Page 41 of Worse Fates (Soulmates Suck #1)

I thought when I became a vampire I’d be like Lucero. Calm and collected, decked out in an expensive suit. Lips tilted in a sexy-as-fuck smirk that should be smug, but always gets my heart pumping, especially when he shows off his deadly fangs.

At the very least, I hoped I’d be my normal self.

But in the last three days, when the pain of turning thankfully left me, I’ve never been so weak. Keeping my eyelids open is a challenge, one I’m losing as I’ve spent more time asleep than awake. Even breathing is a struggle, like I’ve got the world’s worst flu.

“Lucero…”

My voice comes out weak. A trembling half-whisper that has the density of thin glass.

“I’m right here, Golden.”

And he squeezes his arms, reminding me I’m lying between his strong thighs. Head resting on his shoulder and draped in about a thousand duvets.

Somehow, a chilled shiver still has me huddling closer.

“I wanna go outside.”

I run my fingers through his chest hair, yet after a few seconds, this small act takes the wind out of me and I have to rest my palm on his naked left pec.

He’s only wearing soft cotton black sweats, and normally I’d be very interested in all that body on display. Yet the idea of fooling around has me exhausted to the point of passing out.

“I’ve been trapped in our room forever.”

His long fingers play with my black curls.

“I know, but you need rest.”

Our eyes meet, and his worry is so palpable I look away, already knowing what he’s about to say.

“And you need to feed.”

My lips stay shut. We’ve had this discussion before, and the incoming lecture is one I’ve memorised word for word.

“The first week of a new vampire’s life is important, Golden, and you should be drinking four litres of blood a day. More since the amount of energy it took to heal your wounds, and how your…turning went.”

We don’t talk about that time. Where all I knew was pain. I push it down down down, I never want to think about it again. Never want those thoughts to resurface, or the things I begged Lucero to do.

Or to end, I should say.

Maybe one day we’ll talk about it.

Actually, fuck that, and I curl into Lucero instead.

Let that awful time fade into the past, from this point on I only want the future.

“Really, you should be ravenous.”

He says the last part to himself, low and worried.

Because I haven’t been hungry at all.

It isn’t like the idea of drinking blood grosses me out. The first time Lucero brought a cup of blood to my lips I was salivating, it smelt salty and rich, I knew it’d be thick. Knew it’d coat my tongue and slide down my throat, all with the same sensual pleasure as when I take Lucero into my mouth.

Instinctively, I knew it’d fill my stomach and chase away this terrible cold.

Yet my hunger is non-existent and all I’ve managed is small sips.

Only from a cup, but...

“The only way for you to get stronger, Golden, is to feed more.”

“Your blood makes me feel stronger, Lucero…”

I whisper, running my hand up to his neck to rest on his beating pulse. I might struggle to fill my stomach, but I can fill my lungs easy enough with his scent—wood burning. Warm and comforting.

Home. Yeah…Lucero smells like home.

“Golden…”

His fingers tangle in my curls.

“Beautiful, I can’t sustain you. You need human or animal blood.”

But he’s wrong. It’s the only thing that stops the shivering.

I might never want to touch the memories of my painful transformation again, but the memories of Lucero staying by my side? Those I’m keeping close forever.

His blood is warmth and safety—how could that be anything but good for me?

“Please, Lucero.”

He pauses, fingers still tangled in my curls, his blue gaze not just seeing me—but seeing through me. For Lucero, I am bared open in a way only he can unravel, and just as I gave him my forever, I give him my every thought and feeling and secret. Willingly. Gladly.

Then, after a minute that stretches on way too long, he gently tugs my head back.

“Only if you promise to drink a whole glass of blood today. No more little sips.”

I want to grumble, push away and demand that I’ve actually been fine this whole time and prove it with an elaborate dance. But even if that was true, the concern creasing his forehead makes me want to take it away.

“A whole glass,”

I promise, even as my stomach tightens.

Lucero’s lips tug up, so it’s worth the discomfort.

“Good. You'll get your appetite soon, I have no doubt.”

Pressing myself flush against his hard chest, I nibble on my lower lip before asking, hopefully.

“So…I can bite you now?”

His smile might be soft, indulgent, but his blue eyes darken and there's a scent I can’t quite capture. Like his wood burning smell has cracked open, releasing a smoky blend of cedar and amber.

My soft dick gives a half-hearted twitch before promptly falling back asleep.

“C’mon, beautiful. Show me those pretty fangs,”

Lucero tells me, low and eyes hooded.

My lips part for him and then I kind of…push. Like I’m about to bite down on something, but instead fangs elongate my canines.

“Good boy.”

Gently, like I’m made from clouds and Lucero has to keep me together, he brings me to his neck.

This close, I can see his vein pulsing, his smoky-sweet blood so close I can almost taste it. I run my tongue along his throat, tasting salt and his secret scent thickening—just before I sink my fangs in easy as a heated knife through butter, slicing through hot flesh to reach hotter blood.

A whine escapes as I fill my watering mouth, my head spinning.

Above me, Lucero grunts once, but his arms never loosen. My eyes flutter up, and I ask without words if he’s okay. I’ve only done this a few times with him, I hope it doesn’t hurt. I never want to hurt my mate.

“Take what you need,”

He tells me, his palm cradling the back of my head to keep me in place. “

Tucking my arms close, I sigh as I melt and lose myself in the slow drop of blood splashing on my tongue. I don’t take much, even if I wanted more I’m not sure how to.

Lucero’s dick is hard against my stomach. Mine stays soft.

That’s okay, though. He doesn’t ask for anything, but I wouldn’t mind if he did. I might not want to make love right now, but I already miss the feeling of being that close to him.

Soon, with the warmth of my soulmate’s lovely blood, I kinda…drift. Not floating away, but sinking deeper into myself on every sigh that leaves me. Until I’m sinking so deep, the edges of my senses become soft and frayed.

I want to stay in Lucero’s lap, my fangs in his neck, forever. But before long, the exhaustion that’s been tugging at me since I woke up wins. I fall asleep knowing I’ll wake up in the perfect bubble of Lucero’s embrace.