Page 92 of Afflicted

I shake my head, hot tears cascading down my cheeks. “You’re not selfish. I don’t regret it. I just want… I want more than what we have. More than just this.”

“I know.” He pulls me close to him, wrapping his huge arms around me. It’s the safest I’ve ever felt in my life, skin to skin with a predator who could tear me to shreds.

“Maybe you could tell them I am your pet.” I laugh cynically, brushing my tears away with the heel of my hand. “We’re not really people are we? We’re just bloodbags. What would it matter if-“

He cuts me off, punishing my mouth with a bruising kiss. “Don’t say that,” he mutters, shaking his head. “Don’t fucking say that.”

I let him hold me, slumping against him, taking in all the heat of his body and letting him warm me up. He keeps kissing me, hard but slow, and with each stroke of his tongue he claims another part of me. I’m his, forever, whatever that means. But even as he draws me back into that warm haze, even as I wrap myself around him and swear to never let him go, I know. I know that trouble lies ahead. I can feel the storm clouds crackling on the horizon.

We may have crossed the line - but reality is going to keep tugging us back, back, back. Until the shock finally catches up with us.

CHAPTER26

SILAS

Watchinga woman you’ve fucked performing her mundane daily chores is torture.

I stand at the edge of the garden as Juliet digs in the vegetable patch with the others, as they plant in preparation for harvest, and all I can focus on is the curve of her thighs, remembering what they felt like pressed around my hips. What her cunt felt like as I drove my cock into it. What her blood tasted like as it ran down my throat.

She was perfect. I’d known she would be, but she was even more than I thought. She was begging to be overpowered, to be fucked and worshipped. She’s addictive in the most dangerous way possible. That one encounter has me needing more, I need to fill all of her, I need to mark all of her as mine.

Instead I have to stand here and watch as she works away, tending plants and tossing that blonde hair over her shoulder. It’s tied up in a ponytail right now, and I imagine wrapping it around my fist, sinking into her.

Having her once didn’t sate anything. It made everything even more acute.

Every now and then she looks up and catches my eye. She gives me that slow smile, the freckles around her mouth dancing as she does. I have to clench my fists to stop myself charging across the yard and seizing her in my arms.

I can still feel the heat of her blood as it poured down my throat. The sweetest taste I’ve ever experienced. I want to wrap her up, hide her away, spend our days fucking and tasting each other.

I chew the inside of my cheek as I think of her crying. Hating this life. Wanting to be away from here. Wanting to be with me, justme.

How do I keep her safe?

“Silas!” Sam’s voice rings across the garden, and I turn to see her waving me up towards her.

“What’s up?” I haven’t really spoken to her since she accosted me in her office, but if she feels awkward she doesn’t let it show. Her face is neutral, almost friendly.

“Hey, a few of the sensors on the grid aren’t showing up,” she says, gesturing towards the front gate. “There’s a major storm warning, and the last thing we need is an outage in the system.”

“Uh, yeah of course, I’ll drive out and check on them.”

“How is she?” Her gaze remains level as my head snaps in her direction.

“What?”

She jerks her head down towards the garden. “The girl, is she doing better?”

“She’s fine, why?”

Sam cocks an eyebrow. “You’re acting weird, everything OK?”

Everything’s fine, I just broke every rule we’re meant to adhere to and not only did I bite a human, I fucked her and made her come a handful of times, no big deal.

“I’m fine, just worried about this storm, you know?” As if on cue, thunder rumbles in the distance.

“Yeah, well go on out and check these sensors, hopefully the grid holds up.” She takes a step closer to me. “If the power goes out, maybe we can keep each other entertained.”

I jam my hands in my pockets and back away from her. “I better go.”

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