Page 4 of Vein & Vow (The Bouchers #1)

Chapter 3

Reese

“I t’s probably the flu,” I told Rena, pulling aside the blinds for the thousandth time in the last hour. “Don’t come over.”

“Are you puking?”

“Not yet,” I mumbled. “But I have a fever.”

“Poor thing.”

“Yes,” I said, dropping the blinds back into place. “Feel sorry for me.”

“I’ll drop soup on your porch later.”

“I think I’m just going to try and sleep,” I said, moving through the apartment.

Food hadn’t helped. Water hadn’t helped. A shower hadn’t helped. I was currently striding around the apartment in a tiny tank top and panties, and I still felt like it was too much. My skin felt raw and hot.

“Well, call me later, and let me know you’re okay.”

“Will do,” I replied. I set the phone carefully on the counter.

Noah had to be wrong. He’d been reading the same bullshit that Rena loved. There was no way some random Vampire had imprinted on me, or however he’d explained it. That shit didn’t happen to regular people. It happened to pretty people. Rich people. Famous people. It didn’t happen to normal, average people. That would cause pandemonium. The masses would flock toward anyone they even suspected might be a Vampire.

I must’ve caught something. I’d gone grocery shopping in the afternoon two days ago, and the place had been crawling with kids. I’d probably picked up some bug. Resisting the urge to walk outside into the cool air in my underwear, I poked at the thermostat, turning it down another couple of degrees. Maybe I needed another cold shower. At least the last one had taken the edge off.

If this was some kind of Vampire mating ritual, they could keep it. I was fucking miserable. I’d never been more uncomfortable in my life. It wasn’t painful exactly, more of a throbbing heat throughout my body, like an itch I couldn’t reach. It was driving me insane.

Laying down in the kitchen, I pressed my cheek against the cold linoleum and finally found a little relief. If I turned over every few minutes, moving to a different area of the floor that I hadn’t warmed with my body, I could make the sensation dissipate enough that I didn’t want to crawl out of my skin.

I was lying there, wondering how the hell this had become my life and trying to reach the random macaroni noodle I’d missed when I swept, when someone knocked on my front door. I wanted to ignore it, but I was moving before I’d even made the decision to get up. I told myself that it was probably Kenny with a new excuse as to why he didn’t have my hair dryer.

I knew better.

Forgetting that I was practically naked, I swung open the door.

It wasn’t Kenny.

“You,” I muttered, staring. Noah had been correct when he warned me that if he was right, the Vampire wouldn’t last a day before contacting me.

Mr. Boucher was standing outside my door, his hands gripping each side of it like he was holding on for dear life.

“Reese,” he greeted calmly.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I blustered.

Oh, shit. I wanted to throw myself at him. It wasn’t even attraction, though there was plenty of that. In any other circumstance, I would’ve been scheming already with ways to get him naked. Whatever I was feeling was beyond that. It was need—pure need. It didn’t matter if he was clothed or naked. It wouldn’t have mattered if he looked like an ogre and his body was covered in boils. Every instinct inside me was urging me forward. I needed to wrap myself around him. Hold him to me. Feel his skin against mine, his breath on my face. I wanted to drink him in.

“I think you already know why I’m here.”

“Yeah, my boss may have mentioned you’d be stopping by. Not interested,” I bluffed flatly. That was as far as I could get with it. I couldn’t even make myself shut the door in his face.

He let out a bark of laughter that stunned me.

“I’m guessing you’ve got a fever,” he said quietly, leaning down a little. “Your skin’s ultra-sensitive, and it was worse before I got here. You’ve probably tried a cold shower, right? Turned your heater down. Nothing’s helping.”

My back snapped straight. He was right. The sensation had abated. Not completely, it was still there, but it was manageable.

He licked his lips, and my breath caught in my throat.

“I can help you.”

“I don’t think I want your kind of help,” I replied instantly.

He tilted his head a little and stared at me. “Invite me in.”

“Not happening.”

“You sure?”

My heart started to hammer, and the heat engulfed me again.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked suspiciously, taking a step backward.

He stayed just outside the door.

“I’m not doing anything.”

“Bullshit.”

“Invite me in.”

His light brown eyes flared as he inhaled deeply.

“Why is this happening?” I asked, freaked the fuck out.

“The universe has a perverse sense of humor.”

“The universe?”

“The universe. The old Gods. The new one. Take your pick.”

“I can’t be your mate or whatever,” I blurted, shaking my head. “I don’t even know you. I’m not even interested in Vampires, okay? That’s my friend, Rena. She thinks you guys are rad. You should go meet her. Maybe this is a fluke, and you’re like, supposed to find her through me or something.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I know,” he ground out. “Let me in.”

“No.”

“Let me the fuck in.” His fingers tightened on the doorframe, making it creak.

“Fuck you, asshole,” I spat back, fear making my heart skip its steady pounding and shift into a jackrabbit rhythm. I still couldn’t make myself shut the door between us, and that was almost more frightening.

His entire expression changed in an instant as his hands dropped.

“I’d never hurt you,” he said softly. “Never. Don’t be frightened.”

The words were soothing, like a cool breeze against my flushed skin.

“I don’t want this,” I replied stubbornly, the inevitability settling over my shoulders like a cloak.

I’d ignored the rumors for years. Paid no attention to the stories. Vampires were only a part of my daily life in one way: I mixed their food. I didn’t interact with them. I didn’t read articles about them. I basically forgot they existed most of the time. But everyone on the planet was aware, even when they chose not to think about it, that Vampire mates were sacred in their culture. Not a single human who’d mated with a Vampire had ever given any indication that they weren’t happy with their circumstances. Not even a whisper of a story. While humans were marrying and divorcing in a matter of years, Vampire mates were happily living together for very long lives.

“I don’t either,” Mr. Boucher said, snapping me out of my panic spiral.

“What?” I felt irrationally hurt by the words. He didn’t even know me.

“I don’t want this either,” he said calmly.

“I heard you.” I swallowed hard. Well, wasn’t that a nice kick to my self-esteem? “Why not? I thought it was a big deal to find your mate.”

“Invite me in.”

I crossed my arms over my chest.

“I’m standing at your door where everyone can see me,” he said quietly. “You want your neighbors over here asking questions, calling the news, paparazzi?—”

“Come in,” I said, cutting him off.

“Fuckin’ finally,” he muttered under his breath as he strode inside.

I let out an inappropriate giggle.

“What?” he asked, closing the door behind him.

“So, that part is true,” I said, my voice quivering. “A Vampire has to be invited inside.”

“No,” he replied, looking around the apartment. “That’s been distorted.”

“How so?”

“We can discuss it later,” he replied, his eyes moving back to me. He pulled his jacket off slowly and tossed it onto the couch. I wasn’t the only one who’d changed clothes. He was wearing a different shirt than he’d been when we met at the office. “Come here.”

“Why?”

“Do you argue about everything?”

“Basically.”

The pull was so strong that I dug my toes into the carpet, forcing myself to stay where I was.

“Because I want to hold you,” he ground out.

“Hold me?”

I watched in fascination as his tongue briefly slid out to wet his bottom lip. The fire under my skin flared. “It’ll help.”

His body was unnaturally still as we stared at each other. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if I didn’t move, he would continue to stand there. Comprehension finally hit as I glanced down his body. Whatever I was feeling, he was feeling it too. But he was still leaving it in my hands. I held the power.

As soon as the decision was made, I was moving. Five steps separated us, but they felt like a mile as I launched myself toward him. He didn’t falter as our bodies collided, and I practically climbed him like a tree.

The relief was instantaneous as I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. I groaned as his hands gripped my ass, holding me in place.

“Fuck me,” he breathed, the tendons in his neck bulging as he tipped his face toward the ceiling.

I was beyond caring about what he was doing or feeling. The relief was so good, the feel of him like the best massage I’d ever had wrapped in the best orgasm. I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to burrow under his skin and live there. I didn’t understand how all of it worked or what the hell was wrong with me, but I didn’t care. He was the antidote to everything, and I needed more.

Tightening my thighs around his waist, I let go of his neck and pressed his jaw between my hands, tilting his face toward mine. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply as his breath feathered over my face.

He smelled like winter. Peppermint and pine.

I didn’t even know I was crying until he reached up to gently wipe away the tears with his thumbs.

“I need more,” I rasped out as he walked further into the room and sat down on my couch, his arm around my waist.

He swallowed hard and nodded. “I know.”

“This is really embarrassing,” I muttered. I didn’t let go of him, though.

“Most natural thing in the world,” he corrected, his voice tight.

“But I don’t—” I gasped and forgot what I was about to say as his face dipped and his lips ran from my chin to my jaw. “More.”

His fingers burrowed into my hair, and everything in me clenched as he jerked my head back, his mouth running down my throat.

Half of me begged him to keep going, knowing that we weren’t even close to slaking this thing between us, but the other half of me was screaming that a predator’s teeth were at my fucking neck .

“Mine,” he muttered against my throat, a shudder running through his body.

I let out a groan of disappointment as he pulled away, holding our faces just inches apart.

“Better?” he asked quietly.

“It’s not gone,” I replied, my voice as low as his.

He nodded shallowly, his gaze softening. “It’ll never be gone.”

“What?” I whispered. Panic struck like a needle in my chest.

“It’ll get better, Reese. It won’t always be this bad.” He swallowed. “But it won’t ever go away entirely.”

“That’s insane.”

“It’s how we’re made.”

“It’s not how I’m made,” I argued angrily. I couldn’t even imagine spending the rest of my life with my skin crawling and fire in my veins. I could manage it for a while, but eventually, I wouldn’t be able to take it anymore.

“It is how you’re made,” he replied, his hands in my hair tightening. “Or you wouldn’t be grinding your pussy into my cock five minutes after you invited me in. I’m good, but I’m not that good.”

“You’re a fucking dick,” I said in surprise, jerking against his hands.

I wasn’t sure why I did it. It wasn’t as if I’d let go myself. If it was up to me, he’d stay right where he was forever. Under me. Over me. Around me. Preferably with his mouth shut.

“I’m yours,” he replied easily, his hand gently sliding out of my hair. It drifted down my neck, over my collarbone, to my breast, the tips of his fingers toying with my nipple.

“Whoa,” I gasped, my hips jerking. “It’s worse now.”

Heat poured through me like lava, each point of contact between us the only relief.

“I think it’ll get worse until we fuck,” he replied, pinching my nipple between his fingers.

“You think?”

“It’s never been this bad before,” he muttered, his breath hitching.

“Before?” What did he mean before? Didn’t Vampires only have one mate?

My train of thought broke into a thousand pieces as his hand slid down my belly, jerking my panties to the side. His other hand tightened in my hair, forcing me to lean up.

And then his fingers were there, sliding over my clit.

I couldn’t stop the loud moan that fell from my lips as his fingers pressed inside.

He muttered something in a language I couldn’t understand.

“More,” I demanded, chasing his fingers as they pumped inside me. “It’s not enough.”

“May I have you?” he asked, his fingers still moving as he pulled my face close to his. The phrasing was oddly formal, but the words were gravelly and rough. A shudder ran through my body. I felt delirious with sensation, my palms burning as I ran them under the collar of his shirt, touching anything that I could.

“Reese,” he growled, his eyes intent on mine. “May I have you?”

“I thought I was already yours,” I bit out, grinding my pussy against his hand.

“That’s not an answer.” His hand stopped, and my body snapped, taut as a wire.

“Will this ever go away?” I asked, trying desperately to focus. The question felt important, but I was having a hard time remembering why. “If we stop now—will it go away?”

My stomach lurched at the thought.

“For me, never,” he ground out. “For you—partially.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means, you can live with it. With distance, it’ll be manageable.”

“How manageable?”

“I don’t know.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to reason. He could leave. My hands tightened on his shoulders.

I tried to convince myself that this didn’t have to be forever. I could stop things now and still go back to my normal life. I could manage it. In time, it could just be a wild memory that I brought out to impress people at parties. I was once a Vampire’s mate, but I’d walked away.

The thought made my chest feel like it was going to cave in.

I could continue on with my normal life.

I opened my eyes again and met his weary ones. “Do you want to stop?”

“Yes.”

His hands didn’t loosen, so I asked again.

“Do you want to stop and walk away?”

He was silent for a long moment before he let out a strangled, “No.”

“What’s your name?” I asked, my voice shaking as I stared into his eyes. I remembered the last name, Boucher—but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what his first name was.

“Beaumont,” he breathed as I slid my hands up his neck. “Beau.”

“Beau,” I whispered, testing it out. Something inside me settled. The name felt familiar. Welcome, somehow. “You can have me.”

Within seconds, Beau had shoved his jeans down his thighs, and my tank top was gone. The underwear I was wearing tore away like paper, my hips barely jerking at the force of it.

I ran my lips along his jaw, my entire body vibrating with anticipation. He smelled so good and tasted better.

A hand around the back of my neck forced my head backward, and I mewled in protest as he jerked me down, filling me with one smooth thrust.

“Oh my god,” I whispered, my eyes widening in shock as he pulled me closer.

“Quiet,” he ordered as I grappled for something to hold on to. My fingers tangled in the hair at the back of his head, my other hand gripping his shirt when he struck.

The teeth at my neck burned, but it wasn’t painful. Confusion filled me. My mind told me to jerk away, to fight him, but instinct had my body loosening, curving around him as he rolled his hips beneath me. Holy hell.

The orgasm hit me so fast that I couldn’t even breathe as it pounded through me. I wept as his tongue laved where he’d bitten.

It wasn’t enough. I stared in disbelief as he raised his head, meeting my eyes.

“It’s all right,” he whispered, his hand on my hip still urging me to move.

“I feel like I should apologize,” I babbled, the words garbled. I didn’t understand what was happening, and I tried not to sob in frustration. I’d just come, but it felt as if I hadn’t. I wasn’t even close to satisfied. The burn under my skin was excruciating. “It’s not—it wasn’t good. This isn’t good. Maybe we were wrong.” My hands loosened, and I dropped them to his shoulders.

A small smile played around his lips, and I had the sudden urge to hurt him. None of this was funny. My nails dug into his shoulders as he lifted the meaty part of his thumb to his lips. When he pulled it away, two puncture marks stood out in stark relief, little beads of blood barely showing.

“No,” I muttered, pulling away a little as he pressed his hand to my mouth.

“Trust me,” he ordered, pressing harder.

I glared at him, prepared to tear him a new one until the blood hit my tongue, coppery and warm. A wave of coolness flowed through me as he began to thrust harder beneath me. It was ambrosia. The best thing I’d ever had in my mouth. My heart thundered as my eyelids fell.

“Enough,” he ground out, yanking his hand from my mouth.

“Please,” I groaned, chasing it as I opened my eyes.

With both hands free, he controlled our movements completely, slamming me down and yanking me back up over and over again. My breath shuddered as I leaned toward him. Before I could reach his mouth, his hand urged my face toward his neck.

The second time I came, my teeth were wrapped around the tendon in his neck, instinctually gripping him as I sucked hard.

The room was silent when I came back to myself.

The heat was a soothing beat, no longer agonizing.

I lifted my head slowly, wincing at the hickey I’d left on his neck like a high schooler.

“Okay?” he asked, brushing my hair away from my face.

There was something in his tone that made alarm bells ring in my head, but I ignored them as his fingers soothed over the bite on my neck.

“I’m okay,” I rasped. “Are you okay?”

He let out a huff of laughter.

“Sorry, I, you know, bit you,” I mumbled.

“Did you draw blood?” he asked calmly.

“No.” I looked at the hickey. “Was I supposed to?”

“Sometimes,” he replied. “Not always.”

“Is that—” I swallowed uncomfortably. He was still inside me. Hard inside me. “Is that why you bit your thumb yourself?”

“Most mates don’t draw blood the first time. The ability is rare.”

“What, my teeth aren’t sharp enough?” I joked.

“Your canines haven’t dropped down yet.”

“Say what, now?” I asked dubiously.

“It’s the exchange of blood that finishes the bond,” he said. “That’s why you needed mine, too.”

I felt better. For the first time ever, I felt like I was home , and it was freaking me the fuck out, but I liked it. I didn’t know this guy. He could be the biggest sleaze on the planet, but he was mine now. Irrevocably. It both frightened and thrilled me. Actually, about a million emotions coursed through me. It felt like I’d discovered the meaning of life or something. It was almost euphoric. If this was what drugs felt like, I knew why people ruined their lives over them.

But he seemed…detached somehow.

When he didn’t say anything else, I awkwardly lifted away from him and scooted off his lap.

“Um…I’m going to, um, get dressed.”

Beau nodded.

I flew to my room like my ass was on fire and threw on the first thing I could find. My skin still felt too sensitive for clothes, but I forced myself to pull on a sweater and jeans. I needed some kind of barrier between me and…everything. Plus, it was frigid in my apartment. When I got back out to the living room, he was still seated on the couch, his pants buttoned, and his shirt straightened. Cool as a cucumber.

“I’m starving,” I blurted, searching for anything to say to this stranger that I’d just committed my life to. Oh, god, what had I done? “Are you hungry?”

I’d always been impulsive. I’d gotten into so much trouble because I never thought shit through, but this was by far the worst. It was even worse than the year I’d spent in juvie after beating the shit out of Rena’s boyfriend after he’d roofied her when we were sixteen.

“Oh, shit,” I muttered, my eyes shooting to Beau’s. “Do you eat? Like, food? You know, human food?”

“Of course we eat food,” he said flatly, getting to his feet.

“Well, excuse the hell out of me,” I shot back. “But I spend my days mixing blood for you guys, so I wasn’t sure.”

The glare he aimed at me made my shoulders inch toward my ears.

“We eat just like humans, and no, I’m not hungry.”

“Right, okay then,” I said, clapping my hands together. “Well, it seems like you’re ready to go, so—” I waved toward the door ignoring the way my stomach twisted.

He stared at me like I was an idiot. “All right. I’ll call you,” he said finally, stepping toward the door.

I barely held back a gasp as it felt like a cord was being yanked from the center of my chest. He seemed fine, his expression unchanged as he swung open the door.

It must’ve been only me who felt the pull. That wasn’t exactly fair. It was his stupid species that caused all of this. A human man wouldn’t make me crave him like air.

Well, I refused to let him see how badly I wanted him to stay. I wasn’t a needy girl. I did my own thing. If he wanted to fuck like animals on my couch and then take off, that was his business. I’d gotten what I wanted from him, too. He could kick rocks, the jerk.

“See you soon,” I wheezed, my hand on the wall.

With a nod, he stepped outside and closed the door. Within seconds, the pain in my chest felt like a living thing, clawing to get out.

I dropped to my knees in agony.