Page 34 of Thicker than Blood

“Oh, dang. What did it feel like?”

“I kind of can’t remember. At the time I thought it was pleasant, but the longer I’m away from it, the hazier it is.”

“Whoa.”

“But then I injected the vaccine. Hurts like hell, by the way.”

Enyo scrunches his face.

“Elias did his thing again and…” I card my hand through my hair. The memory of that test hasn’t faded at all. I can still feel his lips, see the way his eyes held mine, taste his kiss.

“And?” Enyo prompts. “Quit edging me, dude.”

“Cone of silence?”

“Hell yeah.”

“Instead of defending against compulsion, it basically unlocked my inhibitions. Any restraint I had was totally absent.”

His jaw drops as he whispers, “Dude.”

“I know. I kissed Elias.”

He gasps. “Oh my gods. You did what?”

“I kissed him. Climbed all over him like a monkey. The only thing that prevented total disaster was that it wore off really fast. It was only seven minutes. That’s it. It felt like it worked at first, but it was only for a few seconds before it shifted.”

“What was it like?”

“Good.”

He levels a hard look at me. “Good? Come on, Geord. Let me live vicariously.”

“It was a nice kiss.” My cheeks burn with restrained heat. I huff a breath. “Fine, it was heaven. Best kiss ever.”

Enyo rubs his hands together. “You kissed a vampire.Thevampire.”

“I’m aware. He has a pleasure palace in his basement.”

“Come again?”

“All kinds of supernatural beings gather there for sex and feeding and stuff.”

“Did you see it?”

I nod, shifting my attention to the breakfast sandwich just to avoid meeting his eyes.

“And?” Enyo shoves my arm. “Tell me.”

“Take a second to imagine the pleasure palace of a vampire. It’s that and more.”

“You saw people having sex?”

I nod, biting into the sandwich. “There were mortals,” I add after finishing my bite. “They were there voluntarily. There was a blood orgy and?—”

“A blood orgy?”

“Yeah. It was like a sex club but most of the patrons weren’t human. Elias had to protect me by tasting my blood. Apparently that put his scent on me.”

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