Blind Love( Completed, Kings Series, Book 4)

Ready for new use

(Samuel's POV)

"C'mon I love blue cheese," Belle said.

I laughed. I was having a conversation with the woman who once had been everything to me. It was surreal. I hadn't had a chance with her then. The werewolf king had beaten me to her affections. I'd never thought I'd be in this situation. "It is nothing but rotten cheese," I replied.

"I guess I love rotten things, they are redeemable. And, I like to contribute to their redemption." Her voice was soft. She was flirting with me.

"Are you saying I need redemption?" I couldn't help but smile. Talking with her was easy. Flirting with her was fun. It had none of that constant tug of war I had with Diana, none of that anger which made me want to explode in my pants, none of that pride which I wanted to shatter with my punch, none of that resistance which made me so weak, so expectant, so panting for any crumble of her attention that in the end it became all I thought of.

Which is why this thing with Belle was fun but it was not mind-blowing.

Damn, what was I saying?

Her pure violet shined brightly with the lingering reds of passion when she entered the room. And, just like that, my body responded. Diana. I wanted to consume that violet. The pants became uncomfortable, erasing the chilling traces of the cold morning shower. I smiled when I saw the beautiful colors of her desire being replaced by dark reddish greys of annoyance. She'd thought I didn't notice her. Of course, I had. But, what was I expected to do? I was married, mated to somebody else, sitting next to that somebody else.

"What do you think?" Belle asked.

"Huh?" I noticed I wasn't listening to her anymore. I was too busy tracing the interaction of Diana's violet with the one sitting next to her. Cian. An unmellow yellow. Why had she sat there? She should be sitting alone.

"Do you want to try? Now?"

I turned my head towards her. What was she saying to me? Her colors had begun to scare the shit out of me. They were a combination of crimson, ruby, scarlet reds, no less shiny than Di's in bed. Did these colors have an alternative meaning? I hoped so. I'd take fear over passion now.

"Excuse me?" I said again, trying to smile.

"I think we should try again. Making a baby. I wanted to last night but....I think now would be a great time, this very right minute," she said. Embarrassment added a blush red to her aura.

I coughed. The bite of the bread had gotten stuck in my throat along with the ramifications of her words. Making a baby? Now?

"It is a dangerous world. Not a good world for children." I hoped I'd been convincing. She was kind, she was beautiful....but the mating bond I'd felt for her was in the past ....I had fantasized about her, pondered about my failure with her. I always thought that had she been given the time, she would have chosen me. I'd have had her. Not Keith. But, me. I had thought about it to the point where it had become all I could think of. It had fed my desperation, my resentment, my insecurity.

Did I want to change that now? I surely had the opportunity.

Colors came running to me from across the table. Was Cian interested in Di? He was getting red. I was beginning to hate that damn color. I looked at Diana, she was more annoyed than before. She was now an ugly grey. Sometimes, dark red streaks thundered across the grey, flashing in lines of anger. And, I couldn't help myself. I shouted," Cian! Come here. Next to me. We have things to discuss." I turned towards Belle apologetically, "We need a strategy on ShadowVampirs. Duty calls."

"I understand. I'll see you later, tonight." I inhaled the scent of the blue cheese as she took it to her mouth before she got up. Then she gave me a brief kiss on the lips, with the lingering taste of the cheese. I hated blue cheese. Still, the kiss was soft, tender. I could feel her emotions pouring forth. It did make my heart beat faster. But it didn't make it thunder. I realized for a long time now she'd been in my mind, but not in my heart. I hadn't even noticed that I'd let her go.

"At your service," Cian mocked as he sat down.

"Well...we have things to do. We can't just sit and wait to be possessed."

We need to capture a dark shadow and learn how to kill it," I said. Belle touched my shoulder and then I heard her footsteps. I was glad Belle had heard my words to Cian before she'd left. She would know that I meant it when I'd said duty called. Why did I feel guilty for not responding to her? This is how humans trapped in marriages must be feeling.

I wanted the mistress. Where was she? I got up even as Cian was speaking.

"It is easier said done," I heard him say.

It happened fast. Sudden. As I was taking solid steps towards the violet that beckoned me, I almost choked with the suffocation. So many of them had flocked to the kitchen. How had they entered? Dark Shadows. An army of them. I was probably the only one who could see them. The kitchen had become so black, as black as my blindness. Colors had deserted me, the malevolence of the shadows had outstripped anything else. It was chilling inside like my insides were frozen. Somebody screamed. I noticed that she was bitten by a horde of ShadowVampirs, she fell down as they fed on her blood. Panic led people to scream, run in all directions. But, there was nowhere to run. If only they could see them, they would understand. When I felt a bite on my shoulder, I hit at it, first with my arms, and then using the chair. The chair passed through the shadow. I did it again and again. But I wasn't hurting it. At some point, so many of them were closing in on me that I wondered how I managed to stand. I needed to be standing, I needed to get to Diana. The bites were frequent, burning, weakening. I saw Diana from the gap in between the two fleeting shadows, she was ferocious, kicking, biting. I knew from experience that was futile. She had saved us once with the colors, how had she done it?

I wanted to get to her but they kept dragging me to their center. I was losing blood. And, then I heard it. "He is mine." One shadow had spoken, claimed me. And, then I felt it. He was pushing through my body, my skin stretched painfully. He was possessing me. The presence of the shadow clawed inside me inch by inch, I clung to the last vestiges of my consciousness as I struggled to expel him from my mind and body. The blackness was spreading like a virus inside me. My memories were leaving me. My family. My life. My past. It was as if everything was washed in a back detergent, erasing everything that made me who I was.

The wash was fast. Spinning done. Rinsing done. Dry and ready for a new use.

Who was I?

I didn't remember my name. 

As always, thanks for reading

Alena