“What if I would have said no?’ I asked him, propping myself up on my left elbow. The sheet moved from my body and the top of my breast showed through the soft moonlight that streamed into my window.
“I knew you wouldn’t.” He looked from my face to my chest and back as he spoke. His eyes lingered on mine, but I knew he wanted to stare at the parts of me that he could see.
“How?”
“Because, do you feel this?” he asked and put my hand on his chest. I felt his heart thumping below the taught muscle of his left peck. “That hasn’t beat in over a hundred years. You were the part I needed to make me whole again. You were the one thing that could make me feel alive again.”
“I don’t understand it.”
“What part?”
He wasn’t being an ass about it, but was honestly trying to help me figure it out.
“I always thought men were jerks. I didn’t have high opinions of females either, but if men didn’t demand or buy us, the women wouldn’t have to sell us either.”
“Who is selling who?”
CHAPTER TWO
“MY MOM.” IT WAS THE first time I had said those words out loud, and hearing them come from my lips, it broke something in me.
“Your mom tried to sell you?”
“Yes. Right before I turned sixteen.”
“Why? What happened?”
“I was her only daughter. She was washed up and used. Nobody wanted her anymore once I turned fourteen and developed. I don’t know if it was anger, jealousy, or greed that made her do it. All I know is, she had a buyer picked out for me. He wanted to take me for a night first to see if I was what he wanted. She refused though, because if he deflowered me, I wouldn’t be worth as much. He was going to pass on me until another man came forward and asked for me. My mom got into a bidding war then, and my price went up to several hundred dollars. Brian ended up winning in the end, but I knew if I went with him, he would do horrible things to me. Neither of them saw me as a person; I was only a possession they would play with when they wanted. My mom talked a lot the last year that I was with her about how I would go to the brothel when the man she picked for me was done. She said she was sure he would only keep me for a few years before I bored him to death. I’ve seen what places like that do to women and I refused to be one of them.”
“That’s why you left.” It wasn’t a question. He understood it the second the words were spoken. “That will never be your life now, Alyssa. You are mine and I will protect and love you until the end of time.”
“How do you know that? Because you dreamt about me? Because we made love? You don’t know me or the kind of person I am. I could end up being worse to be with than if you had stayed single.”
“I don’t make mistakes. You were the one. Accept that and let me teach you what we do.”
“One more question and then I’ll stop,” I said and waited to see if he would get mad. I’d let him in. That part was true, and I wasn’t sure if I could uninvite him, but the next answer that came from him would tell me who I had gotten involved with.
“Yes. The answer to your question is yes. I killed all the people here.”
“I didn’t even...”
“I told you, we are connected. I can read your thoughts and in a few days, you will do the same with me.”
“Can we read everyone?”
“No. Only our thoughts because we are mated for life. You might not yet, but you will love me like I love you. It wasn’t all one-sided on me picking you. You will feel about me the way I do toward you soon enough.”
Where he was wrong was that I already had. The second I saw him walking down the street things started. I fell for the stranger that wandered through town and I knew, if he came back to me, I would do what I could to be with him.
“See? That was destiny and destiny can’t be changed.”
“I’m so thirsty,” I said and started to get out of bed. The sheet fell at my feet and I knew he could see me fully because I could see everything even with the lights off. I didn’t hide my body from him, and I wasn’t embarrassed for him to see me. I could feel his arousal start again even though we had just made love. Swinging my hips in exaggeration, I smiled when I heard the bed creak as he got up to follow me.
“Water won’t satisfy you any longer.”
“Well, it’s all I have, so let’s hope it does.”
Standing in front of the sink in my tiny kitchen, I flipped up the handle and started to pump. Water poured into the basin I used to catch it and I stopped when it was half full. Taking one of the few tin cups I had hanging on a rack by the stove, I dipped it in and brought the cool liquid to my lips. As soon as it hit my tongue, I spit it out.
“What in the world? The water must be bad,” I said still trying to get the bitter taste off my lips.
“There is nothing wrong with the water. Your tastes have changed. Try this instead.”
He handed me a leather bag after taking the top off. I brought it closer and smelled the opening. A sweet metallic scent hit my nose and my mouth began to water. I was salivating so much, I had to wipe a small spot of drool from the corner of my mouth.
“What is it?”
“Just drink. It will make it all better.”
He put his hand on the bottom of the sack and brought it closer to me. As it hit my lips, they parted slightly, and I let the warmth of the thick, sticky liquid slide in and lay on my tongue. I closed my eyes and let it take me to a whole new place. It was almost as good as the sex I’d had with him only moments ago. I could feel it race through my body and felt myself getting stronger with each gulp I took. When it was almost empty, I let him take it away. I licked at my lips wanting to get every drop I could from it.
“What was that?” I asked. I was breathing hard and the words came out choppy.
“It was blood.”
“What?” I screamed. “I drank blood?”
“Yes. That part of the myth of us is true. You will need that to survive. Since you are new, your thirst will be strong. Let me help you through that part and once you have it under control, I will teach you how to hunt.”
“Hunt? Like animals?”
“No. We need human blood to live. I try to single out the ones that are bad and help the world by getting rid of them. I will teach you how to do that and which ones to avoid. There is nothing worse than getting ahold of a sickly human and drinking the tainted blood. It won’t kill us, but the pain and agony it can cause will make you wish it could.”
“Is there more?” I asked and looked at the leather pouch again.
“No. You drank all I had. Come with me, though.”
He took my hand, led me back into my room, and handed me my clothes. I got dressed as fast as he did and waited for him to show me what he needed to. I wasn’t sure if I fully trusted him, but I was like a newborn child and depended on him. He’d made me who I was, and I would need him to teach me how to survive.
“Ready?” he asked. There was a sparkle in his eyes that was contagious. I wasn’t sure where we were going or what we were about to do, but I was excited for the adventure he was about to take me on.