Chapter 21

“Chris! Chris! Oh my god. What can I do? Tell me what to do!” My voice is high-pitched as I kneel over his body, placing my hand on his arm in a silly attempt to reassure him. He’s still lying on the floor, though, body shaking violently as blood pours from his stomach.

“I’ll be f-f-fine, don’t w-worry, kitten. It doesn’t last forever. But I won’t heal for a while. I-I haven’t f-fed in so long.” He’s slurring his words, his voice trembling every time he speaks. Just talking seems to be causing him pain, but he still tried—for me.

“Come on. Get up. Let me clean you up. Let me help. Please,” I whisper to him, slipping my arm around him to try and help him stand. He lets me help, one hand still clutching his stomach, the other hand assisting me in getting him to a full standing position—although he’s still hunched over, clutching his bleeding wound, pouring past his fingers. Honestly, he does most of the work, I just help. I wrap his arm around my shoulders and throw mine around his, and we take slow, stumbling steps to the guest bathroom, Chris leaning into me the whole way there.

As we enter the bathroom, he lets go of me, shifting his weight off of me to lean against the wall, where he slides down onto his ass. His teeth are clenched tightly together as muffled grunts of pain slip through. “Tell me what to do,” I murmur softly. I’m standing above him, completely uncertain about what to do. I just want to make this better .

He squints up at me through bloodshot eyes. “N- nothing. I’ll be fine.”

Although I don’t think he meant to, he just told me he hasn’t fed. Would my blood heal him? If my blood will heal him, I’ll do it. Just this once. Decided, I place a foot on either side of his legs and drop down so that I’m straddling him. Chris is already looking up at me with pure shock, but when I push my hair back to one side and tilt my head, offering my neck to him, his jaw drops.

“Dani, n-no. Fuck! Not like t-this,” he pants, breaths sharp against the exposed skin of my throat.

“Drink, Chris. I can’t just stand here and watch you suffer. You saved my life. Let me help you.” I place my hands on his shoulders, drawing his attention away from my throat, so I can meet his gaze. His eyes are searching mine wildly, but I can see a hint of lust in those warm brown irises. “Please. Let me do this for you,” I whisper.

“You d-don’t understand. A vampire bite is a very i-intimate experience. The toxin emitted from m-my fangs will make y-you aroused, Dani. We can’t.” He struggles to push himself away but just ends up rubbing himself against my core. I remember vividly my time spent with Oliver on the bus, what drinking his blood did to my body—made me so lost in lust I couldn’t think of anything else. Sounds like a vampire’s bite can elicit the same effect, and in this moment I will suffer the consequences of that—I just want to help him, I need to help him.

“I don’t care. I want to help you, little puppy. Let me help you.” I lean my head in closer to his, baring my neck for him once more. “Drink from me, Chris. Please.”

“D-do you trust me, Dani?” His breathing is ragged.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Whatever. Just shut up and do it!” I bark at him.

Slowly, so slowly I almost think he won’t listen, he brings his mouth to my neck, kissing the skin there tenderly before I feel the sharp pierce of his fangs.

At first, it’s painful, and a muffled cry slips from my mouth as his arm wraps around my waist to hold me close to his body. He’s drinking me in deeply, greedily. One hand is tangled in my hair, the other hand warm on my back.

After a few seconds, though, the pain begins to fade, and desire begins to flow through me. Soon, my body is on fire with agonizing lust, my pussy dripping with desire. All that’s separating me from his hardening cock is the fabric of his pants and my lace thong, currently soaked through, underneath my dress. With a gasp, I grind my hips against him, lost in my pleasure, chasing the contact I need. I wrap my hands through Chris’ hair as I grind my pussy onto him, rubbing my throbbing clit against his hard length. With each drink of my blood, I let out a soft moan of euphoria.

Chris groans into my neck, drinking his fill of me, each suck on my neck feeling like velvet against me.

“I want you to fuck me, Chris. Right here. Right now. Please. Just fuck me, baby,” I beg, stroking my pussy over him with more force.

He lets out a loud groan. Lifting his head from my neck, he pulls back slightly, licking his tongue over the puncture wounds. His breathing matches my own, quick from desire rather than agonizing pain. He seems to be better, so I lean in, desperate to kiss him.

He turns his head away from me. I whimper a little bit, but he leans his head back against the wall, staring into my eyes as I move over him. “It’s not real, little kitten. When I kiss you, I want it to be real.”

I can’t stop grinding myself against him. I don’t think I could stop if the house was burning down around us. I’m like a woman possessed by lust. “But it is real. God, Chris, I want you inside of me.” I’m moving more quickly, digging my hips down as low as they could go, working the lace of my thong and his hard cock over my clit desperately.

“I can sense your arousal, little kitten.” His hand tightens in my hair, his eyes dark with lust, as I grind myself against him faster. My breaths are coming fast, interrupted by moans, with each rub of my clit against his length. “Make yourself feel good, Dani. It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone, but I want to watch you come while you use me.”

I’m so filled with lust that I don’t even fight him. I simply place my hands on his cheeks, holding his stare as I bear down against his cock. I’m so close to release. “Then watch me come, baby.”

His eyes pierce me, seduction in his hooded gaze. I’m lost in his eyes, completely overtaken by my own desire, rocking my hips back and forth over him, faster and harder, until my muscles tighten with my release, pleasure pumping through my veins.

Chris’ lips are parted as he watches me, a loud moan rolling from his chest as I ride out my orgasm, crying out in pleasure over him. With shaking hands, he pulls me close and buries his face into my chest, clutching the back of my dress tightly. I rest my cheek on top of his head, and we just stay there, wrapped in each other’s embrace for a few seconds before my overwhelming lust from his bite starts to fade, and I begin to regain my sense of self.

I lean back and drop my hands to his chest. My own chest feels tight with fear at the step we just took. Holy shit, I can’t believe that just happened. What the fuck did we just do?

Chris lets out a small laugh. “I just came in my pants.” Looking at me shyly, he runs his thumb along my cheek.“That has never happened to me before. You’re fucking amazing, Dani.”

I can’t breathe. How did it all spiral out of control so fucking quickly? God, I need to stop fucking touching him right now. I force a detached expression, my lips thinning, directing my gaze away from his eyes, sparking with joy, and get off him quickly. “Well, it’s never going to happen again.” Standing up, I move away from him, but not before I see sadness wash over his features. My heart clenches at his pain, and another spike of panic rolls through me at the idea that I might care for this man. How stupid could I be to let this happen? “I’m sorry, Chris. This is all just too much for me right now. This can’t happen again.”

The sadness is gone, replaced by alarm. “Okay, we don’t have to do that again. I’m sorry. I tried to warn you about what would happen.” Almost as an afterthought, he lifts his shirt to look at his stomach. The whole fucking reason for this debacle in the first place, and we barely thought about it. Fortunately, he’s completely healed, with only some dried blood remaining from his earlier wound. “You healed me, little kitten. Thank you.” He stares up at me gratefully.

“You’re welcome,” I say coldly. I can’t let myself get involved—more involved—with this man. I told myself I would never let myself fall in love again, and Chris? Falling in love with Chris would ruin me, because he’s everything I could ever want and everything I refuse to fall for. I can’t fall in love with this man. I won’t let it happen. “The shower is in my room if you want to get cleaned up. I’m gonna head upstairs and get ready for bed.”

“Dani.” My back is turned to him, but I can hear him stand up behind me, feel him staring hard at me. “I’m fucking sorry, okay? Don’t go back to this walled-off version of yourself. Please don’t ice me out again.”

“You can stay here and sleep on the couch. Or not sleep, whatever it is that you do. I won’t let you go out there with that crazy bitch running around. I’ll see you in the morning.” I start to leave, but his quiet words stop me.

“Thank you, kitten, but please don’t be angry with me,” he whispers, sounding just as torn up as I am.

I can’t turn to look at him, or I’ll fall apart. My heart already tightens at his pleading words, and I can feel tears forming at the corners of my eyes. Forcing myself to leave the bathroom, I walk quietly upstairs to my bedroom, where I change into a tank top and a pair of sweatpants and crawl into bed. Watching Chris almost die for me was too much. Seeing Chris inside of my house is too real. And what we just did? Yeah, that was way too fucking much. I can feel myself cracking at everything that happened tonight. I can’t take another heartbreak, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Chris would only lead to a massive heartbreak.

As I lie in bed, still wide awake and unable to calm the whirlwind of thoughts contaminating my mind, I hear my bedroom door open. I sit up straight in bed, just in time to see Chris walk into my room. “Sorry, kitten, but I need to use the shower. Benji brought me some clean clothes. You mind?”

I lay back down. “It’s fine. Whatever. Just go ahead. But hurry up. I’m trying to get some sleep.”

He flashes me a small smile that doesn’t reach his eyes and walks into my bathroom, shutting the door. I hear the shower turn on and listen to every sound he makes. Him being so close is fucking torture, setting off an impossible internal battle to not just get out of my bed and go in there. Run my hands across every inch of his body, that I’ve now felt under my fingertips as I came. No. I refuse. I fucking refuse to go down this path. He’s a vampire. Just like Oliver. Just like crazy fucking Amanda. I won’t bring this madness any further into my life.

A short while later, I’m still arguing with myself when the bathroom door opens, letting steam flow into the bedroom. Against the light pouring from the bathroom, Chris walks out with only a towel wrapped around his hips. My lips part as I take in his magnificent body. Every inch of him that I can see, besides his stunning face, is covered in tattoos from his neck down his chest, across his arms, and all the way down to where the towel sits low on his hips, blocking my view. As my gaze skims down past his stomach, I see his hard, long length tenting the towel. My cheeks flush, my body filled with desire for him again. Only now I know what he sounds like when he’s underneath me, the way he moans. The way he says my name while he’s turning me inside out. I roll onto my side, facing away from him. I can’t do this. I want him, need him, but I can’t do this. It’s unbearable. “Go put on some fucking clothes,” I spit at him under the age-old belief that if I’m mean to my crush, he’ll leave me alone.

But Chris never acts the way I expect him to. Instead of being offended by my harsh tone, he chuckles softly. “Don’t like what you see, little kitten?”

“No. I don’t,” I mumble under my breath, gaze fixed on the wall opposite him.

“Whatever you say.” I can hear the smirk in his voice. “By the way, the band is gonna be watching outside at all times. If Amanda shows her face here again, we’re gonna be ready for her this time. She’s not going to fuck with you again.”

“Cool. Please leave.” I let out a shaky breath, knowing that I need him to leave this room before I crawl out of my skin. Liquid heat pools low in my core from his nearness alone. He groans, and I squeeze my legs tighter together, even though I know it won’t stop him from smelling my arousal. “Chris, please leave.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll leave. I’m sorry for all of this, Dani. Really, I am.” He walks out of my room, closing the door softly behind him. I can hear his footsteps pad back down the stairs.

Sleep doesn’t find me for some time. There are just too many thoughts going through my mind, and I don’t even know where to start unpacking. I’m choking on the emotions strangling me. Covering my mouth with my hand, I pull the covers over my head and just lay there and cry softly.