Page 89 of The Blood Witch

“Then what?—”

“If you keep going, I’m going to come,” Jasper interrupted with a nasal laugh. “I just… I just need a second to calm down, okay?"

Alastair stilled, then glanced down, seeming to only now realize how they were standing. Jasper, who he’d clutched tight against his body, their legs entwined. Jasper’s cock, hard and pulsing against Alastair’s thigh.

“I see,” Alastair said. He licked his lips. He didn’t move away.Instead, to Jasper’s horror, he leaned back down, mouth hovering over the bite.

“Boss, please,” Jasper whimpered.

“You’re still bleeding. I need to seal the wound,” Alastair told him, sounding amused. His tongue traced the bite, and Jasper bit back a groan.

“Oh,” Jasper murmured. He’d gripped the back of Alastair’s shirt without realizing, and slowly forced himself to let go when Alastair began to move away.

“Was that…” Jasper swallowed, hard. “Did you get enough?”

“For now,” Alastair answered. He already looked better, face flushed, eyes bright. He traced the bite on Jasper’s neck, now sealed, with the tip of his finger.

“Is it… is it always like… that?” Jasper asked.

Alastair chuckled darkly. “No, puppy. No, it’s not. That was… different from what I’m used to.”

Mine, that voice insisted inside him. Goddess, he was a mess. He needed a drink. He needed to come. He needed to get the fuck out of here.

“I should go,” Jasper said. “I’m probably late for my shift tonight, and my boss is a real asshole, so?—”

Alastair leaned down and kissed him. A soft, chaste kiss that tasted metallic and left him dizzy.

“Thank you, puppy,” Alastair whispered, against his lips. “You have no idea how much I needed this. From you.”

Heart beating too fast, too many emotions to understand swirling in his head, Jasper could only nod.

“Of course, boss. Anytime.”

Chapter 39

VEE

“Hey… Vee? You doing ok?”

Vee didn’t bother looking up at Jayce. She frowned harder, watching the rat in front of her. It rose clumsily on two legs, jerking and spasming, as though her command required too much effort.

“Yeah,” she answered. “I’m just thinking, is all.”

The rat shuddered. It stood like she told it to, but it was… unnatural. Wrong. She furrowed her brow.

“Dance,” she commanded.

The rat shuddered again but didn’t move.

“DANCE!” she said louder, pushing all her power into the word. The rat twitched and bent under the command, but still just stood there.

Disappointed, Vee sighed.

“I don’t understand why it’s not working,” she said, putting her face in her hands and rubbing at her eyes. She was tired. She’d been spending too many nights at the palace, too many early mornings here at their clubhouse. Eventually someone was going to notice she wasn’t at Nan’s, wasn’t where she was meant to be. But she would solve this problem today. She could get the rats to dance—easily really—when she wasorchestrating the moves herself. Why couldn’t they do it when she commanded it?

Why wouldn’t they just do what they were told?

One of Jayce’s strays looked up, glancing between her and the rat.

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