Page 12 of Deadly Cravings
Expecting the bare minimum, Catalina.
I was messed up in the head.
“Humans are never immune to compulsion. How are you blocking us somehow?” My reservations melted away, and I struggled to wrap my head around what slipped from his seductive bow lips.
“What are you talking about?” I croaked.
Asher lowered to his knees and placed his elbows on the edge of my seat, setting his chin on his fisted hands. “So, tell me, how are you doing it?”
I huddled closer to the arm rest, shaking my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The smile he directed at me never wavered.
“My brother is so incredibly suspicious of you.” He paused, leaned forward, and stretched his fingers in my direction,caressing my chin and along my neck. His canine teeth were already pointed, so I watched, enraptured as those two fangs extended from his gums, lengthening past his blunt teeth. He brought his fingers back up and dragged them down the side of my neck.
“Please don’t.” I breathed hard as my hands became clammy. Not again.
“It won’t hurt, Pet. I’ll make sure you like it.” Tears made him blur in my sight, and there was a sigh. My body wanted to simultaneously curl and open up. Vampires were terrifying, but somehow, the fangs . . . I shuddered and images of snarling vampire at my neck filled my head and I squeezed my eyes shut. Tears streamed past as I struggled to breathe. I would suffocate if I didn’t get myself together.
His long fingers gripped my shaking hand and my eyes popped open at the soft squeeze. Asher’s lips pressed together tightly.
“Breathe, Pet.Iwon’t force you again,” he tacked on, but after emphasizing the ‘I’ in the sentence, I didn’t feel too great about it. The tips of his fangs poked from his smile, even with them retracted, they remained pointy.
“She’s human,” Tobias announced curtly.
“How are you so sure?” Jax crossed his arms.
“As delicious as she is, she doesn’t smell like any supernatural creature—and in my long life, I’ve encountered any that could exist.” Tobias’s curt response startled the twins and their expressions looked creepily alike. The corner of their bow lips slightly turned down and brows furrowed with a dent between them. Asher released my hand with a final pat and stood to face the other two. I stared down at my tingling fingers, rubbing the pads together. His touch wasn’t repellant... nor was Tobias’s. It was nothing like the one who hurt me.
“I agree, but she tastes—” Asher paused, and a shiver moved his shoulders. “Heavenly.” They spoke about me like I wasn’t present.
I rubbed my neck. Although I didn’t trust these vampires, I needed to calm myself before I gave myself another anxiety attack that triggered my asthma. After all, the worst they could do was kill me . . . okay, false, they could torture or rape me before they killed me, but at this point there was nothing I could do. I was in their lair in who-knew-where.
“I still think we should kill her.” It didn’t seem like Jax was going to let go of that, but fortunately, Tobias waved that away, like he was used to his over-the-top suggestions.
“No, we’ll not hurt her.” His English accent sharp as he snapped the words.
“I agree,” Asher added. “Broder, sluta prata om att döda henne.” It sounded like a Germanic language, but for the life of me, I couldn’t pinpoint which one.
That was the slight tilted accent in the twins. It was obvious in Jax, but Asher seemed to have suppressed it. Jax still glared at me.
“How is it that I saved his life,”—I poked a finger toward Tobias—“and you’re pissed at me?”
I met Jax’s eyes as they slitted. I swallowed hard but didn’t regret the question. They’d already intimidated me. I sniffed and tipped my nose up with false bravado.
“See what you’ve done? She thinks she can start asking questions.”
“Let her speak her mind.” My eyes rounded on Tobias. Well, then.
“I expect this bullshit from Asher. His obsession with pussy doesn’t leave much room for consideration in which way he’d argue for, but you, Tobias? You’ve never shown interest in anything, least of all a woman.”
Tobias’s jaw ticked.
“She saved me from Calliope’s progeny.The leastI can do is speak for her since you won’t allow her a moment. Humans are sensitive.”
“She saved your life because you’ve been weakening from not feeding. And give it a rest with the blood bags. Drinking directly from the vein will hold you longer. Let me get someone here to feed you,” Asher interjected, straightening the hem of his shirt.
Tobias’s teeth clicked together. “No one comes here, Asher, don’t start with your mind games. As you well know, I haven’t been drinking as many of the bags, because we need to ensure we have enough.”