The Slave That I Am | 18+✔

Book 1⌇24. Claim

Chapter 24 ∣  Claim

-Annika

I spend the better part of the day floating in and out of sleep, Locaine never letting go of me.

Is he afraid I will do something terrible if he releases me?

I'm not sure.

I wake without pain for the first time, my eyelids fluttering open to see Locaine looking down with interest at me.

"Annika?" He asks with caution

"Yes?" I reply, my voice calms though the anger still resides within me.

Locaine's hold on me is suddenly removed.

I don't understand...

He rolls off me, seemingly exhausted when he releases a sigh, the tension leaving his neck as he rubs it. He sits up on the bed, leaning his back and neck against the headboard. He sure appears like he's been through a battle, to say the least.

I move onto my side, glancing up at him to see that his eyelids are closed.

"Locaine?" I ask, my voice quiet as I don't recognize the foreign feeling residing with the back of my throat. I'm uneasy and slightly afraid, wanting to just curl up in a tiny ball and disappear altogether.

His eyelids slowly open, motioning for me, "Come here. I know what you crave."

The hairs on the back of my neck prickle at the sound of his voice. A force takes over me, like nothing I have ever experienced before. I creep toward him, placing my knees on either side of his hips as I straddle him.

I place the palms of my hands on his bare chest and look at him with wide questioning eyes. I feel his hands at the small of my back, slowly traveling up toward my shoulder blades. There is a shift deep within me as I feel the drastic change in my eyes, my canine teeth elongating into...

...fangs.

I pull back in fear, but Locaine holds me firm, seeing the tears begin to fill in my eyes. In fact, he brings me closer to him, holding me tightly.

"Little hunter, you're going to need to drink if you want to remain alive," Locaine's voice is rooted in my ear as he tilts his head back slightly.

"I-I can't..." I falter, resisting the evident pull that is trying to call me to him. It frightens me, everything about the changes racing through my body at the sudden urge to taste his blood again.

Locaine sighs and continued, "Yes...you can, now come here."

He brings me to his neck, and I catch the hint of a sensational smell.

Blood.

His blood...it calls to me, a shiver traveling down my spine a second later.

I finally release a sigh, feeling his skin beneath my lips as though we were only going to kiss. A predatory sense heightens within me as I listen to the call, my fangs piercing into his neck on the next beat of my heart. Never has the taste of copper pulled me so as I swallow his sweet blood, the parch feeling in my throat fading away.

An animalistic growl starts at the back of Locaine's throat, my body freezing.

Out of nowhere, a feeling of lust takes over me, though it's not like any I've experienced before. It's completely different, part of me wanting to drown in it.

What is this?

I can't control the feeling inside, an animal crawling its way out of me.

Is this me?