Page 57 of Protected by the Vampire

The world dimmed even more as my body gave in and my last heartbeat echoed loudly in my ears.

A sudden, painful burn forced its way into my subconscious. Liquid fire poured through my veins, sharp and overwhelming. A silent scream ripped through my mind as the pain lashed over every inch of my body, again and again.

It didn’t ease. It didn’t pause.

It consumed.

Every nerve ending screamed as the heat surged deeper, brighter, and stronger, like I was being broken apart and reformed all at once.

And I couldn’t do anything but suffer.

What seemed like hours—or weeks or years—later, a coolness touched my throat and washed away the agony, dragging me back into my body with a violent jolt.

I gasped as awareness slammed back into place, nearly choking on the blood filling my mouth.

Blood.

I blinked open my eyes and wrapped my arms around the half-naked man hovering over me, holding me down while giving me exactly what I needed from his throat.

Mate.

My fated.

Soren.

It was his blood saving me from that inferno.

Instinct took over. I swallowed over and over, settling against the mattress while running my palms over his smooth, soft skin. My cock thickened from the touch and closeness of my mate.

Power rushed through me, flooding every part of me.

Until I felt full.

When I did, I withdrew my fangs—holy fuck, I have fangs—from Soren’s neck and whispered, “Babe?”

When he slowly shifted away, the light seemed too sharp. Too bright. I squinted, yet I could still make out the grain in the wood across the room, the faint crack in the ceiling, even the individual specks of dust hanging in the air.

I blinked, expecting the impossible clarity to fade.

It didn’t.

If anything, the details snapped into even sharper focus.

Yeah, this was going to take some getting used to.

Then sounds cut through next—the slow, steady drip of water somewhere in the house. The faint hum of electricity in the walls. The shift of fabric as someone moved?—

Soren.

I turned my head toward him instantly, faster than I meant to, my body reacting before I could think.

And then I could smell him. His scent was of clean skin, blood, and power. It called to something inside of me.

But the more I dragged in through my nose, the more his blood stood out clearer than anything else.

It was rich, thick, alive, and everywhere.

My body reacted violently, muscles tensing as that hollow, gnawing need surged forward, demanding.