With those excited words, she was gone, vanishing through the doorway in a flash. He couldn’t help but smile as the sound of running water filled the room. He admired the delight she found in things that he had taken for granted. He remained by the door as she moved around the bathroom gathering soaps and shampoos in her arms with an eagerness that caused him to laugh softly.
His laughter vanished in an instant as she shed the bindings from her arms and dropped them to the floor. The smell of her blood assaulted him. She disappeared from sight again, the water flow changed as she stepped beneath the shower head. He hurt. It was a physical ache so intense that he couldn’t focus on anything else. She was humming in the shower, a melodious sound that drew him forward a step, and then another, and another. He was trembling, trying so hard to stop moving that his muscles throbbed from the restraint he tried, and failed, to exert over himself.
The water turned off. She was wrapping a towel around herself when he stepped into the bathroom doorway. He didn’t know what he was doing, didn’t know what it was he intended as she finished tucking the towel into place. Her back was to him, her head bowed as her dark hair tumbled about her shoulders in curly wet waves. He could hear the beat of her heart and smell her blood in the cloying steam that filled the air.
She grabbed a brush then wiped the mirror with the palm of her hand. Her eyes widened, she jumped in surprise as she spotted him in the reflective surface. There was a brief moment where her surprise turned into a small smile, which swiftly faded away. Her hands grasped the towel as she turned slowly toward him, her heartbeat accelerating.
He should leave, but instead he found himself drawn toward her like a moth to a flame. He found himself standing before her when he’d had every intention of turning away and leaving the room. He should get as far from her as possible until he was well fed and stable enough to trust himself in her presence again. His hand trembled as he brushed the hair back from her very fragile, very delicate neck. Her pulse leapt wildly, a subtle breath escaped her as his fingers pressed against the previous marks he’d left upon her.
His fangs sprang forward; his vision was clouded by the hunger pulsing through him. “Yes,” she breathed.
“Too soon.” They were the only two words he was able to choke out.
“It’s been almost a day, I’m fine. Your blood strengthened me.” She pulled his hand away, tilting her neck so that he had a better view of his marks on her.
He wanted to fight, wanted to tell her no. But it didn’t matter, he was no longer in control of himself, no longer sensible enough to tell her no, to tell himself no. He was tempted to lurch forward and drive his fangs into her as he bit deep, finally easing the fire that had almost consumed him. He somehow found the strength not to give into that urge; he couldn’t injure her in such a way. She shuddered as he pulled her against him; darkened by desire her eyes were fearless as her arms entwined around his neck.
She clung to him, so trusting and giving, so unknowing of the ferocious thirst clamoring through him as she offered her vein to him. He was braced against her as he struggled to find the strength to pull away, to walk out of this room and find someone else. But there was no one else, there was only her.
The scent of her blood engulfed him; her heartbeat invaded his body and took over his senses. As he bit deep, her sweet life giving blood surged into his mouth, flowed through his body and filled his dehydrated cells. Instantly the clamoring that had encased him began to ease. A groan of ecstasy escaped him as he became lost in her.
CHAPTER 5
It was sometime later before Aria stirred. She was drowsy, her muscles felt weak, but the strange sensation of being sated clung to her. Her fingers curled, she had expected to find the unyielding bite of the ground but instead she felt the solid muscle of Braith’s chest, and the yielding give of a mattress. She was momentarily confused, she barely recalled the last time she’d been in a bed, or the last time she had awoken with Braith still beside her.
But he was beneath her now.
She allowed herself to simply drift in the pleasure of that realization and managed to doze off once more. He was still with her when she woke again feeling more refreshed and a little livelier. She lifted her head slowly, blinking down at him as she found him staring back at her. The glasses, thankfully, were not in place.
Though his eyes were filled with concern, the lines around his lips and eyes had nearly vanished. The strain he had been exhibiting, the nearly mechanical movements he had been going through were gone as he gazed at her. Her blood had revitalized him, his body had been nourished. She stretched and pressed closer to him as she was swamped with the realization that she had been the one to give him what he so desperately needed.
“How do you feel?”
“A little tired,” she admitted. “How long have I been out?”
“A while.”
Uneasiness filled her. “We were supposed to only be an hour Braith.”
“It’s fine.”
“But Gideon is waiting for us and he doesn’t seem all that patient. William…”
“I took care of it Aria, and William is with Ashby, you don’t have to worry.”
Of course she had to worry, her brother was stuck in this place and she was curled up sleeping with Braith. “We should go.”
She went to climb out of the bed but he grabbed hold of her, pulling her back. “Braith…”
“Wait Arianna, just wait.” His left hand entwined in her hair, she became acutely aware of the fact that she was only wearing a towel as it dropped a little. “It shouldn’t have happened like that. I was out of control.”