Page 74 of Dawn Caravan
Ben had excellent control, but he really didn’t feel like growling at room service when they delivered his blood, and with the way his throat was feeling, that was highly probable.
What had set him off so much? He tried to think back to the drifting place before he truly woke.
Right. Sex dreams about Tenzin. That would do it.
He was still confused about why he dreamed at all. According to Brigid, it wasn’t normal or natural for a new vampire to dream. When she went out, she was out. No consciousness at all. She said it was one of her favorite things about being a vampire.
But Ben wasn’t that way. He hadn’t slept like that since the first night he woke.
The first night he woke… and drank from Tenzin.
He refused to think that her blood could have affected him that much; it was one time.
Nope. Wasn’t an option.
It was probably something about Zhang’s blood being so old. It was far more likely that was the explanation.
He lay back down and waited for the intercom to chime again, and an uneasy tremor ran down his spine.
Ben sat up and stared at the wall. The realization hit him with an unexpected slap of anger.
She was gone.
He knew it like he knew blood would sate his thirst. He knew it like he knew the wind would hold him if he jumped off a building. Tenzin was gone and his amnis ached.
“Mr. Vecchio?”
“Yes?”
“Your evening meal has arrived.”
“Thank you.”
He couldn’t identify how he was feeling. He rose and gave the server a few seconds to depart. He pulled on a pair of cotton pants and a T-shirt. Then he leaned against the door and closed his eyes, thinking about the dream he’d left behind.
They were flying over a forest, a blanket of thick trees below them. They were pressed together, their bodies moving as one while the air cradled them.
Not a sex dream really. Something far more intimate.
He walked into the living area and found the thermos on the table. He gave it a quick shake—fresh blood coagulated quickly—and opened the lid to drink it straight from the thermos, ignoring the tall black mug the server had placed on the tray.
God, it was so good.
As a human, he’d always imagined blood hunger would be the same as human hunger, but it was far more intense. It was closer to being drastically thirsty than hungry, but sating that thirst was more satisfying than drinking water. It was a full-body sensual experience that was second only in pleasure to sex.
Sex and blood drinking? Well, that was probably part of the reason Ben hadn’t wanted to touch another women since his one night with Tenzin. He couldn’t imagine the intimacy of blood exchange with anyone else, but he couldn’t imagine finding any sex without blood drinking satisfactory in the least.
He finished the thermos and set it down on the table, wiping the traces of blood from his lips with his thumb. He felt the warmth traveling from his throat, down the core of his body and into his limbs as he woke from daily torpor.
She was gone.
Left.
You asked her to leave, his mind taunted him.
“…this is a temporary thing, Tenzin. That means when we finish and I ask you to leave, you leave. And you do not follow me again.”
So… she was gone. And he had work to do.
