In the pitch-blackness, I focused on what I could hear and touch. Our panting breaths, the heat of Athan’s body and softness of Brex’s fur. I fumbled around until I found Athan’s face, and ran my fingers over his sharp cheekbones, his full lips. He was shaking, and that had to be from exertion, right? He was okay. He had to be okay. Outside, the sounds of leaves rustling were louder, Quellen hisses audible even through the rock. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” His voice was low and hoarse. “I just need to rest, and so do you. Sun’ll be up soon. We’ll be here awhile.” He wrapped his arms around me. “I’m going to sit down, and you can sleep on me, okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, and went limp as he jostled us to the ground. I curled into his lap, and laid my head against his chest, grateful for his heartbeat. “Athan?”
“Hmmm?”
“You were magnificent out there, like a blur.”
“Not magnificent enough. One almost got you.”
I wouldn’t forget that sick shot of pain when the Quellen dragged me away from Athan. What freaked me out the most was that more than being scared of dying, I was scared to be separated from Athan. The more distance between us, the more I panicked. I snuggled into him more, relishing the warmth of his body, and let loose a small sigh of relief. “Good thing I know how to fight. We’re a team. It’s not all on you.”
I could hear the smile in his voice. “Right, a team.” A big hand stroked my hair. “Sleep, partner. Tomorrow we have more battles to win.”
We stayed locked in that embrace until my eyes drooped and I fell asleep.
Athan
As long as Ten slept on me, as long as the heat of her body warmed my skin, I could pretend that I wasn’t seriously fucked.
Well, sorta pretend. The near-blinding pain pulsing along my ribs was an agonizing reminder that I might fail the most important mission of my life. Brex blinked at me from where he lay curled at Ten’s feet. I reached out a hand, and he licked my finger.
Tendra slept soundly, her hair hiding most of her face. I hooked the dark strands behind her ear, remembering the first time I touched her hair. Back when it was blond, and she’d tried to fight me but lost. I smiled at the memory. At the time, her smart mouth and stubborn will to fight exasperated me, and now I was so fucking grateful for it. She’d held her own, taking out a Quellen while I battled the rest of them.
I was glad she was asleep, so I wouldn’t have to explain how fast I was losing consciousness and why.
I shifted her sleeping form off me and made her a small bed on the ground, then laid a blanket on top of her. I crawled as far away as I could and made a small fire, to keep her warm and also so she’d be able to see. Each movement was a test of sheer willpower to push through the pain. My brain, my heart, everything was on fucking fire, like I was burning up from the inside. When I was confident the fire was safe and contained within a circle of rocks, I pulled out my phone.
Idris picked up right away. “A.”
“Idris.” Fuck, my voice sounded rough, like my mouth was coated with broken glass.
On the other end of the line, my brother inhaled sharply. “What’s wrong?”
“Ran into Quellen. They musta…” The cave spun. Fuck, I was losing it. “They musta finally perfected the Sevren we heard about.” Rumors were a Sevren wound could kill us. By the pain lancing through my body right now, I was thinking those rumors were right.
“What does that mean?” His voice rose, infused with emotion I rarely heard from my robot brother. “Are you hurt?”
I chuckled, but it sounded more like a sob. “You could say that.”
“Do you have provisions, a fresh blood source, anything—?”
“Idris, stop.” I leaned back against the wall, stretching out my legs in front of me. So tired. “You gotta come get Ten.”
Another jagged inhale. “Athan. Don’t.”
“Don’t what? I have a Sevren cut in my side. I’m never making it. Ten is okay, unharmed. I performed my duty, but I can’t finish it out.”
“Ath—”
“There’s a whole damn army of Quellen outside this cave we’re in, so be careful. I’ll leave my phone on. Track it. Ten knows to call you if something happens to me.”
“No!” he shouted, and the sound made me flinch. I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard him shout in my life. “We’re still on lockdown here, and even if we could leave, I’m ordering you to do what you need to do to fulfill your duties as blood guard. I—” He hesitated. “I don’t relieve you. I do not. You hear me?”
He sounded so far away, like his voice was in a tunnel. Inappropriate laughter bubbled up in my throat. “Wow, you’re going full-on vampire prince on me, aren’t you?”
“Athan!” he shouted again.
“Just let me rest,” I said. “Sleep? That’s what humans do, right. I’ll do that.”
His voice was softer this time, a little broken. “Brother. I’m begging you. Drink from the Sanguivita. Anything to get you home.”
“She’s yours,” I muttered.
“Is she?” he asked.
“She’s not mine.” My voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere else. Some other body. “She’s not mine.”
He was still talking, but I couldn’t hear anything anymore. Only white noise. White noise mixed with the sound of Ten’s laughter, in another world, another time, another place.
There was a clatter, more pain, and then finally, finally, blessed silence.
Chapter 14
Tendra
I woke to a furry head nudging me. Brex’s sandpaper tongue swiped at my nose, and I batted him away, only for him to start meowing.
“Athan, feed the cat,” I mumbled, rolling over to face the wall.
I expected to hear the deep rumble of Athan’s voice, but silence greeted my request. And Brex was once again in front of me, meowing his damn head off and pawing at my face.
“For fuck’s sake.” I sat up and rubbed my eyes, then looked around for my big vamp bodyguard. There was a small fire at the back of our cave, the flames low. I saw his form near it. “Athan,” I called.
When he didn’t move, an icy chill raced down my spine. I scrambled to my feet and raced over to him, ignoring the stones and debris digging into my skin. I slid to a halt beside him and collapsed onto my knees. I grabbed his shoulder and shook him. “Athan!”
His eyelids fluttered, and his nose twitched, but oh, God, he looked like death. His lips were nearly white, his cheeks sallow. I placed my ear to his chest, and choked out a sob as I heard a slow, barely there, thump of his heart. Just last night, that strong heartbeat had been my sole focus of comfort, and now it was so weak, I feared it’d stop any minute. Brex stood with his front paws on Athan’s thighs. He stared at me with round eyes, then back at Athan before he pawed at the vampire’s leg.
“Athan.” My voice cracked. “Please say something, oh, my God.” His phone lay near his motionless hand. I didn’t want to call his brother. I didn’t even care about making it anywhere at this point. I’d live in this cave forever with Athan and Brex. I just wanted him to be alive. I grabbed his shirt and shook him harder. “You told me you couldn’t be killed by silver! You promised!” I smacked him as the tears began to roll down my cheeks. “You lied to me!”
His lips moved, and I forced down my sobs to listen. “Not silver.” His voice was barely there, not the strong, deep one I knew and loved. “Weaken. Need fr-fresh b—” He licked his lips and his tongue was white. “B-b-blood.”
“You need blood?” I bared my neck and held it up to his mouth. “Then drink, damnit.”
“C-can’t,” he mumbled. “C-call Idris.”
“I’m not calling him.” I spoke through clenched teeth. “Fucking drink, Athan, please.”
He didn’t answer. I leaned back to look at him, and the slumped stillness of his body sent me into a panic. I leaned down again to listen to his heart and heard…nothing.
Nothing.
This coul
dn’t be happening. My only friend I had in this new life was dying in front of me while I had the means to save him coursing through my veins. Not today. This would not happen today.
I bent back his wrist, trying to inhale somnus, but there was nothing. I tapped at it, yelled at it, but there was no magical puff of anything.
Which meant…if he bit me, I’d turn.
This was a choice I didn’t think I’d have to make yet. Remain a human and watch Athan die, or let him bite me and be turned into a vampire. This was it, the moment where I had to make the choice that I wasn’t going back. I was never going back. Not if I allowed those fangs to slice into my veins.
But this was Athan—a vampire who had a better sense of humanity than most humans I knew.
“You picked the wrong human to fuck with, Quellen,” I said as I tugged on Athan’s head. I pulled back his lips to expose his fangs. “You assholes think you can weaken him, and then I’ll be vulnerable?” I leaned down and pressed his fangs against my skin. I took a deep breath. “No one makes me vulnerable unless I allow it.” With a strong grip on Athan’s head, I shoved his fangs into my neck, right over my vein.
The burn was like a brand, and I nearly blacked out from the pain. I braced a hand on the cold stone ground and I held on, blinking through the haze of white-hot agony. Athan still wasn’t moving, but the blood was flowing now, trickling down my neck. “Drink,” I pleaded. “Please just fucking drink, Athan. I can’t do this without you. I don’t want to do this without you.” The tears were rolling down my cheeks, huge drops that landed on Athan’s lifeless hands where they lay in his lap. I threaded my fingers through his, the skin slippery with my salty tears. He still wasn’t drinking. His lips weren’t moving. I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t be too late, I just couldn’t. “I love you.”
The first tug made my eyes fly open. A few seconds ticked by, which felt like hours, as I waited to feel that again, that steady draw on my vein. Then his cool lips closed around the bite mark, and this time, the suction was stronger, harder. His fingers twitched, and my heart nearly pounded out of my chest. His lips grew warmer as he continued to suck.
His chest hitched, and he inhaled, then he took another long drink of blood. The pain was receding, and in its place was a warm rush of pleasure from my neck down to my belly. Athan made a sound, like a groan, then his arms wrapped around me and he tugged me to his chest. My knees were on either side of his hips now as he continued to drink greedily, his hands clamped around my waist, keeping me in place.
I didn’t want to move, because fuck, Zeb had been right. This was…this was incredible. With every pull on my vein, he was releasing something into my body, which was driving me wild. My nipples were hard, and the ache I’d felt after our kiss was nothing compared to this. I could feel his hard cock between us, and my hips worked, seeking to get that hardness as close to me as possible.
His hands were moving now, under my shirt, and he pulled down my bra to cup my breasts. His fingers went right for my nipples, tugging and pulling, each touch filled with a protective possession.
“Oh, fuck,” I murmured, my vision going wonky as he took one last drag, then lapped at my neck with his tongue. When he pulled back to look at me, blood dripped from his mouth, and the whites of his eyes were bright red. Blood red.
“Tendra,” he said, and his voice was deeper, a vibration that tapped down my spine and settled in my gut. I wasn’t sure he was all there, because his pupils were blown, his mouth gaping open, teeth still stained with blood. My blood.
And as for me, I didn’t give a fuck about anything anymore but Athan. I wanted him, needed him. I pulled off my shirt and bra and tossed them to the side. Athan sucked in a breath and immediately lowered his head, clamping his lips around my left nipple. I gripped his hair, pulling hard, as he scraped the edge of a fang around the hardened tip. “More,” I groaned. “Please.”
I didn’t even feel the slice, but felt him begin to draw on me from the top of my breast. I swore I’d come right there, riding that hardness in his pants between too many layers of clothing. I tugged on his shirt, wanting it off, wanting to mark him the way he marked me.
He stopped sucking long enough to pull back, nostrils flaring, to rip off his shirt. I splayed my hands over his pecs, digging in with my nails, wishing I had fangs, too.
He shoved me onto the ground on my back, and his hand immediately went to my jeans, shucking them off my legs along with my underwear. “I dreamed of how you’d taste,” he said into my neck as his fingers went to work on my clit. “Every minute I was with you, I dreamed of it. Your skin, your mouth, your blood, your pussy.”
I arched my back as he plunged two fingers inside me.
“Your blood tastes even better than I dreamed,” he said. “And now I got one last thing to taste.” His fingers left me, and he raised them to his mouth, rubbing his fingers along his bottom lip, mixing my juices with my blood. Then his tongue came out, and as he drew it back into his mouth to taste me, he closed his eyes. When they flew back open, he grinned, his eyes glowing even redder. “Heaven.”
I gripped his hair. “Now that you’ve tasted me, how about you fuck me.” My voice turned into a moan. “I ache, so bad.”
Something flickered in his eyes, a hesitation, but then I tugged on his pants, slipping my hand inside enough to swipe the precum on the tip of his cock. I withdrew my hand and stuck my finger in my mouth. “You taste good, too.”
He growled, an honest to God growl, then shucked off his pants.
I knew, in that moment, despite the haze of feeding pleasure, that I’d never forget the sight of Athan naked, his shoulders straining as he held himself above me, his long, hard cock jutting out from a thatch of dark hair. Fuck, even his balls were pretty. He stroked his dick a couple of times. “Tendra,” he groaned.
“Fuck me,” I said, tugging him to me. “Now.”
Without another moment of hesitation, he plunged into me.
Holy fuck, he was huge. His cock had looked big, but inside, he felt goddamn huge. All I could do was hold on to his shoulders as he worked himself in and out of me, each time going deeper and deeper. Every single thrust was lighting me up inside, and there was nothing I could say or do but wrap my legs around his waist and hold on.
He kissed me, his tongue fucking in and out of me in time with his dick. He nipped me with his fangs on my neck, my breasts, my shoulders, each one sending me even more into a frenzy. My body was on fire, a jumbled mess of need. I couldn’t form words, only moans and cries, each one echoing around the small cave. Our joined bodies made one giant shadow on the wall, flickering with each lick of flame from the fire.
He pulled out and flipped me onto my stomach, then pulled me upright as he entered me from behind. With his arm across my chest, his big hand cupping a breast, and his teeth once again slicing into my neck, Athan fucked me while his other hand worked my clit.
I couldn’t speak—only moans and occasional sobs left my mouth. Athan pulled off my neck to whisper in my ear. “Being inside you is better than breathing. You make me feel like I could do anything.” I gripped his thigh, knowing I was close, each word he spoke another roll of thunder adding to the storm inside my body. “But Ten,” he said, his hips stuttering, his breath coming faster. “The only thing I wanna do is be with you.”
I came, and it was lightning and fireworks, a cacophony of explosions in every limb, in every fucking atom in my body. Athan gripped me tightly, his groan in my ear as he pulsed inside me, as he filled me in a way I’d never let a man before.
But this was Athan. And I loved him.
He gently lowered me to the ground, and it wasn’t until his cock slipped from my body and as I lay pillowed on his chest, that the enormity of what we’d done, and how that would affect our future, hit me.
Athan
The bloodlust haze was clearing, and I blinked my eyes open, taking a few moments to engage my brain. Tendra lay on my chest, her fist curled near her mouth. Her eyes were clo
sed, her long lashes casting a shadow over her cheeks.
My mind raced over what happened since I sensed that first drop of blood in my mouth. When I went from dying to drinking Ten’s blood.
The Sanguivita’s blood.
And then fucking her.
Panic swamped me. Was she okay? Had I hurt her? I laid a hand on her back, her skin hot to the touch, and she lifted her head, gazing at me with clear eyes. She didn’t look angry, or upset, or scared. In fact, I had a hard time reading her expression.
Neither of us said anything, while the air all around us reeked of sex and blood. She sat up, straddling my waist, her large breasts swaying. There were tiny cuts all over her skin, red marks where I sucked and nipped. I’d never done that before with any human I’d fed from. Probably because that had been about feeding and sex. While my drinking from her had been a catalyst for us, I had wanted her from the start.
I ran my finger over the marks, barely able to believe they were real, that she was real. Her skin broke out in goosebumps beneath my hands, and when I glanced at her face, she wore a soft smile. I wanted her again; I wanted to taste her; I wanted to take her. I wanted to fuck and feed for days. I wanted to be hers, and I wanted her to be mine.
In the same thought, I cursed my biology, my blood, everything that made me crave her.
She looked ravaged, her hair in a dark mass around her face. Silently, she reached out and touched my lips, pulling them back to reveal my teeth. Her fingers touched my cheeks, pressing down on the flesh, before she opened my eyes wider. “H-how do you feel?”
That was a loaded question. “Can you narrow that down?”
“You looked like death, Athan,” she said, her smile dropping off quickly and her eyes filling. “I thought you died. So now I’m asking if you’re okay. I want reassurance you’re not going to die.”
I took a moment to collect my thoughts, and it took all my training to call on the right words. It hurt to look at her right now, knowing I’d never see her like this again, that those marks I made on her would fade, and it’d be another vampire marking her for the rest of her life. Marks I’d have to see on her pale skin. I was staring down a lifetime of misery watching the woman I loved be with someone else. I had to separate myself starting now, or there was no way I was going to survive this. I spoke evenly. “Thank you for what you did, even if it wasn’t the right decision,” I said. “I’m not going to die.”
Blood Guard Page 15