Page 10 of Fated Blood

“Forget about her, we won’t be here forever. My Father will find me. He’ll get us out of here.”

“Your father is only human, Fayla. He doesn’t stand a chance against Angelica Monroe. I should know.”

I don’t answer.

I’m not brave enough to tell him that my father isn’t human at all.

Chapter4

Sebastian

The Monroe bitch’s little visit has caused more than a boner that won't go away. I feel shame for the way my body reacted to her, shame, because it wasn't her touch I wanted. In no time at all, I’ve become fiercely protective of a stranger I can barely see. Maybe it’s because I’ve been confined so long, maybe it’s because her innocence calls to my black soul. Maybe I just need to get laid.

Her hand on my shoulder sets me on fire in a way I wish I could ignore. Her thumb slowly climbs my neck and I know she’s looking for the bite wound above my new collar. “Vampire’s saliva can heal human injuries,” I explain. “You won't find her bite there.”

“That's…good…” There’s hesitation in her voice, as if she’s ashamed to have been caught. Her fingers continue searching, brushing the collar around my throat. “This is so wrong…you’re not an animal!”

She would think I’m an animal if she knew what her cold fingers on my neck are making me imagine.

“Can you get it off?” she asks.

I shake my head. “If I take it off, she’ll punish me.”

“What could be worse than this?” she asks.

Once again her innocence surprises me. “She could hurt me, physically, or force me to use my body to pleasure her. Like she almost did just now.” I grunt, remembering the feel of Angelica’s warmth as she hiked her leg up. I was already semi aroused from my conversation with this sweet woman comforting me, I never wanted to feel anything for my captor.

“Pleasure? What do you mean? She’d make you make her happy?”

I have to laugh. Fayla’s so damn sweet. So fucking sheltered.

“What’s so funny?” she asks, trying to pull her hand away.

I grab it and thread my fingers through hers. “You’re too sweet, Fayla,” I tell her instead of explaining. I should have known better, should have realized her innocence would be so utterly complete. I doubt she’s ever even seen herself naked and explored her own body. My cock goes rock hard at the thought and I hate myself for it.

“Father tells me I’m sweet all the time, but the way you say it…it sounds like a bad thing? Is being sweet something I shouldn't be?”

“No, Fayla, being sweet isn’t a bad thing. It’s just, you’re too sweet to be around a man like me.”

“Oh, come on!” she scoffs, moving my hand back and forth in hers. “You’re sweet too. You never had to talk to me but you chose to make me feel better. I’m so thankful for that, Sebastian.”

“If you only knew…” I whisper, imagining the things I’ve done, the people and monsters I’ve killed in my lifetime. The children I’ve trained to become killers. She’s holding the hand of a vicious, cold-hearted man. “Nothing about me is sweet, Fayla.”

“Are you just trying to be a tough guy? My friend Mara says that her uncle pretends to be a big jerk to everyone, but underneath he’s something called a marshmallow. Is that what you’re doing? Trying to hide that you’re a marshmallow? You don’t have to pretend with me, Sebastian. You can be who you really are.”

I pinch my eyes shut, remembering the last night of my freedom. Remembering the warning I ignored. If Fayla knew about that, how I got my entire squad killed, would she still think I’m sweet? Memories flash in my mind, their screams echoing in my skull will never ever stop.

“You have to stop them!” a feminine voice says over the radio on my shoulder.

I’m hunched down in tall grasses with my unit, prepared to attack the fortress in front of me. This is the closest we’ve ever gotten, and the matriarch of the Monroe family is in my grasp.

“Get off this channel, kid!” I snarl, laying in the dirt and loading my sniper rifle with hollow point silver bullets.

“You don’t understand, it’s a trap!” the girl insists.

I roll my eyes. “Get. Off. The Radio!” I hiss into the receiver.

For a few long moments there's only the sound of static and then silence. Then, another voice comes over the radio. This voice is calm , reassuring, and I find myself focused more on the radio than I am on the walls of the castle we’ve come to raid.

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