Bound by Flames

“You need a whole roll of that?” Szilagyi asked, his tone taunting now. “Is she that bad of a biter?”

Something small thumped right outside the door. “Just this,” Maximus said. “I don’t mind the bites, but I could do without all the bitching.”

A snort of laughter was Szilagyi’s response, and a few moments later, the stone door opened and Maximus came in. I averted my eyes because, as ordered, he was naked. Then I glanced back at him with a sense of foreboding.

He was totally naked and only holding two small pieces of duct tape. Neither one of them would be enough to cover his necessary assets, let alone mine, too.

“I know, you’ll hate me forever for this,” Maximus said, walking over and pressing one of the pieces of tape to my mouth. “But you don’t know how long forever really is. A thousand years later, I’ve got an idea, and let me assure you, Leila, things change.”

Over his broad shoulders, I saw the guard lean in to check out what was happening. Maximus must have sensed him, too, because he turned around, keeping the other piece of tape concealed behind him.

“Szilagyi said to man the door. He didn’t say come inside to oversee, and if I wanted an audience, I would’ve invited everyone,” Maximus said, his tone harder than granite.

The guard muttered an apology and left, though the door stayed wide open.

I kept my eyes glued to that space as Maximus put the single remaining piece of tape on me. Not looking at him when he did that created a false sense of distance, as if I could separate my mind from my body. I couldn’t, of course, and the grimly determined scent emanating from Maximus reminded me that he wasn’t acting of his own free will, either. We were both forced into this awful situation, and for what? Damn Szilagyi! He’d made sure that Maximus couldn’t hide any blood on him, so now we’d have to go through this embarrassing, shameful ruse for nothing.

When Maximus’s hands moved from my most intimate spot to my shoulders and he touched his forehead to mine, a slow sigh seemed to slip from my soul. Neither of us wanted to be here, but right at this moment, I felt . . . oddly safe. For the next several minutes, I knew that no one would hurt me because Maximus wouldn’t let them. When you could be tortured at any moment, the assurance of safety, no matter how brief, was precious, and I had it because of him.

As if he sensed my need amidst my dread over what was to happen next, he stroked my head and my face with light, comforting touches.

“It’s okay,” he murmured, his gray gaze conveying all the support and encouragement that he couldn’t say out loud with our multiple eavesdroppers. Then, in a normal voice, he said, “I’ve wanted this for days, Leila.”

My restraints creaked as I strained against them, though it was more for sound effects than revulsion when the length of his body pressed against mine. He didn’t immediately begin to act out what Szilagyi and everyone else thought he was here to do. Instead, with a quick glance over his shoulder, he held his hips away from mine and then hugged me as much as my many manacles would allow.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered. “I’ll give you what you need.”

Then he began to mime what the single piece of tape prevented him from actually doing. Awkwardness washed over me, yet it wasn’t as extreme as last time. The survivalist in me was already running through the list of all the ways this could be worse. Besides, Maximus was stuck faking this because it would look odd if he said he wasn’t in the mood after he’d gotten the green light from Szilagyi, and with the open door, anyone could peep in to make sure that he was here for his stated intentions.

He did what he could to make it easier on me, though. Like keeping his hands on my hips or shoulders instead of letting them roam as he had the last time when we’d been filmed. In the strangest way, it reminded me of months ago, when Vlad and I were broken up and I’d checked Maximus for incriminating essence trails under the guise of making out with him. Then, like now, his touch didn’t elicit any desire like Vlad’s always did, but his light grip on my shoulders was almost soothing, a reminder that we were in this together. I didn’t want to be with him like this and I was sure he’d rather be anywhere else than fake-raping me, but everything Maximus was doing was a testament to his loyalty and bravery. Amidst my brutal, dangerous circumstances, having a friend like him was a godsend.

Maximus paused in his movements, glancing over his shoulder once again to assure himself that no one was peeking in. Then he pulled the tape off my mouth and his lips covered mine.

I stiffened in confusion. No one was watching us, so why was he doing this? I really tensed when his mouth opened and slanted to form a seal, but right as I was wondering what the hell he was thinking, warm liquid rushed into my throat.

It was blood. Sweet, glorious blood. Relief made me sag in my restraints. He had found a way to get it to me, even when he’d been forced to strip to the skin!

Then hunger took over and I swallowed that crimson ambrosia so fast, I would’ve choked if I still breathed. The tiny part of me that was still human found the nature-tested method of him feeding me disgusting, but the starved vampire in me bulldozed over that. I hadn’t realized how deep my deprivation ran until the blood caused my whole body to burn the way it had the first week I’d been changed over. Without conscious thought, I ground my mouth against Maximus’s, desperate to get more of that pain-killing ambrosia. When another stream of blood filled me, feeding frenzy took over and nothing else mattered.