Page 38 of Thirst

I stay that way for what has to be at least an hour before I finally start to slow down. First the spinning stops, then my body is slowly lowered to the floor again. The ticking comes back, agonizingly at first before picking up speed as I regain control of my senses, and just as I think it’s over, the world unfreezes … and Aaliyah begins to scream.

Twenty-Three

Iknow a blood-curdling scream when I hear one. Panic overwhelms Aaliay’s body and comes out in a terror-stricken shriek. She pulls her legs back as her eyes find me, and I know now that she saw me as I bit her, and I lost my sense of time, so who knows how much she saw. My fangs? The veins? Did she witness the way my eyes turn red when I feed? Who knows, but whatever it was, it was enough to horrify her, and I'm hearing the result of it now.

She yells so loud I think she can be heard three floors down. I try to take a step toward her but she jolts back, clearly stuck in a panic that keeps her on the bed but doesn't let her run away. All she can do is scream, and when I lift my hands to tell her to try to settle down, I see why. The veins in my arms look like worms covering my skin, which means my fangs are still out and my eyes remain red. She's seeing my true form and it’s torturing her. I've revealed myself completely, and if I don't fix this, it’s all over. I'm going to lose her.

I close my eyes and focus, taking a deep breath and accepting what I have to do. When I open my eyes, I raise a hand again.

“Stop,” I command, Influencing Aaliyah. She immediately mutes. “You're going to forget everything you just saw. There were no fangs, no veins, no red eyes. I did not bite you, because I am not a vampire. You consented to me sucking your blood, and that is exactly what happened. I sucked the blood running down from the wound, and I did it sensually until you reached an orgasm that blew you away. Nothing else exists but your pleasure and a pleasant memory. In fact, when I release you, it’ll be at the tail-end of that mind-blowing orgasm, and you’ll still be catching your breath. Nothing horrible happened tonight—only the best orgasm of your life.”

I take another deep breath, retracting my fangs and bringing my body back to its normal state. Once I know I'm good, I snap my fingers.

“Oh my god,” Aaliyah says, her back sliding down the headboard as she starts to breathe heavily. “That was … oh shit.” She leans to the side and curls into the fetal position, panting from the orgasm that never happened.

Her eyes close as she gets herself together, and I make a quick trip to the bathroom to grab a bandage for the cut and puncture wounds that are still bleeding.

“That was incredible,” I say, smiling as I rip open the package.

Aaliyah’s eyes remain closed as she smiles, and I take advantage of it, biting the inside of my bottom lip until I draw blood. I smear my blood on my thumb and rub it across all three wounds. In a second, her skin heals, and I cover the area where the cut was with the bandage to help carry the lie.

When her eyes open, I pop back up and smirk. “Thank you so much for that.”

“You're thanking me?” she says, reaching for her dress but still breathing hard. “I should be thanking you. That was great.”

“Good. I'm glad you enjoyed it, too.”

“I did. But you don't need to finish?”

“I got exactly what I wanted,” I reply. If only she knew how true it is. “It was perfect.”

She sighs. “Yes, it was. I'm ready to sleep now.”

I chuckle as she turns to the side and stands next to me to put on her clothes. Once she’s dressed, I hand her a check for twenty-five-hundred dollars that was already tucked inside my nightstand. She takes it, but I can tell she feels some type of way about it now that she has enjoyed herself.

“I wrote a check so that you could deposit it,” I say nonchalantly. “I hope that’s okay.”

“Yeah, that’s perfect,” she replies as she folds it to put in her purse later.

Now that it’s over, time moves quickly. We go from lying on my bed together, to walking toward the elevator. As we walk, I form the connection between my mind and Shawn’s, and tell him to be ready for Aaliyah in the basement. He agrees and asks how everything went. I break the link between us. Countless thoughts cause a tidal wave in my mind, but I have to wait until I'm alone before I can allow myself to be drowned by them. For now, I try to focus on the fact that Aaliyah is still standing right next to me.

“I can't tell you how much I appreciate you doing this for me,” I tell her. “I don't know how you feel about it, but I would love it if I could see you again.”

She grins big and wide, already thinking about the memories I implanted in her head. “I would love that.”

“Good. Not that I'm labeling us or anything, but I want you to know that I love spending time with you, Aaliyah. I love talking to you and getting to know you, and I've loved everything I've learned about you. I know this is something I've paid for, but it's not meaningless to me. I think you're special, and I'd like to do this again as soon as we’re not busy with work.”

“I'd like that,” she replies, and I know I'm not the only one fighting back a flood of emotions.

“Okay,” I say just as the elevator doors open. “I’ll hit you up later then.”

Aaliyah steps onto the elevator. “Looking forward to it.”

“Okay. I already told Shawn to be waiting for you in the basement. He’ll take you home. Have a nice night, Aaliyah.”

“You, too. Goodnight, Amari,” she says as the doors close.

Once she's gone, I drop to my knees and let the sensation of power wash over me like a waterfall. It’s so overwhelming that I don't even think about the fact that I told her I’d already spoken to Shawn about meeting her in the basement when she clearly didn't see me with a phone or hear me say a word. Hopefully she won't even notice.