Just One Bite »ᴄɵᴍᴘᴌᴇтᴇ«

THIRTEEN

THIRTEEN

Managing to feed her cells Ivey's blood, Ashley stopped the blood-lust and fought to concentrate. Damon's face was shocked, enraged, sad, and disappointed.

It was the last that hurt the worse. And what made it even worse was the empty pit in her stomach, a strange feeling since she didn't need to eat. But it had never felt more empty than it did now.

"I was only feeding, Damon," Ashley said, giving her reason for why she'd been and was embracing another male.

Ashley actually thought that Damon had a lot of strength. More than she. She would have ripped off the females head he'd been embracing if he'd been embracing her as she had Ivey.

Stupidly, Ashley felt as though she'd cheated on Damon when all she'd really done was feed.

"I can't feed on a human like my vampyre's can," Ashley said, trying to fill the silence, a need she'd never felt before. "I have to feed from my vampyre's or an angels – but angel's don't exist any more. If I did feed from humans, I would have to drain at least three a day to stay alive, and I'm not willing to call that much attention to myself or my vampyre's."

As Ashley babbled – not something she would admit to doing out loud, Damon had entered the hallway, closing the door behind him. Coming over to her, Ashley prepared herself for his disgust, or something equally harmful. But again, Damon seemed to do the opposite to what she was ready for. He held her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her to him. Ashley stayed frozen, unsure whether to move or whether to say anything. Unsure why he was hugging her to him.

Looking up suddenly showed Ivey still leaning against the wall with a lazy, half-dazed expression, and Damon glaring at the vampyre. But the vampyre seemed to have lost the reverent look as the conversation had gone on. It was as though he'd realized that she wasn't his but Damon's. And for that, Ashley was grateful.

"I apologise, Damon." It was truly strange to know that Ivey spoke aloud for her benefit because Damon was a telepathic. "I didn't feed her to upset you, only to keep my original alive. If she dies, so will all her vampyre's."

The word "die" got through to Damon as he lowered his head to touch his forehead to hers, much like she had done with Ravin earlier. But this was far more intimate. Everything was more intimate with her mate.

"Next time you need to feed," Damon said, not moving. "I want to be there."

Before Ashley could respond, Ronnie appeared from the office with Roven and Grey at her heels. Damon lifted his head at her entrance and Ronnie patted Damon's arm affectionately as though she was his mother.

"I know exactly what you felt when you saw what you did. It was exactly the same to what I'd felt when I saw Micah drinking from another." Ronnie laughed. "The only difference was that I still had no clue about vampyre's at the time. It took time, I didn't calm down as quick as you did, but, Micah told me that he had fed on another because he hadn't wanted to scare me." Ronnie gave a sad smile. "But your mate has to feed on a vampyre–"

"Or angel," Ashley quickly added as she knew Ronnie wouldn't say it. Stupid to add it, but something made Ashley add the one being that didn't exist in this realm any more.

Ronnie sent a small glare Ashley's way. But Ashley let it past because Ronnie was trying to help.

"And trust me Damon, Ashley is more like an adoptive mother or a sister to all of us, there is no attraction between any of us."

Ashley withheld the urge to question that. She'd only changed Ronnie in nineteen-forty-four.

"But if she doesn't feed on one of us–"