Chapter 19 A Vampire, a Nun, & a Jealous Priest
My coat falls away with my hat and scarf, lost somewhere behind the desk.
His cool hands stroke my jaw and throat as he seeks to deepen each kiss.
I give myself to him willingly, meeting each lash of his tongue with my own.
Coherent thoughts turn to mindless chatter in the back of my mind, overruled by desire.
Touch me, touch me, kiss me, kiss me.
“Millie.” He pulls away, desperation clinging to his ungodly beautiful face. “I mean it. I’m starving.”
I open my eyes and see that his irises are encased in black sclera. Red veins have formed under them like spiderwebs, bright and angry against his pale complexion. Impulse untangles my hands from under his shirt, and instead I stroke the veins with my thumbs.
“Does this happen often?” I ask. It’s the second time I've seen him like this. Maybe that’s because he’s feeding when he needs to. I’m guessing he hasn’t yet today.
“Millie,” he growls.
“Sorry.” Blinking, I drop my hands to my sides and plant them firmly on the surface of the desk. “You can feed from me.”
“Are you sure?” His jaw ticks; he must be keeping it together for my sake. Desperation is clawing at his composure.
“Yes,” I say, pressing my lips to his. “As long as I get something in return.”
“What’s that?” He kisses my jaw.
“You run me to the nearest diner for a cheeseburger.” My head lolls to the side, exposing my neck to him.
Gray presses a kiss there, but doesn’t bite.
He sinks lower until he’s on his knees, planted firmly between my legs.
Not what I was expecting, but I don’t stop him from searching.
His hands skim along my waistline and pull at the band on my leggings.
I lift my hips in reply, breath hitching in my chest as he exposes my thighs.
“High in iron?” His brow quirks in question as he presses his shoulders between my knees, forcing them open.
“Very high in iron.” I nod.
“Good girl.” He pushes my right leg higher, licking the sensitive seam where thigh meets groin. The sight alone is enough to make me wet. “Brace yourself.”
Gray’s fangs slide along the sensitive groove before sinking easily into my skin, and oh fuck me, holy shit, he was serious.
I jolt, held fast by his iron-like grip on my thigh and hip.
A scream rips through my chest, ringing out in the empty room and church.
I feel like I’m coming, but I’m not. My pussy tightens and my clit is throbbing, accented by the pull of his mouth drawing blood from my leg.
Its path grazes past my sex, sending me into a flurry of need and want and carnal desire.
My stomach knots, the build-up ever growing as he feeds.
I need the release or I’m going to lose my ever loving mind.
With a shaking hand, I pull my thong to the side and slip my fingers along my wet lips.
I am soaked, and I almost wince at how sensitive the bud of my clit is.
Four long strokes and I’m there, already mounted at the top from his bite.
When I come down, I crash headfirst into an array of stars and colors so vibrant, I swear I must be hallucinating.
My back hits the desk with a hard thunk. “Jesus Christ.”
“Gods, I swear you’re unlike anything I’ve ever tasted.
” Gray’s head pops up from between my legs, a trace of my blood still present on his lips.
He looks drunk, or high, or both. I prop myself up on both elbows and watch him lick it clean with heated interest. I’ve only had his blood, but I’m longing to know what his cock tastes like.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“As you should.” He wipes his bottom lip with his thumb and smirks. It’s so fucking sexy.
“Now what?” I breathe.
His eyes drop to my exposed lower half, and he subtly, but still openly, palms himself through his jeans. “I’m determining if I should feed you that cheeseburger or gorge myself on your cunt again.”
My stomach growls, as if to answer that question for the both of us.
Someone here has to be the responsible one, and if it isn’t going to be my brain, then it’s going to be my stomach.
Though slightly disappointed, my stomach makes a valid point.
I’m hungry, and my mouth is dry. I definitely need to eat and rehydrate.
“Cheeseburger it is.” He nods, then brings one thumb to his and pierces it with a sharpened fang. “But first, let’s make sure you don’t bleed out.”
“What’re you—” Words fall to nothing as he thumbs his blood along the bite mark, coating it in a thin layer of red and massaging it in with a careful touch. After a minute of pure magic, he wipes away the blood to reveal newly healed skin.
“All done.” He takes a step back and offers his hand.
I take it and stand on shaky legs. I don’t even know where to start. “I thought… I thought I had to drink your blood to heal.”
“Not always.” He shrugs as I shimmy my leggings back on. “Some surface level injuries, like my bite, can be done with application. In instances like before, you needed to drink my blood. I heal too quickly. Your injuries were too extensive for me to cover.”
Gray holds up his finger to show me the unmarred skin where he pierced himself. Nothing is there. The mark is gone.
As I put on my coat, and he retrieves my other belongings from behind the desk, I embolden myself to pry further. “So, why did you bite me there?”
“I didn’t think you would enjoy a second bite to the neck tonight.” He hands over my scarf and hat. “Besides, I’ve heard it’s pleasurable for humans.”
“Heard? Does that mean you haven’t done it before?” I wrap the scarf around my neck loosely and sort my hair into place under the hat.
Gray walks to the door, hands tucked in his pockets, then turns back to me. With a wry smile, he says, “There’s a first time for everything, sweet cheeks.”
After-Hours, my favorite diner, is practically empty when we arrive.
We must have just missed the “midnight mass,” when all the late night workers and party goers stumble in for their final stop of the night.
I’ve been one of them before, crowded in a small booth with a few of the other girls as we celebrated big tips from a long evening of shaking ass.
Those nights don’t happen too often anymore, at least not with me.
I usually leave before the rest of the girls finish up, or I slink off after my shift to fuck around with Dax.
I need to get that under control, I tell myself. After tonight, I’ve decided that I have to break things off with Dax. There isn’t any way this works out for either of us that isn’t bad for the other. I just know that I can’t keep this going when I know that I’ll end up thinking about Gray.
“This way.” I lead Gray to a lone booth by one of the big windows overlooking the street. He follows close behind and slips into the seat across from mine. We’re greeted pretty quickly after sitting down.
“What can I get you?” The waitress, an older woman with a topknot, whips out a little notepad and looks between the two of us.
“Coffee. Black,” Gray orders, spreading his arms out behind him on the cushion of the booth.
“I’ll take a water, and a cheeseburger with everything on it,” I add, and she jots it down, then heads to the back kitchen behind the counter.
There’s an older gentleman there picking at a piece of pie and reading a folded over book.
Besides him, there’s us and a small group of college-aged kids in the far back corner smiling and laughing like nothing else exists but them.
“Quaint,” Gray says with an approving look. He looks between the table, the bar, the ceiling, and the dimly lit lights overhead. It’s a hole-in-the-wall, but it has the best french fries and cheeseburgers by far.
“I have a silly question,” I start, drawing his attention back to me.
He makes a gesture with his hands, which are folded on the laminate tabletop. “Go ahead.”
“How can you drink coffee? I thought your diet was strictly blood.”
His lips turn up at one corner. “Liquids aren’t really an issue. I can drink coffee, wine, liquor, and water if necessary. It doesn’t do anything to… quench my thirst, but it can curb my cravings. Sometimes, I mix them together.”
I purse my lips at the implication. “Right. Blood makes way more sense than sugar.”
“Everyone’s blood has a unique flavor, Millie. It isn’t unusual for my kind to find ways to extract the taste using other means.”
Just as he finishes his sentence, the waitress returns with a simple white mug and a full pot of coffee. She slides a little bowl of sugar and cream packets in front of him, then walks away. I’m glad she didn’t show up any sooner to catch the tail end of his explanation.
“What does that mean, exactly?” I ask as he takes a packet of sugar and picks at the corner of it.
“Freshly ground coffee beans brewed with a cup of warm, human blood has a stronger flavor than straight black coffee.” Red eyes flicker up to meet my waiting gaze.
There’s a hint of glee in them as he speaks.
“For example, your blood would sweeten this coffee four times as much as this single packet of sugar. It would be richer, too.”
I blush. “Oh… uh, no thanks?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve had my fill of you already.” He picks up the cup and sips. “Just plain old boring black coffee for me.”
A cold glass of water slides in front of me just as my mouth goes dry. After it comes a plate piled high with steaming hot french fries and a fat cheeseburger with cheese melting down the sides. I look up at our waitress, grateful for her impeccable timing.
“Can I get you folks anything else?” she asks. I’ve already taken a bite of my burger, so Gray answers for us, and sends her on her way.