22. Redd
The world was red. And death. And pain.
There was nothing but blood. Red blood, black blood, green blood. I saw flashes of it, dripping and thick and sliding down the back of my throat and filling me like a well. Filling me entirely. Infiltrating my every cell, my every thought, my entire being.
Pain.
Pain.
Blood. Need blood.
No. Not this blood. Not her.
Not the blood that smells like warmth and berries.
I snarled at the swirling thoughts in my mind.
“It’s okay, Redd, just do it. Bite me.”
The words pierced the haze I was trapped in. Fiella. This was Fiella. The feisty vampire that owned the trinket shop.
The woman I couldn’t seem to scrape my thoughts away from.
NO. That was the bloodlust talking.
My muscles were steel and concrete– it took the power of a thousand suns for me to slowly peel my hands from her delicate throat.
Must get off. Must crawl away. Must escape.
My vision was tunneled, but I knew I had to get away from the woman on the floor. I spit a mouthful of saliva off to the side, trying to force my fangs into retreating into my gums.
Long, delicate fingers wrapped around my wrist. My gaze snapped to a set of amber-colored eyes.
She slowly pulled my hands back toward her neck. Gently.
“It’s okay, Redd. I know how it goes. I’m a vampire too, remember? Just drink from me a little, it’ll make you feel so much better.”
Her pupils were blown wide, and she was slightly panting. I couldn’t tell if it was fear or something else that was causing her body to react strangely, but I could hardly focus on that with the red haze tugging at my senses.
All I could think about was her blood, hot and sweet and pumping rapidly through her veins. Drumming, thundering, deafening.
It took me a moment to register what she was saying.
“No!” I snarled. I couldn’t. I shouldn’t.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
Woah, where did that come from?Fiella was not mine.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and tried to pull myself off of her again.
Her grip tightened, and her nails dug into my flesh. Her face tightened into a mask of determination.
My fierce creature. No! Not mine. What the fuck, Redd, snap out of it.
“Just do it, you stubborn man. We’re both adults here, and the fates know how long we’re going to be stuck here together. Just get it over with while you still have some rationality left in you, so you don’t end up ripping my throat open later and bleeding me dry.” Her voice was strangely breathy.
She shivered at that last statement, a flash of alarm crossing her features.
No. I would never rip her throat open. That was absurd.
My thoughts were at war.
The darkness was creeping in again, muddling my thoughts further.
After long seconds, I decided that she was right, and I couldn’t hold myself back anymore.
I leaned forward, taking a deep inhale of her sweet berry scent, braced myself, and let my fangs sink into the silky skin of her throat.
Oh, fuck.