“Nothing to say, Shane?” he asked evenly, his voice showing no hint of emotion.
It was impossible to tell how he felt about what had happened between us. I straightened, as pissed off at his coldness as at my reaction to him. Yes, he’d always been distant, but that was before he’d basically wrung every drop of cum out of my body while feeding me from his veins.
“Oh, I have plenty to say…” I stalked forward, the power that he’d given me surging through my body. I hated that he’d put himself at risk for me. Sure, he was immortal, but he only had so much blood, and he’d given me too much without replacing his own. His generous actions, though appreciated, had beenirresponsible. He had people who relied on him, just as I’d had when I was pack Alpha. Sorcha was one of those people, and he’d put her at risk by risking himself.
“Like, why did you nearly kill yourself for me?”
He straightened as I stalked closer, but he didn’t back away. Inside, I smiled. I knew he wouldn’t.
“Like, why did you bring me so much pleasure when you didn’t have to?”
Another step.
His face remained cold and closed, but his body betrayed him, as did those haunting eyes of his when red bled into the pale irises. His breathing ticked up, and he lifted his nose and inhaled. I stopped an arm's length from him, our height equally matched. “Like, why did you prepare and bring me my favourite food?”
One more step and we were almost nose to nose. Bal’s eyes were blood red and pulsing. I couldn’t help myself. I leaned in and lightly dragged my tongue over his lips. “Hm? Bal?” His taste was like drinking fine wine. I moaned, savouring the glorious flavour that was uniquely his until I wanted to drown in it.
He blinked, and even though he remained withdrawn on the face of it, that sign of surprise made me smile inside. He’d clearly expected me to rant and rave and be embarrassed about what had happened between us. It wasn’t lost on me that he’d brought me back to his home to deal with the bloodlust instead of staying at Connor’s. I was happier back here, but it wouldn’t have mattered. I wasn’t part of a pack. I wasn’t a shifter. It didn’t matter what they thought of me any longer. In fact, it was liberating to realise that I had no responsibilities beyond surviving—for now.
Although it wasn’t entirely true that I didn’t care what anyone thought of me. I cared what Sorcha thought...and whatBal thought. I needed to know if this was just a bloodlust thing or if it meant more. Which was ridiculous. I wasn’t a teenager with his first crush, yet I couldn’t totally quell the hope that I was different to the other Mades he’d fed and fucked through bloodlust.
“I gave you permission to call me Balthazar, Shane, not Bal.”
I dropped a kiss on the corner of his mouth, aware my canines were growing. He didn’t kiss me back, but neither did he pull away. “Really? Well, I like Bal. Balthazar is such a mouthful, don’t you think?” I held his gaze and pushed my body against his. I felt his erection as surely as he would feel mine. The musky scent of his lust teased my nose, and a low growl rumbled in my throat. He might have showered, but I was ready to get him covered in my scent again…
Bal’s eyes brightened to their icy colourless state, and his face remained cold, withdrawn. A sense of dread filled me right before his mouth opened. “Kneel.”
A sudden and tremendous weight pushed on my mind. I pulled back a little and shook my head to rid myself of the urge to do as he said.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s called control, Shane. You don’t have it. I do. Now, kneel.”
My chest tightened, breath hitching in my throat, and there was nothing I could do to stop my heart racing, but not in a good way. I snarled. “No fucking way. I don’t kneel for anyone. Never again.”
Something flashed through Balthazar’s eyes, a minute frown creasing the bridge of his nose, but it was gone quickly. He remained utterly still, his nose still touching mine. “You will kneel for me, Shane. Would you like to know why?”
That pressure was pounding through my brain, pain shooting through my head. “Fuck you,” I growled, fightinghis compulsion as my wolf pushed forward, furious at this treatment. My bones shifted, but, instead of a full shift, I halted at that strange state between wolf and vampire. The moment my wolf looked into Bal’s eyes, his fury waned, and I knew. He craved Bal’s dominance as much as he had before, but this time he wanted this ancient and powerful creature to work for it. I forced him to retreat. No one would control me ever again. Not even him.
“No, I don’t want to know why. Because I won’t kneel for you or anyone else.”
Bal’s lip curled, his smile chilling. “You will kneel. But it will only ever be for me.” He leaned in, a fine mist floating from his mouth, and I had no choice but to breathe it in. Another wave of command slammed into me. I panted, fighting my need to comply. I was a damned Alpha, not some weak Omega wolf.
Bal cocked his head. “I am an Original vampire, Shane, and you carry my blood, my power, and my scent. That makes you mine. It also makes you a Made. It doesn’t matter if you are part shifter. You will succumb to my compulsion just like any other fledgling who has nearly made it through bloodlust. I am old and far more powerful than you.”
His compulsion kept pulsing through me until I groaned and my knees shook.
“Stop fighting me. There is no shame in this. You need to control yourself, and you will learn how to do so, but it takes time. Until then, I am the only one who can control you. You need to let me. If you lose yourself to a blood craving when you are around other people, it will be a bloodbath. It will incite a feeding frenzy amongst any vampires nearby. I cannot allow that, so you will give in to my compulsion, or I will make you. “
I managed a snarl. “You can’t make me.”
He shrugged his impressive shoulders. “I can. I will keep you weak enough that you are unable to resist my compulsion untilyou have mastered your baser needs. Is that what you want, to lose this beautiful body again, and constantly suffer from the hunger that you endured over the past ten days?”
Ten days? I’d been feeding and allowing him to control my pleasure for more than a week? Shit. But he was right, I needed him, and he knew it. I wouldn’t risk hurting Sorcha. Gritting my teeth and pushing away the dark memories that threatened to consume me, I let my knees sag to the floor. Sweat trickled down my temples, and my hands began to tremble. I hid it by squeezing them into fists.
Balthazar didn’t gloat. He said nothing. Instead, he continued to get dressed. He slipped a black t-shirt over his head, covering his sinfully toned body and pulled on socks and running shoes. It was such a casual outfit for him that it looked odd. He stopped in front of me, and my heart slammed against my chest wall, but this time not from lust. He seemed to pause before gently grabbing my chin. I jerked away, relieved when he didn’t force his hold on me. I wasn’t sure I could have held it together if he had. When I glared up at him, my nostrils flaring, his brows were drawn down, his intense eyes trained on my face like he was trying to work something out.
I clenched my jaw, my breathing shallow and fast. I had so much fear and anger zipping around my body that I was dizzy. I’d fought through a ton of shit in my life, and this position was always the one that made me freak out. It was always a precursor to humiliation, pain, and vulnerability.
