Chapter 25 #2
I heard the pop of skin as he bit into his wrist. My mouth instantly watered. As soon as it was presented, I wrapped my hands around him and pulled the wound against my lips, groaning at the taste as his blood filled my mouth. Or was it Laurent who groaned?
His memories came rushing in with my first swallow, one after another. I let them flow by as I greedily sucked him down. God, he tasted so good. “Little flower,” he gasped against my ear, tightening his hold around me.
My stomach dipped low as my core turned molten.
“Focus,” he demanded, his voice growing rougher.
Oh. Right. I did as he said, spiraling in to his thoughts, and found Zola’s rescue. The scene loomed before me the way his memories did.
The warehouse was dimly lit. Bodies blurred, moving chaotically as vampires grappled with demons.
It was a melee that assaulted my senses.
Shouts of surprise. Crashes and explosions as bodies were thrown against crates, against walls, through doors.
Windows shattered, sending glittering fragments of glass everywhere.
The scent of iron-rich blood mixed with rot and decay.
The oppressive feel of demonic magic was nearly suffocating.
I leapt forward, following my nose as the world blurred around me.
I came to a room. Thick, heavy chains lined the walls.
It looked like the other nest we’d found.
Zola was restrained, some of her children around her.
A few were already desiccated, long dead.
Those who lived, sagged in their bonds, weakened by the iron.
Fury ripped through me as I surged forward.
Iron was dangerous for most supernatural creatures, vampires included.
But it wasn’t completely crippling unless used like this, in mass quantities on an already weakened body.
The strength flowing through my veins—Lily’s amplifier blood—surged to the surface allowing me to rip the chains from the walls.
I used my bare hands to break their shackles apart.
They were clamped around necks, wrists, ankles.
Holding my family like animals in a cage.
“They used…the amulet…against me,” Zola gasped, falling to her knees. “To trap me.” I bent, tenderly scooping her up, setting her on her feet. Three demons rushed for us.
“Eliminate them,” I ordered her, turning to free the others. Zola’s children were in worse condition—far worse. I helped them find their footing.
Marco and Lixin rushed into the room, helping to support those too weak to move.
I swept through the warehouse, ripping out throats.
I spent little time lingering over their memories.
Several rooms had been used like surgery spaces to syphon blood—the blood of my family.
Blood that had come from me, belonged to me.
When I finished, the warehouse lay in ruins, all but collapsing. I ordered everyone out, then set fire—
The memory cut off abruptly as Laurent’s wrist healed, tossing me back to the present.
It was disorienting, leaving one place for another.
I licked at what little blood remained, my head spinning.
As I came back into myself, the first thing I noticed was him.
His breaths were rough against my ear. His chest rising and falling against my back.
His next action made me freeze. He buried his face in my hair and nuzzled me, tightening his hold. “It was a massacre,” he murmured, his voice rough.
I relaxed into him, all but melting. It felt…nice. Soothing. Heat spread where we touched, the heat of his blood burning hottest. I felt it everywhere—felt him everywhere—both inside and outside of me.
A steady pulse built between my legs.
I collected my thoughts. Zola had lost four of her children. The other five were severely weakened but would recover. Something else had me opening my mouth. “It’s not your fault, Laurie,” I whispered. “What happened to them. It wasn’t your fault.”
He went rigid against me. “We are not going to have this conversation.”
I sighed. “Okay.”
He relaxed but he didn’t release me. I could have squirmed free, but I didn’t want to.
My blood had helped him tonight. I’d felt it, felt the strength and power it had lent him. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been enough. Vampires had still been lost.
I didn’t let myself think about it as I laced my fingers through his, pulling his arm tighter against me. He responded, burying his face deeper into my hair, running his nose along my throat. His breathing had stopped but he sighed.
I let the minutes tick by before I said, “The demon that came for me, the one Vittorio locked up below, he said he was collecting me for his master. I didn’t get a chance to question him further. Maybe we can go down and get some answers?”
Laurent stiffened. “I don’t want you anywhere near that thing,” he snarled into my hair. “Besides, I doubt I’ll get much from it.”
“Why?”
“Because I have plans for it, little flower.”
A lump formed in my throat. “Laurie,” I warned.
“It tried to take you from me.” His hold on me tightened. “It hurt you.”
“Laurie,” I said again.
“What?” he snapped. Weeks ago, even mere days ago, the sound of it would have sent me scurrying away. Now it made me fight back.
“I want answers, Laurent. I plan to get them. Before you…have your way with it.”
“I’m not letting you—“
“Be very careful about what you say next,” I warned. His throat bobbed against the back of my neck as he swallowed. “You’re not letting me do anything, because I will do as I wish. I will speak with it first. After that, you can have it. It was here for me, remember?”
“You are mine to protect,” he rasped. “Mine.”
The word was spoken like a vow. Sacred. One I wasn’t sure he’d ever made to another.
Perhaps that was why I didn’t protest his overprotective tone.
The declaration that might make others feel objectified, but my heart cracked wide open, liquid heat spilling out before I could patch it up.
It was dangerous, this feeling. Reckless, even.
Laurent could hurt me again, and yet that word was claiming in a way no one had ever claimed me.
“No one has ever wanted to keep me for themselves,” I whispered.
“I know,” he whispered back. “That’s on them. I don’t intend to make the same mistake.” One of his arms loosened, only to wrap around my throat, gently holding me to him. Tingles spread through me, quickly morphing into arousal.
My breaths came faster and I gulped, trying to distract myself. “Will you take me down to the cells?”
His hand tightened. “No. Not tonight. I want you to get some sleep. We can deal with it in the morning.”
“Laurie,” I warned. “If you’re saying that to keep me away—“
“I will do nothing until you’ve had your time with it,” he snapped, clearly in a mood. I didn’t take it personally.
“Someone is pissy tonight,” I tsked. “Maybe you need some sleep, too.”
“I don’t sleep.” Short, clipped words.
“At all?”
“There’s no need.”
“No wonder you’re always pissed off,” I muttered.
“Careful,” he growled, this time against the shell of my ear. I squirmed on his lap, only for his forearm to tighten and pin me against his chest.
“You should sleep,” I said again.
“I’ve got other, more pressing matters. I need to give Bastian a call. Let him know what Zola discovered about the amulet.”
“I’m pretty sure Bastian is busy sleeping.”
There was a long hesitation before teeth nipped at my ear. “Little flower, you are being such a thorn right now.”
“Some flowers do have them, you know.” The words came out bolder than intended, but I liked this version of myself, liked how far I’d come in just a few weeks.
“Indeed.” He released my throat and began wrapping my hair around his fist, gently tugging my head back. A groan spilled from my mouth. “Your hair is so beautiful.”
My lips parted, eyes going wide at the ceiling.
I listened to the sound of his inhale as he breathed me in. “You are so aroused by this. By me. Did it feel good to come in my arms earlier? While my teeth were buried in your neck?”
“Laurie,” I gasped.
“What’s the matter?” he crooned. “Will you need to finish yourself off again? You’ve done it plenty already. I’ve heard you. I’ve listened.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The thought of him intentionally listening. It should have embarrassed me. Instead, it did the opposite.
The hand fisting my hair tightened. I whimpered, squeezing my thighs together. A rumble, almost a laugh, shook his chest. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Fine. Are you asking because you’re interested in joining me?”
He scoffed. “I stopped having sex centuries ago. When you get to be my age, many things lose their luster. For the longest time, blood is all I’ve sought.”
I tried to ignore the sinking sensation in my belly. The sobering of my arousal. The crushing discovery. His admission hit harder than expected. Not just disappointment, but something that felt dangerously close to rejection. “Oh. I… I guess that makes sense.”
Except it didn’t, because I’d felt his erection more than once.
“Come, I won’t toy with you any longer. You need sleep.” He lifted me from his lap. I felt the loss of his warmth and wanted it back. Instead, I was standing.
He swept the tray into his hands and went to the door. “You gave me a precious gift tonight, Lily.” Uncertainty flickered across his expression before his usual mask slipped back into place. “I won’t forget it. Not for as long as I live. Thank you.”
And then he was gone.
A precious gift. My blood. Or perhaps, the memories that came with it?
I was left frowning and frustrated. Confused. But also…utterly mesmerized.
I knew what he was and the danger that came with feeling anything beyond hatred for him.
It was like my body saw the ledge and recognized the ravine far below, but also knew that before I struck the bottom, the fall might be entirely worth the breaking that came afterward.
The only question was, was I still willing to step off?
I was beginning to think the answer was yes.