Blood Lust Read online

  Blood Lust

  Changed

  Book Four

  Heather MacKinnon

  Blood Lust

  Copyright Ⓒ 2020 by Heather MacKinnon

  Book cover: Fiverr.com/GermanCreative

  Editor: Karen Sanders Editing

  Proofreader: Dark Raven Edits

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, actual events, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All Rights are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 1

  Charlotte

  “So, I guess you won’t be feeding from me anymore.”

  I’d meant the words to sound nonchalant, but there was no doubt Alexander could hear the sadness in them. He squeezed my hand that he hadn’t let go of since we started driving back to Manhattan.

  “You can’t tell me you’ll miss being an entrée.”

  I narrowed my eyes at the side of his face. “Actually, I will.”

  He glanced at me quickly before returning his gaze to the road. “You’re serious?”

  I shrugged and looked away. “Yeah, kinda.” I was quiet for a minute as I tried to sum up how I was feeling. “I guess I liked providing for you. I liked that connection between us. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to be a vampire, I just feel like that will be something I miss when it’s over.”

  That time, I knew there was no denying the melancholy in my voice. But it soon dissipated as anger flooded my system. “Just know, you’ll only be drinking from men from now on. If I find you with another woman like I did earlier, I swear there will be hell to pay that you won’t be able to afford.”

  I’d thought I was past what happened back in his room at the orientation facility, but there was just no getting those images out of my head. Even now, I could perfectly recall the exact shade of her brown hair. How his pale hands looked wrapped around her shoulders.

  I realized I was squeezing his fingers and relaxed my grip as much as I could.

  “I didn’t bite her,” he said, his voice soft and sincere. “Jasper sent her to my room, and I was just about to kick her out when you walked in.”

  “Didn’t look like that to me,” I said as I turned to stare out the window again.

  He used our joined hands to nudge my chin in his direction. “I thought about it,” he admitted. “I thought if I could just drink from someone else, I could forget you for a minute. I could forget how badly I was hurting and how fucked up our situation was.”

  He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly through his nose. “But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stand the thought of drinking from someone else but you. I couldn’t hurt you like that.”

  I worked to calm the anger frothing in my system as I reminded myself nothing happened. “So, what do we do now?”

  He glanced at me again. “Some vampire mates only feed from each other.” He said the words almost like he was hesitant to admit them. Or maybe scared of my reaction.

  But all I felt was excitement and hope. “Does that work? I mean, like, is it enough?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve never done it. Only heard about it. But, yeah, I guess it works for them.”

  “Can we do that?”

  He looked at me again, this time for longer. “That’s what you really want?”

  And just like the last time he’d asked me that question, I answered without hesitation. “Yes.”

  His face broke into the most beautiful smile, and my heart pounded in return. “Okay. We can try that then.”

  I pulled our hands to my lips and kissed his. “Okay. I feel better now.”

  I wished I’d had a camera in that moment to capture the look on his face. It was softer than I’d ever seen it, and as he reached up to stroke my face with a single finger, I knew I’d never seen so much devotion in one person’s eyes before. “As long as you’re happy,” he said quietly.

  I just shrugged. “You make me happy.”

  He shook his head and looked out the window again as he raced us back to the city. We fell quiet then. I wasn’t sure what was going through his head, but mine was strangely calm.

  As I sat there thinking about the night ahead of me, I realized I’d wanted to be a vampire since as long as I could remember. The first time I’d had a teacher ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer had been “bigger and stronger”.

  Even back then, my greatest wish was to not be at anyone’s mercy ever again. Even at the age of five, I was sick of being at the bottom of the food chain. I’d dealt with enough in my short life to know how important it was to feel safe. And I hadn’t in far too long.

  But despite how sure I was of my decision, I still had questions.

  “You said once that it’s not painless. What does that mean?”

  Alexander’s hand froze around mine before he answered. “You know I’ve never done this before, so I don’t know firsthand.”

  “Yeah, but you were changed once. I’m sure you remember something.”

  He nodded slowly. “It’s… an uncomfortable experience.”

  It was then I realized something. “I don’t even know how you change a human into a vampire.”

  “It’s a lot like claiming, only it takes things a step further. Instead of me just drinking some of your blood, I need to almost completely drain you.” His voice wavered at the end, and I turned to look at him.

  Alexander’s eyes were staring straight ahead, but even from where I sat, I could see the haunted look in them.

  “That must be the painful part,” I said softly.

  He nodded. “You’ll basically be dying.” His words were strained, jaw clenched like he could keep them from spilling out if he tried hard enough. “And then I give you my blood and it’s supposed to revive you.”

  “Supposed to?” I squeaked.

  Alexander shrugged. “Sometimes it doesn’t work.”

  My heart beat harder at that news. I guess I’d never stopped to wonder what would happen if the change wasn’t successful. I’d never known it was even a possibility.

  I swallowed past the dry lump in my throat. “Does that happen a lot?”

  He shook his head, his lips pressed together hard.

  “Then we should be fine,” I said, more to reassure myself than him.

  All he did was nod, and I had a feeling I wouldn’t get much else from him. I let him stew while my mind wandered, and the miles flew beneath the tires.

  I must have fallen asleep, because when he squeezed my fingers next, I blinked, and the sky was suddenly bright.

  Much brighter than it should have been.

  I turned to see Alexander white-knuckling the steering wheel. “I’m not sure we’re gonna make it.”

  I sat up straight in my seat, willing the sleepy cobwebs from my brain. “What do you mean?”

  He nodded toward the horizon, and I swear, it was like I could see the sky lightening shade by shade as I looked. I turned back to Alexander, the gravity of the situation finally setting in.

 
; “What are we going to do? We have to stop somewhere.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know of anywhere close enough. I’m just going to have to hope we get there in time.”

  I twisted in my seat, the hysteria rising. “Or what?”

  His jaw twitched with how hard he was clenching his teeth, but he didn’t answer.

  I turned to watch the sky brightening again, dread filling my chest until I could barely breathe past it. “What if we get a hotel room somewhere nearby? You can sleep in the bathroom for the day.”

  He shook his head again. “I don’t have time to do all that. We’ve got less than five minutes ‘til dawn.”

  My eyes widened as I looked around for a landmark. When I found one, my stomach fell even further. “We’re at least ten minutes from your penthouse.”

  “I know.”

  I turned, horrified eyes back to the morning sky as Alexander raced through the city streets. Thankfully, they were more empty than usual due to the early hour, but this was Manhattan. There was always someone on the road.

  Alexander leaned on his horn, the sound blaring in the quiet confines of the SUV. He swerved around the slow-moving Honda in front of us, barely missing a telephone pole.

  I didn’t want to watch, but I couldn’t look away as he weaved in and out of traffic, sometimes even driving up on the curb. My hands were aching with how hard I was holding onto the door, but I didn’t dare complain.

  It wasn’t until I smelled something burning that I knew anything was wrong.

  I turned to look at Alexander, horror flooding my system as I watched the smoke rise from his exposed hands.

  “Alexander,” I breathed.

  The engine roared as he raced faster down the street. “I know.”

  I looked back out the window at the offending sun, wishing there was something I could do. Some way to shield him from its harmful rays.

  Alexander let out a grunt of pain and I turned to him again.

  The sight almost stopped my heart.

  His once-pale hands were now covered in angry red blisters as even more smoke rose from his skin. Even as I watched, his flesh continued to burn until it was almost unrecognizable.

  “Alexander, we have to get into the shade somewhere. You’re fucking burning!”

  “I know!” he yelled between clenched teeth. “We’re almost there.”

  I split my time between watching the road and watching him burn. Now his face and neck were an angry red, and I knew it wouldn’t be long until they looked like his hands did.

  “How much farther?” I asked, panic making my voice squeak.

  “Two more blocks.”

  His hands were blackened now, the skin charred and exposing the muscle and tendons underneath. Alexander’s face was covered in blisters so large I wondered how he could even see the road anymore.

  And if I’d thought things couldn’t get any worse, I was sorely mistaken.

  We turned onto Alexander’s street and I breathed a sigh of relief that we were close. What I hadn’t realized was this was an East facing street.

  Alexander’s groan was the only warning I got before flames erupted from his body. The truck was instantly engulfed in smoke and fire as he pushed the engine even harder.

  “Alexander!” I screamed.

  I could barely see him underneath the blaze and heavy smoke. I lifted my shirt over my nose and mouth, but it didn’t help. My lungs seized with a coughing fit as my eyes watered and the fire crept closer to me.

  The flames rose toward the roof of the vehicle, and I knew soon the whole truck would be ablaze and we’d be stuck inside.

  With one last roar that filled the SUV and even drowned out the sounds of the raging fire, Alexander turned into the underground parking garage. The SUV balanced on two wheels briefly before righting itself with a loud groan. He brought us to a quick stop that jolted me forward in my seatbelt. I unhooked it and climbed out, resting my hands on my knees as I sucked in the deliciously clean air.

  Once I could breathe again, I ran around the truck to find Alexander. He was on the ground, his clothes still smoldering, but thankfully, the flames were out. I was almost afraid to come any closer, but I knew I had to find out how bad the damage was.

  I took cautious steps until I was at Alexander’s side. The moment I caught sight of him, the tears instantly sprung to my eyes.

  “Oh, Alexander,” I whispered.

  His face was completely unrecognizable. It was so burned you couldn’t even tell he was a man. His hands were seared down to the bone, and I was too scared to look beneath his clothes. I couldn’t handle seeing any more trauma to someone I loved so much.

  “I need blood,” he gasped.

  I crawled forward until he could reach my outstretched wrist. He tried to grasp it, but his hands were mangled, and he was too weak to get a grip. I inched closer until my arm was against his charred lips.

  The bite wasn’t gentle, but I didn’t care. The second I felt him pull in a mouthful of my blood, I breathed a sigh of relief.

  I could help him.

  I could heal him.

  His sips started out weak, but within seconds, he was gulping down my blood. I watched in fascination as the burnt skin fell off his face like ash, revealing perfectly healthy flesh underneath.

  In a move I didn’t expect, Alexander wrenched his mouth away from my arm and pulled me onto his chest. My knees fell on either side of his hips as he dug his face into my neck and bit down. I gasped in pain and pleasure as his hands wandered down to cup my ass and his mouth sucked on my neck.

  His hardness pressed into me, and I couldn’t help grinding against him. The horror of the last few minutes had completely melted away, leaving behind this bone-deep desire to be with him.

  To feel him against me, hearty and whole.

  To see that he was okay.

  To know that the worst was behind us and he was safe now.

  The frenzy between us slowly dissipated until all that was left was our heavy pants and my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

  “That was close,” he finally said.

  “Too close.”

  He hummed softly and kissed my head. “We should go upstairs. We’re literally lying on the ground.”

  I giggled and sat up. “Better than sitting inside a burning vehicle.”

  He grinned and climbed to his feet before helping me up. “That I can agree with.”

  I waited near the door as he parked the SUV and we headed toward the stairs, Alexander’s arm around my shoulders. I was tucked so tightly into his side it was almost hard to walk straight, but I wasn’t letting him go for any reason.

  Without warning, he scooped me into his arms and started running up the many flights of stairs. His gait was noticeably slower than usual, but he still had us to the top floor in barely any time at all.

  Unsurprisingly, he didn’t let me go once we reached his floor. Alexander carried me through the multiple doorways, juggling me and his keys at the same time. I would have told him to put me down, but by then, I knew it would be a waste of breath.

  He didn’t stop walking until he made it to the bedroom, and we both let out deep sighs of relief. I slipped from his arms to stand in front of him. His eyes were more than half-closed, and I was surprised he was still standing at that point.

  “I need to lie down,” he said, his words slow and slurred.

  I wrapped an arm around his waist and led him to the bed.

  “Ashton will be here any minute. I sent him a text before we left Long Island.”

  “Okay. I’ll wait out there for him,” I said softly as I pulled off Alexander’s boots and placed them beside the bed.

  He sighed and held his arms open wide for me. I wasted no time crawling between them and snuggling into his chest. “I’m sorry about today,” he muttered into my hair. “I never should have cut it that close. I just wanted to get us back here so we could start your change.”

  I nodded. “If you’d have sugge
sted we stop for the night, I probably would have been a giant pain in the ass about it.”

  He chuckled, the sound rumbling through his chest beneath my cheek. “At least you can admit how difficult you are to deal with.”

  I gasped and picked my head up to glare at him. “Me? I’m the difficult one?”

  He nodded, his face serious. “You are, but I put up with it because I love you.”

  Teasing aside, those three little words just melted me. Even the faux outrage was nowhere to be found in the face of that all-powerful phrase.

  I leaned down and kissed his lips. “I love you too. But you’re still the most difficult person in this relationship.”

  He laughed again, just as there was a knock on the front door.

  “That must be Ashton,” I said as I crawled off his chest.

  Before I could get far, he yanked me back for another kiss. “Come back and snuggle with me after you let him in,” Alexander said, his eyes already closed.

  “You won’t even know I’m here.”

  He shrugged one shoulder. “I just like you nearby.”

  Warmth flooded my chest, and I leaned down to give him one more kiss. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

  Predictably, he didn’t answer me. The sun had already done its job and put him to sleep for the daylight hours.

  I left his room, careful to lock it behind me as I left. Hurrying through the penthouse apartment, I made it to the door and undid all the locks before yanking it open. My mouth was already open to greet Ashton, but he wasn’t there.

  Instead, there was a bright bouquet of flowers.

  Something so benign shouldn’t have made my hands shake and my stomach cramp, but I knew these were for me and that this wasn’t the kind of flower you’d pick up at a florist.

  These were dandelions, their roots still caked with dirt from when they’d been plucked from the ground.

  Those vile words whipped through my head.

  You’re as worthless as a weed.

  He’d told me that enough times throughout my life that I’d never forgotten them. Only one person would leave a bunch of weeds for me, and that was my father.