Thicker than Water (Fangs and Feuds #1)

Bright gold

brIGHT GOLD

Amara

“Oh! Hello.”

I almost drop my tray when I see Celine. Even with all of these dressed-up vampires around, she stands out. She wears a well-fitting tuxedo suit, tailored in a modern cut, all sharp lines. Her hair is down around her shoulders in a loose wave and her lipstick is a bright blood red.

“ Bonsoir.”

“Enjoying the party?” she asks.

“It’s been…interesting so far.”

I glance to our right, where a contortionist has wrapped herself into a ball, her glittery red leotard twinkling. Several vampires eye her hungrily.

Celine gives me a sympathetic look. “Want to get out of here?”

I take a look at my watch. “I’ve got another few hours on my shift…”

“Nonsense. Meet me in my crypt?”

“But Lexi…”

“I outrank Lexi.” She raises an eyebrow in my direction.

With a chuckle, I turn to the server’s exit. “All right, just give me a moment to drop these off.”

It only takes the length of the elevator ride before we’re both completely out of our clothes. Celine picks me up as the elevator doors chime open, my naked legs straddling her waist, my arms wrapped around her shoulders. She kisses my breasts as she carries me into her suite and toward the bedroom.

“Mmm, keep doing that,” I moan. Her mouth finds my nipple, giving me a teasing bite. “Ooh!”

I giggle, and she tosses me gently onto her bed, then climbs on top of me.

Celine’s bedroom is lit by the soft, orange glow of the decorative wall sconces. Tonight, the two sides of the bed’s dark curtains are closed, giving it an intimate quality.

The heavy, sensual atmosphere of the party lingers, and I feel myself getting wet quickly. Celine moves slowly, kissing the insides of my thighs. I can see her fangs protruding slightly. I know her well enough now to know that happens when she’s emotional, or when she’s horny. Or when she’s hungry.

They graze my skin, and I feel a heavy longing rise up inside me.

“Did you enjoy the bloodwine?” I ask her. “I’ve never seen you drink it.”

“It’s not quite to my taste,” she replies. Then she flashes me a flirtatious smirk. “It doesn’t taste nearly as good as you smell.”

A warm flush comes to my cheeks. “Really? What do I smell like?”

She brings her mouth to my neck, kissing me tenderly behind my ear. “You smell… incredible . Like nothing I’ve ever tasted before.”

She moves her hand to my slit, rubbing my wet folds between her fingers. She starts slowly, rhythmically. She knows how to touch me, how to make me crazy for her. I don’t know if my rising desire is because of her words, or because of how she touches me. I press my body up against her’s, wanting only to be closer to her.

She senses my wish, and slips two fingers inside me, in a beckoning motion, caressing me.

I gasp in delight, moving against her hand.

“Another,” I whisper.

She adds a third finger, fucking me a little harder now, a little deeper. Her lips are still at my neck, kissing me there, licking the tender, fragile skin.

I can feel her fangs against my throat as she licks and kisses me, hear my thundering heartbeat. And the forbidden, secret urge rises up once more, stronger than ever this time, for her to pierce my neck and drink from me. To share the most intimate, the most sacred union. It’s an overwhelming desire. All I want is to be closer to her, to belong to her completely.

I trust her so deeply, and she trusts me…

Reason and thought leave me as I look up into her violet eyes.

I speak the words with absolute abandon. “Celine, I want you to…I want you to drink from me.”

Her eyebrows furrow. “Are you sure?”

“ Yes, yes, please…I want you so badly .”

She slows her movements, teasing my G-spot with the tip of her finger now. She gazes down at me, and her eyes take on an iridescent quality. I feel a strange tug, and I know she’s enchanting me. My first instinct is to resist it, but I push it aside without thinking. I want to succumb to her.

The enchantment makes me feel tipsy, in a pleasant way. A tingle through my entire body. But it enhances the pleasure I experience from her fingers inside me. It takes me to the brink, but her fingers move too slowly to crest me over it. It’s like I’m in a dream, caught up in a fantasy world. All thoughts flee from my head.

She finishes glamouring me, and her fangs have protruded completely, long over her lips, two sharp points glinting in the orange light.

My entire body is wracked with anticipation.

And she bites down, piercing my neck with her perfect canines. The twisted synchrony of pleasure and pain are enough to push me over the edge. A wave of satisfaction crests through my body as she bites me, her fangs sinking deep inside me and her fingers massaging my G-spot.

Wave upon wave of pleasure cascade through my body as she removes her fangs from my neck. Her lips find the bite and she starts to drink. I can feel the blood leave my body and enter her’s, binding us together more tangibly and intimately than I ever could have imagined possible. The sensation makes my head spin.

With a deep moan, she pulls my body closer to her’s. I can sense her gaining strength, the power of my blood invigorating her as it merges us together. My pleasure starts to build again as her fingers synchronize with her lips, increasing in intensity gradually.

Her hunger and my desire meet, satisfying each other completely. I cry out as I come again, wetting her fingers and hand once more. I give myself up to her wholly, losing all sense of myself.

It’s just her and me.

I become dizzy, and her drinking slows. She takes her fingers from me. I’m almost disappointed that I can’t satisfy her desires further.

She pulls her lips from my neck. A trickle of hot, thick blood drips down my shoulder and onto the bed. Her fangs are still extended, and dark crimson. Her eyes are pure red as well, but bright.

I feel hazy, and weakened from losing blood. But not as weak as I would have thought.

“You don’t need to stop…” I say, turning my face toward her’s.

Then I see her expression.

She’s frowning, confusion in her eyes.

My heart hammers. Blood pours from the open wound on my neck, with nowhere to go.

“What…what’s wrong?” I ask, terror creeping into my voice.

Her tongue flicks out to lick a drop of blood from her lips.

“Your blood.”

“What about my blood?”

“It’s…it’s filled with magic. Like a witch’s blood.”

She gazes at me, her bright red eyes suddenly cold and unblinking.

My heartbeat slows. I’m a terrible liar. I can’t lie to her, especially not in this moment, after we’ve shared so much with each other. I feel the gold pool in my own eyes, the yellow energy magic flicker to my fingers, after waiting so long below the surface.

Celine’s nostrils flare.

“I can explain…” I tell her quickly.

But she’s already darted out of the room.

With vampiric speed she returns, my purse in one hand.

The stake in another.

Her eyes flicker to the yellow light pooling around me.

“You’re a…a Hecate witch…”

Adrenaline courses through my veins, shocking me out of the hazy glow of the enchantment. I scramble off the bed.

“Celine, please! It’s not what it looks like…I mean, yes, I was sent here by Lavinia, but I never intended to hurt you!”

“Then what’s this ,” she hisses, holding up the pointed stake in her hand, her face twisted in anger.

I swallow thickly. “I would never use that, Celine, you have to believe me! I only came here to…”

“To what? To spy on me?”

“Well, yes, but…but then it became so much more …Celine, I didn’t think I would get so close to you! I didn’t think…”

Blood drips down from my neck.

“I didn’t think that I would fall in love with you, Celine.”

Her grip tightens on the stake in her fist. Her eyes narrow. Those eyes, that only moment ago looked at me with such love, such trust…are now the eyes of a predator. Monstrous red eyes. I can’t bear to look at them.

“ Get out .”

“Celine, I…”

She moves closer to me, so quick I don’t even catch her movement. Her bloodstained fangs graze my cheek as she whispers in my ear.

“ Get out before I do something I regret .”

My heart breaks. I bite back the tears that threaten to erupt. I push everything back, push everything away, as I hastily retrieve my shirt and pants. She throws my purse to the ground and I take it, then I stumble out of the room and onto the elevator.

As the doors shut, my knees buckle beneath me. I clutch my purse like a life raft.

I catch a glimpse of myself in the elevator mirror. Eyes red-rimmed.

And bright gold.