A Slash of Savagery (Wiccan-Were-Bear) by R. E. Butler Read Free Book Online Page B

Mishka decided to bring a human to work within the family’s offices, the room had been updated with human comforts in mind.  A round table sat in the center of the room with four padded chairs around it.  A second refrigerator now contained human-appropriate food.  A flat-screen television was mounted to the wall, and the remote sat in the center of the table.
    Brone pulled out a chair for her and pushed her into it gently.  Then he walked to the refrigerator and opened it.  The on-staff cooks provided food for the humans and other non-vampire personnel who worked in the club, and they were now providing Arissa with meals for her mid-shift break.
    He put the plate into the microwave and set the timer to reheat it. Then he turned to face her.  “What did you normally eat for your first meal?”
    “Just coffee.  Maybe some fruit or a muffin if I’m feeling peckish.”
    “I’ll make sure you have those things before we leave the chamber, as well as your evening meal.”
    “It’s weird to eat breakfast at night, but I’m getting used to it.  And you know you don’t have to do anything special for me.”
    The microwave beeped, and he pulled the hot plate from the interior and shut the door.  Setting it in front of her, he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and said, “This is simply me seeing to your needs.  Don’t ask me to stop, because I won’t.”
    “Okay.”
    He fetched utensils for her from a drawer and then took a bottle of SyBl from the fridge and opened it.  The bottles were made of dark glass, but he worried she would be turned off by the sight of him drinking synthetic blood.  When he asked, she promised that she wasn’t and even took the bottle from him and sniffed at the opening, declaring that it smelled only vaguely like copper.
    “I wouldn’t change what you are anyway, Brone,” she said as she cut up the chicken on her plate.  “I don’t know how all this beloved stuff works, but you’re my mate and that means I accept what you are.”
    Her acceptance of his nature was not something he’d contemplated affecting him, but it did.  He accepted what she was, but it was far easier for him to accept her Wiccan nature that she came by genetically than for her to accept his vampire nature.  That she did, and so quickly, told him just how special she was.
    The SyBl tasted quite bland in comparison to real blood.  Synthetic blood had been around for many years, created in a lab by vampires who were afraid that eventually the vampires’ food would die out and they’d starve.  Brone had not taken to it for many years, choosing instead to drink nightly from humans, but that became a hassle as the tide of public interest in vampires switched from general wariness to genuine desire to be changed.  There was a romanticism associated with vampires now that Brone had thought would never happen.  Starry-eyed human females and males came into the club nightly, hoping to find a vampire who would be willing to turn them.  It did happen from time to time, but was still quite rare.
    He settled the now-empty bottle on the table and looked at his mate as she ate her meal.  “I wanted to talk to you about this weekend.”
    Her fork stilled halfway to her mouth.  “Sure.”  She put down the fork and gave him her full attention.
    “When we bond together on Sunday, we’ll share blood while we make love.  It’s not just me drinking from you, but you will drink my blood as well.  Sharing our blood during sex makes the bond unbreakable and ties us together supernaturally.  You’ll see my life while we share blood, and I will see yours.  My memories will flash through your mind, something akin to a movie on fast forward.”
    She made a face but didn’t say anything.  He reached across the table and took her hand.  “What is it?”
    Averting her eyes, she said, “I’m going to see you doing everything with other women?”
    He opened his mouth and then was unsure of what to say.  He