The pleasure had hit her. She’d be ready soon. He listened. There would be a change to her heartbeat, an alternation so small only he would notice it. She wouldn’t even feel it herself. She sucked harder. Her body wanted more now, it craved that which it did not understand.
Her heart skipped a beat. Yes, that was it. He pulled back and she gasped. Her pupils were huge. Essence lunged for him. She wanted more. He knew the feeling, but he would not give in. She needed to rest now, let the shift to vampirism happen and not drown in the blood.
Alec placed his hand on the side of her face. “It’s time to rest now.”
She shook her head wildly. “I feel better. More.”
As gently as he could manage, he kissed her forehead. “No, what you feel is drunk. Lay back. I’ll take care of you until you fall asleep. When you wake up, it will be done.”
He scooted into the bed next to her, giving her no choice but to move over and accept his embrace. She struggled in his arms, but even if she had managed to get back to his wrist, the wound had closed. At some point, she must have realized this herself as she quit trying.
With a groan, she closed her eyes, snuggling into his side. “I’m sorry. I lost my mind.”
“Perfectly natural.” And it would be worse because when she opened her eyes again, she would be battling her own monster. The piece of the puzzle he’d deliberately not mentioned to her when he sold her on this idea.
Because he was as much a monster as the one he kept inside of him. Truth was, at this point, he could hardly tell the difference.
*
Essence sat straight up. She was thirsty and panic drove her from the bed. She couldn’t feel her heartbeat. It took her a total of ten seconds to remember what was happening.
She’d become a vampire.
The word made her shiver. She’d asked for this, she wanted it, she…
“You’re here. I knew you would be.”
She whirled around. A metallic smell assaulted her nose, and she covered her hand over it to stop the smell. A man stood across from her. It wasn’t Alec. She couldn’t imagine he’d stink so profusely. Although, maybe he would. Maybe all vampires smelled this way—maybe she did. Oh god, she wanted water and then she wanted to throw up.
The male in question wasn’t someone she initially recognized, although he seemed familiar. Like he’d come from a dream…
“Benyamin.” She cleared this throat. “That’s your name, right?”
Where was Alec? She stepped back, hitting the bed and nearly falling back on it.
He stepped toward her again, his gaze not leaving hers. “I knew you’d come back.”
She held up her hand, her ears ringing. A haze seemed to take over the room. Everything looked kind of red.
“Breathe through it. That’s just your vampire waking up. I knew you’d come back.”
She tried to see through the fog forming around her. “You’ve said that three times.”
“I kept him alive. Do you know how hard that was? The man seemed determined to end things. But I knew you’d come back, and I waited. I’ve waited and waited for you, as I promised you I would do.”
Essence had nowhere to go except onto the bed. She didn’t want to be that vulnerable to Benyamin. Given no other choice, she stayed where she was.
“I can only assume you’re talking about Constantia. I’m not her. I have some memories. It’s a little odd. But I have no idea what you’re talking about. You seem, if you’ll excuse me, like your two shakes short of a salt shaker. I don’t want whatever it that you’re selling. Get out.”
He pointed a finger at her before he advanced forward, clearly in her personal space. “You would have loved me. You’d started to. He bored you to death then, and he will again. You’re a spectacular vampire. You belong to me.”
She was a vampire. Essence wouldn’t have allowed this when she was a human, and she was not going to now. She advanced on Benyamin, not exactly sure what she would do if he attacked but, damn it, she was a vampire. She didn’t have to be afraid.
Except she was terrified.
“Leave me alone.”
He grabbed her arms. “You love me.”
She dealt with him just as she’d handled the man on the street when she’d been a human—she kicked him in the shin. Hard. Nothing happened, but at least she’d made the effort. “I don’t know you. I don’t want you to touch me. Let me go.”
“Benyamin, my lady asked you to let go of her.”
A waft of cinnamon floated through the room. She was delirious, but all she could think about was how Alec smelled like cinnamon, not metal. It was such a damned relief.
He walked slowly, seemingly unconcerned about Benyamin at all, as though this sort of thing happened all the time. But there was a vampire in his eyes. Red and angry. She knew she’d be okay.
Chapter Five
It had been years since Alec had let his vampire this close to the surface and now, in the course of three days, he’d let the monster drive the bus that was their shared body twice. Once to feed in order to save Essence and now to get rid of Benyamin.