Page 48

As much as they hurt me, they’d also protected me. If the Pale One found me, they were my only chance at surviving. I’d been waffling about all my options, but this event cemented it.

I’d die before going back to that cave that creature kept me in. Where I’d become acquainted with the smell of wet rock and the sensation of being held at the edge of death.

I huddled against Ren, waiting for the vampires to wake . . . as soon as my brain wandered, my surroundings faded.

Familiar with the fuzzy backgrounds of Bastien’s dream realm, I turned to find him looming over me.

He wore no shirt and his broad shoulders tapered to a muscled torso. His abdomen hosted the slightest indent of abs. He was the largest of the five, which was a feat all in itself. Bear-like in stature. He was also the most unhinged.

But him being crazed wasn’t a choice. Bastien was blood-mad. The only vampire illness in existence, according to Asher.

That must have been what was wrong with the vampire that took me, except that one was sickly and thin. Practically a skeleton.

Bastien approached with quick strides and in one fell swoop, he lifted me into his arms, cradling me close.

“Oof,” I grunted. As much as it hurt, I embraced the feeling of being held. Bastien was the only one that hadn’t been so mercurial with me, if anything, he always made me feel wanted. Sure, he was slightly psychotic, but I was used to it. At least he didn’t keep me guessing.

I buried my nose into his chest, inhaling his sweet scent.

I wouldn’t question my sexual preferences anymore. If anyone looked at them, they’d salivate as much as me.

My readers could attest that the vampire kink was alive and well. Only difference was that the ones I created were much sweeter—unlike these monsters.

Bastien hoisted me higher on his chest until my thighs spread on his torso and he could dip his fangs into my throat.

He sucked. The pleasure was veiled behind a curtain, nothing close to what it truly felt like. His exhale verged on frustration.

As good as fucking in this dream world felt, when I woke it felt like I had a really good wet dream. In better terms, it lived in my imagination. It must feel the same for him when he bit me.

Bastien never spoke to me. Honestly, I didn’t think he could. He moved his head back and looked me in the face, glowing red eyes not holding much behind the depths.

He tilted his head, nostrils flared.

The surroundings incrementally darkened and melded together as it blurred into something else.

I grabbed a handful of his long pale hair before my disorientation took me to the floor. Not that I would have hit in the real world, but it felt like I was falling.

A bed with soft cream pillows sprawled across it came into sight. My stomach dropped—my bedroom no longer existed. Now it consisted of piles of ash.

My nose burned and a tear slipped free.

Bastien’s head jerked and he narrowed his eyes. With his speed, he had us on the bed with me on his lap.

He licked the tear traveling down my cheek.

What was it with them eating my tears?

I sighed and rubbed the back of my hand against my face to dash the wetness away. Bastien settled me on my back and slid down, delved under the hem of the sweater and buried his face between my thighs.

Gasping, I trembled under his touch, bunching the fabric under my ass. The cotton felt eerily close to how mine had felt, but it wasn’t exact.

Bastien’s tongue flicked out and he ran his long warm tongue through the folds to find my clit. I jackknifed upright and pulled his long hair. He hummed against my pussy. I pressed my heels into the bed and shoved up against his mouth, rubbing myself so hard his teeth grazed against my sensitive sex. The rasp of his teeth felt delicious.

An orgasm swelled to a painful peak. Bastien didn’t stop suckling my clit. His jaw worked as he ate me out.

My head fell back and I choked on a gasp. Bastien steadily feasted. I wanted this in real time.

I shivered from the after effects. I came with him watching me. He crawled up the bed and I sifted my hand in his hair—he enjoyed when I played with his silky locks. I sank my fingers close to his scalp, and he hummed. A gush of need made my clit throb.