---

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE 
BENTLEY
After we faked our way through everything, we were sent home where we all headed straight to Orin’s mansion. Without River and Finn, everything seems depressing and intolerable. We spend hours hunting through information on where Finn and River might be, and send Deputy Chief Burns a call, asking her if she could quietly sneak someone in to talk to Corbyn to see if he knows. I feel like he’s our only hope during all of this. If anyone will know, it’ll be him. But it’s late, past three in the morning, and we know we’ll likely have to wait until morning to hear an answer.
I go up to the room where River had spent the past night, and when I open the door, I’m surprised to see Banshee running toward me. During all of this, I’d forgotten about her and the fish. I’ll have to text the neighbor to ask him to take care of the fish in case River didn’t have someone on it.
Banshee looks past me, clearly expecting River to be right behind me like normal. She seems confused as I shut the door, locking her alone inside with me.
“I’m sorry, Banshee. I fucked up. It’s my fault. I let my guard down. I fucked up…”
I walk toward the bed before realizing I’m not sure I can even make it that far. Then I sink down on the floor and cover my face with my hands. Why does this shit keep happening to me? Why can’t he just be okay and be right here beside me? Why is it when I finally get him back, get him as my own, he’s ripped away from me? What if he dies because I couldn’t save him? What if I’m alone again?
Banshee yowls, her signature call for River. He generally laughs and says something about it being her demon summoning call, but we both know it’s how she tells him she misses him. How she complains that he’s not right beside her the moment she wants him.
“I’m sorry,” I say as I feel a paw on my foot. I uncover my face to see Banshee looking up at me like she expects me to summon River. Maybe she thinks I have that power since we’ve rarely been apart since he was changed.
Her green eyes catch mine as she yowls again.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have him,” I say.
She jumps onto my lap and sets her paws against my chest as she stuffs her face in mine, like she’s checking to see if I’m telling the truth using some strange cat senses only she possesses.
“I’m sorry. I’ll find him. I’ll bring him home safely. I’ll do everything I can. I’ll do it all to bring him back,” I whisper, even though I know she can’t understand me. Or maybe I’m saying it to myself in the hopes I can convince myself that I can do this.
She rubs her face against my cheek, marking me, and I wrap my arms around her. I expect her to claw me or bite me as she usually would—even after all this time, she still only likes River—but instead, she begins to purr.
“You’re going to be so embarrassed when I tell River you were letting me hold you,” I say.
For once in her life, she doesn’t seem to care as she leans into my scratches.
“You’re right, Banshee. If I can get you to tolerate me, I can find River. Let’s go,” I say as I stand up with her in my arms and rush over to River’s desk. There, I sit down and continue poring over all the information we’ve gained so far because I’m going to get River back, no matter what it takes.
And the whole time, Banshee sits on my lap and stares at the computer screen as though she’s doing everything in her power to help.
      
RIVER
“I’m so sorry I dragged you into this,” I say as I look over at Finn who sits beside me. We’re crammed in a small room with no windows and the only door is securely locked. Our arms are handcuffed tightly behind our backs, and I’m starting to feel a bit pessimistic.
He turns and gives me a huge smile like he’d forgive me for anything. “It’s no problem at all. You think I don’t get wound up in crazy shit all the time? I feel like since I joined the VRC, my life has been a whirlwind of crazy. So we’ll just add this to my resumé.”
“Why don’t you hate me? I tried to eat you.”
“So have Marcus and Briar and DeGray. I mean… just join the party. Weirdly, the only one who hasn’t is the one who threatened me the most, which is Alexei…”
Now, this information shocks me. “Bentley tried to eat you?”
“There was a drug that made him a bit bitey. But it’s all good.”
“How are you not afraid of them? I can’t even let Bentley get near my neck without feeling like shit. Even now as a vampire, I hate it. And a vampire was so much worse to you than me.”
“I know I have more physical scars than you, but you were with Corbyn for almost two months. That fucks with your head, River. I can’t imagine what would have happened to me if Watson kept me that long. You’re doing quite well for all you’ve gone through.”
“I was just… scared and I let him mold me into what he wanted. And now I feel like I’ve just dragged everyone into it. If I hadn’t—”
“River, if you hadn’t done something, think of all the innocent humans that would have continued being trafficked, abused, and killed. You did something. You saved countless lives. You kept more people from suffering like you did. So never apologize for that. Of course there are going to be some hiccups along the way. My whole career revolves around obstacles that we have to pass.”
I nod as I realize that he’s right. Even with all the fuck-ups I made, we did draw attention to the sales of humans. “But without arresting the ones who have us chained up here, they’ll just start again somewhere else.”
“They will, but we won’t stop until they’re all behind bars.”
“I’m sorry about… all you went through with Watson.”
Finn looks over at me. “DeGray tell you about that?”
“Well, with Watson being the one who removed my brain tumor I kind of knew him. So it was quite the shock to us. It made us wonder what his angle was in helping us. Bentley wonders if he was planning on using us against you. Or maybe getting information about you from him or something. I’m not sure,” I say and Finn shrugs, making me worry that I upset him. “Sorry. I’m sure you don’t like to talk about it.”
Finn shakes his head. “No, no, it’s fine. I really don’t know either and I’m not sure we’ll ever know, but it is what it is. I’m thankful he could help you before everything went down.”
“But I still can’t help but wonder why.”
“I think with Watson, you just never know. I still don’t understand it,” Finn says. “Now, I have an idea of how we can get out. I have no idea if it’ll work, but we’re going to try.” He crawls over to me and nods down at his left arm. “You’re going to have to tear through my clothes with your teeth.”
“Well… this seems to have gone to an awkward place,” I say.
“Not my pants, my shirt,” he teases. “Right below the shoulder.”
I lean into him and bite onto his shirt and pull. “Is too tough” I mumble through a mouthful of his faux leather suit that appears to be made out of very nice material.
I glance up to see Finn staring at me like I’m a fool. “You’re a vampire. Tear the sleeve.”
I pull away from the fabric. “I don’t understand my level of strength yet. I’m scared I’ll hurt you.”
“Would you rather tweak my arm a bit or die here?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “I hate it when you make sense. Fine.”
I bite onto his sleeve again and give it a jerk, tearing the fabric with my fangs, revealing his prosthesis. I’d never seen it before, and I find myself staring at it in wonder.
“Now see here?” he asks as he takes his chin and motions to a spot. “There’s a safety lock here. You have to slide it this way while pulling the silver spot that way and then while holding the release, pull down. Got it?”
“I have to do this without looking?”
“Correct.”
“I’ll try,” I say as I turn my back to him and scoot backwards until my bound hands pat down his arm.
“I’m just glad he didn’t notice my arm because I had gloves on,” Finn says. “You’re close but to the left more. Little more… there! Feel that bump… a little to the left… yes. There, pull it.”
I hook it with my finger and try to remember everything he had said to do. But with Finn’s guidance, I get the arm to release.
“Perfect!” he says as he grabs the wrist of his fake arm. “Now we wait.”
“Do you have a secret gun stashed up in there? Does it morph into a gun?” I ask hopefully.
“Nope. Just an arm.”
“Can you pull a knife out of it?”
Finn glares at me. “Most people are in awe of my arm and you want it to be some robot gadget thing out of the movies. Sorry my arm is so boring. I’m sure you’re going to make fun of my height too.”
“I’ve actually never said anything about your height.” To his face.
“True… this is why I like you more than the others,” he says as he stations himself right inside the door. “Now we wait.”
The words “Now we wait” end up meaning that we wait for over an hour before I hear someone outside the door.
“They’re coming,” I whisper.
Finn jumps to his feet and hovers near the door until it opens and Novak steps in. Finn swings his fake arm like a baseball bat, smashing it into Novak’s face. He cries out and reels back as I jump in to help. I body slam into him, throwing him to the ground as Finn shuts the door most of the way then rushes over to step down on his throat. Without the use of my arms, it’s hard to keep him held down, but Finn seems to have a handle on the choking thing.
“Put your knee into his throat and use your weight to keep him down,” Finn says as I take his position. It’s easier said than done but my pure hatred for the man helps me find something deep inside me that assists with the whole “crushing the throat” thing.
Finn pulls out a phone from Novak’s pockets, which he drops to the side, then keys and a gun. “Can you hear anyone in the area?”
I listen carefully, but besides Novak’s struggles, I can’t hear anything else. “No.”
“This is going to hurt your ears, I’m sorry,” he says before he fires the gun, shooting Novak in the head.
It won’t kill him, but my god I think it killed my ears. He wasn’t joking when he said it’d hurt. Thankfully, they seem to fix themselves within a minute.
“We won’t have long. He’ll probably heal himself shortly,” Finn says. “But we have keys!”
He rushes over and undoes my handcuffs, then as he works on his, I pick up the phone and hold it in front of Novak’s face. Thankfully, the phone still recognizes him even with all the blood splatter. I go to the maps and click to share my location. “I… don’t know Bentley’s phone number. Do you know Marcus’s?”
“Um… well… no,” Finn says. “With my phone it always knows, and I might have never memorized it. Ooh! But I know Orin’s.”
He quickly rattles off the number to me, so I send our location to Orin as Finn puts his arm back on. “Did you hurt your arm?” I ask.
“No, looks fine to me.” He wiggles his fingers. “Seems fine. We just won’t tell anyone, and no one will be any wiser.”
There’s an almost immediate reply from Orin.
Orin: We’re on our way.
I turn to Finn. “So do we sit tight and wait? Do we rush out and pretend we know what we’re doing?”
“Waiting might be the best option,” he says, but it’s almost like he jinxed us because I can hear the sound of people making their way toward us.
“I hear them coming.”
“Then let them come,” Finn says as he holds the gun steady.
      
BENTLEY
“Dear god, we’re going to die on the way there! Do you know how to drive a vehicle?” Marcus hollers just before his head smashes into the window. I swear Orin jerked the wheel just to get him to shut up.
“I will get my son back no matter what it takes,” Orin promises.
“Even if death may befall you, dear brother,” Claude says. “If it does, Alexei and I will promise to take very good care of him.”
“Ah, yes, Claude said he’d keep him satisfied,” Alexei says, which we all know would set Marcus off and was most likely Alexei’s main reason for saying it.
Marcus whirls around in the passenger seat of the car. “What the fuck did Claude say?”
Claude throws up his hands. “I didn’t say anything! Alexei, my love, why do you want to see me tortured?”
Alexei shrugs. “I was just a little curious who’d win in a fight, is all.”
Claude waves at the seething demon who takes his brother’s form. “Clearly my brother. He’s spent many more years popping heads off than I have!”
“Yes, while Claude was trying to figure out if a pink fedora matched his shit-green suit, I was learning how to tear heads straight from the bodies.” Marcus mimes the head tearing.
“I feel like most of that was not true,” Claude says before Orin hits the curb so hard he throws all of us to the left side of the vehicle.
“Whoops,” he says as he careens around the corner and takes off again.
“We’re going to die on the way there,” Marcus decides. “I will be unable to save Finn because we’ll be dead.”
I pull out my phone as I question how we’re going to do this in a way we can condemn Bowman, and then I realize that River had the answer to it. “I’m going to stream this,” I say. “Like River’s been doing. Show the world that Bowman is behind it, and he’ll have no way to refute it.”
“I’m wearing pajamas, though,” Claude says, like this is a good reason not to record something.
“Trust me, they look better than what you were wearing when I found you yesterday,” Alexei says.
“Aw, you think I’m handsome in everything. Thanks, love,” he says before kissing Alexei’s cheek.
By the time Orin stops, I’ve barely figured out how to set this up and when I start to record, I realize that we’re probably going to do something on camera which’ll send all of us to prison, but I guess as long as I get River back, that’s a price I’m willing to pay.
“We’re going to pair up,” Marcus says. “We need to find Finn and River and keep anyone from leaving while backup arrives. We have to find them before Bowman realizes we’re here. He could have someone in the human department who would alert him.”
I stick the phone in my jacket’s breast pocket and tear a hole in the fabric so it can look out. If it doesn’t and just shows the inside of my pocket the whole time, at least we tried.
“Let’s move in now that the police are alerted,” Marcus says as he leads the way.
A part of me wonders if we should send him in alone because the man is quiet enough he could probably sneak in unnoticed, but if he did get noticed as he enters the building, there’s almost a guarantee that he’d be too outnumbered.
There’s a fence surrounding the building that looks like it was originally some type of shipment center. Is this where they brought the humans and held them before they sold them?
Instead of coming up with a plan that involves discreet sneaking or detailed planning, Marcus heads right down the middle. Before we get too far, Bowman steps in front of us looking highly irritated. “I told you to be good, but now it’s too late. I’ve killed them both,” he says as he holds up his hand, wet with blood.
Marcus growls out in anger as he lunges forward and Bowman rushes in to stop him. Clearly, Bowman is confident he can take Marcus on. When his mini army of vampires step up behind him, I realize exactly why he thinks he’s invincible.
Alexei grabs my arm. “We’ll hold them back. Go get them before someone can kill them.”
What if they’re already dead? What if I have to walk in and find them like that?
But I nod and rush toward the building. A female vampire runs for me, but Claude tears her to the ground, so I slip past and race into the building. A man grabs for me, but I latch on to his throat and pull him into me. “Tell me where they are.”
“Die in hell,” he growls, and I narrowly dodge a bullet aimed at me from someone farther down the hallway.
I crush his neck so he’ll be incapacitated for a short time and deal with the shooter instead. Who knows what kind of bullets they have. If Corbyn was able to take some, there’s no saying whether Bowman had some and mass produced them.
I grab the next man and tear his gun out of his hand before pressing it against his head. “Where are they?”
The man looks a bit terrified now that he’s on the other side of the fight and points through a door. “Downstairs. There’s a door in there. Please. They made me join. I didn’t want to. I don’t want to go to prison.”
I fling him to the side and blindly rush through the door, not even caring if it’s a setup, just knowing that if there’s a chance River is on the other side, I need to find him.
When I find stairs on the other side, I descend them as quickly as I can, and when I turn the corner, I slam into someone. “Finn?”
“Hey, there,” he says.
“Bentley!” River yells as he runs for me and throws his arms around me. “Oh, I’m so happy to see you. I was scared you’d get hurt coming to help us. Thank you for coming!”
Relief rushes through me, and for a moment, it’s like time has stopped as I hold him to me. I can forget everything now that he’s in my arms.
“Hey, lovebirds. There’s still a vampire war going on upstairs,” Finn says and River jerks back.
River nods. “I’m sorry! Bentley, we locked Novak in that room there. Tell me what to do.”
“Stay here and don’t move,” I say, which River and Finn are clearly displeased with.
“Come on, River,” Finn says as he whisks River off like some crime fighting duo, leaving me behind.
“Hold up!” I yell as I run after them and even jump in front of them to shield them from any dangers. Finn shoots someone over my shoulder and River tackles them to the ground as I realize that maybe pushing River into the safest corner possible isn’t the correct choice and do my best to help them. It isn’t long before the place is swarming with police and they begin to arrest everyone who was involved.
Marcus rushes onto the scene and grabs Finn before shielding him with his body.
“Did you get Bowman?” Finn asks.
“I did. I crushed his skull. He healed annoyingly fast, so I crushed it again. I was going to pluck his eyes out so he could never look at you again but then the police arrived, and I realized that maybe I shouldn’t do that. But I can still do it if you want me to.”
“Oh shit,” I say as I realize I still have the live stream going on. I yank it out and look over at the chat, horrified that they’re going to be so disturbed by Marcus that they’re going to have him arrested too.
Instead, they’re saying things like “How romantic” or “He has someone willing to crush skulls for him, I can’t even get someone to say hi to me.”
I end the stream, slightly disturbed that anyone would want a Marcus in their life.
OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX 
RIVER
I follow Bentley into a large room where the others are also gathering. I’m not sure how I ended up becoming a part of the group, but no one tells me I shouldn’t be there and to head out the door. It’s been over a week since everything went down and I’ve been moving through every minute terrified of what might happen to us.
Brooks smiles at us as he takes a seat next to Deputy Chief Burns. “Before we get into anything, I’d like to say that there’s been talk of Burns being moved from deputy chief to chief. If she does, we’d like to play with the idea of the VRC working with the human department more often.”
Burns nods. “We’ve hindered ourselves greatly by refusing to work together. Your very own Detective Hayes has shown how helpful a human can be in a situation like this one. These are ideas we’d like to implement. We are in a world where we’re fighting to narrow the inequality between humans and vampires and stop things like human trafficking for food purposes, yet our own system is divided. I understand that humans can’t always go into the same situations, but they could help work the case, or solve crimes that would give the detectives in the VRC more room to work their own specialties.”
“We haven’t discussed this much, so I’d like you guys to keep it quiet for now, but we’re open to any opinions,” Brooks says.
Marcus is the first to speak, which isn’t surprising with his stand on humans in the VRC. “I think it’s an excellent idea.”
Finn dramatically grabs his chest and falls back in his chair. “Oh my goodness. What? Excuse me? I got threatened to be eaten, yet you think this is a good idea?”
“Correct,” Marcus says.
“I agree,” Alexei says which riles Finn up even more.
“Back to the matter at hand,” Brooks says.
Burns takes back over. “So Corbyn has admitted to turning you into a vampire, River. He will suffer the consequences for it, but you’ll be able to get licensed. I think we all understand that you went through a lot because of failures on our part.”
I stare at her, clearly unable to comprehend what she’s saying. “Excuse me, Corbyn did what?”
She stops and looks at me. “Admitted to turning you. Was he not the vampire who turned you?”
“Y-Yes! He was! I was just… you know, surprised he’d admit to it and everything with him, you know… bound and determined to ruin my life and yes… he did.”
Oh my god, I sound guilty as hell. I want to look at Bentley, but I feel like if I look at him, I’ll give everything away with my expression. So I sit stone still as Brooks talks about the list of people that have been arrested, including Novak, Bowman, and Governor White. The whole state is currently in turmoil, but we did our job with it. Others will have to figure out how to handle the rest. I handed over everything I had written about the events, which helped them double-check information and just added to the list of things to condemn them with.
But all I can think about is how Bentley’s not going to get in trouble for this. I mean… someone had to have messed with something to make this fly because when they interviewed me, I sure as fuck was still human.
When Burns finishes up, she heads out with the others, but Brooks stays in place. “DeGray, River, hold up.”
We hesitate, even though I’d love to run home and never draw attention to myself again in case someone realizes there was a fuck-up along the line.
Finn shuts the door behind him, leaving the three of us alone.
“I’ve pulled a lot of strings to cover up this fuck-up,” Brooks says as he waves between us. “We’re very lucky that Corbyn claimed he changed you because people were starting to get suspicious of you, River.”
“Was that your doing?” Bentley asks.
“No, Corbyn did it on his own. It’s what made me realize we could get away with this. But I would not draw attention to yourself. If someone starts digging, they might be able to find something. Don’t fuck up. Keep quiet. Keep your head down. Got it?” Brooks asks.
“We do. Thank you, sir,” Bentley says. “Thank you so much.”
“Yeah. I think the department will be heading in the right direction, but with so many in law enforcement working on the wrong side, we will have more eyes on us than you’ll ever believe. So please, be smart about this.”
“We will. Thank you,” Bentley says.
“Yeah. Have a good day. Try not to start anything else for a bit. I’d like a vacation.”
Bentley laughs before patting Brooks’s shoulder. “Deal.”
Bentley and I leave without saying much and get into the car. Though it’s dusk out, I still have my protective gear on to keep me safe from the sun, but I pull off the sunglasses, since the inside of Bentley’s windows have sun protection on them. Thankfully, we’re toward the back of the parking lot so no one can see or hear us.
“We… we did it… you’re not going to get in trouble,” I say as I turn to him. I can’t even express how happy I am to know that I haven’t ruined Bentley’s life. That he won’t be taken away from me because he changed me.
Bentley grabs my hands and smiles at me as he squeezes them and kisses them both before dragging me onto his side of the car which is both awkward and a bit painful, but I couldn’t care less because we did it!
“Oh my god, I’m so fucking happy,” I say as I grab his face and just start kissing it all over as I shake him a little, excited.
“It’s going to be okay! It’s going to be okay,” he says.
“I’m so happy I can’t stop kissing you and like touching you and shaking you and I don’t think any of this is very romantic but you’re not going to prison!”
Bentley starts laughing as he wraps his arms around me and squeezes me. “Even if I did, I would never have regretted my decision for a moment, River. You make my whole world brighter.”
“I fucking love you,” I say as I kiss him.
There’s a rap on the window and I jump, realizing that maybe we weren’t being as careful as we should be when vampires have prying ears, but when I look up, I just see Alexei.
“Get a room, fuckers,” he says as he flips us off before getting into his car that’s parked behind ours.
“I like him,” I say. “I’m surprised I ever found him scary.”
“He grows on you.”
“They all do… they’re all weirdly wonderful people. And now I get to see them more!”
Bentley kisses my forehead one more time before heading for home in case someone else is watching that’s not someone we know.
      
“What are you doing, handsome?” I teasingly ask as I lie sprawled out on the couch with Banshee “kneading” my chest. AKA: skinning me. She really seems to like it when I tell her it hurts. If she were a human, she’d have made a killing off being a sadist.
“Are you talking to me or the cat?” Bentley asks as he walks over to the couch and leans over the armrest to peer down at me.
“Well… depends who is handsomer.”
He seems to think about it for a moment. “Definitely the cat.”
I grin at him. “Or maybe you?” I ask as he leans down and kisses me. “I want to draw you naked again.”
“Right now?”
“I never got to finish the last time. Come along,” I say as I jump up and catch his wrist before pulling him into the bedroom. I go over to my art supplies but instead of getting my pencils, I pick up some washable markers. I toss them on the bed and then grab his shirt before unbuttoning it.
“Where’s the paper?” Bentley asks, like it’s not obvious.
“You are the paper.”
“I’m confused and concerned but kind of turned on, so I’m going with it,” he says as he tosses his shirt. “Will the artist be naked too?”
“Depends on whether the model wants the artist naked or not.”
“I definitely want the artist naked,” he says as he pushes my pants down. “I feel like we’re on more even footing.”
“If that’s what you want, then I suppose I have no option,” I tease as he catches the bottom of my shirt and pulls it up, over my head. Once it’s off, I push his pants and underwear down and guide him onto the bed where I whip his pants free. Then I shed the rest of my clothes and climb onto his lap before I pull out a marker.
“What shall I draw today?” I say, trying my best to sound extremely sophisticated.
“Oh, you weren’t joking.”
I pop the cap off. “I never joke,” I say as I squiggle a line over his nipple. “Outstanding!”
“What is?”
“My art, of course,” I say as I draw a dot next to his nipple and a line under it to make it a happy face. “Such a happy nipple.”
“Happy… confused… right now those two emotions are going hand in hand, if I’m being honest.”
“Good. Then I shall make the other nipple confused,” I say as I draw a squiggly line under it. “Wow. Beautiful, if I do say so myself.” I lean forward but just before I decide to commit to the kiss, I give him some bushy pink eyebrows. “Oh, lovely. That, my grand sir, is quite lovely.”
“Just give me a kiss, you mad artist.”
I grin as I press my lips into his, and he wraps his arms around me before rolling me onto my back. He pulls out a blue marker and eyes my torso.
“I believe it’s my turn,” Bentley says mischievously.
“I believe you’re the model, and I’m the artist.”
“Just a little pretty heart,” he says as he draws a perfect heart over my chest. It’s horribly adorable.
“And a kiss,” I remind him because I’m feeling a bit needy. He leans down to kiss me, and I press up into him as heat rises inside me. I can’t stop grinning against his lips every time I glance down at his nipples, though, which makes the kiss a bit awkward, especially when I’m trying my best not to nick him with my fangs. I don’t quite have this fang thing under control, but he never seems deterred, even when I do nick him.
“I want to draw a heart on you too,” I say as I take his hand and pull out a marker while he kisses a line down my cheek, skipping my neck to reach my chest. I grab the marker and start drawing on his hand as his fingers race over my skin, making me shiver and ache for him. His fingers tease the base of my cock before he glances at what I’m doing.
“That sure looks like a strange heart… almost like they’re balls instead of a heart.”
“Ew, no, who would draw that,” I say as I happen to add an elongated addition onto the “heart.”
“Wow… and what’s that around the heart? Looks like pubic hairs you’re now drawing.”
“You’re so weird. It’s to signify the heart’s beating, obviously.”
“Ah… obviously. And now what’s spurting out of the heart?” he asks as I continue to add to my beautiful drawing.
“That stuff?” I ask as I point to the lines coming out of the tip.
“Yes.”
“That’s love coming out.”
Bentley is trying his hardest not to smile and give in to my crazy talk. “Huh… wow. You obviously have more of an artistic eye than I do because that sure looks weird. Ah well. I’m positive you know what you’re talking about.”
I smile at him as I drop his hand and pull him in close. “Of course I do. Now where else can I draw?”
He grins at me before kissing me again. “You can draw anywhere you’d like.”
“Penis?”
“Um… I guess?” He seems a bit uncertain, which makes me laugh and snap the lid closed.
“Nah, the heart is the best part.” I kiss it as I grin at him.
“Uh-huh… I tend to love it, if I’m being honest.”
“Aw. Thank you. When I’m a famous artist, you can tell people that you’re my muse,” I say.
“That’s weirdly sexy,” he says as he captures my lips again and I push into him, my cock rubbing against his. His hand slips around them, pushing them together as he rubs and reaches for the lubricant. “Are we done playing artist? Can I touch you now?”
“I’d love that,” I say as he drops me onto my back and kisses a line straight down to my cock. His tongue flicks over the tip before swirling around it, making me groan. I love watching him as he strokes his own cock and takes mine in his mouth. He glances up at me, making me groan again as his hot mouth moves over me. I run my fingers through his blond hair, then run them down his neck as I just feel him.
How was I ever so lucky to have run into this man? How did this happen when I felt like everything was just getting worse and worse? But this man does everything to make me happy and feel so full of love. He makes me laugh and love with all of my heart. He makes me understand how precious life is.
And every time he touches me, it makes me yearn for more moments with him. His hand moves over me and his tongue wraps around me until my body is hot and aching. He’s drawing me so quickly over the edge that I grab onto him to warn him, but he just sinks down farther onto me until I can’t take it anymore and come.
I push down on him and instead of taking his cock in my hand, I sink down until I can take him in my mouth, loving his sharp intake of breath. Pushing him over the edge is far too easy when I’ve learned every way to touch and caress him until it drives him crazy. And nothing makes me happier than knowing that it’s me who does. I could touch and stroke and love on him until I was exhausted, just to keep feeling him.
After he’s finished, he pulls me up into his arms and kisses me.
“You’re such a good little canvas,” I say as I pop off a cap and start scribbling on his chest. This time I draw him a real heart as he watches me closely.
“You’re being too nice. I’m waiting patiently,” he teases.
“I’ve turned over a new leaf. I am the nicest person you’ll ever meet, Bentley my love.”
“You probably will be.” He pushes me down onto the bed next to him, and as I fill in the large heart on his chest, he murmurs sweet words to me like “Your evil cat is trying to claw her way in so she can pluck out my eyeballs” and “You’ve made it a full week without trying to eat my fish!”
And I love it. I love every moment of it.
OceanofPDF.com

EPILOGUE
BENTLEY
“Are you sure you’re good with this?” I ask River as I take him into the prison.
“Yes… it’s weird, I know. I just want to talk to him and ask him things, and am I being weird?”
I give him a gentle squeeze. “No. I don’t blame you for wanting to know. We’ll stay for just a few and then we have to get home.”
“Ooh, what’s going on at home?” River asks.
“You never know,” I say teasingly.
I want it to be a surprise that his family is up to see him, and what they have to tell him will surely send him over the edge.
His parents have been up to see him as often as they possibly could, which I don’t mind because they’ve pulled me right in with open arms. And I’ve never been more thankful. About two weeks after everything wrapped up with River’s case, Dorothy passed in her sleep. We knew it was coming, and I’d spent every moment of every day leading up to it with her. But this time, I wasn’t alone. River never left my side the whole time and Dorothy wouldn’t stop telling me how I’d finally found a “keeper.”
It was hard, and it hurt so badly, but I wasn’t alone. My biggest fear of waking up one day and realizing there was no one there for me never happened. I was surrounded by people there for me with River by my side and my team from the VRC there whenever I needed them. And on top of that, River’s family did their best to pull me in and make me feel like I was a part of the family.
“Right this way,” a guard says as he leads us into a room. Waiting inside for us is Corbyn, the man River wanted to see.
We sit down at the table as Corbyn stares at River in mild surprise. He looks far better than the last time I saw him, clearly no longer starved.
“Well aren’t you just about the last person I expected to see. But I am pleased to hear that you ended it all. I was just… planning on being on the other side of this when you did,” Corbyn says.
“I wanted to talk to you. Why did you tell them… what you did about me?” he asks, referring to Corbyn telling the police he was the one who changed him and taking on that sentence.
“Once upon a time, I was a good person. I probably wasn’t the best, but I had good morals. I cared about people. Not only did I never malevolently go out of my way to hurt anyone, the thought would never cross my mind to do so. And then I was taken. For years, I was tossed from vampire to vampire. I was used and abused and all I was left with was this unimaginable rage. This hatred that consumed me. My mind wasn’t my own anymore, and I felt myself twisting into something that was as close to being a monster as one could get. And I embraced it because it made me feel. It gave me something to strive for, no matter how awful it was. And I couldn’t stop.”
He rubs his face before leaning back, never looking away from River. “When I was changed by Bowman, I wasn’t shown kindness, I wasn’t made into an equal. He’d starve me of blood or torture me in other ways until he thought he molded me into the perfect little plaything. You were the first person I bought. He’d encouraged me for years to buy someone, and I had refused, but when I saw him bidding on you I saw the sick desire in his eyes to destroy you and I bid after him. He was so pleased by the idea of me taking you that he let me have you after that.
“I don’t know why I did what I did. I had this idea that I could get you, a human he wanted, to destroy this whole little fucked-up world he had. And I thought the only way to do that was to mold you like he did to me. There were times while I had you that I hated myself so much, I couldn’t even get myself to see you, even though I knew I was leaving you to starve. And other times that rage consumed me so much that I would do anything to make you end Bowman because I was too weak to do it myself.”
Corbyn pauses for a moment, glancing down at his cuffed hands before he looks up at River with a twisted smile. “But the joke is on me because when I let you loose, you didn’t rush out with hatred in your heart, you found someone to care about. Someone to help you survive. I found myself giving up a little, letting you do whatever the fuck you wanted but then Bowman would tear back into my life and I’d be filled with new rage and sic you on him again.
“After I was arrested, a psychiatrist that works here seemed to take pity on me and listened to my story. And as I told him my story, he helped me realize that while I was made into a monster, I didn’t have to die a monster. So I knew that even though it would never fix what I did to you, it would help you two stay together if I agreed to being the one who changed you. That’s the only way I can say I’m sorry for what I did to you.”
River nods slowly. “I was… worried about coming today. I thought I was being stupid, but I’m glad I did. So… thank you for taking that on yourself… and letting me stay with Bentley.”
Corbyn nods, emotion filling his eyes. “Yeah… I’m sorry… for what it’s worth.”
“Thank you,” River says, and as always, I’m astounded by his level of care and love. I don’t know if I could have done this today. I would have let my hatred for the man rule me into refusing this. But not River. I feel like even though I’m over a hundred and thirty years older than him, I still have so much to learn from him.
As we walk out and head back to the car, I turn to River. “Do you feel better now?”
“I do,” he says. “He’s still a huge asshole, but… I get it. In some weird fucked-up way, I get it.”
I reach out and take his hand before squeezing it. Then I lift it to my lips and give it a kiss.
When we reach home, I let River go first. Even though I told his family to be extremely quiet, I can still hear them as I usher him inside, but under his sunlight protection gear, he might not hear anything.
I push him through the door where his family jumps out, startling him.
“Holy shit!” he cries as Amara, his dog, comes barreling forward, ecstatic to see River. His parents had asked if I would mind them giving Amara back to River. I told them they could as long as she wasn’t as evil as Banshee. She proves she’s not by giving me a quick lick while greeting River.
“I thought you were supposed to be a big bad vampire now, but you still jumped at least a foot,” Clay says.
“Yeah, and I thought you were some monsters!” he says, which just makes Clay laugh.
His mom, Diana, and his dad, Carlos, rush forward and squeeze him, which seems to be a family tradition of sorts. Then they drag me into it, and I’m pulled into this family squeeze. It’s a good feeling and I close my eyes and just soak it up for a moment.
“You guys didn’t tell me you were coming up here,” River says with a smile.
Banshee stalks across the room and sits at my feet while staring at me. I’m not sure what it means so I assume she’s sending me telepathic thoughts that she wants to make sure I know the dog is not welcome. I reach down and chance picking her up. When she only slightly claws me on the way up, I call it a win.
“We have exciting news,” Diana says.
“What’s that?” River asks.
“We’re moving here. We drove up to look at a house about ten minutes away.”
River gives her a look of surprise. I already knew about this plan of theirs, and it was hard keeping it a secret from River but they didn’t want to put anything into motion until they were positive. “Wait… what? Oh my god, you guys don’t have to move here! I mean, it would be amazing, but your lives are back home and I promise I’ll visit a lot—”
His father shakes his head. “We’ve discussed this as a family. We nearly lost you once, River. And through that, we learned how important it was to keep your family close. Your mom and I are retiring within the next few months and your brother has always wanted to move into the big city for his job. We both know there’s nothing in the field he wants out where we’re at.”
“But… you’d be leaving everything behind,” River says.
“Leaving what behind?” Diana asks. “The flowerbed we all know I can’t keep alive to save my life? Family is far more important, and this is what we’ve all decided. You can’t stop us.”
“You guys are crazy,” River decides, but he squeezes them all close.
I’m positive they want to take him home with them, and I’ve heard them ask more than once, but River’s stayed stubborn and refused to leave me, even though it’s clear he misses them. So this will be great knowing they’ll be here for him.
They hurry off toward the living room, eager to show him something as River slows to look at me. “You knew about this.”
“I did,” I say.
“I feel bad they’re moving all the way here for me.”
I shrug. “I’m pretty sure they had an option. I don’t think anyone was threatening them, but I could be wrong.”
“I don’t think any of my texts about missing them were too threatening,” he teases.
“See?”
He wraps me up in his arms. “Thank you for getting along with my crazy family. For doing all of this for me and staying by my side. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Well, thank you for loving me.”
He smiles at me. “That was the easy job,” he says before kissing me. “I love you too.”
Together, we walk into the living room where I won’t be alone. Where I’ll be surrounded by people who care about me with someone by my side that will stay.