He looked worried. “What if this is a nervous disorder and you’re hurting yourself, but you just can’t feel it—like an after effect from the drugs.”

I swam to the edge nervously. What if I injured my body and was stuck for all eternity with a deformed body? I climbed out of the pool, using no effort to lift myself up and out.

Blake raised his eyebrows at that. “Not so feeble, huh?”

I smiled. “One benefit so far is that I’m stronger.”

“Want something to eat?” he asked, handing me one of the lush pool towels. I had always laughed at how his pool towels were nicer than most people’s 'good' towels that you weren’t even allowed to use. I wrapped the towel around me and followed him into the house.

“How long was I sleeping?” I asked as I sat at the bar like always, waiting for him to feed me.

He looked puzzled. “Twelve and half hours. You slept like the dead too, because I tried to wake you up and it didn’t work.”

“Did I breathe?” I asked, feeling pretty worried.

He shook his head. “Nope, not really, and none of the usual snoring either. Waffles or grilled cheese?”

I frowned at him and crossed my arms. He shrugged and made me grilled cheese.

I had slept at Blake’s house for five nights, hanging in his basement playing World of Warcraft and watching TV. Everyday he went to school and hung out with my sister.

In his free time, he spent every minute trying to solve my issues.

Drug-induced brain tumor was in the lead for things that could be wrong with me. I let him believe I had imagined it all, but my heart knew Aleks was real. I wondered where he was. I never left the safety of the basement, even for food. Blake brought it to me on a regular schedule, believing I would end up hurting myself by only eating when I needed to. The food filled me up but something inside me was still hungry. I felt a thirst or a hunger I couldn’t explain. The thirst grew whenever Blake was around, but I had been able to control it.

Blake had gone out again. I was lying on his bed, not sure of what to do with all of my free time, when I felt it.

Someone was watching me. My stomach twisted.

Scared it was Dorian, but hopeful it was Aleks, I looked around the room.

Instead of Dorian or Aleks, Shane stood in the entrance to the room. He looked at me with a burning intense pain in his eyes. He looked weak and sick. I sprang off the bed and grabbed him.

As if he needed to touch me too, I was off the ground and dragged up into his arms. He wrapped me around him and held me like a child. His body trembled. I wrapped my legs around him and buried my face into his shoulder. I didn’t know what to say. I owed him an apology. I honestly didn’t think I would do it justice.

I made the attempt anyway. “I’m so sorry, Shane. I didn’t mean to leave. I just didn’t have any choice. I didn’t mean to hurt you like that.”

He never spoke. He just carried me to Blake’s bed. I shook my head. "The spare room is down the hall. We can talk in there.” He obeyed, still not speaking, and carried me down the hall.

He sat me on the bed and knelt on the floor in front of me. He held me tightly to him. “Aimee, I don't understand why you left? Why did you trust Blake and not me with your problem?”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

I cuddled into him, trying desperately to pull him on to the bed with me.

He stood and closed the door. He walked toward me and picked me up again. He laid me down on the bed, back where the pillows were. His mouth crushed mine with a kiss so forceful I could barely keep up with him. His hands went up my fleece, tearing the shirt right from my body. I shivered, mostly from anticipation. He sat up for a second and looked down on me. I tried to cover myself. He smiled the most dangerous smile I had ever seen cross his lips. He ripped his shirt off, revealing his soft, firm muscled body. I ran my hands along his ribs and chest when he lay back down. His skin felt just as I imagined it would, warm and strong. His mouth caressed mine. His hands roamed my arms down to my stomach. He rolled on his back and pulled me on top of him. I loved the feeling of his soft skin against mine, with his huge hands roaming my back, pulling me into him. I felt his need and answered with my own. I gulped when he undid my pants. My stomach freaked out. I knew it was what I wanted, but I was terrified.

The hunger to be with him seemed to be outweighing the hunger I couldn’t quite describe. Something about all his naked skin against mine was filling the void.

"Aimee," he whispered, kissing my throat.

"I'm glad you came."

"I love you, Aimee."

"I love you too."

His mouth roamed my neck, sending shivers up my spine. His hands slowly made their way up my stomach to my breasts. He cupped them both, massaging. He lifted his face to my nipples, and I moaned loudly in pleasure, not thinking about who else was in the house.

I dragged my hands down his torso. His body was hard but soft at the same time. He rolled me over and climbed between my thighs. Anxiety and excitement built inside of me. His deep-blue eyes seared mine.

I could feel his erection pressed against me when his lips caressed mine again. We both pulled off our remaining clothes in a heated frenzy.

He rested against me again, almost hesitating. His eyes met mine once more, as if checking with me. I nodded. I could feel my heartbeat exploding in my chest. He bent, kissing my lips, and slid against me, sending chills every which way. I took a deep breath when he entered me, filling me with warmth.

He moved slowly; I knew he was making sure I wasn’t hurting. The initial pain was gone, and in its stead, I felt something building low in my stomach. He moved slowly, methodically. The feeling of his hardness inside of me was intense. I felt my fingers clutching him. Pulling at his skin. My breath was crashing upon his shoulders. When his breath matched mine, he began moving faster. I couldn’t focus on anything. I felt my body wrap around him, enjoying the feel of his thick body. I was holding him to me everywhere.

I felt myself get lost in everything as pleasure filled every inch of my body.

Chapter Fourteen

That was amazing and then it wasn’t.

The perma-grin that plastered my face was ridiculous; I looked like The Joker. I felt my red hot cheeks flashing, “Hey, I just lost my V-Card."

I glanced over at him and frowned. "Shane?"

He was still unconscious. I'd heard men always fell asleep right after, but this was ridiculous. He literally came and fell asleep. I poked him. He moaned and rolled over to look at me. He smiled sleepily.

"Are you okay?"

He shook his head and moaned. "No. Aimes, you almost killed me." His grin was delicious. He closed his eyes, and I jumped out of the bed, running for the shower. I hoped the hot water in the shower would bring me back down to earth. I was happy, but I felt weird. It wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted it. It was that I was scared I was still changing into something not good, and this was just distracting me from my predicament.

I soaped up as the shower door opened. I covered myself when he walked in, taking all of the room and hot water with him. I sighed looking at him, obviously only from the belly button up. I may have had sex with him, but I was still the innocent, naïve girl I had been only hours before. I looked up at his face, blushing harder and smiling even goofier.

He frowned at me as he kissed me. “I'm so sleepy."

"Is that normal?"

"Yeah, but not this sleepy. I think I was just so tired and stressed."

"Oh." My grin wasn’t fading.

"What?” He looked at my dorky smile and arched an eyebrow.

I shook my head. “Oh nothing. Just feels weird you being in my shower, seeing me naked with the lights on—you know, that sort of stuff.”

He laughed. “We just had s—”

“STOP!” I put a hand up to his mouth. “I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s talk about other stuff.”

I had stopped soaping and was rinsing with what little water I got off of him. He laughed, taking my hand away and kissing me slowly, sensually.

Realizing he was taking all of the water, he moved around me, pushing me into the water. It splashed down onto my face before I realized what was happening. I sputtered as I backed up into him.

It was not my idea of a shower. I wanted to wash my nether regions, which I couldn’t do with him in the shower.

I gave up on trying to get clean and hoped to do a quick mini scrub of the area after he got out.

His face got serious. “Aimee, where have you been?” he asked.

I gulped. I knew it was going to have to be talked about at some point. His eyes filled with fear.

He stepped close to me again, sucking up all of the hot water and pinning me against the cool tiled wall. “You’re the only thing that makes me feel like the person I want to be. I need you. Without you, I have a hole in my chest. I've been going crazy for days.” I could see the truth in his eyes; he needed me. I felt the same.

“I need you too. I had to run away from this guy Dorian. He…well, he was mean to me.”

I didn’t want to tell him about Dorian assaulting me in the elevator. It was a fight he would never win, and he would feel like he needed to defend my honor.

His face stormed over into a dark and sinister expression. “Who the hell is this Dorian? When did he try to hurt you? Does he work in the hospital? I'll kill him, Aimes.”

I gulped. “Oh, sorry. I thought Blake told you the whole story. He's a demon of some sort, which I know sounds crazy, but he is. You just have to believe me. He tried to scare me, I think. It worked and I ran away.”

His face looked a bit scary as he spoke, “Blake told me what you believed happened. He seems pretty sure it’s a brain tumor. We need to get you some help, Aimes.”

I shook my head. “Blake is crazy—brain tumor. No, Dorian made me swap blood with him. It was gross. It healed me. I went from deathbed to fully healed in like half an hour. He said I would change and be dangerous to you, my dad, and everyone. Nothing has happened since though. I’ve had some bad stomach aches but that’s about it.”