Chapter 5 5

His patience snapped.

With a growl of frustration, the Vampire King cupped my cheeks with both hands, his grip bruising, forcing me to meet his gaze. The pressure was sharp and unbearable, making it impossible for me to take another swig from him. I growled in defiance, but my protest was swallowed by his unyielding strength. The fury in his eyes was scorching, and yet, beneath it, there was something darker-something that mirrored my own hunger.

I glared up at him, my lips stained with his blood, my displeasure seething behind my narrowed eyes. The power surged through me, and for a moment, I considered fighting him, breaking free, and taking more-but the weight of his grip and the command in his gaze made me pause.

As soon as he released my cheeks, he shoved me back, his muscles tense, as if barely containing his own urges. I stumbled, regaining my balance, but the shock had passed, and with it came a wave of shame that curled deep in my stomach. The high of the feeding ebbed away, leaving me feeling exposed and raw.

My fangs retreated, the sharpness of them fading as the hunger dulled. It was as if I was waking from a trance, and I hated the vulnerability that came with it. But even in the shame, I couldn't deny how good I felt-how strong. My limbs tingled with new energy, my senses sharper than before, my body humming with life. I could feel the strength thrumming beneath my skin, coiled and ready to strike. I felt... powerful.

Still, the shame clung to me, refusing to let go. I ran my tongue over my lips, tasting the remnants of his blood, then wiped my mouth with my dirty sleeve, trying to rid myself of the evidence of what I had done. But the taste lingered, and so did the memory of the terror I'd glimpsed in his mind.

It was a reminder. A reminder of what I was. A monster in his eyes. And maybe, just maybe, on my own.

"I-uh, I'm sorry," I stammered, feeling my face flush with an unfamiliar heat. Apologising wasn't something that came naturally to me, and the words felt foreign on my tongue, like I was forcing them through clenched teeth. But I owed this vampire an apology, even if it tasted as bitter as poison. I had been rude, relentless in my greed, demanding more of his blood while he had shown me a level of kindness I hadn't deserved. "I don't know what got into me. Maybe the vampire in me got hold of me for a moment."

I hesitated, avoiding his piercing gaze, and then forced myself to meet his eyes again. "Now that I've apologised to you, sir, we gotta go."

I tried to push past the awkwardness, desperate to change the subject, to move, to do anything other than stand there drowning in my own guilt. But he didn't move. Instead, he studied me, his eyes dark and unreadable, like a predator assessing a wounded creature.

"Give it a few seconds," he advised, his tone low and firm, cutting through my anxiety with the precision of a blade. "My blood is making you feel invincible, and if you act upon it, it'll endanger us both."

Invincible.

Really?

Woah.

The word hummed in my veins, vibrating through every fibre of my being. He was right-I did feel invincible, like I could tear through the walls, like the world was too small to contain the power coursing through me. The strength was intoxicating, dangerously so. But his warning pulled me back, grounding me, reminding me of the razor-thin line I was walking.

"There's a shifter army outside," he continued, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he could already hear them closing in. "We have a few minutes before they get here."

My stomach lurched at his words, but the realisation of what he had done hit me harder than the threat waiting beyond the walls. Despite the imminent danger, he had come for me. Not for my blood, not to take anything from me, but to offer his own. He had given me his blood, his strength, when he could've left me to fend for myself. And not just any blood-his blood, potent and powerful, electrifying my senses, awakening something within me that I hadn't even known existed.

I could still feel it-his blood, alive inside me, pulsing with a power that was both alien and familiar. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced, filling me with a raw, untapped energy that thrummed beneath my skin, making my muscles coil with readiness, my mind sharpening with clarity.

And the taste... Gods, the taste of him lingered on my tongue, rich and intoxicating. I found myself staring at him, my gaze drifting to his throat, to the pulse beneath his skin, and a longing settled in my chest, deep and insistent. It wasn't just hunger. It was a desire-dark, primal, and impossible to ignore. I wanted to taste him again. I want him... inside me. Deep. Buried. Inside me.

Jesus, please don't let him read my mind.

But my gaze must have lingered too long on his lips because he growled low and dangerous. "Don't even think about it."

What? I'm not planning on kissing him.

Or maybe.

"Don't you dare, woman!"

But his voice snapped me out of my trance, but I couldn't ignore the heat that rose in his eyes-a flicker of something that matched the desire burning in my own. But it was quickly smothered by the menace that rolled off him, a sharp reminder of who-and what-I was dealing with.

"It was a one-time favour due to the circumstances," he continued, his voice hard, almost a snarl, as if he were reminding himself as much as he was warning me. The tension in his body was palpable, his muscles coiled tight, and his aura radiated danger. But there was something else there, just beneath the surface-something unspoken that crackled in the air between us.

I swallowed hard, trying to push the hunger down, but it clung to me, clawing at my insides. His blood had awakened something in me, something that wasn't going to be satisfied with just a taste. But I knew better than to push my luck. I had crossed a line once already, and I wasn't sure what would happen if I crossed it again.

Still, the temptation lingered, heavy and suffocating.

"What do you think I am?" I barked back, not liking being scoffed at. "I know it was a one-time thing since no one can be that generous! I won't drink your blood again, even if you beg me! I'm just not that kind of chick."

What the heck was wrong with this man? Who did he think he was?

"We'll see," he said darkly, not believing me at all.

Stop reading my mind, you jerk!

He smirked.

By now I know he can read my mind.

Fuck!

For half a breath, I wondered if I should go with him. He seemed to be hung up on me being this bad Ollivara, yet he'd still come for me. And danger oozed out of his every pore. What if he overpowered me on the road after we left this confinement?

Right. I sounded ridiculous, and I knew it. If this vampire wanted me dead, I'd be dead already. He could have ended me without a second thought. His strength and power were leagues beyond mine at the moment. Still, a dark thought gnawed at the back of my mind, curling around my spine like a snake. What if he needed me for something worse? Something far more sinister than just death?

An image slashed through my mind, cold and brutal: me strapped down to an operating table, my body cut open, my hybrid nature exposed and dissected, my blood drained drop by drop. The witches had nearly done it before-experimenting on me like I was nothing more than a specimen.

I'm a hybrid, after all.