“Food? You are hungry for food?” CK says, almost in disgust.
“Yes. Food. You know that you eat? It is the strangest feeling. I can’t remember what it felt like to be hungry.”
“And your other needs?” he asks in dread.
“Gone,” I whisper, and he looks pained. “I am not a Vampire now. I am a Demon. I don’t have fangs,” I say. My fingers go inadvertently to my top teeth.
He couldn’t look more upset if I told him I never wanted to see him again. I take his hand in a conciliatory gesture. Although why I feel the need to apologize is beyond me. He laces his fingers tightly in mine as if he never wants to let go and returns once more to our fearless sire.
“Let us go and see the others. I am sure we can arrange to have some food sent up if needs be.”
We four head downstairs, not thrilled to have Vivienne as a part of our little set, but she and Sebastian seem close now. We enter Devon’s suite and all eyes land on me, of course. With my hand still gripped by CK, they all assume it’s me.
“Liv?” Lincoln asks.
“Yep,” I say almost embarrassed.
“Wow! This is a change. Can I ask why?”
“Everybody, this is Xerxei,” CK grumbles to raised eyebrows.
Lincoln is looking at me like I just fell from the moon and Devon is gaping at me, the adoration clear in his eyes. “Holy crap. Your Demon self?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“You are…” He falters under CK’s baleful glare. “Unexpected,” he says.
“Indeed,” my sire agrees. “She’s hungry,” he barks at Lincoln and Scott. “Get her some food.”
“Food?” three voices ask in confusion, but then they jump to it as Constantine gives them his most menacing look.
Lincoln looks delighted as he piles a plate high with room service and hands it to me. “I have wanted to feed you up since day one. You are way too skinny.”
I blush, taking it from him and I eat for the first time in a thousand years because I am hungry. It tastes heavenly but I am fully aware of everyone’s eyes on me.
“Please don’t stare,” I say. “It’s disconcerting.”
Everyone stops staring and avoids my gaze, except Devon, who sidles over and whispers he wants to see me.
“Sure,” I say, knowing exactly what it is he is after. He leads me to the second bedroom and closes the door with a thump. I sense the disapproval through the closed door but don’t have much chance to worry about it as he is on me like a fly to honey, pushing me up against the door, unzipping the catsuit and freeing my breasts in one swift move. “Oh, god, Liz. You are so hot,” he whispers in between kisses. “I want you.” He picks me up and I wrap my legs around him. He moves to the bed and drops me gracefully on to it as he removes my shoes and pulls down the rest of my outfit. His eyes roam hungrily over me as he gets rid of his own clothes and within seconds, he is on top of me, kissing me and touching me. “I need you.”
I know he does. I know he needs me, this, us. He is going through the worst time right now and it is part of the reason I have let him take me so blatantly.
I roll us over and thrust myself onto his stiff cock as he groans and grabs my hips roughly. I ride him quickly, working us both up into a frenzy. He sits up and roughly pulls my head to the side. “Can I?” he murmurs. I nod and he bites down straight into my neck. He pulls back, breathless. “You taste so good,” he says before biting down again, even harder. My top teeth are aching, wanting to bite him too but I don’t have fangs. I have no way of tasting him and it is killing me. Well, my mother wants me to be less of a Vampire and Xerxei is determined to make her presence known, but I am a Vampire. It is who I am. I live for the bite, the blood, the intimacy of sharing this with those that I love. I try to Shift back again, knowing that Devon will be disappointed, but it still doesn’t happen. We both come at the same time and it feels different. It’s not the same and I am sad, fearful that I will never get my Vampire back. I kiss him deeply, trying to find the connection, the bond we have, but it isn’t there and I start to panic. I remember what my mother said: “If you choose him, be prepared to lose the ones you love.” I didn’t know exactly what She meant then, but I do now. If I choose to be with Xane, to be a Demon, my Vampire bonds will cease to exist. I am not Devon’s sire. I am not Constantine’s charge. I am not a Vampire.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-NINE
I need to Shift back, and I need to do it now. But I can’t.
Shit, Cole! He is probably feeling the effects of this. I need to get to him. He can’t survive without me as his sire.
My panicked look causes concern for Devon and he says, “I know. I don’t feel it either. You need to Shift back.”
I shake my head at him. “I can’t,” I whisper. “I’ve tried but I can’t.”
“Can’t?” he repeats, his worry increasing tenfold now. “Liv, you have to.” In his own panic now, he reverts to calling me “Liv” and that makes me even more concerned.
“I need to get to Cole,” I say as I climb off him and get dressed. “The gods only know what he is feeling now.” I stalk out of the bedroom to a room full of avoiding stares. I jump a mile when there is a banging on the door.