Chapter 16 #2
I watch awareness crash back into his expression, panic following a heartbeat later. He releases me so abruptly I stumble backwards, falling onto the couch as he takes a jerky step back and retracts his fangs.
“Don’t fucking do that,” he snarls, dragging both hands over his face. He paces a couple of steps, forcing a slow breath through his nose like he’s trying to scrape together whatever composure he has left.
I blink at him, and then it clicks. A slow grin spreads across my face.
“So it isn’t my blood, then.”
He freezes. “What?”
“The reason Elliott doesn’t wanna bite me.” My grin widens. “It clearly isn’t my blood.”
Albert scowls down at me. “Don’t taunt a vampire to prove a fucking point, Bex. Do you have a death wish or something?”
I shrug, not nearly as shaken as I probably ought to be. “Maybe I’m just trying to feel alive.”
“Well that isn’t the way to do it.” He rubs his face again, letting out a long, frustrated groan before turning away. He paces the length of the room once, then back again, like he’s trying to walk off the lingering effects of my blood. “Dammit,” he mutters. “Now I have to tell Doc.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Tell him what?”
He stops pacing long enough to level me with an incredulous look, like the answer should be obvious. “That I drank from his source.”
“I mean…” I gesture toward the empty pouch. “Technically, you drank from that.”
“Not the point.” He resumes pacing, stabbing both hands into his hair and tugging at the strands. “He could end me for this, you know.”
My brows shoot up. “Seriously?”
“He has every right to.”
I roll my eyes, waving off his dramatics. “Calm down, dude. It’s not that big of a deal.”
Albert lets out a humorless laugh. “You really don’t understand how this works, do you?”
“Apparently not.”
“You’re his source.” He points at me for emphasis. “He trusted me. And now… well, he’ll never fucking trust me again, will he?”
“Then don’t tell him.”
“I have to.”
“Why?” I scoff. “Because he’s your boss? Or because he’s your vampire daddy?”
I wag my brows, but he doesn’t even crack a smile.
“Both,” he groans, expression twisting like the thought of betraying Elliott’s trust physically pains him.
“Relax,” I sigh, pushing to my feet. “Your secret’s safe with me, dude.”
He shakes his head, then strides toward me. His fingers close around my wrist, and before I can protest, he’s already pulling me toward the door. “Come on.”
“Whoa!” I exclaim, digging in my heels. “What are you doing?”
“We’re going to tell him.”
“Now?” I gawk at him. “Are you fucking crazy? He’s sleeping!”
My protests fall on deaf ears as Albert drags me from the room, down the hall, and up the stairs. A minute later, we’re standing outside the door to Elliott’s bedroom, and for the first time since this whole ridiculous experiment started, a niggling feeling settles in my stomach.
Maybe this wasn’t my best idea.
Albert fishes a key fob from his pocket and presses it against the sensor, a green light illuminating before the door unlocks with a soft beep. Grabbing for the handle, he pushes it open and drags me inside.
The room is dark, the blackout shades drawn tight over the windows. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust, but then Albert hits a switch and soft recessed lights glow to life along the baseboards, outlining the room without disturbing the darkness too much.
Elliott lies motionless in the center of his bed, the dark sheets pooled low around his waist. My gaze instantly snags on the broad planes of his bare chest, then slowly drifts down the ladder of his abs before climbing back up to his face.
It’s completely relaxed– despite the way we just barged into his bedroom, the man’s somehow still out cold.
“Boss,” Albert barks.
Nothing.
“Doc,” he tries again, louder this time.
Elliott jerks awake so violently that my heart leaps into my throat.
He bolts upright, eyes wide and wild as they dart frantically around the room before landing on us. “What happened?” he demands, throwing the sheet aside and springing to his feet.
It takes a second for my brain to register the fact that he’s completely naked. And when it does, my eyes immediately drop to the very large, very hard dick bobbing between his thighs.
Damn.
He definitely wasn’t exaggerating about being well endowed.
“I fucked up,” Albert blurts, falling to his knees and burying his face in his hands.
Honestly, his flair for the dramatic is getting a little absurd at this point. And that’s coming from me.
“I fed from your source,” he confesses, his voice muffled behind his palms. “I’m sorry…”
For one suspended heartbeat, Elliott doesn’t move. My pulse ticks in my throat, eyes darting between the two men as the air in the room shifts, thickening with tension.
Then all at once, the concern drains from Elliott’s face, replaced by something cold and predatory.
In a burst of vampire speed, he zips across the room to Albert, hand lashing out to fist his hair and haul him to his feet.
Albert lets out a strangled cry as Elliott twists his head sideways at an angle that makes my stomach lurch, looming over him menacingly.
“How dare you take what’s mine,” he snarls, every word dripping with barely restrained violence.
“I know,” Albert sobs. “I’m s-s-sorry.”
Elliott’s eyes snap to mine. Something in them makes every instinct scream that I should be afraid– that I should turn around and run for the fucking hills. Instead, I’m rooted to the spot I’m standing in, unable to look away. Because I’ve never seen Elliott like this before.
The man I’m looking at isn’t the brilliant scientist, and he definitely isn’t the maddeningly composed control freak. This is the vampire– raw, possessive, and positively feral.
Seeing the monster beneath the man should definitely rattle me, but against all logic, heat unfurls low in my belly as I hold his gaze.
He’s scary, sure… scary hot.
Ugh, there’s something seriously wrong with me.
Elliott’s nostrils flare, his jaw clenching. “How did she taste?” he murmurs, his eyes never leaving mine.
Albert whimpers. “Fucking delicious…”
Elliott’s fingers tighten in his hair, wrenching his head another inch to the side. Albert cries out, and that’s when I finally snap the fuck out of it, realizing I might be about to witness an actual murder if I don’t do something.
“Whoa, whoa,” I say, throwing up my hands as I take a cautious step forward. “This isn’t his fault. I talked him into trying it.”
The intensity of Elliott’s stare only deepens, his dark eyes boring into mine. “Why?” he demands.
“I… I don’t know,” I stammer, my mouth running dry. “I guess I wanted to see if he’d like it, or something? Since you don’t seem to be interested.”
Something flashes across Elliott’s face.
Then he suddenly releases Albert, blurring across the room toward me in a burst of supernatural speed.
His hand clamps around the back of my neck, spinning me toward the door and pressing my front against the wood.
His body cages mine, every inch of his much larger frame boxing me in from behind.
My breath catches as his hips press against me, his hard cock digging into the small of my back as he leans down to murmur in my ear.
“You are mine. You’re not to offer yourself up to anyone else. Do you understand?”
A helpless little whimper escapes me, heat licking up my spine as my thighs clench together.
“Nod if you understand.”
I dip my chin once, then apparently lose all control of my neck and start nodding like a damn bobblehead, too flustered and turned on for rational thought.
“Good.”
Just as suddenly as he grabbed me, he lets me go, stepping back. I stumble a little before catching myself against the door and turning to face him.
When our eyes meet, something inside me shifts. Because the look in those eyes… it’s not annoyance or restraint; not hunger or frustration. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen from Elliott Faulkner before.
It’s a fierce kind of possession– an unwavering claim that sinks in deep and steals the breath from my lungs.
“Get out,” he barks, pointing toward the hallway.
For once, I don’t argue. I slip out of the room, and the door slams shut behind me, the sharp crack echoing down the hall like a gunshot.
I just stand there for a second, staring at the closed door while my heart hammers against my ribs.
There’s an angry vampire on the other side of it, and poor Albert’s on the receiving end of his wrath.
A normal person would be panicking right about now, but not me.
Instead, I’m haunted by that look in Elliott’s eyes.
You are mine.
The words replay in my head over and over, each repetition sending another pulse of illicit heat through me.
God, there’s something seriously fucked about the way I’m wired.
A muffled thud comes from inside the bedroom, jolting me back to reality.
Right.
Probably shouldn’t linger outside the room where an enraged vampire is currently deciding the fate of his betrayer.
I hurry away, taking the stairs two at a time down to the main level and racing for my bedroom. My bare feet slap against the floorboards as I duck inside and shove the door closed behind me.
The latch clicks, silence descending as I sag back against the wood, squeezing my eyes shut and trying to slow the frantic rhythm of my pulse.
All I can see is Elliott’s face.
That look.
That impossible, possessive certainty in his eyes.
My hand slips beneath the waistband of my little boy shorts almost on instinct, fingers circling my clit. The scene upstairs flashes through my mind as I rub faster and faster, rapidly bringing myself to the edge of climax.
And when I fall over the cliff, Elliott’s name is on my lips.