Awakened (Vampire Awakenings), page 28
“I’m tired,” she whispered as she stifled a yawn.
He sighed softly and dropped his head to her shoulder. “You need to feed.”
A tremor of revulsion and delight racked through her. Suddenly, she was very hungry, but she knew that food would not satisfy her. “Come here.”
She opened her eyes as he pulled her into his arms and rolled her over. She looked down at him as her hair fell across his chest. He smiled softly as he pushed her hair gently over her shoulder. The marks on her neck were dark and vivid against her creamy skin. Gently he eased the bandage from her chest off. His eyes narrowed on the dark scratches that marred her delicate skin, but they appeared to be healing well, and quickly. Her gaze followed his and she gasped sharply.
“You’ll heal faster now.”
“I can see that!”
He stroked her cheek with his thumb. She turned into it, nuzzling him softly as her eyes drifted closed. “Are you hungry?”
Her eyes sprang open. Surprise, revulsion, and obvious hunger radiated from their depths. “It’s all right,” he said softly. “You only need to feed off of me, remember?”
Her gaze traveled down to his neck. A spark of something shot through her, something that she didn’t understand, but it rocked her body. She looked quickly away, ashamed, and frightened. “It will be just like last night,” he soothed.
He could feel the tension in her, the desire to fight against him and what she was feeling. He remembered that feeling. He had fought so very hard in the beginning, but in the end the demon had given in to Beth’s demands, and its own urgent needs. He had been repulsed and frightened, but it was a feeling that had faded.
“I know how you feel, it will fade Sera, I promise. But you must. The change isn’t complete yet, not until you feed. You need the blood.” That spark shot through her again and a fierce shudder ripped her. “I fed for the both of us yesterday.”
Her body was trembling with the fierce struggle she was waging, and her eyes were flashing wildly from blue to violet, to a bright red. Her elongated teeth caused blood to flow forward as she bit into her bottom lip. She whimpered softly as she instantly released her lip.
Liam’s eyes were locked on that trickle of blood. He pulled her down to him, lightly licking her lip as he used his saliva to close the wound. Her teeth pressed against his lip as he stroked her mouth with his tongue. He pulled her slowly away from him and guided her head down to his neck.
“Sera you must,” he urged.
She shuddered again. Her mouth was warm and wet as her teeth pressed against his neck. He shuddered in anticipation as his hand dug into her skull. He wanted this so bad that his entire body was tensed with anticipation and his breath was frozen in his lungs.
“Sera,” he breathed.
Her teeth sank deep. Liam’s hands convulsed on her as a wave of pure ecstasy shot through him. Her mind opened to his. Her hunger beat against him in waves, and at first it was the only thing he could sense but it slowly began to ease as she filled herself on him. Then, other emotions began to come through. He could sense her fear and revulsion, but beneath that was pure pleasure. He could feel the possessiveness that radiated from her, the desire to mark him as hers and he smiled as he recognized the feeling.
A sense of completeness began to steal through him as he lightly stroked her hair and her back. She whimpered as she squirmed against him and her hands tightened on his neck. Her desire slammed into him with a force so fierce that it hardened him instantly. Her thighs parted as her hands dug into his neck and she bit deeper to convey her urgency to him.
He rubbed his hard cock against her, pleased to find her wet with longing. He slipped into her, stretching her tight muscles as he filled her completely. She sighed in contentment as her hard bite eased and he filled her in every way.
***
Sera sighed with pleasure as she woke again sometime later. She felt sated, still a little tired, but utterly complete, and blissful. Her head was nestled into Liam’s steel shoulder. She snuggled closer as she dropped a light kiss on him. He murmured in his sleep and turned to envelop her in his tight embrace.
“Go back to sleep,” he mumbled.
“I think we’ve slept enough. It’s already afternoon.”
“I know.”
Of course he knew, she had known without having to look too. “I’m surprised Kathleen hasn’t come in to drag us out of bed.”
“So am I,” he admitted ruefully.
“Liam.”
“Hmm,” he replied sleepily.
“What can kill us?”
His arms tightened around her. She knew that he was instantly wide awake. “Why?”
“Well, I am one of you, and I think that I should know. I know what I’ve heard about vampires, but you can go out in the sunlight, so what else isn’t true?”
He sighed as his hand lightly stroked her hair. “Sunlight can kill us.”
“Huh?”
He chuckled softly at the confusion in her voice. “Some of us,” he amended. “We can all still go into the sunlight because we haven’t become cold blooded killers. The more you kill, the stronger you become, but the more limitations are placed on you. Vampires that kill lose the ability to be in direct sunlight, they will die from it. Beth can’t be in it.”
Anger rippled through her at the mention of Beth’s name. Her hands dug tighter into his back as a fierce surge of possessiveness shook her. He was hers, and that was final. Liam’s chuckle only served to infuriate her more. His hands lightly stroked the anger from her. “I met Beth during the daytime.” The name was bitter on her tongue.
“You met her during a snow storm. There was no direct sunlight.”
“Oh,” she mumbled. “You’ve killed.”
His hands tightened on her as the memory flashed through his mind. “Yes, I have,” he grated, and he would do it again if anyone attempted to harm her. “And the sun has become harder on me. It hurts my eyes more, burns my skin more. It also tires me out faster.”
“I’m sorry.”
He pulled back to look down at her. “For what?”
She shrugged as she lightly stroked his hard chest. “It’s my fault that the sun bothers you now. If it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t have killed Jacob.”
An involuntary growl escaped him at the name. She smiled softly as she lifted her lashes to gaze at him. It was good to know that she wasn’t the only one that became angry and possessive. “It’s not your fault,” he grated. “And I will kill anyone else that tries to harm you. No one will take you from me.”
“No, they won’t,” she soothed as she lightly rubbed his chest. “No one will take you from me either, right?”
“Right.”
She feared that they would though. She feared that he would meet someone else, someone better. He would grow tired of her and move on. He could have any woman that he wanted, and he already had. Eternity was a long time; there were a lot of women out there. Prettier women, smarter, sexier, better.
“Would you ever leave me?” he asked softly.
“No!” she cried in horror. The mere thought of it ripped her heart to shreds and brought instant tears to her eyes. To lose him would destroy her, kill her.
“That’s the way that I feel Sera.” She blinked at him in surprise. “I can sense your thoughts, and you’re wrong. There is no one better, no one else for me. You are it.”
“But...”
He placed a finger over her trembling lower lip. “No buts. Don’t you remember what David said? Together forever. The passion only grows.”
“What if he was wrong?”
“He was right about everything else.”
“What if you don’t want me in a hundred years? What if you grow tired of me? Or you meet someone else?”
“Sera stop it. I will never leave you, never find anyone better. There is no one better. Look in me and feel it for yourself if you don’t believe me.” She searched his intent gaze. “Open yourself to me.”
She allowed herself to open to his thoughts. She couldn’t exactly read them, not like she could when she was feeding off him, or he off her, but she could sense them. She knew that he loved her, knew that he cherished her, but she suddenly sensed the full depth of it. It shook her to the core as she recognized in him the same emotions that lived within her.
She pulled slowly out of him as she searched his intense gaze with awe. He stared back at her, his face hard, and his jaw set. He would never leave her, never grow tired of her, she felt it; she knew it. She stroked a strand of black hair off his forehead. “Eternity is a long time.”
He pulled her closer. “Not long enough.”
“No, it’s not,” she agreed. “So what else can hurt us?”
“Crucifixes and holy water are like the sunlight. The more you kill, the less you can tolerate them. Otherwise, a standard stake through the heart, beheading, and fire are the other ways.”
“Oh. I’ve seen you eat regular food, does it do anything for us?”
“No. We can eat it, but it doesn’t fill us, eventually you even lose a taste for it. Alcohol still affects us.”
Sera frowned as she nodded. There were so many foods that she enjoyed, she especially didn’t want to lose a taste for cheesecake. She winced as Kathleen’s shriek suddenly pierced through her ears and into her skull. “Ow!” she cried as her hands flew to her ears.
He grabbed her hands and pulled them gently away from her head. Her face scrunched with pain as Danielle and Kathleen both screamed. “Look at me Sera; listen to me, not them.”
She focused herself upon him as he gently explained how to control all of her new senses, and her new world.
CHAPTER 20
It was late afternoon before they finally emerged from the bedroom. “It’s about time you guys got up!” Kathleen cried. “I was beginning to think that we would never see you again!”
Sera blinked against the sunlight as she stepped into the snow. The giant snowman had been assembled. He was sporting a carrot, black button eyes, a gray ski hat, and a cigarette dangled from where his mouth was supposed to be. “Yours?” she asked Mike with a lift of her eyebrow.
“But of course, and if we don’t get out of here soon Frosty’s going to be parting with his mouth.”
Sera was suddenly hesitant to meet his gaze, to meet any of their gazes. “The electric’s back on,” Danielle said. “And the phone lines are working. We called the town and they said that they should have the roads plowed out tomorrow.”
“Thank God,” Jack groaned.
“Being snowed in wasn’t such a bad thing!” Kathleen protested. “I was thinking, since it’s almost the weekend, we might as well stay and check out the ski resort.”
Jack and Doug groaned. “I agree,” David commented as he clapped snow from his hands.
“What?” Mike demanded.
Liam wrapped his arm around Sera’s waist. She glanced up at him, but his face was dark and impassive. “I think we should abandon ship before it starts snowing again,” Doug said.
“I’m with him,” Jack agreed.
“I trekked ten miles through the snow to get here. I think I deserve a little relaxation and fun,” David argued.
“Why did you do that?” Danielle asked.
Jack rolled his eyes and walked away. “Damn idiots can’t keep their mouths shut, we can’t keep changing their memories,” he muttered as he walked to stand beside Liam.
David shrugged as Mike and Doug scowled at him. “Felt like some skiing,” he muttered.
“See!” Kathleen cried. “We should stay. It’s not fair to expect David to come out here for nothing!”
“Why don’t we talk about this later,” Mike suggested.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Liam said quietly.
Sera glanced back up at him. His face was still hard and cold, but there was a flicker behind his eyes that told her he was troubled about something. Sera bumped his hip lightly. She frowned at him questioningly, but he shook his head and kissed her forehead lightly.
Sera cast a sidelong glance at Jack. His hazel eyes were bright and knowing as he grinned at her. Sera felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she lowered her gaze again. She chanced a glance at Mike, Doug, and David to find them all eyeing her with that same knowing gleam in their eyes, and identical goofy grins. She focused her gaze on her boots.
Liam’s arm tightened around her waist as he shot the four of them an angry scowl. Their grins grew brighter, and Liam gave up trying to intimidate them. “Well, come on!” Kathleen cried. “I’m starting to freeze. Not all of us have been in bed all day!”
She nudged Sera as she bounced through the snow to the house. Sera shook her head as she turned to follow her back to the cabin. “So, how are you feeling?” Mike asked as he appeared at her side.
“Fine,” she muttered.
“Mike,” Liam growled warningly.
Mike laughed as he slapped Liam lightly on the back. “I can see that your good humor has been restored.”
Liam couldn’t help but smile as Mike grinned. He pulled Sera tighter against him. He could feel her chagrin, but he couldn’t stop the pleasure that swept him. She really was his now, and he was hers. He pushed the backdoor open and stepped aside to let her enter. Everyone filed into the tiny space, bumping and jostling as they tried to remove their snow gear. Doug bumped into Sera and instantly jumped back as he shot Liam a worried glance. She looked up, her brow furrowed with apprehension as she turned to Liam too. For a moment, he had felt a spark of anger when Doug had touched her, but it had faded almost instantly. He smiled reassuringly at her as he pulled his jacket off. Her frown vanished as she returned his smile with a carefree air he hadn’t seen in awhile.
“Thank God,” Doug muttered.
Sera silently agreed as she pulled her scarf off and hung it on the hook. It was so much nicer to have this Liam back with her. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized just how much she had missed his smiles, laughter, and easygoing demeanor. He had changed so quickly, and so fast, that she hadn’t had time to recall what he had been. She had been frightened by the new alterations in her, and the world, but she knew now that she wouldn’t have changed a thing, and she would do it all over again just to have him with her once more.
Love burst so brightly through her that she couldn’t keep herself from running over and throwing her arms around him. He grunted slightly and wrapped his arms tightly around her. “I missed you,” she whispered.
He closed his eyes as he clung to her. He hadn’t realized just how bad he’d been until that moment, just how close he’d come to being something that he’d never wanted to be. But everything was all right now, he was all right now. She made him complete. He glanced over his head at Mike, Doug, David, and Jack. They were no longer grinning stupidly but staring at them in a mixture of surprise and amazement.
“Oh, for crying out loud, you guys have been in bed all day, could you please stop pawing each other!” Kathleen cried.
Sera pulled her head out of Liam’s shoulder; she smiled brightly at him and kissed him quickly. He grinned as he released her. Kathleen grabbed her arm and pulled her quickly out of the mudroom. “Now that we’ve got you for a few minutes I’m not letting go!” she declared as she shot a pointed glance over her shoulder.
Liam finished pulling his jacket off and hung it on the hook. “It’s good to have you back,” Jack said.
“Yeah,” he mumbled.
“So, are we going to stay or not?” David asked.
Sera, Danielle, and Kathleen were gone as he entered the kitchen, but he could hear their voices drifting in from the living room. “If we get the chance to get out of here, I say we take it,” Doug said.
“I agree,” Jack muttered.
“Beth is still out there, she will come back,” Mike said as he cast a worried glance at Liam.
“What are we going to do when we go back? She found us here, and she’s already found us at the college,” David said. “It will be harder to protect them at the school. They’ll be more open.”
Liam shifted as he crossed his legs before him and folded his arms over his chest. He could feel his anger steadily growing. Instantly his mind sought Sera. He could feel her happiness, her joy as she laughed and talked with Kathleen and Danielle. He took a deep breath as her presence helped to soothe him.
“So what are you suggesting we do?” Mike demanded.
David shrugged as he glanced warily at Liam. “Honestly, I think the two of you should leave.”
Liam stiffened as he stood away from the counter. “And go where?”
“Somewhere, anywhere.”
“She’ll find them,” Mike said. “She’ll track him through her blood, and she’ll find them. Leaving isn’t going to do them any good.”
“And what about Kathleen and Danielle?” Jack asked.
“I think Beth will leave them be, if Liam and Sera are no longer around,” David answered.
“But you can’t be sure,” Liam said coldly. “And I can’t leave them unprotected.”
“We would still be here.”
“Leaving isn’t going to solve anything,” Liam replied. “Only one thing will.”
“We already tried to find Beth.”
“She can track us through our blood, we could probably do the same thing,” Doug said. “We’ve never tried it, because we never wanted to find her. What if we try it now?”
“I did try,” Liam told him. “When Jack and I went looking for her. I couldn’t sense anything. She is stronger than us, if she wants to keep us blocked out, then I’m sure that she can.”
“Then you could probably do the same thing.”
Liam shrugged as he unfolded his arms. “Maybe, but Sera couldn’t.”
“But... oh,” Jack said dully.
Liam’s jaw clenched as he glanced out the doorway of the kitchen. Beth would be able to find Sera through his blood and Sera was far too new to understand her abilities. “Until Beth is dead, there will be no peace,” he said softly. “When we get back to the college, Sera will stay with me.”
