Bite Me (28 page)

I don’t think that they intended me to hear that part of the conversation but it did make several things clear to me. This wasn’t about Vanessa and Conner or even Conner and me. This was about control over vampire society itself.

I was distracted from my eavesdropping by a snipping sound. My eyes flew to my feet and I saw Parker using a huge pair of scissors to cut a straight line up the center of the leg of my jeans. I tried to jerk my leg away, but I was strapped to tightly to the bed.

I strained and fought with every ounce of my strength as Parker cut from the bottom hem to my waist on each leg. Despite my struggle, he completed his cuts and pulled the jeans away from my body. My shirt was much quicker and easier to remove. Soon I was lying on that fucking cold bed in nothing but a sexy sheer bra and panties that I had worn with Conner in mind. I tried not to beg when I saw the light flare in Parker’s eyes. Jesus, Weasel the Vampire wasn’t going to rape me, Parker was.

It almost hurt when he dragged his finger tips down my leg from hip to ankle. The contact was light, but I was so freaked out that even that small touch felt as though it had been magnified by a million. I managed to keep my mouth shut until I saw the razor blade in his hand.

“Please, please don’t do this, Parker. You know you don’t really want to hurt me.” My voice was high and thin.

He looked at the blade and then placed his hand on my stomach, tracing a line across my abdomen with his fingers. “You’re so pale. The blood will look so beautiful against your white skin.” He placed the blade against the spot where his fingers had rested moments ago. “I love the color of blood.”

Oh fucking hell, Parker wasn’t just a douchebag, he was a psycho. If these sorts of things had been simmering in his brain all this time, it made me thankful I had gotten fired when I did. If those journals were real, then something told me it would have only been a matter of time before he couldn’t fight his desire to make his fantasies come true, either with me or someone else.

At the first slice of the razor, I couldn’t hold back my scream. I kept screaming as he used his finger to smear the blood against my skin, drawing patterns with it, and he did it again. And again. And again. No matter how long or loud I begged, he just continued to cut me.

After the fifth cut, or maybe it the sixth, I lost count. The pain grew. Some slices were small and shallow, others deep. Parker cut me with a smile on his face and an unholy light in his eyes the entire time. Once, after a particularly brutal slice, he actually laughed as I screamed so loud and long that I ran out of air and choked.

When my body was a huge mass of pain and blood, he stopped. I don’t know how long he had spent torturing me, but it felt like days. I couldn’t even scream any more. My throat was so raw that no sound came out. It wasn’t enough, though. I watched in horror as Parker began removing his clothes.

My movements were weak, but I still tried to break free of my bonds. When I realized I couldn’t, I began to cry soundlessly. “No, no, no,” I moaned, shaking my head wildly.

I jerked as he picked up the huge scissors he used to cut my clothes free of my body. With a few snips he removed my underwear from my body. I lay on the table naked, save my blood.

Parker was also nude when he picked up the razor again. I watched as he climbed on top of the table and loomed over me.

“I want to wear your blood while I fuck you,” he whispered.

I kept saying no. If I said it enough, maybe it would penetrate the haze of blood lust in his mind. I was so intent on begging him not to do this to me, I didn’t hear the noise at first.

Parker did. He stopped, looking over at the door.

Suddenly a sound did break through my fear. It was Conner’s voice, calling my name.

I drew in a breath. “Conner!” I yelled it but my voice was hoarse.

Parker started shaking his head. “No, I have to finish. I have to wear your blood, then I can drain you. This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen.”

I knew then what he was about to do. I tried to scream again. “Conner, in here! Hurry! Conner!”

There was nothing I could do as I watched Parker’s hand arc through the air, the light glinting off the bloody razor. While I lay helpless and bleeding beneath him, Parker Hanes slit my throat.

I knew I was dead. My body felt as though it were floating on a cloud. Nothing hurt. After the pain I experienced before my death, I was grateful for that. I was warm and safe in the silence.

Without opening my eyes, I breathed in deeply. The air around me smelled wonderful. The scent was extremely familiar. I couldn’t figure out where I knew it from, but it made me think of home. I took stock of my body and realized that I felt wonderful. When I finally opened my eyes I was surrounded by white. White light, white walls. Maybe this was Heaven. Though I hadn’t believed before maybe God did exist.

I sighed in contentment as I turned my head and took stock of my surroundings. I was lying on a huge bed set in the center of the room. The linens were soft and cool. If I hadn’t been so curious about what Heaven looked like, I could have stayed in that bed forever. The walls were smooth and blank, no artwork or windows to be seen. An overstuffed armchair and sofa were in the corner. And it was all white and cream. I felt like I was in a cocoon.

A door opened and my eyes wandered to the opposite side of the room, admitting even more bright beautiful light. A figure stood in silhouette. I smiled. I wondered if it was my guardian angel coming to welcome me. There were also some adventures I probably should apologize for because I was sure they caused my guardian angel plenty of stress.

As the figure moved into the room, I realized it was a man. His features became clear and I think my heart stopped again, which was an amazing feat as I was dead. It was Conner Savage. My heart both soared and broke simultaneously. I was so glad he was with me in heaven but it hurt to know that Vanessa and her cohorts had succeeded in killing him when he came for me.

“Conner,” I breathed, holding a hand out to him.

He came to the side of the bed and sat down before taking my hand. “I’m glad you’re awake. How are you feeling?” He was watching me closely as though he expected something bad to happen.

I felt tears fill my eyes. “I’m fine. I feel amazing, and I’m so glad you’re here. I mean I hate how you came to be here, but I’m glad you’re with me all the same.”

He cocked his head to the side. “You hate how I came to be here? What do you mean?”

“Well, I hate that neither of us escaped, but I am glad we’re together.”

Conner shifted on the mattress, looking confused. “Just where do you think we are, Donna?” he asked.

My tears stopped and I smiled at him. “Heaven. I wasn’t sure about the whole ‘God exists’ thing, but I’m glad he decided to let me in after all.”

Conner’s eyebrows lowered. “Why would we be in Heaven?”

“Because Vanessa killed us,” I replied.

He grabbed my other hand and held them both in front of me in a tight grip. “Donna, we’re not in Heaven.”

“Then where are we because this doesn’t exactly feel like Hell to me, Conner.”

He sighed. “You’re not in Hell either, lass. You’re at an underground facility in the building that houses the vampire council.”

“I can’t be. I’m dead,” I said. Why was he arguing with me?

He shook his head and his accent was thick when he spoke. “No. You came damn close and I’ll never forget that for the rest of my long, wicked life, but you’re not dead.”

I stared at him. “I have to be dead. Parker slit my throat. I don’t know any human being anywhere who could survive that.”

Conner cupped my shoulders in his hands. “Part of that statement is true. No human being could survive the wound that you had to your throat.”

I nodded before his words began to sink in. “What exactly are you trying to tell me, Conner? I am a human and I survived.”

He cupped my head, his fingers spearing through my hair to massage my scalp. “You’re not human any longer, Donna.”

For a second I was confused then I realized what he was saying. “I’m a vampire?” I asked, my voice actually squeaked. It fucking squeaked. I cleared my throat. “You turned me into a vampire?” I asked again.

Conner looked slightly sad as he nodded. “Yes, lass. I had to turn you. The wound to your throat was fatal. I had no time to waste, no time to think. I just knew that I didn’t want to exist in this world without you. I know it was selfish, but I turned you right then and there. I hope that you will forgive me.”

“So I’m not dead?” I asked again.

“No, you’re not. You are now vampire.” Conner was being especially patient.

I sat for a moment and let the words sink in. “Okay,” I said slowly.

He waited and watched me but didn’t say anything else.

I took another deep breath. “How?”

Conner looked confused. “How what?”

“How did you change me? You never told me anything about the process.”

He frowned slightly. “I drained what little blood you had left in your body and forced you to drink my blood. Fortunately, your jugular was not severed when he cut your throat, only your carotid artery. I was able to get you to swallow a few mouthfuls. As you healed, you took more and more. You don’t remember changing?” he asked

I shook my head. “I guess that’s the one thing I’ve read about vampires that’s true,” I mused.

Conner nodded his head and leaned closer. It was then that I realized that the amazing scent I smelled when I woke up was Conner. The only reason I didn’t recognize it before is because it was stronger, deeper, and sexier than it had been before.

“God you smell amazing,” I commented.

Conner looked at me as though I had lost my sanity as well as my humanity. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.

I took one more breath and refrained from mentioning how great he smelled again. “Yes, I’m okay. I mean I’m a little upset that this happened now. I was hoping to wait a couple of years, if not the full five, before you turned me, but I knew before the Claiming that I would let you do it when the time came. This is not how I wanted it to happen but I knew it would happen eventually.”

He slid his arms around me and pulled me close. “You are a strange and wonderful woman, Donna Perry. I will be forever grateful for the day I saw you and decided that I had to have you.”

I put my arms around him as well. We sat in the silent, still white room, holding each other like that for a long time.

Finally, I pulled away. “Thank you for coming to rescue me. I knew you would be coming. I did everything I could to hold out until you got there.”

Conner cupped my face. “I will always come for you, Donna. You are everything to me. I would give up everything I have, everything I own, to ensure your safety.”

I swallowed back more tears. Then I grabbed my stomach as a hunger pang about a million times stronger than any I felt before hit me. Black spots danced in front of my eyes, and I felt a tingling sensation in my mouth.

“Oh God,” I moaned, clutching my middle. “What’s happening?”

Conner stroked my hair. “Just breathe, baby. Just breathe. It’s the hunger for blood. I gave you a few bags while you were unconscious, but you need to feed again. You’ll need to feed on vampire or human blood every few hours for the first few weeks.”

“Where’s the blood? Please I need this to stop.”

He positioned us so that we were facing. “You are going to feed from me.” Conner tilted his head slightly to the side so I could see his throat. He ran a finger over the area where his neck and shoulder met. “This is where you will bite.”

I stared at his throat, and I swear I could hear the blood rushing through his veins with each heartbeat. I ran my tongue over my teeth and poked a hole in my tongue with my fang.

“Ouch!”

Conner laughed softly. “Your fangs will come out a lot at first. Especially when you’re hungry, horny, or angry. I’ll teach you how to control them.” He cupped the back of my head. “Now, you need to feed.”

I tilted my head and gently scraped my teeth over his neck. He shuddered against me, and I knew it was from pleasure. That’s when I sank my fangs into his skin and began to suck. Part of me dreaded the first taste of blood because I still sort of thought sucking blood was gross. I mean it didn’t bother me when Conner did it, but
me
doing it was weird.

When the first rush of liquid hit my mouth, it tasted like all of my favorite foods all at once and not in a nasty way. The sweetness I noticed during the Claiming ceremony was stronger. It was incredible. After the first pull, I had to have another and then another. I moaned deep in my throat and pulled Conner closer. Once I was full, I was tempted to keep drinking because it tasted so good, unlike anything else I had ever consumed. Then I remembered that I was drinking from Conner, my fiancé.

I pulled away. “Wow.”

Conner smiled and used a handkerchief to dab the corner of my mouth. I resolutely ignored the little splotch of red. Then I remembered something.

“Hey why didn’t we, um, you know, when I drank from you?” I asked. I mean it would be embarrassing if I orgasmed every time I fed or if my donor did, but I always had when Conner drank from me.