by A. Vers
His hazel eyes cleared little by little. He looked at me in confusion and pulled back. “Morgan? Shit. I’m sorry.” His hands conformed to my face, then the column of my throat, turning me this way and that. “Dammit. Are you okay?”
I sagged into the floor like it was sand.
Oh, gods. He was okay. He really was okay.
So I did the only logical thing I could. I slapped him in the arm. “Never scare me like that again!” I hissed.
He blinked, then his lips curved as he gazed down at me. “I make no promises.”
My eyes closed. “Gods above,” I breathed, covering my face with my hands as they shook and I quaked uncontrollably. “Humans. I swear.”
His chuckle was dark. “Yeah, you either love us or hate us, am I right?”
I peered through my fingers. “I don’t hate you, Ryder. I don’t hate any of your kind.”
Something about those words made him grow solemn above me. “After tonight, that may change.”
I didn’t have time to ask him what he meant.
The window opposite us smashed inward, toppling the fan to the floor. Smoke billowed through the narrow opening, filling up the space fast. I coughed, covering my eyes and nose as they burned.
Ryder scrambled off me, dragging me to my feet. “Shit.” He looked around frantically as the hut grew hazy too fast. “They’re burning us out.”
His head stopped moving. I followed his line of sight to an octagonal window set high in the hut’s back wall. It was slated to allow airflow. But narrow. Just below it sat several thick beams, rough-cut and barely wide enough to hold a person.
“If I give you a boost, can you reach one?” he asked.
After everything else?
“Yes.”
He smiled.
Ryder crouched beside me and offered me his hands. I put one palm on his shoulder and stepped into his fingers. He never made a sound as he lifted me with surprising ease.
I grabbed onto the beam and hauled myself up. The rough wood scraped my midsection and arms, but each burn was mild compared to everything that had happened so far. I turned to offer him a hand up. But he ran to the wall nearest, jumped, spun, and grabbed onto the beam without blinking. It was lithe. Strong.
And not a move I expected from a teenage human male. A ninja maybe. But not a normal human. I scowled.
He crawled over the narrow ledge to my side. “Smoke rises, so we need to be fast.” He motioned.
I shook my head.
Get out of this, then ask who the hell he is.
We crept over to the little window. Ryder started to reach for it.
I put my hand on his arm. “No. Let me.” I drew back my hand. My fist met the wood and splintered out the other side. Fresh air soaked my face.
Ryder let loose a low whistle. “Now that is closer to my style,” he muttered, sounding mildly impressed.
Though my fingers ached and my wrist burned, I couldn’t stop my smile. He helped to push the slats out until there was a hole just wide enough to squeeze through.
He leaned around me to survey the area outside. “There is a junk SUV several feet down,” he said, pulling back. “Go slow. When you get down, don’t wait. Head straight for the trees. I’m right behind you.”
I nodded. Turning on the beam, I stuck my legs out of the jagged hole and climbed out until my foot touched something solid.
I lowered myself and peered around. Towering piles of crushed cars, thin saplings, and weeds obscured the back of the hut. I slid from the hood of the SUV and dropped into the tall grass before sprinting into the forest beyond.
In the shadows of the canopy of trees, I peered back at the hut. The flames were growing, licking at the sides and roof. My heart pounded, and I shifted in place.
“Come on, Ryder,” I chanted. “Come on.”
But I could not see him in the narrow window. Or on the car.
Where was he?
There was a heavy boom, and the hut began to crumble. A low shriek of dismay left me a moment before a hot hand closed over my mouth.
“I told you to run. You really don’t listen to me at all, do you?” Ryder’s breath was scalding over my ear.
I whirled and found him watching me in the dark. His hands raised in easy defense. “Don’t hit me again—”
I dove at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and holding onto him for dear life. He went rigid. Then slowly the tension melted from his frame and his hands closed over my back.
“It’s okay, Morgan. It’s okay.”
Still I shook. I couldn’t help it.
All my life I had been coddled, hidden from the true dangers of the world. But Ryder didn’t hide any of it from me. He protected me, sure. But being with him forced me to be different. Better.
Stronger.
“Hey now,” he muttered. “Come on. We need to go.” But he made no move to pull away.
I slowly extricated myself from his arms and wiped fast at my face. “Then lead the way.”
His expression was almost confused when I peered up at him. Behind us, the hut burned like a beacon in the abandoned junkyard. But I kept my gaze on Ryder as he grabbed my hand and pulled me through the trees.
Chapter 29
Ryder
We stopped at the edge of Lokworth forest, and Morgan looked at me. Her cheek was streaked with soot, her tank top ripped, and her hair was a disheveled mess of tangles and the occasional leaf. But she damn near glowed in the moonlight.
“You going to be okay?” I asked.
Though she had finally stopped shaking, her eyes were too bright still. Shock most like.
She nodded. “Yes. I believe so.”
I raised my hand and stroked my thumb over the smear on her cheek. Her eyes widened. “Thanks,” I mumbled. “For getting me out of there.”
“We helped each other.”
I moved into her, letting my hand cup her face. “I mean it, Morgan. You saved my ass.” Her face flushed that pretty shade of pink. Maybe it was leftover adrenaline, maybe it was the fact that, right then, she looked wild. Untamed. Whatever it was, my fingers tightened and I leaned down, brushing her mouth with mine.
She made a sound of surprise.
I pulled back, searching her eyes as my heart slammed.
Shit.
“Morgan—”
She rose onto the tips of her toes, pressing her lips to mine with a kind of ferocity that bordered on desperation. Heat and hunger flared through me like a wildfire. My arm wound around her body, pulling her taut against me. The feel of her cooler heat, of her hands as they alighted on my chest ... It was going to drive me mad.
I bite at her bottom lip until she moaned. It was a sound that would haunt me for the rest of my days. I knew it. And didn’t care.
Releasing her face, I picked her up by her supple thighs and wrapped her long legs tight around me before pressing her back into the trees. There was no protest. She licked my lips before tasting and suckling at me like a babe. I shivered.
When I pulled back, her eyes glowed like beacons in the dark. It was no longer scary. But beautiful. Just as she was.
I couldn’t fathom when the change had occurred.
Was it when she cried at Eliza’s memorial? When she snuck into a human town and had her first burger? Or when she clapped louder than anyone else when the hero saved the day?
Maybe it was when she came back for me on the edge of that lot?
I didn’t know. But I didn’t see Morgan as a vampire. I saw her as a girl. A brave, stubborn girl.
And it scared the hell out of me.
I slowly let her back onto her feet. She stared at me, her lips plump and wet from my kiss. And I wanted them back under mine. Over mine. However I could have them.
Dammit.
“It’s late, Mor,” I said, relishing the sound of her nickname from my mouth. She didn’t correct my use of it, and it soared in my chest like a victory.
She gripped my arm. “Did I do something wrong?”
/> That made me blink. “You?” I shook my head. “You did nothing wrong, Morgan. But we can’t do this.”
Her lips trembled. “Because I’m a vampire and you’re a human?”
One of a million reasons why it was wrong.
But god above it hadn’t felt wrong.
I tried to smile. “Because I won’t do this with you against a tree.” It was a blatant lie. I wanted Morgan however I could get her. And a tree sounded just fine. It was in the fire in my veins, the flutter of my gut. Every fiber of my being wanted her.
But something in my answer seemed to soften her expression. She smiled a bit, the motion demure. Sweet. “You can come inside.”
My heart slammed and the heat inside me roared like a fucking lion. But I shook my head. “You live in a school of supernaturals. All with very good hearing.”
She blushed.
It was so innocent, so cute, that I groaned. Loudly. I reached for her and kissed her hard before I could stop myself. “Go on. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
Her smile was luminous. “Okay.” She kissed me again and started toward the school.
“And Morgan?” I called.
She peered at me over her shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Don’t come back into town for a bit, okay?” I said the words teasingly. But inside I meant them. Tonight had been a close call. I was just grateful I hadn’t been as injured as I thought. Otherwise I don’t know how we would’ve gotten out.
She waved and faded into the dark.
I waited for a time to make sure she got back okay, and then I started back into town. Though I would take the long, scenic way home.
And I didn’t feel bad about it at all.
Chapter 30
Morgan
My body sung as I snuck back into the colony dormitory. The halls were still empty, and the rooms were dark. My lips tingled.
Ryder kissed like he did everything, with a kind of single-minded focus and skill that I did not expect for a human. He was hot, strong. I could still smell the spice of his skin in my nose, and fell his hands on the backs of my legs. Taste the warmth of his kiss …
Smiling, I slipped into my room, hands going to the hem of my now ruined tank top.
“You’re alive, I see.”
I whirled, dropping my hands from my clothes. Ames sat on my bed, his back to the wall and his ankles crossed.
“What are you doing in here?”
His gold eyes flashed. “I came back to apologize for how I spoke to you. And you were gone. Vanished.” The light in his gaze began to swirl. “And you never came back.”
He climbed to his feet. “I’ve been waiting for hours, Morgan. Unsure if I should sound the alarm, alert Harrington, or search for you myself.” He stalked toward me.
I stepped back. “I’m fine, Ames. Really.”
“You’re covered in dirt, you have leaves in your hair, you reek of smoke, and you’ve been bleeding. But you’re fine?”
I looked down at my hands and my already healed wrist. A few lone trails of blood had dried along my skin, but not all of it was mine. “I fell.”
He made a sound.
When I looked up, he was right in front of me. “Lie.”
I gaped at him.
His nostrils flared. “You’ve been with the human. You’ve been with Ryder.”
I couldn’t deny it. He would know. He could hear my heartbeat.
The sound that came from him was almost a growl of desolation. He stepped back, face slack. Pained. “You have.”
“Ames—”
He turned away, massive body shaking. “It’s my fault,” he muttered. “I told you to throw away the rules. And you two were already too close.”
I reached for him. “Ames, it wasn’t like that. We ate a meal. And he took me to a movie,” I said fast. “You know, human things. I have never experienced what it means to be normal.”
He glared back at me. “I would’ve done all those things with you, Mor. Don’t you get that? I wanted to show you so much more than Lokworth. Or the lives our parents wanted for us. I wanted to be that for you.”
My lips trembled. “I like you, Ames.” Some of his glare faded under his surprise. “I don’t need to think about it. To find it somewhere else and compare it. I already knew that. It’s why I stayed away for so long. I know what you can do for me. What you can be.”
He turned to face me. “Then why the human, Mor?”
“Because I like him, too,” I admitted. His face hardened. “I like him like I like you. You both make me burn.”
His hand slid over my cheek before flowing into my tangled hair. “But he cannot do for you what I can, little Mor.” He lowered his face to mine and kissed me.
It was gentler than Ryder’s kiss. Slower and more resolved. But I had not lied. Ames made me burn.
I laid my hands on his chest, fisting the silken fabric of his shirt. He was strong, too, lean and muscular under the fabric. His heady orange fragrance made my mouth water, and I remembered the taste of his blood on my tongue.
He nuzzled my face. “Let me feed you.”
I couldn’t say no. Nor did I want to.
He led me to my bed, his long hands running over my cheeks and the bare skin of my arms. I sat down hard. He surprised me by joining me on the mattress.
His arms wound around me, and he pulled me up and into his lap. It was more intimate than the last time. And it made me very aware of how small I was compared to him. How weak.
Ames smoothed my hair back from my face and tilted his head. His neck stretched in one long line. There was no mark from my last bite. There was no other bite in his skin at all.
Could I be the only one he fed?
I looked at him.
He was the epitome of vampire beauty. All chiseled lines and an almost gothic appeal. Surely he was not as alone as I was.
I fingered the buttons on his shirt. “Drink from me too, Ames.”
He went still. “Morgan—”
“You feed me and I feed you.” I watched him as I spoke. “I want to know now if this will work. Not in a year. Or months from now. Bite me, Ames. Show me what I can expect. What I am getting when we wed.”
I needed to know once and for all.
Tonight had shown me one thing. Life was short even for our kind. In a blink, it was over. And every moment was precious, important.
I liked Ames. Probably even loved him a little. Though I was no longer sure if I wanted to marry him, I knew I wanted him. And if this was the only way I could have him—the only way I could know if we would work together—then it needed to be now.
He stroked my skin, his hands much softer than Ryder’s had been. “Lay down, Mor.”
I kicked off my shoes and stretched out on the pillows.
He climbed onto the mattress and laid out at my side. “You may take from anywhere you choose,” he said, his voice deeper and like velvet in the dark.
I shivered.
His hand slid under me, and he rolled me into him. Though cooler than Ryder, he was soft. Silken. He leaned up on one elbow and kissed me gently. I melted into him.
It was easy to fit myself to Ames. I had been around him my entire life. I knew the sway of his build, how big he was. So when I climbed over him, straddling his lap, it seemed natural. Nearly as natural as drawing breath.
He sat up under me, his muscles bunching under my hands with the motion. His palm cradled the back of my head as he tasted my mouth. He explored my lips gently. Each kiss was sweet, but hot. Every pass of his tongue made my body burn, and the nibble from his teeth made me moan.
My fangs descended, and he smiled against my lips. “Feed, Mor.”
I gripped his hair and bit into the smooth column of his throat. His blood flowed to me fast, helped along quicker by the rapid beat of his heart. His hips jerked beneath me, his body heating.
Smooth fingers flowed over my wrist. He kissed the inside of my palm, then nibbled his way over the pad of flesh below my thumb. I sucked hard
er in response.
He chuckled. His tongue laved over the delicate skin of my wrist in tantalizing swirls and flicks.
My face flushed.
His fingers tightened, and I stopped drinking, waiting. There was a sharp prick, then a slow burn. And my body went up in flames.
I cried out against his throat, eyes wide at the intensity of the feelings coursing through me. The sensations were almost painful. Too much. He seemed to understand, because he slowly rocked his body beneath mine. It was then I realized something I could not fathom how I had forgotten.
There was a reason vampires fed from each other behind closed doors.
Ames was solid beneath me, hot, and all male.
He wanted me as much as I wanted him.
Something about that, something about knowing my blood, my bite was the reason ... It flipped a switch inside me. I wanted to roar to the rafters. To feast at him until our scents mingled and everyone knew he found pleasure in my bite.
I gripped him harder and dropped my body to meet his. He made a sound, one that bordered on animalistic. “Yes, Mor,” he gasped around my skin.
His body rocked with mine, heating and heating against me as a kind of delicious friction sparked through me.
Oh.
This, this was what people sought. Why we took consorts and mates. Lovers.
I pulled back from his skin, his blood spilling from my lips. He watched me as he suckled gently at my wrist.
“Touch me, Ames.”
His glowing irises flashed. He licked my wrist, closing the holes with his saliva. “Morgan.”
I grabbed his hands and forced them to my body. He groaned and slid his cooler touch under my tank top. His hands were huge, long fingered, and smooth. He traced my ribs and then gripped my hips.
“It’s the bite, Morgan. You don’t have to do anything you aren’t ready for.” But I saw the spark of triumph in his gaze. He wanted this. Probably had for a very long time.
But his blood was still burning me, and his body had seared its memory into mine.
With Ames’ blood in my system, I wouldn’t need to go back to the nurse to get more. There would be questions of how I had abstained for so long between donor bags. And in a time when every vampire was a suspect, that was dangerous.