Vampires of Eden (Alexander #2)

44. Daniel

CHAPTER 4 4

Daniel

W hen I close my eyes, black clouds of smoke fill the air. A blazing red-orange fire burns all around me. The space is too small, ensnaring me like a caged animal. The imagery is branded into the back of my eyelids. I can’t unsee it. I can’t forget the heat of the flames licking at my skin and clothes, snapping and hissing at me like a sea of vicious and angry snakes.

I couldn’t sleep last night. Maybe my body was done with being unconscious?

The sun shines softly from behind the stained-glass window along the outer wall, telling me it’s early morning. Alexander lies beside me in his street clothes, passed out on top of the duvet and curled into my side.

After I woke up and fed from him, he ran and brought Amber to check on me. I’ve visited her clinic before in the hopes that she might have some supplements to help with my slow regeneration. Unfortunately, my case was too severe and she couldn’t help.

When Amber came back to the room with Alexander a few hours ago, she checked my blood-pressure and pulse. Then the inside of my throat and the burns on my arms, which were mild but not quite healed. Amber re-wrapped the wounds and told us to try and get some sleep.

Before he passed out, Alexander told me that he and Leoni suspect Lord Cherrington is behind the fire. Leoni saw someone driving away from the cottage as she approached, and her description matches one of Lord Cherrington’s manservants.

That fucking evil, ancient-ass haughty-ass vampire really has it out for me, doesn’t he? Holy shit. I expected society’s reaction to our bond to be pretty bad, but not “Let’s murder Daniel” bad.

A steady buzz registers across the room atop Alexander’s suitcase. It’s been doing that all night.

Alexander shifts onto his back, adjusting and groaning softly. Trying to speak was hard when I first woke up, but I want to give it another shot. We need to talk and I have questions.

This time, I clear my throat, swallow and attempt a whisper. “Rabbit?” It comes out hoarse, but already better than a few hours ago. A good sign.

Alexander’s head turns toward me and his eyes are suddenly alert and open. Like he’s been hit with a high-voltage shock. “Yes?”

“Your phone… it’s ringing.”

Frowning, he waves a hand. “Fuck that thing. How are you feeling? Does it hurt to talk?”

“I’m okay.” I start to push myself upright and he’s there, assisting me until I’m comfortable with my back against the headboard. My hair feels scratchy and strange on my neck so I lift my fingers to grip it. The texture is wrong. Too dry and brittle. When I pull my hand back toward my face, it breaks and several strands crumble in my palm. Everything inside of me lurches with disbelief as I draw in a horrified breath.

“Try not to panic,” Alexander says, shifting so that his body faces me. He takes hold of my free hand that isn’t covered in burned hair. “Stressing won’t help you heal. You’re alive, Danny. That’s all that matters. ”

Is it? I clench the ruined hair in my fist and close my eyes, breathing and trying not to scream—which I can’t even do right now if I tried.

“If you want, I can call my barber to make a special trip out here. He can fix it. It’ll grow back, you’ll be okay.”

Given everything that’s happened in the past forty-eight hours, logically, I know that my hair is trivial. But it’s just one more thing, isn’t it? Haven’t I been through enough?

Bristling, I settle my shoulders and open my eyes. I don’t want to talk about my hair. “What happened… with your mother?”

Alexander groans. “It was a disaster. She said all kinds of horrible shit to me, then she slapped me like we were characters in a fucking telenovela.”

“She slapped you?”

“Yes,” he exhales heavily and drops back against the headboard. Across the room, Alexander’s phone finally stops buzzing, but within seconds, it starts up again. “She’s out of her mind, Danny. She wouldn’t listen to me at all—or Father. But he barely said anything. He told me that he supported us, but then he didn’t say a word when she was berating me! What’s the use of trying to talk to them when they act like this?”

The emotion and pain in his expression nearly rips my already aching heart into pieces. “And someone hurt you,” he goes on. “Literally, some insane vampire put you in danger. I’m done with this. Fuck all of it.”

His distress weighs heavily in the room like a morose and angry fog. I feel it and yet, it doesn’t drag me down. “You can’t be done with it,” I say.

“Why not?”

“Because… you have important things to do here, Rabbit. The proposal. The Governing Board.”

“Someone else can do it. You and me can leave today. Everyone else is leaving. Maybe this place is beyond help. Let it die”

With his hand gripped in mine, we sit quietly for a long moment. I hear energetic birdsong beyond the window, welcoming the start of a new day.

Alexander’s phone vibrates, again.

“Would you be willing to leave?” he asks, dipping his head to catch my gaze as I stare blankly across the room. “If it meant you’d be safe, would you come with me?”

“Yes, but…” I say, then swallow and take another breath. Talking is steadily becoming easier, like my voice simply needs more practice. It’s still scratchy, but getting stronger. “That’s not what you really want. You’re upset. I’m upset. We can’t make a decision like that right now. It’s too important.”

And it will ultimately impact the vampires that we leave behind. Vampires like me.

“I think you over estimate my importance in all of this,” he says. “If I leave, someone else will probably work things out. Eventually.”

I’m tired. Angry, deeply offended and shaken. When that ball of fire came hurling through the living room window, I was in the kitchen. The scene was like something out of an action movie. A situation I could have never fathomed in real life, but there it was. It spread so quickly and things got out of hand before I had time to think.

It was terrifying. I’d never wish that on anyone, even still… we have to look at the bigger picture. We can’t make a snap decision right now.

I reach for the water glass sitting beside me. After I take a healthy sip, I say, “There is no one else. How can you say you’re not important when your phone literally won’t stop ringing. What’s going on?” I mean, I know there’s a lot going on, but Jesus. Am I missing something?

He shrugs. “Everyone can piss off as far as I’m concerned. I don’t owe anyone anything right now.”

After drinking again, I glance at him from the corners of my eyes. “Alright, enough of that— I’m supposed to be the angry one in this relationship. Don’t fuck up the dynamic. ”

He laughs, shaking his head and it pleases me that he’s relaxed a bit. I swear, Alexander’s general temperament is sweet as pie, but the second you cross and genuinely piss him off, you’re dead to him.

I like this about him, actually. A man with firm boundaries.

When I finish drinking, I set the glass down, then scoot toward the edge of the bed.

“Where are you going?” Alexander shifts to follow.

I hold up a hand. “My legs are fine. Relax, okay? I’m feeling better. Your blood is helping a lot.”

Slowly, I stand, then lift my arms and stretch my shoulders. I’m stiff and my chest and throat ache, but it could be much, much worse. I walk over to his suitcase and grab his phone. Then, I quickly rummage through my bag beside his and find my phone as well. That Leoni. Such a prudent and amazing vampire.

With both phones in hand, I head back toward the bed. “May I?” I ask, lifting his mobile.

“Sure. Zero-five-one-four.”

Settling beside him, I put my own phone down near my hip, then tap in his code. “What’s that?”

“The month and day I found Buffy.”

I smile. Cute. The home screen flashes open and holy shit. One hundred and six text messages and twenty-eight missed calls. “Alexander… for God’s sake.”

“I haven’t responded to anyone since yesterday morning. They can all go to hell?—”

“Okay, okay.” I tap into the messaging app first. There’s a group chat that’s responsible for the bulk of the texts. Maybe his friends? Also, someone named Sebastian is in second place for highest volume. There’s a bunch of texts from Raphael, his mother and his father.

Raphael’s is the only thread that feels potentially safe for my eyes given the circumstance, so I click into his messages and read through .

“Raphael asked if you made it here safely,” I report. “He also wants you to call your father.”

“When did he send that? About my father.”

“Ten minutes ago.” Feeling brave, I click into the two unread messages from his father. To my surprise, they’re short.

[Michin, call me.]

[Please.]

I look at Alexander. “What does ‘michin’ mean?”

He rolls his eyes. “It’s a term of endearment in my father’s native language—like ‘sweetheart’ or ‘my beloved one.’”

Aw. Something inside of me warms and crumbles as I switch over to his missed calls. There are three from his father—two from yesterday evening and one just this morning.

Ansv?d Kendrick was kind to me. He welcomed me in his home and even offered me a generous and glamorous opportunity (for the second time). Whatever he has to say, I don’t think it would be bad? It’s just a feeling I have.

“I know you’re angry, but don’t you think?—”

The set ringtone for my phone chimes through the quiet, as if it’s somehow jealous and wants to get in on all the cellular activity. I look down at the screen and grin. Not great timing, but let’s do it. I pick up my device, then make the swift decision to put the call on speaker.

“喂？呀媽，Alex係我隔離，我開咗speaker.” I let my purebred mother know that she’s on speaker and that Alexander is with me so there’s no surprises. “How are you both?”

“幾好呀，做咩唔好好地介紹下我呢？”

We’re fine—but instead of being rude, why don’t you properly introduce me?

I wince. “Ah, sorry.” I lift my gaze and Alexander stares at me with an odd expression on his face. “Alexander, this is my mother, Ming Tao. Mom, this is Alexander. I’ve told you about him before. We bonded recently. We’re mated now.”

Alexander opens his mouth, closes it, then takes a breath. “Hello, 伯母，我係Alex.”

My jaw drops as I ogle my mate, who can apparently speak Cantonese fluently and with perfect intonation.

What the fuck?

“Your Cantonese is nice, Alexander. 有機會飲個茶見個面吖.” If we have a chance, let’s meet for a cup of tea someday.

“好呀,” he says, slightly flustered. Okay.

Wow. I stare at him, bewildered. I did not know he could do that. “Where is Ma? She isn’t with you?”

“She’s teaching at the mountain retreat this weekend, remember?”

“Right, right, I forgot.”

“Why are you whispering?” she demands. “What’s wrong with your voice?”

“I got sick, like usual. I’m alright, though. Don’t worry.” I don’t want to get into the fire and attempted homicide right now. It’s too much to unpack. “I just wanted to tell you that we’re mated.”

“Congratulations to you both,” she says. “Is everything fine? Are all the grumpy Eden purebreds mad about this pairing?”

Alexander huffs and I shake my head. “Yes, mostly.”

“I’ve told you this a thousand times, but if you want to leave, you know that you can come here. That goes for both of you.”

“I know, I know. We’re talking and figuring that out.”

“If you need help at all, let me know. 保重呀.”

I end the call, lower my hand and fix my gaze on my remarkable partner. “You never told me that you can speak Cantonese.”

Alexander raises a dark blonde eyebrow. “You never asked. I speak a lot of languages.”

“Why Cantonese, though?”

“Because I wanted to learn it. Is it a crime to learn a language? I think they’re free and available to anyone who’s willing to study.”

Narrowing my eyes, I put my suspicions plainly. “點解你會學廣東話嘅？係咪因為你鐘意我想接近我？” Why did you learn Cantonese? Because you liked me?

Alexander glances away, smiling and guilty as sin. “Someone is full of himself. Who learns a whole ass language because of a silly crush.”

“You studied and learned how to play the piano, and specifically, Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique —a very challenging piece, mind you—because of a ‘silly’ crush.”

He reaches up and scratches the back of his head. “Will you leave me alone? Don’t we have other, much more important things that we’re supposed to be focused on right now?”

I place my device on the bedside table, then turn and wrap my arms around his shoulders so that I’m close to his ear. “我愛你.”

“I love you, too.”

I smile. “You don’t want to speak it with me anymore? Did I embarrass you?”

His face warms. “你鍾意聽，我就會講比你聽.”

If you like it, I’ll speak it if you want me to. I kiss the side of his face and hug him tighter. “I can’t learn Spanish. I’ve tried, but I’m shit with new languages. I understand it fluently, though.”

“You don’t need to speak Spanish. We have two languages between us. That’s more than enough.” We relax into the peaceful moment, allowing our shared natures to silently nestle into one another like a couple of sleepy kittens. The sensation is deeply comforting but strange. New and wonderful.

His phone buzzes.

I open my eyes and glance down. Another text from Raphael. “You should call your father.”

Alexander sighs. “I don’t want to speak to him right now.”

“Would you be willing to listen? If I call and put him on speaker? I’ll talk if you don’t want to.” Not too long ago, there was a pivotal moment where I didn’t want to talk to Ansv?d Kendrick. I was adamant about it, but Alexander convinced me otherwise.

Looking back, it was a kind of crossroads for me and our relationship. I feel that same certainty now, except Alexander is the one who needs encouraging.

He turns his head within our embrace. “You’ve been talking enough.”

“My voice is getting stronger, though.”

“Don’t overdo it. Let’s call him later today. We both need a shower and I just… want to be with you for a while. That’s all.”

Understanding, I kiss his temple. “Later today. I’ll text Raphael and let him know.”

Alexander stands from the bed and moves toward his suitcase. “Do you… want to shower? Should I help?”

“Yes, please,” I say, switching and using my own phone to send Raphael a text to let him know we’ll call Ansv?d later. The reply comes almost immediately.

[Thanks, Danny. Are you alright??]

[Alexander hasn’t responded to anyone since he left Central.]

As I send a message letting him know I’m okay, Alexander’s phone flashes beside me, pulling at my attention. The newest notification is yet another text from this vampire Sebastian.

Unable to stifle my curiosity, I change to Alexander’s mobile, tap in the code, then navigate to the messages and take a deep breath as I look through Sebastian’s thread.

[Leksey! Is this article for real??]

[Is THIS what you’ve been hiding??]

[Are you seriously in a relationship with a first-gen?]

[This is a joke, right? This is not real. This is not happening.]

[Why aren’t you responding? Nadya is messaging you in the group chat.]

[Ashwin too, but ignore her.]

[Leksey! Respond already!!! ]

[Are you mad? Is that why you’re not saying anything?]

[Listen… what I said at that party about the first-gen server…]

[Okay, well, it makes sense now. Why you got so upset about that comment.]

[I’m sorry, okay?? I was in a shit mood that night! I don’t really… well…]

[This is weird!! And complicated! Can we talk it through, please?]

[I just want to understand, you know?]

[We can talk, yes? You can always talk to me.]

[Aleksey…]

[Where are you?]

Yikes. I turn the phone off so that it stops buzzing and set it beside mine on the table. I would ignore these messages, too.

“Are you coming?”

At the sound of Alexander’s voice, I lift my gaze. He stands outside the bathroom door, looking at me, stark naked. My groin and cock tense from the sight of him suddenly nude. Reading him, it’s obvious that he isn’t trying to be provocative, but my body, mind and nature are absolutely provoked.

Nodding, I stand and inelegantly join him. Inside the bathroom, he helps me undress, then turns on the shower and tinkers with the temperature until it’s comfortable. The process is much more clinical than I’d like, with him doing most of the work of getting us clean so that the wraps on my arms don’t get wet.

The steam billows airily around us and it smells like him. Summer sunlight, heat and sweet oranges. All of it is like a wrecking ball to my senses.

What sobers me is the amount of broken hair tumbling from my head and hitting the white porcelain before is snakes its way toward the drain.

My fucking hair. I can’t believe this .

“Are you okay?” Alexander asks timidly when we’re outside the shower and drying off.

At exactly that moment, I glance up and catch sight of myself in the half-fogged mirror. My pale and gaunt frame. My hair, limp and uneven from being fried somehow from the heat of the fire. My bandaged arms…

I look like a monster.

Shame overwhelms me—floods my chest like a dark tidal wave and I lift my palm and press it to my forehead. Closing my eyes, I breathe, trying to get ahold of myself. My hair is the only good thing I had going for me and now that’s fucked.

“Danny? What’s the matter?—”

“I just need a minute, okay?” Leaving him, I walk back into the bedroom and rifle through my duffle bag to find a t-shirt and underwear. Mindful of my arms, I slip everything on, then get back into the bed.

Out of nowhere, I’m embarrassed. Ashamed that I’ve been brazen enough to pursue and covet this purebred when I look like a wet and half-smashed spider of a vampire. Someone literally thought it would be better to set me on fire than have me be with Alexander, and seeing my reflection just now, I can’t say that I blame them.

“Danny…” Alexander comes out of the bathroom in a set of his elaborate pajamas and with his golden hair still wet. Disheveled and perfect. He walks toward the bed, hesitating.

“I’m alright?—”

“No, you’re not,” he says quietly, crawling toward me. “Please don’t lie. What is it?”

I pull my knees up and wrap my arms around them as if to make myself smaller. Why do I suddenly feel so small? It’s as if the shock of everything that’s happened is tumbling down on my psyche like an avalanche.

“Tell me?” Alexander is on all fours as he leans into the curve of my neck and softly kisses me there. The sensation is heartfelt and lovely, like starlight touching and warming my skin. “Please? ”

I turn my head to take him in. His golden-brown eyes are sincere and patient. I feel like a pervert for wanting him as much as I do. For wanting to fuck and touch him. The pull of his nature is so alluring and powerful to my vampiric senses—much more so now that we’ve bonded.

Even when I was unconscious and couldn’t respond, his aura stirred me internally, creating a beautiful and vivid dreamscape while I healed.

Turning my head away, I speak honestly. “I’m feeling insecure.”

“Why? Because you were caught in a house fire and almost died?”

I huff. “Well, no… and yes.”

“Your hair can be fixed, Raven. The wounds on your arms will heal. None of this is your fault. Do you need anything from me? Do you want to be left alone?”

I shift again, meeting his gaze. “No, I don’t want to be left alone. You can—you don’t need to be wearing all these clothes. We’re not at your estate. No one is going to burst into the room.”

Taken aback, Alexander blinks, then shrugs and unbuttons his shirt. He strips down until he’s only wearing his underwear, then carelessly tosses his pajama set over the side of the bed. He grins. “Is that better?”

“Yes,” I say, stifling a smile.

“Do you want anything else from me?”

What I saw in the mirror upset me. The fire and intention behind it have offended me, deeply. Regardless, I want to indulge and shelter myself in him. I don’t want these harmful feelings to rule me.

I lift my hand and use my fingers to play in the top of his hair. “Will you feed?”

Without a word, Alexander pushes up onto all fours again, then leans in to kiss my lips. He urges me back and I concede, sliding down until he’s on top of me. I lift one knee to cradle him and his palm finds and strokes the inside of my thigh— pushing my leg open wider and fitting his body into mine. Aligning our centers.

Alexander leans into the curve of my neck and my hands snake and wrap around his naked back to hold him closer. When he breathes, his belly and chest press into me. His frame is heavy and hot and sweet. Tight and firm like ripe tropical fruit.

I raise my chin and he bites down hard. I gasp and my eyes flash with fire and light. The sensation of his aura cradling us and his love pouring into me are pure ecstasy. The depths of his devotion remind me of the ocean—unyielding, immense and fierce as it churns within his being. I sigh and let myself slip into his paradise. Acquiescent to the flow of his power and energy.

Whatever he wants from me, he can have. I willingly surrender.

He pulls harder and my body hitches from the pressure of his sensual presence and weight. I writhe against his groin and within seconds I come, softly. The sensation is like something sticky and warm melting inside of me and it feels so fucking good. So, so good.

Alexander removes his incisors from my flesh and licks my neck. When he’s finished, he lifts to watch me with alighted irises. My eyelids are heavy and my body is languid and limp.

He raises his hips and glances down between our melded bodies. “Did you… just come from me feeding?”

“Yes.”

“Huh.” Alexander sits up and back on his knees, then pushes the hem of my t-shirt up so that my navel is exposed. His palms grasp my hips just above my underwear. “Is… feeding a kink for you? You’ve asked me to do it a lot.”

I wriggle my hips, desperately wanting him to take the ruined underwear off of me. “Not feeding— you are the kink. When you feed, your mind and emotions are so… profound. Poetic and sincere. I don’t think you realize what you do to me, Alexander. You don’t understand your power. ”

Alexander takes hold of the material at my waist and slides it down. I raise my ass to make the task easier. “This is new for me.”

“What is?”

His glowing eyes flicker away before landing back on me. “Someone being this turned on by me—especially when I’m not necessarily trying. It’s surprising.”

I stare in disbelief at this purebred vampire man in front of me. His beautiful golden eyes and this thick mane of sunshine-blonde hair, damp and yet perfectly unkempt. His half-naked and taut body emitting a perfume like summer citrus.

I laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Am not.” He grins, amused as he lowers himself closer to my exposed stomach and cock. “If this is how you respond when I’m not trying, let’s see what I can do if I try?” He laps his tongue below my navel and a violent tremor races up my spine.

He tortures me, licking and cleaning the mess I’ve made while I gasp and squirm from his efforts. When he finally grips my ass and takes my cock into his mouth, I lose my mind altogether. He lifts me up with his palms until I feel my cock hitting the back of his throat and the sensation is… I don’t have the words.

Apparently, though, I have sounds. Loud ones, because he stops once to shush me, but I’m too far gone and swept up in the rhapsody of his essence and actions to comply.

I climax a second time, greedily, shamelessly. Alexander holds me and devours every last drop and it speaks to that same earnest devotion that he fills me with when he feeds.

Even though I’m spent, my natural inclination is to do something for him. I’ve laid here and been gratuitously pleasured twice like an insolent prince. My limbs tingle and feel warm and lazy, but I think I should make some effort.

I’m about to lift myself, but he stretches out half-way on top of me, collapsing against my side and draping his arm across my chest. He blows out a breath. “You need to rest more and heal. Just lie with me for a while?”

I shift my body so that I’m cradled into him and lift my leg to rest over his thigh. Alexander closes his eyes and I brush the damp heft of his hair away from his forehead with my fingertips.

I don’t think I’ve done anything especially good or right in this life to deserve him, but God, karma and the universe… I am grateful.

I’m still bitter as fuck about my hair, but thank you for gifting this purebred to me.