Dark memories began to tug at his consciousness, dragging him back into the horror and shame he masked with a flippant attitude and an irreverent smile. Nobody could ever know. Images of he and Gadreel reaching out to each other as they were tortured and violated by Satan’s minions flickered through his mind. Bloody and battered, they’d clung to each other in a desperate bid for comfort, trying to heal each other’s minds as their bodies healed, only for the torture to start again.
Shaking his head to dislodge the past, B reminded himself that he wasn’t just damaged, but broken beyond repair. He had no business staring at Mara like a love-struck teenager, nor did he have any business trying to be the good guy. After feeding Sergei, he would go back to being who he’d been for centuries. The smartass friend that smiled and joked, the salvia user who spent half his time high off his face, the fallen who had one night stands with demons who gave zero shits about him beyond saying they’d screwed him, like some kind of twisted badge of honor.
Plastering on the cockiest smirk he could muster, B emerged into the basement. Twin blurs — one dark, one red — zipped across his field of vision. As B’s eyes strained to adjust, the racing figures stopped on a dime. Standing near him completely immobile, as only vampires could, were Mara and a very undead Sergei. B’s eyes widened as he took in the man he’d brought to The Advocate torn up and bleeding only hours before. His skin, like Mara’s, had an otherworldly quality; his eyes, once a consistently warm light brown, were bleeding to red.
Vampires, B thought, really were perfectly designed predators. They drew their victims to their demise with hypnotic eyes, their magnetic appearance, and inviting fragrance. Suddenly realizing it looked like he was checking Sergei out, B snapped his eyes to the side and locked onto Mara. That was a mistake. Every time he looked at her he was struck dumb. She was truly the most beautiful creature he’d seen all his centuries of existence. Oh yes, he was fucked and he knew it. Once this feeding was done, he had to leave and make sure he never ran into her again or he was going to be at risk of developing stalker tendencies.
B cleared his throat loudly to fill the uncomfortable silence. “All right, let’s get the show on the road. Where do you want to do this?” he said curtly.
Surprise registered on Mara’s face at B’s clipped tone. Raising her eyebrow she pointed to two chairs set up near the table Sergei had woken on. “Thanks again for doing this. It will be easier for Sergei to use somebody he kind of knows.”
Nodding tersely, B headed over to the chairs, sat down, and laid an arm wrist-up on top of his leg. He sat there silently, eyeing Mara and Sergei who were standing across the room staring at him. “Are we waiting for Halja to thaw?” He threw out at them, rolling his eyes. He knew he was being a dick, but that was the plan. It would be so much easier to stay away from her if he knew she hated him. He could never be with someone like her; she was too good, too happy, and too normal. He would taint her with his past. It was best to forget about it and move on.
Sergei and Mara approached B, slowing down to a normal human pace. Clearly Mara had been teaching Sergei a bit in the short time since he’d risen, and he was evidently a quick learner. Sergei sat down in the chair beside B’s and looked up at Mara nervously. She smiled down at him. Gold began to bleed into her irises as she said, “Don’t worry, you won’t hurt him. We release venom with our bite that makes the experience pleasurable not painful. I’ll make sure you don’t take too much.”
B had to forcibly tear his eyes away from her. Even though her hypnotic power was focused on Sergei, the twenty-four karat decadence of her eyes was mesmerizing.
“He’s not going to turn if I bite him right?” Sergei asked.
“Turning someone is a bit more complicated than that. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine…both of you.” Mara gave a half-smile and knelt down beside B’s chair so she could keep eye contact with Sergei as he fed. Her breasts brushed gently against B’s thigh as she knelt. He sucked in a breath, tensing as he felt a light electric current run through him. That had never happened before.
Forcing himself to ignore the heady sensation of having Mara so close, B returned his attention to Sergei. His breath stuck in his throat. Sergei’s irises had been overtaken with a red glow, his lips were parted, and a pair of deadly looking fangs had emerged. Sergei closed his eyes and inhaled, taking in the scent of the blood pounding through B's veins. An ecstatic expression overtook his face shortly before he doubled over with a cry of pain. Lines of strain bracketed his eyes as he clutched his stomach and looked at Mara in confusion.
“The hunger always overtakes us the first time,” she said, smoothing her hand down Sergei’s spine like she was petting a wounded animal. “Drink and you’ll feel better.”
Sergei shook his head, his brain rebelling against what his instincts screamed for. Mara reached out and took hold of B’s hand; bringing his wrist gently to her mouth, she unsheathed her fangs. She glanced up at B as her tongue snaked out to lick along the vein running down the inside of his wrist. B shuddered; pinpricks of pleasure exploded up and down his arm. Keeping eye contact with B, Mara slid her teeth in. Instead of pain, a strange warmth infused his body, making him want
