Chapter 28 Bad Blood
My dreams are washed in varying shades of red.
Fresh blood coats every inch of my body, and I’m unmoving, stuck in the center of a deep crimson lake.
I lift my hands and hold them high, but the blood stays.
It’s thick, like syrup, winding in an endless drip as it moves down my curves in rivulets.
It smells like death here, like ash and smoke and Gray’s cologne.
“Shh.” His voice curls around my ears as he presses against my back. Two white hands trail along my arms until his fingers twist into mine. He pulls them down against my chest, cradling me against his solid frame.
“What is this place?” My voice echoes.
“Hell.”
My body shivers just before several heads break through the surface of red water.
I don’t recognize any of them except one.
Dante leads them, his presence foreboding.
He’s bare-chested, marked up with deep wounds across his body, baring his fangs which are sharpened to a point.
He snarls, and his face takes on an inhuman expression.
Eyes as red as Gray’s watch me with bright, fresh hate.
“Whose hell?” I whisper.
But Gray doesn’t hear me, or ignores me. He’s just a dream, and this is just a nightmare. Right?
A scream tears through me as the vampires lunge, descending on me with fangs and sharpened nails. I tear through the blankets as I sit up, locked in a cold sweat.
“Millie?” Gray is already beside me, rubbing my back, coaxing me to breathe. “Are you alright?”
A tear slips down my cheek. “No… not really.”
“Will you tell me?” he whispers against my ear. It’s too much like the dream, too similar to the way he’s holding me from behind. I cringe away from him.
“Give me a minute,” I say, holding back the tears.
Though it’s dark, I can tell he’s moved away. After a few deep breaths, I feel myself calming.
“I… I had a nightmare,” I start, voice shaking. “There was blood. You were there, holding me, and Dante was there. He had others with him, but I don’t know who.”
“Others?” Gray sounds surprised, if not concerned.
“Three, maybe four, others. I couldn’t see their faces.” I suck in a deep breath. “But I could feel them. They tore into me, ripped me apart, and I couldn’t wake up until I was…”
The tears fall before I can get it all out in one breath.
“Dead,” I choke. “I was dead before I woke up.”
A light clicks on, bathing the room in a soft, warm glow.
Gray shifts, pulling me in until his cool skin presses against my back.
I’m sticky from sweat and feverishly warm from my thrashing.
It’s easy to relax and melt against him like this, especially when he’s holding on so tight.
For a long minute, neither of us says a word.
“I’m sorry, Millie.” His voice is hushed, almost too quiet to hear. “Are you afraid?”
It takes me a minute to realize what he’s asking me. The nightmare was terrifying, but that’s all it was. What he’s asking me is if I’m afraid of him, of vampires.
“I am, yeah,” I tell him honestly. “But you don’t scare me.”
“But Dante does.” It isn’t a question, it’s a fact. “Vampires do.”
“I’m more scared of what a vampire like Dante could do to me.” I already had a taste of what his ex could do, and maybe that’s why the nightmare was so bad. Dante didn’t care about pretense, he just mangled my wrist and left my neck a mess. Gray wasn’t like that, though. He was careful and precise.
“I am a vampire like Dante,” he argues, but it’s a poor rebuttal.
“You’re not, though.” I say, turning in his arms until I can see him plainly.
“And what makes us so different?” Gray tilts his head. His hair is a mess, sticking up straight in some places. Even with bedhead he looks gorgeous.
“Well, you haven’t ripped into me during the times you fed.” That’s one point, but probably the most important.
“Just because I’ve learned how to maintain my cravings,” he pauses, licking his lips as he eyes my face, lingering too long on my throat, “doesn’t mean I haven’t fantasized about it.”
Absently, I place a hand just above my breasts. “You do?”
“Oh yes, all the time,” he says, but then his voice drops, as his hand absently skims beneath the surface of the flimsy nightgown I’m wearing. “Depraved fantasies, Millie. Just awful.”
“Will you tell me?” I ask, a little breathy. He is mesmerizing.
“I could.” His lips dip to mine, stealing a kiss. I feel giddy from it, jumping when I feel his hand move from my hip to the dip between my thighs. He strokes my growing heat lightly, as if asking for permission. “But I’m more interested in showing you what I mean.”
“Wait.” I hold his wrist. “I want to… try something with you.”
Gray smirks. “Go ahead.”
Gently, I press his chest until he’s on his back. Then, with as much grace as I have, I climb up and position myself above his cock; pussy to his face. As much as I want to ride him, I also want to slip my lips over his tip and pump him into my mouth.
“You can touch me.” I peer back, delighted to see the shock and awe and utter hunger plastered on his perfect face.
“The view”—his fingers stroke my entrance, then he pushes in and pumps a few times—“of your pussy, like this, is maddening.”
“Mm,” I hum. “Don’t stop.”
“Never.”
I don’t know how I’ll concentrate on sucking him off while he plays, but I’m determined to try.
With one hand, I take him in my mouth and suckle the tip.
Gray hisses and tenses at the sensation.
That little bit gives me just the right amount of confidence to keep going.
I set a simple rhythm, the right amount of pressure, and glide up and down his shaft with the grace of a dancer.
The second his hands grip my ass and pull, I know I’ve got him where I want him.
I change my pace, soaked in my saliva as I take him as deep and as far back to my throat as I can.
Gray thrusts into me with his hips, and with a loud groan, he comes in my mouth. He’s hot and thick and I swallow it all. Every last bit of his release is on my tongue and I sit up, peering over my shoulder to show him.
He licks his lips and reaches for me, trapping me again against the bed. He kisses me deeply, sucking my tongue and biting my lips until I can feel how swollen they are from his attention.
“Gods,” he says, running a hand along my hips and thighs, “I could stay here all day. Just like this.”
If this was his way of making me forget about the nightmares, then yeah, so could I.
A knock at the door pulls our attention away, interrupting the post-orgasmic bliss.
The door blows up without a second warning, and Tannis is in the doorway.
They blur over to the bedside and dump a pile of clothes on my legs unceremoniously.
They spare us no extra glance or uncouth remark before they are back at the door.
“Get dressed,” Tannis commands, their voice hard and deep. Something about it signals the alarms in my head to go off in a panic. “We have company.”
Gray is out of bed with his pants already on when he asks, “Company?”
“It’s Dante,” Tannis says, their tone tipped with irritation.
“What?” Both Gray and I say at the same time.
“He came alone,” Tannis says. “He wants an audience with all of us. Now, get dressed and meet me at the stairs.”
The door closes, leaving us alone. I steal a quick look at Gray, who barely has a shirt over his head.
He doesn’t look happy, not that anyone would if their toxic, murderous ex was hanging around.
I would say he has the right amount of shock and indifference teeming in his expression for just such an occasion.
“Why is he here?” I sit up and pull at the clothes Tannis dropped on the bed. Leggings and a crop top. No underwear, no bra? Jesus. If Dante doesn’t like me now, he’s not going to like me with my nipples and tits poking through this tee.
“I have a number of guesses,” Gray says, sitting on the edge of the bed as I crawl out to get dressed. “But I think we’re going to find out.”
The leggings fit like a glove, and the crop top does very little to hide me from view.
Thankfully, though, the hem does fall past the curve of my underboobs, giving it a more modest look.
Sometimes being short has its benefits. Still, it’s obvious that I’m not wearing a bra, something I’ll have to rectify at some point.
I can’t keep wearing Tannis’s lover’s clothing.
I need my own, especially my own underwear.
Definitely need to go back home at some point.
“Millie…” Gray stands and presses a firm hand against my back. “I won’t let him hurt you.”
A nervous laugh escapes me. “Likewise.”
“You’re too brave for a human, do you know that?” He smiles, and it makes my heart pound.
“I know. I was born with the audacity.” Have to be, otherwise I have to admit that I was lying about being afraid. Dante does scare me, and it isn’t just about what he can do; it’s about what he’s like.
“Stay close,” Gray says before pressing a kiss to my lips. It’s quick and light, but it gives me a little boost of confidence.
Hand in hand, we hurry out of the room and meet Tannis at the stairs. They look disheveled and annoyed, which doubles the moment we join them. I’m sure this isn’t the reunion either of them imagined when the irrevocable happened, in that Dante would eventually show up.
“Could you have taken any longer?” They scrub at their face with a gruff sigh.
“He came alone, you said?” Gray ignores their attitude in an attempt to shift attention from us to the current situation.
“He did,” Tannis confirms with a subtle nod. “Let’s not keep his majesty waiting.”