10
When I woke the next morning, my body felt like I did right before the flu hit; achy and feverish. I laid in bed for a moment with my eyes closed, getting my bearings, wondering how a sickness could have struck so quick when I’d been feeling fine before. I shifted and an ache bit between my legs and on my neck. Instantly, I sat up with a start, my eyes flying open as I remembered what happened last night. I scanned the room for Derrial, but I was alone. He’d gone and left me here? We’d scratched our insatiable itch, so was I now free? I ignored the part of my heart that flickered with what felt like pain at the thought.
This was what I had hoped for, so now I could go home. Thinking of my hovel of a loft and my job that gave me just enough for bare essentials and not anything else didn’t fill me with the happiness it had in the past. But it was still freedom in a way.
No sooner had those thoughts passed through my mind then the front door of the suite opened with a click, and a second later Derrial came into view. I tugged the blanket up to my neck, suddenly very much aware of the fact I remained naked. Of course, I shouldn’t have been shy or had my cheeks on fire after our time together last night, but in truth, those memories of letting myself go made the embarrassment worse. I’d wanted him like I needed air, and just remembering our time together sent a shiver of excitement down through me.
He looked somehow brighter this morning, a huge smile on his face, the corners of his eyes crinkling. He seemed to carry a vibrant sexiness this morning. Plus, his skin seemed to have a sun-kissed glow. He wore a perfect suit as usual, today’s was a black pinstripe one with a light blue shirt underneath. In a word, I couldn’t believe I slept with a specimen that looked that perfect. An alien who for years I’d detested. Now, my emotions left me lost and confused.
I glanced at myself in the mirror hanging on the side wall and saw how tired I looked, dark circles under my eyes, and my hair sat limp, in desperate need of a wash. My skin appeared abnormally pale. I glanced back at Derrial who stared at me with a speculative gaze. I tried to remember if I’d ever heard of health repercussions for humans who had sex with Vepar, but all I could think of were the stories I’d read about women, and men, who became addicted to whatever the Vepar did in bed. How they spent every moment trying to get the Vepar to notice them and “keep” them. Those people had become obsessive, and I prayed that didn’t happen to me, especially with the way I admired Derrial.
So, if the Vepar weren’t hazardous to your health, then why did I look and feel like an extra in the Night from the Living Dead?
“How are you feeling this morning, kitten?” Derrial asked in a nonchalant tone.
I scowled at him, now even more suspicious. “What did you do to me?” I asked, my body shaking from the flu like symptoms that seemed to be growing worse. “
“You mean besides the best sex of your life?” he stated in that same casual tone that was beginning to drive me crazy as my anxiety escalated.
I gestured between the two of us with a flick of my hand. “Why do you look like you just got off a yearlong vacation whereas I look and feel like I’m hovering on death’s door?”
He stared at his nails as if there was something on them before answering. “Oh, are you feeling the effect of the incomplete bond? I’ve heard that can be painful to experience,” he explained nonchalantly as if we were discussing the latest score of the Lakers.
Bond.
What the fuck.
My heart slammed into my ribcage. What was he talking about? Granted I hadn’t done my best to learn as much about the Vepar after my parents vanished as I could, but I’d think if there was such a thing as bonding between humans and Vepar, surely someone would have mentioned it by now?
“What do you mean? What bond?” I whispered in a hoarse voice, curling forward as I clutched the blanket to my chest tighter.
“I’m sure you remember my bites from last night?” he asked with a smirk as if proud of himself. “The bite is something that dates back to Vepar ancestors, it was a way to claim property...or claim their mate. It made it so that the intended creature was bound to males because of the enzymes that are deposited in their skin. The symptoms you’re feeling are withdrawal symptoms. They’ll only be evened out by either me biting you again...or you drinking my blood.”
I stared at him in shock, fury rising inside of me so hot and thick that it might as well be burning me alive. It must have only been a few hours since he’d bitten me for the second time. How often did I need him to sink his teeth into me in order to stave off these symptoms? Symptoms that grew worse as the minutes ticked by, to the point that if I stood, I was certain I’d collapse. And drink his blood? Was he out of his mind? I wasn’t a vampire. Just the thought had bile hitting the back of my throat.
“I have to leave in just a few minutes for the Summit, kitten. What’s it going to be? Take a small sip of blood and be fine, or let me take a bite?”
My stomach turned at both options even as I remembered how my body buzzed, how aroused I grew from his attention last night.
Thinking about it, the bite felt more intimate than I was willing to admit this morning. And he’d said just a “sip of blood,” which couldn’t be that bad, right? Hell, was I really contemplating this? I had a feeling that I was going to regret this, but what was the alternative? Keep feeling like I’d been run over by a truck, which then backed up over me, again and again.
“I don’t want to bite you, so you’ll have to cut yourself,” I told him. Something like triumph flashed in his eyes, and I immediately wondered if I was about to make a horrible mistake.
He already pulled out a pocket knife from his pocket and slashed his hand before I could think further about it. “Hurry,” he said. “This will heal quickly as my blood coagulates fast, and I’m not going to offer you this chance again.” I gaped at the blood puddling on his hand. It wasn’t red like mine but carried a bluish-green hue. Yet another reminder of who stood in front of me - a perfect being who wasn’t human.
“Kitten,” he growled, a thread of urgency in his voice as the wound started to close up in front of my eyes. Not allowing myself a chance to think anymore, I pulled his hand towards me, closed my eyes, and pressed the wound to my mouth. I took a slurp.
It was sweet, nothing like the salty tang of human blood. It wasn’t an unpleasant taste at all, but the second I swallowed a tingling started to spread throughout my body just from the one small mouthful I’d taken. I broke away, pushed his hand from my mouth, and glared at him accusingly.
“Was that enough? Is it supposed to tingle like this?” I asked, gasping as a warm heat started to follow the tingles.
Derrial grinned, more satisfied than I’d ever seen him look. “The bond is forming. You should be back to your normal self soon,” he said. He leaned closer and stroked my face softly, a expression on his face that was new, soft and tender. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said before brushing a kiss across my lips, then he turned to stalk out of the door in that fluid, graceful way that all the Vepar had.
“I hate you,” I threw after him.
He turned to look at me. “You know this is forever, right?” he asked with a sardonic smile appearing on his face even as I plotted a million ways to escape from this hell I’d found myself in.
He left the room, and I stared after him flabbergasted as the front door closed, signaling he’d left the suite. Still drowning in the tingling and warmth encasing my body, I wanted nothing more than to forget I’d just drank alien blood. What had I been thinking?