The Feeder (11 page)

“Then where are we going?” Trent asked, looking worriedly through the small window at me. “The sun will be up real soon, Thayne. Wherever it is, I hope it is close.”

“It is,” I promised, quickly giving them the address.

Ten minutes later we arrive at the house. A house that I had owned for years but usually let out to friends when they were in the area. I could have easily stayed here myself when I’d arrived but thought it was in my best interest to remain in the club – easier to keep an eye on a certain useless Master vampire. Now with everything I had learnt in the past few hours, there was no way I was letting Eve stay at the club. And where Eve went, so did I.

Gideon wasn’t going to get his fangs anywhere near her anytime soon. Or ever if I had any say about the matter.

Entering the old townhouse I made my way straight upstairs to the bedroom on the top floor. The sun was about to rise, but I didn’t need to worry about checking the windows and bordering them up like I would any other place. This house had been fixed up especially for vampires; all the windows UV tinted with electronic shutters set on a timer just to be safe.

“How are you guys doing?” I asked as I placed Eve upon the bed. She looked so small and fragile upon the large king-sized bed.

“Better,” Reese said, keeping his distance.

“Chad, go down to the kitchen and grab some blood bags. There should also be IV kits in the cupboard next to the sink.” Though it may be too late for that. I didn’t want to say it, but I knew the truth. Eve was in a bad way.

When Chad returned, he was carrying more blood bags than Eve would need, way more. “The others are for us,” he explained when I raised a brow at him in question. “I think all of us are hungry right now, and better to have these than to partake in sampling Eve.”

Good point.

After a quick drink of bagged blood, a delicacy I had promised myself I would never partake in – it was vile – I decided to check upon Eve’s wounds again. When I lifted the blanket and removed the bandage from near the top of her right thigh, I was shocked. What had earlier been a nasty bite was now nothing more than a red mark upon her pale skin. What the fuck?

“It’s healed,” I muttered. “This wound was deep when I wrapped it; now it’s nothing more than a mark, a blemish. I doubt there will even be a scar.”

“How is that possible?” Reese asked, moving closer to get a better look, but not too close.

“I have no idea.” Covering her back up, I instantly went to the horrifying wound on her neck. Unwrapping the bandage and removing the pressure dressing I had placed upon it, I prepared myself for the sight of her mangled and torn flesh, but there had been no need. It wasn’t as healed as the other wound on her thigh, but it was no way near the state in which it had been. The torn flesh was knitting back together. It now looked more like an ordinary vampire bite and less like the bite from a crazed psycho. “He had ripped her neck to pieces,” I explained. “How can she be healing this quickly, if at all?” Her wounds had been enough to kill her.

“I think there may be more to our boss’s food source than meets the eye.”

I didn’t like Reese calling her a food source, but I agreed with him a hundred percent. Something was off. Eve should be dead, if not close to it. She should be in need of a blood transfusion if she had any hope of surviving without being turned. But here she was, healing almost as quickly as a vampire.

Once they knew that Eve would survive, the guys headed down to the next floor to crash for the night in the other bedrooms while I stayed upstairs to watch over her. When she awoke, I had a feeling we would have a lot to talk about.

Eve

I’d expected to see a bright light, maybe even pearly gates. Or in the worst case scenario, the fiery pits of Hell. But none of those things came into my sight when I finally forced my eyes open. Wooden beams were the first thing to meet me. Large, wooden, stained beams running the length of an unfamiliar ceiling.

Where was I? The last thing I could remember was Vince biting down hard upon my thigh, drawing more blood from my body into his mouth. My head had felt light, my eyes heavy. I’d known at that moment that it was over, that I was going to die.

Only here I was… alive. I was breathing, aching all over, but breathing, which was the most important thing. But how?

“It feels like I have waited forever for you to open those beautiful eyes,” called a voice from the corner of the room. A voice I'd thought I would never hear again.

My gaze landed on Thayne as I turned my head to the side and I couldn't have done anything to stop the well of emotion that bubbled up inside of me, the tears that sprang to my eyes and spilled down my cheeks.

“Hey,” he said rushing over. “Don't cry, sweetheart. You’re safe now. I promise.”

“I thought I was going to die,” I rasped, my throat dry as I buried my face against his chest as he lay down beside me, pulling me into his arms.

“Shush,” he urged, rubbing his hand soothingly up and down my bare back. I was still naked, but at least he had seen fit to cover me with a sheet. “I would never allow that to happen. No one will ever hurt you again. I'll protect you.”

Looking up, I gazed into his eyes and saw the truth of his statement. He meant what he said. But he didn’t know the truth about me, about my blood. Would it still be true if he knew?”

“You came for me.” That was the only explanation. I’d seen the madness in Vince’s eyes. There was no way he would have let me go if he was still alive. Thayne had found me and killed him. Saved me.

“Of course I did. We all did. Trent, Reese, Chad and I set out to find you the moment we realised what Vince had done.”

“What had he done? I remember Reese was outside my office. I knew you guys were watching me, no matter how much you lot tried to hide it.” I smiled. “But how did Vince get passed him?”

“He attacked some girls in the crowd outside, then called us to report an incident and told us that the human services were approaching. I knew instantly when I saw that he was nowhere in sight that it had been him all along.” Guilt filled his face as he looked pleadingly down at me. “Can you ever forgive me?”

“For what?”

“For not realising sooner. I should have known, should have realised when I felt his emotions, his perverted lust and desire for you, that it was him all along.”

“Felt?” Vampires had excellent senses that could pick up things like the scent of someone’s arousal or anger, but I had never heard of one feeling another’s emotions.

“It’s my gift, my extra ability. I can feel the emotions of others when I concentrate on them, though, physical contact strengthens my senses. I picked up some of his feelings for you the other night while we were discussing your protection. That’s why I took him off the rota and had Reese watch you instead last night. But he still got you...”

“That wasn’t your fault. He would have gotten to me eventually. He was obsessed. Are those girls okay?”

“Yes, they both survived.” I could hear the silent just he withheld.

We laid together; I curled up against him as he explained all about what had happened and how they had found me. Looking around, I asked. “Where are we, anyway?” He had explained a lot of things but what he hadn’t told me was where we were.

“My place.”

“Your place?”

“I didn’t want to take you back to the club, in case...”

“In case what?”

“In case Gideon was there and demanded you feed him.”

“What?”

He knew? How? Panic grasped me as I began to slide away from him, attempting to leave the bed, but he quickly put a stop to my movements.

“It's okay.”

“How did you...”

“Know? Chad told me. It was his idea actually to take you elsewhere. Gideon was pretty pissed when you disappeared and demanded that we contact him as soon as we found you. It didn’t look as if he was planning on going anywhere until we got you back, and Reese had overheard him demanding to feed on you last night and we didn't want to risk him getting to you while you were in such a weak state.”

“Thank you.” He might not know it, but Gideon would have fed from me, even if that meant me dying – which was highly likely with the way Vince had been feeding on me. “How did Chad know?” I didn't think anyone suspected that I fed Gideon. No one had ever said anything, not until Vince anyway.

“They all knew. Every time he fed on you, they smelt the fresh bite.”

“Oh.”

“Why, Eve? I know how much you hate him, so why do you feed him?”

“It’s complicated.” Very complicated, and something I could not and would not talk about.

“Try me.”

I remained silent, biting the inside of my mouth to keep from saying something that I would regret, but as the silence stretched on I realised that I had to tell him something. “When I met him, I had nothing. No food or water. No money. No shelter… Nothing. He gave me all that.”

“And all you had to do was feed him?”

“Yes. I am to feed him and only him once a week. Though lately with everything that has been going on I have missed feeds, causing him to demand more from me.”

“And that's why you made me promise not to bite you? Because of him?”

“That… and other reasons.”

“What other reasons?” he demanded, sitting up and staring down at me.

There were many. The secret of my blood being the one he couldn't be allowed to know, but I had to tell him something, one truth at least. “I hate it. I hate the bite. It hurts so much, Thayne. Every time the pain, the bite, seems to get worse.”

Rage burned in his eyes and shock filled his voice. “He feeds on you even though you hate it, fight it? I'll kill him. I'll fucking kill him!”

If only that were possible. “No, Thayne, you can’t.” No one could, not as long as he was feeding on me… though, Thayne had killed Vince after he had fed from me? But still, it was too risky. “I couldn’t bear the thought of you fighting him, of putting yourself in danger like I know you did last night.” Instantly his eyes softened and he pulled me back into his embrace.

“I could have lost you. You have no idea how scared I was. Eve, you have come to mean more to me than anything else in my life. All I think about is you. All I dream about is you. And I know you feel the same way.”

“You do?”

Nodding. “Yes. I can feel it,” he signed, tracing circles over the tops of my breasts, sending tingles of need to my core. “Every touch of your skin and I feel your want, your desire, your need. I feel the same. I want you so badly it’s like a physical pain to be apart from you.”

As I gazed into his eyes, I realised that holding back was pointless. He knew how I felt and I could see in his eyes that he was speaking the truth about his feelings for me. And hadn't everything he had done for me expressed his feelings for me also? He had saved me. Faced an insane, highly powered vampire for me. Not that he knew about the highly powered bit. But still, he had done more for me than Gideon ever had.

To Gideon, I was just food and a way to get to the top. If only I hadn't made the promises that I had. Because that was something I was very strict about; I always kept my promises, my vows. So no matter how much I hated it, I would continue to feed Gideon and not give my blood to the one vampire I truly trusted not to abuse the power it would give him. But there was one thing I could give Thayne… Me. My heart, my soul and my body could all be his. Just not the power giving liquid that ran through my veins.

Cupping his jaw – that still held just the slightest hint of a fading bruise to it – I released all of the emotions that I had been holding back over the past few weeks as our connection grown and asked him for the one thing that I wanted more than anything. “Thayne, make love to me.”

His eyes widened in shock briefly, him never expecting those words to leave my mouth. After only a moment’s pause, he trailed his soft lips down my neck, my breath catching in my throat when they lingered, his tongue flickering against my pulse.

He wouldn't? He had promised.

Before I could even begin to panic, he moved on, working his way down my body to my breasts.

“You have no idea how long I have dreamed of this, of having you naked beneath me.”

He wasn't the only one.

Capturing one of my nipples in his mouth he sucked hard, the pull and pleasure of it going all the way to my clit. When he was satisfied with the attention he had paid to that breast, he moved on to the other, loving it with the same amount of tongue and teeth as he had the first.

Pushing his fingers through my feminine folds, he moaned. “Fuck you're wet. Ever since the first time I scented your arousal I've longed to taste you, to have you coming on my tongue.” His eyes turning wicked. “Think it's about time I got a taste, don't you?”

Oh yeah, I did.

Kissing his way down my body, he settled between my thighs, nibbling at one and then the other. His mouth seemed to touch everywhere but where I wanted him most at that moment. “Please,” I begged.

Chuckling, he gave me what I had asked for. My back arched and pleasure blazed at the first touch of his lips upon my bare pussy. “Fuck you are divine.”

Fisting my hand in his hair, I rocked my body against his mouth, his thrusting tongue. Soon his fingers replaced his mouth at my centre and his tongue began flickering against my clit, his sharp fangs grazing it, giving me a small bite of pain. Strangely enough that little sting pushed me right to the edge.

“Holy shit!”

“That's it, sweetheart. Let me taste your sweet nectar.” Sucking hard on the small sensitive nub and thrusting his finger into my channel in a quick rhythm, curving them at the perfect angle to rub against the sweet spot inside.

It was too much. I couldn't have stopped myself even if I wanted to. My orgasm took over, and I cried out as my body clamped down on him as he drank from me. I was lost. My subconscious separated from my body and floated away, up into heaven.

When I finally came back down to earth he was above me, his hard cock in hand rubbing against my over-sensitised clit.

When had he stripped off?

He must have read the question in my eyes. “I can be very fast when I want to be,” he teased. “But don’t worry, I can make things last too.”

“Bad, Thayne. Very bad.” Him and his lines.

Face going all serious, he asked, “You sure about this?”

As always he wanted to protect me, make sure that this was what I wanted, even though I could see the desire and need in his eyes. Lifting up on my elbow, I reached out and took him in hand, stroking his hard length, forcing a groan from his lips. “I'm sure.” Smiling, I aligned his shaft with my weeping core. He didn't need telling twice.