Submitting to the Bloodlust

Becoming a Habit

Chapter Eleven

Mauri POV

The ride to the property was silent after I popped off to Seth. Who does he think he is talking to me like that? He does not own me like one of his pets, and he is not my master. I will get into the vehicle whenever I damn well, please. I’m not afraid of him, which is odd because something tells me I should be… but I’m not. Everyone else can cower down when he enters the room, but I refuse.

I hate that he can compel me, but I will find a way to make him stop or block his ability. My mom warned me about him… She said that he is charming, but he is a horrible person. I don’t fully see it yet. He is handsome, sexy, and dominating. Those emerald green orbs that turn red when he’s angry makes my core heat up. He is dominant and a bit controlling, but that does not make him bad. He is a King. He is used to getting his way and he's not used to someone challenging him. Which is one reason why he uses the compulsion, I suppose. Besides, he helped my mom escape from my dad. A bad man would have turned his cheek to another man's business and not have helped. There is a good man hidden behind the ruthless vampire he allows everyone to believe he is.

I used to think that vampires were monsters. That they prayed on anybody and killed for fun, but they actually have more strict rules than humans. Don’t get me wrong, some of their traditions are ruthless – like the fact that they have human pets. But some of their rules make me think that they are not monsters at all, just predators trying to survive. For instance, they are not allowed to feed on anybody under the age of sixteen. If they must feed on a random person, they have to compel the victim to forget about the feed and replace the memory with something pleasant. They are never allowed to drink someone dry and cannot kill each other. If one of the leaders believes that a vampire is a liability and needs to be killed, it is up to the king to decide. I mean humans aren’t very different in all honesty.

I still don’t want to be a vampire though. I don’t want to rely on blood to keep me alive when regular food has done great my entire life. When I look at blood, it’s not appealing to my mind, but as soon as I smell it, my mouth waters. My stomach is in constant knots too. I thought that eating at the restaurant would make me feel better, but it only made my hunger worse. “May I get some water please.” I ask Mario. He grabs another bottle from his bag and hands it to me from the front seat. I chug the water down in just a few gulps.

This caught Seth’s attention. He scoots closer to me, his thigh touching mine. He leans over and murmurs the never-ending question that he is always asking me, “Are you hungry?”

I refuse to make eye contact with him and shake my head in response. It may be childish for me to still be mad at him, but I am.

He dips his head lower this time. His lips almost touching my ear, “You need to feed when you are hungry or you will lose control. Human food will not satisfy your hunger completely, baby.” When he calls me baby a chill runs from my head to my toes. “You can speak freely.” He adds severing the compulsion he had on my vocal cords.

“I’m fine.” I say, and this time I peer over at him. I’m surprised to see a worried look painted on his face. Our proximity pulls all the moisture from my mouth, leaving my tongue as dry as a desert. I blush when I feel the dampness between my thighs where all my fluids must have run off too. I don’t understand why my body responds to him this way. Seth’s eyes widen as if he’s shocked about something.

“Sir, we are here.” Garrett calls from the front seat and then clears his throat. We pull up to a sophisticated three-story building. The exterior is a white rock with black ascents. There is a balcony for each upper layer. The top floors balcony is not as open as the second story. The bars are more concealed, giving a private section outdoors where onlookers cannot be nosey. Each door on the exterior is black iron. The soon-to-be club looks modern in a mysterious way.

Mario gets out of the car and instantly opens my door. He holds his hand out for me to take and smiles sweetly down at me. Mario is hot. He is Latino with dark hair and eyes. His skin is the color of hot caramel before it dries. His muscles are not as defined as Seth’s, but he still has an athletic build that screams stamina. When he talks, he has a Hispanic accent that would make any girl drop their panties for him. I think he knows he is hot s**t too because he always has a devilish grin on his face.

I let him help me out, just because these stupid heels make it hard for me to balance myself. I can feel Seth breathing down my neck right behind me. “Garrett stay with the car.” Seth calls over his shoulder and ushers for Mario and me to follow him into the building.

As soon as I step inside, I’m in awe at the sophistication of the building. That only lasts for a second before my organs catch fire inside of me. I double over in pain, “Seth.” I cry out. I feel two sets of hands on each side of me.

When I look up, Mario is on one side and Seth on the other. “Mario, go find a human, hurry.” Seth orders him. Mario’s hands are gone from me instantly. I feel a gust of wind as he speeds out the back. Another wave of painful fire strikes through my bones and I cry out once again.

“Shit.” Seth murmurs under his breath. A muffled scream echoes off the brick walls in the empty building. I glance up to see a young girl fighting to get out of Mario’s arms. He forces her face in front of his and whispers something to her. She immediately calms in his hold as he put her in a trance with his compulsion. All her fear of the strange man kidnapping her - gone.

Seth snatches the teen by her arm and pulls her in front of me. He moves her hair from her neck. “You need to feed.” He tells me.

I shake my head, “No.” I refuse.

“You need to feed, or you are going to turn savage. You will kill everyone in this city who steps foot into your path. Feed!” his tone is menacing in a manner that promises a punishment if I do not obey his order. He grabs her wrist and offers me that instead. My stomach growls as my pupils zero in on her pulse. I can literally see the blood pumping through her veins. I want the pain to go away so badly.

I look at the girl again because I'm tempted to feed. She is maybe thirteen at the most. Her cheeks are still chubby like a sweet child. We are not supposed to feed on anybody under the age of sixteen.“She’s just a kid Seth! NO!” I scream to him as I fight the urge to attack her. I feel my legs give out and I hit the ground right before another wave of fire ignites me. Every muscle in my body tenses up, rewarding me with the feeling of complete exhaustion. My vision becomes blurry, and my head spins. For the first time ever around Seth, fear floods into my soul. This must be what death feels like. I try to grab ahold of something – anything – to keep me alive. “Seth…” I whimper when I realize that I am losing the battle. "God, make it stop please."

Seth POV

“Fuck.” When she calls out my name like that, it makes me feel emotions I shouldn’t. She begs me to help her but she won't let me. I was going to look past the age of the human and break another rule for her, but she wouldn't feed.

I pick Maurianna up off the floor. I want to compel her to feed, but I know I can’t. Feeding is the most important thing for a vampire to learn on their own. I know that if I compel her to do so, she will only rebel more. She reminds me a lot of myself when Hecate first turned me. I thought I was strong enough to fight off the cravings. I didn’t want to be a bloodsucker, so I refused my natural instincts. It was the worst thing I could have done.

My fear is that Maurianna will go down the same path I did if I don’t help her. I see the rebellion in her eyes as it comes naturally. I see the way she looks at us vampires. She does not want to be a part of this life. Just like I didn’t at first. Now I find joy in being superior.

Her heartbeat is slow, and her breathing is labored. Her eyes keep fading in and out as they try to focus on me. “You need to feed on her, Mauri.” I try one more time, but just like before, she shakes her head in protest.

“She’s just a kid.” Her voice is sleepy, lethargic even.

I glance up at Mario who is watching us like he is at the movies. “Do you have a blood bag?” I ask him.

“No sir.”

“f**k. Get her out of here.” I nod my head towards the tiny human standing calmly off to the side.

“What about M-“

“Get her out of here now! Erase her memory.” I yell. Since when does he think he can question my authority?

Mario scurries to grab the girl. I hear him creating a memory in her mind as he compels a false story as to what happened.

I need to get Mauri somewhere private. I look around the empty room and come up short. The walls have not been put in yet and there is no furniture to set her down on. I re-adjust Mauri in my arms and head towards our Suv. When I march out the door, Garrett's eyes grow big.

“Sir what happened?” his tone is laced with more worry than I like.

I don’t want him to know what I am about to do. “Three stores down is a witch named Helda. Go ask her to mix up some sage, fennel, and birch root into a vile.” Quicker than the cars on the freeway, Garrett is gone.

I am able to get the car door open before Mauri goes insane. She comes alive as I am trying to put her into the car. Her eyes are completely red and her fangs already bared, dripping with venom. Thank God Mario shows up when he does. I grab her by the waist from behind as she tries to frail about to get out of my grasp. Mario pushes her and I into the car. As soon as I bring my wrist up to her mouth, her fangs pierce my skin painfully deep.

I suck air through my teeth at the reminder of the sensation. She gulps my blood greedily. I shift her weight onto my lap in the seat - her back up against my chest. Tiny moans escape from her throat as she drinks from me greedily. Those wonderful feelings pulsate through my blood as I feed her. The smell of her arousal grows thick in the air. Her hips grind into my lap and I want so badly to touch her, but I keep my free hand flush against the seat. Her head lulls back onto my shoulder. She pulls my arm around her tighter as her fangs try to suck me dry. She arches her back and digs her ass further into my lap as she moans louder.

“Fuck.” I breathe out for the hundredth time tonight. It's so hard to keep myself from plunging my fangs into her neck, which is inches from my lips. It's difficult to keep my hands from touching every inch of her body as I show her just how pleasurable feeding can be. She is almost too beautiful to resist. She stares up at me with her gorgeous kiss-me eyes... damn. I have to look away.

My head falls to the side lazily as I peek at Mario. I'd rather distract myself with him. The door to the car is still open and he gapes at me and Mauri. His mouth hung open from the surprise at the fact that I let her bite me. He is surprised that I am letting her feed from me, without feeding from her in return. “Don't give me that look, Mario. Shut the door and don’t tell Garrett,” I order him. He pushes the door shut slowly and turns his back on the vehicle.

I wedge my face in between Mauri’s chin and shoulder and kiss her neck lightly. It’s my fault she lost control. I should have pushed her harder to feed from Jade this morning. I knew she wanted to, yet I let her off easy because I enjoyed watching her hungry eyes look up at me. I close my eyes, “Take whatever you need baby.” I tell her. I pull my free hand up onto her thigh and draw tight circles with my thumb. She responds with more moans into my ear. one of her hands fall onto the top of mine that I have resting on her knee. She interlocks our fingers and I let her. Pulling her hand up to my lips I kiss her knuckles.

The tugging sensation from my veins eases up and Mauri pulls her fangs out of my wrist. She licks at my wound to help seal it. When she lets go of my wrist, it lazily falls onto her lap. She peers over at me with flushed cheeks. “Are you okay?” she asks sweetly. "You look exhausted," she adds.

I chuckle. She’s the one who just lost control, yet she’s asking if I’m okay. I nod my head lethargically. It took a lot of blood to satisfy her, and if I’m being honest with myself, I need to feed now too. I lick my lips trying to moisten them. She shifts on my lap moving her ass from the center of my pelvis onto one of my thighs. The loss of the pressure on my erection catches my attention and I snap out of the daze that I am in. She is staring back at me. Her lips are plump and stained red from my blood. Her cheeks are flushed from her bloodlust, and she has her signature ‘kiss me’ look in her eyes. Her siren essence coaxes me in and I'm too weak to fight her. I'm at her mercy to give her whatever she pleases.

Her lips come deathly close to mine. As much as I want to pull away, I can't. When she glances down at my lips, breaking her eye contact, her siren powers fade. Just in time to avoid her lips crashing into mine, I turn my head and allow her to kiss me on the cheek. Her lips linger on my skin for a moment. She pulls away and leans up to whisper into my ear. "Thank you Seth." her sweet voice makes my heart flip.

God, why does she do this to me? I can't want her. She is off limits and I have already broken so many rules. If I catch feelings for her, it will get in the way of my plan to use her powers to pursue my way up the ladder with my enemies... I need to get my head out of the clouds and quit giving in to this beautiful creature, but f**k how can I when she makes me feel things I haven't felt in hundreds of years?

The last time I wanted to break all my rules for someone was the day I realized I had fallen in love with Lilith.