Page 56 of Secret of the Vampire
Alex
MINE.
It had slammed through my head when Kenya was drinking from me. At first, I thought it was the djinn trying to claim my female. And then I realized it wasn’t his inner voice I heard, but Kenya’s.
However, it was more than just a word. It was a feeling. An instinct. I felt her possessiveness, her hunger, and it drove me so mad with lust I didn’t give a fuck if Marcus was listening to us somehow. Didn’t care if Jamal had walked in while I was inside of her. I couldn’t have denied her if we’d been dead smack in the center of Bourbon Street in the middle of Mardi Gras.
As she stood before me beneath the shower head, her dark skin wet and glistening, she could’ve been a goddess of old. Proud. Mesmerizing. Seductive…and dangerous. My blood roared through my veins and my cock stirred between my legs at the sight of her. “Is it true?”
We really shouldn’t be having this conversation. Not here. Not now. But I needed to know, because if this was true, it would explain so much to me.
Still, she wouldn’t answer. She just stared at me, her eyes full of remorse.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I pleaded.
“How am I supposed to look at you?” she finally responded in a thick voice. As soon as she asked the question, she dropped her chin, and when she looked up again there were tears on her cheeks.
Fuck.
I reached for her, wanting to hold her in my arms and tell her it was all right, but she slapped my hands away. “Don’t touch me,” she spat. “I want nothing to do with you.”
“Now we both know that’s not true,” I told her. And I didn’t need to see the way she averted her eyes to know I was right. I wasn’t trying to be cocky. I was just trying to be real. “I can feel you, Kenya. I feel your hunger for me. For my blood. And I want to give it to you.” My body was hard. Ready. “I want to give it all to you.” My life. My heart. My soul. Everything.
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Honey—”
Her eyes threw daggers at me. “Don’t you fucking ‘honey’ me, Alex! Don’t you do it!”
I threw my hands in the air, palms out. “Okay. All right.” I kept my voice low and calm.
She turned her back to me and stuck her face in the water, wiping away her tears, and I gave her a minute to gather herself while I thought about this new situation. I knew what it meant to be mated to a vampire. She’d fed from me, and now she couldonlyfeed from me. But for the bond to be completed, I would need to have her blood as well. If not, I would continue to age, and eventually die.
And so would she.
I had to admit, the whole immortality thing was kind of crazy to think about. But I had more important things that needed my immediate attention. Like getting us both out of here alive. But first, I had to let her know I wasn’t the monster she thought I was. I was taking a huge chance, talking to her like this. Because if the djinn was dipping into my head, we were pretty much fucked anyway after what had just happened. “Kenya, talk to me. Please.”
She turned her head so her stunning profile was visible, but she still wouldn’t look at me. “Talk to you?” She laughed, the sound harsh and cruel. “You’ve been playing me all this time, Alex. You practically handed me over to the djinn—”
“That’s not true. I thought you were home. You told me you were home.” I reached out to touch her bare back, but pulled back at the last minute. “I swear to you, I had no idea he was anywhere in the area. I didn’t know you hadn’t gone right home like you’d told me.”
“So, again, this is my fault?” She grabbed the soap from the little shelf and began to scrub herself, like she was trying to remove the memories of my touch. It hurt, watching her.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying.”
She spun around so fast she was nothing but a blur one second and facing me the next. “What exactlyareyou saying, Alex?” She practically spit my name at me.
I clenched my jaw, momentarily forgetting where we were. My hands tightened into fists to keep myself from touching her. All I wanted to do was pull her against me and hold her until the tension left both our bodies, until she would hear what I was trying to say without tipping off the djinn. I couldn’t feel him probing around in my head, but I didn’t want to take the chance. I felt what I felt, and there wasn’t much I could do about that. But as long as I continued to play the part he’d cast me in, it should be okay.
I put everything I was feeling into my eyes, hoping she could read what I was trying to tell her, even without her glasses. “I’m not a monster.” Taking a chance, I stepped in closer, lowering my mouth to her ear.
She stiffened, but otherwise didn’t move.
“I won’t let him harm you. I swear it. I’m asking you to trust me.” I straightened just enough that she could see my face, ignoring the spray of water. “I’m asking you,” I repeated.
“But how would you stop him?” she asked in a small voice.
My heart shattered into a thousand pieces hearing the fear in her voice. But she was right. My powers were nothing compared to his. Tentatively, I brushed her smooth cheek with the back of my fingers and took a chance. “I don’t know, but I will.”
