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I’ve taken refuge in the attic, the furthest place away from those assholes, without actually having to leave the house. It’s a huge dusty empty space, and the silence up here has my mind running haywire.
I’m sitting on an old orange box, looking out of the circular apex window, waiting to see her again. I’ve not felt this way since being turned. So damn helpless. One of the main characteristics of a vampire, is a strange calm nature. It could be because we have all the time in the world to get things done, and a lack of fear. But now, time is killing me with every second that ticks by.
“Nathan, there’s a bag here if you need one,” Sara calls up the stairs, like it’s perfectly normal to serve blood bags for dinner.
“Leave it down there.”
Oh great, I can hear her footsteps on the creaky wood. Is she going to force me to feed now? She’s probably worried I might be going rabid or something.
I don’t turn to her as I hear her come through the doorway. I don’t need to talk right now.
“You should feed.” She walks to my back, and I can feel her vampire chill on my neck.
“Sara, why do you think I came up here. To get away from you lot.”
She runs her hand over my shoulders in a slow seductive way, before pulling up another orange box to perch on. If she starts to go on about how Mr Prick is going to solve everything, I’m going to have to find another hideout.
“You don’t need to stay up here,” she says.
“Yeah right. You lot down there, carrying on like this is all normal.”
“There’s no point wallowing about it,” she says in a concerned tone, arching over so my view is drawn to her smooth rounded cleavage. “We’re stuck here... for now.”
With a sudden sexual frustration swelling inside me, I laugh at her, removing my eyes from temptation as my cock stiffens up against my zipper.
“I don’t want a pep-talk from you Sara. You have about the same amount of understanding as a bag of spanners. So just piss-off will you.”
“You really love her still, don’t you?”
Oh fantastic. Like this is something I want to discuss with her, when all I can visualise right now, is her plump wet lips around my cock, sucking me off like her immortality depended on it. How the hell she does it, I don’t know. I’m a vampire now, but she makes me as weak-willed as the old Nathan. I know she wants me. It’s in her eyes. Those big brown fuck-me-now eyes.
“It won’t change a thing, Nathan,” she says. “I’ve never seen two beings so meant for each other.”
I bite down. I really, really don’t want to hear this. Of course I love Liz. I always will. But at this moment in time, my attention is on Sara.
“Nathan,” she hums out my name all needy.
She arches over, running her red fingernails up the inside of my thighs as she stands up over me. My eyes move from hers, down onto her skin-tight jeans. I grit my teeth and glare at her zipper, with the urge to stick my fingers right inside there and play her, until she is as wet, as I am hard.
“Will you ever see me that way?” She grips my hair and pulls my head back, so I’m forced to look up at her. “It wouldn’t bother me if you did.”
I try to fight it, but she’s managed the impossible. She’s brought me back from that dark lonely place where Liz lingers.
I want her. I need to fuck her right now. I grab her pert firm ass and it pains my cock even more. Swallowing down, I rub my hands hard against the denim covering her thighs.
“You want me to beg,” she says in a damning hot whisper.
I jump up from the orange box and lift her ass, so her long legs are clinging around me. She tugs the roots of my hair, rubbing her slit against me. Shit, I’m grunting. I can feel my vampire waking and we both want her, hard.
I walk across the attic holding her, and our eyes lock as I slam her back against the central beam.
“What are you waiting for, Nathan?” She teases too damn well.
With one hand holding her, I reach up with the other and yank her lips to mine. She uncoils her leg grip, and pushes me back using her foot against my chest. My jaw churns, watching as she makes sure there’s over a meter between us.
“What are you doing?” I ask in anger.
“Take off your pants,” she demands, biting her cheek. “I want to see what you’re going to use on me, Nathan. I want to see how big you are.”
With my view fixed on her lusting movements, I step back as I unbuckle my belt, slowly. Her back rubs up and down the beam as I gladly let my jeans drop down. Her eyes are on my stiff cock, and her hands run over her breasts to her waistband, sensually. She unfastens her zipper, then her fingers rise to grip the beam above her head. She lifts her sexy ass up like a gymnast and I tear off her pants, to reveal that tasty wet clit I remember very well.
Her wild side comes out to play as her legs swing out and grab me in a vice-like grip. I thrust my cock inside her, and it’s just what the doctor ordered. Biting her neck, drawing just a tiny amount of her blood, I suck and fuck her fiercely.
“Go... on!” she growls, fucking me right back.
I bang her up against the beam. Her blood and come are the perfect combination of energy which fuels me.
Her fingers suddenly rip my mouth away from her neck, to position my forehead on hers. She gazes at me with something I’ve not seen in her before, care. I slow my pace as her lips stroke mine, softly. This deeper slower rhythm, is doing something to me. Like there something more profound going on here between us.
I kiss her mouth fully and firm, then angle back to see the expression on her sexy face. She’s coming, clenching her ass and moaning. The feel of her cool come slicking up my cock is so damn good. Fuck. Too damn good. I ejaculate, pushing hard up into her as the last drop leaves me groaning into her hair.
I breathe out and move my head back to see her smiling. It’s a tender smile. Something you never see from Sara. I thread her messy hair behind her ear.
“What was that?” I ask.
“What was what?” She’s trying to be casual about the affection she’s showing, but I can see her crumbling.
“That’s not the Sara I know. She wouldn’t have released so easy... so soon.”
“What do you really know about me, Nathan?”
“Clearly not enough,” I say, meaning every word.
A noise draws my attention from the bottom of the stairs. Sara loosens her leg hold and I pull out, sliding my hands one last time over her smooth ass. I bend quickly and yank my jeans up over my legs.
“Sara, put him down. We have company,” Ben yells up the stairs.
I rush across to the window, fastening my belt buckle. Adrien is bent over in the backseat of a white rusty truck. My eyes widen as he pulls Liz’s body out, and up into his arms.
Sara is standing right behind me, and as shitty as it is, she is now nothing but a distant thought. I push by her, and hurry down the stairs.
I skid to a stop, holding onto the wall unit, watching as Adrien lies Liz’s bloody lifeless body on the couch. Sara jogs by me and takes Daniel out of Dom’s arms. He’s staring at his mum, and for the first time I see him getting upset. Fuck, she’s dead, isn’t she?
I hurry to the back of the couch as Adrien kneels, stroking her hair from her face. She has dry blood over her head, cheeks, and all down her top. She’s filthy.
Adrien looks up at me. He’s riled I’m here, but I don’t give a shit.
“Why isn’t she breathing?” I yell. “What did you do?”
He calmly stands up. “I did nothing, and she is breathing you idiot.” He rubs his hands down his face. “We were followed. She got loose and... and well as you can see, she tore them to pieces. And she did it in seconds.”
“Who was it?” Ben steps forward.
“Two new bloods, just passed the service station in New Westminster.”
“How the hell did they know where to find you?” I bark. “Are there more?”
He peers down at Liz. “No.”
“If they were after you, then there has to be more of them,” I growl right at him.
“There are no more!” he yells, but I don’t fuckin believe him.
I notice how he has only a few drops of blood on him, but Liz is covered in it. My fingers curl into a fist.
“So, she really stopped them did she?” I yell. “Or did you just fancy another taste of her?”
He freezes up, and doesn’t say a word in response. I gaze down at her. My best friend all messed up.
“Ben, Dom, take Elizabeth upstairs,” he orders. “Make sure you restrain her to the bed.”
“Is that really necessary?” I keep my anger fixed on him.
“Yes, it’s necessary,” Adrien snarls.
“I want to talk to her,” I demand.
“Does she look like she’s in a fit state to talk to anyone,” he barks. “You can see her when I say. If you don’t like it, you know where the damn door is!” He storms through the swing door and into the kitchen.
I inhale, watching Dom and Ben lift Liz up from the couch. Her arms flop lifelessly as they carry her to the stairs.
***
I HAVE HALF A BOTTLE of whiskey left and it’s doing nothing to ease my frustration. I’ve been sitting here behind the barn for hours now, smoking Dom’s cigarettes, one after the other, and drinking Ben’s alcohol which I found in the Chevrolet. I’m questioning whether I made a mistake coming here. I guess I’m still holding onto the past, pretending I’m still Liz’s protector. Human. I need to get my head around the fact things will never be like that between Liz and I again. We’re both no longer those people.
With my knees to my chest and my back against the corroded wall, I flick the drained cigarette butt from my lips, and take another glug of whiskey.
“Hey.” I turn my head against the wood to see Sara standing at the corner of the barn, holding a blood bag.
I shake my head and turn away, unsure whether I’m pissed-off she’s here, or kind of relieved. I decide to hold back the cruel comment on the tip of my tongue.
“Hey,” I nod.
She moves closer to me as I take another swig of the whiskey. Her hand swoops down to grab the bottle as she stands in front of me. She places the rim on her lips, and takes a mouthful before handing it back. My eyes fall onto the blood bag she’s holding.
“Is that for me?” She nods a yes. “Well you can take it back.” My efforts to remain cool fail. “I don’t want it. Seems all the negative energy here, is filling me right up.”
She hovers before me for a few seconds, then turns to walk back to the house. Shit. After what she did for me in that attic, she doesn’t deserve my dick attitude.
“Sara,” I call out and she stops with her back to me, her head lowering. “Sorry.” She turns and I see that same look in her eyes I saw in the attic. “Want to share the rest?” I shake the bottle.
Her lips pout, thinking about it. “Is that Ben’s whiskey?” she asks.
“Yeah, and it tastes great.”
She grins as she makes her way to me. Her back props against the wall and she slides down to sit by my side.
“So, who’s watching Daniel?” I ask, handing her the bottle.
She takes a drink and brings it down to her crossed legs. “Dom. He’s coping. Too well.”
I chuckle under my breath. “I never saw him as the nurturing type. Always thought he was the one who needed looking after.”
“I just needed a break,” she says. “It’s too intense in there right now.”
I watch the side of her face as she stares into the trees. I can’t read her mind, but it’s clear she’s pretty messed up right now.
“Thanks for earlier,” I say, nudging her arm. “Was just what I needed.”
“No problem.” She half-smiles at me.
I want more from her. I know she didn’t just fuck me to make me feel better. When I first met her, she dominated me. Made me, and probably every other man she screwed, work for the privilege. I’m starting to actually care for her. I’m seeing her human side.
“What’s your story, Sara?”
She smirks as her head tilts back so she’s looking up to the sky. “I think you’re the only one who has ever asked me that. Why?”
“You fascinate me.”
“Really, there’s nothing fascinating about me, Nathan. Just a long line of trouble.”
“Trouble is fascinating.” I elbow her arm, playfully. “Come on, after the awesome O I gave you earlier, I think I deserve to know you better,” I say, light-hearted.
“What do you want to know?” I can tell she feels awkward, but I’m going to carry on anyway.
“Who you were before.”
“Oh god.” Her eyes close and she goes all twitchy.
“You knew who I was before,” I say. “So come on, can’t be that bad.”
“Okay-okay.” she cringes and takes a breath. “I was once the head cheerleader at high school.”
I giggle out loudly. “Well, that explains your great flexibility.”
“My parents were run of the mill. Protective. Encouraging. Hard-working.”
“Only child?” I question.
“No,” she says in a whisper. “I had a little Sister, Kim. She died at seventeen. Hit and run.”
She’s upset and it’s an unusual thing to see. I’m such an insensitive asshole sometimes.
“I’m sorry. Really, you don’t need to go on. I’m just being a nosy dick.”
She gazes at me with this strange trust in her eyes. “No you’re not. You’re kind of helping me.”
“What happened to you, Sara?” I reach up and lie my hand on her cheek for a second.
“I ruined everything. Boys. Drugs. Alcohol.” Guilt echoes in her tone. “But after everything I put them through, they stuck by me. I went through rehab, counselling, the whole works, and I pulled through. After college.” She goes quiet, finding it difficult to continue. “After college, that’s when it all went wrong. That’s when I met him.”
“Laurie?”
“Yeah.” She takes a big swig of whiskey for courage. “He interviewed me for an internship at a pharmaceutical company in Washington DC. He was the chivalrous type, and I fell for it. We dated for a few months, then he asked me to move into his apartment. I was excited, but he said before I could move in with him, I had to know what he was. He told me everything, vampires the whole lot. And I was so lost to his control, I didn’t care. He had me signing a contract then and there. That was the condition of being with him.” Her fingers dig into her leg, and she smirks at herself. “Within a week he had me chained to a bed, and he kept me like that for a month. Drinking me. Raping me. Tormenting me. He made me believe it was normal to be loved that way. His words were like hypnosis. I was so fuckin weak back then.”
She stops speaking and covers her face with her hands. I thread my arm around her shoulders and pull her close into my side. I’m so sorry for her, but at the same time, so damn angry. The sick asshole. In a way I wish he was still here. I’d like to kill the son-of-a-bitch again and again, very slow and painfully.
“You really don’t have to go on, Sara,” I say as she moves off my chest, and back against the wall.
“I want to. Got this far. Might as well get it all out in the open.”
“Why did Adrien let that happen to you?”
“He didn’t know. I rarely saw any of the coven. They were always in different States, running the blood network,” she says.
“Well, he had to know something.”
“He didn’t. Look, you have him all wrong. He’s kept the vampires under control for decades. If he wasn’t in charge, then God knows what this world would be like for us.”
She shuffles around on her butt to gaze at me with those fiery stern eyes. It’s the same scenario I went through on the journey here. I need to shut the fuck up about Mr Prick. To all of them, he’s a God.
Out of the blue, she grabs my hand. “Listen, I know how you feel. But you have to accept what is, is. You can’t save her, only Adrien can.”
I pull my hand away from hers. She’s frowning at me. But I can’t sit here and listen to this shit. She’s just told me what she went through with an executive. The fucking contracts. The torture. So how can she still believe in him?
“Do you know why I’m here?” she snaps at me. “Instead of Liz carrying that child, it was supposed to be me. The night Adrien turned me, I stuck up for myself. I attacked Laurie with everything I could, and in return he nearly killed me.”
“Are you forgetting Sara, instead of killing the bastard, he kept him on the fuckin payroll!”
She nods her head down, then her eyes flash furiously back onto me. She downs what’s left in the whiskey bottle, breathing irately.
“He didn’t have a choice.” She breathes out the whiskey burn. “Not under the order’s authority. Executives don’t kill executives, Selene made sure of that. She’s been planning this for a long time, and Liz has taken my place. You should be blaming me.”
I growl in annoyance. “I don’t blame you. Jeez, I have some morals. I know what’s right and wrong. Both you and Liz were dragged into this. Shit, even I was dragged into it.”
I pull out a cigarette and light up, to take a long incensed drag. This conversation has gone down the shitter. I offer Sara the pack, but she refuses. I lean my head back against the wall and blow out a cloud of smoke. I’m ignoring her for a while. I need to.
Again her hand takes mine. With the cigarette hanging off my bottom lip, I turn to look at her.
“You don’t trust him, then that’s fair enough. But after everything I’ve just told you, can you not trust me?” she asks.
Between my thumb and finger, I take the cigarette from my mouth and flick it away. She’s getting to me, and I don’t know what to think or feel. I need to remember why I’m here. I can’t turn my back on Liz now.
“Nathan, in the attic. I wanted you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Sara?” I’m so confused right now.
“I needed you,” she states. “Still do.”
Oh fuck. I can’t get into this. Not here. Not now.
“Sara, look, the timing is all wrong.” I gulp down the awkward tension in my neck. “I didn’t think you did feelings and emotions.”
She yanks her hand away from mine. “You really love yourself don’t you? Think you’re irresistible to all. I’m not in love with you, so don’t worry about that.”
“Then what the fuck is this about?”
“It’s about being stuck here. I thought I saw a different side to you with Daniel. Thought you were trustworthy and honest,” she rants. “I felt a connection with you...”
Screw it. I quickly wrap my hand around the back of her neck, and pull her lips to mine before she can say another word. At first she mumbles, refusing to kiss me back, but it doesn’t last long. Now I feel her tongue gently brushing mine with every sweet, wet, movement. My cock stiffens for more, but I fight the impulse. I run my fingers down her hair as I pull back to look into her eyes. Her submissive, captivating eyes. I do feel something for her, but I’m unsure what. And whatever it is, I need to put a lid on it for now.
I position my head against hers. “Sara, right now you need to let me do what I came here to do,” I say. “It’s not a good time to complicate things. We’re in a dark place right now, and my friend, she’s stuck in the middle of it. Until she’s safe. Until Daniel is safe. This can’t happen again. Can you understand that?” Her eyes close as she nods a yes.