Bitten: Dominated By His Inner Beast

by Natalie Thorns

  “Thank you,” Alexa said, mostly meaning it as she slumped forward on the counter. The nearest hospital was over two fucking hours away and depending on how Seth’s condition progressed, trapping herself in a car with him could turn deadly really fucking fast. He hadn’t shown any actual desire for human flesh, but the scenting thing was nearly as concerning. With his fever, he had become more unhinged, his muscles noticeably larger, his expression strangely fierce. It was unsettling to see on her normally goofy friend and she could only assume that whatever was pumping through his veins had some sort of animalistic properties to it.

  The same way a cursed werewolf could turn a human raving mad with just a bite, there were an assortment of magical beings out there that could do the same. The only saving grace being the effect was to lesser degrees and lacked a transformation versus a cursed bite. There was no way it had been a werewolf—even transformed, the fuckers were huge. But something small and the equivalent of magically rabid—She would stake Seth’s life on her belief that he had come across such a being and it had infected him with one damn bite.

  “You don’t have any magic users in the area, do you?” Alexa asked, forcing herself away from her gloomy thoughts. “Maybe a guild library with healing texts?”

  “I’m afraid we don’t have any with the magical gift living here—Well, none that practice,” Mr. Baristone added with a grim smile.

  Alexa nodded, understanding completely. Magic was a rich person’s privilege. Sure, there were more than a few people with latent abilities but they would never have access to the spell books and instruments available to those that hoarded them like precious jewels. Some, if they were charismatic or willing to whore themselves to the highest bidder, could get themselves a patron to pay for their magical schooling, but they were always owned from that moment, their magic at their patron’s beck and call no matter how terrible the deeds may be asked of them. Because of it, magic and the spells that crafted it, were guarded fiercely. Alexa wouldn’t be finding anything of actual use on the Internet.

  “If you like, I can have someone help you get Mr. Steven’s up to your room. Tomorrow morning we can have one of the company vans take you. Just in case he’s uncooperative.”

  Alexa glanced again over her shoulder, then back. Instead of pitching her voice low to match the manager’s, she spoke up, directing her question to her friend. “Seth, you going to kill me in my sleep?”

  Seth, for his part, considered it a long moment. “I’m not feeling violent. Dizzy. A whole lot of dizzy.”

  The manager gave her a stern look. “If he’s already infected, you cannot full trust—”

  “It’s fine. Seth would kill himself before he ever let himself hurt me,” Alexa said flatly. “Just get him upstairs and I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Sighing in defeat, Mr. Baristone nodded and picked up the phone. “Will you at least allow me to set up a blood alarm in the room?”

  Alexa raised a brow, glancing back again at where Seth was resting, the boy’s large hands clutching at a pillow. His muscles were definitely looking larger, although thankfully no sign of claws or fangs. Still, some transformations took longer than others…

  “Fine. Just in case.”

  If it wasn’t used for her because her best friend had gone psycho from the bite, it might save Seth if he started bleeding out in the middle of the night. Alexa could only hope that they wouldn’t need it at all.

  Chapter Three

  They decided a marathon of bad monster movies and a junk food feast was the only way to recover what was left of the weekend. Seth had his bad leg propped up on a chair to the side as they shared the couch. Alexa glanced at it from time to time in the light of the shining tv, trying to see if it was healing as quickly as she feared it was. Whatever had gotten into Seth wasn’t going to just bleed out like she had hoped.

  “You should take the bed,” she said when her friend's head again drooped forward. They were in the middle of one of the crappy makeout scenes that always preluded the attack of the monster. The only reason Alexa ever tolerated these parts was because she knew at least one of the people on screen was soon to be eaten. Usually, they laughed their asses off but Seth was in no condition. His fever had only gotten worse, the heat from his body now so pronounced she could feel it just sitting next to him.

  “I’m fine,” Seth mumbled, forcing himself to lean back, his head propped up as he slung his arm over the back of the couch. “You’re too delicate to sleep on this lumpy thing.”

  “Like fuck,” she snapped, punching him on the arm reflexively, only to freeze and gasp when his hand suddenly engulfed hers. She hadn’t even seen him move and he had caught her just like that.

  Alexa looked up with uncertainty on her face, finding Seth staring at her hand, something dark in his gaze that was as unfamiliar as his new speed. When his eyes met hers, the expression faded, his normal, if not a bit strained, smile making an appearance. “Why are you sitting all the way over there? You scared of me now, Lexa?”

  “You wish,” she said, her voice lacking the normal teasing tone as she stared at him. Seth was still holding her hand, his fingers tightening around hers as he pulled her closer on the couch. They usually sprawled on top of each other like it was nothing—mostly because it used to be nothing. But she was fighting a crush and he was, well, Seth was fucked up, whether he fully realized it or not at the moment.

  “It’s weird having you sitting so far away,” he said, tugging on her arm again until Alexa relented and leaned against him, her eyes closing as she felt just how much heat he was radiating.

  She didn’t want to voice how worried she was for him. Seth had always been there, a rock in the background of her life she could depend on if things went to shit. She didn’t know what she’d do if she lost him.

  “That’s better,” he said with a sigh, Seth’s arm sliding around her shoulders. He reached down and grabbed her hip, pulling her tighter to the side of his body until she was resting her head on his chest. It was both comforting and unbelievably unsettling, Alexa forced to feel his every muscle that was now straining with the toxin pumping through his body.

  “I’ve missed you,” he said softly into her hair, his heavy gaze directed at the television screen. “I feel like we haven’t done this in forever. Just chilled out and talked. Laughed.”

  “Yeah.” There was a reason for that, one Alexa wasn’t willing to bring up.

  Seth didn’t seem to have any qualms, his voice soft and lulling as he continued. “Chloe wasn’t a good fit for me. She kept trying to make me be someone I wasn’t. Hanging out with you again reminded me how important it is to be with someone that makes me happy to be me. Just… I don’t want to be complacent.”

  “You mean lazy,” she teased, trying to ignore the way her skin was tingling from the touch of his hand on her hip. He kept rubbing, stroking up and down her side slowly like he wasn’t even paying attention. She couldn’t pretend to ignore it, her eyes closing every time he strayed too low.

  “Something like that,” Seth said thoughtfully. “I want to be a better person. I think that’s important; not wanting to get stuck in a rut and never growing. Just… I don’t want to hate myself every time I see my girlfriend either, you know?”

  Sighing, she internally cursed Chloe a painful death. “Maybe you should just stop dating for a bit? You know, play the field, stop trying to give a fuck what girls think of you all the time. Seriously, who the fuck cares what they think? You’re perfectly fine how you are.”

  He was silent, her eyes drawn to his face despite herself. She stilled when she found him staring down at her. His fingers pressed at her chin, tilting her face up. “You’re my best friend, Lexa. You’re never afraid to tell me the truth. No matter what, you always tell me the truth the way you see it.”

  Swallowing, she nodded, a part of her afraid of what he was going to ask her. “I don’t bullshit with you.”

  “I appreciate that.” His eyes strayed away, drifting t
o the television. The heroine was giving one of her patented screams, only to be cut off, the beast grabbing her roughly around the waist and kissing her deeply. She immediately fainted, Alexa rolling her eyes to see.

  “Amateur,” she said with a dark laugh.

  “You ever been kissed like that?” Seth asked, his fingers twisting her face back to him.

  “What, by a guy in a rubber suit? Can’t say that I have,” Alexa teased, trying to fight the butterflies in her stomach as Seth’s dark gaze moved down to her lips.

  Seth didn’t smile back, his expression strangely serious as he met her eyes again. “No, have you ever been kissed so hot that you thought you might faint?”

  “I don’t think that really happens,” she whispered, feeling beyond uncomfortable when Seth went so far as to use the remote to pause the video with his free hand. “Girls don’t just go fainting over stupid shit like kisses. It’s totally insulting to think it,” she said defensively, biting her lip when he leaned forward and grabbed the back of her neck to keep her in place.

  “I dunno. If you kiss someone good enough, guy or girl, they can sometimes get weak in the knees, maybe even dizzy. It doesn’t have to be a girl thing, Lexa.”

  Alexa scoffed, her body growing tenser the longer Seth held her inches from his face. “Why are you looking at me like that, jackass?”

  Seth’s fingers spread out, tangling into her loose blond locks. “I’m just curious if you’ve ever been kissed like that. Like toe curling, heart-poundingly kissed.”

  “I haven’t,” she said flatly, suddenly aware of how fast her heart was pounding in that moment. “Now stop being weird and put the movie back on.”

  “Well, the thing is,” Seth continued, ignoring her glare, “I think I might be a bad kisser. Like, terrible. I think that’s why all my girlfriends keep leaving me.”

  Narrowing her eyes, Alexa searched her asshole of a friend’s expression for signs of laughter. That she couldn’t find it only meant that the bastard was getting better at lying to her face. “So?” She finally snapped when Seth continued to look at her expectantly.

  “So, I thought maybe you’d be able to show me how it’s done—” Seth caught Alexa’s wrist before she could punch him, his grin breaking free. “I mean, seeing as you’re sure that it can’t be done. I think you’d be the best judge of if I suck or not. And I know you wouldn’t lie to me, Lexa. You never lie to me.”

  She had a heart stopping moment to wonder if Seth had figured out that she liked him, then dismissed it. He knew she was impossibly sensitive about this sort of thing. Seth would never tease her if he thought it could hurt her feelings. Instead, she was faced with a challenge, one her jackass of a friend was staring her down over. Back out and looking like a total wuss over something as dumb as a monster movie kiss, or do it and prove that her experience with kissing was far inferior to his.

  Seth was clearly not feeling as bad as he looked, the asshole.

  There was no way she could kiss Seth. He’d figure it out. He would totally figure it out. It was difficult enough leaning up against him, his hands on her like they weren’t supposed to feel like anything. But they did. They felt like sparking and wildness and she couldn’t ever let him see that he could get to her like that. “I think given your history of terrible kissing if you were to actually kiss me, I’d have to leave you,” Lexa said with a false sense of casualness she was definitely not feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  “Well, that might prove the point, huh? I mean, if you were to leave me over it, Lexa, then I’d know for sure it was my horrible kissing skills,” Seth said, his eyes glittering mischief.

  Fucker. The total fucker.

  “Well, if you’re willing to risk the bestest friend you have over your notoriously bad kissing skills, I can’t be held responsible for your stupidity, Seth Stevens,” Alexa said with a shrug, more than aware that Seth’s hand was still on the back of her head. Back down, you stupid idiot, she silently fumed, her eyes meeting him in challenge.

  But Seth didn’t back down. His hand tightened in her hair and he crossed the small distance between them, his lips centimeters from touching hers. “I dunno, Lexa. You’ve always been my most forgiving of friends. Even if it scars you for life, I think you’d still forgive me.”

  She realized her mistake only moments before his lips pressed to hers. Seth inhaled deeply—too deeply—breathing her in like he had in the woods after the unidentified creature had first bitten him. This wasn’t Seth playing stupid games with her in his need to not think about Chloe. This was a Seth being influenced by something magical and deadly. And it had to be winning. For as long as they’d been friends, Seth had never wanted to kiss her before.

  She tried to pull away but Seth’s large hand held her still, his lips brushing softly against hers. She waited, wondering if it would be fangs, or energy draining, or something even worse but his lips just felt like lips. Hot, firm, smooth. She held herself still just in case, her breath coming out in a slow exhale when he kissed her again, more persistent this time, his lips parting and covering her’s, his tongue teasing out to press to the seam of her motionless mouth.

  The touch of his tongue was like a jolt of electricity to her senses. Alexa’s body jerked against his, her wet lips parting as she gasped softly. His hand slid from the back of her head to her cheek, Seth tilting her and slowly stroking his tongue into her mouth. She couldn’t stop her moan, feeling herself melt against him even as fire burned through her, her nipples hardening and pussy clenching from the intense feel of him tasting, exploring her.

  Growling, Seth wrapped a strong arm around her waist, pulling her slender form up into his lap. His fingers tightened on her cheek, his lips crushing hers, urging her to open wider. When his tongue found hers again, it was more a battle than a meeting, their hot flesh stroking and tangling as he bent her head back and took her deeper. She clutched uselessly at his broad shoulders, part of her trying to figure out what the fuck was happening to her. She felt dizzy, overwhelmed, and so achingly wet; all over a fucking kiss.

  “Seth,” she finally gasped out, trying to draw a breath in and stop the insanity. Seth’s lips found her again, following, his tongue driving into her mouth while he grabbed the nape of her neck to kept her from escaping. She groaned, unable to stop from pressing against his hard form, her breasts aching with the need to be touched. His hand moved down her neck, holding tight, his fingers digging into her flesh on her back as he moved down and crushed her harder to his body.

  Whimpering, Alexa felt herself giving in despite her best efforts, Seth’s hot, wet lips and assertive tongue stealing her resistance away. Her body lost its tension and she allowed him to turn her head, drag her higher up his burning form, and devour her lips unimpeded.

  Breathing heavily, Seth slowly pulled away after a few more deep, lingering kisses. He pressed a soft, damp kiss to her cheek. “You going to faint on me, Lexa?”

  She shook her head dully, tears prickling at the back of her eyes. Damn him. Fucking damn him for making her feel like this.

  “Lexa?” Seth pressed, his thumb smoothing over her cheekbone. “I’m sorry. I… I shouldn’t have done that.”

  Swallowing, Alexa forced herself to sit back, sliding off his lap and trying to ignore the hardness that had been digging into her thigh a moment ago. “Okay,” she said hollowly, refusing to look at him. She reached for the remote but he grabbed her wrist, leaning down until they were face to face.

  “I’m sorry.” Seth’s blue eyes raked over her, Alexa holding her breath to see the dark hunger still burning in him. “There’s something wrong in my head right now. It’s telling me to… to do things I wouldn’t normally do.”

  Pursing her lips, Alexa nodded to show she understood. “It was just a kiss… A good kiss,” she added with a faint smile. “I’m not angry, Seth. I know you’re not yourself.”

  “It was a fuck ton better than just good,” Seth said with a sharp growl. He ran a hand up her slender arm, squeezi
ng firmly, pulling her closer. “It was the best fucking kiss, Lexa. The best.”

  It was. She had never thought a kiss could do that to her. Alexa swallowed down her reply, unwilling to let him know just how much she had been affected by him. “Let’s finish the movie, okay? I’m feeling kind of tired.”

  Reading her face carefully, Seth reluctantly let the girl go. He pressed the play button, then pulled Alexa back against his chest before she could protest.

  “Seth… This is kinda weird,” she whispered, staring blankly at the screen as his heat and scent engulfed her again.

  “I don’t care,” he said gruffly, holding his arm around her shoulders, his head dipping down so he could smell her hair again.

  Alexa felt his breath, worry twisting in her stomach along with the lust already swirling there. Her lips were still tingling, her tongue slightly sore, her mind returning unbeckoned to the very vivid moment. How long would he have kissed her if she hadn’t given in? Had it just been to prove a point or had he wanted to kiss her? He had agreed it was a phenomenal kiss… but he had also ended it while she would have let him do just about anything to her.

  Damn him.

  “The doctor will fix it,” Seth assured her quietly, his fingers combing through the colorful ends of her hair.

  “Right,” she whispered back, hating the part of her that wasn’t sure she wanted him fixed.

  Alexa escaped into the bathroom the instant the movie was over. She couldn’t handle the suffocating atmosphere anymore. The strained awkwardness, the sexual tension that she was realizing wasn’t even remotely one sided. Seth had been sporting an erection ever since the kiss. Worse, she didn’t know if it was because of her or because of the fucking monster that had bitten him.