Page 8 of Deadly Cravings

There was a muffled grunt from outside the vehicle and he slid the limp Tobias into the front seat, shoving all his limbs within the confines of the vehicle before slamming the door. He was in the driver seat within moments, the engine revving. I scrambled to yank at the door handle, desperately tugging like it would magically unlock.

I jerked at the sudden acceleration and my head smacked into the back of the seat. A dull thrum at my forehead started and I groaned.

“Try anything and I’ll snap your neck.” Jax, that was what the other one had called him.

I gasped, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror. His eyes were fixed on me, unwavering.How was he driving so well without looking at the road?

“I’m just buckling myself in,” I said hurriedly, yanking the seatbelt. His lips tightened. From the slit of the horizontalmirror, I could only see his set scowl. “Please, don’t kill me.” The tremble in my voice verged on a wheeze.

I was in deep crap with this.What had I gotten myself into?All I wanted was to help someone I believed was being attacked by a vampire, but it was vamp-on-vamp crime. Yeah, the vampire, Tobias, had been gentle, almost courteous; still, this was not a situation I ever wanted to be in. This was why I stuck to myself. Why had I allowed the moment of weakness? I shouldn’t have hesitated stabbing my heel into his chest.

I knew vampires were evil. They were all like thatonehunting me.

His attack had been violent and harsh, his teeth slicing into me without mercy as he gnawed on my throat. There were multiple drags before he tore at my clothing, his blood-scented breath wafting to my nose as he palmed my breast harshly. My attempts at getting away were laughable against his strength. I was no match for the skeletal naked body with patches of hair littering his scalp.

His feeding didn’t stop until I was half-dead and then he dragged me away from the isolated street. The cement burning my skin was ingrained in my memory alongside that cave he kept me in. He’d fed on me relentlessly, and for each day that had passed, the cruelty and evil in his red eyes increased.

I picked at the little flesh slightly lifted at my nail beds. Jax took a sharp turn, no longer focused on me.

I didn’t know how I’d survived with how much he’d drained from me. Time had become meaningless, running together in that insect-infested cave.

To this day, I couldn’t handle the sensation of bugs crawling over me.

Nausea crawled up my throat, and I fisted my hands around the seatbelt pressing into my chest. The memory of how much he broke my body and drained my blood haunted me.

Nausea continued to swirl in my gut as Jax took another sharp turn that caused my temple to smack into the plastic trim. I’d managed to escape that last time and today would be no different. A vice wrapped around my throat. And I would do everything possible to avoid getting sodomized again. I wrapped my trembling hand around the door handle and pulled. Of course, it didn’t work.

Tears sheened my eyes and I squeezed my eyes shut.

I’d stared into death that day I’d managed to get away. He’d gone mad with my absence and when he’d found me, he’d clutched me as hard as he could keep me to his body, then pinned me against a building in an alleyway and sank his fangs into my throat, sucking my blood until spots danced in front of my eyes while his cock sank into my ass. I didn’t know how long that lasted before he was interrupted by someone who yanked him off me. Flashes of colors was the last image ingrained in my memory before the loss of blood dragged me under and I’d woken to humans around me calling an ambulance.

To this day, I couldn’t help but wonder if the man that got him off me was a vampire. After all, a human couldn’t have done that. I’d understood many things, the main one being that vampires were monsters. Being within proximity to them raised the hair on my arms, like being near a wild animal.

The engine roared and Jax sped to dangerous levels, winding down the curving roads with enviable smoothness. As if sensing my gaze on him, his jaw ticked and he bared his teeth at me. I yelped, curling back into the seat. This vampire did not like me, and I didn’t doubt he’d kill me.

My lungs squeezed, tightening.

So what?

I tensed at the invasive thought. There was nothing magical or exciting about my life since I was always on the run. The only pleasure I ever felt from life was when I spoke to Peter, but hewas often in a hurry, dealing with teenage boy stuff. He’d be fine if I was gone, especially with the money he’d receive from my death.

Truth was, I could disappear and there was nobody in my personal life who would care. A knot formed in my throat, and I blinked quickly. Well, maybe my literary agent.

Jax took a turn too hard and my shoulder smashed into the door. I winced. Another bruise to add to the collection.

Tires squealed and he jerked to a stop, making the seatbelt dig into my chest as the move tried to eject me. I scrambled to unbuckle and the clasp clicked in time for my door to jerk open.

Suddenly, I was upside down, being toted with his shoulder pressing into my gut.

My ponytail loosened, my hair swinging as I scrambled to grab onto his back so I could lessen some of the pain.

I was becoming woozier and woozier.

“Stop,” I huffed, breathless. “I-I need—” A fucking second. I squeezed my eyelids shut and shook my head to disperse the dots in front of my eyes. I couldn’t reach into the purse strapped across my chest since my body flattened it between us.

There was a creak and I found myself looking at a crimson rug for a few beats before he took a turn and it became dark wood floors.

“Go get Tobias, he’s passed out in the passenger seat,” Jax ordered.