Dangerous Lovers (35 page)

I licked the last of his blood from my lips and ran an index finger over my incisors, which were long and sharp. “Oh, lord,” I said, more to myself than to him.

I didn’t want to look up into Kayden’s eyes, especially since I could feel them watching me. But he reached up and lifted my chin, forcing me to look at him. “You’ve never had blood before?” he asked, studying what must have been my stoned-out face. I was still very much feeling the effects of his blood.

I shook my head. “They don’t exactly serve it at McDonalds.”

He looked down at my lips, causing me to run my tongue over them self-consciously. “I can’t believe you were able to stop at all then,” he said.

I stared at him for a moment, then, told the truth. “I didn’t want to.” He was still staring at my lips, and I shifted a little under his gaze. “How are you feeling?”

I blew out a slow breath and laughed a little at my euphoric state. “Like I could rule the world,” I said with what I’m sure was a goofy smile.

To my astonishment, he pulled me onto his lap and held me tightly to his chest. The feeling he always gave me combined with his blood now flowing through my body made me want to purr with absolute contentment. But when his hand brushed my knee, I felt the fabric of my jeans stick to my leg and looked down to see that it was stained with blood. He pushed my pant leg up. There was blood on my knee, but no injury.

“Did the blood heal it?” I asked.

He nodded, still staring down at my knee.

“How did that happen?”

His eyes stayed locked on my leg, and when he spoke, his voice seemed distracted. “Your knee hit the ground before I was able to catch you.”

He bit his bottom lip, still staring at the blood. I pulled myself up so that I was sitting on top of him. He looked surprised and a little apprehensive, but to my amazement, he didn’t make me move. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing—maybe it was because of the high I was still feeling, but I pushed my hair off my shoulder and tilted my head to the side.

His eyes shifted and focused on my neck, where I could feel my pulse racing. When he looked into my eyes I could see the struggle behind his golden ones. He wanted to drink from me, and we both knew it.

“No,” he said, almost like the word was painful for him.

His fangs were still very much exposed and he was breathing quite heavily. “Why not?”

“You’re still weak,” he gritted out.

I gave a half smile, then reached up behind his neck and pulled his head down so that his lips were just a half inch from my neck. “I’m a lot stronger than I look,” I whispered in his ear.

His body stiffened, and for a moment, I was sure he was going to push me off him. But when I felt a sharp pain in my neck, I knew I was wrong. Pulling him closer, I sighed at the feel of his soft lips on my skin. After the initial bite, there was no more pain. Actually, if I thought that drinking his blood was euphoric, I clearly had no idea what that meant.
This
was ecstasy.

His arms circled my waist and pulled me to him with a less-than gentle embrace. My eyelids fluttered as I stared up at the ceiling and let Kayden drink from me. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced, more wonderful than anything I could have ever imagined.

Much too soon, he pulled back and ran his tongue over his lips, which were covered with my blood. This made me find him even more attractive. This was amazing, considering the fact that I didn’t know I
could
find him any more attractive.

He stared into my eyes, and I could see the affection there. It made my heart swell. “Your eyes are glowing,” he said quietly.

I blinked and looked down at my hands, which were trembling with exhilaration. “Yeah, that happens, I guess.”

He tilted my chin up, once again forcing me to look into his sunrise eyes. “It’s beautiful,” he said. “Absolutely beautiful.”

I smiled at his compliment and moved to sit beside him. But he kept his arms tight around me and laid me back down on the couch, his body pressed close to mine.

Never in my life had I felt so safe. With Kayden’s powerful arms wrapped around me, his soft lips and short beard nuzzling my neck, I felt like I could weep tears of joy. I
belonged
in his arms. It was like they were created to hold me. Like I was created to be his.

We stayed like that for a long time, him trailing his fingers up and down my arm as I clutched his other hand in mine. He broke the silence first. “What were you doing?” he whispered into my hair. “Trying to starve yourself?”

I closed my eyes and again answered truthfully. It was just impossible to lie when he was holding me. “No, I was trying to think clearly.”

He was quiet for a moment before asking, “Where would you get the idea that not eating would help you think clearly?”

“From S—” I paused, catching myself before I said Soraya’s name. “From someone,” I said stupidly.

He sighed into my hair and a shiver ran up my spine. “Always so guarded, Warrior.”

Now I remembered the things that I had planned to talk to him about. It took more effort than I wanted to admit to pull myself from his arms. He sat up, too, and I scooted down the couch a little to put some distance between us.

He raised an eyebrow, then looked down at his hands. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable.”

I raised my eyebrows in return. “You think you make me uncomfortable?”

When he didn’t answer, I continued. “We both know exactly how you make me feel, Kayden.” I took a deep breath and added, “Considering the fact that I’m a Warrior, and you’re a Libra, I would wager I make you feel the same way.”

The look on his face was more impressed than anything else.

“When did you figure this out?”

I shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “Someone told me.”

He looked confused for a moment, before understanding flashed behind his eyes. I knew he already knew the answer to his next question, but he asked anyway. “Who told you, Alexa?”

I tilted my head a little and asked a question of my own. “Who knows what you are?”
Now
his face showed surprise, but I pushed forward. “I met a little girl named Soraya.”

He stood up so abruptly that I flinched, and began pacing the room. “When did you see her?”

“I went for a run, and I wasn’t paying attention to how far I was going… Then she threw rocks at my head and threatened me with a stick.”

He shook his head and one side of his mouth pulled up in a half smile. “That’s Soraya, alright.”

“She showed me the village.”

He stopped his pacing, standing in front of me before I even had a chance to blink. “Did anyone see you?”

It was intimidating, having him stand over me like that, but I looked up and met his eyes. “Not the first time.”

He stared at me for a moment before sitting down next to me. He released a slow breath and rubbed his face with his hands. “You went back.”

It wasn’t a question, so I didn’t answer. When he just sat there, I said, “Of course I went back. Those people need help, Kayden.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“Well, then you won’t mind answering some questions so I can figure out how to help them.”

His face was unreadable again, but there was pain behind his eyes. “There’s nothing to be done.”

I threw up my hands. “The hell there isn’t. There has to be someone behind this, and I’m going to find out who that is, so you can save me some trouble if you want. But with or without your help, I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

He remained silent, so I scooted down the couch and took his hand in mine. “Please, Kayden,” I said. “I know you want to help Soraya, and so do I. Even if it is impossible, we have to try.” He still didn’t respond, so I added, “You know she’s worth it.”

I’m not sure if it was those words, or the fact that I was touching him, but finally, he gave a small sigh and answered. “If I knew what to do,” he said quietly, “I would’ve already done it. But… what do you want to know?”

I considered my questions, and asked, “Does the queen know about the village?”

“I’m sure she does. Her rule extends everywhere within the walls, so she is bound to know what’s going on there.”

I figured this much, so I asked, “Did she put them there?”

He pushed his hair out of his face and said, “Someone in power did. But you have to understand, Alexa, the queen is not the ultimate ruler of our world. She is high up in the chain, but there are people even she has to answer to.”

That wasn’t something I had thought of. “Who?”

His eyes met mine, and his voice was fierce when he spoke. “People you do not want to question.” When I just stared at him, he continued. “There is a king, a king whose will everyone must obey. He’s considered a sort of savior of our races. After the Warriors were extinguished, he built the cities our people live in, like Two Rivers, and he stopped the reign of the Lamia, who were killing us off in devastating numbers. Everything that goes on is a result of his bidding.”

I considered this for a moment. “But people here are afraid. I know they are. I’ve seen it. Why don’t they revolt if they know that people are being sent to live as blood donors in places like the village?”

He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Because they don’t know that is what awaits them after they’ve outgrown their use. They know that something is wrong, but they don’t know the severity of the situation. There is magic that keeps them from being able to travel to the village, and there is something that influences their thoughts and moods.” He raised an eyebrow and smirked. “But I would assume you knew this, since you almost died in your refusal to eat the food.”

I nodded slowly. “So how do
you
know all of this?”

He hesitated, and his golden eyes filled with so much pain I almost told him to forget about it. But this was too important, and I needed answers if I was going to try and help Soraya. “Please,” I said softly. “Tell me what happened, Kayden.”

He was silent for so long that I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to answer. But then, he pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me, taking the comfort only I could give him.

“My brother died in the Arena,” he said. “And the day after, his pregnant wife just disappeared. I asked everyone about her, but no one even seemed to recall him having a family. I searched the entire city for her, and I almost drove myself mad obsessing over her disappearance. But after a few weeks, it became difficult to remember anything about her at all. It felt like every time I tried to picture her face, her memory stayed just out of my reach. I knew something was wrong, so I did the same thing you did. I stopped consuming the food.” He looked down at me and another smirk crossed his face. “But unlike you, I fed off the animals of the land. I got lost one day while I was hunting in the forest and felt so disoriented that I didn’t know my way back. That’s when I came upon the village.”

I laid my head against his chest and tried to will the pain from him, as Akira had done for me. I didn’t know what I was doing though, so I don’t know if it helped. “I’m so sorry,” I said.

He ran his fingers through my hair, and I closed my eyes and tried not to shiver at his touch. “It’s not your fault,” he said. He tilted my head so that I was looking into his eyes. “And it’s not your responsibility to do anything either, Alexa. I know you may feel obligated because of what you are, but that doesn’t mean you’re required to risk your life. And if you go questioning the ways of the king, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing.”

I was sick of hearing that. If no one expected me to do anything, then they wouldn’t be giving me stuff for free and treating me like I was the only one who could help them. Maybe, just
maybe
, I was. I turned my head so that I was looking down at my hands. “I’ve already made my decision.” Before he could argue, I asked, “Why do they need the blood?”

Kayden sighed. “That, I don’t know. Our kind owns multiple blood banks around the world that supply our cities with human blood, so I don’t know why they would need it.”

I had already figured that out too, so I moved on. “Where can I find this king?”

He gripped my hands and sat back so that he could look at me.

“You can’t.”

I pulled back a little. “Yes. I can.”

He shook his head and blew out a frustrated breath. “He moves from place to place, Alexa. And even if you could find him, these people are not ones to see reason.”

I crossed my arms. “I’ll make them.”

“And when you can’t?”

My answer came before I had a chance to really consider what I was saying. “Then, I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them all.”

Chapter Sixty-One

My response didn’t surprise him. It didn’t surprise me either. I knew what I was, what I was capable of doing. I suppose I had known a long time ago. Killing just seemed to come easy to me. My reaction to Victoria proved it. I was a killer; it was in my blood. All I had to do was make sure that I directed it to those who were worthy, and only kill when absolutely necessary. If getting this king to make things right with his people required death, then, to save Soraya and others like her, I would be the one to deliver it.
If
I didn’t die in my efforts, and I was beginning to think that that could be the case.