MATED TO SERIES COLLECTION

58. SILAS: BACK TO THE WORLD OF THE LIVING

"Silas—"

"You told me that you'd be there if she needed you."

His shoulders sagged. I watched the pain flash through his eyes when she whimpered. "That's not fair, Silas. I can't complete the bond with Avery still out there. It'll hurt her."

"She's hurting now. If we don't do this then she will die. Please Ethan."

He stared at me silently for a few more seconds before he turned his attention to Lara. I watched as he swallowed and then he nodded.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Undress and climb in behind her. We need to have skin on skin contact."

I pulled the sheet off of Lara's body and pushed it aside. It was a little hard to get rid of my pants but once I managed to get them past my knees, they were easy to kick off. Ethan climbed onto the bed behind Lara.

Our eyes locked briefly. I gave him a small smile. This was what we both wanted when we were little. We might not be out of the woods yet, but we found our mate and for the moment it was all that mattered.

"What do I do?"

"What you've been dying to do from the moment you met her."

He licked his lips, placed his hand on her stomach and then leaned over her. Ethan hesitated for a few seconds more before he pressed his lips against hers. He swallowed her whimpers until it turned into low moans. My stomach clenched and blood flooded south.

Swallowing, I leaned down and pressed my lips to her neck. Lara's hand gripped my thigh tightly when my lips moved lower to my mark. My gums started to tingle as I tasted her skin. I pulled away slightly and spoke to Ethan.

"No sex until she's fully with us. We need to mark her at the same time then feed her our blood."

"Are you sure, Silas?" he questioned after breaking the kiss.

I watched as fear washed through his eyes and then longing.

"It'll work."

He nodded and then glanced down at Lara. "Okay."

I watched as he lowered his head to her neck. I followed suite and allowed my teeth to slide out. The feeling was foreign but exhilarating at the same time. Sucking in a deep breath, I slowly blew it out and then bit down.

Lara moaned and dug her nails into my skin. I sucked and savoured the sweet taste of her blood filling my mouth. From afar I could hear Ethan moaning. I pulled back and licked the wound before I leaned back. It took a few seconds longer for Ethan to move back. He took his time to seal the wound before he glanced over at me.

He was fighting for control and for once I completely understood exactly what he was feeling.

I gave him a nod and raised my wrist to my lips. Pain shot through me when I broke the skin. I quickly raised my wrist to her lips and pressed it against them. My eyes dropped to her throat to watch her swallow. When the wound had healed, I pulled my arm away and sagged against the pillows. My eyes fluttered closed and the reassurance that Ethan would watch over her while I couldn't, was enough to allow the darkness to consume me.

***

"S-Silas."

Shaky fingers brushed across my cheekbones before a small hand cupped my cheek. I opened my eyes and blinked rapidly to clear the sleep from my eyes. My eyes instantly locked with a pair of black eyes. I smiled at Lara as I reached out to move the hair from her face.

"Hey," I whispered.

Tears instantly filled her eyes and for a moment I panicked. Had I hurt her somehow in my sleep? Where was Ethan?

"I thought I lost you."

"He's a tough son of a bitch, beauty," Ethan said, entering the room with a tray loaded to the brim with delicious smelling food. "You won't get rid of him so easily."

I pulled Lara's face down to with a grip at the back of her neck, and pressed my lips against hers. She stayed frozen, making me frown. I pulled away and stared at her. Her eyes were squeezed closed.

"Lara?" She slowly opened her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I. . .Ethan." She frowned. "Where are we?"

"I'm not so sure myself, but I'm sure Ethan will explain everything to us."

I raised my head and searched for him. He stood at the edge of the bed still holding the tray.

"Sure. Let's eat while I explain everything to you. I'm starving and I'm sure you are too."

Lara moved back and took a seat next to me. I bit back the groan as I pushed myself up into a sitting position. The sheet instantly dropped to my lap which meant that it exposed Lara as well. She gasped and quickly reached for the sheets. My lips tugged up into a smile when Ethan leaned over and ripped the sheet away before she could grab it.

"You're one of us now, Lara. You need to learn being confident with your nakedness."

"One of you?" Her voice faded halfway through her sentence.

"Here." Ethan held out bottled water.

When Lara didn't reach for it, I took it from him, untwisted the cap and handed it to her. She still didn't reach out to take it. My eyes shot up to hers. For the first time I realized how pale she was and the fact that she was shaking.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded and then shook her head. The tip of her tongue darted out to wet her bottom lip.

"I-I feel r-really weird. Lightheaded and shaky."

"You'll feel better once you eat something."

She nodded at Ethan. "I need to use the bathroom first."