Twenty-Seven

I didn’t mean to charge against him, and I froze, my eyes fixed on his body on the floor. My breathing got heavy, and tears made their way through my lashes. His fingers came out all bloody when he touched the back of his head, but it didn’t take him a minute to be standing and looking at me with a murderous gaze, his golden eyes scintillating and fangs at full length, and this time he frightened me.
“Alexandra…”
“Don’t come anywhere closer. I don’t want to hurt you!” He moved towards me. “Please, I didn’t mean it, but you were asking for it. Please, let me take care of your head.” He wasn’t listening to me at all. At that moment, he was a predator, and I was his prey. Plain truth.
“What have you done?” His voice boomed in my ears. The blood flushed out of my face, and I rubbed my clammy palms on my pants, but I couldn’t control the shaking taking over me. The surrounding air thickened, and I felt my body charging again. He wouldn’t act this way towards me, I knew in my heart. Something was driving him to behave like a pure animal.
I did the only thing I thought possible at that moment, because I didn’t want to blast at him a second time. Closing my eyes, I inhaled to calm down and braced myself for his attack, which came in a matter of seconds. The next minute, he had me pinned to the wall, and his fangs pierced my neck. The stung of pain reverberated over my entire body, so different from the first time, and my blood flowed to him. I circled his neck with my arms, and my legs at their own accord locked around his hips. If this was what he needed, so be it.

*Like a blow in my mind, I found myself near a river, in a degrading scene with dead and half alive people, some still moaning, shredded to pieces, and blood everywhere. He was there, looking at all of that with a chalice in his hands, and his eyes bored on mine, full of fear, agony, and pain that only I could distinguish in them.
“I beg you, don’t do it.” I cried.
“They do not fear me anymore. Who wouldn’t fear a man who drinks the blood of his foes?”
“If you do this, you’ll crave that for the rest of your days! Your soul will burn in hell, and this time I will never forgive you! Never! Do you understand me?”*

“I’m sorry, I’ve cursed you. It wasn’t my intention. I’m so sorry, Vlad.” He stiffened in my arms and the blood flow from my neck stopped. “I’m sorry I’ve hurt you.” After a moment that seemed forever, I felt his fangs retreating from my neck, and he licked the wound to stop the bleeding. I shuddered in his grasp, feeling the silkiness of his tongue and lips on me, taking away the throbbing pain. He wrapped himself in me tighter, and I didn’t know for how long we held each other. “Vlad?” I called to him, lacing my finger in his hair, blood messing my hand. He had hit his head on the fireplace. “You’re hurt, let me take care of you.” He shook his head.
“I’m ok, Liz. It’s healed already. Don’t worry, and yours will heal soon,” he whispered, not facing me yet, and there was pain in his tone. “I’m the sorry one, here. I didn’t mean to attack you, but I can’t control my demon around you, and I don’t know the reason.” Then he faced me, all puzzled. “How do you know about the curse?”
“I think the adrenaline jolted my memory.” I didn’t resist the lost look on his face. It was too much, and I had to kiss that look away, as I came to realize things would be hard between us. “Vlad, I understand that you’re struggling to get acquainted with all the surrounding changes, and how hard it is for a once ruler like you to feel lost and helpless in this unknown world.” His silence was the worst.
He still struggled to leash his demon as I spoke to him, looking into his golden eyes. They haven’t changed back yet. There were lots of feelings contradicting each other in them, anger, pain, guilt, sorrow. I could see his demon glinting there, staring back at me, calling to me. I put my feet on the floor, trying to move, but he was like a wall against me.
“Vlad, you must realize how hard these are for me, until four days ago you lived in my head, and now you are here.” I told him, caressing his face. “Come with me, Grizzly, I’m going nowhere.” I took him by the hand and dragged him close to the sink, without taking my eyes from the golden ones, and with tender movements I cleaned up the back of his head and my neck with some paper towels. Gosh, he was so silent. What battles was he fighting inside himself?
“I thought vampires slept at this hour.” I winked at him. And that seemed to bring him back a little. Getting him by the hand, I led us to the couch and sat him there, straddling his lap.
“I can’t lose you… I can’t go through all that again.” He fixed his gaze on me while he spoke in such a quiet tone. “I hurt you again, and it seems I will need to learn how to control myself around you. My demon is on alert when you’re close, and I’m unable to restrain it.”
“Vlad, I had a few errands to do this morning, and I thought you’d sleep the day away. At least that’s what I learned in vampire stories, even though I left you a note just in case.” And a smirk appeared on his lips.
“Vampire, huh? So, that’s what I am? I don’t feel like one, I don’t even know what they are. Should I still be sleeping?”
“Probably, if you fit the characteristics. They are creatures of the night that suck on people’s blood, according to literature,” I told him, raising my left eyebrow.
“I don’t have a problem walking around in broad daylight,” he grunted out, annoyed.
“Look, Grizzly. We must talk and establish some boundaries here.” The growl that came from his lips told me it would be a hard task. “If you want to be part of my life, understand, I come and go as I please. I have some business I need to take care of and I have to deal with them.”
“Business? Since when do women do business?” He laced his fingers in my hair, pulling my head back, leaving my throat at his mercy. “I don’t want you walking around by yourself, dragă,” he gritted out, scraping his canines on my neck.
He didn’t need to know I went to see Shane. We were together for about two years, but I broke up with him, and he’s still in love with me. I’m not gonna lie as sometimes I abuse the power I have over him, mostly when something went wrong and I needed his help, like now. He also worked at the Agency, and he was the only one I could trust with this mess. I couldn’t go back since they wanted me dead, and I had an idea why, but Grizzly was here to add to the craziness, and I didn’t think I could get rid of him that easily, as I had no time to babysit.
“Since last century, caveman, besides you don’t have a say in this matter, we just met.” I sent him a defiant glare, and I didn’t back down. He would not rule me.
“Alexandra! I don’t care if I will anger you or not, but if you don’t want my demon burning down the universe, don’t you dare to leave my side again.” The commending order in his voice made me clench my teeth, and the only thing that held me from punching him in the face was the bitter tone he used to warn me off.
“You also gotta have some faith in me, right now you have to let me lead you.”
“I can’t hurt you again, and I hated to see the frightened look in your eyes, you’re not supposed to fear me, even though I believe it would be better if you did,” he hissed, averting his gaze. I shuddered against him as I brought his eyes back to mine. His pupils dilated into black orbs when I licked my lips, and he noticed my shudder had nothing to do with fear, as under my buttocks he stirred to life.
“Grizzly…” Before I breathed the word out, his lips took mine into a furious and brutal kiss. I knew he wasn’t happy about relinquishing power to a woman, but it was his only choice. “I’m not afraid of you,” I said between gasps. “You scared me, it’s different.” And I laced my fingers in his hair, pulling him to me, deepening the kiss.
“You should fear me, dragă,” he said in a whisper.
Lord! I’ve never felt so turned on with only a kiss, and it was a hell of a kiss! His tongue was harsh and possessive against mine, fighting for dominance, exploring and ravishing my entire mouth, and I knew he needed that semblance of control over me. This one time I surrendered to him, and enjoyed all the delicious sensations his mouth did to my body, causing my lady parts to come alive for him. Life was tricky, but fate was a twisted psycho!