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“Why haven’t you healed me? I am too weak to do it myself.”
“My dear queen.” His lips twisted and I let out a cry as he patted over me. “Perhaps I do not want to heal you yet. I know I should, but I want to see what I’ve done for just a little longer.”
“See what you’ve done? You want me to be in pain while you soak in your mistake?”
The bite against his bottom lip eased as he moved more toward the side of my breast. “I think it’s beautiful.”
My mind went blank. Words, thoughts, everything was gone as I stared at him in horror.
“When I first saw you, I was disgusted with my actions. Shocked … but then came awe. I was afraid. I love you,” he said, moving his hand back to the bowl. “I love you so much that I don’t feel as though I can ever get enough of that feeling. And I want more. My need for you is insatiable. That’s why I licked all the blood from your right side first. I thought by tasting you, tasting what I had done, that it would help. It didn’t. I only wanted you more. But the only way to do that was to physically take you inside of me. That’s just ridiculous. I don’t want to eat you. Then I wouldn’t have you. Unless, of course, it was just a tiny part of you that could grow back and heal.” His eyes came back to me. “So I did it. I took the tiniest piece of your skin and I ate it. It wasn’t enough. I came to realize I’m never going to be sated. This power you have over me is forever torturing. Now I’m trying to decide if I suffer through it, or I kill you and be done with it once and for all. What will be better for me?”
My body jerked to the side as I gagged. Pain was crippling and I didn’t want to know how bad it was. To the bone … close … it had to be. But I wasn’t as weak as before. Each second that passed, his drug wore away and I was becoming the smallest amount stronger.
“You’re sick,” I managed, between heaves. “You need help.”
“Perhaps. But tell me what can be done? Tell me and I will listen because I don’t want to lose you. Not really. This is killing me,” he growled pulling me back to face him. “Don’t you see?”
Still, I couldn’t stop the constant gagging that kept coming at envisioning him eating my skin.
“Tell me!”
I jumped. Not at the anger or power of his voice, but at the how it combined with the look in his eyes. Rarely did I get frightened, but this Marko scared me. “Heal me and we will talk this out. We will find a way. I l-love you, and you’re scaring me.”
Marko’s face hardened and he glimpsed back down to my chest. After a few seconds his expression softened and he was pulling me into his arms. “I’m sorry, ma minette. I am. If you could feel this love, this force that exists in my heart because of you, you’d see how bad this is. You say you’re scared, but so am I. And I don’t fear anything. For the first time, I think I’m truly in trouble.”
His voice cracked and I lifted my shaking fingers to touch his cheek. “We’re going to make you better, I promise. I’m sorry for upsetting you. This was my fault. I did this.”
“Do you love me so much that you can so easily convince yourself of that lie?”
“We fight. It’s what we do. My love is still the same.”
Emptiness settled within as Marko’s arm rose and he savagely tore into his forearm with his fangs. The crazed look was still there, buried behind the sadness and confusion that he was battling. I knew I had to tread lightly if I was going to prevent something like this from happening again.
Blood poured onto my chest, soaking into the slices that were covering me. Pain was present, but so was the tingling that came along with healing. I braved a look up, taking in the dark circles beginning to appear under Marko’s eyes. God, I had to make sure my Marko was okay. If Aetas was showing these signs, how bad off was Marko?
“It’s me,” I whispered. “You need stronger blood than my own. Is there anyone you can feed from within headquarters?”
His eyes darted to mine. “I will not taint myself with anyone else’s blood. They’ll dilute yours.”
I paused, trying not to look as rocked as I felt. “Maybe just this once to see if it makes you better? I want us back to normal. I want you to love me again without being angry at me.”
“I don’t want anyone else’s blood, ma minette.”
My lips pressed together to stifle the scream that wanted to come. If I let my temper show I’d only upset him more. That could be fatal for me if he was already teasing the thought of killing me to ease his suffering.
“Alright.” My voice was calmer than I felt. I reached for his wrist, bring the cut to my mouth to lick over. The power of his blood was stronger than the night before. He and Marko together may have been an explosive combination, but the power wouldn’t mean anything if Aetas didn’t get better.
“I need you to help yourself. For me. For us. I know you don’t want to taint my blood. I understand,” I stressed. “I wouldn’t dream of tainting yours within me, either, but I’m afraid of losing you. I love you. Please consider trying to feed from someone else, if only just once to see.”
Marko pulled me into his arms, holding to the back of my head as he wrapped himself around me. Our bodies slid together from the massive amount of blood covering me, but I tried not to think about it. Or the fact that he’d eaten a part of me. Jesus. I was going to be sick, again.
The vibrations in my chest grew as I shut my eyes. My wounds weren’t closed yet, but they were in the process. I could continue to do this. I’d just make myself forget. I’d block it out. I had to. I didn’t want to remember this day. Ever.
“Hunter?”
I looked up, making sure this fake Marko hadn’t detected my internal communication with my bonded. He didn’t appear to. His eyes were still closed as he held me.
“Fuck, I’ve been so worried. How are you? I feel sick. My equilibrium has been off and I’ve been so tired. What the hell is going on there? Does Aetas know about Marko yet?”
