“Perhaps you’ll wake for morning meal this night,” that sweet cadence relayed, filling the otherwise silent room.
It was in that moment Kaj finally laid eyes on the female whose voice had lived in his dreams ever since he passed out earlier. She’d remained a fixation in his mind through the hours it took for the torment within his body to subside. Good news was, the pain was gone—mostly—and she was not. So either he was in Heaven or she wasn’t some angel who’d been sent to carry him home.
Honestly, he hoped for the latter. Lots still to do on this big hunk of rock.
Kaj kept his lids low so he could watch as she set a tray down on the bedside table. She was startlingly beautiful. Dark brown hair piled high on her head and held there with some sort of colorful stick. The wisps that fluttered down around her face were a delectable contrast to her fair skin.
As though she sensed him, her head tilted his way and he saw her eyes for the first time. They were a translucent purple, and he was instantly reminded of amethyst stones, only her eyes were far more beautiful than any jewel. Radiantly incandescent. Was that a real thing? Yes, he decided. It was now.
“Oh, you are awake.” The acknowledgment was communicated softly and without concern.
Kaj continued to watch her. “Tired of me already?”
The soft smile that pulled at her exquisite mouth had a strange feeling erupting inside him.
Her gaze shifted from him to the meal she had produced. “I brought food in the hopes you would wake.” She smiled softly. “In case you were hungry.”
He gave the tray a half-hearted glance. He couldn’t care less about food at the moment, although, now that she mentioned it, his stomach rumbled in direct conflict with his mind. How many hours had passed since he’d had his evening meal? What time was it?
Hating that he was flat on his back, Kaj shifted so he could sit, but the female instantly stopped him, placing her small hand on his chest. His naked chest.
That touch had heat blooming through his entire body.
“Not yet. You need to feed first.”
“I just fed,” he said, his voice coming out raspy, as though he hadn’t used it in a while.
Must’ve been a good nap he’d taken.
“And when might that’ve been?” she prompted
Kaj turned his head, trying to find a clock. “Nightfall,” he told her, though he absolutely had no intentions of going into specifics.
“What day do you think it is?” she questioned, standing tall and peering down at him with concern glittering in her eyes.
“Friday.” He lifted a weak hand, waved it.
“Well, it is Friday, but I don’t think it’s the same Friday you’re thinking.”
Frowning, he stared up at her, trying to figure out the riddle.
Before he could argue, she shifted her long, flowing skirt and positioned herself so she was perched on the edge of the mattress, body angled toward him while her legs were hanging over the side. There was a shocking grace to her every movement. She tugged the flaring sleeve of her dress back, revealing her delicate wrist. Her skin was so pale he could see the veins beneath.
He considered it for a moment. Kaj rarely took from a female’s wrist or her neck. As a rule, he fed from cosrobols, the blood whores who offered themselves up to him. They were provided by the Alpha, given to the Zenith to do with as they pleased. Because he had no desire to get involved with one of them, Kaj would take from the insides of their thighs, leaving marks that would not be visible to others. Not because he was ashamed that others would find out. He simply didn’t want to see his mark upon them.
However, with this female … he had the strange urge to mark her in more ways than mere puncture wounds upon her skin.
A fierce pain pierced his chest the moment he heard her blood pumping in her veins. Bloodlust? So soon? As his fangs shot out from the roof of his mouth, he realized he was starving.
“Take it,” she offered, shifting her wrist closer.
With his eyes never leaving her face, Kaj reached for her hand. Soft as powder, smooth as silk. He circled her forearm with his other hand, keeping her arm still as he penetrated her with his fangs. She didn’t flinch as he drew from her, nor did she look away.
The second her blood slid down his throat, he felt the power within it. It infused him instantly, bringing to life the rest of his cells, as though they’d been dormant for weeks. His thirst didn’t abate even as he drew more and more from her. Never did he close his eyes, fearful if he did she might disappear.
By the time he’d had enough to tide him over, there was a strange roaring in his head. He released her from his lips, sealed the wounds on her flesh. And if he lingered a little longer than was appropriate … well, he couldn’t help himself.
“We were starting to worry you wouldn’t wake up,” she said as she lowered her sleeve over her wrist.
“I was due for a nap.” He peered around, trying once more to find a clock.
Finding none, he glanced back at her, noticed she was frowning.
“What?” he asked.
“My lord, you’ve been unconscious for nearly five weeks.”
Wait. Huh? Five weeks?
“Oh, fuck,” he groaned, attempting to push to a sitting position. “Where’re my clothes?”
“Please, my lord,” she said softly, her gentle hand once more on his chest. “Your body needs to rest.”
“I’ve been resting,” he countered with a huff. “For five weeks, apparently. How much longer do I need?”
“With my blood in your veins”—she appeared to be calculating something—“I would say at least another month.”
Kaj watched her, noticing for the first time that there was an oddity to her. Not physically, but on a cellular level.
“You’re not vampire,” he stated.
“No, I am not.”
“Nor are you an angel.”
Her amethyst eyes lowered. “I am Fae, my lord.”
Fae. As in the mystical fairies who were cast out of Heaven by the Almighty above? That Fae? Kaj hadn’t even known they still existed.
“We don’t,” she said, answering a question he’d thought had only sounded in his head. “Not outside of these walls. My kind has been relegated to serve the warriors and the fiestreigh. There are nineteen of us in total.” Her warm fingers urged him back. “Now, please rest.”
“Serve?” Kaj relaxed into the pillow, realizing he would stay there all night just to hear her voice. “What does that mean?”
“Their blood and sexual needs.”
Kaj refused to acknowledge the dark, possessive rumble that sounded in his chest.
“Would you like me to leave, my lord?”
“What’s your name?”
“Acadia.”
Ah, he remembered now. The most beautiful name he’d ever heard. “And I assume you know mine?” he prompted.
“Of course, my lord.”
He canted his head and smiled. “Then please, Acadia, do refrain from calling me my lord.”
Her answering smile was the first of many that would slowly bring him peace.
Chapter One
Present day, Thursday, February 27, 2020