Primal Desires

Chapter 19

"Ah Clarissa. Good to see you this morning," Nathan greeted her, a sly smile spreading across his lips exposing his fangs as he lurked towards her. Clarissa's eyes lit up when she acknowledged him and returned his grin happily. Taking her hand, he led her towards where I perched on the bed, sitting down in the empty space next to me. I immediately jumped up, long ignoring my own breakfast, backing away from the scene about to take place in front of me.

Narrowing his eyes, Nathan's head snapped to look at me. "What's wrong, Rose? Don't you want to watch?"

"Of course I don't want to watch!" I scoffed. "It's disgusting."

"Oh Rose," he laughed. "You're just jealous because it's not you today," he stated, before pulling the young woman's hair back to expose her neck. I heard her breath hitch as she anticipated the bite, and not two seconds later the sigh of contentment as his sharp points pierced her skin.

I felt bile form in my throat as I watched him slowly drain her, and without a second thought I was across the room in an instant, knocking into Nathan in an attempt to defend this poor woman. It was a feeble attempt, however, and without even pulling away from her neck he struck out effortlessly as though he was just swatting away a fly. With a loud crash I slammed into the wall, crying out in pain at the harsh contact.

I struggled to lift myself up from the floor, and quite frankly I didn't want to if it meant having to watch Nathan take another life in front of my eyes.

A few minutes passed and I could hear her thrashing when she realised he didn't intend to stop. With a final moan from him, I heard her slump lifeless on the bed as he released her. There was a heavy tension in the room as the silence surrounded us, broken only when I heard the bed creak as he stood and footsteps heading in my direction.

Staring at the ground below where I sat on the floor, two shoes came into view as he stopped in front of me. I hesitantly looked up to meet his irate gaze as he wiped the remnants of blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Oleg!" Nathan shouted, never taking his dark eyes off mine. Shortly after, the door creaked open behind him and Oleg hurried in, instantly asking what was required of him. "I'm done. Take the girl out of the room and get rid of her," he commanded, still glaring down at me.

Nathan and I stared at each other in silence as Oleg attempted to move the body, weakly dragging her out of the room by her hands. I tried to steady my heavy breaths, not wanting to show my fear to the angry monster standing over me.

When Oleg was out of the room, Nathan crouched down in front of me, gripping my chin tightly in his hand.

"When are you going to get it in your head that you're not going to win?" He growled before I felt the sharp sting of his backhand across my cheek. I clenched my eyes at the pain, refusing to cry out – I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing it hurt.

"I'm heading out to hunt. She wasn't quite what I wanted," he informed me. "And you," his grip on my chin tightened, "have pissed me off so much I can't be around you right now. I don't want to do something I'll regret." His angry eyes softened ever so slightly and he turned my head to the side to plant an unwelcome kiss on my cheek, before leaning back on his heels and walking away. Pausing when he reached the door, he turned to look at me once more. "I'll be back in a few hours."

Once I heard the click of the door as he locked it behind him, I scrambled to my feet before frantically scrubbing at my cheek where the feel of his lips lingered. I felt disgusting, as usual. It was a feeling I had become accustomed to in the last two weeks. Each time he fed from me I felt myself longing more and more for his bite, and each time I felt more disgusted with myself for allowing him to hurt me. Believe me, I always resisted, defending myself as much as I could, but it always ended the same – with more and more bruises being painted onto my body. It was a wonder every inch of my skin wasn't purple. And then of course came what usually followed those beatings... a reminder that I was 'his'.