“Come on.” He bent down, draped one of my arms over his shoulders, and gently pulled me up from the bed. “Shower first, then sleep. We can talk more tomorrow.”
“What day is it?”
“About two hours after you passed out.”
“Oh.” It felt like I’d been asleep a lot longer. I clung to the smooth muscle of his shoulders as we toddled slowly toward the bathroom, each step slightly less painful than the last. The echo of what we’d done with Elizabet reverberated through me, but it was easy to ignore, or easy enough if I focused on the pain instead of on Devin’s gloriously nude form pressed against the side of my body. “How’d you get me back here?”
“Marco. He came in after you passed out and helped me take care of Elizabet.”
That raised a lot of questions, like what exactly he meant by take care of Elizabet, but I didn’t have the energy to ask. Tomorrow I would, though, if not here, then on the way back. If I got to go back. “Did you let everyone parade through and see me passed out with holes in my penis?”
“Funny.”
We reached the tub and I sighed. It might as well have been Mount Everest. My body shook with fatigue and whatever Elizabet had done to me, and that after walking the fifteen odd feet from the bed to the tub. Even if I could get my legs over the side, I’d never be able to stand up long enough to shower. Maybe I could do a sponge bath.
Devin pulled the shower curtain back, and I nearly melted with relief. The sides were high, yes, about the same height as a normal tub, but it was wider and, more importantly, had a shower stool already placed inside.
Bless Devin’s thoughtfulness.
He helped me climb in and settle on the stool before cutting on the water and adjusting the temperature.
“Cover your penis,” he said, and when I did, he flipped on the shower, stepped under the spray, and pulled the curtain closed behind us.
“I haven’t taken a shower with someone else since I was a kid,” I said.
“You’re too weak to be in here by yourself.” He picked up the soap and lathered it. “I’m going to wash you.”
I closed my eyes and leaned against the tiled wall. After what we’d done tonight, it hardly seemed right to protest having him wash me. That kiss. Jesus. I’d kissed a man and liked it, but that wasn’t what bothered me.
I guess I was more open-minded than I’d thought.
No, what bothered me was that I’d wanted to have Devin and Elizabet at the same time. Did that make me sick and twisted? I thumped my head against the tile. Whatever. I was too tired to sort it all out right then, so I said, “Sure.”
He started with the fingers of one hand and rubbed gently, then moved slowly but steadily up my arm, washing it with his bare hands and soap, massaging the skin as he went. He’d made it all the way through both arms and my chest before it hit me that all his touch did was leave behind a pleasant tingly relaxation and a huge feeling of relief that someone else was taking care of me.
“No wonder Cassie loves you,” I said.
“I don’t do this for her,” he admitted. “We never have time.”
“You should, definitely.” I sighed and slumped on the stool. “It’s the best thing since sliced bread.”
“Mmm.” He moved to my ribs and I flinched. “Hold still.”
“Trying to. Feels like they’re bruised.”
“That’s a side effect of the feeding. There’s something in Elizabet’s saliva that seeps into our bloodstream, something we think is linked to the bond between vampire and pet. Everyone’s hit a little differently by it.”
I leaned forward so he could wash down my back and rested my head against his hip, pleased to feel not a damn thing, even with his half-erect penis a foot away. “You don’t know what it is?”
“Every few years she brings people in, has everyone’s blood tested hoping medical science and technology has developed enough to figure it out.”
“Nothing so far, huh?”
“Not a thing.” He knelt to wash my legs and feet, kneading the soreness out. “She hasn’t given up yet, though. You’ll see what she’s like, if you stick around.”
“You mean I have a choice?” My laugh was so weak it barely made it out of my chest. “That’s not really the impression I got about this whole thing.”
“You had a choice last night,” he pointed out.
“Like any sane man would’ve left that room, knowing Elizabet was coming.”
He met my gaze and grinned. “That’s how I got hooked.”
“Good to know I’m not the only gullible one.”
“It’s what gets us all.” He rested a hand on my thigh and pushed himself into a stand. “You’re taking this pretty well. Most people freak out right about now.”
“I’m not most people.”
“True.” He handed me the soap. “It’ll hurt less if you wash your privates.”
I groaned. Man, that was gonna hurt no matter what. But I took the soap, lathered my hands good, and hissed to ease the pain while I washed my penis and the area around it. While I was at it, I inspected it. Other than being bruised, my dick seemed intact.
“Is there some kind of healing agent in Elizabet’s saliva, too?”
“We think so, or at least a mild coagulant. Keeps her from draining us completely, and us from bleeding out when she’s done.” He took the soap from me, put it away, and squirted shampoo into his palm. “Eyes closed.”
I obeyed, feeling more and more like a kid being bathed by a parent. His fingers dug lightly into my scalp, lathering and rinsing until my whole head tingled from it. Sleep beckoned and I fought it off. But God, I wanted to sink into a bed and sleep for about a day or three.
“Gimme a minute to wash and I’ll help you out.”
“Mmmkay.” I plopped back against the wall, kept my eyes closed. “’S only fair I wash you now.”
“Because you have so much energy,” he said, his voice rich with amusement. “Maybe next time.”
“Nope, no next time. No showering with men. New rule.”
“If you say so.”
Arms lifted me up until I was standing and then a hand ran over my ass and between my butt cheeks.
“The hell,” I said, my words so slurred even I barely recognized them.
“The point of a shower is to get clean.”
I swayed when he moved, the water cut off, and everything after that was a blur of towels and his hand on my penis making the pain go away, and finally sliding between warm flannel sheets. My head hit the pillow and a furnace snuggled up behind me, wrapping me in its embrace. My brain scrambled sluggishly to find a reason for the heat and after a moment it came to me. Devin. He was in bed with me, holding me with the tender courtesy of a lover.
He’d been so good to me. So good, helping me in and out of the shower, letting me have sex with his vampire. What a buddy. Buddies helped each other out. Buddies made penises feel better. So good, he’d been.
“Won’t tell Cassie you cheated on her with me,” I said.
His laughter tickled the back of my neck, making me feel all warm and gooey inside.
I liked warm and gooey. It was nice. Like hot chocolate on a snowy day. That was Devin. Hot chocolate with marshmallows. Or maybe Smores. Those were good, too.
“You’re drunk with fatigue.” A soft squeeze. “Go to sleep now, Eric.”
And I did.
Chapter Six
When I woke up, the room was still dark and the bed was cold. I reached out a hand, searching for Devin, and came back empty. A footstep fell against the carpeted floor a moment before someone leaned over me, stroking my face gently with a cool hand. I turned my head into the palm and placed a kiss there.
“You are the charmer, aren’t you, sweetling?” Elizabet said.
“Not normally,” I admitted. “Feel pretty bad about passing out on you last night, ‘though.”
“You did very well for your first night.”
She shifted on the bed and I pulled her down o
nto me for a hug. She was soft, curvy, cuddly, her weight a welcome pleasure. Desire stirred in me and my dick came to life, sending a shooting pain through my lower abdomen.
No sex for a while, looked like.
But would I want to have sex with her if she hadn’t taken my blood, if I weren’t in a place where every move, every word seemed designed to produce a sexual response?
I rolled her onto her back so I could prop up and focus on her through the shadows. A soft glimmer of light filtered around the edges of the curtains on the far wall, and eventually my eyes adjusted enough that I could make out her pale features. She’d pulled her hair into two long braids and wore a faded flannel gown that covered her from the neck down.
She was still the sexiest woman I’d ever known.
“Good morning,” I said, and kissed her. Her mouth opened under mine and her tongue darted out to stroke my lips. It was a gentle kiss, not quite sexless, but more friendly than passionate.
I broke it off before my body could respond. Hey, I’m not a masochist and the harsh throb in my dick was easing back enough to make me cautious.
“I’ve brought a gift for you.” She shifted onto her side and placed the tips of her fingers on my chest, running them through the sparse chest hair I’d managed to accumulate in twenty-one years of living. “Well, not so much a gift as a bonus for your kindness.”
I snorted out a laugh. “I think the sex was bonus enough.”
Her lips tilted into a coy smile. “That’s my bonus, sweetling, the use of your body while I feed. It helps keep me sane.”
“Glad I could help.” I kissed the tip of her nose. She seemed to need the affection, and it cost me nothing to give it to her, considering the fondness I already held for her. “So what’s this bonus?”
“You’ll see. I want it to be a surprise.”
“I like surprises.” Sometimes, depending, but she didn’t need to hear that.
The light around the curtains had brightened, just in the few moments she’d been there. Would the sunlight harm her like it did vampires in the legends? “You have somewhere safe to spend the day, don’t you?”
“Yes, sweetling. Marco and I have a chamber. He’s waiting for me now, but I wanted to say goodbye to you before Devin whisks you back to school. He said you were taking this well. Are you really?”
“No,” I said. “I’m trying not to think too hard about it until it soaks into my brain a little.”
“Oh.”
“It’s a lot to take in.”
“It is.” Her eyes dropped and her fingers clenched against my chest. “Will you consider coming back?”
Was she serious? “It’d be hard to stay away.”
She hesitated for so long, I thought I’d said something to hurt her feelings.
Did vampires even have feelings?
“Did Devin explain about the bond?” she said.
“A little. Why?”
“I want to share some of my blood with you, so it may begin. It can take a long while for the bond to form.”
“Are you afraid I won’t come back without it?”
She shook her head against the pillow, mussing her hair. “It’s for your protection as much as anything. You’re a beacon to us, you and others like you. If you leave without something tying us together, others could step in and claim you.”
A beacon. Others. The car ride home would be an interesting trip, considering all the questions piling up in my head. “I lived fine without that tie before, didn’t I?”
“Yes, but you weren’t ready before.”
Memory stirred.
Bring him back to me upon his twenty-first birthday. I like my pets ripe.
So that’s what that meant. “But I’m ready now.”
“You’re perfect now.” She pulled at the neckline of her gown, held it away from her neck. “You may drink here, if you like.”
The elegant line of her neck glowed softly in the shadows. I could feel her pulse pounding there, a steady beat much slower than my own, but strong. Her finger flicked out and a thin line of deeper color appeared over that pulse. Blood. What would it do to me if I accepted it? Would I become a vampire? No, Devin said it took a lot, and I trusted him on that. But the bond. Was I ready for that? What would it do to my life, to be tied to her like that? Would I ever have a normal life again?
Probably not, but I wanted to help her. How long would it take her to find another pet if I turned her down? How long would she suffer because of my fears, no matter how well founded?
She sighed and her hand eased the neck of her dress back down. I caught it before her gown touched the blood, already dry on her skin, and bent to lick it off, sucking lightly there.
She moaned and shifted against me. “Let me cut a new path.”
I moved back and waited for her, then put my mouth over the new cut and drew against her neck. She arched against me as the rich coppery taste of her blood hit my tongue, reeling me into a sensual haze with its sweet potency so quickly my head spun with it. I pulled her to me and rolled, pressing her back against the bed so I could settle between the juncture of her thighs. With every draw of blood, I thrust my hips, wanting more, wanting to bury myself in her in spite of the pain ricocheting through my groin.
Hell with it. I needed her. She clung to me, threading her hands through my hair to hold me there, and arched her hips up to meet mine, and a tendril of something passed between us, strengthening and growing until her will became mine, and mine hers, until I was so immersed in her that I could no longer tell where she ended and I began.
Everything realigned in that moment, and I drank, pulling harder against her neck and scraping my teeth across the cut to open it, to take more, to become.
Strong hands grabbed my shoulders, more than one set, and pulled me back. I screamed at them, roaring a protest at being taken away from her, and fought to get her back. My vision went red as I struggled to feed from her, to take her into me.
Marco’s face appeared in front of mine, a calm in the sea of screaming need. His hand pressed against my heart and his mouth moved, saying something over and over again until his words sank in.
Look at her.
He moved back and my eyes fell to Elizabet, curled into a ball with her hand to her neck, blood seeping sluggishly through her fingers.
“Let him see,” Marco said in a hard voice, and forced Elizabet’s hand away when she shook her head.
Her neck was a raw wound of teeth marks and bruises.
My vision cleared and nausea clenched my stomach into a hard knot. I’d done that. I’d ravaged her neck and torn at it like an animal and hurt her after she’d trusted me by exposing herself to my teeth.
I sagged against whoever was holding me from behind, ashamed, appalled. Jesus. What had I done?
“I think he’s got it under control now,” Marco said, and he stepped back at the same time that the arms holding me let go. I dropped against the bed on all fours and inhaled sharply through my nose, trying to quell the queasiness roiling through me.
Nope, it wasn’t gonna stay down. I scrambled off the bed and stumbled to the bathroom, and emptied my stomach into the toilet in great heaves. I retched until there was nothing left, not the remnants of last night’s supper or the blood I’d taken from Elizabet; not even stomach acid. When it finally passed, I rested my head against the cool seat and tried to wrap my head around what had happened.
Devin came in, drew the shower curtain back, and sat down on the edge of the tub. He’d pulled on jeans and a t-shirt so faded the logo had worn off.
“Elizabet’s gone,” he said.
I yanked up from where I sat, cursed under my breath when my vision blurred. “Gone? What do you mean gone? Is she ok?”
“Don’t worry, she’s fine.” He leaned forward and rested his forearms against his widely spread knees. “Don’t blame yourself, either. She knew better than to let you feed from her neck, especially without someone there to watch.”
“How else could
she give me her blood?”
“Her thumb.” He waggled his to demonstrate. “New pets usually never get more than a drop or two. Don’t know what got into her to let you take so much your first time.”
“She was worried.” I sat back cautiously, swiped at my mouth. God, I hated being sick. “Something about a beacon and claiming. It’s a little fuzzy now.”
“There’s probably more to it than that. No telling what. How are you feeling?”
“Still queasy.” I took a quick mental inventory. “Actually, not that great. It’s like the universe is expanding and me with it. Kind of uncomfortable.”
“You’re turning, slowly, thank God.” He glanced into the toilet and nodded. “You threw up most of the blood, but looks like you still got enough to move you a little farther ahead in the process than you should be.”
My head was still fuzzy. Turning. What the hell? “Turning into what?”
He sighed, sat up straight. “It’s complicated.”
“Try me,” I said flatly.
“Elizabet’s blood is a catalyst for the change from human to vampire. She gives her pets just enough to make us strong, not enough to fully turn us.”
“So I’m what? Some kind of monster hybrid?”
His solemn gaze caught mine. “Is that what you think I am? A monster?”
“No.” Not even close. He was still Devin Hardinger, all around good guy, a bright and shining star. Learning that he was a pet didn’t change that, but it wasn’t something I wanted to talk about either. “Elizabet’s stronger than me, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Why didn’t she push me off her, when I was…” What could I call that? Feeding?
“She’s the only person who can answer that, Eric.” He slapped his hands on his thighs and stood. “Another shower for you, I think, and then we’ll hit the road back to Atlanta.”
“You’re not gonna supervise this one?”
“Think you can handle it now.” He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Unless you want to experiment a little more.”
The Vampire's Pet (The Vampyr Book 1) Page 4
