“I’m trying to hold back.”
“Don’t,” I panted. “Because I don’t have the strength right now to fight myself. I need you.”
“Are you sure?” he questioned while nipping at my neck. I nodded, too enamored by his lips on my sensitive skin to form a sound beyond gasps and soft moans. “Then don’t expect me to hold back.”
Gathering me in his arms, he sped off to take me somewhere to explore the bond more intimately, but managed to only make it to a meadow clearing before tearing off my clothes. Lucien showed me everything he had held back until now and I responded in kind. Over and over until the sun set behind its violet clouds.
***PAGE BREAK***
“You have a heartbeat,” I pointed out, my head lying on his chest as the damp earth clung to our bodies. His jacket covered me modestly, but our other clothes remained strewn about and some in pieces. I heard the rapid beating of his life under my head. “I thought vampires were the undead.”
“Turned ones are considered undead, but if you are born to pureblooded vampires then you will retain most human functions,” he explained. His words weren’t condescending, nor were they delivered in any way to put me down. Lucien was happy to share this part of himself with me and I was glad he was finally allowing me in more. “Turned vampires can only ingest blood and it must be human blood. They cannot stomach the blood of animals because they must feed on the blood they once held in their human bodies,” he continued, his hand absentmindedly running up and down my arm as he spoke.
“If I became a vampire, would I be undead?” I asked. I expected him to shut down the idea or even get upset that I even had the idea, but he didn’t.
Instead, he seemed intrigued by the idea. “I’m not sure. There are loopholes to it, but if we wait until I become head of my coven then you would become a pureblood vampire if I turned you. The power of a head vampire is unparalleled to the most powerful pureblood vampires. I’m sure Isadora has told you about our eyes.”
“Yeah, she told me that you were born with the eyes you have now and that meant you would take over the coven.”
Lucien nodded, resting his chin atop my head. “Yes. It’s why my father resented me from birth when he saw me. Sometimes he went overboard with his punishments, but he lessened after he found his mate.”
“I wish I could have met your mother.”
“She died of witchbane,” he admitted with a soft release of air. I could tell he was still in great pain over the loss, butdidn’t draw attention to it as he continued. “I hadn’t realized her state until it was too late. I went to see her in the room she had secluded herself inside of. She only allowed a single maid and myself inside. That day, she tried turning me away. Her attempts were weak, allowing me to force myself inside the room. But I was too late by then.”
“You don’t have to—.” He squeezed me gently, letting me know that my concern wasn’t necessary. Today was turning into one where Lucien was ready to share his life, his home and his heart with me. So, I let him continue uninterrupted.
“She had already consumed a very large dose of witchbane, an amount that would kill even her. I tried to save her. I wasn’t skilled enough with my magic to save her. She died in my arms. That’s why I panicked when you had been poisoned with it by that hunter. I could only see you dying in my arms and I felt like I was that weak child holding his mother as she died in his arms. I didn't want to be that powerless again.”
I moved this time, sitting on my arm as I stared sternly in his eyes. “You came to my rescue. I’m here. I’m alive. And I have no plans of leaving you any time soon.”
His hand reached up to brush my hair behind my ear, smiling adoringly at me. “There’s one thing I can’t do.”
“And what’s that?”
“Hold myself back around you,” he answered before pulling my face to his. It was a diversion from the topic, the walls returning after so much had already been shared. I didn’t mind. I knew he would drop the walls for good whenever he was ready and I was content where I was.
Chapter Fifteen
Melinda
“A beast,” I repeated for the third time after Isadora’s explanation of what occurred in our absence. Lucien and I had returned to find a bloodied porch and a rattled Isadora with an upset pair of twins.
“Yes! There was a small beast left on the porch last night and it had that note pinned into it,” she explained yet again. I looked over at the piece of notebook paper that had the word “BLOODSUCKERS” written in either blood or red ink. I didn’t want to find out. There were little holes from the pins, but it seemed a bit far-fetched for me.
“Isadora, kids play pranks. I’m sure it wasn’t real.”
“Ambrose wanted to eat it before the blood turned rotten, but I managed to stop the twins and wrapped it in a rug downstairs. Look, I’ll show you,” Isadora replied before leading me out of the bedroom. Why Isa didn’t feel the need to show the “beast” when I first arrived back, I’d have no idea, but it would have saved time.
She led me to a bundle tucked away in the corner under the stairs. It smelled like something was definitely dead. Her arms wrapped around the rug as she carried it to the more open space in the entryway. She let it unravel to reveal the carcass. We stared down at it before I looked up at Isadora.
“That’s a coyote, Isa. Do you not have coyotes in Shadowhaven?” I asked. I knelt down, observing the remains of the coyote. Isadora had originally thought it was some weird hybrid werewolf, but it was much too small to be that.
Isadora watched me as I observed the wounds that had been left.
Unfazed by the bloated body, I carefully turned it over to see the wounds were only on its right side. The cause of death was more than likely the wooden stake that had been stabbedthrough it, but there was no telling as the starved coyote was poked beyond any comprehension.
“Care to come with me to check out a lead?” I questioned as I rose from my squatted position. When Isadora looked at me confused, I just waved for the vampire to follow and outside where my truck was waiting. “When did this get here?”
