Deeply concerned, he glanced at the open field. It was barren. The forest was nearby, but he didn't want to leave her alone while he searched for an animal. There was only one thing left to do. Grimacing, he looked down at her. All he saw were her daggers, her sword and a knife. Where the hell was her stake?
"Are all of your weapons made of silver?" he asked.
"What?" She blinked away her confusion until realisation lit her face. "No, you mustn't. Let me…let me die." She closed her eyes. "Please…I beg you…just take care of my daughter." She groaned as she clutched her stomach.
He shook her. "Answer me!"
"Yes."
"Your stake," he said roughly. "Are you carrying it?"
"Be…behind me," she said weakly.
Without saying another word, he lifted her and felt behind her. The stake was strapped to her back. He pulled it free and laid her down. His heart hammered in his chest as her breath came out in short rasps. Clenching his jaw, he drove the stake through his wrist, twisted it to make a deep cut and pulled it out, tossing it behind him.
Blood poured from his cut.
Quickly, he leaned over her still form and placed his bloody cut over her mouth. "Feed," he said hoarsely.
Her eyes flickered and she shook her head.
Drago pressed his wrist on her mouth. "Eve, feed on my blood," he said thickly. "You will die if you don't."
She opened her eyes and stared at him, her expression horrified. "I don't…feed on…humans," she said, her voice growing fainter.
He grimaced. "You forget I am not human. Now, feed."
She squeezed her eyes. "Dear God, forgive me," she said and grabbed his arm, pulling his wrist closer to her mouth as she began to drink his blood.
Drago stared at her face. Slowly, her colour returned. She moaned with pleasure and he was taken aback by the sheer force of his emotions. Damnation, she was drinking his blood. The thought should have disgusted him, but it didn't. Slowly, his loins began to heat with each draw she took, with each suckle she made and his penis grew hard.
Dammit, she was arousing him. He inhaled sharply through his nose, gritting his teeth. What manner of seduction was this that made him throb with intense pleasure and agonizing pain? He growled as he felt his body soaring to a place where he knew he would have no control. This ecstasy was more than he could bear and he gently tried to pull his wrist away, but couldn't. Eve had a tight hold on his arm and her euphoric expression told him she wasn't finished feeding yet.
He threw his head back and roared at the white hot pleasure washing over him. Dammit, he was going to lose control!
"Stop," he growled, but she continued to suckle his wrist. "Eve, I…said…stop," he groaned. If she didn't heed his warning, he was going to shred the leather from her limbs and drive his rigid penis into her warm folds.
He sucked in a harsh breath. He'd never contemplated rape in his entire life. Holding on to his last shred of sanity, he grabbed her hair and dragged her head away from his wrist.
He stared down at her serene expression, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. Her eyes were closed and she brought up her hand and wiped the blood from her mouth. Slowly she opened her eyes and stared at him.
"Thank you, Drago," she said.
Chapter Seven
He saved her life. Eve licked her lips, tasting the last drop of his blood and her heart raced. She wanted more of him, all of him. She licked her lips again and stared up at his dark, brilliant gaze.
"Stop doing that," he said hoarsely.
"Stop doing what?" she asked, but she already knew. She'd known the moment she drank his blood how aroused he was. How much he wanted her. She wanted him, too. She couldn't deny it. Not after what she'd done. Drinking his blood infused her with his life essence and bound her to him in a way that transcended logic. She was his on a level that surpassed the flesh.
"Stop licking your lips," he rasped.
For Drago it was still all about the flesh. He wanted to have sex with her. She could see it in his eyes, the way he couldn't tear his gaze away from her mouth. And lower, beneath his loin cloth, his rigid shaft that was pressing hard against her thigh.
She rose slowly and Drago followed suit. He stared down at her upraised face.
"How long have you been putting your healing blood in wells?" he asked abruptly.
"Since I turned four hundred years ago and discovered my blood's power to heal."
"You're four hundred years old?"
"Yes."
"And you've been curing people ever since without anyone's knowledge?"
She stiffened. "Curing an illness will never make me human again. Please don't glorify my actions. Anyone in my position would do the same thing."
"Would they?" His mouth tightened. "A vampire cannot control their thirst and yet you said you do not feed on humans. And tonight, you could have easily fed in my kingdom, but you came out here." He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes. "You're more human than you realise, Eve."
"Let me go!" She struggled out of his hold and glared up at him. "I won't let you do this."
"Do what?"
"Make me…hope." He reached for her and she drew back. "You are a Lycan. You have a chance at living a happy life because you have a destined mate. I am a vampire. And vampires don't have soul mates. Leave me alone. Find someone else to pass your time until you find your one," she added on a rising sob.
His face hardened. "I see. So that is what you think of me."
Eve immediately regretted her outburst. Hadn't he taken care of Katya the past month with shelter, food, clean clothes and a warm bed? Hadn't he been gentle and kind with Becca in the well? "I'm sorry," she said quietly, her energy spent. "I…I know you've been kind to my daughter."
His expression softened and he reached for her again. This time she let him gather her in his arms. She closed her eyes against the comfort of his embrace and felt an uncharacteristic rush of security.
"What makes you think vampires are destined to be alone?" he asked quietly above her head.
"I've been alone for four hundred years, Drago." She paused, inhaling shakily.
"What of Katya's father?"
She detected a hard edge to his tone. "He was a good man who came into my life when I was very lonely and needed to feel human warmth. I wanted to live like a human. I wanted to feel love. I was tired of death all around me." She drew in a shaky breath. "So I pretended to be human for a short while. Katya was the result of our first night together. I stayed with him in his home and managed to conceal what I was from him and the villagers. Everyone thought I suffered from an allergy of the sun and could only go out at night. I hated lying to them because they were all so kind to me, but the truth would have destroyed them." She paused. "Caleb died two years to the day of meeting him. One evening he was playing with Katya and his heart just stopped. The village healer said it was a heart attack and there was nothing anyone could do." She paused, swallowing. "My blood cannot revive the dead."
"I'm sorry."
She looked up at him. "I'm grateful I met him. Otherwise I would not have Katya."
"When did you tell Katya you were a vampire?"
"When she was old enough to talk. It was our secret and no one ever found out. One evening, I went out to feed in the forest near our home. When I returned, I saw the devastation Balkathan's army of demons did to our village. If I'd been there, if I hadn't left, I could have done something…prevented some…" She couldn't speak.
"You couldn't do anything, Eve. Don't blame yourself for what happened."
"What do you know of what I felt? Drago, I could have saved some lives. I could have…have saved my daughter."
His face darkened. "You could not save any villagers nor your daughter any more than I could have saved the queen." He paused. "After Balkathan's army turned my castle, two hundred years ago, the queen couldn't live with what she'd become. The Gods were on our side that night because we managed to drive his army away, but it came with a dark price. The queen went mad. She refused to speak to me or our son, Vasilis. She kept herself locked up in her private chambers. One day I found her on her bed with a silver dagger in her chest. She killed herself and there was nothing I could do to stop it."