"I came to have some fun with you, sister."
"You're not welcome."
At that, Vanessa turned around with me still in her arms to drag me away. I tried to resist her, but she growled, shocking me into silence. The mysterious man watched us with a mischievous look and a smirk on his lips; he didn't seem offended at all by what his sister had said.
"What are you going to do with her? Can I play with her for a bit first?"
"No! Get out."
"You seem jealous..."
Vanessa adjusted me on her shoulder and walked away from her brother, growling and insulting him under her breath.
"I can hear you!"
I didn't know where she was taking me, but it couldn't be anywhere good. When she threw a door wide open and tossed me onto something soft, I realized it had to be a mattress. I was engulfed in darkness, and the only sound I could perceive was my own heart pounding in my chest.
"Are you scared? You should be."
Her whisper landed entirely too close to my ear, making me jump. I tried to scramble off the bed, but her hands stopped me once again. Vanessa invaded my senses with her body: she overwhelmed me with her scent and the sound of her clothes brushing against my bare skin. When I felt her lips against my neck, I realized the end was coming for me at any second, and I had to try, at least one last time, to convince her to let me go.
"I can give you more... more than just blood." My pleading voice made her pause.
"What are you talking about?" Vanessa sounded incredulous. I couldn't see her eyes, but I was certain they were locked onto me.
"If you let me live, I'll do whatever you want, I swear."
Her hand tightened around my throat as she growled. "What makes you think I have any need for you?"
I sobbed, and after that, I stayed quiet, counting the final seconds I had left. The dark and the silence made everything so much more terrifying. What would it feel like? I hoped I would die in one strike so I wouldn't suffer too much, but would Vanessa grant me that mercy?
I felt her lips first, then her fangs scraping against my skin, as if she were testing the waters before sinking into my flesh. When she started nipping at my skin, I trembled, my hands clenching into the sheets beneath me while my legs protested against the vampire's weight. Vanessa licked my neck, likely sensing the frantic beating of my pulse and the scent of my panicked blood. Suddenly, I felt her shift, sliding one of her legs between mine to pin my hips down so I would stop thrashing beneath her.
Inadvertently, her thigh rubbed against my core, and at that point, I let out—involuntarily and against every desire I had to preserve a shred of dignity—a weak, whining moan. Vanessa froze.
"P-please..." I begged her again. "Please, Vanessa."
She growled, but it sounded almost harmless. In fact, she immediately went back to dragging her lips and sharp teeth across the skin of my neck. She started biting and licking me again, but unlike before, her leg seemed to move in tandem with my attempts to protest. Without me even realizing what was happening, she had let go of my wrists, and her hand was now gripping my jaw. Her mouth reached my earlobe, and her hot breath against the sensitive skin sent shivers down my spine.
The situation was so ambiguous that I began to wonder if she truly wanted to eat me at all.
"V-Vanessa?"
"Don't say my name. I didn't give you permission to do that..." she replied in a raspy, strained voice; she sounded distracted. Wasn't she supposed to be hurting me? Eating me? What on earth was going through her head? As soon as I felt her leg move against my intimacy again, I forgot every single question. My mouth fell open on a pant.
"What are we doing?" Her question shattered our haze of confusion, and I paralyzed. I noticed that one of my hands had somehow found its way to her shoulder, while the other was tangled in her hair; she seemed to notice it too, because she immediately pulled back with a gasp.
"I-I don't know... you tell me," I answered frantically, scrambling backward across the bed. But she grabbed my ankle, dragging me right back underneath her. I shrieked in surprise, but she quickly covered my mouth.
"Your scent... it changed."
I would have answered her, but her free hand began to wander down my stomach and, to my utter shock, right over my panties! I tried to pull away again, but it was too late: I felt her fingers brush against my clitoris right through the fabric, and I moaned. How embarrassing! How could I be turned on in a situation like this?
"Down here... you're all wet... your scent... is really good."
"You don't want to hurt me?"
"Mh... eat you... yes. I want to. I want your blood and maybe something else. You said you'd give it to me, right?"
"Only if you let me go."
"You're not in a position to make demands."
At those words, I clamped my legs shut and kicked her square in the stomach. Vanessa growled again, but before she could grab me, I was already off the bed. Where the hell was the door?! The most important thing was getting away from her, so I scrambled forward until I crashed into something. I felt around with my hands and sure enough, I found a doorknob. Right at that moment, Vanessa appeared behind me. I tried to yank the door open, but her hand slammed it shut a second later. The sliver of light coming from the torches out in the hallway allowed me to see a little better. I shuddered when her hands gripped my waist tightly and her teeth grazed the skin of my shoulder. "Do you really think you can run from me?"
"I'll do whatever it takes not to end up dead tonight!"
I spun around, ready to hit her with something, but when I met her eyes, I froze. They weren't just red anymore; there seemed to be something different about them now. They were glowing, but they weren't furious or bloodthirsty... they wanted something else.
"Then what do you want from me?"
"I don't know. Your blood. I want to taste you." She slammed our bodies together without warning. "You smell so incredibly good... I've never encountered anything like it. What do you taste like?"
"My flesh doesn't taste good, I promise you!" I pressed my hands against her chest, trying to shove her away, but it was like pushing against a brick wall.
"I don't want your flesh... not anymore. I want to taste you."
"What the hell does that mean? You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you—"
"I know you want it!" she growled against my ear, grabbing my thighs and lifting me flush against the door. Her hips settled between my legs, and her hair tickled my face. "I can smell it on you."
She nuzzled the tip of her nose against my neck, sending shivers cascading down my overheated body.
"I'm not having sex with someone who says she wants to eat me or suck my blood. I'm not that stupid," I protested.
"I've never eaten anyone..." Her voice was weak, tormented. She seemed to be restraining herself with great difficulty.
"Then why did you say you wanted to eat me?"
Vanessa fell silent and dropped her forehead onto my shoulder. She whined softly, then sighed.
"What's wrong?" I asked reluctantly.
"I'm embarrassed. Something very strange just happened and..."
"What happened?"
Vanessa looked panicked. She let me drop against the door and moved to light what I later realized was a candle. I was deeply embarrassed and thoroughly confused by what had just happened, but my priority right now was figuring out if I was free to go and finding something to cover myself with. "Just to be clear... you're really not going to eat me?"
"Really."
Her eyes looked sincere. I hoped they were.
Vanessa stood there staring at me until she noticed my discomfort. My cheeks were crimson, and I was trying to cover myself with my arms as best as I could. The vampire moved across the room and quickly returned with a rather long t-shirt. "Here... And sorry about the dress."
I stared at her without saying a word. I was still terrified that her evil side might snap back into action at any moment.
"I have... I-I have to go do something." Vanessa muttered something under her breath and bolted from the room, leaving me all alone in that dark, unknown place. I watched the candle flame flicker and let out a long breath. Maybe I really had escaped death after all.
VANESSA
"Nathaniel?"
"Sister, how can I help you?"
Nathaniel was lounging comfortably in a red armchair in the least dusty room of the castle. In his hands, he held a bottle filled with a red liquid: probably the vino sanguinis he usually bought.
Seeking out my brother was an act of sheer desperation... And I truly was desperate. What had just happened made no sense, and what I was feeling terrified me. I thought my wolf nature was far too weak to ever manifest, but something highly unusual and completely impossible had just occurred.
"I don't see any bloodstains... but maybe you devoured her anyway." His wicked smirk didn't go unnoticed, and I blushed, precisely because something had happened between me and that girl. What was her name again? I don't think I ever even asked for her name... I'm a horrible person! What if it's her? What have I done!
"You look disoriented. What's going on?" Nathaniel sat up to make room on the sofa, and I sat down beside him. The boy stared at me, intrigued by my behavior: usually, I kicked him out or gave him the cold shoulder, but for the first time in years, I actually needed his advice.
"I think... no... I'm pretty sure that girl woke up my inner wolf."
"You mean your spirit wolf? Are you saying she's your m-mate?" Nathaniel's eyes went wide, and he dropped the bottle in his hand, which rolled off the sofa, spilling blood onto the floor.
"Yes... suddenly I felt something inside me... pushing me toward her. My instinct was to claim her, not take her blood for nourishment."
"So now you've scared your potential mate half to death? That's really..."
"Horrible... I know. I hate myself right now. I never even really wanted to eat her. Maybe I would have drank her blood... without thinking of anything else. I'm a monster!"
"You're definitely going to have to do a lot of making up for this." Nathaniel went to retrieve the bottle and returned to the sofa. He handed me the drink so I could take a sip.
"Are you sure? It's her? For vampires, it's different... It's never this clear or strong."
"I know. I can feel it. Even right now..."
It felt like something was rattling my heart. Being away from that girl, from my mate, was physically painful. Her scent and her warmth had awakened the wolf inside me in an inexplicable way. It had been dormant, asleep for years and years. Until she showed up...
"I need to go back to her." I stood up, determined to get to her, but Nathaniel stopped me.
"Hold on a second. You need to come up with a plan!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Right now, she probably hates you, she's terrified, and she wants to run away. Make up an excuse and keep her here, at least for tonight. During these nighttime hours, you have to earn her forgiveness and then win her over! You have to do it quickly, because once she leaves, she'll probably run far away... and you can kiss your mate goodbye."
I felt like I was suffocating at the mere thought of something like that happening, and I sat back down next to Nathaniel, silently pleading with him to help me. He definitely had more experience than I did in these matters, and he didn't usually torture his boyfriends or girlfriends. Maybe he really could help me.
"Alright, first things first..."