Present Day
I’d had enough of the bickering and went downstairs. The smell of cheese-stuffed chicken trailed out of the kitchen. “Hey, Mom,” I greeted her as I snuck around her to grab a biscuit.
“How are things going?” she asked as she slid a pan back into the oven.
“For the day, good so far. In general? Things are looking up for the better. The loan I took out will be paid off next week, and then I'll be able to start saving for a down payment on my own place.” The biscuit's crumbly, buttery deliciousness made my stomach grumble for more. I had a mild sensitivity, but I was willing to die for garlic-flavored baked goods.
She slid the mixing bowl into the sink and ran water over the floury residue left behind, giving me an unamused look at the snack of my choice. “It was such a terrible reason to move back home, but we were happy to have you again.”
My chest tightened slightly at her words. I hated that I'd had to, but it was a better alternative to living homeless on the streets. After what had happened, I'd been slapped with a debt that took everything away from me. I'd barely kept enough money to cover my car ownership costs. Hells, I was fortunate to have a car. “I'm grateful that you took me back in.” So much more than I could express.
“You're heading out already?” She asked, turning her full attention to me and noticing the small backpack I had slung over my shoulder.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I can't listen to them anymore.”
My adoptive mother's eyes opened wide. “Who's upset with whom, and what's it about this time?”
My adoptive sister and her on-again, off-again high school sweetheart had been arguing all afternoon. I shrugged and scarfed down the remainder of the biscuit. “First, she was—I didn't hear what it was about. Then he was because she chose Marity over a university they could attend together.”
Shutting off the water that filled the bowl in the sink, she huffed, “Marity is the best school a young witch can attend. It will do so much more for her practice. They've had this same argument all summer.” Annette rolled her eyes and went upstairs to mediate the fight between Hannah and her boyfriend. “I'll see you later, Sweetie. Stay safe!” she called down the stairs at me.
Better she dealt with all that than me. Those two have been at it like Titans and Olympians.
The heat of a late summer evening hit me hard as I stepped outside. My glossy black 1959 Cadillac hearse was parked in the driveway, waiting for me. It started with a roar—not because it had a powerful engine, but because it still had the original factory exhaust. I have no idea how many miles I’ve put on it since I started driving it. The odometer stopped spinning last year.
The quiet drive downtown was short. I manually rolled the window down to let the warm air whip at my hair and face and drown out the silence. The Caddy’s radio died a long time ago, and I've been unable to repair or replace it. Too many memories of sitting in the driveway, watching the man I love dearly tinkering with every aspect of the car, made it seem wrong to ask anyone else to work on it for me. Not to mention, all my spare money was destined to marry the bank.
Parking in a street-side space, I thumbed through the cards in my wallet before finding my identification badge to enter the Organization of Mythical Being's Auxiliary building. Such advancement in everything, and we hadn't even upgraded to using blood samples, appendage prints, or face recognition security measures yet.
“Hey, Roz!” Markus, the secretary, called as I stepped through the doors. “Have an appointment this evening?”
“Every Tuesday,” I replied with a small smile, sliding my badge along the desk to him. Markus consulted the computer, and my file noted where I was supposed to go today.
“We've got you down for Room Two today. The nurse and donor will be there shortly.”
With a curt nod, I left the lobby and walked down the short hallway to the feeding rooms.
Room Two was modeled after a faerie garden with a massive red and white mushroom house painted on one wall and sculpted, three-dimensional trees flanking the opposite wall. Faux moss tufted the baseboards and bases of the stools that matched the mural. Twinkle lights sparkling throughout the greenery gave the room a whimsical feel, unlike my reason for being here. While fanciful, I wondered how difficult it was to clean and disinfect everything if a donation went awry.
After a few minutes, Casey entered the room, followed by Nurse Kathy. The former sat down on the stool beside me as Kathy hooked him up to oxygen and blood pressure monitors disguised as a tree. “You have twenty minutes before I come back,” she informed us, hand on the doorknob.
“Yes, ma'am.”
Kathy closed the door, and a large digital timer above it lit up with a countdown. Casey raised his wrist in an offering to me, a slight grin on his face. The anticipation emanating from him was tangible in the stale air of the enchanted forest.
Before I’d formed my first Bond with Lexii, I fed on donated blood. As it was, a new Bond was necessary for my well-being. It just complicated my sustenance needs, unfortunately. A Bond with someone you weren’t close with was awkward, at best.
Grasping his hand and forearm with the lightest touch possible, I brought his wrist to my mouth and sank my teeth in. He winced at the initial pain, followed by a sigh of relief and satisfaction.
Moments into the feed, Casey leaned his head backward against the forested wall and let out a soft moan as he slid down his toadstool and crossed one leg over the other. “Oh, that feels so good,” he whispered.
I smiled against his skin as his blood flowed into my mouth, feeling the tension slowly building within him. My own desire ran rampant and was barely contained within my mind. His heart rate sped up slightly, and a slight sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead.
Shifting again in an attempt to conceal his erection, I could hear his thoughts in my head through the Bond. “Why doesn't she want to go out with me? If she can make me feel this way by sucking my blood, I wonder how good she is at sucking dick? I need to ask her out again.”
The occasional stifled moan escaping his lips let me know the Bond was getting stronger. If our arrangement continued for much longer, or we acted on the lustful thoughts pulsing through us, we’d be able to feel the Bond while not engaged in a feed.
Bouncing slightly atop the stool, Casey uncrossed his legs, his hardness pushing against the zipper of his jeans. His thoughts continued to run throughout the Bond, unchecked. “Don’t do it, man; you’re being watched by the nurse. Roz might appreciate it—hell, she’s probably just as turned on. What am I thinking? No dude. Don’t whip it out.”
Secretly wishing he would because it had been a while since the last time I’d had any real intimacy, I was grateful he didn’t. While attractive in his own right, Casey wasn’t “The One” for me.
I need to find a new donor soon.
I have too much baggage to drag along behind him, too; this Bond between us doesn't need to be sealed between us.
A knock on the door was the only warning before Nurse Kathy came bustling in and checked Casey’s monitors. After assessing his vitals, the nurse crossed her arms over her chest and cleared her throat. “That’s enough for today.”
I let one last pulse rush into my mouth before I slowly licked the wound I’d inflicted, and it stopped bleeding. I accepted the napkin offered by Kathy and was shooed away so she could reassess Casey before sending him on his way.
Wiping my face, I found my way to the restroom to freshen up. Red heat crept into my cheeks as the new blood flowed throughout my system. Bond-fuelled lust sent pangs of desire all over my body. Gods. What is wrong with me?
In the bright fluorescent lights, it was clear I should have worn an actual bra and not the flimsy bralette I was wearing. Sliding my palms over my boobs, trying to calm the hard outlines of my nipples, I tried to think of anything and everything to quench the fire burning inside me. I imagined jogging stairs on a Stair Master for an hour, and changing the oil in the hearse on my own. Job hunting was one of the worst thoughts.
Flinging my hands in the air, exasperated at my failure to make myself any less horny, I sighed and gave up. I hoped washing my face in the cold water would alleviate some of the deeply rooted tension inside me.
It did, but not the way I wanted it to. The water smelled like a fish tank and burned my skin like bleach. Rather than cool the lava pooling between my legs, it made my stomach queasy.
Music trickled from the overhead speakers as I stepped out of the restroom. Markus gave me a small wave as I left, which I returned. With my thirst satiated, it seemed like I was floating away in the still night air as I slid into the seat of the hearse, sending a quick text to my adoptive mother.
Me: Hey, Mom, just got out. Be home soon.
There was no immediate reply.
Me: Mom, are you okay?
A few minutes passed by, and still no reply. Annette was a mother who answered at any time, day or night. I tried calling, only for my heart to sink with every ring. Something was seriously wrong. I could feel it as sure as summer heat in Texas.