Page 59 of Deadly Cravings

The thought struck horror through me. Obsession would be the downfall of us all.

TWENTY-FOUR

catalina

My eyes fluttered open.This time I hadn’t woken from the dream like a bat out of hell. After Tobias ran off, I’d passed out, blissed out on all the orgasms. I hadn’t thought it was possible to come so much, but I was fortunately wrong. I stretched out in Tobias’s bed—utterly alone. Moonlight filtered through the multicolored glass pane, the brown shades enhanced in the shine. I dragged my palm over the silk duvet, marveling at the intricate weavings.

My bladder was especially tight. A yawn stretched my jaw. I kicked the bedding off, and pushed off the high bed, making my way to the restroom. I was so sticky, especially my belly. I thought back to the reason why and my face warmed.

I turned the knob of the shower and water rained lightly across my skin. The cool droplets splashed on my skin and I held my hand suspended until it warmed. Stepping inside, I let the water fall over my head and seep onto my scalp. I squirted shampoo into my palm and scrubbed my head, massaging the cedar-scented liquid into my hair.

Finishing my wash, I tugged the towel from the rod, wrapped it around my body, and stepped onto the mat to dry my damp feet.

Tobias had to have something I could wear in here. Exiting the bath area, I went to the drawers. Bingo. Combing through a few drawers until I found a shirt, I paused when I caught a glint.

I pulled out a shiny rectangular frame and frowned at the image where Tobias posed beside an elegant woman looking to be his age... or the age he stopped aging.Had he been married at some point?

The woman’s long neck was elegant and it led to a well-endowed bosom and a tiny waist cinched by a corset. Skirts ruffled out around her legs and her hands were prettily set on her lap.

Some strong twisting happened in my gut when I looked at her. Tobias seemed so serious behind her, looming over her like a protector. I ached to ask him who she was, but I feared I wouldn’t like the answer.

That nasty twisting rose to my esophagus, and I tucked the image back in its place. Plucking a shirt from the neatly folded stack, I tugged it on, and the hem grazed below my knees.

I didn’t want to put those heels back on, but I saw no other way to get around it unless I walked around barefoot. Especially since I didn’t know where Asher put the ones I’d brought.

A bang echoed down the hall and I jumped, whirling around. It sounded like it’d come from the hall. What was that?

I shut the drawer and went to investigate. The door had been left ajar. Another louder clang resonated through the mansion and I followed it to the right of the hall, away from the staircase. I passed Asher’s bedroom, and then four other doors, stopping at the last one on the opposite side. It seemed innocent enough.

I prodded it open the rest of the way with the tip of my toe to a dark room.

Palming the wall, I felt around for the switch, but there was nothing. The slightest sound reached my ears. Was that a groan? I shuffled a few more steps inside, leaving the door wide open sothe light speared across the room in a narrow beam that reached the far wall. It was enough to give me courage to take a few more steps. I rubbed my arms. By this point, I was inside of the room and very much doubting whether I should be in here. A rattle, much lower than what I’d originally heard, bounced around the room. Like metal shaking against metal.

I jumped back so fast, trying to flatten against the wall to sidle to the door, but my hip bumped into what I could only assume was a mattress and then a cold palm wrapped around my wrist. A scream slipped free as I was yanked to something hard.

Panting, I froze, the hands feeling oddly familiar.

I squeezed my eyelids together and felt a light touch on my hand as it was dragged up. My fingers settled on... hair?

I gawked up at the male that had moved into the direct line of the beam filtering inside. Red eyes stared down at me, almost expectantly, the same blank aspect to them as in the dream. They lacked humanity. Like I stared into the eyes of a tiger. A large hungry tiger waiting to tear into its bleeding prey.

“You’re real,” I breathed.

He hissed, pressing my fingers into his long pale, white hair, just like he enjoyed in the dream. He was fucking real? A hysterical laugh wanted to escape but I swallowed it.

My trembling digits dragged across his scalp, scratching slightly. His eyes slitted and he buried his mouth into my neck, biting down hard. I screeched, the sound ripping from my throat.

It was combination of surprise and absolute agony. My fingers curled into his hair, desperately yanking as he sucked in deep pulls.

It’d felt the exact same as when I was held by the other vampire, as if he was pulling too hard and too fast, so much so it burned coming out of me. Like the pressure of blood surfacingwas too much to come through the little holes caused by the fangs.

I whimpered, and my mind scrambled.

“Tobias,” I shouted, or attempted to. The noise rasped past my throat. “Asher!”

Dots specked in front of my eyes. When I heard nothing I assumed they must not be here... the only one here then, was... “Jax!”

I cried it out so hard my throat burned.

---