As soon as she realized what those lines were she backed off from him, flustered and ashamed.
“I… I can see your veins,” she said as if it would explain her behavior. Logan grunted.
“Doesn’t mean that you should stare and paw at me like I was your next meal.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… I was just curious,” she stuttered her apology hastily. Last thing they needed was to get angry and suspicious towards each other.
“Fine. Put some clothes on and we can get going. It’s a long ride to Ravensholm,” Logan said, standing up and going over to the window.
She picked up the clothes she had been wearing earlier and scrunched her nose. Stench of wet cloth and filth was nearly unbearable.
“I can’t wear these.”
“It’s either those, or you leave with me buck naked. It’s your choice,” Logan spoke with harsh tone, keeping his back turned. Marie sighed. He was right. They were in a hurry. She hadn’t really had the time to pick up a change when she had escaped from the Ravensholm, and they certainly didn’t have the time to go buy her new clothes now.
They rode several hours in complete silence before she finally had had enough.
“You told me earlier that you trust me. Was that just a lie?” She asked. Logan stopped his horse.
“No. It wasn’t a lie. I trust you.” She could tell it was the truth, but she sensed there was more to it.
“Then what is this?” She asked. Logan turned to look at her.
“What is what?” He barked, clearly annoyed.
“You’re acting like I was the enemy.”
“I’m a hunter! And truth to be told, wolf isn’t appreciating this much either!”
“Wolf? But… The cure… You shouldn’t be able to hear it! Cure should keep it down!”
“I can’t take it before this is over!” Logan shouted.
“Why?”
“I just can’t. Come on, we have to keep going. We have to find a place to stay over the day.”
“I thought we would be riding as long as we can and…”
“You’ll see in the morning why we are stopping…”
Rest of the night they kept a swift pace, driving their horses forward so fast that Marie started to worry if they were hurting the animals. She felt dizzy, and hungry. Few times she had to stop the horse before she fell off from the saddle. Logan didn’t stay and wait, but made her catch him instead. Her head was already spinning when first rays of sun filtered through the thick foliage, making her scream in agony.
“You’re not a vampire yet, but it’s happening faster than usually, or you were unconscious longer than you think,” Logan said, cradling her against his chest. They had stopped to a shadow of a thick oak. It would provide them shelter through the whole day.
“It hurts…” That was putting it mildly. Sun had burnt her, turning her skin red and raw. She was hurting and itching all over. She could still feel the scorching heat. Hot enough to boil her eyeballs. She couldn’t stop shivering.
“I know it hurts.” She could hear his heartbeat speeding up.
“I… I can help you.” She turned to look at him. He looked pale, and he refused to look in to her eyes. He had taken off his jacket earlier, covering both of them with it. Now he was fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt, his gaze fixed to somewhere above her head and behind her. He swallowed nervously.
“I don’t think… I think it’s safe. I have the wolf in me already,” he muttered, opening the cuffs and rolling the sleeve up, baring his wrist.
She let out a small whimper. Again he was tempting her this way. Didn’t he realize what he was doing? All that skin and flesh, practically pulsating from blood and life flowing underneath. She tried to squirm away from him. Logan’s hand around her stopped her. He took a firm hold of her chin and forced her to look him in to his eyes.
“I don’t like this. But I have a feeling this will help.” With that said he released his hold from her. He fumbled for a while under his jacket until he found what he was looking for. A small knife. He used it to slice open his wrist. Scent of blood was strong enough to nearly suffocate her. Not in a bad way. Suddenly every nerve ending in her was tingling with new kind of awareness. She could only stare at the wound, and blood that was flowing, dripping from his outstretched hand to the ground.
“Drink.”
She expected him to snatch away his hand as soon as she tried to move.
“Don’t… Don’t do this to me…” She whispered. She was tired and weak from hunger, hurting. Logan wasn’t helping.
“What the hell are you waiting for? A written invitation?”
She lunged forward and grasped his hand, bringing the wound to her lips. Quick glance towards Logan from the corner of her eye told her everything she needed to know. He really didn’t like this, but he wasn’t going to back out. He had turned his head and closed his eyes, not wanting to witness what was happening.
She licked the wound experimentally. Blood. It tasted like blood. Just blood. But something in the taste had changed. She knew from earlier experience that there should have been almost bitter, metallic tang to it, but it had vanished almost completely. She could taste salt and slight twinge of copper, and something that had to be Logan.
“Hurry up. That offer won’t last long…” She heard him whisper. She stole yet another glance from him. He was breathing erratically, clutching the knife against his chest. He was betraying his every principle. She suckled the wound carefully, letting his blood fill her mouth.
“Oh, Christ…” She heard a soft clunk when the knife hit the ground. Logan’s free hand curled around her and he hauled her against him. He was trembling, and she could feel his heart thumping wildly.
“Just get it over with, okay?” He growled, tangling his fingers to her hair and pressing her lips more firmly against his wrist. She sucked in more of his blood. His grasp from her hair tightened and his lips pulled back, revealing his teeth to a grimace. Now he kept his eyes locked to hers, strange mixture of hate, revulsion, lust and love twisting in them.
“Is this why you didn’t take the cure?” Marie asked, licking last remnants of his blood from her lips. Logan stared at her, blood loss making him feel a bit drowsy.
“Yeah… Wasn’t really expecting this would happen, but my blood would have killed you to the spot if I had the cure in me…”
“You have to take it now. The wolf…”
“Is liking a bit too much of the freedom. I’m taking the cure now. Don’t expect a refill anytime soon…”
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