“Not that we have been made aware of, sir,” says the bartender.
“Thank you,” Jasper replies clicking off the intercom and turning back to the spreadsheet.
Within seconds, he realizes that something is drawing him downstairs and he pushes back from the desk. His instincts have saved him countless times in battle and something tells him that there is a problem with Ian. Heading down the stairs and taking the employee route to the VIP lounge, his heart stops when he hears a weak scream.
“Jasper!”
Taking off at a dead run, he slams open the door to the lounge and sees Ian feeding on an unconscious Ellie. Fearing that he has not made it in time to save her, he rips Ian away from her throat and pulls Ellie to the ground. Feral growls at his back, Jasper turns and flashes his fangs at Ian.
“What is your problem, Ian? Are you trying to kill her?”
When he pulls Ian away from her, he unintentionally ripped her throat open, and the blood was pulsating out in rhythm with her slowing heartbeat.
Balling up a sheet and trying to slow the blood, Jasper realizes there is too much damage to her neck to heal her. Normally after drinking, a vampire would just lick the puncture wounds closed, but these were deep gashes and the vein’s exposed. The only way to save her was to feed her vampire blood. “Ian, I need you to come here and help me. Ian?”
Glancing over his shoulder, Jasper sees Ian sitting with his head clasped in his hands. Seeing his shoulders shaking, Jasper can tell he is upset, however now was not the time.
“Ian, if you want to save her, you need to come over here now!”
Ian looks at him, then pulls himself up
“What did I do, Jasper? I couldn’t stop. She tried to push me away and I couldn’t stop drinking.”
“We’ll figure it out at a later time. Right now, we have to save her. I know she doesn’t want to die but that’s what is going to happen. Do you want to change her or do you want me to do it?”
Ian looks from the woman he tried to kill, to his best friend, and makes a choice.
“Do it for me, Jasper. I think that there is something wrong with me. I don’t feel like my normal self and I’m afraid that I will do her more harm than good.”
Jasper inhales sharply. “Do you understand what that means for us? She will be mine as well. You know I have felt a connection to her and she could be a mate for me. Are you willing to accept that?”
Ian looks into eyes that are so similar to his long-dead father and replies, “Jasper, you are family to me and I’ll share anything and anyone with you. This woman is important to us both and through my actions we are about to lose her. Save her and I’ll give her up if that’s her choice.”
Jasper pulls the sheet away and sees that the blood is slowing down but her heartbeat is fading as well. Realizing that there is not much time to waste, he picks Ellie up, wraps her in a blanket, and heads to the rear entrance of the lounge.
“Where are you taking her, Jasper?”
Jasper turns slightly. “Somewhere safe so she can complete her transformation and I can explain all of this to her. Meet Annabelle and the other women here at eleven tomorrow, and explain the situation to them. I’ll see you in a few days.”
Not saying another word, he heads out the door and down the hall to the elevator. Checking to make sure she is still breathing, he takes the elevator to the parking garage and races to his car. Gently placing her in the passenger seat, he buckles her in and climbs into the driver’s seat. Slamming the car into drive, he speeds off the ramp and down the street. Taking the roads and turns as quickly as he can, he turns into a long driveway that disappears into the woods at the edge of the city. Pulling up in front of a large mansion, he hops out and pulls Ellie into his arms, checking to make sure that she is still breathing.
He kicks and bangs on the door until his butler Dudley, answers. Pushing past him, he rushes up the stairs and places her on the king sized bed in his room. He pulls his jacket and shirt off and tosses them in the corner of the room.
“Is the young lady ill, my lord?”
Jasper shoves fingers through his hair anxiously. “Yes, Dudley. She was drained tonight and will die if I don’t complete the transformation.”
Dudley walks in and closes the curtains. “Do you not want to help the young lady, sir?”
Shaking his head, Jasper answers, “It’s not that, Dudley. She’s a potential Hunger mate for Ian and I’ve felt the connection to her myself. I don’t understand how that’s possible but it’s there.”
Dudley straightens as his master paces the floor. “I would imagine that you both feel the connection since you are both related, my lord.”
Jasper stops his frantic steps and looks at Dudley in astonishment.
“Did you not know that you and Lord Lochlan were blood relatives, my lord?”
“No, I didn’t know that, Dudley, but that explains a lot of things and it will have to wait for another time. I need to take care of Ellie before I lose her. Can you bring up a bottle of scotch and a bottle of the component mixture?”
Jasper sits on the edge of the bed and pulls the blanket from around Ellie while he waits on Dudley to bring up the drinks. Seeing how much blood she has lost and feeling how slow her heartbeat is, Jasper knows he’s doing the right thing by her. Shaking her gently he tries to rouse her.
“Ellie, honey. I need you to wake up and look at me. Come on, gorgeous. Flash those sexy blue eyes at me.”
Ellie feels the pull of the darkness and longs to stay there, but she can hear a voice calling to her, pulling at her soul. Heading toward that voice, Ellie slowly opens her eyes and gazes into the sad, hazel eyes of Jasper.
Whispering softly, “What’s wrong, Jasper?”
“Gorgeous, I need you to listen to me carefully because we don’t have much time. Ian was drinking from you while you were making love. Something happened while he was drinking, he didn’t stop almost drained you. I pulled him off you, but since his fangs were buried, your throat was ripped open. I can save you, honey, but I need to know if you want me to do the transformation.”
Looking into her eyes and seeing the panic, breaks Jasper’s heart and he pulls her into his arms mindful of the bleeding wound.
“Jasper, I don’t want to die. Will you save me?”
Closing his eyes and saying a swift prayer, Jasper leans back against the headboard and tucks her back to his chest. “Ellie, I will always save you. I need you to understand what this means though. If I transform you, then you are as much mine as I’m yours. I offered to let Ian do it but he was afraid that he would not be able to without killing you.”
Ellie manages to pull her arms up to rest on the one that lay across her stomach holding her up. “Jasper, you know that I felt a connection with you. I know what being a vampire means. Love, passion, and forever takes on different meaning when you live centuries. Belonging to you as a mate is not a hardship, but what happens if you find a Hunger mate?”
Feeling her growing weaker, Jasper speeds up the conversation. “My butler, Dudley believes that Ian and I are blood relatives which would explain how I was able to sense that you needed me from my office. If you are a possible mate for him, it makes sense you are mine as well. We can figure that all out later, gorgeous. Can I do this now and save your life?”
Closing her eyes, she nods her head. “What do I need to do, Jasper?”
Pulling a Swiss army knife out of his pocket, he opens it and swipes it across his wrist. “Just drink, gorgeous, and I will take care of the rest.”
Jasper raises his wrist to her mouth. He can tell she feels weak and is close to death as she swallows the first drops of his blood.
Jasper holds steady as Ellie slowly drinks from his wrist, knowing that she is relieving all of his life memories and sealing the bond that will forever be between them.
Feeling the sizzle of her thoughts merging with his, Jasper knows that he will never be able to just hand her over to Ian. They will have to find a way to
make it work. Jasper could sense Ian trying connect with Ellie but since she was drinking from Jasper, his hold is stronger, and once they make love, his connection with her thoughts will be solid and Ian’s will fade.
Feeling the tug of her lips on his wrist, Jasper glances down and realizes that her wound is starting to close up.
Knock, Knock.
“Come in, Dudley.”
Walking in and placing the drinks on a small table near the window, Dudley turns to Jasper.
“My lord, I’ve been with you for a long time, and I feel like I need to say something to you.”
Sighing because he knows the old man thinks of him as a son, Jasper asks, “What is it?”
“I have known for sometime now that Lord Ian was a blood relation. When I learned this, I should’ve brought it to your attention. However, I was under the assumption that sometime in the last four centuries he would’ve made mention of it. I’m sorry for not telling you about it sooner.”
Shrugging slightly as to not dislodge Ellie, he replies, “It’s fine, Dudley. These things have a way of working themselves out.”
Bowing to the couple on the bed, Dudley turns and walks out of the room shutting the door behind him.
Beginning to feel slightly lethargic, Jasper checks the wound on Ellie’s neck and sees that it’s almost completely closed. Feeling the strength of her heartbeat returning, he smiles since he knows she is on the mend and beginning the transformation. Pulling on his wrist, he attempts to dislodge Ellie from her drinking, only to have her latch on ferociously.
“Ellie, love, you have to let me go now so we can finish.”
She opens her dazzling blue eyes and slowly releases her grip on his arm.
“Jasper? What’s going on? Where am I?”
Jasper rises from the bed and heads to the table with the drinks. Pouring a double for himself, he mixes a blood cocktail for Ellie and hands it to her.
“Sweetheart, I did the only thing that I could and that was to transform you. Ian ripped a chunk of your neck out when I pulled him off you. We’re at my house and I fed my blood to you. Can you ever forgive me?”
She smiles a breathtaking smile up at him. “You saved me and the transformation seems very simple to me.”
Jasper shakes his head. “It’s not complete yet, Ellie. Go ahead and drink that cocktail and I will explain what is going to happen next.”
Tossing back the cocktail and feeling the warmth spread through her body, Ellie can’t imagine feeling any more alive than she does right now. She can hear random thoughts and see pictures of people and places in her head that don’t seem to belong to her.
“Jasper, are these your thoughts?”
“Yes, gorgeous. You are in the process of bonding with me instead of Ian. What you are hearing is my thoughts and the pictures are my memories. Don’t you remember this conversation?”
“No, I don’t remember any of this. What do we have to do now to complete the transformation?”
Jasper sits down next to her on the bed and takes her hand in his. “You still have to die, Ellie. It has to be done with my blood in your system.”
Ellie snatches her hand, jumps out of the bed, and races across the room. Stopping her at the door, Jasper wraps his arms around her. “I don’t want to die, Jasper! Please, don’t do this to me!”
Feeling her fear and his heart stop at the same time, Jasper draws her back over to the bed as she struggles to break free. “Honey, if we don’t finish what we have started then in about six hours that wound on your neck is going to open back up and you will bleed to death. It was amazing that you lasted as long as you did.”
Ellie drops her head to her chest and he feels the tears fall on his arms where he holds her tight. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry that it’s happening to you like this.”
She turns in his arms and wraps her arms around his waist. “Let’s grab you a shirt or something. I’m afraid that when I grabbed you and ran, I didn’t think to grab your clothes or anything.”
Feeling her naked luscious breasts against his bare chest was beginning to drive him a little crazy. Grabbing a t-shirt from his dresser and tugging it over her head, he wraps his arms around her and holds her tight.
I will take care of you, gorgeous, Jasper thinks to himself. Ellie jumps and looks up at Jasper at hearing the thought in her mind as clear as a bell.
“Jasper, I heard you!”
“I know you did, gorgeous. I mean it too, Ellie. I’ll make sure you’re safe and you survive, but we need to figure out how we are going to do it. We don’t have much time.”
Ellie moves to the chair by the fireplace and curls up with her feet underneath. Tugging the bottom of the shirt down a little further, she asks, “Jasper, how did you die?”
Settling into the chair across from her he answers, “I died on the battlefield. Ian was my liege lord and we had gone to battle with a neighboring clan. I was in the midst of combat with the oldest son of our enemy when a soldier attacked my back and shoved a sword through my stomach. It’s very painful and I wouldn’t recommend it,” he says with a smile. “Ian saw what happened and raced to my side. I was unaware of what he was until that moment and shocked doesn’t begin to describe it. I took a chance and the choice that he offered me. I drank from him, as you did with me. He then plunged his dagger through my heart finishing me off. When I awoke I was as you see me now.”
Ellie considers her death options and looks helplessly at Jasper. “I don’t know what to do, Jasper. Help me.”
Jasper reaches over and pulls her out of the chair and into his lap. “I was thinking that we could do some shots together. I will mix some belladonna into some drinks and then you and I can snuggle up in front of the television and watch a movie. When you wake up, we will finish the connection.”
Ellie tugs at the hem of the shirt. “Will it hurt, Jasper?”
“No, gorgeous. You’ll go to sleep while I hold you in my arms and when you wake up, we will make love for the rest of the night.”
Ellie smiles at those words and he can hear her think about how much she would love to have him buried deep inside of her.
Jasper growls, “I can hear you, Ellie, and I want it as much as you do but there are things that we need to finish first.”
Standing up and nudging her toward a door on the other side of the room, “Why don’t you go into the bathroom and take a shower or a bath if you prefer and I will go downstairs and mix up some drinks for us. Any preference on movie, gorgeous?”
Ellie cocks her head to the side as she thinks. “I want to watch something funny that will take my mind off of what I’m doing.”
Jasper kisses her gently on the lips and walks toward the double doors leading to the hallway. “I’ll see what I can come up with. I will be back in a few minutes, honey.”
Jasper smiles as he heads down the stairs to the kitchen, listening to the thoughts running through Ellie’s head.
How did I end up with Jasper instead of Ian? What kind of person does that make me? Who cares as long as I am happy? The connection with Jasper feels so much more natural than it did with Ian.
It feels more natural with me then with Ian?
That’s a thought that he would savor for another time. Walking into the kitchen, he sees Dudley sitting at the breakfast nook.
“Has the young lady made her decision, my lord?”
Sitting down across from his longtime butler, he nods his head in the affirmative. “She’s going to drink some of the belladonna, while we watch a movie.”
Dudley nods his head in agreement with this choice. “I believe you said her name was Ellie, my lord?”
“Yes. Ellie Dawson. She works as a human resource director at Lochlan Medical.”
“Should I make up a guest room or will Miss Ellie be staying with you?”
Jasper flashes a grin that Dudley knows well. “She’ll be staying with me. Can you find the belladonna for me while I head into the office to make some phone calls?”
&nb
sp; Dudley stands and heads to a locked cupboard. “Of course, my lord. I’ll have everything arranged and taken up to your bedroom.”
Jasper nods and heads down the hall to his study. Opening the room and striding in, he is always amazed at how soothing he finds this space. Decorated in deep dark wood tones and neutral colors, it was a space that was made to be enjoyed. Since he spent most of his time in this room, the furniture was comfortable and suitable for longevity. Settling in at his desk, he picks up the phone and dials Ian.
“Hello?”
“Ian, it’s Jasper. She is doing fine right now. I was able to save her.”
“Thank God. I thought I’d killed her. I honestly don’t know what happened. One minute we were fine and then it was as if I blacked out and didn’t know what was going on until you arrived. I just felt that I needed to keep drinking. How did you know what was going on?”
Taking a deep breath Jasper leans back in his chair. “I felt that she needed me, Ian. I was in my office and just knew that something was wrong. I made it there just in time.” Swallowing the lump in his throat, Jasper asks the question that has been plaguing him, “Ian, why did you never tell me that we were relatives?”
Ian draws a sharp breath. “I don’t know, Jasper. It just never really seemed very important until we both discovered Ellie. Are you really upset about it?”
“No, I’m not. We’ve always been family and that’s not going to change now. She drank from me, Ian, and we are going to finish the transformation. We are already sharing thoughts and they are crystal clear.”
“Crystal clear? Without having made love yet? That would make it seem to me that she is more your mate then mine, Jasper.” Ian is silent a moment. “If she was my true mate, Jasper, I would have never been able to hurt her like that.”
“Ian? Are you really okay with all of this?”
Everlasting Hunger (The Hunger Mate Series) Page 10
