Colton's Dilemma (Shadow Breeds) (13 page)

“Please do so that I can kill you.  There’s no way that you’d be able to get that close to me without me being able to bite and drain you,” he hissed.

“My, my, so angry.  Relax fang.  I haven’t decided if I’m going to fuck you…..yet.  Right now I’m just here to take some of your blood.”

“My blood?  What for?”

“I’m going to store it so that I can inject it into our pregnant females to create were-vampires, idiot.”

“Oh,” Colton said as he suppressed his smile.  Apparently she didn’t realize that storing it made it nothing more than blood.  The
y needed to use it immediately or the vampire virus would die.   There was no way to store it to keep it alive.  What he didn’t realize was how much she was planning on taking.  He tried not to show his fear as she saw her lay three pint bags on the floor near his wrist.  Three pints when they weren’t allowing him to feed?  This was not good.  He watched as she stood just out of reach of his teeth by his wrist.  She pulled a dagger from her pocket and slid it across his wrist, then quickly shoved a needle in his vein before the wound could close.  They both watched as the blood made its way down the tube and into the first bag.  “You know,” she said as she stood and moved around to face him, “I’m sure I could get your heart  pumping faster if I got you aroused,” she said as she reached her hand out and cupped the front of his pants.  He hissed and lunged for her with his teeth but she kept herself just out of reach as she began stroking him through the leather.  His mind screamed¸ “Oh hell no,” but of course his body couldn’t listen.  It reacted to the stimulation by hardening beneath her touch.

“Oh yes,” she murmured as her eyelids grew heavy.  Smelling her arousal didn’t help Colton either.  He cursed under his breath as his erection grew even more.

“I think somebody wants to come out and play,” she mumbled as she reached her other hand towards the button on his pants.

“Back away from the vamp,
Selena,” the alpha-male, Shane, said as he stepped into the room.

“You are not my master yet.  I’m still human,” she spat.

“And you’ll stay that way until I feel that you’re worthy.  Then and only then will I bite you, female.  And disobeying an order from me is not a good way to prove your worth to me now is it?  Besides, that bag is full, you need to switch to the next one.”

“Damn,” she said as she moved over to switch the pint bags.  She looked at Colton and smiled a devilish smile as she said, “Looks like I helped increase the flow.”

Thankfully, Shane stayed in the room until the next two bags were full, forcing Selena to keep her hands off of Colton.  Colton felt a little weak, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle, he thought, as Selena gathered up the three pints and hurried out of the room.  Shane stopped her on her way out, grabbing her free hand and placing it on his crotch as he said, “Don’t worry baby.  I’ll fuck you so good when I’m done here that you’ll be walking funny for a week.”

“Promises, promises,”
Selena mumbled as she walked out.

That pissed Shane off, which made what he did next that much worse.   He turned toward Colton, daggers flying from his eyes as he stomped forward.  It was then that Colton saw what he had in his hand: a small baseball bat.

“We gonna play ball?” he said, smiling.

“Something like that,” Shane hissed as he walked behind Colton and raised his arms.  “Batter up,” he said as he swung the bat, hitting the backs of Colton’s legs.  Colton hissed
, but he refused to cry out.  Blow, after blow, rained down on him until he collapsed to his knees and Shane was so exhausted that he couldn’t lift his arms anymore.  He dropped the bat to the floor then he unlocked Colton’s wrists and mumbled, “See you tomorrow, vamp,” as he headed toward the door.

“Looking forward to it,” Colton mumbled, keeping the pai
n from his voice as he collapsed onto his hands and knees.

             
Three days later, exhausted, starving and weak, Colton braced himself for Selena’s appearance and another blood-letting.  He doubted he had anymore to give after today.  He flinched when he heard the key turn in the lock.  Only his eyes moved to the door because his head was too heavy.  He couldn’t keep himself from groaning when he saw Selena walk in.  “I’ll be empty after today if you don’t feed me,” he mumbled through clenched teeth.  For some strange reason, Selena didn’t come back with some smartass comment like she usually did.  Instead she was deathly quiet, and skittish.  He watched her with renewed interest as she walked towards him.  Her eyes kept darting back to the door, almost like she was checking to see if she was being followed, or watched.  He looked down at her hands and it finally dawned on him: she wasn’t carrying any empty blood pint bags.  He squinted as he looked at her face again as she got closer.  Something was different about her - something about her eyes.  They didn’t look like Selena’s eyes.  They didn’t have confidence and evil in them – instead they had fear……and pity.   She looked at his gaunt face, at his starving eyes, and slowed her pace.   “Colton?” she whispered, “Colton, it’s me.  It’s Tess.”

“No it’s not.  I’m delirious and you’re trying to make me believe things that aren’t true.  You are not Tess.”

“Colton.  Look at me.   I had to cast a spell to make me look like my sister, but it’s me, it’s Tess.  I’ve come here to help you,” she whispered.

“Help me how?  Are you going to set me free?”

“I can’t.  I haven’t found the keys yet.”

“Then how can you help me?”

“Can, can, can you feed without killing me?” she stammered.

He stared at he
r several seconds before he finally answered, “I don’t know.”

She pulled the sleeve up on her shirt and moved her wrist towards his mouth as she said, “I’ll take my chances.”

It was at that moment that he knew it was her….and that she still loved him.  He pressed his lips closed, refusing to bite her, “Tess, don’t, please,” he mumbled.

She put her hands on his cheeks, “Colton Renner, you listen to me.  This is my fault.  You being here, hurting, dying, is my fault.  But I’m not going to let you die, Colton.  I’m not.  I can’t because I love you.  So feed dammit or I’m going to kick your ass.”

What little strength he had to fight with evaporated when he felt her love, “Oh God, Tess, please don’t.  Please don’t make me do this.”

She reached up with her other hand and lifted his lip, exposing one of his fangs.  She used it to pierce her wrist, knowing that the moment the scent of her blood hit him he wouldn’t be able to fight anymore.  She was right.  “Damn you,” he whispered as he fangs sank into her flesh.  The instant her blood began to flow into his mouth, his mind was gone – he had no idea where he was, no idea who he was feeding off of, the only thing his mind knew was that he was starving and this was the nourishment that he needed and h
is body told him that he was going to take as much as he could.  His burning throat swallowed the lifesaving elixir as fast as it could.  His mouth pulled as he swallowed, increasing the flow into his body.  He began to feel alive again with thoughts and emotions.  His brain began to think of something other than starvation.  And the first thought that popped into his mind was Tess.  Beautiful Tess.  His heart thumped hard in his chest as he replayed her words in his brain, her pledge of love for him, her stubbornness, her….Oh my God, Tess! He thought with a start.  His eyes popped open and he forced his fangs to retract, even though they didn’t want to because he hadn’t come close to replenishing what his body needed.  She was limp in his arms.  Her arm flopped to her side as he released her wrist.  No, God, no, he had killed her, was his first thought.  He pressed his hand to her chest, silently praying that he would feel her breathing.  He closed his eyes and concentrated, training his ears to listen for nothing but the rhythmic beating of her heart.  It felt like an eternity, but he finally felt his hand rise and fall as she took a shallow breath.  He finally took a breath when he heard the faint thump of her weakened heart.  She needed food, and fast.  He opened his mouth to call for help but stopped when she placed a shaky finger on his lips.  Her eyes struggled to focus on his.  “Don’t.  They can’t know that I’m here,” she whispered.

“Oh God, Tess, I’m so sorry,” he groaned.
“I have to call for somebody.  You need help.”

“No, Colt.
S’okay. I’m fine,” she said with the thick tongue of someone who was definitely not fine.

She turned away from him
, pushed herself up and tried to walk away but she took two swerving steps and then started to go down to the floor.  Colton reached out as far as he could with his chained legs and managed to catch her before she fell but not before digging the chains into his ankles.  The blood splashed onto her dress.  She stared down at the drops for a few silent moments then whispered, “I see why you love it.  It really is a beautiful color, isn’t it?”

“Shit, Tess, why did you make me do it?  Why did you force me to feed off of you?”

“Because I love you and this is my fault,” she whispered.

“This isn’t your fault, Tess.”

“Yes it is.  These assholes, these wolves, were my friends.  They were a part of my life.  But when they came to me with this insane idea, I told them no.  I told them they were crazy and to fuck off.  But my sister, my own fucking sister put a spell on me.  She took away my memories and planted false ones in my head.  Everything was fake, well almost everything.”

“The rape?” he whispered.

“It wasn’t a rape.  He was my boyfriend.  I thought we were just going to have sex but he had other things in mind.  To make it look like rape, he made it rough.  He brought in Tommy and Dean who tied my wrists then they smacked me around while he was screwing me.  It scared the hell out of me so I pulled at my restraints trying to break free – which played directly into their ruse that I had to escape during a rape. The whole thing was a ruse to get me into your life to make you vulnerable.  So, you see?  It was my fault,” she said as tears slid down her cheeks.

He reached out with his thumb to gently wipe them away, “But Tess, you didn’t agree to this part.  You told them they were crazy and that you didn’t want any part of this.  They had to put a spell on you to get you to do this.  So it wasn’t your fault.  It wasn’t your fault at all.  I know that and you need to know that too.”

“You can’t trust me, Colton. I can’t even trust me.  This, right here, could be part of their evil plan as well.  I could still be under the influence of a spell,” she groaned as more tears slid down her cheeks.

Colton tilted her chin up so that her eyes met his.  The love he felt for her that she saw in his eyes made her gasp.  Why would he still love her after all of this?  Why didn’t he hate her? 

“Tess, you were a victim in this just like I was.  And I trust you completely.”

“Why?” she cried with anguish.

His smile melted her heart as he said, “Because I love you and you love me.  I can feel your love for me, Tess.  It’s in your blood and it’s inside me.  That can’t be faked in a spell, Tess.  It’s real.”

She collapsed farther into his arms, exhausted from both her loss of blood and from the overload of emotions coursing through her.  “Damn
it Tess, I’m calling for help.  You need food.”

Her fingers gripped his forearm as she whispered, “No.  I need you
, only you,” right before she passed out.

He knew what she was saying.  She was close enough to death now that if she drank his blood she would probably turn.  But he didn’t have enough blood in him to complete her transformation.  He had been starved for days, maybe even a week.  The only blood he had consumed was hers.  It wasn’t enough.  If he allowed her to drink his blood now, it would save her but she wouldn’t turn – and she would run the risk of becoming addicted to the incredible high that humans get if they dr
ank vampire blood – an addiction that could claim her instantly, just like it did to Lisette so many years ago.

“I’m not like her, Colton.  I’ll be fine.  I just, I just need to get out of here to find the key to save you, but I can barely walk right now,” she said, as if she had been reading his mind.

He sank down to the floor, cradling her between his legs, as he agonized over his decision.  He could hear how slow her heart was beating.  Her breathing came in slow exaggerated rasps.  He had taken too much from her and she was going to die if somebody didn’t do something – and the only somebody around was him – he hadn’t heard any other sounds in the house for hours.  He could sense the full moon outside – it seemed that everyone was out on a hunt right now – which left only Colton to save her – or doom her depending on how she reacted to his blood.    He growled a curse as he brought his shaking hand to his mouth and pierced his wrist with his fangs.  He pressed the bleeding wound to her lips and had to force himself to speak, “Come on Tess.  Wake up.  You need to drink,” he said as he shook her shoulder gently with his other hand.  She stirred, “Mmmm?” she mumbled.

“Open your mouth Tess,” he whispered into her ear. 

He winced as he felt both fear and relief as her tongue snaked its way onto his wrist.

He hissed, his fangs dropped and his cock was instantly hard the moment her lips locked on and she sucked
- swallowing her first taste of his blood.  He didn’t mean to be turned on, in fact his brain was still screaming that he was scared shitless, but his body reacted the same way every vampire’s body reacts when someone or something was drinking from it – it got turned on and immediately wanted sex – lots and lots of sex.