Darkest Hour (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (4 page)

“Well enough,” he responded.
“Elsbeth has helped me adjust to drinking blood.” The memory of sinking his
fangs into her flesh had his body growing taut—she had tasted far sweeter
than any of the animals he’d fed off since. He wanted to taste her again, and
was still peeved that they’d been so sorely interrupted earlier.

He had a feeling that the Seethe
Mistress knew exactly what was going through his mind, because her eyes gleamed
with amusement and she let out a tinkling laugh. “I see you haven’t quite
managed to subdue your hunger, yet,” she remarked. “That will come with time
and patience.”

Subdue his hunger for Elsbeth?
Not likely. “I am not solely dependent on blood,” he felt compelled to point
out. “I do eat human food as well.”

Amelia waved her bejeweled
fingers. “Ah, yes. You are lucky that Elsbeth is taking care of you. No one
else in our Seethe is much good at preparing human food.” She smiled at
Elsbeth, who blushed prettily. Thomas stared at the faint pink stain on her
cheeks, feeling the saliva pool in his mouth. The Seethe Mistress was
right—his hunger was catching up to him. “What other changes have you undergone,
besides drinking blood?”

Thomas told her about his ability
to walk in the sun, though he now burned after a short period of time, whereas
before he hadn’t. He told her about his heightened senses—hearing, smell,
taste, and his new superhuman speed.

“That is all to be expected,” she
said, nodding, but he caught a flash of impatience in her eyes. “Do you have
any other abilities?”

He shook his head. “Not that I
know of.”

“Would you mind terribly if I had
my physician do an examination on you?” she asked sweetly. “It never hurts to
be sure.”

Thomas opened his mouth to say
no, but he caught the flash of warning in Elsbeth’s eyes. So, she had expected
this. “Of course,” he said smoothly.

The ‘physician’ was a tall, gaunt
vampire with a shaved head, narrow slits for eyes, and the pastiest skin Thomas
had ever seen—and he now had three other vampires to compare it with. The
vampire didn’t do anything a normal physician might do; such as check his
pulse, his temperature, his tonsils, or anything like that. Instead he put
Thomas through a variety of physical and mental exercises, the latter of which
grew increasingly more frustrating for both of them. The vampire would cluck
his tongue all too often, making notes on a small pad of paper with his quill.
Thomas did discover that he could lift extraordinary amounts of weight when the
vampire asked him to lift increasingly larger slabs of stone—he was able
to lift a block that was nearly as tall and twice as wide as himself—but
nothing else.

When he was brought back before
the Seethe Mistress, his teeth were clenched and there was a slight headache
throbbing at his temples. “Is there anything else you require of me, Mistress?”
he asked, trying to modulate his voice, but he couldn’t quite keep a hint of
ire out of it.

Amelia nodded. “It seems that
everything is in order with you. Although I do recommend you living with
Elsbeth for a while longer until you have your hunger under control, it is
possible you could even rejoin the human community in the future, if you
desire.”

Thomas’s eyes widened as shock
and hope rippled through him. “I… I could return home?”

Amelia’s painted lips curved,
though the expression didn’t reach her eyes. “If you wish. But that is a choice
I would think carefully on. As you are aware, humans are a very superstitious
lot. You would still continue to survive off blood, whether animal or human,
and you would have to be discreet. Your life would become very unpleasant
should they discover… abnormal dietary habits.”

Thomas nodded, but he wasn’t
really listening. The idea of being able to return to his parents blocked out
any other thoughts. He wouldn’t have to live in darkness all the time. He could
return to his village, perhaps marry a normal human girl and start a family.

And what of Elsbeth?
His conscience admonished
sternly. He turned his head to look at her, and noted that, while there was no
expression on her face, her black eyes shimmered with… grief? Hurt? A wave of
guilt washed over him. How could he be so thoughtless as to her feelings?

She noticed he was staring, and
turned to face him. “It’s all right, Thomas,” she soothed, smiling slightly. “I
won’t begrudge your desire to return to your old life.”

Not trusting himself to speak to
her, he turned back to the Seethe Mistress and bowed. “I appreciate your
hospitality and advice. I will think on what you have said. Is there anything
else I can do for you?”

Amelia shook her head, her eyes
calculating and impossibly ancient as she watched him. A chill ran down
Thomas’s spine, and he wondered just how old she was. How many lives had she
taken with the fangs she hid behind those perfect red lips? “You are free to
go.”

* * *

Thomas leaned against a tree as
he stared at the tiny cottage. The tallow candle sitting in the window was lit,
and with his heightened vision he could easily see his grandparents sitting by
the fire, his mother knitting in her rocking chair, his father reading a book,
his glasses perched on his wizened face as he squinted in the lamplight. His
heart clenched with longing at such a domestic, normal scene—he would
give anything to be sitting there with them, even if they were old and didn’t
do much these days.

A brace of rabbits were tied to
the stick he held in his hand—his grandfather’s eyesight made it
difficult for him to hunt, and he didn’t want them to starve. Quietly he stole
across the grass, set the meat down on the small porch, and raised his hand to
knock on the door. A wave of scent hit him just before his knuckles made
contact, and he froze—blood. He could smell their blood even though the
door, and he hadn’t fed in two or three days. Saliva pooled in his mouth, and
he could feel his fangs elongating, slicing through his tender lower lip. Warm,
sticky blood coated his tongue, only increasing his hunger for more.

God. He couldn’t let them see him
like this. If they opened the door the bloodlust would take over, and he
wouldn’t be able to help himself. How would he be able to live with the guilt
of killing his own grandparents?

Throat tight, he lowered his hand
and stole back across the grass and into the concealing shadows of the forest.
The same forest that Elsbeth had no doubt spent hours watching him, though this
wasn’t the same spot. His grandmother would find the meat there in the morning,
if some wild animal didn’t come by and steal it first. Gods, he felt like such
a failure.

“You made the right choice by
deciding not to see them.” Thomas jumped at the sound of Elsbeth’s voice behind
him. She laid a soft, pale hand on his shoulder. “I know this is hard for you.”

He whirled around to stare at
her, knowing he must look a sight with his wild, grief-stricken eyes, swollen
lip, and rivulets of blood running down his chin. “What would you know of it,
Elsbeth? Do you have any idea what it’s like to look at your family and know
that if you come near them, their blood will be on your hands?”

Her eyes shimmered with tears
even as her eyes narrowed. “I know something of it. I had to leave my husband
behind when I was turned. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Some of the anger went out of him
at that, replaced by sympathy, as he looked at Elsbeth in a new light. “I’m
sorry. Did you love him?”

“More than anything.” She
swallowed, and a tear slid down her pale cheek. “We’d only been married a few
months. I had cut my hand on a scythe during the harvest season, and the wound
became grievously infected. We didn’t have the money to afford a doctor so I
hadn’t wanted to go and see one, and by the time I finally did it was too late.
I was wasting away.”

She wiped the tear from her face
and let out a sigh. “In the middle of the night, Darian, my maker, came to me
and offered my life back in exchange for my service. My mind was muddled from
fever, and all I knew was that I wanted the pain to go away and I wanted to
live, so I accepted the bargain. If I had been lucid, I would have chosen to
die over becoming a vampire.”

“So he turned you?”

Elsbeth nodded. “The first few
months were awful. I had very rare moments of lucidity, but those were swallowed
up by my bloodlust. Darian locked me in a cage to keep me away from humans so
that I wouldn’t go on a rampage through the town, and in the beginning he fed
me himself. Eventually he allowed me to go out and taught me how to hunt, but
he didn’t much care who I killed. Many innocents died because of me.” She
looked down at the ground, shame in her eyes. “The bloodlust frenzies came less
frequently then, but I knew I needed to stay away from my husband because I
would kill him. I never saw him again.”

“What happened to your Maker?”
Thomas asked. “Didn’t you say he turned you in exchange for servitude?”

“He went out one night and never
came back. I assumed he was killed, and so packed my meager belongings and
headed west, wanting to get as far away from my hometown as possible. Mistress
Amelia took me in.” She lifted her head then. “It’s not easy being a vampire,
but her rules make it much more tolerable. I’m very grateful to her for helping
me transition. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make this easier on
you. At least you have the luxury of being only a half-vampire.” The trace of
bitterness in her tone sent a wave of guilt through Thomas. After listening to
her, he realized just how good he had it. How could he have been so selfish?

Without saying a word, he crossed
the short distance between them and gathered her into his arms. “I’m so sorry,
Elsbeth. I’ve been impossibly rude, selfish and unkind to you.”

She sighed and buried her face in
his chest. “It’s all right, Thomas. As I said, I understand what you’re going
through. Please, just hold me for awhile?”

“Of course.”

They stood like that for a long
time; Thomas’s head falling into the crook of Elsbeth’s neck, but all too soon
the hunger was back, clawing at him like a beast on the inside. The scent of
fresh blood, coupled with her unique fragrance, had saliva pooling in his mouth
and his body hardening.

“Elsbeth,” he murmured huskily,
nudging her silky black hair away from her pale shoulder to expose the vein in
her neck.

“Yes.” She leaned her head back
to give him better access. “Take what you need, Thomas.”

He sank his fangs into her neck
again, and the blood exploded sweetly into his mouth. Elsbeth moaned, her body
growing limp in his arms as he drank from her. He felt her nipples pearl
through the fabric separating them, and his sense of smell was so heightened
now that he could actually smell her arousal through the blood. The need to
take her soon overpowered him as his thirst was quenched and he pulled his
mouth away, backing her up against a large, craggy oak tree.

“I need more than just your blood
this time, Elsbeth,” he whispered hoarsely.

She tilted her head up to look at
him, her eyes gleaming as red as his own. “Yes,” she repeated. “Take me. Take
all of me.”

He needed no further encouragement.
Lowering his head, he kissed her, hungrily devouring her soft, wet, sweet
mouth. There was still the faintest trace of copper on her tongue from when she
must have fed earlier, and he sucked it, wanting more. Her nails scored his
back as she pulled him closer, then her hands slid down to push up his tunic
and dive beneath his leggings.

“Gods,” he gasped against her
mouth as she encircled him with her fingers. “Yes, please.” He groaned as she
began slowly sliding her fingers up and down his glistening skin. His hips
jerked involuntarily to match the movement, but then stopped as she knelt down,
pulling his leggings to his knees. His hardening sprang free of its confines,
and, looking up at him with those blood-red eyes, she took him into her mouth.

“
Yes.
” His eyes closed as
he tangled his fingers into her hair, rocking his hips into her mouth. “Oh
Gods, yes.” She worked him with her tongue and lips, fondling him with her
fingers, and the pleasure heightened until it was
too
good.

“No,” he said hoarsely, pulling
her away from him. “I want to be inside you.”

“Yes,” she breathed, and tried to
rise, but he pushed her back down.

 “You’re beautiful,” he told
her, molding her ass in his hands, squeezing lightly so that they turned a
nice, light pink. “I’ve never seen anything so intoxicating.”

She shivered beneath his hands,
the motion pushing her ass more firmly into his hands. “You don’t mean that.”

“Of course I do.” He spread her
legs to expose her to the moonlight filtering in through the trees. “And I’m willing
to spend as much time as I have in order to prove it.”

Lowering his head, he began
licking and sucking, spreading her legs farther to give him better access to
the sweet nectar pooling between her thighs. Her cries were muffled, and he
knew she was trying her best to be quiet since they were so close to humans. He
smiled wickedly as he slid his hand around to the front, wanting to test her
restraint. Sometimes the thrill of being caught could make the experience so
much more pleasurable. His tongue speared her folds as his fingers stimulated
her, and her shriek came loud and clear as she convulsed around him.