He brought her out of the earth cradled in his arms. Stretching out on the bed, he motioned with one hand and closed the earth and trap door. She did not need to face the evidence of their unusual life all at once. She would awaken in a bed in a chamber. She would have enough to deal with without finding herself virtually buried in the earth itself.
He would have to work fast. The moment she was awake, he would have to seize her mind, before she became aware of what was happening and attempted to resist him. He did not want to start their relationship by forcing her to do something abhorrent to her; still, he had no choice but to replace her huge blood loss.
He took a breath, stroked back her hair, then opened his shirt. Wake, piccola. Wake and take what you need to live. Drink what I freely offer. Do as I command. Beneath his hand her heart stuttered, laboring to awaken as he bade even without sufficient blood to sustain life. His fingernail sliced his chest, and he pressed her mouth to the steady red stream.
He held her mind firmly as her body slowly warmed, as her heart and lungs found a rhythm. With the infusion of his blood, so much more powerful than most, her strength returned quickly. Without warning, she fought him, abruptly becoming aware of what was happening to her. With a small sigh, he allowed her to prevail, deliberately loosening his hold.
She dragged herself away from him, falling onto the floor, trying to spit the blood from her mouth, trying desperately to hate the taste of the sweet, hot fluid building strength in her.
“How could you?” She crawled away from the bed, scrambled to her feet, and pressed herself against the wall, wiping at her mouth over and over. Her eyes were wild with horror.
Aidan was forced to close the wound on his chest. He moved slowly to reduce her fear. Very carefully he sat up. “Be calm, Alexandria. You did not yet take in enough nourishment to restore your strength.”
“I can’t believe you did this. I’m supposed to be dead. You promised to take care of Joshua. What have you done?” She was gasping for breath, the wall holding her up. Her legs felt like rubber. He had lied to her. Lied.
“You chose life for me, Alexandria. And I cannot live without you. Our lives are bound together now. One cannot survive without the other.” He spoke gently, making no move to go to her. She looked as if she might bolt at the slightest provocation.
“I chose to save your life. We both knew what that meant.” She said it desperately, jamming a fist against her mouth to keep from screaming. She could not, would not, live like this.
“I knew what it meant, cara. You did not.”
“You’re a liar. How can I believe anything you say? You made me the same as you, and now you’re forcing me to live on blood. I won’t, Aidan. I don’t care what you do to me, but I won’t take someone’s blood.” She shuddered visibly and slid down the wall to the floor. She drew her knees up to her chest and rocked, trying to comfort herself.
Aidan took a breath, careful not to react too quickly to her words. She was totally withdrawing from him, her mind blocking him out. Or so she thought. He was familiar with her mind now, and he slowly entered, a slight shadow, ever watchful. “I have never lied to you, Alexandria. You decided that if you saved my life, you would be giving up your own.” Deliberately his voice was velvet.
“You were afraid for Stefan.”
“Why would I choose to allow Stefan to live and take your life? There is no sense in that. I did not trust myself to stop with Stefan. I had lost far too much blood, and my survival instincts were too strong. You were the only one safe.”
He said it softly. His musical, hypnotic voice washed over her, seeping into her and tempering the horror of what she had become, easing a bit of the tension between them. “Why? Why would I be safe? Stefan has been your friend for years. You don’t know me. Why would I be safe when he is not?”