Usually, I am not the overly emotional type person. Yeah sure, I cried like a two year old when Charlie went to heaven during that sob fest disguised as an animated children's movie All Dogs Go to Heaven, but give me a break. I'm not made of stone. Under normal circumstances, I like to consider myself practical and composed. I'm one of those few lucky people who find it easy to act like I don't care, because, honestly, I don't. I was born with an amazing super power called 'I don't give a fuck'. But...here I was, crumpled on the floor bawling like a PMSing prom queen with a pimple. In my underwear no less, which considering I was being emotional for one of the few times in my life, gives me extra brownie points for at least being dramatic about it. The worst part of this whole crazy scenario that was now my life...I could still feel him.
Not in the drippy romantic way of some too stupid to live heroine who claimed their skin still burned from the touch of their one true love. I mean, seriously people. Did he touch you or brand you like a slab of beef, because the way you describe it, makes it sound almost painful. Or worse, something you need to take an embarrassing trip to the clinic for. No, this had nothing to do with swooning romanticism. My blood literally pulsed harder in my veins when he was near. I really have no other way to describe it. It seemed my body had become one of those hairy, fat dudes in a Speedo on the beach with a metal detector that pinged like it hit the mother lode whenever he was close. As fabulous as all that sounds, it really wasn't. Because not only could I feel him, but my body now craved him. It was if every attraction molecule I had for him suddenly has been magnified by a gazillion and one.
For instance. I could sense him prowling around in his lair, which was fine and dandy, but when he came close to the door...which he was doing every other pass...my body went on high alert. The feeling was like a big mug of hot chocolate and marshmallows. I was steamy hot and wanted him to be on top in the worst way. I groaned at my own thoughts. I really needed to stop with all the sexual innuendos and analogies. But it was hard...so hard...so incredibly hard.
"Dammit, Fang! Get away from the door!" I growled, wiping a dribble of snot from my nose with the back of my arm. Gross. I totally needed to get off the floor and pull myself together. Another shudder racked my body as if I was having a small epileptic seizure.
"You know I can knock this door down," his voice rumbled through the door causing things to tingle in places I didn't want to be tingling.
"Don't you dare! I swear, if you knock this door down I will...I will...," Drat! My brain drew a complete blank. I couldn't think of anything suitably terrifying to threaten him with. "I don't know what I'll do, but it you'll regret it!" I finally yelled back. Not exactly the stimulating banter I had been hoping for. I sighed...with my luck...I will think of something absolutely perfect to say...20 minutes after he leaves.
"Please, Red, come out so we can talk about this." The door creaked as he leaned against it.
"No!" I moaned back. I meant to yell, I truly did, but I was too busy writhing on the floor at the moment to be snippy. The last thing I needed right now was to have a one-on-one chitchat with him. Unless it was a naked one-on-one with lots of dirty talking, my inner hussy shamelessly suggested. I shoved her uninhibited butt over to the corner and told her to stay there. Getting shakily to my feet, I took a deep breath and tried to get my shit together. Too bad it didn't work. Instead of getting a lung full of nice, calming air...I got a snoot full of Fang.
His glorious scent filled my senses with leather, brawn and a special earthy scent that was his signature calling card. Holy Moses on a pogo stick, he smelled nice. Better than nice, he smelled fantastic. Before I knew what I was doing, I leaned against the door. My nose pushed up against the wood like a kid at Christmas looking at toys in the window display or a diabetic at a bakery.
I turned my head to the side and moaned. "Will you please get away from the door," I mumbled.
"It's only going to get worse, Red," he growled through the barrier between us and I knew he was still plastered to the other side the same as I was. Only a mere few inches of lumber stood between the two of us and my fingers itched to turn it into kindling to get to him.
"What's going to get worse?" Seriously? I'm a reluctant vampire who suddenly had a royal title shoved at her with a wicked case of the hot and bothered coursing through my blood like a fever who was locked crying in a bathroom. How could things possibly get any worse?
"What you...what we are feeling...will grow. We are bound to each other like the tide to the moon. When we are near each other, the need arises, flowing around us. It drags us towards each other. The longer you fight it, the stronger the draw, until you feel as if you are drowning in your desires."
The sound of his voice made me need a hug. A hug that resulted in wild sex where we ravaged each other like monkeys with banana flavored lube. With an exasperated groan, I turned my back to the door and balled my fists at my sides to keep them from clawing through the door to get to the prize on the other side. Closing my eyes I started doing multiplication problems in my head, but since I sucked at math, all that happened was I got a headache.
"Only completing the bonding ritual will ease us from our suffering."
Crap! He was still talking.
"Bonding ritual?" I croaked out. I didn't really know what all this bonding slash mating stuff was all about, but I had a feeling I wasn't going to like it.
"We must mate, Red. That is the only way."
I forced gagging noises out of my throat in response to his dark, coaxing suggestion and let me tell you...it wasn't easy. Not with my heart thundering in my chest and my inner slut dropping to her knees, pleading with me to get on board with the mating game. But, I just couldn't do it. I wouldn't do it.
I could not, would not, have sex with him.
I will not, will not, on a whim.
I will not have sex with him on a bed.
I will not have sex with him in a shed.
Not in the light! Not in the dark!
Not in a seedy motel room! Not in a park!
I do not like him the big dumb ox.
I do not like him even though he's a fox.
I will not have sex with him in a house.
I will not have sex with him and become his spouse.
I do not like him touching me here or there.
I do not like him touching me anywhere!
Drat! You know you are losing your shit when start changing a beloved Dr. Seuss verse into your own personal anti-sex mantra. Shoving myself away from the door as if it was on fire, I ran to the sinks. Bracing my arms and bowing my head, tried to think of what the next logical step should be. The biggest problems was, logic didn't seem to be on speaking terms with me anymore. It had left the building with no forwarding address.
"Face it, Red, you don't have a choice," his voice drifted through the door sending a warm shiver down my spine. "We are fated to be together."
My nose wrinkled at the comment despite the happy dance my genitals were doing at the moment. Oh, how lovely it was to hear it had been written in the stars that I was born to be the mate of the King of a bunch of vampires who would rather see me dead. And here all this time, I thought I had been born to shop.
Looking up into the mirror with red-rimmed, puffy, glowing green eyes, I stared at myself. The wild mass of red hair framing my overly pale face was hopelessly tangled. I was just a jumble of shapes and colors. Nothing out of the ordinary...nothing overly fancy...but I was Melanie Louise Wagner and by God, I was staying that way! I curled back my fangs and snarled at my reflection. Correction, I was Melanie Louise Wagner 2.0 and the new and improved version was going to stay that way.
"I choose my own fate," I said loudly. Yes...I am well aware of the act I sounded exactly like Merida minus the Scottish brogue, but surprisingly...it worked for this situation. "And I am not going to be your mate, your Queen or your consort...or anything else. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it!"
A low chuckle coming through the closed door made my knees buckle and I had to grab on to the counter for support.
"You will change your mind," he said arrogantly.
"Dream on, fang boy," I muttered.
More sexy chuckling drifted into the bathroom. "I will accept your challenge you stubborn woman. You are only fooling yourself. I can smell your desire for me. It matches my need for you. Just as potent...just as strong. You are my mate, Melanie. My Queen. And my consort for now until eternity. Nothing can or will keep us apart, not even you, moya solnishka. Before long, you will give in to what your blood calls for and I shall be there waiting to answer," he purred and I could feel the vibration of it under my skin. "I will make you truly mine."
The sound of his retreating footsteps indicated he had finally left. Sagging against the counter as if I had just run a marathon, I breathed out a sigh of relief as my racing pulse finally thumped to a slow lope. I wanted to be horribly offended by his statement of all this mine business, after all, he sounded like a toddler going their terrible twos. But, in truth, he stirred things deep inside me that no one had ever dipped a spoon into. Hell, compared to Fang, they barely skimmed the top.
My mind was at war with my inner hussy and all that desire Fang had mentioned. And, dang it all, there was a lot of it. Dragging my suddenly exhausted butt to the shower, I turned it on. Immediately about 20 shower heads started sending down torrents of water simultaneously. Despite all my troubles, a giggle burst out of my mouth. The shower was the size of a carwash and was raging like a monsoon. Shaking my head in disbelief, I stripped out of my underwear.
"Vampires," I muttered under my breath as I stepped in. They took the saying 'go big or go home' to a whole new level.
As the water beat against my body from every angle imaginable, my blood went from a boil to a simmer. Not exactly ideal, but more tolerable than the burn from before. If I could keep my distance from Fang, perhaps I could keep the almost desperate need he generated within me from flaring up. My dry laugh echoed around the tiled shower. Yeah...I didn't even completely buy that one.
It wasn't like I didn't want to. Lord knows I'd pictured him naked so many times in my mind that it was becoming more of an obsession than a hobby and was probably the most productive thing I had ever done in my life. After the things I imagined doing to him, there was no way I could suddenly pull the prude card and miraculously become all innocent and pure. But this was more than wanting to have sex good enough to high-five about later. Drake was completely different than any man I had known. Yeah...yeah...yeah...he was technically a vampire and a King to boot, but he still was the most masculine and intriguing guy I had ever met.
When he laid those lip locks on me, I wanted to throw caution to the wind and agree to whatever he wanted me to. Goose pimples flew up my body despite the heat of the water at the memory of his kisses. But, there was more at stake here than just a fantasy. This was my life we were talking about. If I gave in to him, into the promised fire in his eyes, I would be giving up more than he would be.
The sad sigh that came out of my mouth made my chest hurt. Even though there was plenty of spark, arousal and desire flowing between us to power half the country...there was also something missing. I knew he wanted me, it didn't take a genius to see that and I also knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he would rock my world if I let him, but there was no affection behind any of it. Zip. Zero. Nada. Null.
The truth of it all...he didn't like me. Well...he liked me liked me. In the I-want-to-do-lots-of-things-to-you-many-of-them-with-my-tongue sort of way, but he didn't love me. Call me crazy, but if I am going to be permanently mated to someone for all of eternity, they damn sure ought to love me. Or at the very least care about me enough that I get the warm fuzzy feelings before jumping into the matrimony bouncy bed. Lust and physical attraction is one thing, becoming someone's Queenly wife was another. After all, go as Queen Anne Boleyn how things worked out for her when her husband didn't love her. She'd probably give you a piece of her mind, if she still had a head!
I cared for Fang...a lot. I would go so far as saying I might, possibly, could be in love with the big lug, but I'm not about to tell him that. Nope. No way. Net. In fact, it was ridiculous that I should even have an inkling of feeling for the double-crossing dope. He tricked me! I needed to remember that, especially when he was working his sexy mojo on me. What I needed was a barricade between him and myself. Something that would keep him at arm's length. My brow dropped to a frown as I poked my hamster in its wheel.
Think Mel, what can I do to keep Fang at bay until I could come up with a plan to get out of this mess. I watched the bubbles circle down the drain as I rinsed my hair. Oh my God! I needed Bubbles! No...not Mr. Bubbles...but my annoying, murderous minion. I did a little happy dance and quickly finished up in the shower.
She was better than a chastity belt, cold shower and thinking about old people all rolled into one little bundle of not so great joy. If anyone could squash the flames of desire, Bubbles could. Sure, she'd probably try to kill me every five minutes or so, but hey...you take the good with the bad. I was in no position to be choosy. I smiled a full fanged grin. Yes! This would work. All I had to do was find her and keep her with me at all times.
Wrapping a towel the size of bedspread around myself, I pushed my ear up against the door listening for any signs the enemy was still lingering. To my relief...I didn't hear a thing. Also, nothing on my body was prickling or pinging. The coast was clear. With lifted spirits, I opened the door and entered the bedroom. In the words of Stewart Gilligan Griffin...victory was mine!
Author's Note:
Once again, it's Bubbles to the rescue...or at least Mel hopes. Will her plan work, or will she give herself over to Fang and accept her fate? Stay tuned to find out!
I hope you enjoyed this latest installment of FANGED and if you liked it, you will consider giving it a vote. I love hearing from you and comments are always appreciated. If you don't see any updates here, feel free to check out my other works Bending Steele, When Roses Collide and Steal You Away.
As always, thank you for reading!
Sincerely,
K