Raul quickly shook his head. “No. Never that. It’s almost as if I want himtoomuch. I’ve never felt that way with any of my blood donors.” He was actually concerned by the intensity of his desire for Ji-Su’s blood, but he didn’t mention that to his friends.
Peter was clearly confused. “I’ve never felt that way either but it doesn’t sound like a bad thing.”
“It’s not,” Everett said as he stroked a thumb over the vein at the base of Solan’s throat.
Raul shrugged. “Maybe not. But I don’t want him to let me drink from him because he feels obligated to do so.”
“You want him towantto give you his blood even though he’s your contractually obligated blood pet. Interesting,” LaToria said with a teasing smile curving her full red lips.
“I don’t know what I mean. But I do know he’s mentally recovering from his time with Cedric. He’s not ready to fulfill his blood pet duty yet.”
He told them about Cedric biting Ji-Su after insulting him and then taking so much it made him weak and disoriented to the point that he ended up walking down the side of the highway barefoot and in a daze. After hearing the story, the expressions of everyone at the table ranged from disgust to anger.
“Wow,” Peter said in a low voice. “What a piece of work.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t go and beat the shit out of him,” LaToria said.
“I almost did. But the situation was already traumatic enough with Ji-Su being taken from his blood patron while he was still in shock and coming to me, a vampire he didn’t know. I didn’t want to stress him out any more than he already was. Plus, I was trying to be as upstanding as possible so his agency didn’t show up on my doorstep and demand I let him go.”
Everett eyed him as if he was impressed.
“I admire your restraint.”
Raul snorted a laugh. “Don’t admire it too much. I ended up giving Cedric the beating he deserved after he sent all of Ji-Su’s stuff to the ranch broken and pissed on.”
“Damn.” LaToria sucked her teeth once. “He sounds like a nightmare.”
“Ji-Su is safe now but he was pretty upset. The stuff Cedric destroyed was for his work playing video games and streaming it online.”
“You replaced everything for him,” Everett said.
Raul nodded. “Naturally.” He decided to try and explain why he was reluctant to drink from Ji-Su. The topic was already on the table so he might as well get it off his chest instead of brooding over it.
“I want to drink from him. But I also want to protect him, make sure he’s okay. If that means I abstain from drinking from him for a while, then that’s what I’ll do. And I don’t want him to feed me or do anything else out of obligation.” He knew Ji-Su was there because of his contract. But for some reason, the thought of Ji-Su letting him drink his blood because he had to or because he thought he owed him was distasteful. An odd way to feel since that was basically the basis for every relationship he’d had with a human. But he didn’t want that type of relationship with Ji-Su.
“You sound like you’re really determined to keep him. But now you have a lot of reasons not to drink from him.”
“It’s complicated,” Raul answered Peter with a shrug.
“Not really,” LaToria said. “You’re afraid to get personal with him while he’s in debt to you because you think his feelings won’t be real. That’s the problem.”
Raul blew out a frustrated breath. “Yeah. I guess that is the problem.”
Solan, who’d been uncharacteristically quiet during their conversation, finally spoke up.
“Well, as the only blood pet at the table, allow me to offer my opinion and a solution.”
Raul nodded at the handsome, bright-haired human. “Go ahead.”
“He’s there to do a job. If you don’t want him to end up feeling like a mooch then let him do it. Feed from him but keep it business only for now. Don’t try any of that sneaky seduction stuff Everett pulled on me. As if I didn’t know what he was doing.”
Everett smiled at his blood pet.
“I knew you were aware, love. That was part of the fun.”
Solan rolled his eyes but then he grinned and kissed Everett on the cheek before continuing. “If you let him do the one thinghe’s there to do he won’t feel as though he’s free loading, his debt gets paid, and you get to drink his delicious, yummy blood. It’s a win-win situation. Then, once his contract is up and he’s fulfilled his obligation to you, you can pursue him romantically without wondering about his motivations. If that’s what you want to do.”
Raul considered what Solan had said. It made sense. Ji-Su had even said himself that he felt jobless. “Okay, I’ll ask him to be sure he’s still on board serving as my blood pet. If he says yes, I’ll go for it.”