Page 27 of Forged in Blood

I roll my eyes. “I didn’t mean… I expected vampires to be cold.”

His gaze travels back up to meet mine. “Nope. Hot-blooded. Hot-tempered. Hot-as-fuck in every way.”

“Humble too, huh?”

That earns me another dark laugh. He dips his head, skimming his nose along my jawline, and I remember what Axl said about vampires being driven by scent. And how I stink. My aroused flush turns to shame, and I shrink back from him.

His growl is low and deadly. “Watch where the fuck you’re going in the future, Cupcake.”

I draw in a shaky breath but lift my chin. “I could say the same about you.”

He hisses, and his warm breath dances over my neck, causing my heart rate to spike alarmingly. It feels like time has stopped and there’s no one in this entire world but him and me. And now my legs are trembling too. The space between my thighs is growing hotter and wetter with each passing second, and he’s going to know.

“Tell me about the Trials,” I blurt.

He steps back, his face a mask of confusion, and I take the much-needed opportunity to regain some self-control. “What do you know about the Trials?”

I shrug. “I heard someone talking about them is all.”

His eyes narrow. “Who?”

I hesitate for a second, but then I realize I have no reason to keep Madison’s secret, so I tell him what I overheard her saying to Penelope.

It’s his turn to shrug. “Never heard of a Madison or any Trials.”

A strange swell of contentment encompasses me at the knowledge that he doesn’t know Penelope well enough to know her friend, but I don’t buy his ignorance of the Trials for a second. “So there isn’t one happening Saturday night, then?”

He grinds his jaw until the thick vein in his neck throbs. “You stay away from anything to do with any Trials, Cupcake. They’re not the place for little girls like you.”

Well, now I only want to know more. “But you just said you didn’t know?—”

He grabs my jaw tight, cutting off my sentence. Tears leak from my eyes. “You will forget what you heard, or I will make you forget.” His dark eyes bore into mine so deeply I feel like he’s piercing my soul. “Do I make myself clear?”

Not a chance in hell, I think, but I nod meekly.

“Words, Ophelia,” he growls.

My breath gets caught in my throat. I don’t think he’s ever used my actual name before. “Yes!”

He lets go of my jaw and taps the side of my face with his palm. “That’s a good little cupcake.”

Before I can say anything else, he strolls off, and I stare after him, rubbing at the ache in my jaw.

Chapter

Seventeen

XAVIER

“This is her, right?” Axl nods at the blond with the high ponytail and the skintight white jeans striding past the library like she owns the goddamn place. She has a nice rack though, I’ll give her that. Her face is a little pinched for my usual tastes, but I don’t need to look at her face while I’m fucking her. Axl can take the front, and I’ll take the rear.

I nod. “That’s the one.”

Don’t you dare fuck her, Malachi warns us.

Just watch the pledges and let us do our thing, dickface, I fire back.

Axl rocks his head from side to side. “Are we double-teaming her?”

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