Chapter 27

His red eyes stare down at me, confusion etched into every one of his elegant features. He doesn't press it further, though.  Instead, his nostrils flare, drinking in my scent to the point of intemperance. I'm just inches away from him and my blood is pumping fiercely. A menacing black swirls into his orbs of red.

"We need to go back to the house, human," he mutters, and I can hear from the tremor in his double timber he's trying to fight off the hunger now taking control of his body.

"No. You need to feed."

"Human..."

The double timbre is growing stronger, the darkness of his true form thick in his voice. I close my eyes and lean into him, once again offering up the nape of my neck for his indulgence. I'm his, I remind myself. There's no reason to be afraid.

His teeth graze the burning holes on the side of my neck. I take a deep breath and squeeze my eyes closed even tighter. I just have to get through the first few moments. After that, it'll be –

Bogdan's fangs pierce my skin. All my thoughts come to a screeching halt. The holes seem to close around his teeth, molding to him completely. I hear myself screaming, and a moment later, Bogdan's cool fingers slide in front of my mouth to silence me.

The pain is just as unbearable as the last time. It's knee-buckling and terrifying. I force myself to take a deep breath. Just when I don't think I can take it any longer, Bogdan's fangs press deeper into my neck and a sizzling pleasure burns against the pain. It seems to travel out of his teeth and into my neck. It's fire and ice, the combination rolling down my spine in waves.

I start to harden from the pleasure. One of my hands moves away from Bogdan's shoulders, and I reach down in the hopes to touch myself. It won't take much, but I can't go without release any longer. My fingers fumble with the button and zipper of my jeans.

My erection springs free from my boxers, and I start stroking myself to the pulse of Bogdan's tongue as it slides against my neck. I silently plead that he won't stop me. That he's far too wrapped up in feeding to even notice.

But my breath becomes caught in my throat when one of his strong, masculine hands replaces mine. His cool fingers curl around my hardened shaft, pleasuring me better than I could ever hope to do myself. Everything is overwhelming. His touch, his bite, his scent...

I can feel myself getting closer to coming. I moan softly, biting my lip and trembling as Bogdan moves his hand faster and faster. So close now. So close...

Bogdan sinks his teeth even deeper within me and sucks harder than I've felt before. It makes my head spin, feeling my blood leaving my body and sliding against his tongue and into his eager mouth. A warm, guttural grunt rips through his throat with satisfaction. It's all that I need to reach my climax.

Warm seed shoots out of me, spilling all over Bogdan's hand. I shake in his arms, the pleasure reaching heights I never knew existed. It's like I'm floating. Every inch of me is tingling and pulsing with pleasure.

Bogdan's fangs break away from my skin. There's a burning pain that follows, but it's nothing compared to the wave of euphoria I'm riding. My vampire hums deep within his throat. It's a sound rich with satisfaction. I try to open my eyes and use whatever means necessary to clean Bogdan's hand, but my head starts to spin.

"I'll carry you back, human," Bogdan murmurs softly.

I slump into his arms without protest. To my surprise, he reaches down and adjusts me back into my boxers, zipping my jeans back into place. It's almost...endearing. The two of us are from different worlds, and nothing about us makes sense. Yet the emotions swarming within me can't be denied.

He's my vampire.

I'm his consort.

And I'm falling in love with him.

__________________________________

Fiona doesn't come to my room tonight. If it was under any other circumstance, I'd let her be. Because I know this was the night of her first feeding, though, I know I won't sleep until she tells me she's alright. This wasn't just any feeding for her, after all. It was her first live feeding, from her previous mortal boyfriend no less.

Kelly and Bogdan's voices drift up the staircase as I pad down the hallway towards Fiona's room. Flickering bursts of red, yellow and orange dimly illuminate the large home from the vast fireplace in the living room. Every few steps I take, another ember crackles with excitement.

I pause just before opening Fiona's door and knock. Silence. I wait a few seconds and knock again. This time I hear rustling and movement from behind the door.

"Fiona," I whisper just an inch away from the wooden door. "It's me. Finn."

Her footsteps grow louder and the door swings open. Her beautiful face is streaked with tears. My eyes study her features, landing on the sweltering red holes at the base of her neck. I step inside the room and close the door behind me with the pads of my fingertips.

"He fed from you," I whisper.

That's all it takes for her to start crying all over again. She falls into my arms. Her shoulders tremble, and when I breathe in to speak, I notice Kelly's immortal scent still lingers on her skin. I glance over her shoulder and notice the bed sheets are askew.

It looks like Kelly did a bit more than feed from her.

She loosens her grip on me and rushes to the bedside table for a tissue. Warm tears spill out of her red-rimmed eyes and she gives me a furtive glance.

"Did you hear us?" she whispers, shame thick in her voice.

I shake my head. "No. Bogdan and I left to give you both privacy."

Fiona nods and slumps down the side of the bed. She leans her head back onto the mattress and stares up at the ceiling in silence. Even though Fiona and I have always been close, we were always 'third party' friends. In other words, if it wasn't for Kelly being the glue to hold us all together, I'm not sure that either of us would have found a way to keep our friendship strong.

Maybe that's why things feel a bit awkward right now as I grapple with the right thing to say. Kelly never had this problem with her. Then again, Kelly never had this problem with anyone. He always knew the right thing to say and the perfect way to phrase it. From the very first time I met him, he was a wordsmith, perfecting the art of language through an articulate mind and a confident soul.

"I bartered my blood for freedom," Fiona says, shaking her head with disgust. "That was bad enough. But when he came in here and started to collect his end of the bargain..."

Her voice tapers off and she closes her eyes.

"Did you guys become intimate?" I ask hesitantly, knowing full well the effect of a live feeding.

A low, humorless laugh leaves her lips. "That's putting it lightly, Finn."

"Oh."

Fiona sighs. "We fucked. I let an immortal, vampire fuck me."

The bold, brash words are spit into the air with so much anger. The first thing that pops into my head is curiosity. Selfishly, I want to know what it was like. She's already shared a moment with Kelly that I have endlessly dreamed about having with Bogdan.

This isn't the kind of support she needs right now, though. So instead I join her on the floor, leaning against the mattress while our shoulders gently touch. A single, thin strip of lights hangs along the ceiling. It's prominent yet elegant, a perfect parallel to the immortal who owns it.

"I should have been able to push him away," Fiona says darkly. "All I agreed to was giving my blood – my blood for my freedom."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Fiona – "

"It's like I couldn't think," she whispers and her voice becomes distant. "One minute the body of my ex-boyfriend was approaching me, and the next minute I was whispering for an immortal to tear my clothes off."

I grimace at the mental image, not wanting to picture Fiona or my best friend in that type of light. It doesn't surprise me that it happened. The scent of immortals are meant to seduce us, and speaking from experience, I know the lust that's created from a live feeding is impossible to ignore.

"Are you upset because you think he'll expect that from you the next time he feeds from you?" I ask, trying to view the situation from Fiona's eyes.

She purses her lips. "I offered my blood once, Finn. That was the deal. I don't owe that soulless creature anything more."

I suck my bottom lip into my mouth. I know Fiona's views on immortals. Most humans feel relatively the same way. But she's not talking about any immortal right now. She's referring to Kelly. Kelly – the man who stole her heart with nothing more than a look and held it with every ounce of love he had to give.

Even if Fiona hates vampires, the two of them shared too much for her to cast him aside like the rest. Kelly still has the same heart, even if it's no longer beating. He still has the same soul, even if it's now frozen in time.

"Fiona..."

"I'm leaving," she whispers.

I stare at her in confusion. "What?"

"I can't stay here, Finn. I need to leave."

"It's too dangerous."

"I don't care."

I swallow hard, wanting nothing more than to find the right words to make her stay. My brain races through the different scenarios, the different combination of words that could try to sway her decision. When I look over at her, though, my shoulders sag. The determination set in her face is impenetrable.

No matter what I say, Fiona knows she can walk out the front door if she really wants to. At least, I think she can. As she said, she kept her side of the bargain. Kelly and Bogdan won't keep her here against her own, free will.

Will they?

"Where will you go?" I ask.

"I don't know. But I can't be here any longer, Finn. What happened tonight...what I let him do to me...the way I'm starting to feel about him...I can't be around him any longer. I can't."

I nod and lean my head against her shoulder. "Please don't go."

Fiona smiles faintly. "You're always welcome to come with me."

She says it with a twinge of sadness, because she knows I won't. As hard as it is for her to be here, the pain she feels now wouldn't scrape the surface of my own pain being away from Bogdan if I left. The two of us sit in silence for a while, just the thrum of our pluses echoing into the still silence.

Eventually I notice Fiona yawning and her eyes starting to flutter with fatigue. I help her into bed and give her a reassuring hug before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. She grunts in response, far too sleepy for it to be coherent.

I tiptoe out of the room and close the door behind me. When I turn to face the hallway, however, muddy red eyes stare back at me.

It's Kelly.

And from the look on his face, he heard everything.