She yelped, stumbling against me before immediately jerking away. As if my very touch frightened her.
“What are you doing?” she cried. I began to walk toward the water, pulling her along with me as she yelped in dismay. “No, we aren't doing this, are we? Are you insane?”
She took the chain in both hands, planted her feet, and pulled with all her might. It was a wasted effort, naturally, as the miniscule grains of glass simply shifted beneath her feet.
“Come now,” I crooned, my voice cold. “You know I would never do anything to jeopardize your life. You're far too valuable to me.”
She didn't believe me, not that I was being sincere. Tears filled her round eyes, spilling over onto her cheeks once her feet touched water. “How far are we going to go? I can't swim!”
“You won't be swimming.”
“This is folly, brother!” Theon called out. The sound of his laughter was like a hammer against my eardrums, but I continued, wading until I was in up to my knees.
Dawn continued to babble, increasingly frantic with every unwilling step. “This isn't what I meant when I said I wanted to help! I'm going to drown! Can't you understand that?”
It was what she did next that broke my resolve not to feed from her, not to feed from anyone but my Omega. She turned around, the water up to her knees and painting her gossamer-thin robe a garish shade of red. “Help me!” she shrieked, begging Theon.
I turned on her, taking her by the throat with one hand before slapping her with all my might. Her head snapped to the side, and a soft groan escaped her lips. The sound thrilled me. I might not be able to silence my fool of a brother, but I could silence this weak, little thing.
I pulled her close, and my fangs descended just before I sank them into the soft flesh of her shoulder. I was right about her blood. It was sweeter than before, though not as sweet as a fresh maiden’s. Still, it sent a shockwave of satisfaction rippling through me while she trembled in my arms. Her pained groan turned into a soft sigh of delight, and her body became supple in my arms as she gave herself to me.
And it wasn't enough.
She wasn't enough. No blood but that of my Omega ever would be…not ever again. It was the hell I was locked in, a hell I had not signed on for. We were never meant to be apart. I was never meant to face the agony of having her torn from me.
Mine, mine, the word reverberated in my mind as I drank from the pitiful creature now melted against me.
“Resting did wonders for you,” I murmured, licking at the thin river of blood seeping from her wound.
She shivered with a soft moan, reaching up and curling a hand around the back of my neck the way a lover would. I lapped at her wound, closing it over, and her delighted sigh turned to one of disappointment.
“Feed from me,” she begged in a voice far softer than the one she’d used moments ago, pressing her firm tits against me. Even now, shackled and in water up to her thighs, the thrill of my bite overrode all other concerns. “Take me. Oh, please, take me, take more...”
“Perhaps I will,” I teased, smiling down at her. “For now, you will obey me. No hesitation, no fighting back. And absolutely no opening your mouth for any reason unless you are asked a direct question. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, anything.” Her eyes were as wide as before, but now they were hazy with pleasure, longing. “Anything you want.”
“That's right, my pet.” I released her, still gripping her chain in one fist, then continued further into the Bay.
She came willingly now, following me until the water reached her waist.
I braced myself for what I knew was about to come. She knew nothing, and it would be better that way. The element of surprise worked wonders, and if she knew what was about to happen, she would have fought me even while in thrall to my bite. It was instinct, a living animal’s unconscious struggle to stay alive.
I took another step and another, until the water was now up to my waist and up to Dawn's chest.
And there it was. That tug from down below, like an invisible arm winding itself around my waist. There was only time for Dawn to gasp in surprise before she was pulled beneath the surface. I barely had time to witness it before I too, was pulled under by an unseen force.