Page 36 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Thrall

LIke he'd heard me or maybe had just felt my pain, he appeared around the corner I was walking towards and I swayed, catching myself on the wall. "What's happening?" I said through gritted teeth and Hayes frowned, his jaw tight as he took my weight against him and manoeuvred us up the stairs to the third floor.

"I'm not sure. I'll call Cal."

I nodded, barely breathing to try and reduce the miniscule movements of my body that set my head throbbing worse than before.

Hayes swore but I couldn't tell why because my eyes had slid closed. Warm hands slid under my knees and then I was weightless as he carried me to my room, his sweet scent enveloping me until my head lolled against his chest, content.

I didn't remember him putting me to bed, but that's where I found myself when I opened my eyes, his voice a dark hum as he spoke to someone on the phone.

"What the hell did you put in that stuff? She practically collapsed in my arms, Cal."

The mage. I was too tired to move, so I stayed still and just listened, the concern and anger in Hayes’ voice surprising me as he continued to chew out the mage over the phone. I only realised he was sitting next to me when his hand sank into my hair, stroking the long strands out in a gentle tugging motion that made me want to purr. I doubted he would continue if he knew I was awake, though.

"Well, you need to fucking fix it."

I concentrated and could hear the other side of the conversation without my head hurting worse. "I didn't do anything wrong, Hayes. Her trauma or the remnants of the block are what's causing her problem. Just..." I listened intently, eager to hear what the mage would say next. A deep sigh sounded over the line. "Just sit with her. Okay? Take care of her—you might even be able to take some of her pain through the bond."

So my head was more fucked than we'd thought. It explained why nothing had really happened over the weekend after we'd come back from the mage's house.

I let my eyes flutter, I’d heard enough.

"She's waking up. I'll keep you updated." Hayes' hand stilled on my hair, like he hadn't realised what he'd been doing, or maybe he just wasn't sure if I wanted his touch. "How are you feeling?"

"Still hurts," I rasped and licked my lips. "But not as bad."

"Were you doing something that could have brought it on?"

"No, I was just—" I frowned. "Well, I was thinking about how Lark says my name and how it sounded similar to the accent of the tattoo artist from Saturday. Joel."

Hayes nodded, a look of relief flashing across his face as I sat up by myself. "Maybe it was close to triggering a memory."

Now I understood why Cal had said the pain and trauma might drive me mad.

I licked my lips again, my throat feeling uncomfortably dry, and nearly jumped when Hayes snuck an arm around my waist and lifted me with ease onto his lap.

His eyes were intent on mine and he was all I could see, my vision consumed by the depth of blue. I swallowed. "What are you doing?"

His hand traced lazy circles into my back and it felt good. Really good. And that was the problem.

"You need this," he said quietly, like he knew I would hate to have my vulnerabilities spoken aloud. "Let me do this for you."

He tilted his head one side and I settled my legs around his hips when his forehead hit my shoulder. It was a twisted embrace, I mused, as I nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck and inhaled deeply. The truth was, he made my mouth water from more than one kind of hunger.

I sank my teeth into him in a slow glide that had his hands tightening on my waist. Blood hit my tongue and I relaxed at the first taste, sweet and rich, comforting even as heat moved through me, flowing down the bond and into Hayes.

I shifted in his lap restlessly and he stilled me with a tightening of his hands on my hips, his groan was low and breathless. "If you want me to stay in control then you need to stop moving like that, love."

The thing was, I wasn't sure Ididwant him to stay in control. I pulled from him deeply and the answering shift of our bodies couldn't be resisted, the desperate arch of my back and the slow slide of his hands down my body to capture the backs of my thighs as he encouraged my legs to move wider felt inevitable.

I could feel him, hard and growing harder beneath my hips, and when I pulled back and licked his wound shut, we stared at each other for a breathless moment before I tilted my own head in offering and he gave in with a growl that set my body humming.

His bite was clean, deep, and the hand that reached up to cradle my head massaged it as he fisted my hair. My hips rolled and his other hand moved to grip the full roundedness of it tightly—not to stop, but to encourage.

More.

I wasn't sure which of us had thought it, but I couldn't deny I wanted it. Wanted everything.

Hayes pulled away from my throat long enough to pull my fitted black tee up and off over my head, blood trickling down from the open wound until it ran between my breasts. His mouth followed it hungrily, licking a line of fire across my chest as he made deft work of my bra.

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