I went outside using the moonlight to check on our garden. I moved up and down the rows checking to see if anything had begun to grow yet, but nothing was there. I moved away from the fruits and vegetables and started toward the flowers and once I reached the area where the sunflowers grew I looked down and saw a tiny green leaf sticking up from the dirt.
Excitement filled me, and I turned running back toward the cabin.
“James!” I burst through the door, nearly slipping on the hardwood floor. “James!” I called again.
We crashed into each other as I ran into the hallway and he caught me, keeping me from being knocked to the floor.
“What’s wrong?” He held my arms and his eyes did a quick search of my body from head to toe. “Did something happen?”
I took gulps of air as I tried to get the words out.
“You… you have to… ”I gave up on putting together an explanation and instead I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the back door. He tensed, and I could sense his hesitation.
I dragged him into the backyard and into the darkness, but the moonlight lit up our little garden as it were excited about the tiny growth in the dirt, as well.
“Harley, what’s going on?”
“Look,” I said, sinking into the dirt outside the border of our garden. “Do you see it?”
It took him a minute before he finally knelt on the ground next to me. “Do I see what?”
“They’re growing.” My fingers gently traced the small green leaves that had started to sprout. “They’re perfect, James.”
His eyes widened, and he reached out, running his fingers over the tiny leaves.
“They are. You did it, Harley.”
“We did it, James. Thank you so much.” I threw my arms around his neck and he pulled me into his lap.
“What are you thanking me for?”
“For everything, but mostly for bringing me here. Being here with you… it’s been perfect. I think I lo-”
His lips crushed to mine before I could finish, and I lost myself in his kiss. My mind was so focused on his kiss that when he flipped us, I didn’t realize until I was being crushed into the earth by his weight.
And when we made love, we did so next to the batch of tiny leaves we had grown together with the moonlight on his back and my fingers in his hair.
I screamed into the night, my body clenching around his and making me go tense above me as he filled me with all that he was. After his release, he rolled onto his side, pulling me into his arms. We lay in each other’s arms naked in the dirt and somehow it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
“Why haven’t we thought to have sex out here before?” I moved my fingers down his chest, enjoying the way the moon’s light bathed his pale skin.
“I’ve thought about it. Many times,” he added with a smirk.
I laughed.
Dirt clung to my naked skin and when I tried to wipe it away it only smeared it even worse.
“I’m going to need a shower now. Will you help wash me?”
His eyes moved down my chest and then back up. “Yes,” he said, lifting up onto his elbow. “But I might have to wash you twice.”
I laughed again.
I had never laughed so much in my life.
He pulled me up from the ground and we held hands as we made our way to the cabin. Once inside, I led him toward the hallway already feeling primed and ready for him again, but before we reached it his phone was ringing.
It had been ringing a lot lately, but James never answered it. I was sure who was calling or what they wanted, but it seemed every time the phone rang James’s body would tense up and a strange sick expression would move across his face.
“Are you going to answer it?” I asked.
“I should.”
“But you don’t want to?”
He shook his head and a sense of dread moved over me.
“Why not? Who keeps calling you?”
Did James have another woman in his life?
He was obviously keeping a secret from me and thinking that it might be someone else made my heart feel heavy.
“It’s no one important,” he replied. The phone stopped ringing and he seemed to relax. “Why don’t you go start the shower and I’ll be right there, okay?”
I wanted to ask more questions, but he turned his back on me and I knew that meant he wasn’t going to answer them.
I walked away and into the bathroom. I started the shower and opened the cabinet beneath the sink to get us towels, but the cabinet was empty. I knew there were fresh towels in the hall closet, so I opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the cool space outside the steaming bathroom.
I started toward the hall closet when I heard James’s voice and froze.
Was someone else there?
No.
There couldn’t be.
If another vampire was in the cabin with us I was sure I would have already been attacked and James wouldn’t sound so calm.
Quickly, I collected a towel from the closet and wrapped it around me. Moving in the shadows of the hallway, I moved closer to the kitchen so I could hear his conversation more clearly.
“I’m sorry, Rhys. Yes, of course. No, I understand.” His sentences were broken, and since I couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation his words didn’t make any sense.
Who was Rhys?
And was it a woman or a man?
“Of course, she’s still alive. It’s been hard, but I’ve been able to control myself. Yes, but have you found a male human?” He paused, listening to the person on the other end. “Then what’s the point of bringing her in now if you don’t have someone to breed her with? Why not just keep her here with me where she can remain content and clueless about our plan?”
My hand flew to my mouth to cover the gasp that burst from my lips. My stomach roiled, nausea filling me to the brink and sending me running for the bathroom and missing the rest of James’s conversation.
As soon as I made it to the bathroom I went to my knees in front of the toilet, losing everything I had eaten in the last few hours. My stomach lurched and I gagged long after I emptied my stomach.
Wiping my mouth, I leaned against the closed bathroom door and my fingers found the knob. I locked the door quickly, keeping James from coming in once he was finished with his phone call.
His words moved through my mind once again, making me feel again.
Breed her with.
What the hell was he talking about?
What kind of plan would he have in place with someone that would require breeding?
And then somehow, I knew.
I remembered Mr. Derry, the farmer, telling me how they would breed animals for consumption. He kept the family feed by farming his garden and breeding his animals.
I was just an animal to James.
A food source.
And if I had heard him correctly, he and whoever he was speaking with had a plan to breed me and making more humans.
I gagged again feeling sick from the memories of the things I had done with him.
The fact was, I loved James, but it was more than obvious he was only using me. He was doing what he could to keep me calm and happy so I wouldn’t escape. And when the time came, he was going to hand me over to someone else like I was nothing.
A knock sounded at the door and I jumped. The knob turned as if he was trying to walk in, but the lock kept him from coming inside.
“Harley? The door is locked. Are you okay?” His muffled voice came through the door.
I knew he could sense that I was upset.
He had told me before how he was able to know things about the way I felt.
The rushing of my heart.
The tenseness in my veins when I was stressed or upset.
And if I let him inside the bathroom, he would be able to see the tears threatening to break through my eyelids.
“I’m fine. I’m not feeling so great. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Do you want me to help?”
“No!” I said too fast. “I’m okay. I’ll be out in a second.”
He didn’t say anything, but I could feel him waiting just on the other side of the bathroom door.
Finally, he sighed and said, “Okay.”
The minute he moved away from the bathroom door, I breathed deep and let the tears fall.
I stepped into the shower and stood under the spray. The hot water stung my skin, but I welcomed the sensation. I wished it was enough to make me forget what I heard, but it wasn’t. The water burned, but James’s betrayal burned more.
He had been lying to me the entire time and I had fallen for his lies just as easily as I had fallen for him.
There was no more denying what my heart was telling me.
I loved James, but James didn’t love me in return.
Once we both showered, James heated some soup and sat it on the table in front of me.
Worry pulled at his dark brows.
“Are you sure you’re okay now?” he asked for the hundredth time.
He sat and stared at me from across the kitchen table as I moved my spoon around in my soup.
“I’m fine, James.” I didn’t look at him as I repeated the same words I said each time he asked.
I knew he wasn’t convinced.
He could sense something was off.
He knew I was different.
After getting out of the shower, I had barely spoken to him and I hadn’t let him close enough to touch me. I knew there was no way I could keep the charade going, but that didn’t matter because I was leaving.
I was going to wait until the sun was high in the sky, and then I was going to leave. With the sun up, he wouldn’t be able to go chase me. I couldn’t sit around and wait anymore. It hurt to think about it, but I had to leave.
Even though I knew James had deceived me, I still couldn’t find it in myself to leave without letting him feed on me once more. His pills were no longer working for him, and I loved him too much to leave him to die. At least with my blood in his system, he would have enough strength to get back to the city once the sun went down. Maybe then he would have a shot at finding another way to keep himself well.
“Are you ready?” I asked him, pulling my hair around to expose my neck.
“I don’t think we should tonight. You’re not feeling well, and I don’t want to make it worse.”
I swallowed the pain of knowing his words were lies.
He didn’t care about me.
Why was he pretending to when he could easily overpower me?
Then again, maybe he was too weak to overpower me.
Maybe he preferred keeping me happy enough to stay so he didn’t have to fight me.
“You can’t make it worse, James. I’m fine. I promise.”
I looked him in the eye, hiding the pain inside.
He pulled me into his arms, and I tried not to flinch at his touch. I closed my eyes and turned my head to the side, baring my neck to him. I felt the sting as his fangs sank into my skin and my body tingled as he sucked my blood out of me. There was no pleasure as he fed on me this time; only a pain so great that it was soul-crushing.
His fangs withdrew a minute later, but my hands covered the back of his head and my fingers tangled in his hair, holding him in place. This was the last time he was going to feed on me, which meant he was going to need more.
“Don’t stop yet,” I whispered, hiding the tears in my voice.
He growled with pleasure, sinking his teeth deeper. His hands grabbed at my waist and he lifted me onto the table. Moving between my legs, he pulled me closer to him and hugged me as he continued to feed.
I died a little at that moment.
Feeling my love for him exploding in my chest knowing he was only using me to survive.