by Melody Raven
She knew he was trying to find something out, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what. “I’m an open book. Ask me what you need.”
He frowned, his slight brows furrowing. “Open book?”
She forgot. He hadn’t been here as long. “It’s a human saying. As in, anything you’d like to know, all you have to do is turn to the right page. So ask me what’s on your mind.”
He nodded. “Ah. I’ve been told I have a mastery of the English language, but I constantly find little things I’ve missed.”
“You sound wonderful to me.” She was well aware she was kissing his ass, but she wasn’t lying.
“You’re very beautiful,” he said suddenly, reaching over to run a strand of hair between his fingers.
She tensed and was unable to hide her apprehension. What would she do if he made a move on her? As far as he knew, he still had every claim to her. Well, as far as she knew, he did still too. But things were different. But how could she still butter him up to give her private information while at the same time telling him that she would never be with him?
“I always thought you were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. But there were so few competitors. Now that we’re in this magical land with females everywhere I look, I can truly appreciate your beauty for the first time. Perfect skin, perfect eyes, perfect lips. I’ve spent so long dreaming of having you to myself finally.”
Lina took a nervous gulp and looked away so he wouldn’t see the thoughts truly racing through her mind.
But before she had to tell him to take his hands off her, he abruptly withdrew his touch. “But things have changed. I have to withdraw from our arrangement.”
Her mouth fell as she met his gaze. “You what?”
“I hate to lead you on. I assumed you’d been taken by Jackson and I’d never get you back. At least, not in peak form.”
She blinked in surprise. “You mean if Jackson raped me.”
His jaw clenched. “If you hadn’t killed him already, I would—”
“If he had touched me, that would make me less in your opinion?”
He cocked his head. “He had you for weeks. It’s understandable if he’d—”
Lina jumped off the bed. “I think you should leave.” Damn it, this was the opposite of what she needed. But there was no way to continue kissing his ass right now. The anger was licking through her, and it was everything she could do to stop herself from pounding his stupid face.
“There’s no need to get emotional. I’ll take care of you and make sure I find you a good man who will do right by you.”
She forced her eyes closed and counted backward from ten. He thought she was damaged goods? That she was no longer pure and untouched? She was going to show him just how impure she could be. When she finally had some semblance of control, she opened her eyes again. “I’m sorry for being so emotional,” she bit out, trying to keep the mirth from her voice. “I’m very tired and hungry and I think I need to be alone.”
“Hungry? Of course. I’m sorry for not offering you something in the first place. Follow me to the kitchen.”
He jumped up from the bed and shot to the door, which he held open for her. She wanted to tell him to just get the fuck out, but she’d backed herself into this corner.
Besides, she was hungry, and she needed to keep her strength up in case she needed to make a fast getaway. She followed him out into the hall and down the stairs. And then down another staircase. The kitchen was in a basement? That didn’t make sense.
But then she started to get a very clear picture of what was going on when she reached the bottom of the landing and realized their kitchen wasn’t a kitchen at all. It was a prison.
The walls were lined with cages, and inside each was a different woman, each looking more miserable than the last.
“Which one do you fancy?” asked Scragg. “Number seven is the freshest. Would you like me to bring her out for you?”
Aidan wasn’t known for being a patient man, but he hadn’t come into this expecting to be waited on hand and foot. So when one of the robed men entered his room just minutes after he’d entered, he didn’t know what to think.
Should he be scared? Should he be ready to fight? He decided to play it cool as the robed man approached where Aidan sat on the bed, with his back against the headboard and legs stretched out on the mattress. He acted as if he had nothing to be afraid of. He’d given Scragg good information, so as far as he knew, there was no reason to doubt him.
But that didn’t make him feel safe either.
As the robed man stood over him, Aidan stared into the dark hood. That had to be a pain in the ass. Like, he got that it was good for aesthetics, but the warlock underneath probably couldn’t see a damn thing.
“Hold out your hands,” the seemingly disembodied voice demanded.
“What do you want with them?”
“It’s a simple spell. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Aidan raised a skeptical brow. “If you don’t tell me what this is about, I’ll show you exactly where you can shove your simple spell.”
There was a pause until the voice said, now in a slightly shaky voice, “A spell of intent. To determine your purpose here.”
No wonder he wore the hood. This guy didn’t even have a poker voice, let alone a poker face. Aidan leaned forward and held out his hands. He didn’t know exactly what a spell of intent was, but if this guy was as unsure as he seemed, that probably meant he wasn’t the most powerful warlock around. Which meant the spell’s results shouldn’t be too specific. More like a vague Magic 8-Ball type answer.
The warlock reached out and put his palms over Aidan’s, just barely touching. His nails were chewed down to the very base, with the cuticles red and broken. And what little nail bed remained was colored with scratched-up black nail polish.
“Nervous about something?” asked Aidan casually. “I hear nail-biting is a sign of nerves.” He then looked up into the black hole in the general vicinity of where the eyes would be.
There was a nervous gulp before the man answered, “It’s a stressful time. We’ve been working for this our entire existence.”
“Preparing for what?”
Before he answered, the man started to chant in an ancient language. Similar to Latin, but not quite. Aidan wasn’t fluent, but he could pick up enough words here and there to verify that the spell was what the man said: a spell of intent.
A few moments later, the man pulled away. “Curious,” he said, his voice low and breathless, a sign that the magic had done a number on him.
“What’s so curious? What did you see?”
“Love. You’re here for love.”
Aidan blinked a few times in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“That’s what I saw. I’m done with you now.” The man then turned and took his leave, leaving Aidan to stare in annoyance.
Idiot barebones magic. Love? Ridiculous. Lust, maybe. Friendship, sure. Guilt, definitely. He’d promised Lina he wouldn’t make her do this, and here she was. But it wasn’t love. Hell, he was pretty sure he wasn’t capable of such a thing.
He was still stewing over how stupid the spell of intent had been when his doorknob started to turn. Was the robed warlock back?
But instead, he was greeted by the ethereal sight of Lina.
Immediately, he jumped up even as he blinked to determine whether his eyes were playing tricks on him. She looked like a dream. He was so used to seeing her dressed casually. Except for that first night at the club, she’d always dressed down to avoid attention. And now he was grateful she was alone in this room with him, because if they were around anyone else, it would be impossible for them to keep their attention on anything but how utterly intoxicating this woman was.
She was in a silk black nightgown that stopped just above her knees. It was by no means too short, but the shiny fabric hung on every curve and just begged to be touched. Her long raven hair flowed over her shoulders. She looked
so young and vulnerable and drop-dead gorgeous at the same time.
“What are you doing here?” he asked in a cracking voice.
She lifted a hand and made a turning motion with her hand. Fuck. He forgot that he wasn’t supposed to be talking to her out loud. He shook his head, trying to get himself out of whatever spell she had him under as he grabbed the music box and turned the dial as far as it would go.
As soon as he looked up, Lina was there and grabbing his arm. “I need to talk to you. We have a problem.”
“What problem? Are you okay? Did Scragg threaten you?”
She shook her head back and forth. “Nothing like that. I... ugh. I need food.”
He opened his mouth and shut it before any sound came out. “Scragg doesn’t have anything?”
She scoffed right as the music box ran out, and Aidan turned it once again as far as it could go.
“Oh, he offered to feed me all right. He led me right down to the basement he converted to a dungeon and showed me his refrigerator, complete with live humans in cages. I know I should’ve played it cool and just drank, but I couldn’t help it. I was lucky enough I didn’t throw up then and there. I mean, I feed off humans. I know that’s not the nicest thing, but these poor women....” Her face was even paler than usual, which was saying a lot. “I knew that my kind were doing this, but I didn’t really understand.”
The music box ran out again, and Aidan once again turned it. “They’re not your kind.”
“Don’t lie to me to make me feel better. I understand what’s happening. Why everyone hates us. We really are monsters.”
He couldn’t help himself. He twisted his free hand from the arm he was touching to grasp her fingers in his. “I don’t care about them. I know you well enough to say with a hundred percent certainty that you aren’t a monster. Not even a little.”
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to make a life here. I can’t even survive without feeding off others like a leech. What kind of life is that? What is my future going to be?”
Aidan twisted the music box before it could run out. “Your future looks like however you want it to. And just because you need to feed off others doesn’t make you a monster. Just get consent. If you’re hungry, you can feed off me.”
Her eyes widened, and the light reflected in her dark eyes. “You’d let me do that?”
“Of course,” he said without hesitation. Fuck, what was wrong with him? Not that he wouldn’t let her feed off him. But he should hesitate. He should think it over carefully. His kind never let vampires feed off them. Ever. And Vopura were even worse than vampires.
But when it came to Lina, there was no thought process. No pros and cons list. It just made sense.
He twisted the knob on the music box once more. “This is going to run out,” he warned. “So you’ll have to be quiet.”
She nodded and then frowned. “Do you hear that?”
He strained his ears, but nothing came to him. “Just the box.”
“Someone... somewhere is, um, getting to know someone else better. And they’re pretty loud, too. I’m not saying we can start screaming our conversation, but that should give us a measure of cover.” She blinked a few times and glanced down. “Very loud.”
He smiled at her. She was this monstrous being, but she could be so demure when it came to matters of a more carnal nature. Which was especially odd, because she was basically a walking wet dream. “All right. Where do you want me?” Just then, the music box ran out and instead of cranking it once more, he decided to put it down softly on the nightstand. There wasn’t much to the room. Just a bed, dresser, nightstand, and large flat-screen on the wall that Aidan hadn’t even tried to turn on. Which meant their options were really stand or get on the bed.
He knew which option he’d vote for, but he didn’t want to make this any more uncomfortable than it already was.
She was quiet for a moment. “I.... You’re kind of tall. You can lean down if you want.”
“How about we sit then?” Without waiting for her to overthink it, he backed up until he sat down on the bed. “Is this better?”
She took a deep gulp and nodded. He held out a hand, and he wondered whether she could hear his heart as it quickened as she put her fingers in his.
Unable to stop himself, he held her hand tightly and pulled her in closer. Even though he was about to let her feed off him, he felt distinctly more like a predator in this situation.
Slowly, she climbed on the bed. First one leg and then another, she crawled on next to him. He would’ve given anything to have her straddle him, but he knew that would be asking a lot.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she breathed as she rested a hand on his shoulder.
“You’re not going to hurt me.” He didn’t know whether that was true or not, but he didn’t want her to talk herself out of this. He’d come here to help her, and he was going to provide for her, damn it. It would just be a prick and then it would be over. He was sure he’d been through worse.
“I—”
“I trust you.” He cut her off. “We don’t have much time. So take as much as you need and we’ll get this over with before anyone notices what’s going on.” He didn’t want to rush her, but he hated that she was so worried about hurting him. He might not be able to keep her safe right now, but he could at least make sure she was fed.
He thought she was going to balk once more, but a few moments later, she finally started to lean in.
Aidan let his eyes close and took a deep breath. But instead of being afraid or tentative, he felt... excitement? He held his breath until all he could hear was the pounding of his heart. When her small hand gripped the base of his neck, a bolt of heat shot through him and every muscle tensed. Instead of fear, he had to hold back the urge to reach out for her. To grab her and pull her fully on top of him. To push her beneath him and fully explore all of those curves both hidden and illuminated by that scrap of a nightgown.
And then she was leaning in and her fangs were at his neck. But she didn’t bite right away. There was a slow moment where each of them waited there as though locked in a trance as they each caught their breath.
And then she bit.
Lina had never felt anything like this before. A mixture of right and wrong filled her as she sucked down Aidan’s blood in long, deep gulps. He tasted totally otherworldly. Like a drug or the most decadent chocolate. She could feel his magic pool within her. Even if his powers were bound, they were still undeniably a part of him.
It was like drinking an electrical charge—powerful and fierce. Every nerve ending seemed to buzz with excitement as she fed. The moments blurred together, and she was practically lost to it before she remembered that she needed to stop.
Withdrawing her fangs from him was its own sort of torture. She didn’t want to stop tasting him. She didn’t want to stop touching him. She’d never tasted anything like that before, and the thought that she might never taste it again was absolutely devastating. She gave the two small punctures a soft lick, both working to soothe the pain and to catch any last lingering drops of blood.
She forced herself to sit back on the bed, putting some space between her and Aidan as they both caught their breath. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” Stupid question. It was very obvious that biting into his neck would hurt.
He shook his head. “It didn’t hurt. It felt... I don’t know how to describe it.”
“I don’t either,” she concurred. It was so different from any feeding she’d had since she’d gotten here. Was it different just because of his magical origins? Or was it something different about Aidan? She’d always known they had a certain connection. Did it go deeper than even she thought?
“I should go,” she finally said. She couldn’t take this awkwardness any longer. And the longer she stayed, the more tempted she’d be to bite him. Hell, she didn’t know whether she’d ever be able to be around him again without fighting the temptation to sink her teeth into his neck again.
“You should go,” he agreed. But then he turned his crystal-blue gaze on her, and his eyes said the exact opposite. They begged her to stay and whispered all sorts of secret, bad things he wanted to do to her.
She pushed herself off the bed. “I’m leaving now.”
“Good.” But he kept staring at her in that low, intense way.
All of a sudden, she was taken over with flashes. She saw her and Aidan. He had her pressed against a wall. Beneath him on the bed. Bent over the dresser as he took her from behind.
She blinked and fell back, her breaths coming in deep gasps. “What was that?” she breathed.
He stood quickly as he sensed her distress. “What was—” He started to blink rapidly as he swayed on his feet. “Whoa.”
“Did it happen to you too?” She took a step forward, and more flashes came at her. She saw him pushing her legs wide and burying his head between her thighs before the image vanished like smoke and she saw Aidan still standing in front of her. “What’s going on?”
“Magic,” he growled. “Those robed fucks are playing with—” He broke off and clenched his jaw and Lina could only imagine what he was seeing.
Lina started to say something but then stopped. She could hear more. There were various other couples now all moaning and gasping for breath. “It’s not just us. The whole house is affected.”
“They’re using the energy to grow their power. You need to leave before—”
Lina and Aidan were both hit with a vision at the same time. She could practically feel him grip her hair tightly in his fist as he angled her head back for better access and devoured her with a kiss while his other hand pushed up her nightgown.
When the vision cleared, Aidan was right in front of her. She thought he’d moved, but then she realized they were right next to the bed. She was the one who’d approached. “I really need to leave,” she said even as she leaned in closer to him. This wasn’t them. It was just some spell that was playing tricks on her mind.
