Blooded Mate

Chapter 41 - First Connection

He sniffed again. Yep, his mate was down there.

Jan's unique aroma of earthy pine wood danced under the heavy scent.

"Jan," he called out, descending the stairs to the basement. There was movement below, and Ethan flipped on the light at the bottom of the steps. "Oh."

Louie was sprawled on a mattress placed on the floor. He grumbled incoherently, wrapping a blanket over his head. Ivan sat on a chair next to the bed, facing the stairs with eyes trained on Ethan. The heavy deadwood odor came from their side.

Years of warnings to be wary of Gaia's descendants served to only halt his steps for a moment before he pressed on, searching for his mate.

"Sorry," Ethan apologized, though he was not inclined to switch off the light until he found the one he was looking for. "Jan?"

Ivan pointed to a side of the room that could only be described as a demolition site. Sections of the wall had been torn down, and dark soil from outside spilled into the basement. Jan lay in a sand bed among the debris, buried up to his neck.

Ethan rushed over and knelt by him. He was pale and had dark circles around his half-closed eyes. "What's wrong? Why are you lying in the dirt?"

"It helps me to recover." Despite his appearance, Jan's voice sounded strong.

"Di-Did I hurt you last night?" Ethan's ears grew hot as he remembered how he had bitten Jan's arm. He really was not acting honorably toward his mate.

Jan did not respond. So, Ethan dug through the soil until he found the affected hand and pulled it out. Fortunately, the puncture wounds on the flesh had already scabbed over, leaving nothing but peeling dead skin.

He lifted a questioning eyebrow at Jan, wondering why he was on the ground.

Jan ignored him, choosing to pull back his arm and close his eyes. Ethan's fingers itched to shove off the loose soil to check the rest of the vampire's body for wounds. But held back, not wanting to risk disturbing any possible injuries on his mate. Besides, they were not the only ones in the room.

"Can I get you anything?" Ethan asked, turning back to Jan. He got no answer. The calm face looked like it had already drifted to sleep. His gaze trailed down to the vampire's full lower lip.

"Do you need more blood?"

The long lashes framing Jan's lids cracked open, but he remained mute.

Ethan cocked his head to the side. "By the way, I thought vampires hated wolf or witch blood."

Jan's molten-silver eyes flicked up to his, widening.

"But yester-"

His mate cleared his throat, interrupting him. "Yesterday was an exception. I was out of sorts. It won't happen again."

Ethan's eyes narrowed.

That was a bald-faced lie. One of the side-effects of last night's rampage was, it had triggered hiss memories of the distillery. He was aware the vampire had bitten him then too.

Jan's reaction reminded him of Zyga. He could also dance circles around the truth when he wanted to. But Ethan was learning how to coax information from the stubborn people in his life.

He resettled himself in a more comfortable cross-legged position. Picking up Jan's pale hand, Ethan dusted off the specks of soil on it. He rubbed his thumb gently over the delicate inner wrist until he sensed the connection to his mate crack open. The presence on the other side was curious.

Yet, he refrained from meeting Jan's eyes. Instead, he kept his gaze locked on the pale wrist.

Still massaging that sensitive spot with one hand, he straightened out Jan's fingers with the other and lightly stroked them. He played with the digits as if he held a kitten in his palm. The mental gate widened.

He flicked the pink nail on the forefinger, "May I?"

There was a moment of hesitation, and then that fingernail thickened and lengthened to their lethal sharp points. Without a second thought, Ethan swiped the pointed edge across his own skin, slicing it.

Jan was up instantly, dirt and gravel flying all around him.

"Why did you do that? Are you crazy?" He demanded, bending over Ethan's arm. His light accent pleasantly tickled Ethan's ears.

The Lycan did not answer. Instead, he lifted the bleeding wrist to the vampire's lips. His mate's warm mouth latched onto the wound and lapped up every red drop, not allowing it to be wasted. Jan swirled his tongue over the cut until the skin knit together and disappeared. Then, as if to confirm Ethan was no longer hurt, he prodded the area with two fingers.

When the vampire raised his head, Ethan was watching him, amusement lurking in his eyes. Jan's furrowed brows smoothened as shock replaced concern, probably realizing that the Lycan had just played him. Then the molten-silver eyes narrowed before the usual blank mask blanketed his features.

Ethan watched the rare array of expressions on his mate's face with a smug smile.

"Don't lie to me," he advised the vampire.

Jan lowered himself back to the makeshift bed. Then he yanked his arm, trying to free it from Ethan's clutches, but the Lycan refused to let it go.

Ethan wanted to touch his mate as much as possible. When Jan had licked his skin, his heartbeat had quickened, and most of his blood had rushed down south. Sending a quick thanks to Zyga for selecting this pair of loose pants, Ethan shifted his seat, widening his legs so that any excited appendage would stay out of sight. Then he went back to caressing his mate's hand.

Last night, Ethan's wolf had done a lot more than tasting the skin on his mate. His eyes locked on Jan's gorgeous silver ones at the memory, wondering if the vampire had experienced the same sensations. His breath grew heavy.

A throat cleared behind them.

"I would like to go through the day without smelling your wolf's need to rut, Jan."

Ivan's somber voice was like a splash of cold water.

Ethan had forgotten the other members of the room. His face grew hot, and Jan jerked his hand as if scalded. This time, Ethan let it go. He mumbled an excuse and quickly made his escape from the basement.

A/N

Hi lovelies, thanks for reading.If you loved it don't forget to vote, comment and add to your library.

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Next chapter is already being edited. I will post it in a couple of days.

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