He would have to work fast. The moment she was awake, he would have to seize her mind, before she became aware of what was happening and attempted to resist him. He did not want to start their relationship by forcing her to do something abhorrent to her; still, he had no choice but to replace her huge blood loss.
He took a breath, stroked back her hair, then opened his shirt. Wake,piccola. Wake and take what you need to live. Drink what I freely offer. Do as I command.Beneath his hand her heart stuttered, laboring to awaken as he bade even without sufficient blood to sustain life. His fingernail sliced his chest, and he pressed her mouth to the steady red stream.
He held her mind firmly as her body slowly warmed, as her heart and lungs found a rhythm. With the infusion of his blood, so much more powerful than most, her strength returned quickly. Without warning, she fought him, abruptly becoming aware of what was happening to her. With a small sigh, he allowed her to prevail, deliberately loosening his hold.
She dragged herself away from him, falling onto the floor, trying to spit the blood from her mouth, trying desperately to hate the taste of the sweet, hot fluid building strength in her.
“How could you?” She crawled away from the bed, scrambled to her feet, and pressed herself against the wall, wiping at her mouth over and over. Her eyes were wild with horror.
Aidan was forced to close the wound on his chest. He moved slowly to reduce her fear. Very carefully he sat up. “Be calm, Alexandria. You did not yet take in enough nourishment to restore your strength.”
“I can’t believe you did this. I’m supposed to be dead. You promised to take care of Joshua. What have you done?” She was gasping for breath, the wall holding her up. Her legs felt like rubber. He had lied to her. Lied.
“You chose life for me, Alexandria. And I cannot live without you. Our lives are bound together now. One cannot survive without the other.” He spoke gently, making no move to go to her. She looked as if she might bolt at the slightest provocation.
“I chose to save yourlife. We both knew what that meant.” She said it desperately, jamming a fist against her mouth to keep from screaming. She could not, would not, live like this.
“I knew what it meant, cara. You did not.”
“You’re a liar. How can I believe anything you say? You made me the same as you, and now you’re forcing me to live on blood. I won’t, Aidan. I don’t care what you do to me, but I won’t take someone’s blood.” She shuddered visibly and slid down the wall to the floor. She drew her knees up to her chest and rocked, trying to comfort herself.
Aidan took a breath, careful not to react too quickly to her words. She was totally withdrawing from him, her mind blocking him out. Or so she thought. He was familiar with her mind now, and he slowly entered, a slight shadow, ever watchful. “I have never lied to you, Alexandria. You decided that if you saved my life, you would be giving up your own.” Deliberately his voice was velvet.
“You were afraid for Stefan.”
“Why would I choose to allow Stefan to live and take your life? There is no sense in that. I did not trust myself to stop with Stefan. I had lost far too much blood, and my survival instincts were too strong. You were the only one safe.”
He said it softly. His musical, hypnotic voice washed over her, seeping into her and tempering the horror of what she had become, easing a bit of the tension between them. “Why? Why would I be safe? Stefan has been your friend for years. You don’t know me. Why would I be safe when he is not?”
“You are my lifemate. I could never harm you. For you I could control myself, and you I could replenish. I have told you this on more than one occasion, but you insist on ignoring the information.”
“I don’t understand any of this!” she blurted out. “I just know I want away from you. You’re confusing me to the point that I don’t know if you’re putting thoughts into my head or if they’re my own.”
“You are not a prisoner, Alexandria, but the truth is, you need to remain close to me. There is no way you can protect yourself and Joshua without me.”
“I’ll leave the city. Evidently it’s overrun with vampires anyway. Who would want to stay?” she asked, somewhere between bitterness and hysterical laughter.
“Where would you go? How would you live? Who would take care of Joshua in the daytime while you are forced to sleep?”
Alexandria clamped her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out his words. “Shut up, Aidan. I don’t want to listen to you again.” She lifted her chin, her sapphire eyes meeting his. Very slowly, unsteadily she pushed her way back up the wall.
He rose slowly, his movements mirroring hers. He looked so powerful, so invincible, she couldn’t believe she was defying him. Hunger crawled inside her. The small amount of blood he had given her had merely whetted her appetite. Her starving body cried out, was insistent, impossible to ignore. Alexandria pressed a hand to her mouth. She was evil; he was evil. Neither of them should be alive.
That is not true, Alexandria, not true at all.He glided slowly toward her, silent, unpredictable, his voice so velvet soft, so very persuasive. She rubbed her forehead. “God, you’re in my head. Do you really think I’m going to believe it’s normal to talk to one another in our minds? That you always know what I’m thinking?”
“It is normal for Carpathians. You are not a vampire, cara. You are a Carpathian. And you are my lifemate.”
“Stop it! Don’t say it anymore!” Alexandria admonished.
“I will keep saying it until you understand the difference.”
“I understand you made me like this. And that I’m not supposed to be alive. And no one is supposed to live for centuries. And no one is supposed to kill others to survive.”
“Animals do it all the time, piccola. And humans kill animals to eat. But in any case, we do not kill when we feed, as vampires often do. It is forbidden, and the act itself taints the blood, destroys the soul,” he said patiently. “There is no need to fear your new life.”
“I don’t have a life.” Watching his every move, she inched toward the door. “You took my life away from me.”
He was several feet from the heavy stone entrance, she only inches. But even as she jerked it open, his hand was already stopping her. His body, so much larger, so much stronger, was blocking her way to freedom.
Alexandria went still. “I thought I wasn’t a prisoner.”
“Why do you resist my aid? If you leave this chamber with your hunger as it is, your distress will increase.”
Aidan wasn’t touching her, but she could feel his heat. Her body seemed to reach for his. Even her mind sought his touch. Horrified, she pushed at him. “Get away from me. I’m going to sit with Joshua for a while. I need to think, and I don’t want you around. If I’m not your prisoner, then get away from me.”
“You cannot go near the boy looking as you do. You are covered in dirt and smeared with my blood.”
“Where’s your shower?”
He hesitated, then decided against mentioning she wouldn’t need one if she didn’t want one. Let her be as human as she needed to be. It cost him nothing. “You may as well use your private bathroom on the second floor. Your clothes are in your room, and everyone is asleep. You will not be disturbed there.” He stepped back and gestured toward the passageway.
Alexandria ran through the tunnel and burst into the basement. She had to leave this place. What was she going to do with Joshua? Aidan was dragging her further and further into his world. A world of madness, of insanity. She had to leave.