Dragon Blood

Chapter 28

"This is Rhia! Leave a message at the beep."

Nolan pulled the phone away from his ear and frowned down at the phone. It had only rung twice. She was sending him directly to voicemail now. He really needed to stop bothering her. He knew that she was probably struggling with everything, but he wanted to understand it better. He wanted her to talk to him, tell him what was going on in that beautiful head of hers. Did his feeding on her really bother her that much? Did she even enjoy it? Had he taken too much, been too rough...? A thousand worries crowded his thoughts. He needed to be patient, but...

He tapped the icon to redial her number. Constantine reached out beside him and locked the phone. "You have made five phone calls in the last half-hour." He said with pain in his voice. "I have a headache and we still have this blasted summons to get through. Stop."

Nolan pulled his phone away and glared at his king. "You've only given me a month to do six months of work." He hissed. "I have a lab to rebuild, patients to sign off, replacements to hire... The hospital doesn't usually accept resignations from people in my position with less than two months."

"And I'm sure that has nothing to do with feeding from that girl of yours?" Nolan narrowed his eyes further. Constantine's voice was knowing and confident, but completely void of his usual derisive tone. As if reading his thoughts, a thin smirk spread across Constantine's lips. "Does she taste as good as she smells?"

There was no good answer. If he said no, Constantine would just want to prove him wrong. If he said yes, he would be even more curious and increase his efforts in getting a taste. If he told the truth, that her blood was the nectar of the gods... He didn't want to think about it. "Yes." He finally said.

He chuckled low. "Then you have no reason to be sulking the way you are. You're practically radiating power. It's a good look for your first day back in front of the Counsel."

Nolan shook his head slowly and sighed. "She won't call me back." he finally said hesitantly. "It's been almost two days."

"Well, of course, she's avoiding you. You deprive yourself of fresh blood when you don't have to, so when you finally go for the vein you have no idea how to keep yourself from overfeeding. Not to mention you're a bit of a lightweight when it comes to blood anyway. Who knows what you said to her while you were riding high?"

Those words sent a chill through Nolan's spine. Had he said something in his drunken daze? He tried to think back to yesterday morning. She'd woken up in his arms. She'd asked him to feed from her. He pleasured her until she couldn't handle it anymore... then what? He did feed from her. He'd woken up with the taste of it on his lips and her scent lingering in his magic-torn room. Had she been frightened off by her own power? She'd been oblivious to it up until then.

He placed the phone flat on the table to keep himself from crushing it. "This can't be like it usually is, Constantine." He said stiffly. "It has to be different this time."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"This back and forth between you and the women in my life. Rhia is different. It's going to be hard enough for her in France, you don't need to make it any harder."

"I'll tell her the same thing I've told every single one of your wives. As long as she doesn't get in the way of what needs to be done, she has nothing to fear from me." Constantine's red eyes burned dangerously. They didn't match the smile on his face. "Try her again." He nodded at the phone. "I hope everything's alright."

Nolan felt a pit growing heavy in his stomach. Knowing she would just reject his call anyway, he opened his messages and quickly tapped out; I understand if you don't want to talk yet. Just tell me you're safe. Constantine is acting strange.