Page 63 of Blood Bonds

I shook my head, telling him that I wouldn’t.

“Good girl,” Victor replied, letting his hand slip from being shackled around my wrist to entwine with my fingers. Then they started to walk back toward what I was assuming was their office as my reality started to hit me.

The fortune teller had set me up.

Did that mean she worked for them? I very nearly asked this but stopped myself as we approached the doors. Talon’s hand stayed sprayed out on my lower back, just in case I managed to slip free of his brother’s hand. Of course, in the end, this helped in keeping me upright because I stumbled once more on my heels, making Talon react by falling back a step and framing my waist to keep me vertical.

“Whoa, little one… looks like we have a little drunkard on our hands,” Talon said behind me, the humor in his tone easy to hear. It was soon followed by a chuckle when I shamefully burped. I mean, it wasn’t a great whopping Viking belch or anything, but it was bad enough to have them both laughing.

“Did someone let their nerves get the best of them?” Victor asked after tipping my head back and looking deep into my eyes.

When I didn’t answer, he lowered his head enough that at first, I thought he was going to kiss me. And damn my own reaction to this because my lips fell open a little as if more than ready for it. Of course, it also helped that I was now a little taller, so he didn’t have to bend so much.

But in the end, he didn’t kiss me. No, he simply ran his nose along the seam of my lips and breathed deep.

“Mmm, I smell apple.”

I felt my chin gripped in another’s hand and my face was turned to Talon. This was so he could do the same thing as his brother, running his nose along my lips and humming,

“Apple schnapps.”

“It was all I had,” was my small admission as I looked up at him.

Holy hell, he was handsome… his grin made me suck in a breath. It should have been God damn illegal for someone to be that hot. All I could remember now was the way he had kissed me…the way they had both kissed me.

The foolish way I wanted them both to…

Do it again.

Chapter 24

On Your Knees

“You flew away from us again, little Firefly,” Victor said, making me point out,

“And you tied me to the bed.”

“Yes, and what little good it did us,” he replied, pulling me toward the sofa and, no surprises, it was black. Just like pretty much everything else in the room. I mean, if I didn’t already know they were Vampires, I would have seriously been questioning it now. The walls were blood red and every piece of furniture in the room was black. A high gloss painted on intricately carved wood, depicting scenes of war and death on one wall. Then there was another that held nothing but different religious crosses all hung upside down, making me question, wasn’t that the sign of the antichrist? If that wasn’t a sign that they were Vampires, I didn’t know what was. I looked down and the thick red rug beneath my feet was fascinating, with its fancy swirls of black and gray.

In fact, I was so busy taking in the rug that I didn’t realize I was sitting until I felt myself being pulled back, and they each took a seat next to me.

“Relax back, sweetheart,” Victor ordered gently as his hand rested at my shoulder, applying enough pressure to have me doing as he asked. My shoulder was now bare after my strap had been encouraged to fall down, thanks to Victor’s touch.

“What are you going to do to me?” I asked after I was clearly positioned where they wanted me.

Talon chuckled at this and told me, “For starters, to get you off your feet before you fall again.”

I blushed and told them in a small voice, “I’m not used to heels.”

“Good, then you won’t be able to run when wearing them,” Talon said, winking at me.

“Well, I borrowed these from Stacey, so they are too big for me, along with the dress, only that isn’t too big for me because my boobs are bigger than hers, but she also did my hair and make-up,” I told them in my drunken slur.

Victor grinned at me, only it wasn’t one of mocking but more like one of the adoring kind.

“You look beautiful, Nessa, a feast for our eyes but I have to ask, why the change?” Victor asked, making Talon agree,

“A gothic treat indeed.”

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