Page 45 of Those That Don't Exist
Seeing the physical evidence of her suffering snapped something in my brain. I was still blood bound to the pack but I was done trying to make it work. I was finished with standing by and building excuses in my head to make allowances for Adicious’s tyrannical behaviour. I couldn't hand Red over to that monster.
If I was going to make this female my mate, and I absolutely intended to, I needed to wait until she was ready. Not an easy thing to do in our current predicament but she’s been through so much she doesn’t need to be hit with the full force of my obsession with her just yet.
Her body certainly reacted to me but she’d yet to voice it. And I doubt she yet understood the level of possessiveness I felt.
A darker side of me wanted to take her and run. But if we left, we wouldn’t be able to settle as Adicious would forever try to hunt us down. I know him too well to think he’d let it go.
The other issue was her fangs. Without them she was without a vital weapon, and a way to feed herself.
That’s it! She hasn’t bitten anyone yet. That’s my work around Adicious’s orders. He’d said to kidnap her when she’s bitten someone.
A hundred kilo weight lifts off my shoulders.
I have time.
I’d been playing the pack for a while, what’s one more act whilst I figured out a way to break the blood bond with Adicious and steal the female he believes to be his. She may have been created for him but she was made for me.
I roll my aching shoulder, wishing I’d had more blood. Not that I would’ve denied Red anything. Still it was taking longer to heal than I’d like.
I slowly wiggle back down the bed, careful not to jostle Red. I slowly roll to my side so I can lay my other arm over her waist and cocoon her into my body. Her scent fills my lungs with every breath. The comfort it brings along, with her warm body, has sleep pulling me under too.
I wake to an earthy,vanilla coffee scent still surrounding me, I can’t remember feeling this relaxed in years. Surrounded by fluffy pillows and a bunched up duvet in my hold, I breathe deep. I could get used to this.
No, this should be better.
There should be one red headed female in the bed with me but I’m alone.
I bolt up quickly, noticing my injuries have healed. I must’ve been out for a few hours.
I don’t have to look far to find Aurora, fiery curls catching my eye immediately. She’s sitting at her desk, laptop open, and she’s reading the screen so intently she hasn’t turned to look at the noise I must’ve made scrambling from the sheets. Her hair forms a curtain around her face so I can’t see her expression but it shimmers in the afternoon daylight spilling through the window. She really is breathtaking.
I pad silently across the room, stalking up to her. I come to her shoulder to scan the article she’s reading. It’s about vampiric feeding habits. Little Red is reading more about vampires.Cute.
“You know I can tell you about all of this,” I say completely deadpan, a grin stretching my lips as she jumps, twisting to look over her shoulder, curls of flame flying.
“Gods, don’t sneak up on me!” She clutches her chest as I pick up her racing pulse. It doesn’t decrease as she takes in my body, and no doubt my sleep mussed hair.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” I stroke her bare shoulder, just needing to touch her again, before leaning in to look at the screen behind her, to gauge where she is finding herinformation from. I pull back to look at her in surprise when I realise the source.
“You know this is propaganda bullshit from before the war right? Our murder rates were never higher than the humans, or the Fae.” I try my best to hide my annoyance at the poison it's sprouting about how many hundreds of ‘victims’ one vampire creates.
“I know it's not accurate, but I wanted to read the popular perception. I started with Fitzroy’s latest work first and he cited this as the common belief. I wanted to know what regular people were made to think about vampires.” She pauses. “About you…” She pauses again.
“And you?” I offer.
“Yes, and me.” I can tell she is still getting used to it, her voice holding a tremble.
“Well, I guess Fitzroy is accurate if you wanted to do your own research rather than use the living breathing vampire in your room.” I pout, I want her to come to me.
“Sorry.” Her cheeks flush a rosy red and my mind blanks out.Holy hellfire.
My own blood rushes south as my fangs give a pulsing ache. I must look as dumb struck as I feel because she gives me a bashful look before a small shake of her head, then saves me from trying to form words by carrying on. “I’m a reader, it's what I do. And you were asleep. I didn’t want to wake you. I thought you might need it to help with your injuries so I jumped onto the library’s online catalogue.”
“I’m teasing, Red.” I grin at her again and she smiles shyly back.
“Oh,” she breathes out on a giggle, an actual giggle, and my heart skips in my chest. I rub at my rib cage, trying to pass it off as an itch.
“You can’t go wrong with Fitzroy. He’s a vampire too, just so you know.” It’s her turn to be shocked, her mouth dropping open.
