Chapter Text
The phantom feel of her fangs was an unwelcome sensation, even after beheading her.
Vampire venom works quickly. I already crave blood. I can faintly smell it to my left, a trail I desperately trace with my nose until I go lightheaded.
I slump against the wall, feeling the venom course through my veins. Chaos catches me before I fall to the floor. I sit, leaning against the wall.
“LaLa! LaLa! Can you hear me? Are you ok?” His voice is a faraway echo as everything becomes blurry, then focuses.
I snap back to reality with a sharp intake of breath. “Uhh, as ok as I can be after being bitten by a damn vampire.”
That seems to bring him a modicum of relief as he sighs, the tension leaving his furrowed brows. Chaos drags a hand down his face. “So… not good. Well, it only gets worse from here on out, so good luck.”
He turns to leave, his legs swaying slightly as to remind me of his tipsy state. He abandons me in the dimly lit hallway. I reach a hand out. “Wait.”
His head snaps, his bottle-green eyes meeting my gaze. I swallow. “Stay.”
Since when did I become so pathetically desperate? I couldn’t even stop the next words from tumbling from my mouth. “Please, Castor.”
I use his real name this time, hoping to have some sort of relationship between us, friendship or something more. Anything but…this.
– CHAOS POV –
Really? After all these centuries of trying to get LaLa out of my thoughts, she asks me to stay. That sure isn’t helping my unhealthy obsession with her.
I guess I could help. I’ve been in her position before and the hunger, the insatiable desire… I feel my fangs lengthen at the thought of drinking blood.
I walk back toward her and pick her up. I get her on her feet and ask, “Do you think you can stand?”
LaLa’s canines grow longer. Well, there’s the first stage of turning into one of us. Her knees wobble. “No… I don’t think so.”
Oh, crap.
Either I leave her here or I carry her back into my room. And I have a split second to make that decision.
Her eyes are locked onto my neck, my pulse fluttering at my throat. I see her pupils dilate at the sign of blood, the magic of allure already pulling me in…
Stop, Castor.
Ahh, screw it. You only live once. Well, more than once, if you’re me.
The allure only seems to get me lost in her face. I’ve never really noticed LaLa was so attractive.
A voice in my head makes my instantly sober. Alcohol and vampire allure. Not a good mix.
Guilt washes over me as I realize we’re not even acting on what we want. She’s being affected by venom, and I’m being influenced by three rounds of shots and, well, LaLa.
Killjoy.
LaLa gasps as I scoop her into my arms and smirk. I carry her into my room in the depths of this cave.
I lay her on my bed, giving her a smug grin to remind her that we are definitely continuing what was going on before Jacks and Evangeline interrupted.
I prepare a cold cloth and fetch a bucket from the bathroom. Venom always makes you nauseous and clammy.
She looks up at me when I return, sprawled across my bed. The number of times I’ve fantasized about her being here is too many to count.
This is about her , Castor. Not you.
I gently place the cold cloth on her forehead, trying to cool her down. The venom has already formed a blush on her cheeks, and she looks up at me.
Her allure draws me in, and I can’t help but reach for it too. Suddenly, I’m in her thoughts.
– Damn, the Lord of Spies and Assasins sure has a taste for luxury. The bedroom ceilings are so high. I wonder how all of this is underground. Another wave of heat washes over me from the venom.
I still have the phantom feel of the girl’s fangs in my neck, but I really wish it was Chaos’s now.
I look up and stare at Chaos for a while. Hmm, he’s not that bad, is he? At least he didn’t betray me like his idiot brother, Dane. His eyes are really pretty, framed by lashes any girl would be jealous of.
And the way he looks at me makes more heat flood my body, and definitely not from vampire venom.
I trail my gaze down his face, gazing at his lips. I wonder how they taste. His tongue darts out for a split second and I watch the movement.
My eyes drift lower, lower, until they catch the soft pulsing at his neck. Blood. –
I jerk back before LaLa has the chance to bite me, before she has the chance to turn into a vampire forever.
I’m heady from her allure, and I lay down on the bed next to her. Suddenly, she starts heaving into the bucket I placed next to the bed.
I make calming sounds and rub circles onto her back as she vomits, the sugary dinner she just ate spewing into the bucket.
When she finishes, I’m already there, handing her a large cup of water.
She flops back down onto the bed and moans. Oh, what I would do to hear that sound again is beyond me.
I lean into her shoulder, chuckling as I trace a path up her neck with my fangs, letting her allure control me. The smallest of shivers makes its way to her, and she stiffens. I make soothing circles on her thigh, and she loosens up. My tongue darts out, seeking the warm blood in her veins. She lets out a breathy sigh.
I stop at the shell of her ear and my voice drops low when I say, “nausea is a common part of the process, among other things.”
She turns facing me and whispers, “what other things ?”
I smirk and she continues, “like the need to either bite you, kiss you, or both?”
Her allure grows stronger as the time nears midnight. I send her some of my own, and her eyes grow hungry.
I cup her cheek, my thumb stroking her jawline. “Two can play at this game.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re the one who’s had this power for thousands of years. Of course it’s going to be stronger, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try.”
I feel her power grip me further as I stare longingly at her lips.
They curve upward. “You wanna kiss me sooo bad, huh, Castor?”
Defiance steels my gaze. “Nope.”
I’m lying. And we both know it. But that doesn’t make me lose a challenge so quickly. This. Is. A. Challenge. And I never lose a challenge .
I laugh and reply, “In fact, I can’t think of anything I’d like to do less . Honestly, I’d rather walk into broad daylight and burn to death.”
She doesn’t believe me for a second. “I guess, in that case, that implies you wouldn’t want to feel my lips on yours, the bite of my fangs as I nip your lip. You wouldn’t want to know how my hands feel in your hair or around your neck. And you definitely wouldn’t want to know the taste of my blood or the taste of my lips.”
I run a hand through my hair, already wishing it was LaLa’s hand. I really want to know all those things. But I absolutely can’t lose this challenge.
I school my features back into neutrality as I say, “No way. Nada. Not in a million years.”
It seems she’s already mastered the power of allure when I feel the heated grip of it limit my thoughts to LaLa and only LaLa.
She feigns innocence and pouts her lips. “And that means in those million years, say, these lips,” she taps her mouth with a finger, “would only be used on your brother, Dane, or maybe Mister Fortuna. I hear he’s inherited a lot. I wonder what they would look like when they taste me and I would gladly kiss them back.”
I’m enveloped by a haze of jealousy and groan at the vivid description she gave me. Too bad, I guess I can lose one challenge.
Before LaLa can take her next breath, I pour my energy into my allure and kiss her hungrily. My hands thread through her silky soft hair as I claim her lips. A gasp escapes her mouth and I swallow it fervently. Her fangs scrape against my lower lip and I slant my mouth across hers, careful not to draw blood or she’ll become a vampire.
I pull back, our chests heaving. Victory shines in her gaze as she lays back down. I climb over her, with my arms parallel to her face and kiss her again, this time faster, more passionate, more desperate.
My thumb traces circles along her inner thigh, climbing higher and higher until she arches her back and releases a breathy sound across my lips.
I pull back then, the loss of my touch making her glare at me. The fiery look in her eyes only makes her so much hotter.
We stay the rest of the night like that, making out like some horny teenagers.
Before we know it, it’s morning, and LaLa goes back to the outside world, leaving me with a wink and a promise to return tonight.
I’ve never wished time would move faster in my life.