“If I have to push you off of me, you won’t like it,” he promised. “Enough.”
I wanted to moan my refusal but was too lost in the sensations of it all. How could I stop? How could I possibly stop when this was the best I’d ever felt?
A hand wrapped around my neck, and I was yanked off Diego. I cried and snarled, my mouth dripping with blood. How fucking dare he? He slammed me to the ground, hitting the back of my head on the wood floors. My mind was buzzed. It was the best kind of drunk. I hated the loss but was also lost to my exhaustion.
“Sleep, Drew,” Diego said.
I grew drowsier.
I wasn’t fond of sleeping in a puddle of blood, but I suppose I’d been doing it once a month since I got my period in seventh grade.
“Sleep,” he said.
I closed my eyes, with a vibrant buzz in my veins. And then, I slept.
Drew
When I woke up, the room was impossibly dark. There were no sources of light. No sunlight coming in through the window, no night-light in the bathroom, there wasn’t even the evil red glow from my alarm clock. I lifted my hand and waved it in front of my face. Nada. I couldn’t see anything, and it was disorienting.
The only thing I knew for sure was that I wasn’t on the floor anymore. Based on the cushiness under my ass, I had to be in the giant four poster bed I saw earlier. I ran my hands along the surface and felt soft satiny sheets below my fingers. I was definitely in the bed. I heard a low chuckle from the other side of the room. Diego.
“What the hell is so funny?”
“You. I forgot what it’s like to not be able to see. It’s okay though, your sight will come in,” he said nonchalantly, like it was a perfectly normal thing to say.
“You blinded me?” I cried out. What happened the night before suddenly flooded my thoughts. The blood. My heel in Diego’s neck. The crazy shit he was talking about. Vampires, was it?
“No,” he assured. “I didn’t blind you. But like I tried to tell you earlier, as you turn, your body will change. You will gain new abilities and must adapt to some things that will now be challenging. Your night sight will be one of the first things to come to you.”
“Night sight? What is this, Dr. Seuss meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer?” I giggled at my own cleverness. “Was all that vampire talk some sort of kinky foreplay? I’m still alive, so I guess it’s all talk. How’d you get fake blood? That was so weird. I’ve never role played quite like that. Well done, Diego.”
“That wasn’t role playing. Have you accepted that you’re a vampire, Drew? It’s so much easier when you accept it,” he replied in a bored tone.
“Right, big guy. I’m a vampire,” I replied with a sarcastic roll of my eyes, though a familiar sense of panic was bubbling in my stomach. I chose to ignore the truth in his statement.
“Denial doesn’t suit you, dear.”
I bit my lip and soaked up his words. I knew in my gut that it was a stretch to hope that last night was an elaborate kinky experience. I drank his fucking blood. My teeth—I ran my tongue over the sharp peaks. The hunger. The need. “Can’t you let me pretend for a little longer? Last night was sucking crazy. Did I really drink your b-blood?” I asked before completely shifting gears. If I didn’t give him time to answer me, then I couldn’t freak out over what he said. “What time is it?”
“Six a.m. Monday morning. Like my blackout curtains? It keeps the pesky sun away.”
“Shit. I got to get ready for work,” I replied with a wince. A situation like this would normally call for a sick day, but I had a product launch to lead and dicks to sell. And avoidance. Lots of avoidance.
“Yeah. That’s not happening. You’ll need at least a year to acclimate to your new needs. You’re not hungry right now, but it can strike at a moment’s notice. One papercut could ruin everything. And how are you even thinking about work? Are you in shock?”
Shock sounded about right. I had a mantra that had served me well over the years: Avoid a mental breakdown by never stopping to realize you’re having a