by Ginna Moran
“You shouldn’t give the Knightlys a second of your attention, Fiona,” Aspen says into my ear. “Especially Dawson or Monterey. They’re douches.”
I avert my eyes to another table.
“Don’t look at the Godwins either,” he adds.
Pursing my lips, I press harder into Aspen and turn my neck a little. “You try not looking at someone blatantly gawking at you.”
The utterly silent room bunches nerves in my stomach. It’s creepy. Back home, gathering to eat was always loud as hell. No one ever stared this long either.
A figure blurs toward us, and Hudson appears next to Berkeley. He doesn’t greet me with the same smile he had before, so I train my gaze on the glass of orange juice instead. Torrance materializes next and plops into a chair two spaces over. He sets a couple glasses of blood down, acting like I’m not even here.
“Who wouldn’t want to look at her?” Hudson says, reaching out to touch my cheek to comb my hair from my face. “She’s hot.”
I whack his hand away.
He only laughs. “Switch places with me, Aspen. She’s more comfortable with me.”
Aspen growls. Fear prickles over the back of my neck. I squirm on his lap, trying to get him to loosen his sudden death grip on me. He obviously enjoys my wiggly ass, because I accidentally give him a boner with my movements.
I stiffen and grip my hands into the sides of his legs. “I’m feeling better. Can one of you please show me to the donor dining hall? I would like to eat breakfast without dozens of eyes on me. It’s like none of you have ever seen a human woman.”
“Don’t lump us with them, love,” Hudson says.
I sigh. “Whatever. Just take me to the donor dining hall.”
“I don’t think so. I want you to stay.” Culver’s gruff voice sends a blip of anger through me. I guess it was wishful thinking to assume he wouldn’t join his brothers for breakfast but instead drink my blood in his room or whatever. “If I can’t bite you, I want you to watch me drink your blood.”
Is he serious?
Aspen slides me into the vacant chair next to him so that I face the table. Culver strolls around to the other side. We face each other, and he glides his tongue over his bottom lip. He’s completely serious. Pouring blood from a metal thermos and into a glass, he makes a dramatic show of sipping what I assume is my blood for not only me to witness but also for all four of his brothers. Maybe even the whole room.
He licks his blood-stained lips and grins. “Mmm. I suppose this will suffice.”
What an obnoxious bastard. I don’t understand how the hell he’s supposedly been chosen to run a region. He must be as powerful as hell if everyone tolerates this kind of behavior. Even the horny-ass young soldiers acted more mature than this. And he probably has decades on them.
He takes another drink. “Would be better coming straight from your vein.”
I remain expressionless. If he thinks me watching him drink my blood will get to me, he’s wrong. All it does is make me hungry. But not for him. The collection of his brothers’ scents wafting around me tantalizes my nature as a dhampir.
I turn my gaze away from Culver’s cocky stare to watch Hudson sip his glass of blood. He meets my gaze, his eyes flashing silver. I imagine that he drinks my blood instead of his brother, and hell does the strange fantasy kind of turn me on.
Shit.
Shaking my head, I break his stare, trying my best to suppress my blood lust. I usually wouldn’t obsess over it, but because I have no idea when I’ll get to satiate my dhampir side, it drives me crazy.
Berkeley plops a bowl of oatmeal in front of me along with a banana. He offers me a warm smile and slides into the chair next to Culver. I hadn’t even noticed he left the table to grab me something to eat.
He trains his eyes on me but speaks to Culver. “If you plan on drinking her blood daily, you need to assure she gets proper nutrition. She is a personal donor and not the gen. pop. blood bank. Claiming a personal donor comes with responsibility.”
“Do not speak to me as if I’m ignorant, brother. I’m well aware of how to properly take care of my blood source.” Culver’s face might remain expressionless, but his words burn with anger hot enough to make me sink lower in my chair.
Berkeley clenches his fingers around his glass of blood. “Then you need to stop being purposefully callous. Your attitude will jeopardize our standing with the board. A donor isn’t worth the risk of losing the status of region head. I’ve worked my ass off to get to where I am in the Donor Division. I will not stand by and watch you ruin it.”
Culver chugs the rest of my blood in a single gulp. “Do not chastise me, brother. The board will not reject our application based on one female donor.”
Berkeley clenches his fingers into fists. “Must I remind you that you need a coven to hold a board member position?”
The tenseness between the two of them leaves me on edge. Everyone in the room hangs onto their discussion. I lean closer, whipping my gaze back and forth between them. While Culver has obvious power, I think Berkeley can handle himself.
While I know it’s not all about me, it still revolves around me, and I silently cheer Berkeley on. I like him even more now. I wish he’d punch Culver to get him to shut the hell up.
“Are you threatening to sever our coven union? Because like your thoughts on a donor not being worth jeopardizing our future position with Blood Life Corp, I believe a donor is also not worth the risk of losing your coven.” Culver twists his lips up in the corner, glowering at me.
Torrance pounds his fist on the table, startling me. I drop my spoon, and it clatters to the floor. All five of them, along with seemingly everyone else in the room, turn their attention to me. I wipe my mouth with my napkin and drop it on the table. Pushing my chair back, I get to my feet despite Culver demanding I sit here.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Culver asks me.
“You’re finished drinking my blood.” I motion to the glass. “And unlike you, I have somewhere to be.”
Culver growls when I turn my back on him, but Berkeley tells him that it is in his best interest if he lets me go.
Peeking over my shoulder, I smile at Berkeley. He remains expressionless. Maybe I did misinterpret his chivalry. It isn’t about me but about their standing.
Swiveling back around, I manage to stroll across the dining hall without incident. I head into the hallway alone but only manage to get a few feet away. A shadow sneaks up on me. I recognize Aspen’s mouthwatering scent, so I don’t have to look up to know it’s him. He falls into step by my side, his body close enough that our arms brush together.
I clear my throat. “Next time, maybe take me to the actual donor health center. That was awkward as hell being under everyone’s scrutiny like that. I’m sure your brothers would have also appreciated my absence since they seem to hate me for merely existing.”
“Does that mean you plan to pass out every day?” he asks, staring at the side of my face as I refuse to look at him. He avoids commenting on my observation about his brothers’ feelings about me, basically confirming that I’m right.
I shrug. “I’m nearly certain I won’t have a choice in the matter. Culver is set on killing me one glass filled with the maximum amount of blood at a time.”
“Which is why I want to offer you this.” Aspen chugs his glass of blood before rolling up his sleeve. He bites his arm, surprising me. It takes everything in me not to snatch his hand to latch onto his arm. He doesn’t give me the chance, though. Instead, he dribbles his blood into the glass and offers it to me.
I scrunch my nose. “You can’t expect me to drink that.”
He frowns, glancing at the glass like my words offend him. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed you’d be okay with drinking my blood with your background. I didn’t realize you had a preference as to whom you’d accept an offering from.”
I raise my eyebrows. That’s why he looks offended. He thinks I don’t want his blood because of him. “A
s long as this isn’t an attempt to slow down my death so Culver can enjoy me longer...”
“I’d prefer if he didn’t enjoy you at all.” Aspen holds my gaze, trying to read my reaction to his thoughts. I like how honest he seems to be, like with the whole compliment thing earlier.
“Then I most definitely want your blood,” I’m quick to say. A little much? Maybe. But something about how he acts like he might like me a bit prods at my nature. Not to mention I’m afraid to pass up the chance to get what I need from him with little effort on my part. “Just...not from that glass. It’s contaminated.”
He gapes at the cup. “Oh, the human blood.”
I nod. “Yeah, it’s gross to me.” Reaching out, I lace my fingers around his wrist and pull his arm up to my mouth. “This way is fine.”
The second my lips caress his skin, he releases a soft gasp of a moan like my mouth on him is the last thing he expected. Sliding his free hand around my waist, he tugs me into him close enough to feel his hardening desire. And hell do I enjoy his reaction. It means I wasn’t off in my thoughts about him.
I meet Aspen’s gaze as tingles burst over my tongue and down my throat. A need so intense consumes me that I can’t find the will to pull away. The blood donation got to me. So has Aspen. He was the last one I expected to drink blood from, especially because he didn’t ask for anything in exchange. He’s purely giving me his blood for my benefit. Such an act, giving up an ounce of control to me, gives me a serious lady boner. Blood drinking has never been only about getting what I need to survive.
I never wanted my blood sources back home to feel like a meal like vampires make humans feel. And obviously, that idea is the last thing on Aspen’s mind as his hand slides down to my ass, watching my eyes to see if it’s okay. I give him silent permission by lifting my leg up so that he can pick me up and let me straddle his waist.
“Fiona,” he whispers, my name a breathless plea on his lips. “You’re so beautiful.”
His words set me off in a good way, and I ease from his arm only to plant my lips to his. The world spins as he relocates us out of the hallway. My back hits a wall, and Aspen deepens his kiss, testing the seam of my lips with his tongue until I open my mouth to feel the soft sensation of his tongue caressing mine.
He eases away to smile at me. “I haven’t been able to get you off my mind since the moment I laid my eyes on you.”
I close the space again and explore his mouth with mine. He whispers my name again, and I slide my fingers into his blond hair and down his neck, memorizing his body through his clothes with my fingers.
Lowering me a bit, he presses his now raging boner between my legs, testing the barrier our clothing creates between us. I moan softly into his mouth, squeezing my thighs tighter around him. I can’t believe I’m kissing him, that I’m the reason he’s incredibly turned on, or that he hasn’t even asked for a taste of my blood. Just the thought sends a rush of desire through me.
Aspen slows down, easing away from me to look into my eyes again. “I wish I were the one to claim you. Culver doesn’t deserve a donor like you.”
His words snap me from my blood lust-induced haze, and I slap him across the face. He growls in shock and drops me. I manage to land in a crouch before hitting my knees. He’s so lucky that I consumed his blood, and the ache of my tender skin doesn’t bother me.
“What the hell?” he asks, twisting his features in confusion. Despite my scowl, he risks closing the space and holds out his hand to me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to drop you. What did I do wrong for you to hit me?”
“I should’ve known you weren’t being nice for no reason.” I turn away from him, wishing that I never let him so close to me. I knew better. Just because he offered me his blood doesn’t mean anything. In his eyes, I’m a donor. Beneath him. “I’m such an idiot.”
I stride across what looks like a storage room of blood draw equipment to the door and fling it open to head into the hallway.
Aspen blocks my way out, holding up his hands. “Fiona, wait. I don’t understand what you’re insinuating about me being nice. It’s not an act or anything. I find you so...enthralling. I thought we were having a good time.”
“We were, but now it’s over.” I shove past him, not letting his size intimidate me. “Donors like me have places to be. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and figure it out since I’m pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to have my breakfast in a donor-restricted area. The last thing I need is to get into more trouble.”
He groans and follows me, keeping at my pace. “You wouldn’t have gotten into trouble. You’re Culver’s personal donor. It’s expected that you’d share a meal together even if he can’t bite you.”
Like that makes it any better.
Instead of saying so, I bow my head and walk like I’ve seen the other humans of the academy do. I treat Aspen like how I’ve seen vampires treat the humans, acting as if he’s not walking by my side. I’m afraid to give him any more of my attention.
Give a little and they take it all, according to Elder Newberry and his reasoning in trying to keep me from the blood sources. They don’t think the same as humans. While I was enjoying Aspen’s closeness, he was clearly dreaming about laying me on a table to drink my blood instead of all the other fun stuff he should’ve been thinking.
Why does it annoy me so much?
“Fiona...” He obviously wants to say something but realizes his charm over me wore off the second I slapped him.
I swing my gaze to him. “Don’t say my name like I’m the one who hurt your feelings. You don’t even know what those are. You’re clueless.”
The soft murmur of voices draws my attention in front of me, shutting down anything else Aspen can say. I spot a few humans striding in different directions through a lounge area with dozens of doors all facing a central reception counter. A sign declares I’ve found the Donor Division wing, and I slow down to peer at the man sitting at the desk in the center of the lobby. He glances up to me for a second before shifting his gaze to acknowledge Aspen beside me.
“Nice to see you, Mr. King. I hope you’re having a lovely evening,” the man says, leaning back in his chair. “I had expected your coven leader to check in Ms. King and Ms. Reynolds.”
At the sound of Rylie’s name, I jerk my attention to the row of chairs lined against the wall. Rylie sits with her head bowed without looking in my direction. At her feet rests two black bags. She’s far better put together than I am. Someone must have helped her tie the dumb tie around her neck so that she fits in with everyone else.
“My brother couldn’t spare a moment today, and I still need to get in my Donor Division hours, so I’ll be taking his place.”
“Donor Division hours?” I wish my curiosity would control itself. I don’t want to open a line of communication with the guy who wishes he was the one to claim me as his possession just because I kissed him.
“All region and city heads are required to accrue a certain amount of hours among the donor population. It helps give a better understanding of...” He lets his voice trail off.
“How to control us? Assure you know how to keep us placated so we don’t resist? Learn how to manipulate us to do whatever the hell you want?”
“Ms. King!” The man behind the counter stands up and smacks my hand with a wooden rod. “You cannot speak to Mr. King, or any other vampire for that matter, that way. Now show me your wrists so I can offer you another reminder.”
What the hell? The guy’s commanding voice pushes my body to comply, and I stretch out my arms in front of me. I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised by a violent punishment. I’m sure other humans fare much worse in actual vampire households.
The man swings the rod, and I close my eyes, preparing for the pain to ensue. I hear the stick smack against something. A soft groan gets me to snap my eyes open when pain doesn’t swell through me. I gawk at the man standing with his arm cradled against his chest.
Aspen points the rod at the man. “M
r. Croft, do not ever attempt to punish Ms. King in that manner again. She has permission to speak freely within my coven, and she knows not to extend that same informality to anyone else.”
The man, Mr. Croft, blinks a few times and nods. “Yes, Mr. King. My apologies. I’ll inform Ms. King’s instructors of your request.”
Aspen sets the rod on the counter. “Good. I expect you have the schedules in order?”
“Yes, Mr. King. Here are Ms. King and Ms. Reynolds’ work tablets. If you’d allow me, I can show them how they work.”
Aspen swipes them off the counter. “No, thank you. As the head of my coven’s innovation and technology division, I have it handled.”
Motioning to me, Aspen gets me to leave the counter. I stop a few feet away and turn to glare at him.
“You did not have to do that,” I snap. “A word of warning would have worked on that guy.”
Aspen glowers right back at me. “Would you like me to allow him to hit you next time?”
“Actually, yeah. I better get used to it seeing as Culver will probably tear out my throat the second you guys complete your training here.” I dodge past him and catch sight of Rylie gaping at us.
Fingers link to my shoulder and spin me around. “What the hell is wrong with you? What did I do to piss you off? I still don’t understand why you’re so...annoyed, especially after...”
I close my eyes for a second before I drown myself in the light blue color of his gaze. “Are you that oblivious?”
“Did I get the wrong impression? I thought you enjoyed my company, or do you kiss everyone like that?”
