Waking up with dried blood caked on my hands wasn't exactly what I had envisioned when I had first imagined the morning after my first time having sex with Cain.
Yet there I was.
As I rolled over, I realized that I was lying in a large, empty bed alone.
Still completely naked and not covered by anything except a thin bedsheet, I sat up to see the duvet had been torn from the bed during our late-night antics and was several feet away on the floor.
Accompanying it were several pillows and pool towels that had also been strewn about during the passionate frenzy.
Seeing this, I vaguely began to remember what had taken place in that spot on the floor just hours earlier. It was the same thing that had happened on the deck outside by the pool, on top of the kitchen counter and on the bed.
As it turned out, my first time with Cain was followed by several more "times" that ensured I wouldn't wake up with an unsatiated sexual appetite.
I strained to sit up straight, grimacing as I did so.
My neck was stiff and my back hurt, not to mention the dull pain that had settled in my lower abdomen made itself known with every move I made.
Looking around the room, I noticed the dark shades that were pulled over the large window in front of the bed, doing an effective job at blocking out any and all light.
While necessary for my survival, the shades were not exactly convenient for deducing what time it was.
I slowly got out of the bed, taking in several sharp breaths as I did so.
I fought against the all-over soreness as I stood up and wandered into to the en suite.
Flipping on the light switch, I groaned as the bright overhead lights cut through the room and nearly blinded me.
I rubbed my eyes as I walked over to the tub, preparing myself for how great it was going to feel to take a hot bath.
I stopped short as I caught a brief glimpse of myself in the mirror.
What I saw made me gasp.
Dark, dried blood coated my face, jawline and neck to an extent I couldn't have imagined. My chest was also stained red, along with my hands.
I let out a sound similar to a whimper as I glanced down at myself in horror.
As my heart begin to race, I leaned in to turn on the sink faucet and began to scrub my hands with soap and water.
Frantically, I rubbed and scratched at my skin, not caring how badly it hurt to do so.
I watched as the water turned red and disappeared down the sink drain, the blood still leaving a noticeably vivid stain on my skin.
Nearly pulling the steel hook out of the wall, I yanked the hand towel down and began to scrub at my arms and face.
The pink droplets of water, a mixture of hand soap and blood, rolled down my abdomen and legs and pooled at my feet.
Running over to the glass enclosure that would be offended if called a mere shower, I struggled to turn on the water as the controls were all activated by a touch screen in the marble wall.
Fingers fumbling, I tapped against the glass until water began to pour over me from the ceiling like rain.
I stepped back from the touchpad, breathing like a maniac.
My rib cage felt like it was constricting around my lungs and heart. I sat down in the shower, holding my hands over the pressure in my chest.
I pushed myself against the wall as I coughed and gasped, trying my hardest just to breath.
My hands shaking, I pulled them away from my body and looked at the stained skin.
Determined, I grabbed a bar of soap and a washcloth from the shelf beside me and began to clean my skin for the second time.
It wasn't until I felt as though I had reached my seventh layer of skin that I was finally satisfied. Quickly, I washed my hair and ran conditioner through the ends of the tangled strands.
When I finally stepped out of the shower, I felt like I had emerged a new person. The steam that had filled the room meant I couldn't see my reflection in the clouded mirror, something I found myself thankful for.
Once completely dried off, I combed my hair and wrapped myself in a towel before leaving the en suite and walking back into the dark bedroom.
I managed to find Cain's duffel bag in the darkness and I rummaged through it until I found a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.
As I began to put his shirt on, I was overwhelmed by the scent of him that lingered on his clothes.
I found myself pushed through time to the night before, remembering skin that gleamed with sweat and gasping moans that floated past my ears like a symphony.
I gulped as I shook myself back to the present, coming to the realization I was blushing and suddenly out of breath.
However, the pit in my stomach at the recollection made me feel an odd sense of guilt. I didn't take long to trace the guilt to the source of my blood-stained skin.
What the hell came over us?
The blood around my mouth and down my jaw and neck made me suspect that Cain wasn't the only one who had tasted blood, even though I couldn't remember having done so myself.
I was painfully stuck between wanting to forget those moments and wanting to relive them.
I quickly put on the sweatpants, trying to escape my thoughts and the dark hole down which they were leading me.
Opening the bedroom door, I was met by more darkness.
I could barely make out the faint outline of the staircase that descended down into the dining area. Cautiously, I placed one foot in front of the other until I had tiptoed my way downstairs.
As I walked closer to the living room, I saw that the overhead lights were on.
I could faintly hear the murmur of voices.
The look on my face was probably priceless as I realized Daniel and Jai were standing in a huddle with Cain, speaking in low voices amongst themselves.
I stood there for a moment, unable to understand why the two of them were there.
It wasn't until Daniel stretched his arms out and yawned that he looked over and noticed the additional body in the room.
A beaming smile spread across his face as he saw me.
"Mornin', sunshine."
I returned the smile with half the enthusiasm.
Jai and Cain halted their conversation and looked to see who Daniel was talking to.
Cain immediately looked down to the watch on his wrist before meeting my gaze.
I felt my heart forget how to beat as he and I made eye contact.
"You're awake earlier than I thought you would be," he said.
"I've been up for about an hour," I said, coughing to try and cover up just how hoarse my voice was.
"Oh no, not me," Daniel said shaking a finger. "I didn't forget you were a morning bird. I knew you would be awake soon."
He walked past me with a wink as he grabbed a to-go coffee cup from the kitchen counter.
Turning around, he handed it to me and I felt myself melt as he placed the cup in my grasp.
"Thank you so much," I told him.
I felt my eyes well up at the gesture. Feeling particularly emotionally vulnerable, I decided to drop my gaze to the cup so Daniel wouldn't see the tears I was now trying to keep from falling.
Why on earth was I about to cry over a cup of coffee? Did I not think Casablanca would have a Starbucks?
Daniel and I both noticed Jai roll his eyes.
"Don't mind him," Daniel said to me. "He's two scoops of grumpy in a bowl full of bitchy this morning because we had to catch a plane at four and he didn't sleep on the way here."
I snickered at the off-handed comment as I took the first sip of my coffee.
"How long have you been here?" I asked him.
"Not very long," he assured me. "Maybe only fifteen or twenty minutes."
I nodded as I took another sip of coffee, my eyebrows furrowing as I did so.
The coffee made me feel weird and I couldn't put a finger on why. It didn't taste as satisfying as I was used to my morning coffee being.
"Well," Jai said, "I think we should go ahead and make sure everything is in place for the meeting."
"Meeting?" I asked, looking at Cain. "What meeting?"
Cain neglected to answer, looking at me blankly instead.
"All of the Betas are meeting here in Casablanca tomorrow evening," Daniel answered.
I looked between the three men incredulously.
"Are you serious?" I asked, anger settling in. "I told you that the entire point of the plan that my brother and Hans Weber were carrying out was to exterminate all of the pureblooded Lycanthropes and you decided that the best way to solve that issue was to gather them all together in one place at the same time? Are you trying to make it easier for them all to be killed?"
"Hans Weber and your brother are dead," Jai said pointedly.
"But they weren't the ones behind it all!"
Now I felt my blood pressure rising.
I was standing in the presence of some of the most powerful creatures on earth yet they didn't have enough brain cells between them to figure out a plan that would keep everyone safe? I was beginning to believe that Lycanthropy was a mental illness that damaged the reasoning cortex of the brain.
"We know they weren't behind it all," Cain said, his calm and even tone vastly different than my panicked and furious one.
"Shouldn't you be trying to figure out who is behind it?" I asked.
"We know that too."
My eyebrows furrowed as he calmly made the revelation.
"Okay, so you thought it was a good idea to call a diplomatic meeting instead of trying to catch the bastard responsible for the deaths of two Betas?"
When no one said anything, it clicked.
"You are," I breathed out. "You gathered all the targets together to make one big, irresistible bullseye. The meeting is a fishing expedition..."
Cain nodded.
That's the moment that I began to feel like the idiot.
"There's one thing that you're neglecting to realize about your plan," I said pointedly.
Cain raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Fishing never works out so well for the bait."
"That's why we're here now," Jai said, stepping into the conversation. "We've already picked out the meeting place and now we're going to secure it."
I didn't say anything else as he and Daniel left the room. When I heard the front door shut behind me, I let out a sigh.
Cain brushed past me into the kitchen and I turned to see him grab a ceramic mug from the microwave.
"I'm sorry," I said, letting out a breath. "My tone was a little uncalled for."
"Don't worry about it."
He brought the mug over to me, taking my coffee cup from me with one hand and replacing it with the ceramic mug.
I took it from him warily and he nodded at me, gesturing for me to drink it.
Lifting the mug to my lips, I took a small sip which turned into a big gulp which turned into me downing the whole mug in one go.
The thick, rich liquid tasted like gold.
As I pulled the mug from my lips, I raised my arm to wipe away the excess around my mouth.
I felt my stomach lurch as I looked down to see the crimson blood that was smeared along my forearm.
I gagged as I ran forward, barely making it to the sink in time to throw it all back up.
"Jesus, Ella."
I puked a few more times as Cain stood beside me, holding my hair out of my face.
When I finally stood up straight, he handed me a cool washcloth which I used to wipe my mouth.
"Let's not make a habit of that, okay?"
I rolled my eyes as I looked at Cain.
"Why didn't you tell me that was blood?"
He looked at me incredulously.
"I'm not sure why you didn't assume that it was blood."
He was right.
I took a deep breath as I shook my head and brushed my hair out of my face.
"I'm sorry," I said. "It's just... between waking up covered in blood and then drinking it, I feel like I'm on the verge of a breakdown."
"We can always do an IV drip if you'd prefer that while you become accustomed," he offered. "Either way, you need to be getting between five and six pints a day."
I nodded, looking down to see my hands shaking.
I found myself leaning forward to rest my head on his chest, a gesture that caused him to tense up for a moment.
Cain relaxed a few seconds later and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to him.
"I should've told you," he said.
"What?"
I pulled back for a moment, looking up at him with furrowed eyebrows.
"Two things," he said. "First, I suppose I should have warned you that sex for the first few times as a Vampire isn't exactly..."
He trailed off as he struggled to find an appropriate word to use, but I knew what he was trying to say.
"You bit me," I said.
"And you returned the favor."
I gulped, my suspicions confirmed.
"Why?"
"Bloodlust," he answered. "Your body has a hard time differentiating between erotic desire and your desire for blood."
"For how long?"
"Usually just for the first few times," Cain assured me. "It will just depend on how well your body adjusts to the changes."
I let out a sigh, pulling away from him and leaning against the countertop.
We were silent for a few moments.
"What else did you mean to tell me?" I asked, trying to break up the awkwardness.
"That we knew who was behind everything," he said, crossing his arms. "I think I've figured everything out, but I should have told you when I initially pieced things together."
"Oh," I sighed. "It's okay, really."
"It's my brother."
I blinked hard a few times as I processed what he'd said.
"Your brother?" I asked. "I... didn't know you even had a brother."
Cain nodded slowly.
"I thought he was dead," he admitted. "I haven't seen him since I was eleven."
I felt the pain in his voice, even though he tried to mask it with an uninterested tone.
"I'm sorry, Cain," I said earnestly. "What happened?"
"I did something I shouldn't have," he admitted.
Letting out a sigh, he pushed himself away from the side of the counter.
I watched him with pitying eyes as he cleared his throat and opened the fridge to pull out a clear, pint-sized bag that was in a drawer.
"Are you drinking this or do we need to get a drip?"
I sighed, deciding to drop the obviously heavy topic of his brother.
Leaning forward, I grabbed the ceramic cup from the countertop before holding it out to him.
Cain uncapped the bag and poured the blood into the cup.
Once he was done, I pulled the cup back to peer into it. Telling myself it was just fruit punch, I drank the whole thing.
I held a hand over my mouth as I made sure I had completely swallowed it, afraid for a few seconds that it was going to make its way back up.
Once I knew I was in the clear, I took a deep breath and placed the cup down on the countertop.
The silence between the two of us lasted for a few moments before Cain cleared his throat.
He ran a hand through his hair as he leaned against the counter next to where I stood.
"So how are you feeling?"
I nodded.
"Fine, I just think that drinking blood will take some getting used to."
I saw a faint smile pass over his lips before it disappeared.
"What?"
"Nothing," he said. "It's just..."
Cain smiled again before letting out an airy laugh.
"I was referring to last night," he admitted.
"Oh."
Much to my displeasure, I felt a blush creeping up to my cheeks that I couldn't stop.
He slid closer to me and I backed away, awkwardly stumbling over my words and my feet as I did so.
"I should probably go get my clothes off the pool deck," I stuttered out. "I can't wear your clothes for the rest of the day."
"How about we go out to dinner tonight and I can take you to get a few things to wear? While we're in Casablanca at least..."
I walked around him, trying to escape the suggestiveness in his tone and how it made a fire reignite itself in the pit of my stomach.
"It's fine, really," I laughed awkwardly as I walked into the living room over to the backdoor. "It's not that big of a deal."
I was blushing furiously, ready to take a fatal plunge into the pool and never resurface if it meant escaping my foolish stumbling and awkwardness.
I felt Cain's arms wrap around my stomach and pull me backwards as I opened the backdoor. Just a little stream of sunlight drifted through the crack of the open door and I sighed, realizing that I had almost made a terrible mistake.
"I wouldn't go out there right now if I were you," he whispered in my ear, still holding me with both arms around my waist and my body pressed flush against his.
I gulped.
"Yeah, I... forgot I guess."
Cain reached around me and pushed the door closed.
We continued to stand there as we were, I made no effort to move and he made no effort to let me go.
"Can I be honest with you?" Cain asked, his hot breath fanning against my ear.
The back of my throat was so dry that I couldn't find words to speak. I just simply nodded.
"I really want to kiss you right now," he said, lowering his voice further.
I turned around in his arms and found myself pressed against him even closer.
"Then do it."
Cain needed to hear nothing else.
His lips smashed against mine and the kiss completely skipped the gentle, soft step.
My hands tangled themselves in his hair as my tongue tangled itself with his.
He leaned down and picked me up with his hands resting underneath my butt as he began to carry me through the living room.
I pulled away breathlessly as I realized where the kiss was quickly leading.
"I'm not quite sure I'm ready to go back to bed," I said honestly.
Cain's eyebrows furrowed.
"Who said it had to be on the bed?"
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