Free Legacy of Blood by J. L. McCoy, Virginia Cantrell Page A

affection, and approval and pulled me to him like it wanted to be whole with him again.
    Archer smiled as he read my thoughts.  “What you are feeling is the bond that is made between maker and child.  It’s like this for all my children,” he whispered gently as he lightly stroked my cheek with the back of his hand.
    “Do all your children want to fuck you too?”
    Archer laughed and shook his head.  “No, love.  I told you that what you are feeling is the leftover excitement from feeding.  Take a deep breath and concentrate on centering your emotions.  The lust you feel will soon subside.”
    I highly doubted that it would but did as he asked.  I closed my eyes and took a few, slow deep breaths.  I focused on calming things like warm bubble baths, lounging in a gently swaying hammock, and the feel of the mid-day sun shining down on my skin.  After a bit, I finally began to feel myself calming down.  The lust was still there in the background, but its pull on me was greatly lessened.  I swallowed hard and prepared myself to open my eyes.  I was scared that just the sight of Archer on top of me would set me off again.
    As I slowly opened them, I was met with a look that took my breath away.  Archer was staring down at me with such love, approval, and pride that I looked up at him in wonder. 
    “You are something else, Skye,” he whispered.  “I’m so proud of you.  Your control is simply astounding.  You didn’t let your emotions get the better of you.”
    I shook my head, not agreeing with him.  “I was seconds away from raping you, Archer.”  He threw his head back and laughed as I continued.  “I’m not kidding.  I was so close to just ripping your pants off and taking what I wanted.  It was everything I could do to just keep breathing.  That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.  Will it always be this hard to control my emotions?  Will I struggle with this every time I eat?”
    Archer chuckled as he sat up on the couch and pulled me with him.  “You might struggle for a while when you feed, but I will always make sure someone is there to help bring you back from the brink.”
    I shook my head, mortified at the thought of me turning my sexual hunger on Quinn or Seamus, or God forbid, Lochlan.  “No, it has to be you,” I said with fearful eyes.  “I don’t want anyone else to see me like this.”
    Archer put his hands on my shoulders and looked deeply into my eyes.  “You have nothing to be ashamed about.  Do you understand?  What you went through just now is perfectly natural and most importantly, normal.  Everyone goes through this, Skye… everyone.  No one is going to look down on you or judge you; quite the opposite, in fact.  You did remarkably well overcoming your urges; better than any newborn I’ve ever seen.  You should be proud.  So what if you got turned on.  We all get turned on every now and again when we eat; stop being so hard on yourself.  I know this is all new to you, but you’ll see as time goes on that you have nothing to be ashamed of.  The urges you feel are perfectly normal.”
    I nodded my head as I looked down at my hands.  My vampire life was not going to be an easy one I had a feeling, regardless of how “well” I was handling my emotions at the moment.  I couldn’t help thinking again that I wouldn’t have chosen this life if I had been given the option.  I wished Archer had respected my decision to die when I had asked him to kill me.  If he had, I wouldn’t have to be going through all this emotional bullshit, with the Faithful gunning for my death and Amun was gunning for my hand in some sick vampire/monster marriage.  Feelings of disappointment and anger rekindled inside of me and I frowned up at Archer.
    “Next time I ask you to kill me, you had better fucking do it,” I whispered before flashing to the now closed French doors.  Oleif was still standing inside the room with his arms crossed over his chest and a