Blood Lust
Chapter Sixteen

Lying in the hospital bed, I heard a commotion in the hall. People were yelling at each other with my name being thrown around like punches.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Martin peered his face into my line of sight. He was seated in a lounge chair that sat right next to the side of my bed. I struggled to sit up, but he insisted I stayed laying down. I agreed.

“Ugh. My neck kills.” I went to rub my neck and felt a thickly packed gauze laid over it aptly. I almost forgot what had happened. “Oh.” I looked up at the door instinctively.

I’m so sorry.

R spoke softly as he opened the door. As soon as he was within inches of me, I felt a relief flood over me that no medication could touch. He looked at me as if he were waiting for permission.

“Oh...” I sat up, my hair falling behind me and revealing the large gauze over my wound. R came to my side and gently touched my neck as he peeled off the gauze. His eyes continuously locked on mine.

“And that’s my cue!” Martin clambered to his feet and left the room in a hurry.

Without warning, R slipped his lips onto my neck. That same fire I had felt before had ignited under my skin, creating ripples of pleasure. I was burning hotter than before. A thought brushed my thigh. If this is what it felt to have his touch my neck, I wondered what it would feel like to have him kiss me elsewhere.

R pushed back onto the bed, allowing me to pull him down. As he lowered his full weight onto me, I couldn't help but to notice how his body molded into mine. It was like his body was always mine. I couldn't help but moan out his name as his teeth penetrated. When they dug deeper into my neck, the room began to spin out of control. I thought I’d fall out of bed if I didn’t grab onto something. My hands wondered over his body, searching for stability, only to replace skin. Gladly, my fingers wondered over his body as they found a home.

Look at me.

R whispered in my head as he released his fangs from my neck. His eyes were still dark and sunken when our eyes met, but at that moment nothing frightened me. Instead, they bewitched me. I wanted to know who was really behind those eyes. Who was really lowering their lips down on mine? Kissing me passionately as we fueled the flame between our bodies.

The mark.

I could hear him laugh. I couldn’t help but laugh as well. I couldn’t believe those feelings were what he had been experiencing all along.

“You sound better. We should get up and make ourselves decent.” R stopped us and cut me off cold turkey. He knew I craved more. A smile grew on his face. R pulled my face closer to his, only to turn my head so he could inspect his handy work. “Perfect.”

“Can I ask you something?” I asked, still slightly overwhelmed by the tingling sensation that resided after the kiss.

“Of course.” He readjusted his shirt.

“Why do you talk with me, but no one else?”

He stopped in the middle of the third button on his uniform. “I’ll tell you another day. When we make it off this island.” The smile left his face. I suddenly felt like I said the wrong thing.

R opened the door. Martin and Lee were sitting right outside the door, giggling like children. Dee was leaning against a wall, ignoring them. “Didn’t take you two long at all!” Martin laughed. My face turned red hot with embarrassment.

R walked me back to the pod. The buzz of R's venom had completely faded when I realized I had to spend the night without him. R offered to sneak me into the library so I could grab a book, but we both knew what I wanted to occupy my time with.

In the library, R flicked on the light and waited at the door for me. “What do we have here?” A familiar voice raised the hair on the back of my neck. I turned around to confirm who it was. Selena.

“I was just exchanging books.” I kept my head down. R stepped in view, quiet as ever.

“Meat doesn’t speak.” She raised her hand like she wanted to strike me, but R had caught her mid-air. “We aren’t supposed to let them wander after hours. Escorted or not.” She ripped her hand away from him. “Fine!” She stormed out of the library.

“Do you know her?” I accused. There had to be a reason why she was so adamant about torturing me. R shook his head. “It’s fine. I have my book. Let’s just go.” I whispered. R returned me to the dorms.

In the morning, I assumed that R would be escorting me. I was disappointed when Selena had been waiting for me at the door. “You are going to tell me all about your little friend.” She took a lollipop out of her mouth, acting as if we were best friends.

“My friend?” Forgetting she had always told me that ‘Meat never speaks.’

She laughed, “Of course. Tall, dark, and uhh mute?” The thought of him not speaking seemed to put her off. If only she knew!

“Oh...” I was speechless.

She scoffed at me, “Well go on. Spit it out!” She seemed impatient

“That’s R.” I said quietly.

“Well. Isn’t that just perfect. Is he with anyone?” She asked. I was confused as to why she was asking me. Did she know?

I shrugged my shoulders. Afraid to answer either yes or no. She groaned and nudged me forward, to start walking. She brought me to the laundry room, so I assumed I’d just be folding laundry. I got to work by organizing the bins first. I could hear her calling out to someone from the corridor.

“Hey!” She shouted. “Yea! You!” She kept insisting.

I kept my head down and focused on the laundry, but she was so loud that I couldn’t not hear what she said.

“I was wondering if you had some time after your shift?” She cooed. I stopped moving to better hear what she was saying. I had a good guess at who she was asking. “Yea absolutely. Thank you so much!” She beamed with excitement, I would’ve been happy for her if it were any other man. The moment R stepped into view had confirmed my suspicions. I darted behind a bin of dirty laundry so he wouldn’t see me. “Okay, see you then.” She giggled like a high school girl. I heard R walk away and I knew I was safe to stand up. What did I just witness?