weaker thump, twenty five seconds, barely noticeable thump, forty five seconds, that’s when he finally released his fangs and sat up on his knees. He pierced his wrist then reached his other hand behind Tess’ neck, sitting her up with her head tilted back, automatically opening her mouth and throat. He brought his wrist to her lips and allowed the blood to flow into her mouth as he whispered to her, “Come on, honey, drink, drink for me.”
Her throat didn’t move. He knew that some blood was streaming down her throat but he needed to get it in her faster, he needed her to swallow. “Hansen, get in here,” he bellowed. Hansen must’ve been hovering near the bedroom door because he burst through before Colton had finished his request. “She’s not swallowing, Hansen.”
“On it, Sir,” Hansen said as he moved to the edge of the bed. Hansen began massaging and caressing Tess’ neck, until finally, after what felt like an agonizingly long time, she managed a small swallow, then another stronger one, then another, until her lips closed around his wrist and she was sucking the blood from him faster than his heart would pump it “She’s almost there, Sir. Don’t let her take too much.”
“I know, but just a little more, Hansen.”
Colton could feel the panic building in Hansen as Colton felt himself growing weaker.
“That’s enough, Sir,” Hansen said as he tried to pry Colton’s wrist from Tess’ mouth.
Colton growled, “Just another minute.”
“Enough, Sir!” Hansen yelled as he finally managed to rip Colton’s wrist from her eager mouth. Hansen slapped a bag of blood into Colton’s hand, “Drink,” he commanded. Colton sat back on the bed as Hansen straddled Tess’ torso and began chest compressions to pump the vampire blood through her system faster. Colton fought the strong urge to knock Hansen across the room because he was touching his woman’s naked chest as he drained bag after bag of blood. After draining his tenth pint, Colton climbed off of the bed and slipped a pair of sweats on. He walked back to the bed and touched Hansen’s shoulder, “I’ll take over, now,” he whispered.
Hansen kept pumping into Tess’ chest as he said, “Are you sure, Sir? Surely you’re still weak and need time to recover.”
Colton squeezed his hand to get Hansen’s attention. Hansen looked up at Colton, “Please let me do it,” Colton whispered.
Hansen nodded his head and they quickly switched places. As Colton resumed compressions on Tess’ chest he said, “Hand me my stethoscope.”
The stethoscope appeared next to his left arm. Colton stopped CPR and checked Tess’ heart. He quickly pulled the stethoscope from his ears and resumed compressions, “Nothing yet,” he mumbled, “I’ve got to get my blood pumped through her system so that my vampire blood cells transform hers.”
A few minutes later, Hansen’s eyes flicked to Tess’ right hand, “Sir, her finger, sir. Her finger just twitched.”
Colton stopped compressions again, whipped the stethoscope from his neck and pressed it to Tess’ chest. His brow furrowed as he concentrated, with his eyes closed, for sounds in her chest. Frustrated, he yanked it from his ears and pressed his cheek directly to Tess’ chest. Agonizing seconds ticked by until…..finally: Thump, pause, thump, pause, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. Good strong, steady beats. Colton sat up and lifted Tess’ upper lip. He watched, fascinated, as her canine teeth elongated and sharpened to tiny points. A small, cautious smile began to form on Colton’s mouth. “I, I, I think it might’ve worked,” he whispered as his eyes drifted up to meet Hansen’s.
“I think you’re right, Sir. You’ve sired your first vampire. How does that feel?”
Colton’s blew the air out of his lungs, unaware that he had been holding his breath for a while, “I’m not sure. Exciting and terrifying at the same time.”
“Why terrifying?”
“What if she’s different? What if it changes her personality? What if she’s something horrible who can’t be controlled and needs to be put down?”
“Her, sir? I seriously doubt that. I may have had my doubts about her being a member of our family. But I came to realize after I got to know her that my reasons were purely selfish on my part. She is a very giving, kind, loving, patient woman. It’s difficult for me to admit, but she’s good for you and I don’t see that changing now that she’s vampire. Becoming vampire only changes those who can’t handle the power. Tess is strong enough to handle anything. This won’t change her, it will only