Arania stopped to shake her head in mock sympathy, her eyes smug. Zander didn't like what he saw in them, she was too confident. A sense of forbidding washed over him. Arania knew something, something he wasn't going to like, and she couldn't wait to share it.
“I guess you haven't heard,” she continued, savoring every moment of her revelation, “that your little slut is now being bedded by Kosmas? I can see by the look in your eyes you haven't,” she gloated, appearing happy for the first time that evening. “And from all accounts, she's loving every minute of it. But then again, why wouldn't she? I've heard that Kosmas has a sex drive that is unmatched, it's rumored he can satisfy a bed full of women until they're exhausted, and still have the stamina to mount another one. I'm sure he rides her hard, all day and all night. A woman would be hard pressed to remember a guard when she has the leader of an entire civilization in her bed.”
Zander yanked against the chains, putting every bit of his strength behind it as he attempted to break free. They clanged against the beam as his wrists bled, but he was unsuccessful. Arania laughed in delight, the sound maniacal in the silence of the storeroom.
“Send her in,” she yelled, glaring at someone behind him. In his weakened state, Zander hadn't even realized they'd had an audience. He stopped pulling at the chains as he eyed Arania warily, watching and waiting for her newest torment.
A naked female servant walked in, her neck covered in bite wounds. Some of them were old, the marks purple but completely closed over, while others were fresh. Zander bared his fangs at the sight of them, his thirst for blood impossibly increasing. He was all but feral from it, his weakened body unable to withstand it any longer.
Arania pulled her back against her, the servant moaning in pleasure as she bared her throat to her. Her eyes locked to his, Arania took what the servant so willingly offered, sucking deeply from the other woman's neck. Some of it overflowed, trickling down the pale skin of her throat.
At the sight of that thin trail of red, Zander lost it. Watching Arania feed was like waving a steak in front of a starved animal. His control was shattered - he didn't even recognize the man he'd become, but he couldn't wrestle up enough interest to care. His shaft rose willingly, need welling from deep within his balls as the hunger for her blood tormented him. He wanted to feed and fuck like never before, in any way he could get it. Arania's eyes lit with interest, immediately realizing she'd attained her goal.
She pulled away from the servant, her lips and chin stained with blood. “Leave,” she ordered the other woman, walking back to Zander with glittering eyes, Her hands trailed down his chest and hips as she purred with satisfaction. She teased his cock for a moment with a practiced hand before pressing her lips to his.
Zander groaned at the taste of the blood upon her lips, his starved body desperate for more. Arania pulled away from him, her chest heaving. “Release him,” she moaned, the smell of her arousal thickening in the air. The scent was repugnant, but not enough to turn him away. Not with the temptation of her blood so close to him. Arania had won, but Zander couldn't remember what he'd been fighting for. All he could think of was the blood, nothing else mattered.
Two male servants rushed to do her bidding. They released him, but his weakened body wasn't strong enough to sustain him. Zander fell on his back, pulling Arania down with him. He grabbed her hair, holding it tight as he forced her neck down to his mouth.
“Yes,” Arania moaned, sliding her leg over his hip. She pressed her neck against his fangs, right as her questing fingers found his erection. “Feed off me, Zander,” she begged, positioning his swollen cock between her legs. Zander barely recognized the action, for the first time in his life he was lost to the blood thirst. His hunger had went too far, his body would force him to do what he had to do in order to survive, regardless of what he might have wished for otherwise.
His fangs punctured her throat, so rough and brutal that a human would have never survived it. Arania screamed in pleasure, forcing his swollen shaft into the folds of her body. Zander suckled deeply, his hips working like a piston into her wetness. Arania was faceless to him, her blood and body just a means to an end. He gulped her blood greedily, his body tingling as it rushed throughout him. The healing process started, the living blood rejuvenating him in a way nothing else could. It wouldn't heal him completely, but it was a start.
Arania rode him hard and fast, taking him as deep as she could get him. The folds of her body gripped his shaft as she found her release, but she didn't stop. Instead, she continued to ride him, with no indication of stopping. “You've had enough blood,” she told him throatily, her voice thick with lust. “Stop feeding. It's your turn to get on top.”
Like hell. Zander clamped her tightly to his body, his eyes scanning the room. Her servants had left after she'd ordered them to release him, but they were likely lurking close by. He would have to act fast, if he had any hopes of escape.
He suckled harder, her blood gushing into his mouth. Arania froze, her hips stilling as she finally realized his plan. Using his newly regained strength Zander flipped her over, his shaft sliding free from her body.
Arania opened her mouth to scream for her guards, but Zander had anticipated her doing so. Using his greater weight to pin her down, he buried his hand over her mouth as he thoroughly muffled her screams. The amount of blood flowing from her neck had slowed to a trickle, he knew it wouldn't be long. A moment later, she passed out. Arania wouldn't die, but he'd drained her. She was damned lucky that was all he'd done, another vampire would have killed her.
He came to his feet, hoping she remain out long enough for him to escape. Moving as quickly as he could, he raced for the small side door at the back of the room. He stopped to listen for just a moment before easing it open. To his relief, he was alone.
Following the moons, Zander ran in the direction of Golden Harbor. In his condition it would take him at least at least a full night to make it back, or possibly even two. Although he'd just fed, it wasn't enough to sustain him. Already he was weakened, his body slow. To fully heal, he would need blood on an ongoing basis, in fact, he'd have to gorge himself on it.
Zander traveled for an hour before breathing easier, but he didn't let his guard down. Arania would have already been discovered, he'd be surprised if they didn't attempt to find him. After all, she was fully aware of his injuries. She'd expect for him to be easy prey.
The thought of returning to captivity was unbearable. He scanned the area he was in, immediately searching for a place to hide but finding none. He was left with little choice. He would continue on, and should they find him he would fight. He was down, but he wasn't out. The only way he'd return to Arania would be in a body bag, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that.
Arania and her family were Eeiyadians, which meant they hailed from the eastern portion of Legionnaire. The area was mountainous and rocky, their home and land situated high on a mountain. Rocks dug into the bottoms of his feet, tearing his skin as he walked unevenly through the trees. His mouth tightened into a harsh grimace, determined to continue.
He couldn't return to Legionnaire as the broken man he was. There were dark forces underfoot, he couldn't face them weak and battered. He would go to his father, Zander decided. And there at Raven Rose, he would heal. He would go home and swear his family to secrecy about his survival, and together they would plan his return to Golden Harbor... And to Keely, if she'd still have him.
Zander lived in the constant fear that she'd handed her heart to Kosmas. The thought of her sharing her body nearly destroyed him, but the thought of her loving their leader, needing him, was unbearable. What if she committed to him, taking his blood into her body and damning them all in the process? Should Keely ever drink from Kosmas his seed could take root, and knowing Kosmas as he did, he had no doubt the other vampire would do everything he could to guarantee it happened.
At the thought of her stomach swelling with Kosmas' child, Zander stopped walking. It was unbearable, nearly se
nding him to his knees. He buried his face into his palms, rubbing his face wearily. He didn't recognize the man he'd become, he was insane for Keely and willing to do anything to have her.
He rested for a moment before preparing to start off again. Unfortunately the broken bones in his legs refused him. Zander started to fall, the ground next to him crumbling away underneath his feet. In a desperate attempt to save himself, he grabbed a small tree as he held on with one hand. It couldn't sustain him, though.
The tree broke as his body began to free fall through the darkness. He landed hard on a ledge, its rocky surface barely wide enough to hold him. Zander groaned, the sound low and painful. At this rate, he'd never make it off of the mountain.
The three moons hovered low, so close but so far away. Was Keely staring at them, even then, just as he was? “I'm coming back,” he vowed to the luminescent globes that hung above him. “And when I do, I will claim her.”
Taken: The Vampire's Concubine: Part Three Page 6
