Reviled (The Master and His Soul Seer Pet): A New Adult College Vampire Romance

by Marian Tee

Then she would look around—

  His pet’s gaze was darting left and right now, self-consciously looking for people who might see them.

  Then she would look at him—

  Their eyes met, gray and green, their desire mirrored in each other’s gazes.

  He asked huskily, “Did you miss me, pet?”

  The words had her drawing a shaky breath—

  And then she was flying to him.

  Her arms curled around his neck as his own went around her sweet little body. He bent down, his mouth capturing hers in a kiss.

  Did you miss me? He asked it again, but this time through the blood bond they shared as Master and pet, one that allowed him to be connected to her, in ways that not even human couples married for decades could yearn to experience.

  Yes, Master. She said it freely in her mind, knowing that no one but Alexandru would be able to hear the longing in her voice. This latest hunt had her Master gone for a week. Seven days of wishing he was next to her, of wondering whether he ever thought of her.

  When he ended the kiss, both of them were breathing hard. He glanced down at her, satisfaction surging inside of him at the swollen look of her lips.

  Zari remained still and silent, unable to pull her gaze away from her Master. Need glittered in his eyes, the very same emotion that had every inch of her body tingling. She fought hard to veil her thoughts, something she had asked Lord Erou to teach her in the days Alexandru had been gone. It was a skill she practiced day and night, knowing it was the only way to keep her Master from learning how helplessly in love she was with him.

  “You’ve become good at hiding your thoughts.” Surprise tinged his tone, his pondering gaze slowly roaming her face.

  “H-have I?”

  His lips curved in a smirk.

  Drat. That only meant one thing. He had seen through her. Not wanting to give him a chance to ask her why she wanted to hide her thoughts from him, she said hurriedly, “I have a question, Master.”

  He looked at her for a moment, as if debating whether to push the issue or not. Finally, he took her hand, making Zari silently breathe a sigh of relief. As they walked, Alexandru asked, “What is it?”

  “Umm, Rhapsody. How did you know who she was?”

  An odd glance was slanted towards her. “How would I not? She’s come to the place where you live. I had to make sure she wasn’t a potential threat to you.”

  “B-but she’s just a student,” she sputtered.

  “Her circumstances are mysterious. It aroused my curiosity.”

  “Mysterious?”

  “Her Master’s anonymous.”

  Confusion clouded her tone as she asked, “Anonymous? Do you mean we don’t know who her Master is?”

  “Not only that. She doesn’t know who he is either.”

  “But how’s that possible?”

  “If my information is correct, she only communicates with her Master through letters.”

  “Oh.” She tried to understand how that would work but couldn’t. A pet was supposed to be the source of life for her Master, but if they only communicated through letters, what kind of duties was Rhapsody able to perform?

  By the time they had reached his rooms, his pet still hadn’t said a word. Closing the door, he turned to find her looking at him seriously. “Why would a Master want to be anonymous?”

  Zari didn’t know why it bothered her so much, but it did.

  Alexandru said slowly, “I don’t know.” He wished he did, though. The circumstances bothered him as well. At Zari’s frown, he told her frankly, “Most Masters don’t really think they owe their pets any explanation.”

  This had his pet glaring.

  Soon, the claws would be out and she might even end up hissing at him. Zari in fighting form was always a cute sight. If it had been any other day, Alexandru would have deliberately provoked her.

  But unfortunately, they had more important matters to discuss right now.

  “Sit down, Zari.”

  The tone had his pet frowning questioningly, but she did as asked, lowering herself on the couch.

  “Won’t you ask me why I’ve come back earlier than planned?”

  Zari froze.

  He took out the notice from his pocket, something the school had sent. At the sight of it, his pet’s eyes widened. He asked grimly, “Why haven’t you been attending your classes, pet?”

  Chapter Two

  Walking back to the castle, she and Alexandru passed a vampire feeding on his pet. When they were out of earshot, she whispered to him, “It’s just not right. I really think this pet business is just a form of vampires taking advantage of humans.”

  Alexandru only shook his head. “You always surprise me with how contradictory you are. It’s the way of the world.”

  She didn’t say anything for a long time, but the silence wasn’t good. Just when he was about to ask what was wrong, she said something. So softly he wouldn’t have heard her if she didn’t own his heart.

  “Like us?”

  She looked at him with sadness in her eyes, and like she always did, her next words disarmed him, her honesty something he had never been able to match. “We can’t be together because it’s the way of the world?”

  *****

  A sob tickled Zari’s throat as her Master knelt in front of her. It was not right, this position. It should have been the other way around, and that it wasn’t so threw her off, tempting Zari to think of things that she didn’t have a right to think. It wasn’t just because she was only his human pet. There were things she could never ever think because…because although she loved her Master, he loved someone else.

  Alexandru asked quietly, “Is something wrong?”

  She shook her head, unable to meet his gaze.

  He sighed. “Even if you don’t tell me anything, even if you’re able to hide your thoughts, it doesn’t matter. You know that, don’t you?”

  He touched her heart, surprising Zari into leaning back, her head jerking up. In that moment, he was able to capture her gaze. “I only have to feel your heart beating, and I know when you’re sad, happy, afraid—”

  “You’re being too melodramatic, Master,” she tried to joke, but it fell flat.

  “You’re being too secretive.”

  The words scraped her raw even though she was sure he didn’t know it would make her feel that way. She was not keeping the secrets here. He was. And that secret had been tearing her apart ever since she had found out about it.

  She remembered the last time she had a vision of Alexandru, something she had never told him. He had been talking to his brother, Mihail, and his last words were of…her. But it was not the kind she had ever wanted him to say.

  “Even if Zari is indeed my heartkeeper, I will not claim her as such. My heart belongs to Katarina, no one else.”

  Without thinking, she asked, “What’s a heartkeeper?”

  Alexandru froze. How had she known? Could she have had a vision of him? It was the only possible answer since those who knew about her were also people she couldn’t have ever had the chance to talk to.

  He looked into her eyes, and what he saw made him reach for her hands. She tried to pull her hands back, but he was too fast, and he tightened his hold, letting her know he wouldn’t be letting go.

  “Zari…”

  She flinched. Somehow, hearing him say her name like that hurt. No, she didn’t like him calling her that. It was her given name, but somehow when he was the one saying it, he made her feel like a stranger.

  Seeing her pet flinch made him curse silently. This conversation was going nowhere. “Whatever it is, it’s not something you should worry about,” he said gruffly. He stood up, and a second later, he had lifted her up in his arms. Words were pointless now. No matter what he’d say, Alexandru knew it wouldn’t be able to make her feel any better.

  Her vulnerability was made more apparent when she didn’t even protest, only hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

  He laid her on th
e bed, kissing her as he followed her to it. “Don’t think,” he whispered against her lips. “Just don’t think.”

  Zari nodded. It was a command she was more than willing to obey since thinking would only bring more heartache. She closed her eyes as she surrendered herself to her Master’s expertise. They moved in synchrony even without either of them speaking, her body automatically lifting up so he could take off her jacket and blouse. Soon, they were both naked, and it became so much easier not to think the moment his hard body pressed against her, covering every inch of her heated skin.

  So easy not to think, not to feel, not to remember that he hadn’t been able to tell her what a heartkeeper was.

  And maybe it was better this way, Zari thought as she squeezed her eyes shut more tightly. Not knowing what it was meant not knowing how much her Master had given up, how much he loved that other woman more than he could ever care for her.

  Above Zari, her Master said, “You’re still thinking, pet.”

  Her eyes flew open. “I didn’t—”

  His smirk was her only warning, and then his fangs slid through the side of her neck. Pleasure burst inside her, Zari’s body arching against Alexandru’s as her senses swam. He drank from her, and she embraced him more and more tightly with every sip, her arms and legs locking around him.

  There was nothing like this, the sweet, sinfully drugging beauty of feeding her Master, and she rocked against him, breathless and silently begging him to never stop.

  The sinuous movements of his pet’s body were intoxicating, making Alexandru want to drink from her more and more. But he forced himself to stop in the end, not wanting her half-conscious when he took her. He wanted her alive and aware the moment he possessed her with his cock, wanted to hear her make noise because she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  Zari couldn’t help but sob when Alexandru retracted his fangs. He licked her skin to help it heal, pressing a kiss to the same spot afterwards as if apologizing for ending it. “Master.” She moaned, the only thing she was capable of saying to express her acute need for him.

  “I know, pet.” His hands caressed her breasts, making them swell against his palms. He licked her nipples, using his fangs, and instead of fearing its treacherous sharpness, she was aroused by it, her nipples puckering up.

  “Master…” Her moan was louder, more plaintive, and he could have listened to it over and over because he loved it when she was like this. She never asked for anything, this pet of his…or at least she didn’t ask him for anything but this.

  And this, the passion, the desire, the pleasure, he would more than gladly give to her. Fuck her until they were both out of their minds, for as long as she wanted.

  He sucked her nipples until she was panting loudly, her nails scraping so hard against his back he knew it would leave marks. But still he continued sucking, using his tongue and fangs to play with her nipples until he got what he wanted, her legs tightening around his waist, and she was grinding her lower body against his, pressing her pussy against his cock.

  The friction it caused was delicious, the way she rubbed and ground her wonderfully moist flesh against his rigid erection slowly driving him out of his mind as well.

  Her fingers tightened around his hair, forcibly pulling his head off her nipples, and he let her because he liked it when she was a fierce little kitty like this.

  Her eyes had turned into a stormy shade of gray. “Master, take me.” A demand and a plea.

  “As you wish, pet.” And he used his preternatural speed to take her by surprise.

  His pet screamed, the shock of his cock sliding into her – when it was nowhere even near her pussy a second before – intensifying the pleasure.

  “Master.” She panted it out, screamed, whispered, moaned – she released whatever sound she needed to ease the ache inside her body, one that only Alexandru could satisfy.

  His cock was like a large, hungry animal, and only her body could feed it. His cock devoured her, taking and taking more with each thrust. And she gave, oh, she gave his cock everything it wanted because deep inside, that was what she wanted. As his human pet, she wanted him to feed from her, to be satisfied with her and by her, forever.

  His need going out of bounds, Alexandru could no longer control his thrusts. His body slammed against her, his cock plunging inside her, over and over.

  This time, when Alexandru growled her name, she didn’t mind it because this time, it didn’t sound like goodbye.

  “Zari,” he gritted out. His hands clasped the cheeks of her butt, tightening. “I want you to come with me.”

  “Yes, Mas—aaaaaaaaah!” Again, he had used his powers to take her by surprise, his cock moving so fast and hard no human could ever think of matching it. It was like a machine, but God, in such a good way, so fast and hard she wished he could pound into her forever.

  She came, as fast and hard as his thrusts, and only moments passed before he was shouting her name again, his seed pouring inside her, hot and creamy, and so good it made Zari throw her head back even as she clung to him as tightly as she could. She wanted it all, didn’t want a single drop of his come to leak out of her. If she couldn’t have her Master’s heart, surely it was okay to have even just this.

  Her eyes drifted closed again as she felt the aftershocks of her release fade. Dimly, she felt her Master kissing her forehead. She protested drowsily when she felt him pulling away, but it didn’t stop him, her Master only chuckling and pressing a kiss on her lips. She could have sworn he whispered he wouldn’t leave her, but she was too tired, too sleepy, to be sure.

  When she woke up, her Master was gone. Panic bubbled inside her, but she forced it down, trying to keep herself calm as she reached for her phone. She only wanted to check if she had a message from Alexandru, but instead the dead came calling, sending a vision so horrid it had her crying.

  ****

  GREEN.

  The color of leaves above him as the world started to blur. Someone was drinking from his neck, and because Zari was inside him, this man who was dying, she felt like that person was drinking from her.

  It hurt, so much because it had taken his (her) killer fifteen painful minutes to rip a hole in his neck. God, if he (she) had known, he (she) would have given his (her) attacker his (her) own knife instead.

  Kill me now. That was what he (she) wanted to say.

  Pain merged their thoughts, his and hers, and the green leaves around him seemed to merge as well, or maybe it was just because they were dying, making their imaginations start to play tricks on their minds.

  A shadow fell over them, the world temporarily losing its greenness.

  Now, the world had the face of their killer.

  And it was not Rhapsody.

  Chapter Three

  The door was open, allowing him to enter the workshop without knocking. He found her bent over the desk, several open books before her. Her long blonde hair fell against one shoulder, exposing the lovely slim column of her throat. The sight of it had his fangs coming out, and memories of the taste of her blood had his body hardening. There just wasn’t any pleasure that could match what he felt when drinking from her.

  His presence masked, he was able to stand directly behind her without her hearing a thing. He cupped her nape, and as she gasped in surprise, he already had her facing him and stealing a kiss from her sweet lips.

  When he pulled away, the way she looked at him had Alexandru kissing her again and again, until both of them were panting, bodies straining against each other.

  “You shouldn’t be doing that,” she said breathlessly when he lifted his head.

  “Then don’t look at me like that. Like you want me but can’t have me.” He brought her hand to his cheek, and turning his head slightly, he brushed his lips against her palm. It was made coarse by hard work, but it didn’t repel him. Rather, it made him proud, the way she fought so hard to be independent and carve an identity for herself. This coarseness was the result of the many people she had helped,
of lives she had saved with her very own hands.

  “You have me,” Alexandru whispered. “You always had me. Just say the word and I’ll let everyone know who owns me.”

  Lord Erou Damaschin stood next to her in the forest, his boyishly handsome face sober as he studied the outline on the ground. Or at least that was what he had said. The outline of where the corpse had been found was drawn using a special ink, one only otherworlders could see.

  Zari tried to keep still as she waited for Erou’s conclusions. With golden hair and eyes, fair skin, and a gentlemanly air about him, he looked every inch the nobleman that he was, being the son of the Earl of Avere. If not for the soldier’s uniform he was wearing, no one would have guessed what his chosen profession was.

  “To reach this spot,” Erou murmured, “you would either have to come from the school or the other end of the forest, which borders the town proper.”

  “I don’t think he’d have been able to enter and exit the school without anyone noticing,” Zari said.

  “I think so, too.”

  “But…” Zari glanced at the forest, which she herself hadn’t ventured into. “He couldn’t have made it here through that, could he? Unless all those stories about poisonous plants are just stories?”

  ‘Creepy’ didn’t just cover it. The trees were bent with age, their leaves not just dark and withered but black. No matter how much she squinted, everything in the forest was black. The age-spotted trunks, the rotting leaves, the mud-swathed ground…it was all just black.

  Something inside her head clicked. “Lord Erou,” Zari gasped. “He didn’t die here.”

  Erou straightened. “What do you mean?”

  “In my vision…one of the last things he saw was green. The leaves above him, they were green. So he died in a forest, but not this forest.”

  “So that’s why.” Erou crouched down, brushing his fingers on the ground. “When someone dies, the person would usually leave some kind of essence, a remnant of his last dying moments. But this one…I wasn’t able to sense anything.”