Page 24 of To Save a Vampire
He takes another worried look at my neck. I try to take deep breaths as his intense stare seeps into me. His concern transfers right through me, wedging into every crevice of my mind, but I continue to focus on my breathing. He pushes loose strands of hair off my neck, and the small cut stings when his fingers brush against it.
“Do you think the cut is anything to worry about?” I ask, starting to panic internally while the forest around me remains silent.
His steel eyes glance from the scratch to my face. He tilts his head to better inspect the affected area of my neck. My mind is racing a mile a minute at all the thoughts of infection and bites I’ve seen over the years within our camp.
“It’s hard to say really.”
My mouth is dry and I’m still sweating, but I can’t tell whether it’s from the intense heat or whether it’s a symptom of the deadly poison racing through my bloodstream.
“We could always give you an antidote just to be safe,” he says, looking at the ground in thought.
“There’s an antidote?” I ask loudly, hope fluttering into my panicked heart. Is my heart rate accelerated from the berries?
He gives a small, masked smile. “My DNA is a cure all. Do they not teach you anything at that camp?”
His DNA. I instantly wonder what else Shaw used him for. Was there more to the compound than work and the secret testing?.
“Your DNA. Like your blood?” I ask, trying not to curl my lip in disgust. The thought of seeing his blood again, let alone wiping it on myself makes me want to run far, far away, poisoned or not.
“Our blood is an instantaneous solution, but there are other ways to transfer DNA,” he says in a low voice with an animalistic smile.
Confusion crosses my face as I think through his words. I’m almost about to ask him to explain when he licks his lips. My eyes follow the movement with slow understanding washing through me. My uneven breaths halt altogether. I suddenly notice how close he is to me. I give an awkward half smile and struggle to find a sentence to clear the air.
“Relax, I’m not going to bite you,” he says with a soft laugh that hums through my own body.
“It’s not that.” I pause trying to dissolve my awkwardness. “So, you’ll just lick me and—and I’ll absorb your magical healing powers?” I try to force the sarcasm from my voice because that’s all I have. It’s either sarcasm or shuddering nonsense.
He gives another drool-worthy half smile at my attempt to think through all this. “It’s not magic, but, yeah, sure, let’s call me magical.”
I can’t look him in the eye, and our silence lingers long enough for him to speak again. “Listen, maybe it’s a harmless berry bush. Maybe we will eat them all tonight. Maybe they’ll be delicious. But maybe,” he tilts his head in speculation, “maybe they’re not. There are an infinite number of things in nature that are deadly. Beautiful but deadly.” He pauses looking around at the threatening environment he just described. “Ky and Charlotte are at least a mile up river. With every step you take, you could be pumping the poison farther into your blood stream. You could be dead before you even utter the wordberryto them.” His brows are raised and he’s holding back a laugh at the mortal panic that’s settling into me and making a home in my incapable lungs.
“Okay. Just do whatever mystical thing it is that your DNA does already,” I say darting my eyes away from him.
I turn my neck toward him and keep focused on the leaves at our feet. The design of them, the rough, dry edges, the thin lines that splay through them. I also try to keep my breaths coming in and out. In and out. My breathing is a simple process that I now have to put so much focus on.
I hear him take a step closer to me, his body brushing mine, his boots crushing the little leaves I had mapped out earlier. His fingers brush against my neck, holding my head in his hand. His palm is cool against my warm skin. A tingle breaks out along my collar at his touch and the feel of his breath on my neck.
He moves skillfully, like a praying mantis preparing to devour its mate. And I’m just about to tell him to wait and I’ll take my chances when his lips touch my neck. The small traces of air I was harboring leave my lungs. I expect to feel burning or stinging from the wound, but it’s very much the opposite.
He kisses my neck lightly at first, and I try to keep my eyes focused on each individual leaf in my sight again, studying every fallen shape of nature into my memory, trying to remain calm. He’s trying to help me, to cure me, but my mind starts drifting in another direction.
He opens his mouth and I feel his tongue against my neck, warm and hesitant. I take a sharp breath as a heat spreads through my core. His tongue traces against my skin between kisses, and I fist his shirt in my hands to steady myself. I close my eyes and clamp my mouth shut to try and keep any composure I might have left.
His mouth trails against my neck, nipping occasionally, and I feel his other hand grip my waist tightly, pulling me even closer. My body molds happily and lithely against his.
“Asher,” I say in a breathy voice.
His mouth keeps moving slowly against my neck until he’s at the low point where it meets my shoulder. The tingling that’s frantically soaring through me starts to settle in and build low in my stomach, creating something impatient. Something demanding. I take another deep breath and move impossibly closer to him. Pushing one hand against his hard chest while the other mindlessly strays to his neck, clinging tightly to keep me grounded to him.
“Asher,” I say again in a whisper.
He hums against my neck in response. A shiver pulls down my spine.
I try to think. Somewhere rolling around on the floor of my mind is a question forming, but I can’t grasp it. My brows tense, trying to form a basic thought. “Do you think it’s working?” I finally ask when a little light shines through the haze of my mind.
He gives another slow sweep of his tongue against my neck before pausing. He rests his head against my shoulder, his hand still holding my hip. My now weak body is flush against his strong body. “Do you think that’s enough?” I say again against his chest as I try to quietly catch my breath.
He nods and takes a step back from me. He glances at my neck as he pushes his fingers roughly through his messy hair. I try to let my eyes adjust to the light of the sun and attempt, once again, to steady my breathing without looking too affected by his touch.
