Love Bites (Book one)

Chapter twenty

*Yasmin*

If I thought that my work out routine before was draining, it was nothing compared to battling against each other. It used the strength, speed and dexterity that I had been building up over that week, but it also took concentration, planning and a whole lot of energy to use other’s abilities. I believe that we had made good progress though, but I did feel bad for Nicole having to stand on the sidelines throughout. It seemed stupid, given that Frankie was around so many guards, that the two that were on duty still had to stand there and be almost ignored like they didn’t exist.

Astrid flopped on the ground next to Isla, the two of them giggling to each other about what they had just managed to do. Isla created a small tornado, lifting one of Astrid’s clones into the air while Astrid made her dance round in circles before jumping off and doing the splits. I was especially proud of Astrid, feeling that she had made the most progress considering she could not even move her clones at the start of the session. The young Telvey may have joined our select group late, but she certainly was fitting in.

The only downside on the whole thing was that Frankie got called away early. She was having so much fun and I could tell that she had not used her powers a lot in the past and was enjoying the opportunity to experiment with them. We were all exhausted, but it had been worthwhile and we were already talking about plans to do the same tomorrow night. I was too busy procrastinating going back to the mess, afraid of who Martyn would pair me up with next after what happened with Nelson.

I was just about to spiral into my darkness again, when the other girls shot to their feet. I quickly looked around, noticing Charles walking towards us and followed suit. “Yasmin.” He barked in his usual harsh tone.

“Yes sir.” I answered immediately, taking one step forward.

“The Master vampire wanted to see you.” He announced. I felt Lilbeth and Astrid reach out and grasp my hand in response given that they were either side of me.

“Yes sir.” I responded, not as strongly as before. I followed him out of the training ring, running through in my mind what he could want to speak to me about. Maybe he had changed his mind about me staying in the guard and wanted me gone from his castle? Maybe he found out about the training session, and that I brought Frankie to it as well and he was angry? Maybe he just hated my guts and wanted someone to yell at like he had done when I came home with Frankie drunk?

Charles led me through the castle and out towards the pools. I had not been out here before and I was surprised at how thick the steam from the heated pools was in places. Charles gestured for me to walk forward and as soon as I passed him, he left me to my own devices. I looked around at the beauty of the setting, noticing that here, the trees lining the edge seemed almost tropical in nature, wondering if the heated water from the spring was enough to keep them from wilting. The colours of the flowers were vibrant and captivating, my eyes trying to take in all the different varieties before I felt eyes boring into me.

I looked around, noticing the Master vampire in the heated pool a short distance away, his eyes locked on me like a predator who had caught sight of his prey. I walked over, bowing my head slightly with respect, waiting for him to tell me why I was there. “I have a proposition for you Yasmin.” He stated, his voice husky and deep. I wondered if it was due to the heated waters, but whatever the reason it was calling to the swarm of butterflies that had apparently moved into my stomach to start fluttering.

“Yes Master?” I asked, looking down at where he was submerged in the water. Although most of his body was submerged beneath the water and obscured from my view, I could still make out his rock hard pecs and biceps, which looked like they were the size of my head.

I snapped my eyes back up to his face, catching the hint of a smirk that resided on his lips, having caught me ogling his body. “Well, I am aware that you were training the female guards today. I would like to make training for the guards a regular occurance.”

“I believe that is a good idea, Master.” I stated, truly believing it. When off duty, it seemed that the guards were prone to bad behaviour and even on duty they seemed to stand there and not do much of anything.

“Well I am glad that you think that. Given that this is a new venture, I would like to spearhead it myself, but I am in need of an assistant that the other guards respect.” I nodded my head, not understanding what he was trying to imply. “That vampire is you, Yasmin.”

I stared at him with my mouth hanging open for a moment, not sure if I understood or heard him correctly. “M-me Master?” I asked, watching as he slowly nodded his head. “The other guards do not respect me.” I pointed out before I could stop myself.

“On the contrary, the other women guards seem to respect you a lot, and I know Frankie does as well.”

“That is six people out of hundreds Master. There must be someone more suited to the position.”

In the blink of an eye, the Master vampire was no longer in the heated pool, but stood in front of me, his blue eyes looking deep into my own. “I don’t want someone else, I want you Yasmin.” He breathed out, his eyes searching my face as I fought the compulsion to look down and admire the rest of his body which was glistening with the water that stuck to him, a stream of steam emanating from his body as the heat it had accumulated hit the cold air. “Do you accept Yasmin?”

I continued to stare at him, feeling like I had stopped breathing as I focused on his piercing eyes. “Yes Master.” I found myself agreeing, my body swaying slightly towards him.

“Good.” He smiled with a half laugh. He stepped back, putting some distance between up and I suddenly felt stupid for the way my body was reacting to him. “I will inform Martyn that you are not in need of a new partner as you will be working with me to train the guard. We will meet in my office tomorrow at dusk to discuss what we will do before the first training session. We will discuss any queries or suggestions we have then.”

“Yes Master.” I bowed again, turning around to head back towards the castle.

“Oh and Yasmin.” I turned around to face him, my eyes unable to resist taking in his whole body now that I was further away from him. He had a bulging eight pack and defined V shape that disappeared below the towel that he had wrapped around himself, making me bite on my bottom lip as I wondered if he even had any shorts under there. His legs were ripped and powerful, the tone in them matching that of his arms that I could not help but imagine pinning me against the wall like he had before. “Don’t be late.” He chuckled, making me blush as I nodded and bowed again before running inside.

No, no. This could not be happening. After all of Frankie’s warnings, I could not be attracted to the Master vampire. He was a pig, just like other men, and if he had the chance he would chew me up and spit me out like I bet that he had done with countless other women. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, seeing the image of his body appear in my mind making my grumble under my breath about stupid vampire sexuality being out of control.

This was the longest that I had gone without having ‘s*x’ since I had been turned. Not that I was craving returning to Antonio’s tortuous touch, but it seemed that what he had done to me had made it so that the animalistic side of me was satisfied enough to help me not look at other men, now that that was gone, maybe it was just my need to f**k that was out of control. I understood a bit more about why Elissa was so desperate to have Antonio back, given that she had not really been with a man that I knew of since I arrived at the nest, probably hoping that any day he would get bored of me and replace me with her once more.

I walked to the canteen, grabbing a blood bag from the fridge before leaning against the counter to enjoy it. “Yasmin!” I looked up to see Angel waving me over to sit with him at his table. I walked over, giving him a small smile in greeting before taking the seat, letting out a long sigh. “I heard a rumor that you and the other female guards were training in the training ring today.”

“You heard right then.” I pointed out, smiling slightly at the impressed look on Angel’s face.

“You know, that is something we don’t have a lot around here. Initiative. I bet the Master vampire was blown away by your idea.” He gestured dramatically, making me giggle.

“Surprisingly he was. I honestly thought that he was calling to speak to me so that he could rip me a new one, but he asked me to help to work out a training programme for the entire guard.” I explained, my eyes widening as I realised that I had probably said too much.

Angel’s smile widened. “Wow. You should be proud of yourself. I have never heard of the Master vampire taking a special interest in any of the guards before.” I hung my head, suddenly wondering if he had picked me out for the same reason Antonio decided to keep me so close to his side, because I was a nice bit of eye candy and not for my actual talent or skill. “Hey, don’t go second guessing yourself now. If the Master vampire was interested in your looks then he would have snatched you up for his harem and you would have never even tried out for the guard.”

I nodded my head, not sure how I felt about the Master vampire not finding me attractive. Egh, my head was so confused. I wanted him to find me attractive and not find me attractive. I wanted him to pick me out and leave me alone. I wanted him to do things to me that would make my toes curl and I was swearing to myself that I would not give into his charms no matter what. I let out a small internal groan, frustrated with my own indecision. What the hell was happening to me?

After talking to Angel for a few more moments, I retired to bed, hoping that I would get some reprieve there. Every time I closed my eyes I saw his glistening body. Every time I drifted off, he was there declaring that I was his as he pushed his hard body against me, trapping me, confining me and yet I wanted him to be closer, I wanted him inside me. Dear god, I was in trouble!