The Good Daughter

Thirty nine

We hadn't been allowed to sleep.

Chilly water was poured over our heads the moment our eyes began to droop. The chains rattled as I shivered. They had been released enough to allow us to sit.

A small mercy.

Tyler had dark circles under his eyes and he'd paled significantly. He would need more than the small amount of blood we'd been given to stop from tipping over that ledge into desiccation.

Unfortunately that wasn't enough to stop the cravings.

I'd have to actually feed soon or there'd a much different issue.

"I'm sorry." Tyler said it so quietly, I almost missed it. "For hurting you."

"I think we have bigger problems to deal with than our relationship right now." We could blood share. It wasn't a long term solution but would work in a pinch. "Come closer."

"We might die in here, Morgan."

"Not if you listen." I gestured at a place beside me. "If you would."

It was quite the trick to maneuver around the restraints, but eventually we managed to find a more middle ground.

Tyler now sat cross legged in front of me. "Vampire blood is neither appealing nor is it good for you. It's why your vampire expression won't appear if I bleed, but it would if Elena did."

"Okay...?"

"And generally speaking, what we're about to do is frowned upon, however, desperate times."

His brow furrowed.

"It's okay, Nik won't mind this, if it is for both of our survivals."

"What is it?"

"You'll drink from me, and I from you. It'll sting like a bitch, and it will be disgusting, but we need more blood than what we've been given." God, we were about to blood share. "Remember, you must not spit it out."

Was I ready for this?

Was he?

"Focus. I'd rather not be bitten by your hybrid teeth. The vervain should keep my wound open long enough for you to drink. It's going to be tempting, but I need to you try your absolute hardest not to bite." I grasped a loose, sharp rock from beside me, and split the skin of my arm just below my cuff around my wrist. "Ready?"

He nodded, pulling my forearm to his mouth. Tyler winced. His tongue swirled over the cut anyway, lapping up the thick blood. I could barely take my eyes off it long enough to bite his arm.

The vervain burned on the way down.

And then-

Oh god.

It was euphoric in a way I'd never experienced feeding before, and the fact that if he bit me, I would most certainly die, added an extra edge I hadn't expected.

Why was this so frowned upon again?

When he stopped, so did I.

Rather reluctantly.

He wasn't a ripper.

Tyler was breathing heavily, and when we made eye contact I saw a hunger there that was for more than just blood.

The sight of him...

I pushed forward and kissed him, his hands slid to my waist. I grasped his face, drawing him closer.

It was strange, tasting my own blood on his tongue.

And somehow that made it more exciting.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, through the thick haze of it all, I knew this was a bad idea, that our captor would separate us, and then I'd be shit out of luck.

The tug of the chains stopped either of us from moving further than we were.

He stopped, resting his forehead against mine as he caught his breath, eyes closed. "What was that?"

"Blood sharing. It's different when vampires drink from each other." It was entirely intimate. "And something we'll need to do to gather our strength enough to escape."

He leaned back, hands still loosely grasping my sides. "Is that what it'll be like every time?"

"Yes." I played with the hair at the nape of his neck. "You'll have to be careful when we do."

"What did you mean? When you said we needed to get stronger?"

"You don't expect us to wait for a rescue, do you?"

"But how? We're practically human."

"Not if we continue to feed on each other. It'll take a bit longer because of the vervain and it's vampire blood, which isn't as healing to us as that of a human."

There was clicking of the lock on the old door and I scrambled away from Tyler, wiping at my mouth and tugging at my sleeves.