“James’ word is good enough for me,” Nick jumped in. “Get in touch with him. Maybe he can also get more information about the vampires too.” Mitchell scowled, crossing his arms over his chest but said nothing. “I’ll contact all the hunters and hunting associations I can, first thing in the morning. We’ll report here an hour after sunset. Sound alright Lord Etienne,” Nick said, looking up at the vampire who gave him a graceful nod as answer.
“Chris can you get in touch with Greg and tell him everything,” James asked. When Chris agreed, he left the room as quickly as possible, hoping to get away from his father.
“James,” He heard the vampire call after him and he slowed so the vampire lord could catch up. “I’ve heard about Lily’s change of behavior today,” he stated. His voice didn’t reveal any indication of exactly what he meant by such a statement.
“And?” James asked, shivering as they stepped out into the cold night.
“It’s rather unsettling. Has she given any thought to my offers?”
“Only a little, at least about the teaching her to feed part. She’s not exactly comfortable with it. Neither am I, to be honest. Sounds a little too personal,” James told him, stuffing his hands into his jeans pockets as the vampire chuckled. “Also, she refuses to feed from me,” James added, his tone a little sour. He couldn’t help but feel a little rejected.
“It doesn’t have to be and why does she refuse,” the vampire asked. James grumbled a mumbled reply, not in the mood to discuss his intimate life with a vampire, especially one he barely knew. Etienne chuckled and an actual smirk spread across his pale pink lips. “I see. She’s only fed off you when you’ve slept together,” he said then sighed. “How it amuses me that after all these years humanity still gets embarrassed over such an essential part of their existence.”
James grunted in reply, and just stood there waiting for the vampire to get to his point. He may not feel the chill of Montana’s winter nights but he sure the hell did and James was starting to freeze. “She doesn’t want to lose control and take too much from me,” he told the vampire, not able to get past just how awkward this conversation was for him.
Again the vampire lord chuckled. “Ah yes, and she would know so much about the topic from her wide experience,” he said with so much sarcasm that James wasn’t exactly sure how to reply. “Let me explain this to you, James,” the vampire said with a more serious tone now. “If Lily hasn’t drained you dry then she’s not going to unless she’s completely mad with bloodlust.”
“How can you be so sure,” James asked, his curiosity pushing aside his nearly frozen state.
“For our kind the trickiest ways to feed is during such an intimate moment. Such moments tend to be the times we let down our guards and restrictions the most, no matter the species. For a vampire, it’s when we fall prey to the blood lust and won’t stop feeding until we’ve been completely sated. That is unless we are physically forced to stop which is not as easy as one would think,” he explained.
“That Lily drank only from you and only in such moments convinces me that you’re the key to keep her blood lust in check. From what Donovan has explained to me, Lily’s falling into the beginning stages of blood lust. She’ll need to feed and soon. I think it’s best if we go to speak with her now,” Lord Etienne finished.
“She’s not going to like this,” James told him, shaking his head slowly.
“Lily would like becoming a crazed bloodthirsty killer even less,” he replied.
James had to admit that was true. “Alright, let’s go but if she asks I’m saying you forced me to,” he told the vampire.
Etienne chuckled again and followed him to their hotel room. Lily sat in a chair. Her leg bouncing in a quick jiggle while she nibbled at her thumbnail in obvious nervousness. She started to speak when she saw James then scowled. “What’s the leech doing here,” she demanded.
“A pleasure as always Petit Louve,” the vampire replied with a good dose of charm that irritated James for no rational reason. “We need to discuss about your feeding habits. You can’t dance around it any longer! You need to drink blood,” he demanded rather sternly, surprising James. He’d seemed so diplomatic earlier.
“I’ll do what the hell I want,” she snapped back at him. “Why did you bring him here?” She growled at James.
He held up his hands in surrender. “He made me do it,” he told her without any shame. The last thing James wanted was for Lily to be pissed off at him.
“Really? What he do persuade you?” She asked bitterly.
“Well, no but-” He started then Lily cut him off.
“So how exactly did he make you then, James?” She argued, getting up from the chair in a quick, angry movement.
Well damn! This wasn’t going in his favor at all, James thought. “Lily,” the vampire lord snapped at her. “Stop and look at yourself. Is this how you wish to be speaking with your mate? Like some spoiled child past her bedtime?” He demanded and James was worried Lily was going to attack him right there by the look on her face. “You’re starting to fall to the blood lust. If you don’t drink as soon as possible then you’re going to end up harming someone!”
“If I drink from someone I could hurt them,” she argued.
“Not if you drink from James,” Lord Etienne argued.
“You don’t know that!”
“Yes. I do. You’ve feed from two men Lily! James and that man Bianca found for you. Your first taste of blood was from James and you didn’t harm him, not even a little. You’ve fed off of James since then and he’s never once suffered from it. Yet when you drank from that man that Bianca brought you, you nearly killed him and you weren’t even hungry! James is the safest person you can drink from,” Lord Etienne told her.
“Allow me to make it even safer by showing you the techniques to assure a more controlled feeding,” he said, his voice growing softer.
James looked between the two, figuring it was best to keep his mouth shut for now. Call him crazy, but he was starting to believe the vampire was looking out for her. Lily sighed, her anger slipping from her posture. “Sorry I don’t do threesomes,” she replied snarkily but less bitter than before.
Lord Etienne gave her a deadpanned glare. “Rule number one, separate feeding from sex. They’re not synonymous and there are several nonsexual ways to feed,” he told her.
She sighed again and looked to James, crossing her arms over her chest. “Well, what do you think, blood bag?”
James shot her a bright grin and shrugged and she sighed once more. “Alright fine, Lord Pumpernickel, we’ll try it your way. But I warn you! At the first sign of groping I’m going to make you non-sexual, got it,” she demanded. She closed her fist and making a ripping motion that made James wince though the threat wasn’t directed to him.
“So let’s get started then,” the vampire lord said, tossing back the tails of his coat and sitting in one of the chairs.
“What? Now?” Lily said, still trying to get used to the idea that she’d agreed to let the vampire teach her to feed, and on James no less.
“Yes, you need to drink as soon as possible, if you truly don’t want to cause harm to anyone,” he replied, then with a wave to the last empty chair, for James to take a seat. “Now, the best ways for you to control yourself stay focused on the feeding. Don’t mix it with anything else, like intimacies. To do that, there are a few places I suggest you feed on. James, can you hand me your arm.”
“Why do you need my arm? I didn’t say you could sink your fangs into me and it’s not going to happen,” he demanded and Lily felt a small amount of comfort that James looked about as uncomfortable as she felt.
The vampire lord sighed with an expression that almost looked like exasperation. The rebel inside her couldn’t help but smirk with a sense of pride. She hated to admit it but she loved to piss off powerful men. “I am not going to feed off you James,” he said, clearly thin on patience. Lily let out a little snicker and Etienne leveled her with an unamused glare. “I want to use your arm as a demonstration.”
James apparently satisfied, held out his arm. The vampire lord gave him a nod and took James’ arm. “The arms are the best to keep a feeding clear of any other influences or situations,” he explained then ran a finger over James’ wrist. She saw James cringe ever so slightly at the vampire’s touch and she couldn’t help but wonder why he was doing this. Ever since Silvano had taken him hostage, James distrusted vampires.
“The wrist is a good place to begin. As a major flow of blood comes through these veins, it’ll make the feeding easier. However, I suggest you give as much control to your vampire as you can to ensure that your saliva has all the coagulants possible to ensure he doesn’t suffer from excessive bleeding,” the vampire explained.
“Wait, you want me to spit on him?” Lily said, scowling in disgust. The blonde vampire closed his eyes and shook his head while muttering something in French. Yep, he was definitely running low on patience.