Page 64 of Blood Bonds

I blushed again and fussed with my skirt,

“This is my disguise.”

Talon looked like he was trying not to laugh as he flicked a petal off the rose in my hair.

“I am sorry to tell you this, Sweetheart, but there is nothing you could wear that would be able to disguise you from us…not even a garlic dress,”Victor said, adding this last part in a playful tone in my ear and, making me giggle despite myself.

“Do you own a dress, Peach?” Talon asked, making me shake my head at him and the look he gave me wasn’t pity, it was annoyance. I was about to ask why, when he declared, “Well, that is going to fucking change and soon.”

“That’s okay, I don’t need a dress. I only work at a bookstore,” I said, making Victor run his fingers along my jaw before gently turning my face to his.

“You will let us take care of you, won’t you, Nessa?”

I jerked back a little, surprised by his question.

“You want to take care of me?” I asked, my mind whirling because I didn’t understand it.

“Of course we do… this never should have happened,” Talon answered and when I looked down, it was only then that I realized my left hand was in his and he was running a finger along my bruised wrist. “You fought your restraints… is that how you got free?” he asked as his brother Victor picked up the other and kissed the inside of my wrist.

The blueish skin there showed how hard I had struggled to get free, which was something he looked like he regretted seeing.

“I think so,” I replied, knowing I was lying and couldn’t tell them how I had actually escaped.

If I did, then I would have no chance at doing so again because, clearly, they weren’t going to let me go home tonight. No, I knew there was only one place I was going to end up, and the thought scared me as much as it didn’t. It was like willingly wanting to step into the forbidden, knowing that there was a chance at being trapped forever.

A willing prisoner.

“And the locks on the door, how was that possible?”

I frowned and told him, “I don’t feel so good.”

I wasn’t lying, because there was something about talking about this that made me feel strange. I could feel them grant each other a look over my head, as if something secret and silent was passing through them.

“Would you like some water?”

I nodded, answering Victor’s question as Talon stood and walked his big body to the desk. He pressed something and just like at their home, a voice spoke through a hidden speaker.

“My Lord?”

“Water and perhaps some painkillers,” he added, believing my sickness was due to my drinking. And who knew, maybe it was but also…what if it was something else?

“Who were you here to find if not my brother and I?” Victor asked, and I started shaking my head.

“Tell me,” he pressed, and I opened my mouth ready to tell him, because like before, I couldn’t deny him. However, the dizzy feeling increased and before I could stop myself, my head flew forward and I vomited all over their floor.

Victor seemed too shocked to move for a moment but as I started to heave up more, he acted. I felt all my hair being gathered back from my face and held there at the base of my neck. Then Talon came over and crouched low next to me, his hand rubbing soothing circles at my back.

“That’s it, get it all up, baby,” Talon soothed, seemingly unbothered by the fact that I had just thrown up all over their expensive looking rug. Vampire kidnappers or not…

I was utterly mortified.

“I’m… so… sorry, I can… replace it,” I tried to tell them, making Victor growl next to me, causing me to flinch at the aggressive sound.

“We don’t give a shit about the rug, Sweetheart, so just shut up and get yourself feeling better… Yeah?” Talon told me as he continued to rub my back. I heard a knock at the door, and my shame doubled when I realized we were no longer alone.

“Water,” Victor snapped and at first, I thought he was talking to me. But then he ordered, “Now leave.”

I shuddered at the anger in his tone, and Talon felt it with his hand still on my back.

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