Chapter 16: A Small Taste

Mia's POV "So, this is your little food box," I murmured as my eyes never left the blood in the safe. It was placed in all types of different containers, from small and medium-sized vials to blood bags and blood patches. They were organized and labeled by date and blood type, which surprised me. I had never seen a blood collection before, never mind something as refined as this. The more I stared at it, the more confused I became at the limited amount of blood in the safe. I turned to Sol and asked, "Is this enough for you?" He nodded and pulled out a small vial of O positive from the larger pool supply in front of us. "Usually, this is all I need through the week." I was shocked by his statement. I listened as he continued. "Older purebloods need less blood to survive than the younger ones." I felt my eyebrows pull together at the information. What Sol told me now was different from what I had heard since I was a child, and I wasn't sure whether to believe his admission or not. "You don't believe me?" I cursed. Forgetting momentarily that he was able to read my emotions and forgetting to guard myself. I shrugged and turned to him. "I've just heard different is all, that's all." "From who?" "My father." The words came out quicker than I thought. I shocked both of us by giving up that piece of information as quickly as I did. My eyes widened for a moment, and then a sense of melancholy set over me. Of course, how could I be so stupid? Of course, everything that man told me was a lie only to further his agenda. Sol stared at me for a brief moment. I felt my face become warm with embarrassment, but he didn't say anything else. Instead, he moved to place the vial back into the safe. "Do you want to try?" he asked casually. I shook my head immediately. "No, no, I don't like the taste of it. Definitely not." I thought I was resolute in my answer until he said his next words. "Are you sure? They're rare and healthy." I blinked at him. "What do you mean?" "The blood," he said as he pulled out a vial of AB. The black ink on the vial read Rh-negative, and I felt myself salivate at the look of it. "This blood type is very rare in human society. It's also delicious for us, well, not as tasty as yours. More importantly, it's from a healthy and energetic human donor. You would love it once you tried." He introduced the rare blood like he was an outgoing sales. Was it my pleasure to know he thought my blood was more delicious than rare blood type? Definitely no. He wiggled the Rh-negative vial in front of my face for a moment. I could see a smirk beginning to form on his face. My eyes were trained on the vial. I'd rarely seen this blood type before. I heard him close the refrigerator. The moment it was shut, all the other smells from the blood were blocked off. I could only stare at the blood scent from the vial in his hands. He uncapped the bottle and pushed it closer to my nose. "Do you want it?" His voice was barely a whisper now. It was as though even the smell of the blood heightened my senses, and I could hear everything. Slowly, without thinking too much, my treacherous head began nodding itself at the question. His smile widened. I heard him take a step closer. His hand came up to the side of my face. I didn't stop him as he moved my hair to the side and tilted my head up. "Then, open your mouth." I felt the pad of his thumb caress my cheek, then pull at my bottom lip as it settled on my bottom teeth and widened my mouth. I was entranced. The only thing my mind was focused on was the vial that was slowly coming closer to my mouth. I could feel my mouth begin to water. Once the cold blood hit my tongue, it was all I could think about. Not Sol's touch on my cheek or the pad of his thumb still on my bottom lip, or the way he smelled as he was so close to me now. "Swallow it." Sol ran his hand down my throat and rubbed the middle of it as he coaxed me to swallow. I was so entangled in the essence of the blood and the coldness on my tongue I forgot to swallow. When I did, I felt it rush down my throat, eager to fill my veins and coat every organ in my body. A gasp left me as I felt my stomach pull tight. My eyes went wide at the sensation for a moment before the vampire side of me adjusted well enough. My mind became hazy for a moment and then clear all at once. It was like I had been seeing the world through a foggy lens before this. I could hear his intake of soft breaths and the way his dead lungs worked unnecessarily in his chest. The next thing I felt was how his finger rubbed across my bottom lip and collected the blood that had spilled there. He pulled his hand away. I watched as he put his finger into his mouth and licked it clean. My breathing caught in my throat as his pupils dilated. I knew my eyes gave the same expression back to him. "That tastes…" My voice was foreign to me, solid and firm, yet it was a whisper as well. I could still feel the way the blood ran down my throat as the words spilled from my mouth. "Delicious," Sol finished for me. We both stood there for a moment longer. I shut my eyes as the full effect of having blood in my system again began to take its toll. I could hear the slight droplets of rain that fell outside and smell the way the wind howled even from deep within his home. Every sound was multiplied tenfold. A harsh grip took hold of me. It was like a pounding and a gentle caress all at once. I took a deep, unnecessary breath in and felt the sharpness of the air. "How do you feel?" Sol asked. His voice was strained as if he was trying to hold himself back from something. "I feel…" I hummed the word in the back of my throat. "I feel," I stressed after finally setting on an emotion. It was true. Having blood again after such a long time of stopping myself felt like I was feeling for the first time again. It was not just the sights and sounds though. I could feel him. My inherent vampiric nature had been reawakened at the intake of blood. Now more than ever, I could feel Sol in front of me in my human state. Half-bloods were always weaker than purebloods, not so much as turned vampires, but still by a considerable amount. Every sense of ourselves seemed to want to bend to the will of purebloods. I first discovered this in the presence of my father and his friends. But now… In front of Sol, I felt it more than ever. I could feel his strong and powerful aura. I could sense how old he was merely from his stance and gaze—and God, that gaze. I felt hot and cold all at once with the way he was looking at me. I knew he could sense the change in me as well. My blood smelled different now even to me, stronger, more alluring. Nothing about this scared me the way it used to anymore—least of all the way he was looking at me. ###