“So, since you turned me I belong to you? Is that how it works?”
“Something like that.” Taven clenched the steering wheel and swerved around the traffic like he was playing a video game.
Ivy turned in her seat towards him and crossed her arms over her chest, pursing her lips. “But you said yourself we weren’t mated. If you’re not going to mate with me, then why shouldn’t I look for someone who will?”
“And you want Alec? He’s got a stick up his ass so far he can’t bend his neck!”
“At least he was there for me when I needed him!”
Her words hit him like a smack in the face, a familiar one he’d felt over and over again. Talia had said the same thing when she’d left him. He hadn’t been there when she needed him. Never mind that he’d been busy doing his job, trying his damnedest to be the best agent he could be. Trying to be better than Roric.
He’d given up on relationships after that. If he never committed, women couldn’t fault him if he had to put them second sometimes, and if he never got serious, he wouldn’t get his heart ripped out if they decided to walk away.
He was tempted to toss Ivy to the curb, tell her to go be with Alec if that’s what she wanted, but he didn’t dare get on her bad side. She had too much to hold over his head. And if he was honest with himself, he didn’t want to let her go. For the first time since Talia, he actually wanted a relationship and not just a fling.
The memory of feeding on her while she sucked from him went straight to his groin, but it also dug a hole in his head and took up permanent residence. He’d forgotten how amazing it felt to be connected to someone like that. But it was his for the taking again. All he had to do was let Ivy in. Of course, that meant giving her the power to rip out his heart.
A car whizzed by him, honking and swerving when Taven drifted into oncoming traffic, and Taven jerked the car back into his lane. He shook his head, trying to clear the tangled cobweb of memories that was distracting him, then veered over to the side of the road. If he was going to have this conversation, he needed to focus.
He braked to a stop, put the car in park, and turned to look at Ivy. She gazed back at him with glinting dark eyes that were trying to look tough, but he could see fear hidden behind them. Guilt slammed into him. He shouldn’t have left her like that when she was adjusting to a whole new way of life. He’d changed her, he needed to take responsibility for her.
He sighed and reached for her hand, twining his fingers with hers. He needed to try to make this work, and that meant getting back on her good side.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you like that. I just get distracted by work sometimes and everything else gets shoved to the back burner. But I’m going to take care of you, I promise.”
Ivy’s lips quivered, and Taven couldn’t resist leaning forward and taking one between his. He nipped and sucked at it, imitating what he planned to do to other parts of her body as soon as they were back home. Ivy groaned and leaned in towards him, baring her neck, and Taven ran his nose up and down the slim column, his head and heart pounding.
“Let’s take this back to my place,” he growled and tore himself away from her then jammed one foot on the brake and the other on the gas as he shifted into drive and peeled away, merging into traffic to a chorus of horns and squealing brakes.
Chapter 21
Caroline swayed as she forced her body to stay put. She held her arms and legs as still as she could, but her toes dug gouges in the floor, trying to keep her from lunging towards the nearest human, and her fingers curled into claws, ready to slash open a vein. Her eyes were closed, but they popped open at the sound of Roric’s voice.
“You okay?” He placed a hand on her waist, and the other one cupped her cheek. She resisted the urge to nuzzle into it and instead gripped his leather jacket in her hands. His scent bloomed around her, tempting but not as intoxicating as the scent of the humans.
“Yeah, just needed a snack. I’ll be all right now.”
He pressed his lips together and furrowed his brow. She stared at his eyes, trying to distract herself from her need. This close, she could see the striations — streaks of topaz, amber, and gold like veins in a mine, glittering under the soft, yellow lights. Mesmerizing. They darkened as she stared at them.
“Caroline, this is too much for you. Hell, this would be too much for a lot of experienced vampires. There are tons of humans in here. Please, let me take you home.”
Her own eyes turned to steel. “No, I’m fine. I can handle it.”
She pushed past him and took a deep breath, forcing herself to swallow the burn. Gray raised an eyebrow and sidled up to her.
“What’s going on, girl? First you freaked out last night, then you cancelled our girls’ night, and now you look like you’re gonna vomit. And what’s going on with you and the sexy vamp? And don’t you dare say nothing. I have eyes. I can tell there’s something there. I thought you were scared of vampires?”
Damn. Gray noticed everything. How could she answer him without revealing the truth? “He’s… not so bad. He questioned me last night about the vampire that was in here. He was just worried that I was scared the vampire might come back.”
“See? I told you not all vamps are scary monsters! Some of them are sexy. Look at those muscles. Mmm, mmm.”
Gray dropped an arm around her shoulder and wiggled his eyebrows as he ogled Roric. She gulped and stiffened as his scent overwhelmed her for a moment, but Roric scowled at him, and Grey pulled his arm away and grinned at her.
“I think he’s jealous. You want me to kiss you to force his hand?”
She laughed and shook her head at him, pushing him away. God, she loved Gray. Talking to him always made her feel better even though it was all she could do not to lunge for his neck at the moment.
A customer waved her over then, and she dove back into her work, trying to ignore the cravings that were steadily growing stronger. The blood she drank had helped a little bit, but desire still coursed through her body every time she got close to a human.
But suddenly, a whole new worry walked in wearing dark jeans and a tight, navy blue polo shirt, his blond hair artfully messy, and a hungry gleam in his eyes. A vampire.
Caroline froze, squeezing the wineglass in her hand, and it shattered with a loud burst. She yelped and dropped the jagged shards, the glass tinkling onto the glossy, wood bar. Roric jumped, and his eyes followed her gaze, narrowing when they landed on the vampire.
Gray rushed over to her and grabbed her hands, looking for cuts, but there were none. Her vampire skin was too thick for the thin glass to penetrate. “Caroline! Are you okay?”
She shuddered and grabbed a towel to wipe up the mess, her eyes locked on the vampire. “There’s a vamp. The man in the dark blue shirt.”
She nodded towards the vampire, and she and Gray watched as he stalked to the bar, his head swinging back and forth as he checked out the surrounding tables. Probably looking for a potential victim.
“I’ll take care of him.” Gray hurried over to the vampire. Caroline kept her eyes on him as she cleaned up the mess.
“You don’t have to be afraid of him. He can’t hurt you. Not every vampire is evil, remember?” Roric’s voice snapped her out of her intense focus. She shook her head, surprised that he’d moved in front of her without her noticing. Her vamp senses were definitely stronger, but her fear still took precedence.
“I’ve seen him in here before, and last time he went home with a woman. Please don’t let him hurt anyone.”
“Okay, I’ll keep an eye on him.”
She didn’t realize she was shaking till his large, warm hand wrapped around hers, stilling her.
That was the best she could hope for. It wasn’t illegal for vampires to patronize the bars. Maybe it was for the best he was here where Roric could watch him. Roric moved closer to the vampire. If he made one wrong move, Roric would be on top of him.
Caroline dumped the broken glass in the tr
ash can and wiped the bar again, making sure she got all the fragments while Gray poured the vampire a drink and Roric watched him surreptitiously. The vampire sipped his liquor as he gazed around the bar, but there weren’t any single women for him to approach.
He stared at a group of women out for a girls’ night, and Caroline could almost see the thoughts going through his head. When one of them got up to use the bathroom, Caroline tensed and waited, expecting him to follow her down the secluded hallway.
A familiar voice broke through her concentration. “Hey Care!”
She whipped her head around and gawked as Piper hopped up onto a barstool. “Piper! What are you doing here?”
“You weren’t answering your phone, and I was worried about you. I went to your apartment, but you weren’t there, so I decided to stop by to see if you were working. Are you okay? I would totally be taking a mental health day if I were you.” Piper rolled her eyes and giggled, pulling on an orange curl.
Caroline bugged her eyes out then leaned over and whispered to her. “Piper, hush! I don’t want the whole world to know what happened.”
Piper’s eyes widened, and she slapped a hand to her mouth then mumbled around it. “Sorry! Can you handle being here with all these humans? It seems like a lot of temptation.”
Just the suggestion sent a wave of need pulsing through her body, and Caroline gritted her teeth. “I’m okay. I brought some blood bags.”
Only, the blood bags were long gone, and she still had hours left of her shift.
Piper grinned at her, her freckles squishing together and her curls bobbing. “So, it seems like you’re adjusting pretty well to vamp life, huh? Is it as cool as it seems?”
Caroline stared at her. She sounded almost jealous. Did Piper want to be a vampire? The thought burned like acid in her brain. She scowled at her. “Being turned into a vampire is the worst thing that ever happened to me. Yes, I’m adjusting as best I can, but only because the alternative is death!”
Piper flinched and pulled away from her, holding her hands up. “Geez, sorry, Care. But I don’t get what’s so bad about it? I mean, vamps have heightened senses, super strength and speed, immortality. Just think, you’ll be young and beautiful forever! And I heard that feeding is totally erotic.”
Piper’s suggestive eyebrow wiggle made Caroline want to punch her. Or worse, tear open a vein so she could experience it firsthand. She shoved her face into Piper’s and hissed. “Who cares about heightened senses when you have to drink blood to survive? It’s inhuman! Vampires are savages who care about nothing but their next drink. Even now, all I can think about is the sound of your blood rushing through your veins and the scent that burns in my throat every time I take a breath.”
The words alone conjured up tempting images in her mind, but being this close to Piper was too much. Her hot, rich blood pulsed in a thick vein just under the skin. Caroline could see it throbbing, pressing against the flesh, begging to be taken. She could practically feel it bursting out onto her tongue as her fangs sank in.
Bloodlust tore through her body, consuming all conscious thoughts except for one. Feed. It roared through her brain like a hypnotist’s command. Her fangs descended, and she opened her mouth as she leaned in towards Piper’s exposed neck.
Chapter 22
An arm like a wrecking ball slammed against her chest, shoving her backwards, away from her prey. She growled and snapped, gouging her nails into the person who dared to intercept her, her body like a trap that had been sprung. Strong hands gripped her biceps, holding her back and shaking her.
“Caroline, Caroline!” Roric’s firm voice finally cut through her delirium. She shook her head as the haze cleared, revealing Roric’s intense glare and Piper’s shocked gape in the background.
“Come with me.” He whisked her away from the bar and down the back hallway before she had a chance to think, moving so fast the patrons probably didn’t even see them.
He shoved her into the break room and kicked the door shut behind them. The sound slammed her back into reality. Wild tremors shook her body as her mind caught up with what had just happened, and her hands clenched uselessly. The air was mercifully clean, and her breathing ratcheted up till her chest heaved with tortured gasps. Her eyes darted back and forth frantically as she searched for an exit. She had to go, had to get out of there, had to run.
Roric stalked over to her and grabbed her shoulders again, staring into her face, forcing her to look at him. “Deep breaths, Caroline. Slow down your breathing.”
He breathed slowly in and out, demonstrating, and she realized her own breaths were ragged, frantic, sucked in through flared nostrils and between bared fangs. She forced herself to stop breathing for a moment then pulled in a long, slow breath and let it out with a hiss. The tantalizing scent of blood flooded her senses again, but this time it wasn’t human.
“I almost attacked her. I almost killed her!” She put a hand to her mouth as her confession tore from her lips.
“It’s okay, you’re okay, Piper’s okay.” He repeated the words like a soothing mantra till her racing heartbeat started to match the rhythm.
“I didn’t bite her, I didn’t hurt her. She’s okay. Right?” She had to make sure. She couldn’t remember anything but the bloodlust.
“You didn’t bite her, but you came very close. You would have if I hadn’t intervened. Your hunger is out of control, Caroline. You need to drink. Where are the blood bags?”
“I drank them already.” Shame washed over her, and she dropped her eyes to the floor. This was why Roric didn’t want her to come here. She should’ve listened to him. He knew better than her what it was like to be a vampire. He told her she wouldn’t be able to control herself here. Why didn’t she listen? How could she put all these people, and even worse — her friends — at risk?
Tears burst from her eyes as the realization hit home. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t be a vampire and live the same life she’d lived as a human. It just wasn’t possible. She’d have to give up this place, her friends, everything that she’d come to rely on for stability in her sad, lonely life. How could she survive?
“How can I live like this? My life is over!” Sobs wracked her body as worry overtook her.
Roric wrapped his arms around her and pressed her against his chest, stroking her back and whispering through her hair into her ear. “Hey, don’t cry! It’s okay. This is normal. New vampires are ravenous, and their cravings are out of control. It’ll get better, I promise. You just need to feed regularly and avoid situations that will cause too much temptation until your urges settle down some and you get control of them.”
She’d told herself she could control her cravings and live like she was still human. She honestly believed she wouldn’t be tempted to drink from a vein as long as she kept herself fed, but she was wrong. She wasn’t strong enough.
Even Roric’s scent swirled around her, stirring up her cravings again. Her mouth was a desert, her stomach a gaping hole. She scraped her nails down his chest and buried her nose in the crook of his neck, rooting for a vein. He pulled her away and stared into her eyes for a moment like he was making an important decision, a tortured look on his face.
“You need to drink from me, Caroline. Come on, sit down.” Roric pulled her over to the ratty, orange couch that hunkered in the corner of the break room — a lumpy, sagging relic whose stains and scent hinted at a lifetime of questionable use. It was the perfect place for her to give in to her needs.
There was no more denying it. She was a vampire. Keeping Roric at arms’ length, refusing to drink from the vein, pretending she was still human — none of it could change the truth. She craved blood like an addict, and she could no longer remember why she shouldn’t give in to temptation and take what she needed from him.
Roric slipped off his leather jacket and unhooked his holster, pulling it away from his chest, leaving nothing but a broad expanse of hard flesh wrapped in white cotton. Caroline placed her hands on his chest an
d smoothed them across the curve of his pecs, and he laid his hands loosely around her waist.
Her eyes traveled up his shirt to his neck. A thick vein pulsed under his skin, calling to her with each beat of his heart. Her fingers dug into his chest as she tried to bring herself to bite him. Her hunger still raged, but now that she’d decided to drink from him, her mind rebelled against the idea of sinking her teeth into his flesh.
“Don’t be afraid. You won’t hurt me.” His voice was strained and tight, contradicting his words.
She pulled her gaze away from his neck for a moment to look him in the eye. A dozen emotions warred across his face. Fear, desire, pain, lust, hunger, need, anxiety. He seemed as nervous about this as she was.
“Are you sure?”
He swallowed hard and stared at her then slowly nodded.
Taking a deep breath, she leaned in closer and pressed her lips to his neck, letting the warm pulse vibrate against her flesh. His heartbeat sped up at the contact. Hers responded in kind, pounding so loudly it was all she could hear. Then she pulled her lips back and let her teeth drag lightly across the thudding vein.
Roric groaned and tightened his grip around her waist, pulling her closer. She slid her hands up and let one snake around to the back of his neck, threading her fingers through the short, soft hairs. Her mouth hovered over his jugular, her hot breaths warming the skin as she breathed quick and heavy.
Slowly, she bared her fangs and pressed them against the skin. They dimpled the flesh but didn’t puncture, and she stayed that way for a long moment, but her mind was whirling too much for her to think.
“Just do it, Caroline. You’re killing me.” Roric’s voice cracked, and he clenched his jaw.
Taking a deep breath, Caroline pulled back a little then plunged her fangs into his neck. The skin split easily under her sharp teeth, and Roric gasped. She suctioned her lips against him as hot blood squirted from the wounds, wetting her tongue like a cup of water tossed on a flame. It teased her but in no way quenched the burn.
Compelled by the Vampire: Vampire Enforcement Agency Series Book 1 Page 13
