The Light Who Shines (41 page)

Bluebell Kildare: June 11, 2022, Red Ages

I open my eyes to a nurse trying to gently move my arm. She
smiles down at me. “I need to draw a little blood for the labs.”

I try to accommodate her with my eyes closed. I’m so tired,
but I can feel her soul strongly. It’s a gentle soul, filled with determination
and hope. Next to her I feel Jack’s soul. Even with my eyes closed I can feel
how solid and good he is. He is filled with worry and pain and love. I smile
when I encounter Varg’s soul beneath the bed. I wonder again why I sense so
strongly now. I don’t even have to reach inside to my sixth sense—the feeling
is just there!

When the nurse leaves me alone, I slowly open my eyes. Jack
sits in the chair opposite me, and the sun is rising behind him through the
window. A brilliant pink and orange light filters through the steel gray
clouds. Rays of sunshine peek through and light up Jack’s curls like a halo,
softening the rigid, angular planes of his face and his strong nose and jaw.

“Hi, Jack,” I say with a slight smile.

Jack crosses his legs and gently caresses me with his eyes,
a soft green today. “Hello, Blue. How are you feeling today?”

I look at his hand on his knee and wish he would hold mine
again. “I’m getting better. I talked to Dr. Ziggler yesterday.”

Jack leans forward. “What did he say?”

“He said I’m better than he ever expected. I need more
surgeries for my muscles and to graft more skin onto my back. The muscle will
get better, but I’ll lose some functionality. He said that my back was so
ripped up that part of my spine was exposed and that I shouldn’t have lived.”

Jack looks pained at this and nods.

I say in a puzzled voice, “My hands were injured from the
shackles, but there’s no sign of the injury now."

Jack says in a quiet voice, “When I found you, you were not
going to make it. I gave you some blood. Remember I told you?”

When I nod, Jack continues. “There was a lot of bone
exposed, more so than even Dr. Ziggler saw. My blood helped you close up that
muscle and start your heart and your respiration. It also closed up the most
superficial wounds.”

“But I thought that Vampire blood could completely heal
you?”

Jack sighs. “It would have if I had given you more. But you
have to understand, Blue, you lost so much blood and your injuries were so bad,
if I would have given you enough blood to completely heal you, there is no
doubt I would have turned you in the process. It is the ratio of Vampire to
human blood that matters. I gave you as much as I dared at the time.”

“Ohh, I see.”

I can’t stand not to touch him, so I stretch my hand toward
him. Jack seems to know what I want because he reaches out and gently brushes
my fingertips with his and then slips his fingers under my palm to softly
squeeze it. He keeps his hand there as he continues in a low voice, “Your body
has refilled its blood volume naturally now, and it has healed some more. I
could give you more blood now. It would heal you, and you would have no scars.
Your muscles would be as good as new. You could walk out of this hospital with
me today.”

I look at him with hope in my eyes. “Would you do that?”

Jack smiles. “Of course, if you want it.” Then his face
turns serious. “But you need to know, Blue, while I would do anything for you,
to help you, I can’t be with you.” He looks down at his hand holding mine.
“I’ll gladly give you my blood, but we can’t be together. Do you understand
that?”

Tears threaten my eyes, but I force them back. Instead I
smile a bittersweet smile and trace a finger on his palm. I think carefully
about how to answer him, and finally I say, “I understand you, Jack, more than
you think. If you help me with this, I will not expect more than you’re willing
to give.”

Jack nods, accepting my answer. He draws out a pocket knife
and starts to aim it for his wrist. I shake my head slightly. “I want your
neck, Jack.”

Jack looks at me questioningly. “But you can’t sit up,
Blue.”

“I don’t need to. You’re going to lie down. But first scoot
me back so you have room.”

Jack gently moves me back so I’m close to the bars on the
side of the bed but not touching them. Gentle or not, it hurts like crazy. A
familiar spasm of pain rolls through my back. I grip his hand for a moment.
Jack stills, then asks, “Are you ready?”

I nod. Jack takes off his suit jacket and carefully slides
into bed next to me, facing me, on his right side so we are hip to hip. I revel
in his body heat and slowly place my right hand against his chest. I so
treasure the feel of him beneath my hand.

He kisses my nose, and I look up to his eyes. I watch as he
gently bites his lip with his fangs so that fat blood droplets form. He draws
his face near me and brushes his lips against mine. His lips softly urge mine
apart, and I take his bottom lip into my mouth, softly sucking.

I can taste the salty warmth of his blood in my mouth, and a
small tingle starts to build. Jack cradles my head and positions me so that my
mouth is on his upper lip now. I gently pull on his lip with mine, and droplets
of blood fall onto my tongue. I feel the tingling expand with an expanding
warmth that washes over my body. Jack groans and gently runs his fingers up and
down my arm.

Jack pulls his lip away from me and looks at me with liquid
heat in his eyes. He takes my hand and gently suckles my index finger. I feel
the soft warmth of his mouth enclosing my finger, pulling and then letting go,
pulling, then letting go. He repeats this with each of my fingers until he
reaches my pinky. This he twirls his tongue around, evoking a breathless gasp
from me. He kisses my nose and looks in my eyes. “Are you ready?”

I nod slightly. That’s all I’m capable of doing at the
moment.

Jack quickly creates a small slit on his neck with the knife
and cradles my head in the crook of his arm, positioning his neck next to my
mouth.

I taste him tentatively with the tip of my tongue. The same
tingling sensation washes over me again. I wrap my lips around the wound and
slowly pull the heady potion into my body. My senses come alive. My nerve
endings sing, and my body flushes with a rushing warmth. I want him with a
wanting I have never felt. I swear I can taste his soul in his blood. It is
beautiful and loving.

I arch my hips toward him, helpless, unable to move closer,
needing more. Jack sees my need and moves his hips firmly against mine so that
we are pressed together tightly. I feel the hard length of his manhood between
us.

I suck more strongly now. Jack groans and starts to tremble.
I knead his neck with my lips as I take more. I want him. The wanting is so
strong that my mind is aware of nothing else. My entire body shakes with desire
as I rub against him as much as I can.

Jack murmurs against my hair between gentle kisses to my ear
and temple. “I can smell your womanhood so strongly. It calls to me. You are so
beautiful, inside and out. I’m so glad you’re still with me Blue. I am so glad.
I am so glad.”

I curl my hand around Jack’s shoulder and rub the length of
his arm. He gently pulls my mouth away from his neck, catching my lips with his
instead.

He rubs his lips softly against mine, imploringly. I open my
mouth to him and he kisses me lightly at first, then deeply and sweetly. Our
tongues dance for a moment before he pulls away. He pushes in again, then pulls
away once more. I kiss the cleft of his chin and the tiny corners of his mouth.
Then, feeling more daring, I run my hand down his abdomen, feeling the hard
muscles beneath his shirt.

“Jack,” I say, “I want to feel your chest.”

Jack hesitates. I plead my case with my eyes. He unbuttons
his crisp, white shirt quickly and lets it fall open. I place my right hand on
his chest, then gently feel around, exploring, getting to know the feel of him,
memorizing this moment. I run my fingers across his flat nipples. They harden
beneath my hand, and Jack takes in a quick breath. I look up at his eyes, and
they are such a dark green they are almost black. I watch his face, and I
slowly move my hand down his rib cage, loving the texture and heat of his skin.
His heavily hooded eyes peer intently into mine. I feel him suck his stomach in
as I go lower and lower until I hit his belt. I try to dip my finger under his
belt line, but he stills my arm and gently pulls it up to his mouth. He kisses
the palm of my hand and smoothly backs away to slide off the bed.

My whole body feels bereft without him. Only cold air fills
the place where he was. Jack leans over and kisses my left eye, my right eye,
and then my nose. Then he moves to sit a mile away from me in the darned chair.
I sigh my disappointment and sadness.

Jack says, “I am sorry, Blue. If I didn’t stop you now, I
would have taken you. You’re not healed yet.”

I don’t want to hear it, but I know he’s right. It is a
small consolation to see that it seems to be as hard on Jack as it is me. I hug
my blanket close to my body. “How long will it take?”

“A little while still.”

“Will you at least hold my hand until then?”

Jack smiles and reaches over and twines his fingers with
mine. Suddenly I feel a blanket of exhaustion fall over me. I struggle to keep
my eyes open because I want to keep looking at Jack. But I can’t help it. My
eyes are so heavy. They close, and I drift away.

It seems like a minute later when I pop my eyes open and try
to feel for pain in my back. After I discover no pain, I tentatively use my
arms to lever myself up to sitting position. Still no pain! I look at Jack.

“It’s amazing! I feel so good!”

Jack smiles. It’s not the smile of my lover. It is the smile
of my boss. My heart clenches at this.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Nothing. I feel great!” I plaster a smile on to give depth
to the lie.

“Can I look at your back?”

I nod my assent.

As Jack moves to the other side of the bed, I notice that
his white shirt is all buttoned up and his suit jacket is back on. I frown at
this while my back is to him. Meanwhile, Jack carefully pulls a corner of the
tape and gauze covering my back. Slowly, he pulls more of it down. Then he
gently pulls it all off. He turns toward me with a huge grin. “You’re all
healed! But we should have Dr. Ziggler check you out first.”

“I am?”

Jack nods.

I clap my hands. “Good. Then we can get back to work right
away.”

Jack looks at me strangely as I carefully remove the IV from
my arm. “Don’t you think you deserve a little vacation after all of this?”

I say firmly, “Jack, there’s something you don’t know. It
isn’t over yet. Blackwater was not acting alone. He said he has people to
answer to. He said, “‘We will make it happen.’”

Jack‘s face goes deadly black. “Make what happen?” He stands
up and starts pacing around my little hospital room, clenching and unclenching
his fists.

“He wanted the Gifted to control the world and have power
over Norms. He wanted to use Vampires to do it.”

Jack hardly flinches when I tell him, but he is overflowing
with such evident violence that anyone else would be afraid to be in the room.
I can feel his fury bouncing off the edges of the room, tangible and absolute.
But I am not afraid, because I also feel his pain.

Jack looks at me with his bright green eyes and moves toward
me purposefully. He gently grabs my face between his two large, warm hands and
looks me directly in the eyes. He slowly and deliberately lowers his mouth
toward me and moves his lips roughly over mine. He kisses me with hunger,
devouring my mouth with his lips. This is no loving kiss or asking kiss. This
is a claiming kiss. He is marking me as his.

He lifts me up off the bed and pulls me hard against his
body, holds me tightly to him while he fills my mouth with his tongue. He
delves and plunges it into my mouth, touching every bit of flesh, filling me as
much as possible, moving quickly and urgently. I wrap my arms around his back
and rub it soothingly.

Jack suddenly rips his mouth away and holds me even closer,
encompassing me in his arms, placing his chin over my shoulder, pressing me
tightly, rocking me gently, as though he’s comforting me, when really it is he
who needs comfort. He puts his mouth against the hair by my ear and whispers,
“I won’t let them have you again. I won’t let them have you again. Never again.
Never, ever again.”

In this moment, I truly understand how much pain he went
through while I was gone. I can feel that it still cuts him deeply. I can feel
his fear and panic as my own. My heart squeezes with the pain of it and I
whisper back, “I am okay. You’re okay. We’re okay. I promise. We are okay.”

Jack finally calms down and pulls his body back from me, but
he still holds my arms, and his eyes are actively searching my face.

I say with a sure voice, “Jack. They are not going to get me
again.”

Jack shakes his head sadly and says, “Blue. There is so much
you don’t know, so much I have to tell you.”

This puzzles me. “What do you have to tell me about, Jack?”

Jack grabs my hospital gown at the neckline and tears it
about four inches down so that it slips slightly over my shoulders. He fingers
the Belladonna Necklace and moves his hand to my shoulder. He slowly traces my
birthmark with his thumb, and he searches my eyes as if checking to see if I am
ready for what he has to say.

I am getting a little worried now, so I hold his gaze firmly
and repeat, “What do you have to tell me, Jack?”

Jack whispers so softly, like the sound of grasses rustling
in a summer breeze. “You, Blue. I have to tell you about
you
.”

Thank you for reading
The Light Who Shines
! I truly
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in mind for Blue and Jack if this first book is well received. So please,
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