Blood & Honey #1

*Chapter Eleven*

I leave a near-the-breaking-point Kinley to wash up while I steal a shirt from the closet since mine is in unpresentable condition. The solid gray T-shirt fits snugly, to the point it is almost uncomfortable and feels like the sleeves may rip if I were to move in a certain way. The human male who owns this shirt is obviously puny. At least he's tall as the length fits.

I'm sure Maya will enjoy the fact she can see the contours of my muscles through the shirt. Kinley may even appreciate it if she didn't think I was a spawn of the devil. I would be insulted except that is exactly what I am so I'll take it as a compliment, a badge I wear proudly.

Kinley is a child of her god and I am the son of Haysha who feasts upon all of her kind. We are a match made in heaven. 

All right, hell is more fitting.

Speaking of feasting, Kinley's friend does just that when she sees me emerge from the bedroom.

That's right, Maya. Take a good, hard, long look, for it will be your last as a free human.

"Kinley's taking a shower. It was a rough night," I say, walking up to the fish tank where Maya had been watching the exotic fish swim in their tiny prison until I gave her something better to look at.

"Rough night..." Maya's voice fades as her gaze skims across my chest as if she is mentally ripping my shirt off to expose the body she saw more of a few minutes ago.

She's succumbing to the extra dose of pheromones Kinley's blood unleashed. Vampires have stronger pheromones than humans. It is part of what makes humans find us so irresistible. Our Maker crafted us well, each part of us designed to entice our prey into putting their own neck in a noose.

"Excruciatingly rough," I reply in a rasped, suggestive husk that causes Maya's mouth to part involuntary.

By the scent of Maya's blood, I can tell she is of the same pure status as Kinley. It's why it is so easy for the sensual aura I am exuding to penetrate her senses. She's longing for the unknown of what it must be like to have flesh against flesh.

I'd be willing to give her a taste, but it won't be the way she's envisioning.

A satisfied smirk graces my features as I watch Maya force herself to swallow to try and break the daze I am putting her under without real effort.

"Kinley has been having a hard time sleeping these past few weeks due to the nightmares. I offered to stay the night with her in hopes she'd be able to get some rest. Last night, she got another nosebleed. Are those something she gets often?"

"Nosebleeds?" Immediate concern snaps Maya out of her trance.

"Yes, they come about suddenly."

Maya's lips turn down. "She didn't use to get them. They started the night after she...I'm sorry, it's just that Kinley has never mentioned you before. It's not really my place to say."

"You can tell me." I step into Maya's space, tearing down that wall she is trying to put up that will deny me the answers I seek.

The hesitation dissipates from Maya's brown eyes as she looks into my blue ones. "They started the night she lost her parents. The doctors have run a bunch of different tests on her but everything comes back negative. They don't know what is causing her nosebleeds. They assume it's a response to stress. That would make sense except there have been a few times Kinley has collapsed and blacked out when she gets one."

She can't be sick. I would taste that in her blood if she were suffering from an illness.

"Has Kinley ever mentioned to you what happened that night?" This time I use compulsion because this question demands the utmost truth.