Tall Dark & Heartless, Page 31
R. L. Mathewson
Page 31
Of course she didn't really get it, he thought dryly. He was worried about her and she was afraid for him when right now all she should care about was getting the hell out of here before they figured it out, but she couldn't. She was newly turned and didn't have control of all her abilities yet. She was also weak since the transformation took everything she had and he'd barely been able to keep up with her need to feed. Feeding from the bags was impossible for her now. There was no way she was going to be able to stop feeding the second they sensed someone approaching the door. She'd have to take her blood from him and he'd have to help her learn to control her skills and fast before they figured out that they got exactly what they wanted.
He couldn't stomach the idea of what they would do to her to get what they wanted. Thanks to him, she could never die and in a situation like this, that was a curse. No matter what they did to her she would live and suffer through every single minute of agony without any hope of relief. He knew all too well what kind of hell on earth that could be and he wouldn't allow her to experience it. He'd teach her what she needed to know and then he'd get her safely out of here.
"Listen to me, Danni," he said, gently cupping her face as he forced her to look up at him. "We're going to hide this from them for as long as we can. I'm going to do my best to show you how to survive, but I need you to listen and not fight me on this. Do you understand?"
She nodded her head slowly as she asked, "How are we going to do this?"
"The first thing we need to work on is controlling your eyes and fangs," he said, pushing her wet hair out of her face as her eyes widened in disbelief.
He watched as she ran the tip of her tongue over her teeth and winced when it came into contact with a sharp fang. When she reached up with a shaky hand to run a finger over her fangs, her heartbeat sped up and he knew she was seconds away from a breakdown.
She dropped her hands away from her face as her breathing quickened and she tried to move away, probably hoping that some space would change things. It wouldn't. Thanks to him she was a monster now and for a woman like Danni that was going to be difficult thing to accept.
"Let me go, Caine," she said, trying to pull away from him and move to the side, but he wouldn't let her go. Not when she was this close to losing it and bringing a lot of unwanted attention their way. He needed to get her to calm down before anyone walked into the room and realized what happened.
"Shhhhh, Danni, it's okay," he said, reaching up to cup her face only to find his hands shoved away as she frantically shook her head.
"Get the hell away from me, Caine, and let me deal with this," she said, giving him a shove that would have probably sent a human male flying across the room, but he'd been ready for it. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt like a bitch, but he ignored the pain and focused on getting her to calm down.
"Danni," he said, reaching to cup her face and this time he managed to do it. "I know this a shock, but I really need you to calm down," he said in what he thought was a soothing tone, but the smell of her agitation rising told a different story.
"I am calm, Caine," she said tightly, trying to shove his hands away from her face, but he wouldn't allow it. "If you just get the hell away from me I'd be a whole lot calmer. "
"Sorry," he said, stepping closer. "I can't do that, Danni. I can't risk you giving yourself away. "
"I'm not going to give myself away. I just need a goddamn second to think!" she snapped as the scent of her agitation spiked.
"Take all the time you need, Danni, but I'm not going to leave your side until you calm down. "
She gave him another shove as she snapped, "I can't calm the hell down when your scent is making me hungry, you jackass!"
Why that made him smile, he didn't know, but it did. "Is that all?" he asked, chuckling ruefully as he dropped his hands from her face and took one of her hands into his and gave it a gentle tug, leading her towards the mattress.
"Is that all?" she repeated in disbelief. "Shouldn't that be enough? It's really disturbing," she said, allowing him to lead her for a moment. "What are we doing?" she asked as they neared the mattress.
"Feeding you. I'm sorry I should have realized that you were hungry. The sooner we get you fed, the sooner you should be able to shift your eyes and teeth back to normal," he explained in a soft whisper, knowing she would be able to hear him perfectly, but the vampires on the other side of the door wouldn't.
Although a vampire's hearing was stronger than a human's it was a great deal weaker than his. If an Alpha shifter were posted on the other side of the door they'd be screwed. Since Alphas retained their abilities in human form they'd be able to hear everything going on in this room, but they would have scented the change in Danni the second his blood mixed with hers. The vampires on the other hand wouldn't smell a goddamn thing. To them he smelled human and wouldn't realize that he was different until his eyes shifted or his fangs dropped. Then again, if they tried to feed from him they'd get a rather nasty surprise as his blood slowly and painfully killed them.
"How do I drink from the bag?" she asked as he gestured for her to get on the mattress.
He ran his eyes over her na**d wet body and cursed himself for not wrapping her in a towel first, but that would have ruined the image that he was trying to create. Having her na**d was for the best, he decided as he hooked his thumbs in his wet boxer briefs and shoved them down, glad that he was no longer sporting an erection, well not much of one anyway.
Danni's eyes widened as his free foot stepped out of the underwear. She scooted back on the mattress, her eyes landed on his crotch and widened impossibly further. Of course, the damn thing decided that it liked the attention and decided to say hello.
"You can't drink from a bag, Danni, because it will give us away. You're new and there's no way you'd be able to pull the bag away fast enough to cover the evidence of what you did if someone came walking through that door," he explained as he moved to kneel on the bed, deciding that it would be best for everyone if he pretended that his c**k wasn't hardening and reaching out for her.
It was a little unnerving that his body was reacting to Danni this way. He'd known her since she was a little girl and until recently it had been difficult for him to think of her as anything but the little girl that used to hug his leg, giggling as he walked her to school. Judging by the way his body reacted to her, it damn well knew she wasn't that little girl anymore, but he forced himself to ignore the hunger she was stirring in him. They had a lot more important things to worry about at the moment other than how badly he wanted to bury himself in her body. That thought made him inwardly cringe. His body might be on board and his mind was getting there, but it was still very strange for him to be thinking about her like this.
"What are you suggesting?" she asked, eying him warily as he reached out and grabbed her ankles. With a slight tug and a rather impressive stream of curses from her, he had her on her back and glaring up at him.
"You're going to have to feed from me and we're going to have to make this look like we're ha**ng s*x to cover it," he explained casually as he moved to hover over her only to find himself shoved back by a well placed foot on his chest.
Of course she didn't really get it, he thought dryly. He was worried about her and she was afraid for him when right now all she should care about was getting the hell out of here before they figured it out, but she couldn't. She was newly turned and didn't have control of all her abilities yet. She was also weak since the transformation took everything she had and he'd barely been able to keep up with her need to feed. Feeding from the bags was impossible for her now. There was no way she was going to be able to stop feeding the second they sensed someone approaching the door. She'd have to take her blood from him and he'd have to help her learn to control her skills and fast before they figured out that they got exactly what they wanted.
He couldn't stomach the idea of what they would do to her to get what they wanted. Thanks to him, she could never die and in a situation like this, that was a curse. No matter what they did to her she would live and suffer through every single minute of agony without any hope of relief. He knew all too well what kind of hell on earth that could be and he wouldn't allow her to experience it. He'd teach her what she needed to know and then he'd get her safely out of here.
"Listen to me, Danni," he said, gently cupping her face as he forced her to look up at him. "We're going to hide this from them for as long as we can. I'm going to do my best to show you how to survive, but I need you to listen and not fight me on this. Do you understand?"
She nodded her head slowly as she asked, "How are we going to do this?"
"The first thing we need to work on is controlling your eyes and fangs," he said, pushing her wet hair out of her face as her eyes widened in disbelief.
He watched as she ran the tip of her tongue over her teeth and winced when it came into contact with a sharp fang. When she reached up with a shaky hand to run a finger over her fangs, her heartbeat sped up and he knew she was seconds away from a breakdown.
She dropped her hands away from her face as her breathing quickened and she tried to move away, probably hoping that some space would change things. It wouldn't. Thanks to him she was a monster now and for a woman like Danni that was going to be difficult thing to accept.
"Let me go, Caine," she said, trying to pull away from him and move to the side, but he wouldn't let her go. Not when she was this close to losing it and bringing a lot of unwanted attention their way. He needed to get her to calm down before anyone walked into the room and realized what happened.
"Shhhhh, Danni, it's okay," he said, reaching up to cup her face only to find his hands shoved away as she frantically shook her head.
"Get the hell away from me, Caine, and let me deal with this," she said, giving him a shove that would have probably sent a human male flying across the room, but he'd been ready for it. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt like a bitch, but he ignored the pain and focused on getting her to calm down.
"Danni," he said, reaching to cup her face and this time he managed to do it. "I know this a shock, but I really need you to calm down," he said in what he thought was a soothing tone, but the smell of her agitation rising told a different story.
"I am calm, Caine," she said tightly, trying to shove his hands away from her face, but he wouldn't allow it. "If you just get the hell away from me I'd be a whole lot calmer. "
"Sorry," he said, stepping closer. "I can't do that, Danni. I can't risk you giving yourself away. "
"I'm not going to give myself away. I just need a goddamn second to think!" she snapped as the scent of her agitation spiked.
"Take all the time you need, Danni, but I'm not going to leave your side until you calm down. "
She gave him another shove as she snapped, "I can't calm the hell down when your scent is making me hungry, you jackass!"
Why that made him smile, he didn't know, but it did. "Is that all?" he asked, chuckling ruefully as he dropped his hands from her face and took one of her hands into his and gave it a gentle tug, leading her towards the mattress.
"Is that all?" she repeated in disbelief. "Shouldn't that be enough? It's really disturbing," she said, allowing him to lead her for a moment. "What are we doing?" she asked as they neared the mattress.
"Feeding you. I'm sorry I should have realized that you were hungry. The sooner we get you fed, the sooner you should be able to shift your eyes and teeth back to normal," he explained in a soft whisper, knowing she would be able to hear him perfectly, but the vampires on the other side of the door wouldn't.
Although a vampire's hearing was stronger than a human's it was a great deal weaker than his. If an Alpha shifter were posted on the other side of the door they'd be screwed. Since Alphas retained their abilities in human form they'd be able to hear everything going on in this room, but they would have scented the change in Danni the second his blood mixed with hers. The vampires on the other hand wouldn't smell a goddamn thing. To them he smelled human and wouldn't realize that he was different until his eyes shifted or his fangs dropped. Then again, if they tried to feed from him they'd get a rather nasty surprise as his blood slowly and painfully killed them.
"How do I drink from the bag?" she asked as he gestured for her to get on the mattress.
He ran his eyes over her na**d wet body and cursed himself for not wrapping her in a towel first, but that would have ruined the image that he was trying to create. Having her na**d was for the best, he decided as he hooked his thumbs in his wet boxer briefs and shoved them down, glad that he was no longer sporting an erection, well not much of one anyway.
Danni's eyes widened as his free foot stepped out of the underwear. She scooted back on the mattress, her eyes landed on his crotch and widened impossibly further. Of course, the damn thing decided that it liked the attention and decided to say hello.
"You can't drink from a bag, Danni, because it will give us away. You're new and there's no way you'd be able to pull the bag away fast enough to cover the evidence of what you did if someone came walking through that door," he explained as he moved to kneel on the bed, deciding that it would be best for everyone if he pretended that his c**k wasn't hardening and reaching out for her.
It was a little unnerving that his body was reacting to Danni this way. He'd known her since she was a little girl and until recently it had been difficult for him to think of her as anything but the little girl that used to hug his leg, giggling as he walked her to school. Judging by the way his body reacted to her, it damn well knew she wasn't that little girl anymore, but he forced himself to ignore the hunger she was stirring in him. They had a lot more important things to worry about at the moment other than how badly he wanted to bury himself in her body. That thought made him inwardly cringe. His body might be on board and his mind was getting there, but it was still very strange for him to be thinking about her like this.
"What are you suggesting?" she asked, eying him warily as he reached out and grabbed her ankles. With a slight tug and a rather impressive stream of curses from her, he had her on her back and glaring up at him.
"You're going to have to feed from me and we're going to have to make this look like we're ha**ng s*x to cover it," he explained casually as he moved to hover over her only to find himself shoved back by a well placed foot on his chest.
