Chapter 4

Ada

The asshole had just bitten me, pinned me down and forced his fangs into the side of my neck.

I was… pissed.

I held the cloth to the side of my throat, the sting of his bite slowly starting to diminish. My heart was racing, adrenaline rushing through my veins because I had been afraid he wouldn't be able to stop.

Fated mates or not, the vampire hadn't been in his right mind. I didn't even think he heard or saw me, if I were being honest.

Which had a little voice whispering in my mind that he "technically" wasn't to blame for being a barbarian because he hadn't known what was going on.

But I wasn't going to listen to that little voice. I was tired and hungry, thirsty, and just done with everything.

There was also another sensation that was butting heads with all those other feelings. And it was one I wanted to really ignore.

Nope. I wasn't going to go there. I was so not going to even entertain the idea that physically I kind of… enjoyed his bite, or the feeling of his big, hard body over mine.

"I…"

I glanced over at him. He exhaled roughly and ran his big palm over the back of his head, disheveling the short, dark strands.

He looked positively destroyed, but as I stared at his mouth and saw a trail of my blood sliding out of the corner, any sympathy I felt toward his being upset vanished.

He turned and looked at me and took a step forward. I held up my hand, palm outward, and shook my head. "Don't even think about it."

He gritted his teeth, and I saw a muscle under his scruff-covered jaw clench. His eyes flashed red, and his hands curled into fists at his side.

Seems like Lover Boy here isn't used to not getting his way.

I pulled the cloth away and looked down, the dingy color saturated red with my blood. I didn't have super healing powers despite being an Otherworld, so I'd have this visual of his lack of control branded on my neck for who knew how long.

When he looked back at me, we were at a standoff, both of us refusing to break eye contact, the sound of him grinding his teeth echoing in the cavern.

His eyes were still red, but after a second he closed them, his nostrils flaring as he slowly inhaled and exhaled. And when he finally opened his eyes again, the color had bled out so it was normal once more.

And just like that a stoic expression was on his face, his shoulders and muscles weren't tense, and he looked at me as if he had zero emotion.

Great. I'm mated to a psycho.

He stared at me for far too long, not speaking, just this hard, muscular wall of male vampire.

I started to shift on my feet, feeling slightly uncomfortable, unsure how he was going to react.

He was a huge male, built like a bulldozer, or more akin to a tank. Up until I'd been captured by the Assembly, I hadn't seen anyone, human or Otherworld, who was as massive as he was.

I involuntarily took a step back for self-preservation alone.

I was a fraction of his size easily, and I knew this vampire could snap me in half and drain me dry as if I were nothing but a shot to satiate his thirst.

"I didn't know it was you," he said, low and deep. "If I had, I wouldn't have hurt you."

I didn't respond because, honestly, I didn't know what to say. I knew he was my fated mate, or what his kind called Coveted One.

I felt our connection in my bones, in the very makeup of my DNA. It was a calling, as if a siren lured me in close and refused to let me go.

It felt right and perfect just to be in his presence, and I wanted to be closer, to touch him and feel how good it would be to let him hold me. But that didn't mean I didn't have any free will.

That didn't mean I would allow things to happen simply because fate had thrust us together, pulled me toward him like we were magnets.

That's how I'd found him, something pulling me closer and closer, as if he were the current and I were the shore.

He was big and intimidating and extremely frightening just in appearance. But I'd dragged his ass back to the cave I'd settled in after finding myself on this strange place, and waited until he woke.

Then I sat there musing what I was going to do. With him. With myself. Hell, with the situation itself.

When I didn't respond to his apology, he cursed something foul, turned, and started pacing back and forth, his body so tall that he had to slightly crouch so his head didn't hit the rocky top.

After a moment he stopped and faced the tunnel that led out to the entrance. Although we were a good distance away, you could make out the sunlight streaming in.

"We can't leave the cave. As you can see, it's daylight." I gestured to the filtering light that could be seen up ahead.

He grunted without looking at me. "I'll be right back." And then he was prowling away and out of sight.

I cocked an eyebrow and shook my head, muttering, "For fuck's sake."

A moment later I could hear his curse echoing in the cave, followed by the heavy fall of his footsteps, pebbles being kicked aside as he strode back toward me.

I hadn't moved from where I stood, my eyebrows still raised as he came to a stop at the opening of the tunnel.

He was glowering, and I felt the corner of my mouth twitch. I didn't know anything about this male, but I found his irritation amusing as hell.

"I told you we couldn't leave the cave."

He narrowed his eyes, huffed out a breath, and ran his hand over his jaw, the sound of his palm scraping over his stubble causing this tightening in my belly to commence.

Damn him for that small sound of masculinity doing funny things to me.

"How about we start over?" he finally said, his gaze roaming up and down my body in a very non-friendly, curious manner.

His focus landed on my chest. I immediately lifted my arms and crossed them over my breasts, covering myself and waiting until he looked up at me before I lifted a brow. "Eyes up here, vampire."

He growled… actually had the freaking nerve to growl at me as if it were an inconvenience that I was telling him to not look at my tits.

"You do that a lot," I quipped. "Making these intimidating sounds like you're a damn lion or something."

I could hear his molars grinding.

I narrowed my eyes and growled right back, although I thought I sounded more like a Pomeranian compared to him.

He shook his head, gave a harsh snort as if I were some petulant child, and went back to pacing. His focus was on the ground, his hand working the back of his neck as if he were trying to get a kink out.

"How about we start with who I am, who you are, and where exactly here is."

When I didn't say anything, there was more of that teeth grinding that I should not have found attractive in any way.

He faced me, legs braced slightly apart, arms crossed over that far too wide and hard-looking chest, and stared into my eyes.

"I'm Ada."

He made this sound in his throat that made me… feel things.

"I'm Sebastian Darris." He paused as if I was supposed to recognize the name.

"I'm not sure if you're waiting for me to be starstruck? I have no idea who you are."

His nostrils flared again before he composed that apathetic expression with just a snap of his fingers.

I'd be lying if I said the fact that his emotions were so unstable didn't have this weird thrill filling me. It was like being close to a primal beast and not knowing if it would rip your arm off or let you pet it.

"You've never heard of the Darris lineage from the American Vampire Clan?"

I shrugged. "Sorry," I said. "I still have no idea who you are, although the arrogance coming off you by letting me know your name tells me you think you're someone of importance?"

He let a huff of air through his nostrils and closed his eyes as if he were asking for some kind of guidance with his patience.

I was pretty sure the annoyance went both ways.

I shrugged, letting him know I had no idea what he was even talking about concerning this vampire clan or his role in it. "I'm Fae, as I'm sure you can sense, and I kept to myself. My kind isn't as strong as any others in our world, and I had to protect myself, which meant staying away from Otherworld beings. So hearing anything about your group isn't something I would have heard."

He crossed those bulky arms over his equally wide chest, and I told myself not to appreciate the view of his muscles clenching and flexing.

I could see from his expression that he didn't know how to take my admission. I didn't expect him to understand seeing as vampires were one of the most powerful Otherworld, not just in their strength but in quickness, agility, and intelligence.

Not saying the Fae didn't have our own awesome qualities, but we had to take our strength where we could.

"I think it's fucking smart, you kept to yourself," he finally said.

His praise wasn't something I'd expected, and a flush moved over me.

My face got hot, my heart beat faster, and I glanced away. I heard him inhale sharply and closed my eyes because I knew he sensed the change in me. Hell, you didn't need to be Otherworld to see he'd embarrassed me and taken me off guard.

"I can smell the blood rushing through your veins, hear the frantic beat of your pulse, female. My words affected you that much?"

I could have groaned in mortification but chose not to address his question. It was safer that way.

"And to be honest it doesn't matter who you are, or where we're at… wherever this is." I exhaled, knowing I was being a bitch right now even though technically I had every right to be given our situation.

I was exhausted, grimy, and dirty, and the prospect of just crawling into my bed at home—in another whole damn dimension—sounded like heaven.

But if we were going to be stuck together for the foreseeable future, I might as well try and make things a little less awkward. Besides, even if I wanted to ditch him, I knew he'd be like a dog with a bone where I was concerned.

And I'd be that bone.

Being his fated mate meant he'd do everything and anything in his power to keep me close. And the truth was, right now I needed a friend.

I bent down to get the half-filled canteen of water I had stuffed into one of the packs. When I'd found myself in this parallel dimension, there'd been debris scattered all over the place, presumably items from the Assembly and guards that had been blasted here by the Leandrean opening the portal.

Two canteens filled with water, a few ration packs and cardboard-tasting energy bars, a few random pieces of clothing. Even a few weapons were among the scattered items.

I also found one severed arm, a handful of fingers, and what I assumed was a face, but the front part had been so burned off that it looked more like a piece of barbecue than what was once a human.

I took a small drink of the water and glanced over at him, feeling Sebastian's stare as if he were holding my face in his hands, making me aware he was right here.

"Do you remember anything about… anything?" I held out the canteen.

He crossed his beefy arms over his chest and shook his head. I cocked an eyebrow, about to insist he drink something, but then I remembered he already had.

Me.

"I hope I tasted good," I muttered, a snide comment that I immediately regretted and was about to apologize for.

"You did," he murmured, low and deep. "The sweetest thing I've ever tasted."

My breath caught and I couldn't look away from him.

"If I ever drink from another living thing, it'll taste like dog water."

I didn't know whether to be flattered by that or offended that I was a step up from dog water.

After shaking my head more to clear my thoughts than to dissuade anything of what he'd just said, I focused on the canteen and put it back in the satchel. I stood to my full height of five-foot-three, which was laughable in the face of this nearly seven-foot-tall vampire.

I might be small but I was spunky, and right now facing off with Sebastian meant I felt completely unstable, especially because of what he was to me and what he'd just said.

"What do you remember?" I asked again, hoping to steer the conversation back to where it had been.

He was silent for a second and I held my breath, expecting him to be stubborn, but I let out a breath when he scratched his jaw and his shoulders relaxed a fraction more.

"I remember taking down a lot of Assembly fuckers. I remember freeing Otherworld creatures." His voice was so deep I felt the vibration along my skin. "I remember a lot of blood, violence, and dead bodies littering the ground from my rage. But then there was a pulse and blast of energy, and I cracked my head on the wall before everything went dark."

He glanced toward the entranceway of the cave once more, a muscle under his jaw ticking furiously, as if he were reliving that.

"And I remember waking up in the forest, stumbling around like I was drunk, unable to see or hear, feeling that fucking sun draining me dry before darkness claimed me once more."

He looked at me again, his gaze roving slowly up and down my form. I visibly shivered just as he tore his focus from me and looked around at the cave again.

"Where exactly is here?"

I shrugged. "Hell if I know." I sat beside the small fire I'd started before he'd woken up. Despite it being daylight outside, the interior of the cavern was cold and dank, with water dripping somewhere and echoing annoyingly off the walls.

He only stood across the cavern for a second before he came closer. I eyed him warily, not sure what his intentions were. He sat across from me, the fire this sort of shield between us, and I let myself relax marginally.

We were both silent for long moments as I stared into the flames, listening to the wood crackle as the flames licked across it.

"The smoke is green," he mused, as if to himself, and I glanced up, surprised to see that he was staring at me instead of the flames.

"You really don't know or remember anything?" At his stoic look I exhaled through my nose. "I watched a Leandrean open a portal. I saw the humans surrounding him all but melt away from the power. He thrust us into another dimension, which is where I got the few supplies I have… because I found them scattered amongst body parts."

He grunted and looked back at the fire, as if me telling him how fucked all of this was didn't affect him.

When he glanced back at me I swallowed, because the look in his gaze was intense and piercing. He stared at me as if I were his, and I knew if we were going off fate or destiny or whatever, I was, and he'd forever see me as such.

"Can you stop doing that?"

One dark eyebrow slowly rose.

That is so not attractive. Nope. Not at all.

"What exactly do you want me to stop doing?"

"You know." There was a long pause where neither one of us spoke.

I was too stubborn to look away from him, and it seemed that he was as well.

When he didn't say anything, I gritted out, "You keep staring at me, and it's not the kind of staring that is friendly either, if you get my drift."

"You're my mate. You're mine. I'm going to look at you, revel in the fact I found my female after all this time."

I didn't answer but I felt my face heat up at his words, this strange feeling moving through me. I didn't like it. Not one bit.

I kept telling myself that, but even I didn't believe it.

I'd never had this kind of attention solely on me. I always kept to myself, and after my parents had passed away, leaving me alone with no siblings or close family, I never wanted to be noticed by anyone. I was content to be a lone soul in this world because that's what I'd become comfortable with.

It was safer that way, so I didn't have to pretend, to put on this facade, a glamour that everything was okay when it really wasn't. Because being lonely fucking sucked.

"I've waited so long for you?—"

My breath caught and I snapped my gaze up to stare into his eyes.

"— that the pure joy and pleasure I get just staring at you is sustenance to me, female."

My heart was beating so fast that I actually lifted my hand and placed it over my chest as if my palm would keep it in place.

"Asking me to stop looking at you is like asking me to stop breathing. I could try, but eventually my body would know what to do, how to survive."

Oh gods. How could he say such sweet things like this to me, profound and deep, as we sat in this dank cave… after he'd ripped open my neck and nearly drained me dry?

I shifted on the ground, pulled my knees up to my chest, and wrapped my arms around my legs as I rested my chin on them, staring at the fire, not sure what to say.

"Why don't you tell me where we're at so that I can figure out how to get the fuck out of here?"

It wasn't lost on me that he changed the subject, or that he just assumed he'd be the one to take control and figure this out. I wasn't going to argue the fact of my independence, because the truth was, I was at a loss on exactly how to "get out of this." So if he wanted to be arrogant, then so be it.

I stared at the flames for a moment and told him everything I knew.

"We were thrust into a parallel dimension by a Leandrean. I ran into him squaring off with a handful of guards as I was trying to escape the facility." Although I could feel the aggression pouring off Sebastian, I didn't look at him. "I have no idea where we're at, just that we're on a different plane. I've only been here for two days, as much as I can tell anyway. But what I've learned so far is that the sun has yet to set since I've been here."

That's when I looked up at him. I expected Sebastian to have maybe an expression of shock, or even be more pissed off at the knowledge that we were quite literally stuck in this cave because he couldn't leave. But in place was an expression of absolute… nothingness.

I was beginning to realize this was just who he was.

"I found a bunch of debris once I woke up here. A couple of canteens, some ration packs, various articles of clothing and weapons." I cleared my throat. "So I took everything I could find and scavenged, and I've been in this cave ever since. That's until I found you."

"And you saved me."

I felt like that should've been phrased like a question, but it was more of a stunned statement by Sebastian, as if he couldn't even fathom someone helping him.

I stared into his eyes, his irises as dark as his pupils, yet I could see the flames reflected back at me in the dark orbs.

"I couldn't just leave you there. Even if we weren't mates, I would've helped you."

He didn't respond to that, but he did glance away. The look on his face was almost as if he couldn't understand what I'd just said. I felt this pain in my chest as I stared at him.

There was this sensation akin to sympathy because of the way he looked. The thought that no one had shown him an act of kindness seemed so foreign to me, that someone could be starved for it yet never say the words out loud.

"Is there anyone else here?" The change of subject was starting to become obvious when he didn't like where the topic was headed. But I let it switch seamlessly.

"I haven't seen anyone else, but I'm sure there are plenty of others. Anyone who was within the vicinity of the facility had to have gotten blasted either within this dimension, or was killed on the impact." I shrugged "I really don't know how this works. I've never been in this situation before."

He nodded but didn't respond and looked out toward the entrance again. "And you said you've been here for two days and the sun hasn't set?"

I nodded just as he looked back at me.

"I assume it's been two days. I really couldn't tell you because everything feels upside down here."

I felt fatigue start to settle heavily within me. "I have a little bit of water left, almost all the food still. I've been rationing what I can. Eventually I'm going to have to venture out."

"It's not safe." His tone brokered no argument, as if he expected me just to obey him without thought. "What if you got hurt? I couldn't be there to protect you."

The side of my neck throbbed, and his gaze landed on the twin puncture marks as if he'd sensed it, felt where my thoughts had gone.

But I wasn't afraid of him and didn't bother reminding myself that just moments before I hadn't been safe with him either.

"No, it's probably not safe out there, but I really don't have any other options. I can't just stay in this cave and hope a Leandrean comes to me. And my supplies are only going to last so long, even less now with both of us. So I'm going to have to venture out eventually."

But that wasn't right now. I'd been up for longer than I could even contemplate, and my body sang with the idea of just lying down and sleeping.

"The only way that I know to get out of here is to hope like hell there's a Leandrean on this plane and have him open the portal." After revealing that, I didn't say anything else and grabbed the pack and lay down, using it as a cushion underneath my head.

This had been the most uncomfortable sleep I'd had, with the uneven, craggy ground and the lumpy "pillow" under my head. And I hadn't gotten much sleep since arriving for obvious reasons.

But I was warm with the fire, not dying of thirst or starvation, and I felt even safer with Sebastian here.

But I didn't think too hard on that last topic.

I couldn't fall asleep, just tossed and turned because I could acutely feel Sebastian watching. I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was crouched by the fire just staring at me, zero emotion on his face.

"What?" I tucked my hands underneath my head and tried to relax. Inside of me there was this carnival of emotions and sensations, fireworks that were exploding in an array of colors and sounds.

It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before.

And it scared me.

"I'll stay awake to make sure you're safe."

I didn't know what to say at first, because the serious look on his face told me he wouldn't be persuaded any other way. Not even if I reminded him I'd been here alone before I saved his ass.

"Suit yourself." I turned my back to the fire and closed my eyes again, but I knew this was going to be one hell of a long night.