Master Indeed
(Mario Blanco as my idea of Etienne)
Seth
The next time my eyes fluttered open, I immediately realized that I was in the same darkened room, and my aching body still throbbed painfully in multiple places. My pain level dangled on that fine line of just being barely tolerable as long as I as didn't do anything other than blink and take shallow breaths.
My eyes adjusted to the dimness and a small sigh of resignation escaped my lips. It wasn't a dream, that pretty little blond was here, and he had spewed off a whole lot of information but it explained nothing. I was more confused than ever.
I was tempted to turn my head to see if my little babysitter was around with another glass of water, but the fear of making something hurt more than it already was effectively deterred me from even flinching. So I just cleared my dry throat, and even that caused a sharp stab of misery to hit me square in my middle of my chest.
Once again, I heard shuffling behind me and sure enough a mop of platinum hair appeared at the side of the bed followed by two enormous blue eyes blinking up at me.
"Oh good, you're up. Master is awake and he will be here any minute. Do you want a drink. I'm sorry I can't give you anything for the pain. We have human medicine, but Master said he'll take care of you once he awakens."
He scampered off to get my drink of water, and I gave up trying to decipher what he was saying to me. I understood when he said his Master was coming to see me, and my brow knitted at his use of the term, "human medicine." What did he mean by that?
Remy was making his way back towards me when there was a muted knock on the door a second before the panel opened. I couldn't help myself as I slowly turned my head towards the sound, and all the remaining breath in my body stuttered out of my mouth.
The man that took up the entire door frame, I mean every square inch of space stood there staring back at me just as intently as I was staring at him. Oh my sweet Jesus, and what a sight he made indeed.
I watched wide eyed as the hulking mountain of a man walked silently across the plush carpet as he elegantly glided to my side. He stopped to retrieve the glass of water from Remy. The man bent low at his waist while Remy went up on the tips of his toes to listen to whatever the Adonis was saying to him. I was mesmerized by the gentle sway of the guy's long sable locks falling over one wide shoulder as he spoke to my little caretaker.
Remy then bounded back over to my side, scampered up on the bed. "Bye, Seth. I'll see you later." He announced. He patted my head like I was a well loved pet, and then the bounced out of the room and closed the door behind himself, leaving me sealed inside the room with the big man. The same intense giant now sitting on the side of my bed and giving me a once over with the those enigmatic silver orbs.
My entire body tingled, but not with pain or discomfort. The sensation felt like someone was feeding adrenaline into my blood stream bit by bit. It was like liquid energy coursed through my veins instead of my blood, and the longer I held his gaze was the more intense the feeling. Goosebumps prickled all over my satin covered body, and I had to lower my gaze from his penetrating stare.
The glass of water appeared in front of my face, and long tan fingers held the straw to my lips. I didn't dare look up at the man as I wrapped my lips around the straw and pulled the cool liquid into my parched mouth.
The water was the perfect temperature and it tasted so good I had to fight not to slurp the entire glass in one setting. I reluctantly released the straw and some of the water beaded on my bottom lip. I was about to stick my tongue out and lick the extra moisture away, but his thumb got there first and he gently swiped the digit across my bottom lip.
Every single nerve, every cell right down to the microscopic molecules in my body reacted to his touch. A shot of heat radiated from the point of contact and raced through veins overtaking everything in me like tsunami cutting a path over land.
There were so many questions running around in my head, but none of the were coming out of my mouth.
I just laid there and blinked up at the stunning man like a mute moron. Although he was staring just aa intently back at me, then those sinful lips curved, and I was graced with a smile that caused my heart to flutter an erratic rhythm in my chest.
"My name is Etienne, and welcome to my home." An insanely deep voice greeted me, the smooth cadence washed over me and a groan of delight almost bubbled past my lips.
After a few awkward seconds, I realized that he was waiting for some kind of response from me. So I quickly cleared my throat and replied, "Thank you very much for helping me. My name is Seth."
"Nice to meet you, Seth. I didn't take you to a medical facility because I don't know what happened to you. Do you care to tell me why you where assaulted to the brink of death and left to die in the middle of the woods?"
Mortified, I felt the heat of my embarrassed blush spread across my face. How was I supposed to explain to this Adonis that my own friends beat me up because of my sexuality? Was he homophobic too, will he regret helping me and finish where the guys had left off? I shifted uncomfortably and gasped as my pain receptors came back online.
What seemed like a growl escaped Etienne and my eyes flashed up to his face and I gasped again. This time in surprise instead of pain. I squinted my eyes and really looked at the man. I could have sworn that those steel gray eyes just swirled with shades of shimmering gold for a second, and just like that the memory of glowing amber eyes in the old mill came rushing to the forefront of my brain.
All of my confusion and all the weirdness from talking with Remy about his Master and something about being Fated flooded my mind. I couldn't help the thought from blurting out of my mouth. "There is something not quite right here. It was you in the mill, only your eyes were glowing. I...I... Where am I? What are you?"
My hands went to clutch the sheets and again I recalled that my hands were a mangled mess after my so called fraternity brothers had stomped on every inch of my body. There is no way I should be holding, much less gripping anything right now. Fear of the unknown robbed me of my common sense, and despite the agony of my protesting body.
I went to slide of the other side of the mattress to get away from whatever this stunningly devastating man was. The dark god was just sitting there patiently watching me as I had my little melt down.
My feet hit the carpeted floor and I went to stand up. A pain like I have never felt before shot through my knees and my thighs, but before I could hit the floor I was engulfed in a strong pair of arms and I was swept completely off my feet. I tried to struggle and wiggle out of his hold.
"Stop." The one word cracked through the air with such force and authority, I immediately complied without even realizing it. Etienne gently placed me back down onto the bed and it was then I realized that I was naked as the day I was born.
A strangled squeak left my mouth and I went to reach for the soft satin sheet to cover myself, but my battered ribs prevented me from doing so. In utter disgust at my helplessness, I threw my hands over my bright red face and groaned out my frustration.
I felt the seductive sweep of satin glide over my heated skin. Etienne covered me from the tips of my toes all the way up to my chin. I still didn't remove my hands from my face when I felt the mattress dip at my side.
"I don't understand any of this." I mumbled. I was overwhelmed and confused. My body hurt, and it was all too much for me to deal with. I had no clue as to where to even begin to try and figure out my current situation. Maybe I was dying and my mind had just fragmented in the throes of death or something. Yeah, I could go with that.
"Look at me." That sinfully sexy voice demanded and once again, I found myself responding to it without another thought. I slowly brought my hands down and raised my eyes up to his mesmerizing gaze.
There should be some kind of law in nature for creating someone so breathtakingly beautiful. Etienne's hair cascaded in thick dark brown almost black waves past his collar. He was taller than average, maybe 6'4 or 6'5, and just as broad.
His chiseled features looked like they were sculpted by the hand of god himself. The man was packing some serious muscle under his black slacks and black button up shirt, and oh god, even his scent was alluring. The scent if sandalwood a fresh clean man always did it for me.
Etienne tilted his head to the side and those gray eyes assessed my face. "It seems that I am going to have to answer your questions in order for you to calm down enough to answer mine."
I continued to hold his hypnotic gaze as I nodded my head in response to him. The big man took his eyes off me for a moment. He flicked an imaginary piece of lint off the knee of his pants before his gaze flicked back up to mine and held me completely immobilized.
Another gasp escaped my throat, goosebumps spread across the surface of my skin, and I couldn't do a thing to keep my jaw from dropping as I gaped open mouth at the man in front of me. Etienne's eyes were now glowing with that eerily familiar amber light, and when his luscious lips parted to smile at me, his canines had lengthened and they gleamed even with the dim lightening in the room. A dangerous looking set of fangs with pinpoint tips.
"You asked me what I am, and the answer to that question my sweet, I am a vampire amongst other things, and you my beautiful boy. You are my fated one" He stated, just as casually as if he was telling me he was a doctor and not some supernatural creature I had thought up until now never truly existed.
Blinking up at him, I knew I heard what he said, and I damn sure could see it with my own two eyes, but the words still left my mouth because I just couldn't comprehend what he had just revealed to me. I could hear my own shaking voice tentatively ask, "Wait, what?"