10. Chapter Nine

Another cramp zinging through my system awakens me from a deep sleep. I’m barely coherent. Everything is hot, everything feels like a dream. My body is sore, but I’m nowhere near ready to stop needing Ambrose.

In the haze, I’m reminded of what he has said. He’s a vampire. I’m his mate. He needs my blood. It doesn’t sound real.

And maybe it isn’t.

The heat is affecting my mind. I’ve been lightheaded and needy for what feels like days. I’m hungry. Starving.

But not for food.

“Kitten,” Ambrose tries to wake me, sliding his hand down my cheek. “Wake up. You need to eat something.”

Yes, I do.

Him.

Opening my eyes, I reach for him, latching my lips onto his neck. That’s when my gums begin to ache and the urge to bite him is all too much.

He moans, but somehow can control himself by placing his hand in the middle of my chest and pushing me away. I whimper pathetically from the rejection. A gush of liquid escapes me again, wetting the inside of my thighs.

“Ambrose, fuck me. Now, please,” I cry, my tongue so thick and dry, I’m surprised I’m able to form any words.

“I will. I want to more than anything. The need to fill you until you’re sated consumes me, but I won’t forget you’re human. I will take care of my beloved even when he doesn’t want to listen. Be a good boy for me and you’ll be rewarded.” He helps me sit up and even his hand skimming down my back is enough for me to moan. My skin is so sensitive. Almost as if I’ve been burned and the slightest touch drives me crazy with agony.

That’s what this heat is like when Ambrose isn’t driving into me with his cock. My hand wanders, groping his shaft, pleased to see it’s hard and wanting me too.

“Oliver—” my name is broken as he growls. “You aren’t being good. Eat your soup. Drink this water. And I’ll fuck you. Listen to me because I need you more every second and I refuse to let you starve.”

“I put the broth in a cup so you can drink it. Come on,” he urges, lifting the cup to my lips.

The soup isn’t too hot, but warm enough that it is easy for me to drink down.

“Mmm.” I don’t think I realized how hungry I am.

“Good boy. That’s it. You’re doing so good for me. Look at you, listening. Good boys get rewards.” He brushes his fingers through my sweat-drenched hair, and I whimper, chugging the broth down.

When I’m done, he takes the cup from my mouth and sets it down.

“I want to be so good for you, Daddy.” I get up onto my knees, stroking my cock in a hurry. “Please, I drank it. I want you.”

“The water, Oliver. Drink… Hmmm,” he grumbles, scenting me. “Fuck it.” He pours the water into his mouth, grabs my throat, and tilts my head back.

I open, letting him spit the water into my mouth.

An orgasm zips through me unexpectedly, sending white streaks over his stomach.

“Is that what I have to do, Oliver? Do I have to spit the water into your mouth to get you to stay hydrated?”

“It tastes better coming from you.” I open my mouth again, locking gazes with his intense, predatory eyes.

He rumbles, “You’re so fucking greedy for me and you have no idea how much I love it.” He pours another mouthful of water into his mouth, yanks my head back by my hair, and my chest falls against his.

The stream from his mouth to mine makes a splash. When he is done, he presses his fingers against my chin to close my lips together.

“Swallow.”

I do as he says, and he grunts in approval. “Good boy.”

He lies down on his back, wraps a hand around his impressive cock, and gives it a long stroke. “Ride my cock, Kitten. I want to see you use me.”

Not needing to be told twice, I hurry up his body. “I won’t be good at it. I’ve never—”

He helps me guide his cock to my hole. “You’re going to be amazing because it’s you.”

I hurry to take the rest of his length, but he applies pressure on my hips, keeping me still. “Slowly,” he states. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

Lowering myself inch by inch, a pinch of pain makes me stop. Even with the help of my heat and slick, it still hurts.

“That’s it,” he croons, rubbing his hands up and down my body. “Look at you,” Ambrose praises me and it’s enough for me to slide down another inch. “You’re so fucking pretty, Oliver. I don’t think you know how gorgeous you look sitting on top of me. You belong up there, riding my cock, owning it, claiming it as yours.”

He wraps a hand around my cock just as I take the rest of him, and I’m seated against the top of his legs. His sack presses against my ass. I’m completely surrounded by him.

Ambrose has taken over my body.

“Make me come, Kitten. Make me fill your ass. Take what’s yours, Beloved.”

I rock my hips slowly, testing how it feels when he immediately brushes my prostate. “Oh, God.” I toss my head back, slapping my hands on his chest. “I’m so full.”

“And if it’s up to me, you’ll never go a day without feeling this.” He clutches my hips just as I begin to move at a constant pace. My body rolls as I gain more confidence. “Fuck yes, Oliver. Just like that.” He never takes his eyes off me. They roam my body, pausing at my cock before slowly taking their time to meet my face. “You aren’t allowed to touch your cock. Only I will make you come. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Good boy.”

That will be easy. I’m already close. I love listening to him. It’s as if all my worries and decision making are gone. The stress no longer weighs me down. I have someone in my life to finally take care of me.

And I’ll do everything in my power to take care of him.

I move faster, slamming down on his cock, unable to break the connection as we stare at one another. He’s something I didn’t know existed. The red eyes, the fangs, the strength, and inhuman speed— I should be scared. I should be questioning everything in the universe. I should be running away as if my life depended on it.

But I’m not afraid. I know in my soul he won’t hurt me. I trust that feeling because it’s an emotion that I’ve never felt before.

Everyone who has hurt me in my life has been human. Everyone, every creature, every being with a heartbeat, has the ability to be a monster.

Human or not.

My gums ache again. Lifting my hand, I brush my fingers over something small and pointed. Ambrose’s eyes widen and he yanks my arm away.

“Let me see, Kitten.”

I open my mouth to show him what hurts.

“Look at your little fangs. They are perfect, just like you.”

“Am I a vampire now?” I ask him, a little horrified.

“No. Your body is adapting to the mating. You need to bite me to complete it, take in my blood. Is that something you want to do?”

I rock against him faster. “Yes. So bad.”

“Not yet. Not until we are close, okay?”

Ambrose sits up, wrapping an arm around my waist, meeting me thrust for thrust. Our mouths collide in a heated kiss, his tongue wild and possessive as it licks over my newly formed fangs.

“So fucking sexy knowing how much you want me.” He bites my bottom lip just as my cock rubs against his abdomen, giving me the friction I wasn’t allowed to ask for.

I whimper down his throat, wrapping my arms around his neck as our tongues try to tie together. The kiss is messy, rough, with no sense of rhythm. We’re like two animals trying to eat one another and the closer we get to succeeding, the hungrier we become.

Breaking the kiss, I trail kisses down his jaw, then throat, my instincts zeroing in on the artery. I suck the spot I want to bite, his pleasure-filled groans adding to the erotica of the slaps from our skin.

“Ah-oh-yes,” I whimper just as my orgasm explodes from me, another rush of fireworks tingling my body and blinding my vision. I try to bite his neck, but I can’t seem to bite hard enough. “Ambrose,” I say his name in panic. “I can’t— can’t—”

“Shhh, Kitten. I have you.” He takes his talon and slices it across his neck. Blood flows down in a rush, and like a mad man, I suction my lips to the open wound. He cups the back of my head, his breaths becoming rough like a sea during a storm. “That’s it, Oliver. Drink me. Take me in. Bind me to you. I’ll always be able to sense you, to follow you. Make us one.” His come is warm. I feel it fill me in amounts no human could ever possess. He bites me next, his fangs easily cutting through my skin to get to the vein.

And just like that, in that second, the heat that overwhelmed my body vanishes.

Exhaustion riddles my soul and I break away from him, pressing my head to his shoulder as the last two days catch up to me.

We sit there, arms wrapped around one another, chest bumping together as we try to catch our breaths, and his cock lodged inside me.

It’s oddly… comfortable.

I love being this close to him. He runs his talons through my hair, the slight scratch causing my eyes to hood.

“Are you okay?” His deep voice nearly lulls me to sleep accompanied with his hand scaling up and down my back.

I nod, then release a sigh. “I’m amazing.”

“Your heat is over.”

I frown, leaning away from him. “Does that bother you?”

“No, no, I’m just— now reality is here. I have so much to tell you—”

I place my finger over his lips to silence him. “Let’s save the heavy stuff for another day. I’m starving. I’m tired. If this is about you being a vampire, I’m oddly fine with it. I’ve had real monsters in my life that didn’t have fangs or drink blood.”

He swallows so hard I can hear it.

There’s something else.

He lifts me from his cock slowly, both of us moaning in unison.

“What is it?” I press, covering myself up with a blanket. I feel exposed. “Did you lie about the mate thing? Did you only want sex or something?”

He whips his head toward me and before I can ask another question, he uses his vampire speed to trap me against the wall.

“That’s not fair. You can’t always use your abilities when I’m just a human.”

“Not just,” he corrects. “My human. Mine. And no, I’d never lie about such a thing. You’re my mate, my beloved. I’ve waited hundreds of years for you.”

“How old are you?” I try not to stutter, but the age gap is very real.

“I lost count after four hundred,” he states.

“Is it how young I am compared to you? I don’t understand what is getting you in this mood—”

“—You had the life you had because of me. I am your fucking curse, your death, your poison. I am the answer to your question as to why you’ve always been alone. My coven killed most of your family centuries ago. There was something in your blood— your ancestor’s blood that made it different. Nothing paranormal, just special. My coven slaughtered them, Oliver. I saved two but—”

“You didn’t partake in this massacre?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “But when I saved two, there was one man who looked a lot like you. He seemed… different. Now, I know why. You’re related to him. He was the beginning to my bond with my beloved I’d have all these years later.”

“Then why are you so hard on yourself? You didn’t kill my family,” I explain.

He hangs his head, glancing away. “No, but a witch cursed me for my coven’s actions. Cursed me to only live off Grandie blood. She stripped away my ability to die and I became immortal. You see, vampires only live to be two hundred years old unless they choose to mate then they live to one thousand, but a beloved? Beloveds mean eternity. So, I had to hunt the two I saved down. I didn’t hurt them, but I mystified them, put them in a trance to take blood when I needed it. I stored as much as I could. They had children and I waited until the children were old enough, and I took their blood. So on and so forth, until recently I ran out of blood, I was sure I would be tortured forever because from what I knew, the last Grandie had died. Then, I met you.”

I push him away, needing a bit of space. Bending down, I grab the blanket that fell from me, then wrap it around my body.

“So it isn’t my blood you need. You just needed any Grandie blood, right? Am I even your mate? Or did you lie about that just to get my blood.”

He growls, flashing his fangs at me.

“You will not flash your fangs at me in my house!” I yell at him, pointing a finger in his direction.

He schools his features, nodding in agreement. “Apologies, Kitten. I just don’t like what you said. You are my mate. You’re my forever. You being a Grandie just happens to align with the curse since only your blood can keep me alive.”

I’m not sure how I feel. A part of me feels used like some unworthy body to keep a curse alive or a pawn in a game.

“I need you to go, Ambrose. Please.”

He shakes his head, falling to his knees. “Please, Oliver. Please. Don’t make me leave. I love you. I know how insane that sounds, but I do. I’m wired to only love you. We can talk this out. We can communicate.”

“I know, but I just need some time alone with my thoughts. I’m feeling a lot of things right now. I mostly just feel used into being a part of your gain. That’s something you can’t fix. I need to work the issues out on my own.”

An opal tear drips down his cheek as he stands. It shines in the light before he wipes it away. “I won’t be far. If you need me, say my name, and I’ll be able to hear you.” He kisses my forehead, giving me a long peck.

I close my eyes, sinking into his touch, and then a cool breeze kisses my face. I open my eyes to see I’m alone in the same room that only fifteen minutes ago was full of sounds I’ve never made before.

He’s gone.