Her heart fluttered. This would finally be it. She wasn’t anxious now that she was in his arms. She was excited. Ready.

  Was what Mara had said before true? Did she get an endorphin rush from the bite? Was it anything like sex?

  Her body was jittery as the kisses moved to her collarbone and
then back to her neck. He hovered over her furiously beating pulse. His fangs trailed against the skin. She shivered all over, her body reacting to the erotic intimacy. She could feel her core heating, aching for him.

  “Bite me,” she pleaded.

  Just when she thought he was going to, he kissed the spot one more time and then leaned his forehead against her neck. His own breathing matched hers. He seemed desperate to do it, and yet he held back.

  “You should rest,” he said, forcing a barrier between them all over again.

  She reached for him. “No,” she whispered.

  “Good night, Little One.” He kissed the top of her head, stood, and walked away.

  “Beckham, please. What did I do?”

  He stilled in the middle of the room. “I am not the person you think I am. It would be best if you forget that ever happened.”

  “And if I can’t?” He shook his head. “I think you want me to believe you’re not good. Because if I don’t think that, then I can get close to you, and you’re terrified to let someone in,” she said, gaining her voice.

  Beckham didn’t say anything for a moment. “You can believe what you wish. But that won’t happen again,” he said and then left.

  Reyna slumped back and pressed her hand to her lips. That couldn’t be the last time. The taste of him still lingered on her lips, and she knew even as she watched his retreating back that…that was a promise he couldn’t keep.

  Chapter 15

  Reyna walked through the hospital. It was strange to be on this side of the Visage building. She and her brothers had never had enough money to go to the hospital in the warehouses. When she got sick, she had to sweat it out in their cramped apartment with off-brand Tylenol and hope. Now the sterile environment, packed with sick people who had lost hope and turned to the vampire hospital to keep them alive, surrounded her.

  As soon as they made it inside, Beckham had vanished with barely enough instructions for her to figure out how to find Everett. The receptionist directed her down the hall to a nurse. The next nurse pointed her down another hallway. After a few more twists and turns, she finally found Everett tucked up in a hospital bed with an IV attached to his arm.

  The IV made her shudder, but at least he was alive.

  He didn’t look pale and sickly like when she had last seen him. A white bandage was stark against his neck, and she imagined the horrifying puncture wounds underneath. They were both so lucky Beckham had found them.

  She knocked on the open door lightly.

  “Hey,” she whispered.

  “Reyna.” His face split into a smile. “It’s so good to see you alive.”

  “I could say the same for you. Can I come in?”

  “Of course you can.” He patted the bed.

  She walked across the small room and plopped down into a chair next to the bed. She felt sick to her stomach that they even had to be here. Of course she knew they were tremendously lucky to be alive, but it didn’t assuage the ache in the pit of her stomach. Life shouldn’t be like this. The dark shouldn’t hold these fears. Even back home where it was supposedly more dangerous, she had never feared something like this happening.

  After an awkward moment, Reyna broke the silence. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have ever put us in that position.”

  “No one knew the vampire was going to be there,” Everett reminded her.

  “That’s true, but I didn’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “Luckily, I’m safe now. All thanks to you.”

  “Well, thanks to Beckham,” she told him. “He saved us both.”

  She picked at the covers and kept her head bowed. After hearing his friend’s views on vampires, she didn’t know how he would react to bringing Beckham up. Even though he worked at her building, where vampires lived, it didn’t mean he liked them any more than his friends.

  “Wow,” Everett said. Surprise was written on his face. “A vampire saving humans. I’d never have guessed. What was he even doing there anyway?”

  “He was following me, I guess. I have a tendency to find danger…or danger has a tendency to find me.”

  “Maybe you should have warned me about that ahead of time,” Everett said, but he was smiling.

  She breathed out a sigh of relief that their friendship didn’t seem irrevocably broken after the traumatic experience from last night. Even though Everett had seemed interested in her and she didn’t feel the same that didn’t mean she had wanted him to die. Nor did she want to lose her only friend thus far.

  Just as she was about to say as much, all of his friends bustled into the room. Mara was ahead of the pack. She rushed over to Everett, looking stricken. Her face was puffy and her eyes red as if she had been crying much of the night. Maybe she had been.

  Reyna felt a pang of guilt. She had been locked away in Beckham’s apartment sharing a kiss with him while her friend was at the hospital getting a blood transfusion. His real friends had waited around for him to wake up and cried hoping he would make a quick recovery. She tried to rid herself of the guilt, but it was difficult. She felt responsible for her insensitivity.

  “Hey, guys,” Everett said with a smile.

  “Oh Everett,” Mara cried dramatically. She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a big hug. He laughed at her and patted her twice on the shoulder.

  “I’m okay, Mara.”

  “What the hell happened to you? We thought you guys split.” She gave Reyna an accusatory look.

  Reyna had a feeling this was more about the fact that she had thought Everett and Reyna had left alone together than to find out the details. It was pretty obvious that she liked him. It was strange that Mara was threatened by her. She had never been that girl before, and honestly she shouldn’t be now. She liked Everett as a friend, but that was it. Her heart was careening in a completely opposite direction. A direction she shouldn’t even be considering.

  “Yeah. Are you all right?” Lauren asked, nudging Coop forward into the room.

  It was starting to get very crowded. Reyna felt conscious of the fact that she was seated close to Everett in that moment.

  “We’re both okay. We were attacked by a rogue vampire,” Everett explained.

  Mara gasped. Her hands flew to her mouth. Everyone else looked stricken at the prospect.

  “He fed from me. Drew enough blood I passed out, and if I hadn’t been immediately transported to a hospital, I would have died.”

  Reyna nodded solemnly. “He came after me next. Threw me against the dumpster and I suffered a head injury, but uh…another vampire came and saved us.”

  “What?” Lauren asked, confused.

  “Another vamp?” Tucker asked. “A bloodsucker fending off his own kind?”

  “Yeah,” she said softly.

  Mara narrowed her eyes. “What the hell, Everett? Why would a vamp interfere?”

  Reyna blushed and kept her eyes firmly fixed on the sheet. Everett remained silent. It would be hard to lie about this one. Lying about where she worked had been easy, but this was something else entirely. Vampires didn’t act like this without motive.

  “Oh my God, I knew it!” Mara shrieked. “You’re a filthy blood whore!”

  Reyna’s mouth dropped open in shock. She stood indignantly. “I am not!”

  “Mara!” Everett cried. “That’s out of line.”

  “How can you even bring her around us knowing what she is?” Mara turned her nose up at her.

  Lauren took a step away as if Reyna had something contagious. Tucker and Coop were looking anywhere but at Reyna, caught in the crossfire.

  “I’m not a whore,” Reyna cried. “You all are worse than the vampires with your prejudices. I’m still human. You could act like you had an ounce of humanity.”

  “Fine. You’re not a whore,” Lauren said, wrinkling her nose
. “You’re a fucking blood bag.”

  Reyna glared at them all. She reached out and grabbed the bag on the IV that was running into Everett’s arm. “This is a blood bag!”

  “Guys, stop it!” Everett yelled, silencing them all. “Leave Reyna alone.”

  “How can you defend her?” Mara demanded. “She’s one of the worst parts of this godforsaken system! She lets a vampire suck her blood for money! The only thing worse is a fucking vampire.”

  “That vampire saved my life,” Everett reminded them. “Maybe not all of them are bad.”

  “One exception isn’t enough to undo generations of atrocities,” Mara cried fiercely.

  “But it seems enough to condemn them,” Beckham said as he walked into the room.

  The silence was deafening. Everyone turned and stared at his immense bulk in the doorway. The power radiating off of him was full of intensity. Tucker, Coop, and Lauren scurried to the far side of the room and huddled together. Mara stared back at Beckham defiantly, but she wasn’t immune to his power. When he turned his eyes dead set on her, Reyna could tell that it was the last place she wanted to be. She knew what it felt like to have Beckham’s attention completely focused on her. It could unnerve even the strongest person.

  “What exactly is going on here?” he asked, his voice booming.

  No one said a word.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  His eyes finally found Reyna’s across the room, and she breathed a sigh of relief that he was here. She never would have thought that she would be so happy that he was near her. But she had felt not only degraded by Everett’s friends, but also cornered like a mouse in a trap. They were the kind of people who started lynch mobs, and she didn’t want to get caught by the pitchfork.

  “Let’s go, Reyna.”

  She ducked her chin to her chest and hastened out of the room. She didn’t care what they said after she left. She didn’t want to stand there another minute. Not even Everett said anything at her departure.