This Blood (6 page)

I stifled a shriek. His mouth was hot; the feeling was more sensuous than it should have been, considering what he was doing.  I should have been freaking out, but, for some strange reason, I was incredibly aroused.  It had to be due to the fact that he was so damn gorgeous and currently sitting on top of me. His tongue was velvet soft, making things low in my body wake up from their long slumber. 

Seth finished licking my arms and gently untied the rope. He held both my wrists over my head with one hand in an incredibly strong grip that said, “Don’t even try it!” I was speechless. He drew my wrists close; again, his tongue bathing the damaged skin. It actually started to feel better. I was beginning to hyperventilate. What the hell was happening here? I thought wildly.

 He gently grasped my jaw with his free hand, turning my gaze to meet his.  I slammed my head back into the headboard hard as I stared into the black, lifeless eyes of a monster.

He had my blood on his lips and a smile stolen from a nightmare.

EIGHT

I was having one of those denial episodes the human brain seems to grant you in moments of sheer terror and I just stared. My mind couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing. I knew what I was looking at, but I just couldn’t process it. It just wasn’t possible. There was no such thing.

He couldn’t be.

Vampire?
 

Seth was a vampire.

Everything Lucian said was true. That was why we met in a church! That’s why he wanted me to stay at his house. God, I could be such a jackass! I never trust anyone. Who the hell am I to deny the existence of anything? What the hell do I know?

I opened my eyes, not quite sure when I had closed them. Seth was still hovering, his eyes scary as hell as he leaned closer toward me. His grip on my jaw unyielding. I yelped and tried to move even further back but the headboard was halting any progress. I could feel his breath on my cheek.

This was it, I was dead. His breath continued to steam my cheek as I wracked my brain. Then I had a flash of intelligence. I remembered what Lucian told me. He said I was
The One
. If vampires were real, then I had to trust that the Madea were real as well.

Here’s hoping…

I tried to sense the ring. I didn’t have much trouble because it was presently pushing a hole through my jaw. Closing my eyes, I relaxed my body and concentrated on the cool metal. I felt it tingle against my skin. Then I had it. 
The connection.

I pictured Seth flying backward onto the floor.

Instantly, his hands were gone. My eyes shot open as he was violently jerked from my body. I stood up on the bed, rushing to the edge, I looked over. Much to my astonishment, Seth lay on his back!  His head was at an odd angle. Apparently he was knocked out cold.

A voice in my head screamed,
Move
!

I moved.

Jumping off the bed, I ran to him and quickly fumbled for the correct hand. The ring was on his pinkie finger. I slipped it off and shoved it onto my middle finger, then bolted back onto the bed. The whole thing took about half a minute. I stood back, since I had no idea how long it took for a real vampire to come to.

Needless to say it didn’t take long. Almost as quickly as I settled on the bed, he was up. One second he was lying like a broken doll, and the next, he was growling and snarling like a rabid dog. He looked like he might pounce on me, so I held up my hand. The ring reflected brilliantly in his eyes, and I screamed, “Stop!”

He took a step back and threw his hand in front of his face. His utter bewilderment was almost funny. His eyes grew huge as I watched him realize that I had gotten the best of him. Obviously, he had underestimated me.

He tensed. If he leapt, I was toast.

“Stand back,” I yelled in warning, “or you’ll find your ass right back on that floor.” My voice never shook and I actually felt pretty confident.

His eyes bled back to their beautiful silvery-blue and he seemed to gather himself.

“You surprise me, Grace,” he said, his voice mild. His eyebrows drew together, betraying his anger. “I must admit, I was unsure the ring would work with only your touch. The legend said as much. I am pleased to see that we will not be disappointed.”  

I could taste the lie.  He was disturbed.  I could feel his anger like heat on my skin. In fact from the second I put the ring on, I felt strange. My body was humming with energy, as if I had drunk a gallon of Red Bull with an espresso chaser! I wasn’t sure if it was the power coursing through me, or the fact that I just knocked Seth on his ass, but I was feeling pretty bullet-proof. 

The look on his face told me I’d better not be too overconfident.

“Well,” I said in my most bitchy tone, my hands on my hips, “now that we’ve established that the ring truly belongs to me, what do you suggest we do? I am not sticking around.” I smirked, “If that’s what you think, you’re crazy, and easy conversation will be a little awkward, considering the circumstances that brought me here.”  I took a small step backward. Regardless of how I was feeling, he was still a scary vampire with a pretty long reach.

He ignored me and held out his hand, presumably to help me down from the bed. I just looked at him. God, why did he have to be so damn gorgeous? I felt my face fill with heat again.
Oooh!
I thought, now exasperated with myself. This was absurd! I gave him my hand.

 With this small contact, my mind was filled with a rush of thoughts. Seth was in my head. I knew I just royally screwed his plans and his mind was racing to find a way to overcome me.
Oh, my God
! Did I just read his mind?
I wasn’t sure, it just flooded in! It was one thought in a sea of buzzing conversations. My mind was full, like an old radio tuned into too many stations at once. I shook my head, massaging my forehead with my fingertips as I stepped toward the edge of the bed. His hand was warm
.  Didn’t vampires have to borrow their warmth?
 It made me wonder who his dinner was, and if they had been willing. I turned my head, glancing at his beautiful profile.  Yeah, it was pretty easy to guess that they were probably more than willing!

I was kind of dizzy and sort of stumbled when I stepped off the bed. I probably looked like a drunken hippo. Seth braced me with little effort. The bed seemed taller than it had been when I was leaping for my life and I had to practically hop to sit on it. I was trying to tune into his head again when something happened to my vision. It began to blur as the voices in my brain cleared.

A man and woman were arguing. I reached out with my mind and realized it was coming from inside the house. These were not thoughts. I focused. It felt like my mind was taking a walk without my body.  It was an incredible sensation. I didn’t fight it, and the voices grew louder. 

“Why did he have to take her?” the woman sounded pissed. “It’s not like he needs
another
piece of ass.” There was jealousy in her voice. “It’s an intrusion. Perhaps he just wants to play with her a little, then goodbye, off to a shallow, unmarked grave in the desert.”

“You sound like a bitch in heat,” the man was speaking low, his tone harsh. “Arian told us she was the one. Do you know what that means, Chloe? It means, Seth works her over a bit, she begs for her life, offers him anything to spare her.  Then our boy gets her to use her powers for us. She’ll be our little puppet. As long as Seth holds the strings, we’ll be invincible!”

“I still don’t believe it.  She was not that impressive, and how do we know she’s not a fraud? I don’t believe this human is worth even a second of his time.”

“You’re jealous and it makes you stupid. You’ve gotta see the bigger picture. If she is a Madea, we’ll have unlimited power. Think of it, you want a small country?  
Done! 
You want that asshole at the Quickie Mart to fry to a crisp?
Done!
 And that’s thinking small. We could control the weather, tell the future, whatever! If those legends are true, all we got to do is think of it. Seth will scare her a bit, and it’s done.”

“I think
you’ve
gotten stupid, Edmond!” the woman hissed. “Would you listen to yourself? She is nothing! The legends are all bullshit.  Seth doesn’t need her, none of us do. The quicker everyone realizes that, the better off we’ll all be.”

I slammed back into myself. I guess my mind had heard enough. The rest of me agreed. “It would seem your little minions don’t think I’m very special,” I stated mockingly. “Well, at least your bitter little girlfriend doesn’t.” I turned to face him, my arms folded. “Edmond, on the other hand, well, he seems to have some
real
big plans for me. In fact,” I narrowed my eyes, “it would seem you had some pretty big plans for me yourself.” I stared at him, my eyebrows high in accusation.

He looked equally amazed and uncomfortable.  Clearly he didn’t expect this little turn of events. Well, the ring was just shocking the shit out of all of us today, wasn’t it? Thank God, it was on my side!

“So,” I continued, “the plan was what? Scare me to death? Make me so afraid that I’d do anything that you wanted me to?” I stood up, then turning, I shoved him as hard as I could into the bed, and he sort of fell back. He looked a little shell-shocked.
 “Let me give you a little tip,
Oh Mighty Vampire
,” I jabbed my finger into his chest. “The next time you try to scare a woman into submission, try not to turn her on first.”

I held my fists at my sides and leaned over, placing my face close to his. Not my smartest move, you see, the stupid little slip I wore was not made for me. The chest had a plunging V-neck that should have been reserved for women with much smaller breasts. I feared soon there would be more than my finger assaulting him.  I straightened, my hands flying to cover my exposed flesh, my insults dying on my lips.

He stood quickly; a fluid motion that forced me backward.  The look of hunger was back, only this time, I knew it wasn’t food he was interested in. He took a step toward me. My breath caught as I backed up. He closed the space between us, stalking me, until I was pressed firmly against the wall. My hands came up to press against his firm chest. I could smell his hair, his skin, he was so close. I looked up into his eyes; part of me expecting him to be terrifying, ready to strike. My breath left my body, he was beautiful. My arms went limp, I felt intoxicated.

He slowly lowered his head, a test of my will. I was torn. I wanted to run, I wanted to stay. His mouth was just a whisper away. I licked my lips. That small invitation was all that he needed and he was on me. He possessed my mouth, kissing me expertly. I was hot all over as he drew my tongue into his mouth with delicious suction. I explored the velvety warmth of his mouth, swirling my tongue over the needle tips of his frightening teeth. There were no traces of my coppery blood left on his lips. His hands were strong, firmly holding me to him, molding themselves around my ribs, sliding up to cup my breasts.  He was commanding the kiss; his mind was inexplicably opened to me. All of his thoughts were carnal, his plans for dominating me turning quickly toward another form of domination.

I found myself back on the bed, his eyes burning into mine. I released his hair from its confinement. It spilled around us in a heavy curtain of silk. Soft and heavy, it covered us like a sheet. His short nails scratched along my skin as he drew the thin straps of my slip off my shoulders. Slowly, he traced a line down the center of my chest. He massaged my breasts. Lowering his head; he lightly nipped the skin of one white mound. I could feel the twin points of his sharp teeth graze my skin. I was on fire.

My body was cheering me on, while my brain was trying to remind me that I was
not
a slut. No matter what the guy looked like, I would never go this far so early. My body was a traitor, thrilling in his every movement.

He wasn’t human, that
had
to be the reason! He must be pumping me full of some lusty vampire pheromones, or clouding my mind with spooky vamp mojo.

His hands were everywhere now. The smell of his skin was an intoxicating blend of spice and man.  It fogged my head, making me forget myself.

I was so tuned into him. His thoughts poured into my head like wine, until, sudden and unwelcome, one thought stopped me cold. Under his desire for sex was an equal desire for blood. He wanted that as much as the rest.

Okay, feeling’s gone
.

 “Wait,” I stammered. “No, I can’t be doing this, not with you.”  I was panting, my voice barely a whisper. I had to stop this. No way was he getting another drop of my blood! I had to move.

He was on his hands and knees, my body fitting under his rather nicely. I wiggled, squirming out from under him. “Seth,” I breathed, “Seth!” I tried to push at him, “I can’t do this, and I won’t do this. Whatever you had in mind can’t happen.” I quickly rolled, fumbling to the edge of the bed. I hopped off and took a few steps away. I needed more space between us.

“You know what I have in mind, Grace,” he whispered.  I watched his chest rise and fall with each breath, “You want me as much as I want you.” He tilted his chin down. Looking up at me through his hair, he said, “Why not take me?”  His eyes swirled, becoming darker. “I can be anything you want me to be.” He slid slowly over to kneel on all fours, “I will do anything you want me to do. I have no inhibitions, I will never deny you.” He crawled toward me, his eyes piercing mine, demanding my obedience.  His hair was so long, the ends pooled onto the bed, blending in perfectly. He rose to his knees. “Come back to my bed, sweet.” He held his hand out again, the other hand went to his shirt and began the slow torture of unfastening the buttons. My eyes were riveted as he slowly removed the garment, his beautiful hands sweeping slowly across his skin. “Would it be so terrible to give in to me?” he whispered. His eyes were intoxicating pools, promising passion and danger.

I was in so much trouble.
The picture he made was impossible to resist. He
was
lust. His chest was pure male perfection. My eyes followed a small trail of black hair from his navel down into the dark waistband of his pants. His abs were strong and clearly defined, his skin pale.