Page 29 of Bleeding Love

She didn’t stop me, didn’t even try, even though her magic applied more and more pressure to my lower body to keep it still. I squeezed, feeling her pulse dancing underneath my fingers, but apart from a low gasp, Celeste didn’t make a sound. Her eyes found mine, and she stared with a fearlessness that baffled me.

“Go ahead, kill me. I’ll come back eventually,” she said, a bitter smile tugging on her lips. The magic that kept me pinned disappeared, but she didn’t move, sitting on top of me like she had every right to be there. “I think we have already established that you can hurt me if you want to. You can rip my throat out or take me against my will.” The words stung, and I released her immediately. Her smile widened, but not with victory. She looked…somber. She watched me like she could see right through everything I was and everything I had done.

And she wasn’t scared. Wasn’t appalled. Not like before.

“Are you in love with me, Roman?” she asked with a cold, flat tone that surprised me more than the dangerous spark that flickered in her eyes. For the first time since I met her, I felt uneasiness spread through me. She didn’t look happy at the prospect, even though she had been acting like she had me in the palm of her hand just because I saved her.

“No,” I replied, forcing myself to hold her gaze even as something inside of me twisted in disagreement. I didn’t love her, I told myself, I couldn’t love her. I couldn’t love anything. I was a monster born of death and blood.

Celeste let a long, relieved sigh, the tension slipping from her shoulders.

“Good,” she said, patting my chest before sliding off me. “Because this won’t work if you ever fall in love with me.” Frowning in confusion, I watched her pad to the table on bare feet and open the box with the meat pie I had snatched from a house on our way here. She made an approving sound before taking it out. She looked around, striding to the small cupboard by one of the walls and rummaging through the drawers. The stark contrast between the woman who watched me with weary apprehension, to the witch who turned her back to me and hummed under her breath, made my senses tingle in alarm.

Celeste slipped a knife and fork from one of the cupboards, and a small goblet from another, then returned to the table.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked when she looked like she had no intention of continuing the conversation.

“Well,” she said as she cut into the pie, the dull knife scratching against the metal bottom. “I am talking about this collaboration of ours. If you ever fall in love with me, I will have to leave, so I prefer to avoid that. This way, we can both get what we want.”

I frowned at her back, suddenly annoyed at her flippant tone.

“And what if you fall in love with me?” I said out of spite. Not that I expected her to, not with a vampire.

Celeste pulled the knife away from the meat pie, waving with her finger while her magic wiped it clean. Slowly, she turned to look at me over her shoulder, her smile widening even though her eyes were hollow.

“I don’t have a soul, Roman. You don’t need to worry about me,” she said with a cheerfulness that didn’t reach her eyes. I was still wondering what to say to that when the smell of blood filled the room. I was beside her in an instant, staring as she held her wrist above the goblet she had found while crimson drop after crimson drop fell into it. I reached out to grab her hand, but she moved with surprising speed, catching my wrist first. She didn’t look at me until the cup was full, the liquid rippling when the last drop fell and she pulled her hand away. Her magic encircled her wrist, forcing the skin together. The pale aura grew brighter around her injured limb and before long, the cut had closed even if her skin remained pink and raw.

“Here.” She turned to face me, holding the cup for me to take. “We can both get what we want, Roman.”

“And what is it that you want?” I asked, trying to keep my eyes on her face even though the smell of her fresh, warm blood was making it hard to focus.

“A safe space to replenish my power.” Celeste smiled, and for the first time, it looked genuine. “I have enemies. A lot of enemies. They will keep coming no matter what I do. But if I have someone strong by my side, someone to watch my back, I won’t have to be on the run all the time. It won’t take long, just a few years. That’s nothing for a vampire, isn’t it?” She slid her free hand around my fingers, raising them until they wrapped them around the cup. She didn’t look away from my eyes even for a second. “In return, you will get me. My blood. My body. My delightful company. It gets boring sometimes, doesn’t it? Living forever.”

Her smile was a thing of beauty and wickedness. I couldn’t look away.

“This agreement won’t be binding. You are free to leave whenever you want—when you grow bored with me or when your Master calls. There will be no hard feelings.” The edges of her lips quirked. “And I promise not to try to kill you again.”

She nudged my hand again, and I realized the cup was already on my lips, the blood inside sloshing against my mouth. It smelled divine from this close and before I knew it, I was devouring it. I didn’t even notice when I closed my eyes, but the sweet taste of magic and power slid down my throat, making me feel alive like nothing else did.

It was over too quickly. I wanted more, I needed more, and when I looked down at her, she smiled. More. More of her. More of her blood. More of her body.

It was such an easy choice. But there was still something that bothered me.

“What about everything until now?” I asked, putting the cup down. She winced—it was such a quick reaction, I almost missed it. “You are willing to make that deal after I locked you up and…tortured you?”

She turned her head, staring unseeingly out the window. I wasn’t sure if she did it on purpose, but the movement bared her neck to me, making me swallow the aftertaste of her blood. Still, she said nothing.

“Pity,” I said, forcing myself to sound nonchalant. “It was an enticing offer.”

I moved to go around her, but her hand shot out, grabbing my elbow. I paused, looking down at her determined eyes. Her smile was gone, but the expression that replaced it was one of steel determination.

“Swear to me,” she said, raising her chin so she could hold my gaze. “Give me your word that you will never take my freedom away or ask for anything I am not willing to give. Swear it, and we have a deal.”

I blinked in surprise.

“Swear to you?” I scoffed. “You’ll take the word of a vampire?”

“I’ll take your word, Roman,” she said softly. The way she spoke my name burned almost as hard as the sun did, but I was ready to suffer if I could keep hearing it again and again. “The world gives us labels without care and they often do not fit. But people, even vampires, can surprise you. So give me your word, Roman, and I will believe it. And should you betray me, I will consider you the monster you think yourself to be. Until then, you will be Roman to me.”

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