Authors: Cassandra Gannon
Too
easy.
The
whole process with Melessa hadn’t gone well. She hadn’t liked being bitten and
Slade never pressed the matter. Her blood had a bitter, unpleasant taste. He
took exactly enough to keep him alive without having to drink from another.
They’d
never even fully consummated their Eternal-Bond. That had become a sticking point
at the trial. The Vampire King was supposed Eternally-Bond with his mate by
his thousandth birthday. That was one of the stupid rules of the kingdom and
Slade had tried to bypass it. Bonding with Melessa had somehow seemed… worthless.
His enemies had used his hesitation when they stole his land. He’d lost the
crown, thanks in large part to his aversion to Melessa’s blood.
It
was nothing like Jane Squire’s. Even knowing it was selfish, Slade couldn’t
get the sweetness of her out of his mind. No one else had ever tasted so good.
Christ, how could he
ever
go back to the bland, tepid blood of others
now that he’d had her?
It
was as if she was made for him.
“Jane?”
Slade laid her down on the straw mattress, working hard not to stare at her naked
body. Jesus, she was beautiful. Hating himself, he quickly covered her with a
blanket. His gaze traced over her pale face, instead. “Jane, open your eyes.”
He fumbled to remove her glasses. “You
must
open your eyes. I am your
king and I insist you obey.”
She
didn’t open her eyes. The woman never did as she was told.
Slade
sank down beside her, wanting to cry at how still she was. His Jane was always
so full of insults and confusing ideas and
life
. “Please, look at me.”
He smoothed back her incredible curls, marveling at their soft texture, and not
even hearing his own desperate pleas. “
Please,
my One. You cannot
leave me here alone. I
need
you. I need you so much.”
Humans
were fragile. He
knew
that. How could he have been so rough with her?
So demanding? What if she didn’t recover? The thought filled him with fear
and the King of the Vampires feared nothing.
Slade
rested his head on her chest, listening to the steady beats of her heart. If
she would just awaken, he would make this up to her. He would never drink from
her, again. He would do anything she asked.
He
just wanted her back.
He
couldn’t exist without Jane. She was the one part of the universe that he was completely
sure of. The one place where he knew he belonged. All his doubts were gone
when she was beside him. Every part of him
knew
they were supposed to
be together. If he lost Jane…
Slade
quickly rallied himself. No. He wouldn’t lose her. There was a surefire way to
bring Jane around: He would give her some of
his
blood. It could heal
her and it was perfectly safe. He wouldn’t have risked it if there was even a
chance it would endanger her. So few humans survived the process of becoming
Vampire. But, humans couldn’t transition into one of his kind unless they took
blood from two different Vampires and Slade was the only Vampire in Infinia.
This plan would simply restore her.
Nodding
with fresh resolve, he sliced open the pad of his thumb and held it to her lips.
There was nothing for a beat of time. Then, she swallowed a few drops of his
blood. .Jane’s mouth slowly parted around his finger, pulling it deeper. Stroking
it with her tongue. Small teeth grazing against his skin.
Slade’s
eyes crossed.
Gods
.
He was immortal and this woman was still going to be the death of him. Renewed
passion slammed through his system and he wanted to beg. Images flashed
through his mind. Hot, wet, dirty scenes of Jane sucking
far
more
interesting parts of his anatomy. That fantasy had been growing more vivid by
the day and now it threatened to consume him. She had no idea what she was
doing, but his body didn’t seem to care. He’d never wanted a woman more. He’d
never wanted
anything
more.
Slade
squeezed his eyes shut, breathing in her scent and trying to stay in control.
Jane was coming around. That was all that mattered. It didn’t take much
Vampire blood to heal a small human girl.
She
made a sleepy sound of pleasure, her beautiful eyes fluttering open. For a heartbeat
of time, she didn’t understand what was happening. Her gaze was welcoming and sensual.
She licked away another droplet of blood and gave him a contented smile.
Slade’s
jaw clenched against a helpless groan. “Take as much as you desire.” He leaned
over her, his hand smoothing back her incredible hair. “Whatever you need, I
will provide.”
The
desperate lust still pounded, but --beneath it-- something far greater swelled.
He wanted to give her all he had. He always felt that way, but it was suddenly
all so clear. As long as she’d stay beside him, he’d give her
anything
.
For
two seconds it all seemed… right.
Then,
Jane processed what was happening.
“Jesus!”
She gasped, jerking upright. His thumb fell from his lips, which filled him
with an instant sense of loss. “
Jesus!
Did you just make me drink
blood?!”
Slade
nearly sighed at her appalled expression. Humans were so easily upset. “I had
to.” He licked the wound on his finger closed, savoring the taste of her on
his skin. “It was the only way to bring you around.”
“Then
you should have let me sleep! I don’t
drink blood
, you moron.”
“I
was concerned.” He reluctantly shifted back from her. “Things got out of hand
during the feeding. I took too much and you passed out.”
“I
don’t think that was just from blood loss.” Jane muttered, rubbing her
forehead. Silence hummed for a beat, both of them remembering how she’d come
apart in his arms. Her gaze slipped to the front of his pants and then quickly
away. “It got
super
out of hand.” She agreed with a gulp, hitching the
blanket up around her. “You were right about the aphrodisiac part.”
“I
am Slade, King of the Vampires. I’m always right. But Jane, this was a very
strong reaction to be simply…”
She
cut him off. “There was some supernatural weirdness going on, messing with my
head. That was
totally
the problem.” She nodded like she was trying to
convince herself. “And on top of that, you’re so… And I got so…” She cleared
her throat. “And you’re
still
so…”
“I
know.” He was
very
aware of his current state of arousal.
“At
least, nothing too terrible happened… Except the part where you fed me
blood
.”
“I
told you, I needed to heal you. Vampire blood has medicinal properties for
humans.”
She
still looked wary about it. “It doesn’t turn me into a Vampire, does it?”
“No.
I give you my word.”
“Good.”
She gave a nod, not meeting his eyes. “Well --I mean-- this is a little
awkward, now. With the orgasm and all. But, it was to help you to eat and now
everything’s fine. No harm done. We’ll just go back to our normal,
quasi-normal relationship and we’ll forget this even happened. We’re both
adults and we’re just moving on, right?”
“It
may take a few moments for me to
move on
.” Slade shifted uncomfortably.
“Oh.”
She glanced back down at his bulging trousers and then averted her gaze with a
blink. “Well, that’s your problem. I’m not sleeping with you, after you
fed
me blood
.” She decided in a firm tone. “No way.” Her eyes tracked over
to his erection again, like she couldn’t help herself. “Sex would be a
massive,
massive
mistake.” She bit her lower lip. “Really, really…
massive.”
Slade
sighed. “I would not ask you to share my bed.” He knew she would refuse. The
woman would never sleep with a man unless she had total faith in him and she
did not give her faith easily.
Her
attention snapped to his face. “You wouldn’t, huh?” She shook her head,
apparently irritated. “No, of
course
you wouldn’t ask me. Kings and
servants don’t consort.”
“That’s
not what I…”
“I
mean, what would your soon-to-be-fiancée Allandrina say if you started screwing
the help?”
Slade
frowned, annoyed that Jane would say such a thing. “You are not just
the
help
. Didn’t we discuss this by the waterfall? You are being…”
Jane
cut him off. “Forget it. This whole blood drinking thing was a mistake. I
don’t even know why I agreed to it, except I’m losing my mind.” She began
searching around for her spectacles. “Look, we can’t do this again. You’re
just going to have to go hungry until you’re safely in your witchy-bride’s arms
and I’m going to sit here, being sexually frustrated, until I meet up with my Prince
Charming. Deal?”
“
What?
”
Slade’s scowl grew deeper. “Wait. When are you planning to rendezvous with another
prince?”
She
had mentioned the mysterious potentate before, but Charming governed no land
Slade knew of. And if Slade hadn’t heard of a place, it was sure to be small
and dreary. Jane couldn’t
possibly
be interested in the low-level ruler
of a forgotten world. Someone of her quality could do so much better.
Jane
paused in the act of putting on her glasses. Her head swiveled to squint at
him like she was baffled by his question. “Huh?”
“Is
Prince Charming why you wish to get back to your precious supermarket?” She
spoke of mating with this man, so they must be close. He must be someone she
had faith in and fully trusted. Someone she missed. Slade’s temper began to
spark. “Is he waiting there for you?” Did Jane
love
this other monarch?
His
Dark Instincts snarled at the thought.
Jane
gave a short laugh. “Christ, sometimes I
do
remember why I keep you
around. You say crazy stuff and it’s kind of adorable.” She pinched the
bridge of her nose, not even noticing Slade’s mounting anger. “Sure, why not?
Right now, Prince Charming is no doubt scouring Iverson’s Grocery Store for my
damsel-y self. He’s been after me for years, but --you know-- a gal like me
has gotta sow her wild oats, before she settles down in her enchanted castle.”
Slade
couldn’t argue with that logic. It still pissed him off, though. His own
sexual frustration fed into his rage. Jane refused to sleep with him, because
she wanted some royal pretender from her own world. “So this Prince Charming
is just a
human?
”
Jane
stopped snickering at his disdainful scoff. “Hey,
I’m
just a human.” Her
eyes narrowed. “At least, I’d
better
be a human. Because, if you
turned me into a Vampire, so help me…”
“I
told you, I didn’t turn you into a Vampire.” Slade interrupted dismissively.
“I just don’t see how we can go through all of this together,” he waved a hand around
to encompass their epic journey, “and you’d still think of returning to your
ghastly Chicago.”
She
rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because the Endless Woods has
such
great
amenities. What’s wrong with me for missing little stuff like refrigerated
food?”
“Our
stay here is only temporary. Soon we will have all of Infinia and I will
gladly share it with you. The rubies and the flying horses and the magicks.”
He nodded, willing her see how much he had to offer. “This whole kingdom will
be
ours
, Jane.”
She
studied him for a long moment, her face growing somber. “And Allandrina’s.”
Damn
it, why did Jane dwell on the princess? Slade kept forgetting the other woman
even existed. “Allandrina will be there, too, I suppose. Somewhere.” Slade
wasn’t about to deal with her more than necessary, though. They’d have to work
out boundaries, like in any other business arrangement. Maybe they could split
Infinia, so they’d each oversee half. That seemed fair. She could have some
castle far away and he could be with Jane. “But, she is just a means to an
end. You and I are supposed to rule this kingdom
together
.”
Jane
gave him a strange smile. “Slade, I don’t want a kingdom.” She said quietly.
“To be honest, all I’ve ever wanted is a
home
. I’ll help you win this
war, but then I have to go. I have to find my
own
home.” She shook her
head. “This world can’t be it.”
She
was serious.
Jane
didn’t want to stay with him.
It
felt as if a centaur had kicked Slade in the chest. He’d thought she’d see
reason. He’d been so sure. But, no matter what riches and glories he offered,
Jane would choose her backwater dimension and some second-rate sovereign over
being Slade’s partner. Over being a key part of his magnificent destiny. Over
being his best friend in this or any other world.
The
woman was out of her goddamn mind.
Slade
got to his feet, pain like he’d never known eating a hole inside of him. Melessa
leaving him was
nothing
compared to this rejection. He wasn’t even sure
how he managed to stay standing. Jane’s words sliced deeper than any blade,
making it feel as if his insides were bleeding out through his skin and leaving
him empty.