Bitten

I sat down on the bed and licked my lips. I couldn’t think straight. Maybe I didn’t have to meet them. Maybe they were going to bring me my food. Like they do in prison when you’re in solitary confinement. Or maybe they won’t let me eat at all. Yeah…that’d be nice too. I wouldn’t mind that too much.

Actually…I was really hungry. I like the first idea much better.

King walked over and knelt down, “Hey…you don’t look so well. What’s wrong?”

I shook my head and scooted farther away from him.

He stood and sat himself next to me; “I don’t like Dusk, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I said softly.

“Then what’s wrong,” he asked, looking over at me. He rested his elbow on his knee and cupped his chin in his hand. The way he looked at me sent a shiver through me.

I sighed, “Your parents.”

“You’re afraid of my parents,” he asked, amusement slowly forming on his face.

I glared at him.

He smiled slightly, “They’re nothing to be afraid of. They’ll love you.”

My face became warm and I turned my head away from him. He needed to figure out how he felt about me. Because if he’s going to start caring, he needs to realize that I like that. And I like guys who care about people. He’s much more attractive when he acts like he gives a crap about others. I hated when he thought that he had some sort of head up on me due to the fact that he can drink my blood.

I shook my head, “What am I to you?”

This question took him aback. He took a little while to think his answer through, but when he finally got the answer, he sighed.

He fell back onto his back, “You’ll have to figure that out, Kaori. Because, right now, I don’t think I’m completely ready to explain this to you.”

I fell back too, “Sounds like a challenge.”

He grinned.

The door swung open and Demetri stepped inside, “Get out, parasite. I have to talk to Kaori.”

“I’m not the only parasite in this room,” King shot back, sitting up, “What makes you think that you can just come in here and tell me to get out? She’s my prey. Not yours. Now, how about you get out?”

Prey?

I pursed my lips.

“Kaori didn’t like that word,” Demetri said, smiling wryly.

“Shut up,” King spat back, “What are your intentions with her, anyway? What do you hope to gain from hanging around her like some sort of lost puppy? I must say, it’s not very appealing.”

Demetri’s eyes narrowed, but his mouth remained curved upwards, giving him a wicked look, “You shouldn’t talk like that to your elders, King. It’ll get you put in isolation with those little visits from Crimson again.”

At the name, King tensed.

I stood to my feet, “I’ll be fine, King. I’ll see you later.”

He looked back at me for assurance. All I could give was a slight nod, letting him know that I wouldn’t let him do anything to me.

Once he was gone, Demetri shut the door quietly. He looked back at me and smiled genuinely again.

I twitched and took a step back.

“See,” Demetri said, turning to face me, “he’s feeding you lies and giving you the wrong impression of me. I won’t hurt you unless you beg me to. And, trust me, you’ll start to want it sooner or later.”

Want what, exactly?

I didn’t comment. If I didn’t know what he meant, I sure as heck didn’t want to find out.

I gnawed at my bottom lip and looked around the room.

Demetri walked over to me and grasped my hand. He smiled casually and leaned forward. When his lips pressed against my neck, I flinched away. I pushed him back and covered my neck with my hands.

His eyebrows rose, “How many times have they drunk your blood, Kaori? You seem to be quite jumpy.”

I stared at him, “Get out.”

He tilted his head with a smirk, “So they’ve hurt you enough, huh? You know…it can actually be rather pleasurable if you do it right.”

“Get out,” I repeated, louder this time.

When he didn’t move, I felt my lip tremble. Who did I think I was? I wasn’t strong enough to go against him. I knew it. He knew it. All I could do was hope that he believed my bite was worse than my bark.

We looked at each other for a few minutes before I finally turned my gaze away. If he was going to do something, wouldn’t he have done it already? Maybe he was seriously a good person. I was just stereotyping vampires as though they were all horrible people.

I mumbled an apology.

He shrugged, “It’s no problem. I get it a lot.”

I stifled a laugh, “That’s not something you should be telling people.”

“May I,” he asked, holding his hand out.

I stared at the palm of his hand for a moment before I slid my hand in his. He pulled me to him softly and put his hand on my neck. His cold touch sent a shiver down my spine.

I kept my eyes locked on his.

“I’m going to say it again,” he said, voice low, “It can feel better than what you’ve felt before…if you let me do it.”

Something about his voice was hypnotizing. My head began to feel heavy, so I let it fall to the side, giving him a portion of my neck to bite into.

He leaned forward, wrapped one arm around my back while the other continued to hold a part of my neck. He ran his nose over my skin for a moment before pushing his lips up against it.

I closed my eyes.

And that’s when King’s disapproving face appeared in my vision. The one that he gave me as he was leaving the room. The one that didn’t have to have words with it for me to know that he didn’t want anything like this to happen.

I opened my eyes, “I can’t.”

“I figured you’d say that,” he said, his warm breath hitting my neck, “Let me guess” – he pulled away enough to look into my eyes – “You don’t know what you’re feeling towards King?”

My eyes widened, “What? I don’t have feelings towards King. I don’t have feeling towards people who don’t care about me.”

“But he does care about you,” he stated.

That comment hit me like a train. I didn’t think King was even capable of feeling anything. Especially care.

I gave him my best skeptical look.

“Don’t believe me,” he asked, taking a step back.

I shook my head.

“Then why is he standing outside the door, waiting for you to come out?”

I tilted my head so that I could stare at the door. Was he really out there? And, even if he was, that didn’t mean that he cared about me. Like he said earlier, I’m his prey. Nothing more, nothing less.

I cleared my throat and looked back at Demetri, “That doesn’t mean he cares.”

He laughed, “Okay, whatever. You’ll see how he really feels about you sooner or later.”

A bell rang throughout the house, making my ears perk up.

The door opened and King stepped in, “Kaori…we’re going to let everyone eat first and then let you eat. The vampires will devour you the first chance they get. And, plus…my parents want to meet you.”

Demetri slid past King. Before he disappeared, he smiled at me and lipped “You still don’t think he likes you?”

I glared at him.

King looked back at him, mumbled something, and then turned back to face me. He raised his hand and motioned for me to take it. When I walked over and grabbed his hand, he pulled me into the hallway. He nodded at a few vampires along the way to a spiral staircase. When we got into the basement, he slid himself in front of a door.

He knocked twice. It seemed to take a while for an answer to come.

The large wooden door opened and my body became cold with fear.