When he didn’t answer right away and the frown on his brow deepened, she reached out and touched his arm. “Tell me, Zeph. What’s going on?”
He lifted his gaze to her. “I haven’t had a single cramp in my stomach since you fed me the first time a few hours ago. Not one.”
The words went into her brain, but she couldn’t seem to process what he was telling her. She knew what all the mastyr vampires of the Nine Realms went through, that fairly small group of men, not more than a few hundred in number, who’d achieved mastyr status. Something about the increase in power made it impossible for their blood needs to ever be satisfied.
Until now.
There was only one type of woman who had the ability to resolve a mastyr’s chronic blood starvation, to bring an end to years and sometimes even centuries of constant suffering: a blood rose.
She stared at nothing in particular, her gaze skating over the beautiful paneled wall opposite, the fireplace burning three good-sized logs, a metal sculpture of a woman with long robes, arms flung back so that she appeared to be flying.
She couldn’t make sense of what he’d just told her.
Finally, she met his gaze once more. “I don’t understand.”
“Just think about it for a moment.”
“Well, I know that a blood rose can relieve the symptoms that a mastyr lives with.”
He didn’t say anything. He just stared at her, but his clear blue eyes had a haunted look.
She sipped her coffee, then shook her head. “Zeph, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not a blood rose. If you’re feeling better, it’s because you’d gone way too long without being fed, and you were close to dying. Besides, I can’t be a blood rose. I don’t have that kind of power.”
“All right, let me ask you this. Have you experienced any particular heaviness in your chest lately? Gerrod said Abigail felt that way before she first fed him, and still feels that way when he’s in need. Apparently, as a blood rose, she’s constantly producing a steady supply for him.”
She just stared at him.
He continued, “Gerrod also said that sex becomes an amazing ride, with the mastyr achieving greater stamina. Any of this sound familiar yet?”
She squeezed her eyes shut, disbelief rolling through her in the most painful way. “Oh, dear sweet Goddess, I’m a fucking blood rose.”
“I have no doubt that’s what you are.”
She shook her head. She didn’t know what more to say and she definitely didn’t want to speak the truth aloud that she could never serve a man who killed wraith-pairs the way Zeph did.
“I want to take a shower.” She shoved her mug at him. When he took it from her, she threw the comforter back and headed swiftly to the bathroom.
Once beneath the warm spray of five jets, she let loose with a heavy fit of screaming.
And Zephyr showed great sense by leaving her alone.
Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance by Jennifer Ashley, Alyssa Day, Felicity Heaton, Erin Kellison, Laurie London, Erin Quinn, Bonnie Vanak and Caris Roane
CHAPTER 4
Zephyr listened to Alesia shout her rage and oddly enough, the sound eased something inside him. Similar feelings held him captive and he was pretty sure that her venting somehow gave expression to his own deep frustration.
Now that he’d grappled with all that had happened in the last few hours, he knew they were in trouble. The incredible taste and effect of her blood on his system and how extraordinary it was to make love to her had thoroughly disrupted his view of his world.
For one thing, he hadn’t been free of pain like this from the time he’d first become a mastyr vampire over thirty-five years ago.
Now he was free, yet at the same time, he felt possessive of Alesia, something she really didn’t need to hear. Gerrod had warned him that other mastyrs would be drawn to her from this point forward and unless he was willing to complete the bond with her, she’d be fair game. In addition, she’d feel compelled to serve any mastyr who came to her.
The thought of Alesia with another men set him to pacing in front of the living room fireplace. He couldn’t bear the idea of anyone having access to her body either from sex or from her vein.
But the worst part was that nothing about Alesia being a blood rose changed their substantial differences. The fact that she could relieve him of his chronic blood starvation didn’t eradicate her belief that what he did night after night was a great evil. During the past year, she’d made her opinion clear a hundred times over.
He didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do.