Page 28 of Thicker than Blood
“You’re like us but not like us. You’re beautiful and perfect and sexy.” Words flow out of my mouth without my consent, which means the vaccine is definitely not working, but it feels different this time.
“Sexy, huh? So, you’ve imagined crawling into the arms of a vampire. Spending your nights wrapped in his sheets, offering your body and your blood. Haven’t you, curious mortal?”
I nod, licking my lips. “I want to know what it’s like.”
“What what’s like?”
“All of it,” I whisper. “I want to experience it all. Kissing, fucking, all of it.”
Elias’s eyes glow even brighter and my breath hitches as his fangs descend, the tips seemingly glinting with light.
“You’ve only read about it or heard secondhand accounts, yes?”
I nod, leaning closer. “Yes.”
“Because you won’t let yourself break the rules.” He cups my chin. “What if I promised you a haven where the rules don’t matter?”
A soft whimper escapes my lips. “Elias.”
“Yes. With me. Here. I would take you to my bed with absolute pleasure. I’ll give you anything your curious little heart desires.”
I sway towards him, completely enthralled.
“But you should know one thing.”
“Wh-what?”
“It won’t be easy to leave me. No one ever chooses to leave.”
Somewhere in the back of my mind I hear a warning bell, but the flood of compulsion is much stronger. “You don’t have a lover now?”
“I have lovers whenever I choose to, but I would banish them all for a taste of you.”
“Why?”
“You fascinate me.” He brushes his thumb across my cheek. “I want to research you as much as you want to research me. Though I’m only interested in unlocking the secrets to your pleasure.” His hand slides down my neck. “You have no idea how sweet your blood is.”
I lift my hand to make some point, but my brain is so foggy I lose the words before I can say them. I’ve never done drugs, but I imagine this is what it feels like, and why the hell wouldn’t you want to feel this good? Nothing bad matters right now. Nothing is scary, and I’mthis closeto begging Elias to take me to his bedroom. Or not. He could fuck me on this couch and I don’t think I’d object. I’m not sure I can.
And that’s why compulsion is scary. I’m aware of its effect on me but unable to resist it. I would agree to anything right now, and he knows it.
My brain struggles to ask him to stop now, the logical part of me knowing this should end—and soon, before I’m compromised—but yeah, that’s not happening.
Elias lifts my wrist, rubbing it against his lips, taunting me with the knowledge that he could sink his teeth into me at any moment. He could drain me, turn me, or simply kill me. I should be terrified, but that’s the furthest from what I’m feeling right now. I want to draw closer.
“Do it,” I whisper. “Bite me.”
A sexy smile spreads across Elias’s lips. “I told you I prefer consent, and you have none to give at the moment.” He kisses my wrist. “But my gods, you are tempting. I could have my way with you, unravel your tightly wound control, and disregard your silly rules. I could keep you for eternity, discovering all the ways to make you come undone. I could make you forget anything exists but me and you.”
I nod. That sounds good to me.
“What does your heart want, Geordi? Right now, in this moment. Give in to it. Let yourself indulge.”
As if controlled by something beyond me, I crawl into Elias’s lap and press my lips to his without hesitation. He gasps softly before wrapping his arms around me and returning my kiss. The researcher in me tries to take over so I can remember all of this later, but the man obsessed with vampires is completely in charge and we’re kissing a vampire. Not just any vampire. Elias.
His mouth is cooler than it should be, like he’s eaten a popsicle, but the heat between us makes up for it as I shamelessly grind into him. I reach between us to unbutton my jeans, but I’m jolted by the sudden release of the compulsion.
I fly off his lap as the fog lifts so rapidly that it’s jarring and disorienting. One second I was lost in a haze of desire and freedom, and the next, slammed back into reality.