Chapter 13

The wet, slippery ground clings to me with its sticky hold. I feel my aching head throbbing as my eyes try to open. My side still bleeds, but it has healed so much more. I slide my hand over the wound that is still trying to fully close up, and then I look around at the starless night air.

How long have I been asleep? He just left me here?

My clothes are covered in my own blood. I stare at the ground that has suffered the same fate of wearing my red stains. I see a glimpse of a shadow, and then I hear a car crank in the distance.

He stayed.

I wobble to my knees, praying I've healed enough to walk a little better than I did earlier. I listen to the car slowly disappear from my ears, and then I realize I'm wearing a jacket - a black hooded jacket with the scent of melted chocolate and dark cherry.

I sigh as I stare at the dark, lonely road, and I see my splotches of blood I spat out along the way as breadcrumbs. No one is here though.

They didn't find my blood and follow the tire treads next to it. They didn't find me as I would have found them.

Then I hear a roaring engine blazing toward me. I slink back into the wooded area next to me, and I slide behind a tree as my heart beats too fast.

Damn it. I wish he hadn't left yet.

The car skids, and then I hear several more joining it as they jump out, doors almost slamming in unison.

"This is hers," I hear a soft, familiar, and destroyed voice choke out.

Jase.

"Aria!" he yells when he finds himself close enough to hear my mind.

I limp out of the wooded area, tears springing free from my eyes, as I try to run to his voice. I never thought I'd see him, hear him, or touch him again. Please don't be a dream.

"Aria!" he yells again, and I don't even see him before I feel his cool hands scooping me up and pulling me to his chest.

I cry louder as the overwhelming relief floods me, and my body starts shaking as I cling to him. His lips find my forehead and then my trembling lips as he breathes me in like a breath he's been chasing after for centuries.

"I've got her," he yells to the night air, and I cling to him tighter as I try to compose myself.

"Aria!" Uncle Grayson shouts, his arms almost tearing me out of Jase's before I scream out in pain from his touch hitting me just wrong. "Sorry. Sorry. Damn it."

"Fucking shit. She needs blood!" Rex screeches while rushing away from us.

"Who took you? Where were you? How did you escape?" Jase's crackling voice tries to demand.

I take a few deep breaths to steady myself against the pain my uncle unintentionally provoked, and then my brother returns with an open pack of blood that I gratefully rip from his hands. I guzzle it down, my body reacting instantly, and I take in a new breath that feels so much better.

My wounds are still there, but they're so much smaller, more tolerable, and easier to deal with now.

"The Scorpion people took me. I saw the tattoo," I try to say without crying again, but my tears escape.

"Damn it," Jase growls, and then I feel the backseat of a hummer greeting us as he climbs in and pulls me into his lap.

"What about your car?" Rex asks as he joins Uncle Grayson up front.

"I'll send someone after it. I'm not leaving her side right now, and she needs someone holding her until we reach the city."

I smile, so relieved he said that, and then his lips brush my forehead as he kisses it again.

"What did they do?" Rex prods, his eyes terrifyingly close to showing dilation.

"You came down pretty quick," I murmur to deter the conversation, hoping his savage will subside before coming to life.

"Mel injected me before I went phase three. I'm fine. I swear. I've had like a case of olophine."

I smirk somewhat, and then I take a deep breath before looking up to the pale eyes seeming so tormented.

"They didn't get the chance to do anything," I answer to Rex, but my eyes stay locked on my full blood's.

"Aria, tell us where you've been," Uncle Grayson demands. "I can have a team there by tomorrow morning."

"No!" I screech, my heart slapping my throat as my mind strays from every memory I've had for the night.

"Aria, what's going on?" Jase asks, seriousness taking over his emotion when he sees my mind intentionally avoiding any thoughts about tonight.

"I can't let you go after him. He fucking saved my life, and if you see it, then you'll go after him," I whisper, but I know my brother and uncle heard it too.

"See what?" Uncle Grayson asks, and Rex rolls his eyes while clenching his teeth together.

"So someone saved you and then left you bleeding and alone in the middle of no-fucking-where. Aria, tell us the truth," Rex snaps.

"I am. It was the same guy who has been calling. He saved me from the ones who had me. There were three of them, and he killed them all."

"Those people we found on the ridge," Rex says to Jase, and they all let out a breath of relief.

"You found them?" I gasp.

Jase's eyes look away, and he shakes his head.

"We thought you did it. We thought you went…"

His voice stops, his sentence left unfinished and dangling in the air with the tension it caused.

"Savage?" I ask in bemusement.

What would be so wrong with that?

Jase's eyes stare out the window, his grip feeling differently on me now. I pull his face back to mine, and I see the heartbreak consuming his pale blues, forcing a wave of realization through me.

"You thought I went after my counter," I sigh, my breath feeling too heavy for the car to hold.

His lips tighten, and then his head bows as he laces his fingers with mine.

"I don't have a savage. My dad died, my Uncle Clay died, My Aunt Symphony died… I've watched so many meet their end, but I've never went savage once. You're the only counter I want," I murmur reassuringly, and his lips attack mine as his cool hands pull me tight enough to make my weakened body wince.

"Sorry," he murmurs through tight lips, his grip loosening as he pulls my tattered remnants of a shirt out of the way for him to examine me.

"I'm fine… now," I utter with a goofy grin, and his lips find mine again as his smile comes back to life.

One of his hands tangles in my hair, while the other grips my unwounded side. The chill of his breath excites every part of me to the point I just want to finish tearing my clothes off and have my way with him.

He pulls off my sweat jacket, and I avoid thinking of its origins as it drops to the floor. I curl in tighter, our kiss getting deeper, and then Unc and Rex grumble in unison.

"Where are the others?" I ask while pulling back before we forget my uncle and brother are in the car.

Jase bites back a grin, and then I curl into him again as Rex answers.

"We split up. The blood trail beside the tire treads looked too easy. We didn't know if you were dropping us clues, or if they were faking us off. Our tracking skills aren't quite up to par with yours."

Ah.

"Any more blood?" I ask while realizing I'm still not healing as well as I'd like to be, my own blood still dripping on Jase's clothes.

His chilled breath finds my neck as he strokes it gently, and I'm almost hoping he gets my blood in his mouth.

He withdraws instantly, his cheeks blushing. Everything about him becomes so much more defined as my night vision grows stronger from my more healed state.

"That's all we had with us after having to heal so many after the fight. We arranged a blood drop, but an Unaligned fleet intercepted it. We were more focused on finding you," Jase mumbles guiltily.

That's fine. I'll heal on your blood later.

His smirk pops up involuntarily, and his lips find mine again. I giggle a little to myself for how incredibly perfect I feel in his arms.

"I love you," he murmurs against my lips.

"I love you."

"We're almost there," Rex interjects, his hand sliding back to pat my knee, and I snuggle into Jase as relief fills my body for having avoided any more bloodshed tonight.

"I've never been so happy to be back inside the United lines," I sigh out.

The gates of the border open for my Uncle the second he shows the awaiting officers his badge, and I close my eyes to hide the violet from the guards' full blood night vision.

"We heard it was a rough one out there," one man murmurs.

"Very. Has Captain Angelica Morris called or made it back yet?" Unc asks worriedly.

"She, General Ericson, and Dr. Jude are here with Mrs. Mordel and Admiral… er, I mean Mr. Mordel, Sir. They caught it on the radios that you had Ms. Banner back."

Fuck. Mom's here. Not one word about the threat.

"I know. She was just worried. It's protocol for someone to notify your emergency contact number if you're… taken… or worse."

He looks away again, his eyes trying not to show me the hell he has gone through tonight, as we drive on through the gate.

I need to take her off my emergency contacts until this is over.

"You could list me," he says almost hopefully, and my foolish grin emerges.

"That sounds serious," I say with my best vixen's tone.

"There's nothing more serious than the way I feel about you," he utters with nothing but authenticity.

I dissolve under those pale eyes showing me such genuine love. It's surreal, and I don't know how I was so fortunate to end up with someone that makes me feel this way.

"That's how I feel too," he murmurs while kissing the back of my hand, and I just lie against him as we slowly crawl into a parking place.

"Are you coming with us to meet the others?" Rex asks while climbing out.

Jase holds me to his body as he climbs free from the car, and I shake my head at my brother.

"I need to heal, shower, rest, and avoid Mom's meltdown. I don't feel like hearing about how I was never ready for the field. This will just cement her adamancy to get me back into the tech labs."

Rex's laughter escapes, and Jase stifles his own while holding him to me all the tighter.

I choose healing first.

His smirk emerges, and he blushes as he rolls his eyes at me for the less than decent images rolling around in my scandalous mind for him to see.

I shrug, and then I look back to my brother who seems to have grown irritated by our silent conversation.

"I'll have some blood sent to you," Rex grumbles while walking away. "And I'll tell Mom her interrogation on you will have to wait until tomorrow."

"Just deal with Mom. Jase has the blood under control," I crudely interject, laughing when my brothers hands clap against his ears in a muffing motion while shaking his head upon hearing my over sharing moment.

Jase's laughter slips free, and then his lips cover mine as we head into the towering, glorious hotel.

"Your brother hates me even more now. Thanks," Jase teasingly releases.

I smile, and then a tear slips free from my eye. Now that we're alone, it's all rushing in. I was so close to losing it all. I was close to turning into my mother so long ago when men strung her up and tortured her for days just to learn more about her.

Jase winces as my thoughts take over, and his soft lips find mine again - his chill forcing my anxiety to slowly dissipate.

"I wouldn't have let it happen. I would have found you no matter what. The entire damn United would have abandoned the war to go in search of you," he murmurs against my lips, his sincerity wrapping around his words.

I believe him too. I don't know how he would have accomplished such a thing, but his conviction is enough to convince me he would have found a way.

The door to the room greets me, and he gently puts me down on the couch while going to flip on the lights. The room is dark, drafty, and there's a hint of something familiar in the air.

"Is there chocolate in here?" I muse.

The lights almost blind me, forcing my night vision to drop, and I shake my head from the instant headache it has caused.

"Sorry. I should have told you to close your eyes and readjust."

"It's fine," I mumble, and he returns to scoop me up.

"No chocolate either. You want some? After you've healed, I can run grab you some."

I grin a little more deviously, and then I shake my head.

"I don't plan on letting you out of here tonight," I seduce, and his salacious grin spreads.

"Good. I really don't want to leave you," he murmurs as my head finds a pillow, and then I wince slightly as my side grazes the bed too hard.

"I'm going to bleed all over the sheets," I gripe.

"It's not as though the hotel hasn't dealt with bloodstains before. I'll have some fresh ones sent up later," he chuckles out, his lips finding mine again, and then he withdraws to pull his shirt over his head.

His incredible body finds my greedy eyes, and my lower lip finds its way between my teeth as I drop the veil to my mind to show him the ways I want to be taken.

"Damn," he breathes while sliding between my legs, offering himself to me. "Where do you want it from?"

My eyes scour his upper body, and then I find that defined hipline. I smirk as I lean forward, and he leans back to follow my lead as I take the top position and our heads face the end of the bed.

"Here," I almost whisper while running my finger along the ridge of that perfectly sculpted line. "Can I?"

"You don't have to ask," his breathy, suspenseful tone releases.

"It's the law," I whisper very teasingly. "You have to give me permission."

He strains out another breath, and then his eyes stare into the pits of my soul as he looks down his sculpted body at me.

"From now until the end of eternity, you have my permission," he says with a stronger affectionate tone, and that's my undoing.

My heart belongs to him completely. I'm his without waver, and my love grows to be almost painful. My blood bringers emerge, and I take his sex-and-candy flesh into my mouth as his deliciously warm blood flows from his veins to my throat.

Erotica explodes in my mouth, and my body overflows with my desire for him. I feel the wounds healing so much quicker than they would with packaged blood, and I feel a stirring within me too strong to be denied as my body starts aching, throbbing, and demanding his.

Suddenly his lips are on mine as he rips my fully healed body from my lowered position, and he devours me. His arms wrap around me, his grip becoming almost too tight, and then I feel the bed beneath my back when he flips me so fast the room becomes a blur around me.

I gasp, my breaths growing all the more heated, and then his lips find mine again to steal the heat from my mouth; the smoldering heat igniting with his chill to cause a small, sexy-as-fuck fog.

My pants shred from my body, and the tattered remnants of my shirt meet their last seconds of covering my body as they fall to the floor. I feel his boxers separating us, the tip of his erection pressing through the fabric to meet my sex, and I don't even remember his pants coming off.

"Fuck me," I whisper breathily, a whimper almost coming out behind it, and suddenly his boxers are gone before he surges into me so hard our bases smash against each other.

My body jolts up involuntarily from his violent entrance, and then his lips consume mine to muffle the ridiculous moans and girly cries exuding from me.

He grips my hips as the weight of his body presses against me, and his chilled breaths heat up beside my neck. His hot and cold temperature shifting ignites a deeper burning within me, and the sheets start singeing beneath our touch.

"Fuck," he murmurs through a near whisper, and then he slams into me harder, his body fully owning mine as he lifts up to hover over me.

The power he's using would crush a human - break every bone in their fragile body - but to me... it's divine.

I moan louder, my hands clinging to the sheets beneath me as his punishing rhythm quickens in the most electrifying way. Then I feel him drop to me, his body sweating… even though full bloods shouldn't sweat anymore... not without a blood lust for the vein, which they no longer suffer from.

I feel our moment becoming intoxicatingly inescapable - as though we could spend the rest of our lives in this moment.

The floors rattle beneath us, the glass of the balcony door shatters, and the tables beside the bed splinter around us. He doesn't caution me, he doesn't stop me… he feels that power too.

His eyes roll back in his head as he revels in the feel of my body. I couldn't stop it even if he wanted me to. All I can do is relish him being inside me, ravaging me, not holding back.

The muscles in my stomach tighten, promising I'm near the climatic point of unraveling. The walls crack, spider-veining around us as they creak out their pain, and then I cry out as I find the release my body desperately desired.

He doesn't stop though. My body trembles as his vicious pace only grows all the more sensationally brutal. Then I feel his sharp blood bringers pressing against the skin of my shoulder as his soft hair tickles my face, his body still pumping into mine with that incredible force.

Do it.

The erotic, delicious pain burns through my veins, awakening every bit of my body as if I've just felt that bomb explode once more. His mercilessly ravishing rhythm quickens, making me almost convulse from the surreal sensations forming in every forgotten crevice of my body - inside and out.

He knows my mind, knows the unfathomably delicious emotions he's provoking, and he knows exactly what it takes make my body curl to will. Most of all, he knows how to make me belong to him.

I gasp out again, and the walls crack all the more. A piece of the ceiling crashes to the ground beside the bed, and that's my undoing.

I scream out as though the sun is erupting in the pit of my stomach, and the walls rattle all the harder, smaller pieces of the ceiling dropping to sound off my second climax.

This time, he follows me with one last incredibly hard thrust, and I feel his warmth exploding inside me as he collapses to my body with his exhausted, heated pants turning into chilled ones again.

I'm too depleted to move. My arms feel as though they're weighted down by uranium filled veins, and my heartbeat is fast enough to power a city.

"Damn," he pants out, his lips trying to meet mine, but falling away when his body requires more air.

Mmm.Damn good.

He lets out a laugh upon hearing my inner thoughts, and then he rolls to his back while bringing me with him to fulfill the need for closeness after our hotter-than-hell blood exchange.

"Aria?" he murmurs, and then he swallows hard before gasping in another breath.

"Mm?" I hum out while snuggling in closer and wrapping my leg around his waist.

He breathes out heavily, his chest contracting almost too much, and then his next breath comes in a little easier before he continues with a steadier tone.

"I need to tell you something."

My eyes seem so heavy right now. After all I've dealt with today, I just want to fall asleep here in his arms. To hell with the shower.

You can tell me anything.

He smiles against my forehead as his lips gently stroke it, and then his arms drape around me protectively.

"Another time. You're exhausted."

No. "Tell me now. I'm fine," I yawn out, my lids drawing shut to show proof of my lie.

His hand smoothes down my wild hair as he pulls the sheet over us, and then he shakes his head.

"Another time," he repeats in a near whisper, and then the darkness consumes me.