Page 124 of Afflicted

He chuckles, putting an arm around my shoulders. “You sound so very southern when you talk like that.”

“Well you can take the girl out of Georgia…” I nuzzle into him, draping my arm across his stomach, and let out a long exhale. “I can’t believe you busted me out of there.”

“I had no choice. I wasn’t going to let them-”

“Let them what?” I sigh heavily. “I wish you’d stop being cryptic.”

“They were going to send you to Charleston.” He says the words heavily, as though he has to get them out before he thinks better of it.

My breathing halts for a second as I try to absorb his meaning.Charleston.I hear Matt’s voice, telling me about all the women he’d been forced to sleep with. All the drugs they’d fed him to get him horny and hard and all the disgusting things required to make the babies the vamps desperately need. I cough out a gasp, and Silas’s grasp around me tightens.

“You mean…” I still can’t say it out loud.

“They were going to transfer you to the breeding farm.”

“That’s why they hadn’t drained me in so long.”That’s why they kept me alive. It all makes sense now. Anyone else, they’d have shot. When I tried to… To kill myself. I squeeze my eyes shut. They brought me back, got me healthy again. Sending me to the gym, getting my weight up, and then that horrific examination. It was never aboutme. “They were keeping me for my uterus.”

Silas swallows hard, his body tensing under my hands. I can feel the rage rolling off him.

“Yes, they were.”

“And you killed Sam because she told you?”

My eyes fly open as his fingers notch under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “Yes. Because she made out that you meant nothing, and that I would get over you. She had no idea,no fucking idea, that without you,I’mnothing.”

My eyes go damp. “They were going to make me get pregnant.”

Silas growls low in his throat. “And I wasn’t going to let that happen. No one, you hear me? No one hurts you. I would never let anyone hurt you, or touch you like that. Nobody, ever.”

“They were going to take me away from you.” I reach up and stroke his cheek, and his hand curls around my wrist. He presses a kiss into the palm of my hand, his eyes slipping closed as he inhales.

“Yes. They were.” He puts my hand to his forehead, and exhales heavily. “I couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t have them take you away. I wasn’t going to let them do that to you, to us. So I did what I had to.”

He pulls me into his lap, curling himself around me as though he wishes he could slip me under his skin. The warmth of the fire begins to wash over us, and my body begins to tingle with giddiness as I realize that we’re free. I clasp a hand over my mouth to stop a giggle escaping.

Silas looks down at me with a crooked grin. “Angel?”

I nod, maybe a little too enthusiastically, and then Silas’s eyes widen a little as I don't stop nodding. Tears are sliding down my cheeks, and the floor begins to tilt and shift under me even though I know we’re sitting still.

“Jules, I need you to calm down, alright? Deep breaths.”

I’m having a panic attack, I can feel it. My hands start shaking, and Silas clasps me even tighter to him. “S-Silas.” My fingertips claw into him. “Oh fuck, Silas, p-please, I don’t-”

“It’s alright, you’re alright, I’ve got you.” He strokes my hair. “Listen to me, focus on my voice. I’m here, and you’re safe.”

“I never thought-” I break off as a loud sob bubbles up my throat. “F-five years.” I almost scream the words. Five years. Five fucking years.

“I know, I know.” Silas begins to rock me gently, I think. I can’t be sure, as the room continues to spin around me. “I should have gotten you out of there the day I laid eyes on you. I should have run with you right then and there.”

“They-they were going to l-let some man rape me. They were going to-Ohgod.” My head falls against his chest. “I never - I never want anyone to- to…” I try to breathe, clawing at him. “B-bite me. Please, I want you to make me feel good.”

He tenses, his hands splayed on my back. “Jules-”

“Bite me.”

With a heavy breath he tips my head back, sinking his fangs into my neck. The sweetness floods my body before my mind can comprehend what’s happening, and I sag in his arms. The blazing ecstasy of my orgasm pushes out all the dread and panic, leaving nothing but a white cloud of bliss in its wake. Silas’s hand cups my breast, gently rolling my nipple between his fingers as his tongue sweeps across my skin, lapping up my blood.

I stay in his arms, my eyes closed, as he withdraws his fangs, licking away the punctures left behind. His hand stays on my breast, caressing me as tiny aftershocks jolt through my body.

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