Chapter 6
"I think I might have scared her away, Caleb," Jayden sent to his brother as he stared at the closed bathroom door. "She's been in that bathroom for almost twenty minutes."
"Perhaps she is constipated." His brother sent back, unconcerned.
"I doubt it, Caleb. I heard the toilet flush at least eighteen minutes ago. I think she's avoiding me."
"What reason would she have to avoid her lifemate?"
"I came on rather strong when I complimented her eyes. I couldn't help it though, Caleb. In all the centuries I have lived, I have never seen such exquisite jewels as my Kristine's eyes."
"You're a gem caller by trade, Jayden. I find that hard to believe."
"It is true, my brother! My world is filled with colors now! Everywhere I look it's a dazzling display of colors, but her eyes contain the most brilliant of them all. When I look upon them, I cannot help but speak poetry."
"My twin, speaking poetry?" Caleb was incredulous. This Kristine sure has made an impression on you."
"An impression? It was more like a volcano erupted all over me! I do not believe she was aware of it, but she was projecting a rather detailed sexual fantasy featuring the two of us! Good Lord, Caleb! It was all I could do not to ravish her right then and there!"
"So you scared her off by being hopelessly attracted to her? She is your lifemate. She should be flattered and excited, not put off." Caleb paused. "At least that is what I've seen from some other Carpathian couples."
"Well that is the problem. She is not Carpathian; she is human. If she were Carpathian, she would already know what was happening between us. She seemed equally if not more frightened by her own reaction.
"Likely, she has never been aroused by anyone before, seeing as how she has always been meant for you. The experience is probably completely foreign to her."
"What do you suggest I do, Caleb? How do I introduce her to our world and our destined life together without scaring her off?"
Tread carefully, my brother. That is all the advice I can give you."
Jayden sighed and focused on the bathroom door again. " I can hear her pacing in there now."
"She should not be walking around so much," Caleb told him. " I did not perform a full healing on her leg. The bone could very well fracture again if she puts too much pressure on it."
Jayden stood up from his chair. "I will go check on her. I shall talk to you later and let you know what happens."
"Good luck, Jayden."
"Thanks. I have a feeling I'm going to need it."
Kris stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror as she contemplated her current predicament. I have to be dreaming. My own horniness I can understand. Never felt it this strongly before, but I get it. The man is a sex god for Pete's sake! But only in a dream, would a man that hot ever get an erection around me! So I have to be in a coma in some hospital somewhere dreaming all of this. But do people in comas even dream? I know it happened on Buffy, but that was a TV show. There were vampires in it for crying out loud! Wait a minute… Kris vaguely remembered some neck nuzzling going on before waking up that first time. She pulled at the neckline of the nightgown. Sure enough, two little pinpricks sat in the middle of a huge hickey. She closed her eyes and smiled as she remembered the utter bliss of that bite. She felt herself heating up again and the dampness returned between her legs. She snapped out of her reverie to find herself gently caressing the bite mark. She quickly pulled her hand away. Yep. Definitely dreaming. No more paranormal romances for me. "Hot vampire bites? God, I need to get laid."
"I am not a vampire, Kristine." Kris screamed and jumped up as Jayden loudly forced the door open. The scream that came out of her mouth wasn't just from the shock of him breaking the lock on the door. Pain now radiated up and down her bruised leg from the force of the jump. Jayden scooped her up into his arms before she could fall to the floor. "Although I cannot comment on the latter."
Kris felt her entire body flush as he smirked at her. Her relentless libido spiked and once again a nervous laugh escaped her lips. "Not that I don't appreciate you catching me before I fell, but I'm fine now. You can put me down."
Jayden placed Kris' arms around his neck and held her even closer. "Not until I examine that leg of yours. Caleb and I were unable to perform a complete healing and you may have just re-injured it."
"Caleb?" she asked as he effortlessly carried her into the other room while carefully supporting her injured leg. "Who's that?"
"My twin brother," he said as he gently placed her on the bed.
"There are two of you?"
Jayden smiled again. "We are fraternal twins. Although, we have been told we look a lot alike." He placed his hands on the bare skin of Kris' left leg. "Now, please lean back and relax. I'm going to finish healing your leg."
"Wait!" Kris placed her hand over his and waited until he looked up at her. "I know I probably can't even begin to comprehend how you and your brother managed to heal me from what I know for a fact were fatal injuries; and I'm still entertaining the notion that none of this is real and I'm in the hospital in some coma. But—"
"I assure you, Kristine, this is very real," Jayden interrupted her. He took her hand, threading his fingers through hers and brought it to his lips. That barely-there kiss on her palm sent such a wave of heat through Kris that had to bite back a moan. She tried to pull away from him, but he held their joined hands trapped against his cheek. Looking into his eyes, she struggled to keep from drowning in his gaze. The emotions pouring off of this man were so strong it was all she could do to keep her barriers in place. The lust was still apparent. "How can you possibly doubt the truth of this moment?" Jayden asked.
Kris nodded towards their joined hands. "That's why." She glanced back at the tent in his pants, which appeared to have grown even larger if that were even possible. "And that. A guy like you doesn't get one of those for just anybody."She looked back up at him and Jayden reluctantly let go of her hand. Kris watched as Jayden grit his teeth and fisted his hands so hard the knuckles turned white. She was shocked. That dark emotion she was feeling, was it…yes… that anger was definitely coming from him. He looked like he was about to tackle her. His pupils were dilating. Her heartbeat sped up and once again she felt the onset of a panic attack. She began to whimper from the fear he instilled in her. Note to self: never anger a man you suspect of being a vampire.
"I told you. I am not a vampire. And I will never become one, not now that I have found you. "
Kris' eyes widened as she realized that his lips hadn't moved. "Did you just read my mind and answer back telepathically?"
Jayden shrugged. "It is natural for us to speak this way."
"Maybe for you!" she shouted at him. "I'm an empath, not a telepath! Which by the way is not helping the situation at all because for some unknown reason, you have absolutely no shields on your emotions! I'm surprised I'm still conscious! At the very least I should feel like my head is being beaten with a sledgehammer!" Kris paused as she suddenly realized something. "Why don't I have a headache? Come to think of it, I haven't had a single headache since you walked in the room." A strange calm suddenly settled over Kris and she stared at Jayden in awe. "What are you?"
Jayden sat down beside her on the bed. "I am what is known as a Carpathian. My people are of the earth. We sleep in the soil and we must drink blood to survive. We can live for centuries and we have a wide range of abilities. Shapeshifting, traveling as mist, mental compulsion, and levitation are just a few."
"How is that not a vampire? Can you go out in the sun?" Kris asked.
"We are born like all living creatures. As children we can play in the sun and take in food like humans, although we can never consume meat. As we get older, our bodies stop digesting solid foods and our tolerance to sunlight begins to wane. Although, if we are careful, we can still go outside right after dawn and right before sunset. At about twenty-five years of age, our physical bodies stop aging. We remain fledglings for the first two hundred years. This is around the age when all males lose their ability to feel emotions and see in color. It is an empty, bleak existence. We have only our honor to sustain us. Many greet the dawn, and still many others choose to give up their honor. They completely drain the blood from a human just so they can experience momentary pleasure—just to feel something. But when a Carpathian male kills while feeding, he becomes the undead—a true vampire of legend. He will continue to kill mercilessly for that artificial high until he is completely destroyed."
Kris cringed. "Well that sounds like a crappy life. Sure you've got all these cool powers, but you can't even enjoy them. And this only happens to the men? What about the women?"
"Each of our women is a rare treasure. They are the light to our darkness. They give us the hope we need to continue living."
"Wow," Kris said. "So you must be young for a Carpathian, right. I mean you certainly feel emotions."
Jayden looked her straight in the eye and said, "I am 917 years old."
Kris' eyes widened even more and her jaw dropped. "B-but you just said—"
Jayden nodded. "For over seven hundred years I have walked this earth existing in a grey, emotionless void. I had nothing to live for except duty and honor. That is, until I heard your desperate prayer and saw your broken body inside that wreckage."
"I don't understand. How did finding me change anything?"
Jayden tucked a stray hair behind Kris' ear and once again that gentle touch sent shivers down her spine. The pull was stronger than ever. She didn't know how much longer she could deny him. "The reason our males keep going, why we hold on to duty and honor when we have nothing left, is because we all hope that one day, we will meet our meet our lifemates. If a Carpathian male is lucky enough to find the one woman who is the other half of his soul, his colors and emotions will be restored. You, Kristine, are my lifemate."
Kris burst into hysterical laughter. "Of course I am! This makes perfect sense. Why wouldn't I be the—what did you call it—oh yeah, 'lifemate' of a supernatural creature? No human malewould ever find me attractive! I'm about as plain as they come!"
Jayden was thoroughly confused. Why would his beautiful lifemate think she was 'plain?' "Kristine, why would you ever think that? You are a gem inside and out. Who has told you otherwise?"
Kris glared at him. "Plenty of people, not that they had to. I'm a 24-year-old virgin who's never had a date in her life! In fact, the one time I actually struck up the nerve to ask a guy out, he laughed in my face!"
Jayden felt a dark rage sweep through him. "I'll kill the bastard."
Kris raised an eyebrow. "You know, for someone who claims I'm the woman he's meant to spend the rest of eternity with, you're doing a terrible job of selling yourself." She turned away from him and said, "I gotta get out of here. I need some fresh air to clear my head." She slid off the bed, gritting her teeth as pain shot up her leg. She tried to ignore it and began limping toward the hallway.
Immediately Kris felt Jayden's rage replaced with concern. He grabbed her and once again carried her to the bed as if she weighed no more than a child. "Please just let me heal you."
Kris let out a frustrated sigh and threw her arms up in defeat. "Look, I'm not saying I believe you because let's face it, this whole scenario just screams "paranormal romance novel" and it's totally something I would dream up—but if this is all true, and you did heal me using some kind of supernatural ability, then you must have used up a tremendous amount of energy in order to do so. Both you and your brother. You've done more than enough; you don't need to give any more than you already have."
"I have replenished most of my strength since the initial healing, and completing this small task would take very little. I hate to see you in even the slightest pain. Please sivamet, let me do this for you."
Once again, Kris could feel the sincerity of Jayden's words. In fact, the man who called himself her lifemate seemed to be on the verge of tears. Kris took his hand and held it to her face. "You feel my pain, don't you?"
"Every little twinge. I've been suppressing your headaches, but the pain in your leg will not cease until the bone is fully healed."
Kris nodded. "I know what it's like to want to help someone who refuses your aid. What good is a gift if you are never to use it? Go ahead, Jayden. If it will ease your mind, I will accept your help."
Jayden sighed in relief. "Lean back and relax, Kristine. My spirit will exit my body and enter yours as pure healing energy. You'll feel a slight warm sensation as I heal you from the inside."
Kris watched as his body slumped on the bed. She could literally feel his spirit moving within her. As she felt her leg strengthening, she also felt Jayden's very essence pounding at her mental barriers. The pull to merge with him was so strong; she felt it to the depths of her very soul. All too soon, he returned to his body and Kris found herself aching at the loss.
Jayden looked up to see that his lifemate was crying. "Sweetheart, why are you crying? Your leg is healed; you should no longer feel any pain." She began to shake as her tears turned to sobs. Jayden gather her in his arms and held her close to comfort her. "I'm sorry. Caleb would have done better. He is the real healer in the family. Although we all have the skill, he is a true prodigy. It is a good thing, too, for I know not whether anyone else would have been able to bring you back. I went to retrieve your spirit, but were it not for Caleb, you would not have had a body strong enough to sustain it. As it stands, I still had to give you an enormous amount of my blood."
Kris buried her nose in his neck. "You gave me blood? Will I become like you now?"
Jayden ran his fingers through her shoulder-length hair. "It takes three blood exchanges to become a Carpathian. We have completed only one." Jayden focused on lowering her heart rate and getting her breathing under control.
Kris gasped. There in Jayden's arms, she could feel both of their hearts beginning to beat in sync with one another. She put her arms around him and held tight. She squeezed her eyes shut and gathered her resolve. Kris could feel her empathic blocks crumbling. The pull to bond with this man, this Carpathian, was far too strong to resist. Soon she would have no other choice but to let go. But first, there was something he needed to know. "Ever since I was a little girl, I've dreamed of losing myself in a man's embrace."
She felt Jayden try to bring them face to face, but she held firm. "NO!" She felt his confusion. "Please don't misunderstand. I feel it too. The connection between us, it's so strong; I can't fight it much longer. If I look into your eyes one more time, I'm going to lose it, and I have to tell you something before that happens." She felt him nod. "Like I said, I've always dreamed of this. Most girls dream of that big white wedding and plan every little detail from the time they are like six years old, but not me. In a world where the institution of marriage is losing its meaning, the wedding ceremony never meant all that much to me. Sure, I'd never get married without one, but the details don't matter. All that I ever cared about was the man I'd be pledging to spend the rest of my life with. I never really imagined what he'd look like either; it was always just about how he'd make me feel. You see, I've never really felt comfortable in my own skin. I've always felt something important was missing from my life, like my soul had holes in it or something. I've always longed for that special someone who would complete me. For as long as I can remember I've felt this longing for my soul mate. I don't know how, but deep down, I've always known how I would recognize him. Whenever he would hold me, the rest of the world would fall away. In his arms, I'd be whole. I'd be home and I'd never want to leave. I feel that now with you."
For a long time, Kris just basked in the warmth of her lifemate's embrace. Finally she pulled back and looked into his golden brown gaze. This time she didn't fight the need to let her spirit drift towards his. "When I was dying, I couldn't help thinking that I'd never get to feel that completeness I'd always so desperately needed. I had a vision of a future I thought I'd never have. I finally saw the face of my soul mate." Kris smiled through her tears and placed a hand on each side of his face. "It was you, Jayden." Their faces were now close enough that they could kiss if so inclined. "I don't care if everything points toward this being a dream. I need this to be real. I need you to be real."
Jayden touched his lips to hers and Kris lost herself to pure feeling.
That felt like a good place to stop. Please let me know what you think. I'll try to have the next chapter up in at least two weeks. Maybe sooner if I get a lot of great reviews. Hint Hint.
