He struggled to move, couldn’t open his eyes to save his fucking life. Fuck! He tried again…and again…until finally he felt his finger twitch. What the fuck had they done to him? His body felt used up.
“Fuck that.” Brant sounded pissed. “I have two guards down and a terrified human. I’ve had to pay her out for today even though only one male drank from her. She may not stay for the duration. We’ve already lost one female today which would mean delaying the start of the breeding program while we bring in a replacement. Three females is the minimum.”
That did it. York tore open his eyes and lurched upright. The thought of another male drinking from the little human had him feeling things he really shouldn’t. It made him want to hit things. Made him want to hit other males…repeatedly.
What the fuck was wrong with him?
It was lust. Not blood-fucking-lust. Just normal regular garden variety lust. The little human had fired his blood. He needed to explain what had happened earlier. He’d hated seeing the horror in her eyes. She truly believed that he was trying to hurt her, which was bullshit. Once she knew the truth, he could leave and get on with his life. Namely, he would meet with the females lined up for the breeding program. Once he was permitted to rut, he would fuck any thoughts of the dark haired beauty right out of his mind. He would find a compatible female within the program and he’d have the family he’d always dreamed of.
Simple.
“Oh look.” Brant smirked. “Someone decided to grace us with his presence.”
“Where is she?” York had never been one for small talk, this was no time to start.
“The human you almost killed?” Brant raised his eyebrows. “Somewhere safe and far a fucking way from you.”
“I don’t have bloodlust.” He worked hard to keep the growl from his voice. Brant was his king and commanded respect. “I didn’t nearly kill her.”
Brant all out laughed. “Like fuck you don’t have bloodlust. I watched the footage and you couldn’t stop sucking on her neck. You actually got more and more agitated as time went on. All that snarling was a sure damned sign. You had to be dragged off of her and fought to get back. What was with the whole mine bullshit?” His face was hard and his eyes were as dark as night.
“I don’t have bloodlust.” This time he growled.
“What you have is a healthy dose of denial,” Gideon chimed in.
“You fucking tasered me.” York gave the male a hard stare. “It hurt like a bitch and was unnecessary.” By the sting on his left butt cheek, he knew exactly where the darts had hit him.
“Our tasers hit at twice the human level. You were knocked with 100,000 volts of electrical energy and we had to shoot you twice to take you down.” York glanced in the direction of the talking male. It was the guard who had touched Cassidy. York growled at the fucker, exposing his fangs in warning. The male flinched and took a big step back.
Damn straight.
“Take it easy.” Gideon said, looking concerned.
“I’m really sorry but I am scrapping you from the program,” Brant said. “I know this meant a lot to you. It’s just that we can’t risk—”
“I don’t have bloodlust. Did I enjoy drinking from her? Hell fucking yes. Did I like it when she bit me back? Abso-fucking-lutely. Did it send me over the edge? No fucking way.”
“Like Gideon said, you are in denial. I know bloodlust when I see it.” Brant turned to leave. “This is not an argument. I’ve seen the footage.” He glanced back. “You are out.”
“I’ll prove it.” York snarled, unable to help himself.
Brant stiffened and slowly turned. “It’s too fucking risky. Take a look at the footage for yourself.” Brant shook his head. “You were out of control, York. I won’t put another human back in the room with you. I won’t fucking do it.” His king turned back and began to walk.
“I don’t have to look at the footage. I know it looked bad.”
Brant kept on walking.
“Despite how it looked, I’m telling you that I know I don’t have bloodlust. Give me another chance…please.” Fuck! How did he prove it? York swung his legs over the bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Gideon asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’m going to visit with the human.” He stood. Although he felt a bit stiff, he already felt better than when he had first woken up. Advanced healing was a wonderful thing.
“No, you’re not.” Gideon said, putting himself in the way of the door.
“Don’t do this,” York growled. “We both know you would lose.”
“There are three guards outside your door, they all have a taser and will not hesitate to take you the fuck out. You will stay in this room until the trial phase is over. If you go anywhere near any of the humans once the program kicks off, I’m putting your ass in the dungeon.”
“I don’t have fucking bloodlust. Why won’t anyone listen to me?” Frustration caused him to pound his chest on the last word.
“It doesn’t fucking matter. It’s done. You’re out.” Gideon’s eyes narrowed on him. “Why did you act the way you did?”
York couldn’t answer the question. There was only one thing he knew for sure. “I enjoyed touching and drinking from the human…end of fucking story. I don’t have bloodlust.”
“Not good enough. You don’t have a logical explanation, do you?” Gideon let his arms fall to his sides.
“Not one that would make sense to you.” York finally said when he could see Gideon preparing to leave.
“Try me.”
“I wanted her okay? The need to rut her rode me hard.” He huffed out a frustrated breath.
“There’s a reason it’s called bloodlust.” Gideon shook his head. “Stay here, please.” The male implored him with his eyes for a beat or two before leaving.
York snarled and punched a hole in the closest wall. This was a total fucking mess. The thing that aggravated him the most was that he kept on seeing a replay of Cassidy’s wide, petrified eyes, he could still hear her shriek in terror. Anger and frustration coursed through him and he punched the wall a second time, leaving a wide fissure from floor to ceiling. A large chunk of plaster lay on the ground at his feet.
Chapter 6
“And…” Dee whispered as they sat down to eat. “How did it go? I didn’t see you for the afternoon session.”
Cassidy shrugged, not sure she wanted to even talk about the events of today. Her hands still shook and she actually felt cold despite the high temperatures. She shoved a mouthful of food into her mouth instead. Steak, mashed potatoes and salad, normally a firm favorite. She didn’t taste a thing though, just went through the chewing motions.
Dee licked some sauce off of her hand and gave Cassidy a smile. “If you think I have the glowing look of a girl who got it all, you would be right.” She giggled quietly, talking as softly as possible.
Cassidy shook her head but couldn’t help but to smile. “You have more guts than me that’s for sure.”
Dee ate a forkful of mashed potatoes before continuing. “I only planned on letting one of them touch me, but”—she shrugged—“I kind of let them all do it.” She pulled a face. “It’s not like I had sex with them or anything.”
Cassidy took a deep breath. “Don’t beat yourself up. It’s hard resisting the urge.”
“No, it’s pretty much impossible. I orgasmed so many times, my eyes actually watered. And my throat hurts from the screaming.” Come to think of it, Dee did have a bit of a huskiness to her voice that she didn’t have earlier.
“Really?” Cassidy felt her eyes widen.
“Wait a minute, are you telling me that you were able to resist?” Dee pulled a lock of hair behind her ear.
“Um…yes...” She felt that she owed the other woman something in return. She really did seem very sweet. Cassidy cut a big piece of steak and shoved it into her mouth. Hopefully it would keep Dee from asking any other questions.
“I can’t believe it. You resist
ed all three guys?” The other woman’s eyes were wide and her mouth actually gaped. “You are much stronger than me. I am in awe of you. I also think you are a bit nuts because even though they barely touched me, the experience was off the charts good. I’m not even going to try and resist tomorrow.”
Looking around the room, she noticed that the only other girl left in the program was nowhere to be seen. It was just the two of them. Cassidy took in a deep breath. It felt bad to allow Dee to assume that she’d had three guys drink from her. That she had managed to resist three times. “I only had one of them drink from me…” She shivered, remembering how good it had felt and not just the drinking part but also the feel of him. It was probably because she missed having someone in her life. She was lonely.
Dee frowned. “Why only one?”
Cassidy sighed. “He went into bloodlust.”
“Oh my god!” Dee shrieked, a small piece of steak shot from her mouth and she slapped a hand over her lips. Her eyes widened. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
Cassidy shook her head. “It was really scary. Not what I expected. He just started taking bigger and bigger sucks on my neck. Started making these growly/grunty noises. Holding me tighter and tighter. Then the guards were pulling him off of me.” She swallowed hard. “It’s all a bit of a blur. He snarled and made these terrible noises. He fought the guards. His eyes were the scariest of all…” She took a deep breath, trying hard to calm herself. “They were glowing and wild. Like nothing I’ve ever seen before…”
“Glowing?” Dee sounded totally in awe.
Cassidy nodded. “He kept his eyes on me, even while he fought. It was like he wanted to tear me limb from limb. If they hadn’t tasered him, I would be dead. For a few moments there I saw my life flash before my eyes.” In that moment, she had realized what a pathetic existence she had lived. No job or real direction, no significant other. She had been the only child of older parents who both had passed away before her twenty-fifth birthday. Both her mom and dad were estranged from their families so no aunts and uncles or cousins. Her mother was a writer and her father a painter. Both introverts till the very end. Cassidy only had one real friend, but Julia had long since married and was so busy raising her family of three boys that they hardly got to spend much time together any more.
Especially since Sean had passed away. There was another reason, but it wasn’t something she allowed herself to dwell on.
“That’s terrible.” Dee let her knife and fork fall down onto her plate with a clang. “I can’t believe you’re still here. I’m tempted to leave just hearing your story…” She chewed on her bottom lip for a few moments. “There I was having all these mind blowing orgasms while you were almost killed. It could happen to any of us.”
“Not that there are many left. Where is that other lady? The blonde who chewed the gum all the time left earlier.”
Dee sucked in a deep breath. “Really? Why? Did her vampire also have bloodlust?” The other woman visibly shivered.
Cassidy shook her head. “It was nothing like that. She actually…” She paused.
“She what?”
“She let a vampire touch her and was pissed about it. She asked to leave and was escorted out.”
Dee took a long drink of her soda. “Wow! She didn’t like it? I can’t believe that.”
“I think she liked it a little too much if you ask me. She spouted some bull about vampires being disgusting bloodsuckers and told that head guard that she was just in it for the money.”
“Yeah…there are a lot of hate groups out there.” Dee shook her head sadly.
Cassidy nodded.
“It’s so ridiculous, why can’t everyone just get along?”
Cassidy shrugged. Her mother had been African American and her dad’s family was originally from Scotland. She had to smile just thinking of him…of them. Her dad had orange hair and freckles and burned in the shade if he wasn’t careful. They were so different from one another in so many ways, yet they fit together perfectly. They got one another. Completed each other. Her dad had passed from a massive heart attack and her mom passed just one year later. She went in for corrective surgery for a mild hernia. It was a routine operation. She never woke up. The medical staff could not give a reason. Everything was text book except of course for the part where her heart stopped. Cassidy was sure that it was from a broken heart. Not a day went by when her mom didn’t mourn the passing of her husband. True love did exist, it was just as rare as the hills though.
“I still can’t believe you are still here after going through such an ordeal.” Dee’s voice brought her back from her own thoughts.
“I need the money.” She smiled at the younger woman. “Besides, the security team did a great job of rescuing me. York is one of the biggest vampires I’ve seen and they managed to keep me safe in the end.”
“Good to know.” Dee finished her soda, pushing the glass away.
Cassidy looked down at her still mostly full plate. She was suddenly really hungry. It had felt good to talk about her ordeal. It helped put things into perspective. York was out of the program, she’d been assured that she wouldn’t see him again. The security team would protect her from any further incidences. Two more days and she’d be home free.
****
After a shower, she hit the sack. Flicking through the various channels until she finally settled on a mindless action movie. She woke up with a start. There was a woman screaming on the television. After glancing at her watch, she noticed that it was already a few minutes after twelve.
Cassidy switched on the side lamp and then pushed the button on the remote, watching as the TV screen turned dark. She used the toilet and made her way back to the bed. She had an early start tomorrow and would have her blood siphoned by no less than three vampires. Hopefully she wouldn’t be as attracted to them as she was to…
A big hand latched over her mouth and an arm snaked around her middle. She screamed against the palm trying to pull herself free from the iron grip. There was no give. Her feet were hauled off the ground. Whoever was behind her was not only tall but solid. Like a brick shit house of gigantic proportions. Cassidy panicked, kicked out and even managed to nail her assailant a few times on the legs.
He grunted, pulling her more firmly against him so that she didn’t have enough room to maneuver.
“Easy.” His deep voice had her heart kicking into overdrive. It was him. The man…make that vampire…who had tried to kill her earlier today. It was York. She would recognize his deep baritone anywhere.
He was talking to her but she was too busy trying to get out of his ironclad grasp to listen. Sweat beaded on her brow. Her breathing was labored. She struggled to get sufficient oxygen through her nose. His hand was tight around her mouth. Cassidy had to save some of her strength. Trying to get away from him like this wasn’t working. She sagged in his arms, acting like she had given up.
His big chest moved up and down behind her with each deep breath that he took. His mouth was at her ear. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered. “I came to explain about earlier. I came to apologize.”
Yeah right. She’d seen the look in his eyes. It was as if he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She’d watched a documentary once about lions and how they stalked their prey. Even if there was a whole herd of deer, they would set their sights on one and then not take their eyes off of the target until it was trapped in powerful jaws. Until it was game over.
It wasn’t happening to her.
There were guards at the building entrance and more patrolling the grounds, she just had to alert them somehow.
“I’m going to take my hand away. I need you to trust me please, Cassidy.”
Yeah right! Like she’d trusted him before? No way.
“I won’t hurt you.” He growled and for a second the emotion in his voice tempted her to believe him. It was stupid of her to have believed him the first time. Thing was, she didn’t have much of a choice then. This time was different.
Cassidy tried to nod. Her action must have registered because he let out a great big sigh which tickled the side of her neck. Her nipples on her traitorous body hardened. Even after he’d tried to turn her into a snack basket earlier she still reacted to him on a base level. Crazy-assed body. It had always listened to her before. Why did it have to choose right now to grow a mind of its own?
“Okay…I’m letting you go now.” His voice was a husky whisper. His scent surrounded her. York smelled really nice…for a psycho killer.
The moment his hand left her mouth she sucked in a lungful of air but he slapped the hand back in place before she could get much out. He cursed softly. “I told you that I won’t hurt you.” A deep rumble of sheer frustration. “I’m going to prove it to you.”
Cassidy tried to shake her head. She tried to make a negative noise. There was nothing he could possibly do to change her mind about what had happened earlier. Her eyes widened and fear grabbed ahold of her in its icy tight grip.
She could hear her blood rushing through her veins. Could hear the sound of her own heart. Cassidy screamed into his hand as his mouth closed on her throat. There was a now all too familiar pinch and then a tightening of every part of her. She wasn’t wearing panties, so wetness trickled down her thighs as he sucked on her again. Her clit throbbed. Her breasts ached. She was going to die in the throes of sexual frustration and it wasn’t fair. She tried to scream, this time out of sheer desperation. She felt the emotion deep in both her body and her mind. Tears coursed down her cheeks. Of all the ways she imagined her death, this was not one of them.
York released her.
Released. Her.
It wasn’t possible. From what she’d been told in training, if a vampire had bloodlust he couldn’t stop himself. If left to his own devices he would suck a human dry in just a few minutes.
“I don’t have bloodlust. Please let me explain.” York said, he spoke against the shell of her ear causing her to quiver in his arms. “Don’t be afraid.” He added, misconstruing her reaction as fear.
A Mate for York (The Program Book 1) Page 5
