Page 74 of Vampires of Eden: Oliver
Without another word, I do just that. I exhale, and slowly, the desire, heat and excitement melt from within. The sensation is like holding sand in my clenched fist, but then I relax my fingers. I open my palm and the grains stream and slip free.
Except it isn’t just my hand. My body and nature open and are liberated. Weightless. Like magic, the energy of my essence glows all around my frame in a pale, silvery blue. It’s enchanting and warm. Incomprehensible.
Aries parts his lips and inhales deep. His chest rises. His eyes alight and burn brighter than ever. I’m about to ask if he’s okay, but his finger suddenly pushes within me again. It cuts off my ability to think and speak.
He touches the wall deep inside. Over and over. It’s too much. Too good. I can barely breathe because of this wild flood of sensations. I close my burning eyes and give in to it completely, melting like hot candle wax in his hands.
My aura radiates more intensely as I come. Relentless and joyful. Free from my imposed bondage. After a long moment of blissful tension, my entire frame goes limp—my arms and legs tremble and my fangs pulse aggressively.
Aries pulls out from inside and grips my body as if he’s holding me steady. Or maybe he’s at risk of being swept away by the force of my energy as well?
Slowly, the intensity of my aura dissipates. It fizzles out and I inhale a breath as I stare up at the ceiling. Holy shit…
Delirious, starving, I run my tongue along my teeth and realize that my incisors have sharpened to points.
“Oliver?” Aries watches me with shimmering deep-blue eyes. There’s an expression settled in his face that I can’t easily read. Disbelief? Shock?
Embarrassed, I reach and grab the pillow beside me to pull it over my face. My voice is muffled. “I’m alright.” Am I? God help me. Every nerve ending feels charged with a thousand volts—screaming at me. I’ve never wanted to feed so badly in my entire life.
“Are you alright?” I ask, feeling my face and every other inch of my skin flush with heat. “I didn’t manipulate you, did I? I didn’t try to.” Gripping the soft material in my fists, the pillow does little to cool my flesh. Suddenly, the makeshift protection is stripped from me and I gasp in surprise.
“Darling, what are you doing?” Aries asks, resting the pillow at my groin as he examines me with glowing eyes.
“Ah, well, I don’t really know… exactly.”
“Your fangs are out.”
“Yes, right—but you don’t need to feed me, obviously. I’m okay.” This is awkward and slightly inappropriate. Evocative. Facing him openly with my fanged mouth is a clear indicator that I want to feed. From him, specifically. Plus, I’m purebred and that only creates additional, complex layers. That he should submit to my will and desire.
“I’m fine,” I repeat, slowly shifting and drawing my leg up to unwrap myself from around his hips. “I just, hmm… I wasn’t—”
“Oliver, how… how can you feel this strongly for me?” Aries asks, making me pause. “I don’t think I understood. I thought, perhaps you were just… that truly, this is…”
He blinks, then runs a palm through his dark hair. His eyes are searching as if he can’t find the words. Or maybe he knows the words but doesn’t want to say them.
I fill in the gaps. “You were thinking that I’m young, and that this is just a chance meeting—a phase in my life. Once I’m properly bonded with my prince, I’ll forget about you. You thought I would move on, right?”
Aries inhales a shaky breath and rubs his palms against his face. He doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t need to. Being exposed to my nature, he knows better now. He understands the truth.
“I keep telling you that it isn’t like that, Aries,” I say softly. “My feelings for you are…” I shake my head and take a breath. “I’m sorry if I overwhelmed you.”
“You don’t need to be sorry,” he says, dropping his hands. “I asked you to let it rest.”
“You did, but—”
“But nothing,” he says. “It was… beautiful. Profound. Truly, you… You’re the antithesis of everything I’ve known a purebred to be. It’s as if the cosmos was determined to prove me wrong when it brought you into my life.”
Pushing myself upright, I settle against my palms but with my legs still haphazardly gaped on either side of his body. I grin. “The cosmos and I have successfully colluded against you. Do you feel differently now?”
“I’d be a fool if I didn’t.” He leans down, brushing past my lips and kissing me on the cheek. Likely to avoid my fangs.
He lifts, meeting my gaze. “Do you feel stable? Are you in control?”
My body is still zipping with energy and I want him badly. Wholly. In every way. But my mind is clear, so I nod. “I am.”
Aries cups my chin with the hook of his index finger, then raises his thumb to my lips and softly traces the shape of them. “With my being first-gen, you know that I carry remnants of human DNA within my blood.”
“I know that,” I whisper against the pad of his thumb, entranced. Paralyzed. “You don’t have to keep reminding me.”
