Page 205 of Dark Souls

“Joke.” He laughed. He twisted my body on his lap so he could hold me in one arm and lift his other to his mouth. I stared with confusion when he bit into his wrist and then held it out to me. The blood that appeared made that stomach groan grow louder. He smiled even wider, like the sound delighted him.

“You’re hungry again after all that. Drink.”

My eyes took in the blood that dripped down his tattooed arm and I licked my lips, feeling overcome with need. I really did feel famished. I grabbed his arm, wrapped my lips around his wrist and started to drink eagerly. He dropped his head back against the shower tiles and released a low humming sound of contentment as I took what I needed until I felt full. When I released him, wiping my mouth with my hand, I peered up at his face as he gave me a lazy grin.

“Will I really only ever desire to feed from you? Do I not even need to eat human food now?” I asked, realising I had so many questions about how my life may change from now on. I had always been so independent and now, my entire existence relied on drinking my mate’s blood. I didn’t hate it. In fact, I loved drinking his blood. Not only was it the most delicious taste to me, but every time I did, it was as if our bond grew even stronger. I felt stronger because of it. The act was so intimate, and I never knew feeding could be like this. I wouldn’t miss drinking other people’s blood. It was actually a relief that I couldn’t because I could never stomach blood bags in the first place and always needed a live feed to feel satisfied. But this also comes with so many more complexities.

“No. You will solely survive on my blood alone. You can still eat human food if you wish, but it won’t taste the same. It would be bland and pointless. My mother could never stomach it. She always cooked us Serbian food, but she would sit there and watch us all eat with a smile. I never really questioned it as a child. I just thought it was a strange quirk of hers. Now I know she would wait until we were all in bed and then feed from my father privately.”

“How often will I need to feed from you?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Whenever you feel the need, I guess. Don’t ever feel like you can’t take what you need from me. I’ll be able to feel when you are hungry through our bond anyway, so there is no hiding it.”

I blew out a breath and leaned my head back on his chest, running my fingers across his inked, scarred arms. I tried to hide my smile as I said the next words, knowing exactly what his reaction would be. “What if we have to be apart for a few days? Or one of us has to go on a trip somewhere–”

He grabbed my face and turned it to meet his penetrating gaze. The deep frown on his face was comical. “Why the fuck would we ever be apart? You’ll always be by my side. I’ve spent centuries alone. Centuries without you. Don’t you dare even think about leaving me for a fucking trip for a few days? You can go where the fuck you like in this life, Ilaria, but you had better believe that I will be right there with you.”

I couldn’t hide the beaming smile, and he dropped his hand, shaking his head when he realised I was playing with him. I felt exactly the same way.

“Brat,” he groaned, pulling us both up to our feet and grabbing two towels.

“You love it,” I teased as he wrapped one around my body before tying the other around his waist. I walked forwards a few steps towards the bathroom door and winced at the soreness between my legs. A dark, devilish chuckle vibrated from his chest and into my back as he wrapped his arms around me.

“Sore, baby?”

“You’re an asshole.” I slapped his arms off me and opened the bathroom door, waddling out as if I had just given birth. I would definitely need an hour or two to recover before we go back and see my family.

“About bloody time! Do you know how long I have had to sit here and blast heavy rock from your emo playlist to drown out your sex noises?”

My feet froze and eyes burst out of my head when I saw the mop of ringlets and those soft hazel eyes that belonged to my best friend.

“Neve?”

She ripped my headphones off her ears and stood up from the sofa, opening her arms out wide to me. I half ran, half galloped across the room towards her, which made her throw her head back and laugh wildly.

“You look like a cowboy who has been on one long ass ride the way you are waddling! But we both know it wasn’t a horse you were riding.” She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. “Good for you, girl! And, sir.” She peered over my shoulder at Red and saluted him. “The utmost respect to you. That was a record number of orgasms. I counted nine?”

“I’m pretty sure you’re missing at least four. You must be Neve.” He strolled across the room with a smug smile plastered on his face as he held his hand out to her. “Ilaria told me a lot about you.”

“Has she now?” Neve looked from him to me with an accusing glare. “Well, she has told me fuck all about you. Which means…” She stepped forwards, grabbing his arm and hooking it with hers before dragging him towards the sofa. “I get to grill you all on my own and there is nothing she can do about it. Wait. Are you Luka or Heathen right now? Or a mix? I want to interrogate the vamp first.”

I slammed my hand over my mouth to hide my laughter as a look of pure fear and confusion appeared on our mate’s face. He fell onto the sofa in his towel, giving Neve full advantage of a good ogling of his body before she looked back at me. “Where did you find this one? On the cover of a Rolling Stones mag? He is like your perfect man.”

“He is my perfect man,” I answered, folding my arms across my chest as a genuine smile transformed her face. She looked suddenly emotional as she sucked her lips in and placed one hand over her chest.

“Aww, baby girl. Look at you all in love and shit. I am so proud. This is epic.”

I rolled my eyes and walked towards the bedroom. “I’m going to get dressed.”

When Red attempted to stand up to follow me, Neve grabbed his arm and hauled him back down. “Nuh-uh. You’re staying with me. Right, I want to see these wings, please. Ruby said they were black and feathered. Can you actually fly? You are so fucking lucky if you can. If I could have one superpower, I’d always choose to be able to fly. I bet it’s an incredible feeling. But I just have a wolf. Oh, and a bit of white magic. Which is cool, obviously, but it’s not as awesome as flying.”

I peered over my shoulder, unable to hide the shit-eating grin on my face as I looked back at my best friend, a girl so completely opposite to me in every way but my soul sister, nonetheless, and my soulmate. The pleading look on his face not to leave him with this mad woman was priceless before I wiggled my fingers and shut the door on them both.

I’d take a stake to my heart to save that man, but when it comes to my best friend, he’s on his own.

Approval

Theroomgrewsilentand awkward as fuck the moment Ilaria shut herself away in that room. It was a sign of growth for me that I hadn’t immediately flung myself out of the window and taken off into the sky. Neve’s intrigued and apprehensive stare was burning into the side of my face, making me very aware of my semi-demon appearance and how naked I was.