Suzanne Wright - The Bite That Binds

“You’re not even joking, are you?”

“No. I can’t let you go.”

“Does this mean I can relax in the knowledge that you’ll turn up to the ceremony?”

His all-too-perceptive eyes narrowed. “So I wasn’t the only one worrying.” When I shook my head in admission, he dabbed a drugging kiss on my mouth. “That’s just dumb. I need you in more ways than you know. You were right in what you said; when I came here I forget who I was and where I came from because I wanted to. You brought me back from that. If you go, I’ll be tempted to forget again, because it’s easier that way. I need you to keep me grounded. It sounds corny, I know, but you’re like my personal little refuge. You can’t leave.”

“I won’t. But note, for the record, that if you don’t show up, I’ll gut you like a fish.”

His smile took over his face. “There’s my girl.” He nipped my bottom lip. “Open for me.” When I did, his tongue immediately shot inside to find mine. In a dominant move that could have landed him in trouble if I wasn’t in such a good mood, he tangled a hand in my hair and angled my head how he wanted – holding it there while he literally devastated my mouth.

When he pulled back to nuzzle my neck and lick at my pulse, I groaned. “You need to go, or we’ll end up bonking.”

“And that would be bad because…?”

“Fletcher’s right; it’ll add to the anticipation and stuff if we hold off tonight.”

“You’re mean to me.”

“I won’t be mean to you tomorrow night. Although...I will be biting you in some very interesting places.”

His eyes were shining with humour and interest when he looked at me. “Oh I really hope you do.” Having smacked one last kiss on my mouth, he released me. “Oh and Sam…I’ll be doing the same.” With a devilish smirk, he teleported away, leaving me tingling in all kinds of places. The sod.

A cold shower. That sounded like the best idea.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work. I came out of the shower feeling more sexually frustrated than I had before I got in it.

I was just slipping my robe on over my underwear when there was a knock on my apartment door. Clearly Fletcher was back to help me try on the dress. I quickly scuttled through the apartment and opened the door – and growled at my two visitors. Before I could say a word, Brook grabbed my arm, and there was a very familiar sensation in my stomach as he – oh fuck a duck – teleported me, him, and Magda to a strange living room.

I had no idea where the hell I was, but I had a very strong feeling that I was no longer at The Hollow. Confirming that, the door opened and five male vampires entered. I recognised three of them. Two were the Trent brothers, and the other was Blake. Fucking great.

Abruptly, Brook shoved me into an armchair, holding me there by my shoulder. I had barely shrugged him away, fully intending to whip the crap out of these people, when I was suddenly paralysed. Literally. I couldn’t move at all. Recalling what Orrin had said about one of the brothers having the gift of freezing things, I quickly realised what had happened.

“You’ll have to do it quickly,” Magda told the brothers, sounding desperate and anxious. “Jared will sense her fear, and he’ll come to her.”

“Do not worry,” said the tallest brother. “It will not come to that. Blake.”

The ex-Handler stepped forward, grinning mischievously. If I hadn’t been frozen in place, I’d have snarled at him. “How much do you want gone?”

“Everything up until the day that she was recruited,” the tallest brother told him. “I do not want her to remember anything after that day.”

Oh shit.

Magda shot me an evil smile. “I should be getting back. I don’t want anyone to notice that I was missing at the same time that she disappeared. Plus, Jared is going to need me to be there for him.” She left with her consort, wearing a smug, devious smirk. Oh the bitch.

Blake put his index finger to my temple. Then, there was only blackness.

(Jared)

I felt like someone had punched me in the head – there was a heavy impact, there was a momentary disorientation, and then there was pain as my connection to Sam abruptly vanished. Not physical pain, but a crushing, overwhelming, agonising emotional pain as suddenly I could no longer feel her.

I should have been rushing out of the bar in a panic, but that same sense of panic seemed to be stopping me from moving. I was expecting to feel her again any second now, for the ‘glitch’ to fix itself.

“What’s wrong?” Evan asked.

“Sam.”

Concern was plastered across his face. “What’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Go to her.”

“I can’t.” Without our link, I couldn’t take myself to her unless I could see her.

“What do you mean, you can’t? Don’t tell me your gifts are now acting up, too.”

Shaking myself out of my shocked state, I teleported to our apartment, right in the spot that I’d left her only half an hour ago. The room was empty. “Sam! Sam!” In vampire speed, I raced through the apartment, coming to an abrupt halt when I saw that the door was open. I dashed into the hallway, but there was no sign of her whatsoever. “Sam!”

Frantic, confused, and scared-fucking-shitless, I went to the one person I believed could fix just about anything. Antonio double-blinked as I, suddenly, appeared directly in front of him on the veranda. “Sam…I can’t feel her.”

He stiffened in his seat. “How can you not feel her?”

“I don’t know. But our connection…it’s not like it broke . It’s just like she’s not on the other end of it anymore. Like she fell off the face of the Earth or something. I can’t sense her at all – not what she’s feeling, not where she is.”

He shot to his feet, looking almost as anxious as I was. “Did you feel anything from her just before this happened? Fear?”

“There was a little anxiety, but before I even had a chance to think about acting, she was gone. Just like that.” I clicked my fingers.

“Have you been to your apartment?”

So distracted by the panic circulating through me, I hadn’t even realised that Wes was behind me until I heard his voice. I spun around to face him. “She’s not there.”

Pacing, Antonio asked, “Were there any signs of a struggle?”

“No. The front door was wide open, but that’s all.”

Wes placed a supportive hand on my shoulder. “You do understand what this might mean, don’t you, Jared?”

Yes, I did know, but I wasn’t going down that path. “There’s no way. There’s no way that she’s dead. I’d know it.”

“But you said she’s not on the other end of your connection anymore,” he said gently.

“That doesn’t mean she’s dead.”

“Not much else could break it so abruptly.”

I growled, pulling away from him. “Well what else could break it so abruptly? Because she’s not dead!”

“Jared—”

“She’s not! I’d know it, I’d feel it – connection or no connection, I’d feel it if she died!” And I was one hundred percent sure of that. No, she wasn’t dead. And the second that the connection snapped back into place, I’d go to her.

Haste footsteps had us all looking to our left. If there was one person I hadn’t expected to see, it was this guy – at least not yet, anyway. He looked absolutely livid.

(Sam)

Feeling like I’d just been spat out of a vacuum or something, I triple-blinked. When my eyes came back into focus, I instantly stiffened. Who wouldn’t if they found themselves in a strange place with five strange vampires? My instinct was to conjure my whip, ready to defend myself if need be. That was when I realised that I couldn’t move.