Caleb (14 page)

Derek’s
smile returned. “No more than a wolf would.” With a dip of his head, he took
his leave.

Allie
waited until Derek was ten feet away before glancing up at Caleb. “Am I going
to turn into a slut, too?”

“What
in hell makes you ask that?”

She
watched Derek’s progress down the hall, confidence and sexuality following him
like the flow of a cape. “The way everyone looks at me.”

Caleb’s
gaze followed hers. “They’re just hungry.”

“For
me?” She grimaced. “I don’t want you to be shocked, but that’s not the thrill
it’s made out to be.”

He
shook his head. “No. Not you. For mates of their own. Weres mate for life, and
if it’s a true mating, only once.”

“And
vampires?”

“They’re
not as picky.”

“Excuse
me?”

His
finger slid down her arm. “Fortunately for you, Johnsons are not only picky
beyond belief, they’re damn loyal.”

She
grimaced as the tension twisted. “You mean, lucky for you. I’m not the
complacent type.”

“No
shit.”

The
tension wrenched into a hard and searing knot, consuming her with an agony so
violent there was no hope of holding out. She dropped to the floor, curled into
a ball around the pain, and struggled to contain it.

The
dual thunks of Caleb’s knees hitting the floor beside her blended with the
thunder of her heart. “Goddamn, Allie.”

She
slapped at his hands as they slid beneath her. She couldn’t bear his touch.
Couldn’t bear anything. He didn’t leave her any choice as he swung her up into
his arms and carried her as carefully as he could, swearing again when she
screamed and strained against his hold, trapped in a prison of misery that
wouldn’t let up. Consumed by the horrible hunger to which she couldn’t succumb.

Footsteps
pounded through the house, coming at her from all directions. To her overly
sensitive ears it sounded like an invading army. To her sensitive nose, it
smelled like dinner on the hoof. She twisted in Caleb’s arms, her mind
rebelling at the thought. Caleb caught her before she could fall, letting her
slide to the floor as the dry heaves racked her body.

“Son
of a bitch, Caleb, if you don’t do something, I will.”

Caleb
took the words out of her mouth when he said, “Shut up, Jared.”

“She’s
just a woman. The hunger will kill her.”

As
soon as she finished vomiting up her guts, she was going to have a word with
them about that “just a woman” crap.

“I
know.”

He
knew. What in hell did Caleb know? The next heave brought up blood. A lot of
it. Was she hemorrhaging internally? The thought wasn’t as horrifying as it
should have been.

She
spit the last of the blood from her mouth, gasped a harsh breath between one
pain and the next, and found a thread of her voice. “Caleb?”

His
“What” was a brush of calm, belying the tension she could feel in his hands.

“Don’t
let me do it.” She wrapped her fingers around his pinkie. Too weak to lift her
head to see his face. “No matter what, don’t let me succumb.”

“Jesus.”

She
didn’t know which of the brothers breathed that harsh curse. They were all
there, standing around in a circle of scuffed boots and badass attitude,
watching her as if she were some side-show freak. She scrubbed at her mouth
with the back of her hand, staring uncomprehendingly at the red smear across
the formerly clean skin. She turned to her back, relying on Caleb to support
her, crying out as her ribs compressed her abdomen, and blinked back tears as
she met his gaze. “I couldn’t live with myself.”

The
swirls in his green eyes tightened and then flared.

“Tough.”

“She
means it, Caleb.”

Out
of the corner of her eye, she met Slade’s gaze. Thank God someone understood.

“I
know.” Caleb’s hand cupped her chin, giving her additional support. “I
understand your position, Allie. I just don’t agree with it.”

He
had to. She wrapped her fingers around Caleb’s forearm, holding on as the next
wave bore deep into her gut. She’d never begged for anything in her life, but
she needed this.

“I
need you to.”
Oh God!
“Promise,” she gasped between pants.

Caleb
stared at her, his will an impenetrable wall she couldn’t hope to scale, until
she saw it. The flicker in his gaze. Allie dug her nails into his wrist. She’d
wrestled hope from less in the past. “Please.” For a second, she thought she’d
lost, that his resolve would outlast hers, but then he slowly inclined his head
and gave her the words she need to hear.

“I
promise.”

She
held on tighter, relief hovering on the brink of belief. “I can trust you to
take care of me?”

His
gaze didn’t flinch from hers. His fingers pressed at the base of her neck,
arching her head back. “Always.”

The
fight went out of her. She collapsed into the cradle of his arms, the support
of his endless energy, holding on against the agony simply because he willed it.
“Thank you.”

“Leave
us,” Caleb ordered the others.

Yes.
They needed to leave.

“No.”

Jared.
He was always causing trouble. She snapped her head around, her snarl echoing
Caleb’s much deeper one. Jared merely raised his brow at both of them as he
took the towel Jace handed him. “She’s too unpredictable.” Jared tossed it over
the pool of blood, hiding it from view. “And you, Caleb, are too vulnerable.”

Caleb
didn’t take his eyes from her, as if he knew she couldn’t hold on without the
connection, and offered her the strength to endure for just one more minute,
one more second. “Get out
now
.”

He
opened his shirt and brought her closer to the heat of his body, the lure of
his blood.

“Caleb.”
The whisper tore from her throat. Was he offering himself?

“I’ve
got you, Allie.”

Jared’s
anger and frustration filled the air along with the acrid scent of . . . fear?
“You don’t have shit.”

For
one heartbeat Allie was without the sustaining grace of Caleb’s stare as he
shot a glare at his brother. “Leave, Jared.”

“Make
me.”

She
didn’t hear Caleb’s response, didn’t hear anything beyond the rhythmic pound of
his heart and the muted echo of the life-giving flow of blood in his veins. She
knew how he’d taste. Heady. Like a rich wine, but better, fuller. She knew how
she’d feel after she took that first drink. The heat of his skin burned her
lips. Her fangs extended, aching with a hunger all their own.

“Feed,
baby.”

Yes!
The salty tang of his scent stung her nostrils. This
was what she needed, craved. She tucked her feet up underneath her hips and
followed the directing force of his fingertips. He had plenty of blood, all she
could want. All she needed. The touch of his skin on her fangs was an exquisite
bliss. So good. The beast inside roared to life, revealing the level of its need,
its all-consuming hunger, the depth of which scared the shit out of her. She
had just enough presence of mind to extract another promise from Caleb before
she went under.

“Don’t
let me hurt you.”

D
on’t let me hurt you.

Allie’s
words echoed in Caleb’s head as he rubbed her back. “A little bit of a thing
like you couldn’t hurt me.”

She
moved against him restlessly. Small, delicate, infinitely feminine. A frown
pleated her brow as her teeth teased his skin. “Then why is Jared so worried?”

“He’s
just prone to it.”

“Uh-huh.”
Her fangs scraped his collarbone before moving upward. His cock throbbed, and
his breath caught. He cupped her head in his hand, pulling her mouth to his
neck, pressing against her resistance.

“Goddamn
it, Caleb, you know better than to let her feed from an artery,” Jared growled.

But
he wanted her to. He wanted to fill her need as fast as possible. He wanted it
with a primal force that was almost impossible to resist.

“Why?”
Low and husky, Allie’s question slipped between them, along with her hand. The
scent of fresh blood surrounded them. Her blood. He wrapped his fingers in her
hair and pulled her head back. The gash on the back of her hand spoke of her
sacrifice. She’d bitten herself to avoid biting him.

Allie
repeated her question.

Caleb
ignored it, pulling her hand away from his cheek, lapping the blood from her
skin, closing his eyes at the taste, urging her silently to feed, unable to
bear the echoes of her agony pounding through him. Jared had no such
compunction.

“I’m
prone to worry because you could drain him dry.”

Allie’s
teeth left his flesh. He caught the back of her head in his hand, preventing
further withdrawal. “Shut up, Jared!”

“Someone
has to speak reason.”

“Leave.”

Jared
leaned back against the wall, arms folded across his chest. “Make me.”

“With
pleasure.”

“What
happens if I drain him dry?” Allie asked again.

Jared’s
“He dies” coincided with Caleb’s own “Nothing.”

She
looked between them, the gesture all the more wrenching for the slowness with
which she did it. “I thought vampires were immortal.”

“In
the most common ways, yeah, but you suck ’em dry and they die like anyone
else.”

Allie’s
withdrawal was as much emotional as physical. Her fingers clenched on his
thigh. If she were at full strength, he’d be flinching. As it was, he could
barely feel the pressure. She needed blood,
now
. “Just ignore him, and
he’ll go away.”

Jared
snorted. “Hardly.”

She
looked at Jared. “I can’t hurt him.”

Every
bit of her lingering humanity infused that soft whisper, which spoke more of
hope than conviction.

Caleb
rubbed his fingertips over her scalp. “You won’t hurt me, baby.”

“You’re
not going to be in control.”

Leave
it to Jared to lay logic over calm, regardless of the consequences.

Caleb
cut his brother a glare. “You need to leave.”

“I’ve
already invited you to make me.”

If he
didn’t have Allie to worry about he’d give Jared the knockdown-drag-out he was
asking for. “I didn’t know you were into watching.”

All
that got was the rise of Jared’s brow. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

That
was true. In the last two hundred fifty years Jared had gotten damn secretive
about things. “She won’t appreciate your presence.”

“She’s
not my concern.”

“She
should be.”

Beneath
him, Allie twisted and said, “
She
is still here.”

Caleb
patted her cheek with his fingertips to let her know he’d heard, never taking
his eyes from his brother. “If she goes, so do I.”

“I
know, which is why I’m not trusting your judgment in this.”

“Caleb?”

He
looked down. Allie’s face was screwed up into a knot of pain and determination,
her blue eyes dry and dark in her face. She was dehydrated. “Will you two stop
fighting and come up with a compromise all of us can live with?”

“Caleb’s
the unreasonable one. He won’t share.”

“I
don’t understand.”

“You’re
going to need more blood than one person can supply.”

“Yuck!”

The
twitch of Jared’s mouth was the only indication of his lighter side. “Yuck or
not, it’s the truth. Combine that with the fact that Caleb’s a possessive son
of a bitch, and first blood is binding, and you have the fixings for a
disaster.”

Caleb
tucked Allie against his chest. “Trust me, Allie.”

Jared’s
“Don’t” yanked her back faster than a lasso.

Her
hands pressed against Caleb’s ribs, small white indicators of her fragility.
“You’re smothering me.”

He
let her pull back an inch. With what he was beginning to understand was her
customary inclination, she turned that inch into a mile, wedging her shoulder
into his gut and wiggling until she could see Jared again. “I can’t hold out
much longer.”

“I
know.”

“You
have to work this out.”

Jared’s
raised eyebrow was the only reaction to the order. “I’m willing.”

Allie’s
nails sank into Caleb’s forearm, spicing the air with a heavier scent as she
looked up at him. All that incredible inner strength was reflected in her gaze
as she begged for the impossible. “Please.”

Caleb
shook his head. It was more than he could stand, watching her give herself to
another. Take from another. “I won’t let you die.”