Fraser
The blood that begins to flood my mouth completely takes over me. I groan as my senses are suddenly swamped with hazy, astounding pleasure.
She tastes just as amazing as I thought she would. No. Better, better than I ever could have dreamed of and more. I wouldn't have believed such a mouthwatering taste could exist. It is something that has to be tasted to know truly of its existence.
Not only do I feel immense satisfaction as I greedily gulp it down, but a new, burning registers deep inside me. Its unfamiliar and yet I know exactly what it is. Its a confirmation. Admittedly, a confirmation of what I already suspected.
This girl is my mate. The weight that this new knowledge holds staggers me, and my hands clench slightly to keep my balance. Unfortunately, i had forgotten how delicate the thing in my hands is.
She flinches, but doesnt try to pull away. I automatically curse myself, losing my hands by never stopping the flow of the perfect, willing meal.
I will have to be more careful now, knowing what I do, and being mated to one as breakable as Ailsa.
My thoughts begin to race, even as I drink my fill. I can't slow my brain as it reacts to the live wire sensation of ecstasy that exploded through my veins.
This is what heaven feels like, surely. There's no other way to compare this joy.
Now that I am certain she is mine, my fated mate granted to me by the Moon Goddess, I need to plan the future much more carefully.
Escape is not an option, it's the only thing I can do. It's no longer just me against this world, no longer just me trapped down here. It's Ailsa's life on the line, Ailsa's happiness, her heart. I must get us out of here, and soon.
She's the other half of me, the missing piece to my soul. My survival and very livelihood is dependent on her and her alone.
The idea of it should displease me, by all logic I should be infuriated, but I'm not. I'm thrilled. I'm more pleased than I ever thought I could be in this life.
It's refreshing to know that I'm not alone anymore, and I won't be from here on out.
The old me used to dread having a mate. Someone who was everything to me? I absolutely loathed the idea, and I avoided women because of it. The fear of putting my life in the hands of another was great, and I didn't see the benefits of being mated, other than the obvious that is. Regular blood and regular sex.
Those benefits are the last thing on my mind now.
I slow my drinking, letting it fizzle to a lazy stop. I can't take too much from her. Ailsa is weak and all too willing to let me drink to my hearts content.
I lap at the puncture with my blood soaked tongue, sealing the wound and leaving nothing but small, light pink marks where my teeth had been.
Looking up at her, all the rewards of having Ailsa in my life.
Her cheeks are flushed, lids hooded with delight and fascination.
"Why did that feel so... so..." She trails off, leaving her wrist in my hand with not so much as a tug to retreat it.
"Good?" I supply, and try to hide my grin when her face floods red, redder than ever before.
Of course she would be taught that pleasure is shameful. Narrow minded humans. They don't know how to enjoy what is freely given. Something so natural should never be villainized.
"I never said it would hurt, now did I?" I tease, loving the way her lips quirk mischievously.
"Well, I just assumed.." Ailsa says, and shakes her head. "I shouldn't have. Assumed that is, not sharing my blood with you. I don't regret it."
I lift her arm, pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist where I feasted just moments ago. I trail my kisses up, thrilled by the way her hair rises on end in reaction. I press a soft kiss in the middle of her pale before I look up at her.
She watches me with a strange expression, glancing at the lines on her palm uneasily.
"I'm glad." I say, looking deeply into her eyes. "I'm more than happy to give you pleasure, should you ever want for it."
Then she gasps, and a wicked grin climbs my face. She tries to pull away, but I don't allow it, my hands becoming steel bars around her delicate flesh.
The sudden flood of power that slithers over my limbs is astounding. It's another sign, a sure sign as if I needed any more to confirm what this human girl is to me.
A mate's blood is potent.
"Well I never!" She squirms, trying to free herself. I finally give in, and the result has her arm slamming against the side of the bar. It thuds loudly, and she winces.
Seeing her in pain, no matter how minor, has my temper rising.
"Are you alright?"
"No! I can't believe you would ensenuate that the reason I don't regret feeding you was because it benefited me." She barks, holding her damaged arm the her chest and glaring at me. "I'd do it a thousand times over to save you, even if it felt like fire or thorns. Why else do you think I came down here in the middle of the day?"
I blank, the information punching me in the gut.
The middle of the day? Just how weak had I been to not even realize until now?
"Ailsa, please tell me you didn't." I murmur, but the anger on her face remains steadily in place.
"I did, and I'd do it again. I felt something was wrong, deep inside I knew something was amiss. I was right, and thank goodness that I followed my gut, Fraser. Who knows how long you would've sat here with your back a mess of wounds."
I want to grab her and shake her, but the strength that laces my fingers is enough to hold back. I could easily break her. It would be effortless.
"Ailsa, you put yourself in danger." I state, letting my fury come across clearly in each word.
She has the nerve to look afraid of me.
"It was to save you." She insists.
I curse low under my breath, it's enough to make my mate flinch away from me.
"You must never put yourself in harm's way." I demand, but she's not having it, a stubborn streak flaring up.
"And why not?" She asks.
Because if you were hurt I would go insane.
The words are so close to leaving me that I have to snap my mouth shut tight, my jaw clenching with effort.
She scoffs, shaking her head.
"It's all that I can do for you, Fraser."
"That is not close to true, and you know it. You feed me and give me company and light, and I'm not referring to your lamp. You do more than enough. I just don't want it to be at the expense of you safety."
The candle beside Ailsa flickers, almost as if it agrees with me.
"I haven't been able to locate the key to free you. I am utterly useless just as my father says I am." She laughs a humorless laugh, sitting back on her heels. "My safety is nothing of consequence. I'm always in more danger from mh own body killing me than anything else. I could die any day now and you would be able to figure out well enough what became of me."
My whole figure flinches, becoming rock solid with rage. All I want to do is yell out denials and curses until her ailment goes away.
"Don't. Say that." I seethe, barely in control of myself as she innocently bats her eyes at me as if she can't understand why I'm reacting this way.
"Why not? It's the truth." She sighs, shaking her head in disappointment, completely resigned to her fate.
I want to offer my own wrist to her.
A bit of my blood wouldn't be enough to change her into what I am, that's a different process altogether. But a few drops alone would be enough to make her stronger. It would ebb the pain and the risk of her... I can't even think of the word.
Dying. The thought alone makes my fingers itch to protect her. To defend her is my purpose, to take care of her is my life's joy.
I won't push it this early. I would love nothing more than to have her drinking from me, returning the precious favor, but it's too soon for her.
She touches her inner wrist, amazed at the fading marks.
I narrow my eyes as the small, slanted dashes on her skin continue to disappear. A deep rooted part of me, an animalistic part of me, wants the marks to stay. My mark. My bite. I want it on full display to show everything who she let feed from her.
"I don't want you hurt, Ailsa."
She looks at me, really looks at me, as if she only now knows who I am.
"That's not up to you."
I thought that telling her I was a vampire would reveal everything. I thought it would expose who I am to her fully.
But if that was a the case, then why is it that I feel like today has pulled back the curtain even more? Is it the revelation that we're mates?
Ailsa must feel it too. She has to with all she does for me.
"But it will be. Make no mistake." I growl, lowering my voice for the next words. "As soon as I'm out of here, you are mine to protect, that's a vow."
Thank you for reading ❤️❤️