Did I forget to lock the door?
I try to open my eyes, but my lids are too heavy, and there’s no point now that the intruder has entered my home. Let them take whatever they want. I’m probably going to die here, alone on this couch.
“Aidan?”
For a moment, I think I’ve imagined her. The blood loss is so severe I must be hallucinating.
Joanna’s voice is just a whisper, but it’s laced with so much concern my heart tugs for her. I feel her body sink into the cushions beside me. Her hand presses to my forehead, solid and warm as she checks for a fever.
“What happened?” she asks timidly. “Are you sick?”
She’s not sure what to do, and I’m not sure what to tell her. Now that I know she’s really here, I hate that she’s seeing me like this.
My voice comes out gravelly and broken from disuse. “You could say that.”
She lets out a frustrated sigh and takes in the state of me. I’m wearing the same clothes from this weekend, wrinkled and sweat-stained, I haven’t showered, and my skin is sallow. There’s blood in random places on the couch and on my shirt.
“Aidan.” She pleads my name like she’s desperate. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
The corner of my mouth just barely lifts into a smirk. “Ready to talk now, are you?”
She doesn’t hit me with a sarcastic remark. She just looks…heartbroken.
“Is this because of me?” she asks.
I want to lie, but I can’t hide the truth from my face. There’s no point holding back any longer. Joanna and I must face this head on—now.
“I need your blood,” I tell her, closing my eyes again. I try to hold back the emotion in my voice, but a quiver escapes. “But I would rather die than force you into something you don’t want.”
Joanna’s eyes fill with tears. I’ve never seen her cry.
“No,” she says sternly, her voice breaking. “You’re not going to die.”
She gets up, and the loss of her warm presence next to me feels like the pain of a thousand cuts, much worse than the pain I’ve already experienced. But then she rushes back with something in her hand. I’m struck by a sudden metallic sweetness in the air, and my heart starts pumping slightly faster. Before I open my eyes, I taste her delectable strawberry syrup on my lips. My tongue darts out to sweep the divine liquid into my mouth, and suddenly my eyes go wide.
Joanna has cut a line across the palm of her hand, and she’s holding it just above my mouth…for me to drink.
I don’t think, I lunge.
My mouth suctions to her hand as I drink so desperately I feel dizzy, but it’s working. I feel myself awakening from within. Her presence near me heightens my senses, and as her blood fills my empty shell of a body, the world around me brightens. My lungs clear, my throat is soothed, and the ache in my muscles dissipates.
The mark she’s made in her skin opens wider as I continue to bite and suck. I’m afraid I’ll take too much, but there’s a light in her eyes as I drink from her that tells me she’s fine. She wants to do this—she wants to help me.
This is how it’s supposed to be, how it should have been all this time.
Joanna’s blood was made for me.
I grab her wrist to pull her closer, and she lets out a soft moan. I notice her hair is pulled back into a disheveled ponytail, flyaways scattered in every direction. She too looks a bit off, like she hasn’t been sleeping well. There are dark circles under her eyes and her skin is blotchy.
Once I’ve had my fill, I detached myself from her hand, kissing the mark gently, and lick my lips generously. She pulls it to her chest, just in front of her heart, and makes a fist to stop the blood.
My own hand shakes as I reach to brush the hair away from her beautiful face. She smiles. “Just my luck, huh?” she teases.
My brow furrows. “What?”
“That I would choose to have a fling with my fated vampire mate.”
My thumb presses into the hollow of her cheek, forcing her mouth to open. “Technically, I never agreed to those terms.”
