Hypnotic - 4. Chapter 4

"You're right," Dav said softly.

Of all the things I expected him to say, that was the last thing I thought I'd hear.

"I don't want to be. I don't like knowing someone hurt you." I reached out and grabbed his hand, tugging him back into the living room and down to the couch.

"Talk to me." I turned sideways, tucking my feet up. I stared at Dav's profile, his eyes hooded as he stared at his hands.

"And say what? What do you want to hear?" Dav asked quietly.

"The truth."

He snorted. "According to who?"

My heart ached at the bitterness in his voice. His whole body screamed angry vulnerability. I looked at the man who just happened to be a Snake Carthera and saw just the man. Just Dav. Somehow I'd make him believe that it was possible and get him to see it too.

"You, Dav. Tell me what you're thinking, why you're feeling this way. I can't understand if you don't tell me."

Dav’s head dropped back against the couch and his lip curled. "His name was Peter, he was a human. I thought he liked me but it turns out it was slum with a monster month."

I stayed silent, waiting for him to go on. It was the hardest thing I had ever done but I locked my jaws together so that I wouldn’t speak up against his words. A monster. I closed my eyes for a moment, seeking calm. I knew if I interrupted he might never tell me.

"It comes down to the fact that I trusted him and the feelings I thought we shared. He wasn't my mate but he said he cared about me. He lied." Dav shut his eyes and shuddered. "All my life I was ostracized, rejected. Humans and other Carthera fear the Snake clan. Yet for some reason they keep saving some of us. I… I wish they had let me die when I was born."

I wasn't able to stop the anguished sound. His head turned suddenly and his eyes met mine; there was such pain in their depths. I reached out and put one finger over his mouth softly but he jerked his face away.

"No, you asked, you wanted to know."

"I did," I said as calmly as I could. "I'll listen. Just don't say things like that. I need you here, Dav, even if you don't believe me." I reached for his clenched fists but he jerked his hands away.

"Don't touch me," he warned me, "I don't think I can handle that right now."

I folded my hands in my lap and just watched him gather his words. The struggle was plain to see. His wide shoulders twitched and I could see the feelings flow over his features. I could practically hear the tension humming through his body. I was amazed he was still sitting under all that pressure. It was all I could do to stay in my seat.

"You know Snakes are different. All you have to do is look at one of us. The only thing we have in common with the other clans is that we have animal traits. We're not really Carthera but I don't think the clans even really know that. We're different."

"I'm not sure I really know what you mean." I spoke quietly; he was talking to me now but I didn’t want to push him too hard.

"We are born different, we don’t fit in. Other Carthera don’t change until they mate, they can pass for human. Our eyes, our fangs, and tongue are just the outside signs. We are more in tune with the animal side than most Carthera. We're unable to live in a group of our own kind so Snakes are almost always solitary until they mate. Even then, they abandon their children. My kind is rare because so few of us grow to adulthood. Sometimes a Snake is taken in by a clan but most of my kind are killed as infants by humans or other Carthera.

"At best, those of us who are allowed to grow up do so isolated.” Dav shuddered. “Some are not so lucky. Their lives are such a living hell that they take their own life as soon as they are old enough and strong enough. Even when other Carthera were accepted into society we are reviled or considered freaks. Only the strongest survive on the fringes of society but we're never allowed to forget that we have no god to intercede for us, no one to pray to, no land of our own. We are outcast.

"I've had lovers," he said bitterly, "craving a dangerous fuck who would use me and then kick me from their beds as soon as they were done. I've never shared my bed with a man who wanted me for who I am and not the thrill I represent or the chance to brag to their friends about their time slumming it with an animal."

I growled, unable to stay silent any longer. My anger had been mounting as I heard what he had suffered and for him to let those assholes make him believe that was more than I could take.

"You're not an animal. Never say that to me again!"

He bared his fangs at me and hissed, his pupils narrowing. "Yet look at me. I get angry and I hiss at you. I want to wrap my body around you, my hands around your throat and stop your words.”

I refused to show fear. Dav would never hurt me and I doubt it was really me he wanted to shut up.

“You won’t hurt me. I won’t let you scare me off. I care about you, Dav. The you inside.”

“That's what Peter said too, until he finally convinced me to sleep with him. He promised many things, begged me to bite him, but once I did he said I was an animal, that I hurt him and took his choice away. He said I raped him!" he shouted.

He jerked off the couch and paced across my living room. I stared at him, stunned.

"I only did what he asked me to do," he muttered. "He wanted to feel the venom, wanted to have the fire in his veins as I took him. He never said no." Dav turned tortured eyes to me. "He never said no." He sank to the ground, his head lowered into his hands as he shuddered and fought the tears I had seen trying to break through his control.

I had to wipe angry tears out of my eyes. My stomach roiled as I listened to him, his voice trailing off in a broken whisper. I struggled to bring my anger under control, to think about what I was going to say and do. I had to do something, Dav hurt and even though I barely knew him, I knew he was not a rapist. A rapist wouldn’t have taken care of me with such tenderness when I was sick with my migraine. A rapist would have used the situation to his advantage. Dav had held me and massaged my head, that was not the act of a rapist.

I slid off the couch and knelt in front of him. "I know you didn't rape him, Dav, you couldn't. I don’t believe that you get off on that."

Dav's head shot up. "But it is! I wanted that. I wanted him helpless beneath me as I took him."

"He said he wanted that too, didn't he? You didn't just take him without him agreeing to be with you, did you?"

Dav shook his head. "It was still wrong."

"How, how is it wrong? Don’t let him taint this. When two adults are together in a way they both want, in a way that makes them happy, it’s not wrong, it’s right. Don’t let someone else make you feel bad for the things you want." I took a deep breath. "It's what I want," I told him.

He made a sound of denial in his throat.

"Yes. We were so close earlier. I was so ready for you to bite me, to make me your mate as you took me."

Dav was shaking his head, his hands digging into his knees. I pried them off his legs and they clenched so tight around my hands that I had to hide a wince. He wasn't pulling away and I wasn't going to give him a reason to.

"Don't judge me based on the men in your past. I don't deserve that. I know it’s hard to trust me; I know that other men have hurt you. All I want to do is show you that you don't have to fear that with me. You’re going to have trust me, give me a chance."

"I'm scared. I never thought I'd admit that to anyone, but you scare the shit out of me," Dav said.

"I’m a little afraid too.”

“Of me?”

I shook my head and smiled at him. “I’m not afraid of you. Afraid of how fast this is happening? A little but it feels right. I want this, want you. I hate the men who made you doubt yourself and put the fear in your mind about the type of man you are but we can make them better. Together."

"How?"

I squeezed his hands. "You trust me, trust yourself. Do what your instincts say you should. Has anyone ever been wrong about their mates before?"

Dav shook his head.

"Has anyone ever rejected their mate before?"

"Not that I know of," he whispered.

"Then what are you waiting for?" I asked softly.

"What if I hurt you?"

I shook my head. "Not possible."

"There are things you need to know. Things about me you might not be able to live with."

I pulled away. There was still one small part of my mind shouting at me, worried about how quickly I made up my mind and decided that Davis Retic was the one for me but mostly I was just overwhelmed by the intense emotions he had brought to my life in just the last twenty four hours. Normally I'd be worried that I was going to have a rebound migraine from the stress of everything but I didn't care. Dav would take care of me but first I had to take care of him. Words wouldn't work so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I grabbed the bottom of the t-shirt I borrowed and pulled it up and over my head. I let it fall to the floor. When Dav didn't move I stood up, my fingers pushing inside the top of the sweats over my hips.

Dav’s mouth dropped open, flashing his fangs. Shit, that was hot.

"What are you doing?"

"Making love to my mate. Once I get him naked that is."

I pushed down my pants and stepped out of them. I wasn't fully erect but I felt a surge as I watched his breath go ragged.

"There is a very comfy bed right through that door," I pointed at my bedroom, "or you can take me right here." I slid a hand down my stomach and caressed my filling flesh. "But if you don't get undressed soon I don't know that your clothes will survive."

His eyes dilated and his tongue flicked out, tasting the air. I wondered if he could actually taste my arousal, if he could smell it.

I slid my other hand up to my nipples and flicked one with a nail, groaning. His eyes flashed and suddenly he was standing, his body only inches from mine.

"Strip me," he suddenly ordered.

I moaned. There he was. There was my confident man back. I would always be there when he needed to let his vulnerable side show but nothing got me hotter than a dominant man who knew what he was doing. Dav might not realize it yet but he was taking the first steps toward trusting me. I wouldn't let him down.

My hands reached feverishly for his shirt, tugging at the fabric until it tore slightly.

"Careful. Slower. Make it sensual. Touch me."

I struggled with my breathing as his words cranked the heat I was feeling up higher. I gave him what he wanted; making eye contact as I slowly undid his pants. I sank to my knees as I pushed them down until I was on the floor just in front of him. He kicked his feet out and spread his feet apart.

I licked my lips as I stared at his erection. His hands came up to cradle my head and he brought me closer. He nudged my lips with the head.

"Take me in. Let me feel you around me."

I slid my tongue all over the head of his cock and then slid down his shaft. I bobbed a few times, his hands stroking my head as he let me go only as far as I was comfortable. I hummed around him.

“Mmm… good, baby.”

I flushed and tried to take more in to make him groan again. I wasn't very experienced so I went too far and gagged.

"Enough." He pulled me to my feet and kissed my swollen lips. "I want to see this comfy bed."

I felt my excitement beginning to build and my erection bobbed. I was so hard I ached when he shoved me down on the bed. He crawled on top of me, caging me in under him with his arms and legs. He leaned down and ran his tongue over my nipples. They stiffened and my head kicked back against the pillow. His tongue slid up my neck, leaving a hot wet trail behind as he latched onto my ear and sucked.

I cried out, my hips jerking when he nibbled on the lobe. "Please."

I grabbed the tube of lube I kept under the pillow and handed it to him. "Hurry. I want you."

He coated his erection and then used two slick fingers to thrust inside me. I hissed at the burn, then moaned as he pulled back, twisting and spreading his fingers. My hips jerked.

"Now."

"Bossy man, aren't you?" he said, his eyes darkening as he thrust his fingers inside me.

"Yes. Need you now." One leg lifted to wrap around his hips. I pulled his head down and captured his lips in a searing kiss.

"You won't hurt me. I want you to bite me. I want to bite you. I want you to take me as your mate." I had no doubts now, felt only the need to make him mine as he made me his. I started to turn my head and he stopped me. He pulled back and stared into my eyes. I could still see that vulnerability and I knew I could make it disappear, lost in the heat and fire of the moment.

"Are you sure Ellis?"

"You're the first man ever in this bed and you'll be the last man I ever have in it," I promised him. "We're meant to be together, you can feel it. Even I can feel it. I have never felt this much for anyone before." I rocked my hips up, rubbing against him, our cocks sliding together. I felt empty without his fingers as he pulled them out, needing more than I ever had before.

I moaned.

"Shh... I've got you." Dav's fingers gripped my hips and he flipped me over and pulled me up onto my knees.

He pushed my legs apart and draped his torso over my back His hands caressed me, sliding all over my sides and chest. I felt like I was on fire, his cool skin made me shiver. Instead of pushing me into the bed, Dav's strong arms surrounded me, pulling me up to lean back against his chest. I caressed his arms and my head fell forward as I turned it to give him room. I felt him prodding at my entrance as his lips came down on my shoulder in a soft kiss. My breath shot out of me in a rush.

"Do it," I moaned.

I felt his fangs scrape against my skin and my eyes closed. His skin against mine, his scent surrounded me and I lost myself in the sounds of his pleasure as he touched me. I could barely breathe I wanted him so much. He drew out the moment until I thought I would scream and just as I opened my mouth to demand he stop torturing me his needle sharp teeth slid deep into my shoulder and his hips thrust up.

My scream filled the room. My hands clenched hard on his arms and I sank deep into the feelings of pain and pleasure. Almost immediately I felt his venom enter my veins, a heat flowing through my body. I shivered and moaned.

"So good."

The feel of Dav's smooth chest against my back magnified tenfold. I could feel every millimeter of his fangs as he slowly pulled them out as his hips retreated. He cradled me with one arm as I leaned back against him, unable to stay upright on my own. His wrist came to my mouth.

"Bite, baby. Be my mate."

I didn't think, didn't hesitate, just opened my mouth and sank my teeth into him. I knew it had to hurt, I didn't have his fangs but I forgot my worry about that as he hissed and snapped his hips forward, driving into me. My mouth filled with his blood, the slightly bitter tang flowing across my tongue as I swallowed again and again as Dav filled my body.

I felt it approaching, the orgasm we were speeding toward built and built until he slid his fangs back into me. The slight pricks and then the feel of him sucking, taking my blood into his body as I took him into mine sent us over the edge. My orgasm erupted from me onto the bed as Dav thrust one last time before his body stiffened. I cried out as I felt his pulsing inside, his shout joining mine as the bond took hold.

Instantly I felt the change. I lost all control of my body as my mind seemed to explode.

'Dav!'

'Ellis!'

The time between that moment and our next heartbeats stretched on and on. In a rush I felt his memories, his thoughts and emotions filled me. I felt his wonder as mine flowed into him.

'What is this?' I marveled.

'This is what mates are. Two halves of one soul. You are the only one who knows who I truly am, the only one who will ever know.'

'It's so dark.' A tear slipped down my cheek and I gasped as my heart beat again. Dav pulled away but I didn't feel empty, not really. He was still inside me and now he would never leave.

"I'm sorry," Dav whispered. He lowered my limp body to one side and curled up behind me. "You're a healer; I can feel your reverence for life. You must feel so much pain from my memories. I'm sorry; I never wanted to hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me. I hurt for you. That's very different." I twisted around and put my hands on his face, making him look down at me. Tears filled his eyes.

"I never wanted anyone to see that. My life... the things I do. They're evil, Ellis. You're better than that."

"You save lives too, Dav. You do things most people can't or won't, but only to prevent true evil. You hide in the darkness of your mind but I see the light even if you cannot.

"Your life has been filled with pain and darkness but I felt more than your memories, Dav. I know your soul and it is not dark. There is goodness and compassion inside you. I would gladly feel all the pain you have experienced if it means I get to feel that too."

I used my thumbs to wipe away the tears that slipped down his cheeks and kissed him gently. I nestled my head into his neck and breathed in the warm musk of his skin. He was warmer now, my body heat shared between us. My eyes began to drift shut; the afternoon light striping the bed hurt my eyes. I nuzzled in closer to Dav, twining our legs together.

"Stay with me?" I murmured.

His arms tightened around me. "As long as you want me."

"Good. Never gonna stop."

Story Discussion