A Kiss For You

by Rachel Van Dyken

  I clenched my teeth and hissed out a breath. "Could we not discuss this now?"

  Alex held up his hands. "Just thought you should know… he isn't pleased that you've bonded with her. I lied and said it was complete."

  "He'll still try to take her, regardless." I licked my lips and tried to focus on Alex rather than the fact that Genesis was drawing circles on my chest, making me want to lean into her, capture her lips and suck.

  "Yup." Alex grinned as he watched the scene in front of him like it was some hilarious movie and not my life. "So, this looks cozy."

  "Was there anything else?" I barked.

  "Complete the mating." He nodded. "At least then her eyes will be opened fully… and we can see if this was all worth it."

  Genesis let out a moan. Heat shot through my body, slicing me nearly in half. She was transitioning into the final phase.

  Alex had the good sense to look like he felt sorry for her before nodding his head again and shutting the door.

  "Please!" Genesis begged, gripping my shirt with both of her hands. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. "Make it stop, please! It's so hot."

  It was about to get worse.

  The final stage always was.

  Like taking knives from a fire and slicing up your body. I'd always been told that during this stage, humans dreamt of Death.

  And because of that fact, Death visited them, beckoned them, and many, took his outstretched hand and never woke up.

  "Listen…" I cupped her face with my hands. "…focus on me… not the pain. It's almost over."

  "And you'll be here?" Her body started to convulse as my blood merged with hers. The same blood I'd shared with her when I'd marked her. "P-promise?"

  "Yes."

  Her eyes flashed green, mimicking mine.

  "I won't leave your side."

  "My mouth…" She shook her head violently, her lips swollen from the heat. "…hurts."

  I pressed my mouth to hers gently and then pierced the skin of her upper lip, relieving the pressure of the blood in her system — my blood fighting hers as it should, her blood refusing to give up as it should.

  Humans always tasted the same — like life — like earth mixed with sugar. It was addicting. I'd always thought it was too sweet.

  But she tasted perfect.

  "More…" She tugged at my shirt again.

  I kissed her again, this time slanting my mouth over where my fangs had dug into her tender skin.

  I was old.

  Able to control myself.

  At least that was what I said when I kissed her a third time, this time more passionately. And when she clung to me like I was her only chance at survival, I wanted to roar with excitement. It was the bond.

  Nothing more.

  I kissed her harder.

  Her nails dug into my skin.

  "Fight it, Genesis." I was speaking to myself as much as I was to her. I needed to fight it too… because I knew firsthand there was nothing worse than mating with someone, wanting someone so badly, and thinking it was love.

  And realizing it was nothing but a very pretty lie.

  Her head dropped back, exposing her full neck.

  Sweat dripped from her face down her neck as another stab of pain hit me and her in the chest.

  She was fighting it.

  But she was also fighting me.

  She had spirit.

  I only hoped that when death visited her in her dreams, she wouldn't take his cold lifeless hand.

  Because maybe I could never love her. Maybe she could never love me. But I respected her strength.

  And in all my years — I was beginning to think maybe it was time to have a friend I could at least share the loneliness with.

  A real mate.

  She screamed.

  And blacked out.

  I pulled her into my lap and kissed her forehead. She moved against me and then stopped.

  Her body went ice cold.

  Death was visiting.

  All I could do was wait.

  Genesis

  I felt Ethan next to me. I wanted to ask him what was happening next, why my body was suddenly cold — why everything felt numb — but I couldn't open my eyes.

  I was trapped in darkness.

  "So," a low whispery voice spoke into the darkness, "will you stay or will you go?"

  "What?" I spoke into the darkness, unable to see anything around me. White smoke suddenly appeared in front of me, and then a hand reached out through the smoke.

  "Will you come with me? Allow me to ease all your pain? Or will you stay?"

  The hand looked so welcoming.

  The closer it came to my body the more I wanted to take it.

  But I could still feel Ethan, and leaving him… felt so wrong. My body shuddered at the thought.

  "Choose," the voice commanded.

  I didn't want to choose. I just wanted to go back to my normal existence, where I went to Starbucks in the mornings and did homework in the afternoons.

  Those days were long gone.

  "Choose," it said, louder this time.

  I swayed toward the hand.

  But something held me back.

  The pain flared again — unbearable — as if someone had stabbed me in the heart.

  "I can take it all away," the voice soothed. "Just take my hand."

  Was I crazy? To choose the pain over this man's hand? Over what I was sure would be complete and total peace?

  Ethan meant pain.

  And as much as I hated him in that instant — I needed him… even if it meant pain.

  It was his eyes.

  They reflected what I felt in my own body — in my soul.

  He was suffering, just like me, only it was a different kind of suffering, one that I'm sure had to do with the vision I'd seen of him and the woman.

  "Choose!" the voice boomed.

  I stepped backward and wrapped my hands around my body. "Him. I choose him."

  The cloud disappeared, revealing a man who looked a lot like Cassius. I wasn't sure if he was a Dark One, but the air around him seemed to freeze in place. I shivered.

  His eyes flashed white.

  So he was a Dark One.

  His teeth were shaped like tiny knives.

  "It won't be easy," he spoke softly, "choosing life."

  "It shouldn't be easy…" I found my voice. "…to choose death."

  He smiled, bowed his head, and disappeared.

  The pain in my chest spread to my back. I arched, and then everything stopped. The pain, the heat, my heart slowed.

  And I blinked my eyes open.

  Ethan hovered over me in a shielding stance, almost like he was protecting me from someone coming into the room and knifing me in my sleep. His eyes were black.

  "I…" My voice sounded groggy, foreign to my ears. "I think it's done."

  His eyes slowly faded to gray and then green. "You chose me." His voice cracked.

  "Well…" I licked my lips, just looking at his mouth at my body, yearning for his touch. "It was either you or the guy with the creepy voice."

  Ethan's delicious mouth broke out into a smile. "Does that mean you don't find me creepy?"

  I examined the fangs protruding over his plump lips. "You're a different kind of creepy."

  He leaned back on his knees and pulled me up so I was in a sitting position. "Didn't think you'd wake up spouting compliments and poetry." He sighed. "It's almost complete."

  "Almost?" I croaked. "I have to go through more pain?"

  "No…" His eyes flashed. "…just pleasure."

  "Wha—"

  His mouth was on my neck before I had a chance to utter any more words. His tongue twisted and pushed against the base of my throat.

  I bucked off the bed as a sweet sensation of euphoria washed over me.

  When he pulled back, his eyes were so bright green it hurt to stare directly at him. "Now that… was me biting you."

  "Yeah…" I managed to push the word past my stunn
ed lips. "It was."

  He moved off the bed at epic speed and was already at the door when I blinked for a second time. "Stephanie will be in to help you shower and dress. We'll discuss your… duties… when you've regained some of your strength."

  "Wait!" I blurted.

  He paused at the door, his hands digging into the wood. "Yes?"

  "Am I still human?"

  He burst out laughing and turned. "Of course… still weak, still fragile, still very much… human."

  "Oh…" I nodded, my studies of vampires were clearly lacking since I'd learned that a bite could turn you or worse, kill you. "…that's good, right?"

  "Depends on who you ask, I suppose." He shrugged and shut the door softly behind him.

  I was too tired to focus on what that cryptic sentence may have meant and didn't have time to mull it over like I typically would because Stephanie burst through that same door two minutes later yelling, "You lived!"

  Did that mean she'd thought I would die?

  "Good for you." She nodded. "Things are finally looking up!" She clapped her hands and dropped a set of clothes onto the nearby chair. "Let's get you showered and looking your best so you can start producing little vampire babies."

  I felt my stomach drop. "Wh-what?"

  "It was a joke." She winked. "Well, the vampire babies part. Now, let's get you feeling better. I'll have Alex in here a bit later to stabilize you and—"

  "Stabilize me?" I repeated. "What?"

  "It's what he does." She nodded. "He's a siren — makes girls feel calm when all they want to do is pull their hair out and scream. I'd do it, but it only works on men… thus the need for him to do it. Don't worry though. It's like taking a Xanax, only it feels way better."

  "I don't want to feel drugged," I mumbled, my body aching in places I didn't know even existed. "I think right now I just want a shower."

  Stephanie shifted on her feet. "He didn't hurt you… did he?"

  Well, my physical body was intact, but my heart was really confused. Did it hurt? No, but something felt wrong. Like I should be happy, elated even, rather than depressed and rejected.

  "No," I finally answered. "I'm great."

  "Good." She exhaled. "Now, about that shower."

  Ethan

  I still tasted her blood on my lips, was embarrassed for the first time in a century when Alex glanced up from his spot at the kitchen table to see me licking my lips like I'd just devoured the poor girl.

  He shook his head. "Been that long, huh?"

  "Alex…" I closed my eyes and prayed for patience. "…remind me why I let you live here?"

  "I'm good-looking," he answered simply. "Besides, I'm a hell of a fighter — scrappy, I think is how you define my kind. You need me."

  "Stop." I pressed my fingertips to my temples and rubbed. The ache to have her had consumed me so much that I'd run down the stairs moving so fast I'd nearly collided with a wall, and grabbed blood from the fridge.

  I didn't need it.

  But I craved it.

  And if I didn't drink the donated blood, I sure as hell was going to drain her and enjoyed very last drop.

  "I wonder…" Alex's voice pierced my thoughts. "What's it like?" He leaned forward. "Having to learn self-control all over again… being as ancient as you are?"

  I ignored him.

  He kept talking.

  "Blood-free for a century and now…" He grinned and licked his lips. "Kind of like falling off the wagon, yeah?"

  "You're giving me a headache." I threw the empty bag of blood at his face. He moved to the side and snickered. "And I'm fine. Everything is just—"

  Her smell was intoxicating. She was walking down the stairs, so her heart picked up speed, her body giving off a scent of burnt vanilla and oranges with a hint of sugar. My mouth literally watered.

  "Fine?" Alex said in a mocking voice. "Was that what you were going to say? Damn, man show a little decorum, you look… starved."

  "I am," I whispered and fought the urge to rock back and forth. That was the problem with mating — with bonding. Nothing tasted like her, nothing ever would, and typically, having her as my mate gave me full access.

  But the more I took…

  The stronger the bond.

  And the more I wanted…

  It was a vicious overwhelming cycle. It would lead me to become emotionally invested while she, as a human, could simply pretend.

  It wasn't fair.

  Immortals, in essence, were cursed with a deep desire to be like a human — to possess them, to bond with them forever — while humans only felt the same draw to us if they actually loved us.

  Ridiculous.

  "Oh, there you are." Stephanie pushed Genesis forward and pulled out a chair.

  Slowly, Genesis took a seat and glared at each one of us. "Where's Mason?"

  It shouldn't have pissed me off.

  But it had.

  "He's none of your concern," I spat.

  "Easy!" Alex chuckled. "Rule number one, don't ask your mate where the other dude is. Just… don't."

  Genesis blinked at Alex then back at me. "Because you guys have the capacity for jealousy."

  Alex whistled while Stephanie laughed.

  Immortals were the most jealous beings on the planet. Had her school taught her nothing?

  Was I to be her tutor as well?

  "So…" Alex trained his eyes on her, putting her at as much ease as he could without stopping her poor heart. "Now that the mating is complete, you get to learn all about us and service your man here." He slapped my back.

  Really. Really. Poor choice of words.

  Genesis paled.

  I rolled my eyes. "He's kidding."

  Alex laughed. "I think it needs to be said that having a human at the house has already helped my mood immensely."

  "That makes one of you," Genesis said under her breath.

  Alex leaned forward and whispered, "Ethan, try not to be so grouchy. Keep the fangs in and all."

  I extended them just to prove a point.

  Genesis recoiled.

  I instantly felt guilty.

  Damn it.

  "You won't…" I licked my lips. "You won't have to service me, as Alex so delicately put it."

  "Is that what mates do?" Genesis asked, her eyes searching mine. "They…" She lifted her hands into the air and dropped them.

  "If that's what you think they do, we have a very big problem." Alex mimicked her movements and winked.

  She blushed.

  I hissed at him and returned my attention to her. "It's like a human relationship, only stronger. You'll attend functions with me, be by my side, at my beck and call for as long as you live."

  I didn't want to say until one day she just didn't wake up. It sounded too cruel.

  "And when I'm bored out of my mind… I do what?" She crossed her arms. "I mean, what could you possibly need from me?"

  "Adorable." Alex sighed happily. "I'm so glad we kept her."

  "Alex…" I was two seconds away from slamming him into the nearest wall. "Make yourself useful and find our human a snack."

  "I'm not a pet!" Genesis yelled. "And I'm not your human!"

  "You are," I yelled right back, "mine!"

  "Kids." Stephanie stepped between us.

  I didn't even realize I'd gotten out of the chair and was towering over her, fangs out, hands raised. She'd turned me into a monster. And still, my eyes found her erratic pulse. One more taste…

  "Ethan—" Stephanie pushed against my chest. I didn't move. "Ethan!"

  "Friend…" Mason walked into the room. "Sit your ass down before she hands it to you."

  "Like she could!" I roared.

  "Like I have!" Stephanie pushed me again. "Don't tempt me… again."

  I sat, while Mason made his way over to Genesis and offered an easy smile. The man had nothing to smile about, yet he was smiling — at my mate.

  I growled.

  Mason gave me the finger and kept his attention trained on Genesi
s. "How do you feel?"

  "Better." She returned his smile and squeezed his outstretched hand. "Thanks for not… killing me when I asked."

  "Damn…" Alex said from the kitchen.

  "You were in pain." Mason shrugged. "And I'm glad you're alright."

  "She's fine. We're fine. Everything's fine," I said through clenched teeth. "Now it's probably time to give her answers before she thinks she can run off and actually survive in the real world without being hunted by a Dark One, or worse, found by Cassius."

  "He isn't all bad," Stephanie said defensively.

  We all glared at her.

  "What?" She lifted her hands into the air. "I'm just saying he's been trying as hard as we have. So what if he's gotten a bit possessive over the last few numbers that have been called."

  Alex slammed his fist onto the table. "He stole Ethan's—"

  "Enough." I held up my hand. The pain in my chest grew until it was hard to breathe. I knew what would take that pain away.

  Genesis.

  But I was too angry to ask for it. Too ashamed to fall to my knees in front of a mere mortal and beg for her to end the pain by allowing me one solitary drop of her blood.

  As if on cue, another bag of blood hit me in the head.

  Alex must have sensed my mood.

  I bit into it and looked away from Genesis's horrified expression.

  "Lesson time." Alex placed some fruit and cheese in front of Genesis and clapped his hands. "Who goes first?"

  Nobody said anything.

  Genesis cleared her throat. "Maybe if you'll start by telling me what our real job is… as human breeders. All my life I've been taught a lie and now… well, now I'd really like to know how this all started and what my place is."

  Overwhelming her with information just might kill her. It would be like telling a child that her existence was simply for the pleasure of the parent, that she meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.

  "The numbers," Mason cleared his throat, "have been called for centuries. It used to be every year, then it went to every two years, every decade — you know the trend. The last human number called was fifty years ago." His face contorted like he was going to change shape, but he gained control over himself. "Immortals, as we've said before, cannot simply procreate. They need humans in order for the process to be complete. Basically, human men and women help immortals continue to populate the planet. If the balance is somehow… broken, then chaos erupts, thus the need for humans. The balance is very important for both our races."