Blood was still pooling around us, leaking from the holes in his torso. Not as fast as before, but enough to show he still wasn't healing properly.
Fuck. Maybe I should just feed him. It would help him, right? To get some fresh blood in his system? Give him some strength to heal himself? "I'm probably going to regret this," I whispered more to myself than him. "But..." I paused, took a breath, and thrust my bloody palm toward his mouth. "Here you go."
I expected him to pounce on what I offered, much like the serpent I'd compared him to earlier, but he didn't. Instead, he became very still. One hand came up and he wrapped it around my wrist. His tongue flicked toward the open wound. Testing. Tasting. Another growl sounded deep in his throat, and then his fangs sank into the flesh of my hand right below my thumb. I jumped with a wince when he did it, even though I was expecting it. It didn't hurt, not much anyway. His teeth were super sharp and slid through the skin and muscle with ease. Not like human teeth. I watched with something akin to fascination as he held me to his mouth.
And then he started to drink...
Chapter 10
Angel
My breath caught in my chest as each pull he made went straight from my hand to my womb, sharp jolts of desire that had me squeezing my thighs together. I moaned in disappointment when he released me and I felt his tongue on my skin, closing the wounds he'd made. But he wasn't finished yet.
Faster than I could track, he yanked my arm closer to his mouth and latched onto my wrist. Deeper this time. He moved, curling his body closer to mine, wrapping around me like a constrictor. And it was only then that I began to feel afraid.
He was wounded and not in his right mind. What if he didn't stop on time? I knew he could; otherwise, they'd be dumping bodies out the back door of their club every night after they'd fed. But that didn't happen. The ladies walked out of there on their own two feet, usually with a goofy smile on their faces. I'd witnessed it myself.
Lizzy. I should call her. She would know what to do. I couldn't call Aunt Judy, she was too far away to help. Besides, she'd kick me out of the coven once she found out what I'd done and why I was here. And even though Lizzy and I didn't know each other very well, I had a bone deep feeling that I could trust her to keep her mouth shut. She was new to the area and to the coven, and therefore her loyalty didn't run as deep.
I hoped.
Plus, she was mated to Killian. A vampire. And Jamal was one of his. She wouldn't do anything to put him in danger.
Fishing my cell from my front pocket with my free hand, I awkwardly turned it on, waiting for the little apple to go away, then navigated the touch screen with my left hand, punching in the code since my phone was programmed to unlock with the fingerprint from my right thumb. Lizzy's number was in my favorites, as were the rest of the witches in my coven. She answered on the second ring.
"Angel? Where the hell are you? Everyone's been worried. And where is Mike?"
It didn't surprise me that she skipped right to Mike. He was the only one she really cared about besides these damn vampires. I closed my eyes. I shouldn't be like that. One of those "damn vampires" just saved my life. And was now draining the blood from my body. "I need your help," I told her. "With Jamal."
There was a pause. "Jamal? Did he find you? What happened?"
"I can't explain over the phone." A wave of dizziness hit me. "Do you think you could come here? He's hurt. I'm giving him some blood, but I don't know what else to do."
This time there was no hesitation. "Of course. Where are you?"
I gave her the location of the cemetery and hung up, grateful I'd had the forethought to keep my cell in the tight pocket of my jeans where I wouldn't lose it. And that's where I returned it. I didn't bother to turn it off this time to save the battery. I needed to go home and regroup before I gave spelling this dagger another try.
Another wave of dizziness hit me. I rode it out, and when the world straightened again, I looked down at Jamal. His color was better, and it looked like his wounds were finally trying to heal. I couldn't really see for sure though without lifting his shirt. But he was wrapped around my right hip and drinking from my right wrist, so it was kind of hard to reach him.
I tried to pull my wrist away from his mouth, but he growled at me, his dark eyes flashing to my face and his hold on my arm becoming even tighter. A warning.
A jolt of panic shot through me. But then I took a deep breath and calmed my ass down. He was looking better. Surely, he would stop when I asked him to. "Jamal, you need to stop. I'm getting lightheaded and I'm cold. You can't take anymore."
He ignored me.
"Jamal!" I yelled in his face. "Let me go!"
When he continued to feed without showing any signs of letting up, I knew I had to do something. I'd be dead by the time Lizzy showed up if I let him keep going. "I'm sorry," I told him.
Closing my eyes, I pulled on my magic, hoping I'd had enough time to replenish it. I didn't need much, just enough to knock him off of me. I gathered it into the center of my body, then sent it flying, concentrating on my right arm and hand where he was holding me.
It hit him like a zap of electricity, and he released me, jumping to his feet so fast it was like he was laying there on the ground one second and the next I was staring at his hard thighs and the large bulge in between them. All I'd have to do was rise up onto my knees again and he'd be right at mouth level...
Jesus. What the hell was I thinking? Once again, I scrambled to my feet. My eyes snapped up to his face. Slowly, he cocked his head to the side as those dark eyes drilled into mine. His fangs were still bared, my blood on his lips. His posture was strong, alert, in full-on hunting mode, different from his normal relaxed pose. He seemed bigger, stronger, and way more dangerous as he tracked every tiny move I made.
Swaying on my feet, I threw up my hands in front of me and his eyes zoned in immediately on my still-bleeding wrist. "Whoa there, dude. You need to back the fuck up and get a grip on yourself."
His answer was little more than a deep rumble that seemed to come from the center of his chest.
