The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 130

[Echo]

When we got home from school, everyone went into the dining room to work on any projects and assignments that were left. Those of us who had finished were helping the others. Lisa brought in snacks for us and it was a great atmosphere... almost.

Sean was jumpy. I didn't know what was wrong. Rosario was particularly attentive to him.

On top of that, Gray seemed to be using every excuse he could think of to touch or rub against me. The strain of my body needing him warred with the resolve I had not to be with either of them until the curse was ended. At one point he bent down next to my ear. "I can smell your arousal, angel. It's intoxicating." He whispered, sending a shiver through me. "Please, Gray. Stop that. You don't understand what you're doing to me." I pled quietly.

"Probably exactly what you're doing to me. I'm so fucking hard right now, Echo. I want to be with you, be in you. I want to feel the grasp of your pleasure. I can smell how wet you are. Every time I've smelled you today it's been all I can do to not drag you into an empty classroom and make you scream." Gray murmured.

I squeezed my thighs together. The things he was saying were making my whole body tingle and tighten. Why was he doing this to me? Why didn't I actually want him to stop?

"I wish I were between those creamy thighs right now, licking every inch of you, tasting your desire for me. I want to hear you moan my name. I want to hear your breath quicken like it does just before you cum. I wish I had known the last time I touched you would be the last time for a long time. I would have savored you more." He sighed.

"Gray. Get off my sister!" Val snapped.

"I was just seeing if she needed anything." Gray replied and moved away.

"Excuse me." I said softly and left the room.

It was time to start Victor's blanket heating and I needed a dry pair of panties. The fire that was starting to burn inside me was becoming unbearable. I needed relief.

Upstairs, I hurried to Victor's room. Victor, Talia, and Finn were all curled up on Victor's bed. They looked peaceful. I quickly turned on the heated blanket and rushed to my room to shower.

If Victor woke up with the curse affecting him, I didn't want him to be angrier because I smelled like Gray. In the shower, I touched myself thinking of Gray and all the images he'd put in my head. I thought about his mouth on me, his hands, his whole body pressed into mine.

-

Relieved, clean, and dry again, I made my way back to Victor's room. I wanted to see who he was when he woke up. My heart was in my throat as I waited.

Talia woke up first. She probably timed it so she would be up before him. She sat against the headboard and watched Victor with me.

It felt like it took hours before he started moving. Right on time, his eyes opened. When they landed on me, they softened. He smiled and reached out a hand to me.

"Princess. Good afternoon. Did you have a good day at school?" He asked.

I grinned and bounced. It was my Victor. I flung myself onto him and cuddled close.

"So it was a good day, then?" Victor chuckled.

"Better now that you're awake." I sighed happily.

Victor held me tightly. His arms were heavenly. I relaxed in his embrace.

"No fair. I never have a cute girl to cuddle me when I wake up." Finn huffed.

"Because you scare them all away with your brutish manners." Victor replied.

"Let's get ready for our night, Finn. I'll give you cuddles in the shower." Talia purred.

The bed shifted, but I didn't pull away. It was nice to be held by my Victor. I had a lot of hope, since he woke up as himself.

I felt Victor kiss my cheek, then my ear. He started making his way to my neck. I moaned and tried to push him away. He was passionate, eager, and strong.

"Victor, stop." I breathed.

"Just a little more, my princess. You smell divine. I want to taste just a little more of you. I've missed the scent of you without the undercurrent of fear. I see you showered for me, just in case I didn't wake up as myself. I appreciate that, Echo. With luck, we've pushed the curse off a good distance." Victor murmured, kissing and sucking on my neck.

The heat in my body came back. I groaned as Victor nibbled at me. His fingers gripped my bottom and he kneaded my flesh enthusiastically. I could feel him hardening against me and nearly cried. I wanted him so much. "Please." I whispered. "Please, stop, Victor."

He did as I said, which really was for the best. I would keep telling myself that, too. No matter how much I didn't believe me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize how much you were struggling, Echo. Your decision must be taking a toll on you. Why not rescind it for tonight? It will enable Grayson and myself to say a proper goodbye to your body and may dull the ache for all of us." He offered. "Or it will just make it worse. Or it could make curse Victor come back. There are too many ways it could go wrong, Victor. I'm not doing this to be mean or to hurt anyone. I want to be with you and Gray so badly it hurts. But, I just can't risk it. I can't risk losing either of you." I sniffled. "Don't cry, princess. I didn't mean to pressure you. I only wanted to talk to you about possible options. I wanted to make this easier on all of us." Victor murmured, kissing the top of my head. "I won't push you anymore. I'll talk to Grayson. He can't counter me the way he can counter you. Will that make you feel better, my little love?"

I nodded, even though my body screamed at me not to agree. I turned my face up and kissed Victor. It started off chaste, but I couldn't stop myself from rubbing against him as my mouth opened to accept his tongue.

Victor pulled me away after a while. He had a hungry look in his eyes that made the heat in my belly go from flame to inferno. I tried to pull him back, all thoughts were gone and I was acting the way my body wanted to. "Echo...? Are you in heat, princess?" Victor asked.

"I don't know what that is. Please kiss me again, Victor."

"You said you didn't want to make love until the curse was over, Echo. You were managing to keep your composure and your vow until now. You're part werewolf. You might be in heat, princess." He explained. "That means your body wants you to have babies." I felt as if ice water had been dumped on me. That took the fire right out of me. I didn't want babies right now. I couldn't let my body force me to have them.

"Let me go, Victor. I need to figure this out." I said.

He released me and I got off the bed. I needed to stay away from them. I needed to learn more about what being in heat means. I decided to call Amy. She was just in heat. She could tell me more about it.

-

In my room, I locked the door and pulled out my phone. I needed answers and I couldn't think of anyone else who might have them. I needed to talk to Amy.

The phone rang and I sat on my bed, waiting for her to pick up. I was nervous. I didn't want whatever this heat thing was if it would risk the men I loved. "Echo? What's up? Has the curse gotten worse? Do you need me to come help you?" Amy answered.

"Can I come to you? I need to talk and I don't want to do it over the phone." I asked.

"Sure. I'm in my office, it's soundproofed." She replied.

I hung up the phone and focused on Amy. When I got the feeling like I could connect to her, I focused on wanting to go to where she was. When I opened my eyes I was in a room I'd never seen before. There was a little furniture, several large cabinets, and a playpen in the room. It was dim, but not dark. I could see the windows were covered in a sort of film, but I could still see through them.

Amy sat behind a large oak desk. She smiled at me and indicated the seats across from her. I sat gratefully.

"What's going on, Echo? Last I heard, you managed to push back the curse on Victor and things were starting to pick up steam for the curse team. Did something happen?" Amy asked.

"Nothing there, really. It's just.... I need to know what heat is and how to stop it." I blurted out.

She looked at me curiously. "Why would you need to know that?"

I told her what was happening and what Victor said. Amy listened intently. She nodded and smiled when I finished.

"You're not going through heat, Echo. If you were, you wouldn't be here right now. You would have dragged Gray to your room and locked the door. You wouldn't have let Victor pull away from you. When you're in heat, there is nothing else that matters. Only having the man, or men in your case, you love inside of you. The fire you feel, is your own desire." Amy explained.

"It feels so different than any time before." I said.

"Of course it does. You never denied yourself before. You always gave into your urges. This will be hard. Don't get me wrong. I don't envy you your position here. You made the right decision. Being with Gray endangers him. Even if Victor is okay right now, you don't really know when he won't be. He may wake up curse ridden again, or it could change while he's awake. You're not in the wrong here. Anyone who thinks you are isn't thinking about all of the potential complications." She assured me.

"How do I stop feeling like this? I need to be able to think and I can't." I told her.

"I'm sorry, Echo. You are going to have to manually relieve yourself as often as possible. Let Victor talk to Gray. Maybe that will get him to stop trying to seduce you. At least, I imagine that's what he was trying to do, saying all those dirty things to you. Lucien does that to me sometimes. Links me dirty suggestions to try and get me all worked up when we're in public. Not when we're working, thank the goddess, but other times when I should be paying attention." Amy chuckled. "How do you deal with that?" I asked.

"Revenge. I do the same thing to him when it's not possible for him to do anything. Meal times are the best. I can really get going while I'm enjoying my food and all he can do is squirm. Like what you did to Victor and Gray at dinner a few weeks ago. I would suggest going to bed, locking your door, and making sure that boy can see and feel everything you want him to do to you. Then stop before he climaxes. He deserves it for trying to get you to go back on your plans. Never think a male werewolf doesn't know what he does to his mate. If he does something that turns you on, he decided to do that thing just for that reason." She insisted.

"Victor got really mad when I did it to him." I said.

"This is Gray. Make sure he knows he'll get more of the same if he doesn't back off. It might even turn into something you both want to do. A way of getting around not being able to be together. Marius has been teaching you. Time to put all that training to the test. If you can make it feel good for both of you, then it could relieve your tension a different way." Amy suggested.

I hadn't thought of using my ability like that since I'd done it weeks ago. I never thought of using it for pleasure instead of t*****e. I licked my lips. I could do this.

"You really think it will help?" I asked.

"It couldn't hurt. Werewolves are very touch oriented when it comes to our mates. We love kissing, cuddling, touching, and making love to them. It makes us feel whole. Maybe it will help him calm down." She said with a shrug.

"Thank you for talking to me. Are you sure I don't have to worry about this heat thing?"

"You're mostly vampire, sweetie. Whatever the dhampyr version of heat is, that is what you'll have. I imagine they have something. You said you've never had a period. Was there ever a time when you wanted men to touch you?" Amy asked.

Focusing on all the years before, I thought it over. I couldn't recall a time when I ever wanted to or liked those vampires touching me. That meant I never had anything like that... right?

"What happens to a werewolf who has a heat and doesn't have a mate?" I asked.

"Normally, we try to sequester girls and women who don't have a mate when they go through heat. It can entice single males. The desire to be with a male is intense. There have been instances of young women getting pregnant by males who weren't their mates. In some packs, they make them mark each other. In our pack and collective, we help support the young mother until she finds her mate. It's up to him to accept her. Some will, but, sadly, most will not." She explained.

"I never felt anything like that. Not until I'd marked Gray and Victor." I replied.

"Hmm. You should probably talk to Talia. I'm not totally ignorant about vampires, but I am about dhampyrs and I don't want to steer you wrong. She knows more than I do." Amy said.

"I should get home. It's almost dinner time. Gray will be at work now. He was planning to leave after I went to get Victor up. I'll see if Victor's talk with him will work. If it does, I'll see if he wants to try your suggestion." I told her. "Good. Go on home. Tell everyone I said hi. Let me know if you need anything else. I'm always here for you. Okay, Echo?" She smiled.

"Thank you, Amy. I was so scared. There are so many things I still don't understand." I sighed.

"You'll get there. I'm glad you chose to talk to me instead of freaking out. Go on. I bet they'll start missing you soon." Amy said, waving me off.

I stood and waved goodbye before focusing on my room. It was easier to get to someplace I'd been before than it was to get to a place I'd only been connected with on the phone. Within moments, I was back in my bedroom.

When I arrived downstairs, the smell of food hit me. I was so hungry. Using my travel ability for longer distances seemed to take a lot out of me.

Entering the dining room, I saw that my normal seat was occupied by Talia. I looked at her curiously. She pointed down the table to an empty seat between my sister and brother. When I looked back at her, I saw Victor focusing on the plate in front of him. Not looking at me.

With a sigh, I went to my seat. Harmony squeezed my hand and I smiled at her a little. Val rubbed my back. I didn't realize I seemed so obvious. I used to be able to hide how I was feeling. I put on my best 'happy face'. I would do my best.