Page 50 of Vayn

That had been five days ago. Since leaving me, he hadn’t checked in once. Pouting, I climbed out of his bed. Vayn’s T-shirt, which I was wearing, dropped to my knees as I walked barefoot into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and stared at the food. I didn’t want a sandwich, or a steak, or chicken.

My stomach growled. I stared at the bottles of blood on the shelf and swallowed. I wanted blood. Needed it. I had fangs now. They were dormant again, but they were still in there somewhere. My vampirism had kicked in. I was a true cursed one now. My diet called for blood. But the blood in the refrigerator didn’t smell appetizing.

Perhaps it was because of the drugs the researchers had forced in me. I grabbed one of the bottles, twisted and removed the top, then sniffed. Ugh! A shudder raced over me as I recapped the bottle and placed it back on the shelf. Yeah, I didn’t want that. Beastie rubbed against my leg when he entered the room.

“Hey, boy. I miss your daddy too. He needs to hurry his ass home. We have a relationship to start.”

Beastie barked in agreement before strolling down the hall, heading toward the back of the apartment. Unsatisfied with my food selections, I decided to return to bed hungry. I climbed into bed and pulled Vayn’s black sheets and comforter up over me. They smelled of him. I went to sleep with my mate on my mind.

I woke up to the feel of the mattress dipping. My entire body tensed as my brain cleared itself of its sleep fog to recall where we were. I was in Vayn’s apartment. But Vayn wasn’t there. It wasn’t Beastie climbing into bed with me. Whenever the pup climbed into bed, the dip of the mattress felt different. Intruder? No. We had wards to keep intruders out.

However, I could get past wards. Maybe this intruder could too. Strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me up against hard, bare abs. I panicked. Where the hell were my mad fighting skills I’d learned recently? Then his scent hit me. Vayn. My mate was home. Tears filled my eyes as I turned around in his arms to stare up at him.

“You’re home,” I whispered.

He smiled. “I’m home, love.”

He’d called me love. Damn, that felt good.

“Is the mission over?” I asked.

He shook his head. “We found two more facilities. We were able to destroy one and capture most of the researchers and workers. Somehow, they alerted the second one. By the time we arrived, the place had been evacuated.”

“We’ll get them. We’ll get all of them.”

“Yes, we will.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Get some sleep, mate. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Mate! That was another word that felt good to hear.

“I’m not sleepy, mate,” I told him.

“You were sleeping just fine when I got here,” he pointed out. “I even showered and ate before coming to bed. And the noise of me moving around the place and Beastie barking, excited to see me, hadn’t awakened you. You were out cold. So, go to sleep, mate. You’re tired.”

“Vayn Shadow-Fallen, you’ve been gone for days and didn’t check in once. Is sleep really what you want to do right now?”

“I checked in. Did you check the answering machine at the back of the house?”

“Answering machine? I didn’t even know you had a phone. Is that why Beastie kept dragging me to the back room and barking?”

“Yes. He knew the machine had messages for you.”

“How was I supposed to know that”?

“It’s all my fault, love. I didn’t explain it to you. I was in a rush to kill... I mean, capture...”

“Just say kill. I get it. I’m not completely innocent, you know?”

“I want to keep that side of me away from you.”

“I want all sides of you, Vayn.” Why did it sound so sexy when I said that? A blush heated my cheeks. “And we also need to exchange phone numbers.”

“But I can just teleport to you when I need you.”

“Vayn!”

“Okay. We’ll exchange numbers, mate.”

Silence ensued. Was he really about to fall asleep after being gone for so long? Uh-uh. Not on my watch.