Page 51 of Taste of Fate

“Ignore him. You’re the best chance he has at living. Just put your wrist to his mouth. He’ll do the rest.”

Before I could protest again, the delicate skin of her wrist pulsed against my lips. I didn’t even fight. I was that weak, in spirit and body. Instinct and survival took over, and my fangs sank in.

There was a jerk of her arm but I held fast, and her blood flowing over my tongue made everything right. She was life and vitality, meant to sustain and feed only me in this way.

Her blood, meant only for me.

What a sick, cruel joke.

Chapter 19

Tavia

Cyan fell unconscious with his fangs still in my wrist. Thorne and Desmond called it a “deep healing sleep” and said it was normal after a vampire sustained a bad injury.

The two vampires pried Cyan’s fangs from my wrist, then eased his limp body to the bed. I was staring so hard at his unconscious face that I didn’t notice Thorne had pressed a strip of gauze to my wrist until he spoke.

“Hold that there. The bleeding will slow soon.” The clan leader quirked a brow. “Unless you want one of us to lick your wounds closed, but Cy probably won’t like another vampire’s scent on you when he wakes up.”

He wouldn’t care, I wanted to say, but the bitter statement remained stuck in my throat. It would feel too real if I said it aloud, even though Cy already said he would release me to someone else. I wasn’t ready to give up, and deep down I knew he wasn’t either.

And anyway, it wasn’t like I wanted another vampire licking my skin.

“I’m okay, thanks.” Thorne held out a length of tape, and I allowed him to wrap it around my wrist to hold the gauze in place. “What happens now? Will he be okay?”

Thorne stood, looking weary. “He’s already healing. Your blood will speed things along. He just needs to rest. As do you.” The vampire gave me a pointed look. “That was a lot of blood you gave, especially for your first feeding. Drink Gatorade or whatever you humans need to replenish yourself.”

“I can stay with him, right?”

“You’re his blood pet. It would be odd if you didn’t.”

Thorne and Des left the suite, leaving me and Cy alone together in his bedroom. I’d never been in here before until now. It was almost funny how they left us alone here, like me being in this room was completely routine. But no, I didn’t belong here. Cyan had never wanted me here in any intimate capacity.

And yet, I couldn’t leave him.

His skin had broken out into goosebumps, so I pulled the covers up to his shoulders and smoothed them out. The wound on his neck already looked much better, no longer a mess of jagged, bleeding flesh. Skin and muscle had already knitted themselves together, the new tissue red and tender.

He looked peaceful now, deeply asleep. His lips were parted slightly, and my pulse fluttered at the thought of our kiss in the kitchen.

Abruptly, I stood from his bedside and left the room. My heartbeat felt too fast, and I had a moment of dizziness as I walked out. The blood loss was stunningly clear in that moment, and I took extra care on my way to the kitchenette. All the physical manifestations of my feelings for Cy were amplified by my low blood cell count. He’d better not wake up too quickly or I’d swoon right in front of him.

I nibbled on goldfish crackers and bits of salami while keeping an eye on the open doorway of his bedroom. Staying right at his side felt too close, too intimate in a way I had no right to be, but I still wanted to keep an eye on him. I wanted to be available if he needed me.

Or my blood.

I held my own wrist, feeling the tenderness of the puncture marks as I recalled how it had felt. Thinking about that almost made me swoon. It was ten times more intense than when I’d cut my thumb. Each pull on my vein was like a full-body caress, the sensation concentrating the strongest in my nipples and clit. If I hadn’t been so worried about him surviving, I might have orgasmed.

Right in front of his clan leader and his friend, which would have been mortifying.

I never wanted it to stop, and that in itself was equally terrifying and thrilling. I wanted Cyan to take it all from me, for my life force to heal him and bring back the vampire who smirked and flirted and made me feel special.

My phone buzzed with a text from Amy, pulling me out of my low-iron induced fantasy. I immediately hit the button to call her, eager for a distraction.

“Isn’t it past your bedtime, young lady?” I said when she picked up, heading to the couch with my snacks and a bottle of apple juice.

“Leave me alone, Mom,” she snickered. “You would not believe the shitshow today.”

“Well, don’t leave me in suspense.” I reclined and propped myself up with couch cushions so that I could still see into Cy’s bedroom. “What happened? You okay?”

---