Page 19 of Afflicted

The bonfires burn high, and that makes me uneasy. There were a lot this time. Too fucking many. We’ve gotten reports that there are more of them now. Some of the neighboring colonies were attacked and weren’t able to defend themselves. Huge losses of human life, more infected vamps, and now more Afflicted.

I jam my hands into my pockets, walking around the bonfires. My hands curl into fists as I think of that Afflicted almost clawing its way into her, almost biting her.

Juliet. It’s a name that suits her, as pretty as her face. Those freckles, the pouty, rosy lips, the long blonde hair. She looks like a painting, like something that’s just walked out of a classic play. And her body, well there are enough fantasies of what I’d do to that body of hers floating around in my head to keep me awake for a century.

I shake my head at myself as I make my way to the officer’s hall.Fucking fool. I’m obsessed with a woman who cannot stand the sight of me. The way she looked at me after I’d saved her, after she thanked me for saving her - even in that moment of gratitude, she still looked at me as though I was nothing but a predator. I can’t blame her. She hates the vamps, and why wouldn’t she? What reason have I given her to want to trust me?

That doesn’t make me any less obsessed.

Braun and Kaleb are sitting at the table in the officer’s hall, a carafe of fresh blood sitting between them. They raise their glasses to me as I walk in.

“Evening!” Braun smiles widely, his teeth lined purple-red. “Smells incredible out there doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, like a barbecue full of rotten fish, just lovely,” I reply, picking up the carafe and filling a glass. “What do we have tonight, gentlemen?”

“A+, and a very good year.” Kaleb picks up the empty blood bag and reads the label. “Aged 24 years apparently, female, 4211487.”

My mouth goes dry. It’s Juliet’s blood. My musings over how she tastes are about to be answered, and the anticipation rushes into my lungs like acid. I pause with the glass at my lips, and just the coppery scent hitting the back of my throat is enough to have me biting back a groan.

“Not to your taste?” Kaleb asks, swirling the glass in his hand like he’s consuming a fine cognac. “She tastes great to me.”

“I’d like to get it fresher than this, though.” Braun’s hacking laugh is sickening, but Kaleb seems to enjoy the joke and joins in.Idiots.

I roll my eyes, taking a swig of the cool blood. Oh fuck.Fuck. Even though it’s not fresh, even though it’s barely tepid and accompanied by the maniacal cackling of two absolute tossers - all I can think about in that moment is Juliet. She tastes incredible. Sweet and spicy, with almost a hint of vanilla, how is that even possible? She runs down my throat and sets every single vein in my body alight.

Kaleb bursts out laughing, slapping his thigh. “Oh yeah, he likes that one, look at his eyes!”

Braun smirks at me, leaning back in his chair. “I told you. Imagine getting that fresh.” His eyes sweep over my groin, making my skin crawl. “Imagine havingherfresh. She’s pretty darn cute.”

“Which one is she?” Kaleb asks, taking another sip of her blood. I have to restrain myself so I don’t knock the glass out of his hand.

Braun lets out a low whistle. “That one with the blonde hair and all the freckles. A real fresh Georgia peach that one. Her ass is a little small, but for the rest of her, I could live with it.”

“Oh yeah, she is hot.” Kaleb gives me a lascivious grin. “I like watching her shower. Those tits are-” He puts two fingers and his thumb to his mouth, puffing them away with an exaggerated kissing sound.

I down the rest of Juliet’s blood in one gulp, electric sweetness burning across my tongue and soothing the boiling rage I feel at their words. “Good night, gentlemen.”

Braun’s disgusting, hacking laugh bursts from between his blood-lined lips again. “Yeah, we know what you need to go do now.” He rubs a hand across his crotch. “Got a feeling I’ll be doing the same.”

Amidst their jibes and guffaws, I leave the hall. God, they’re disgusting. Feral and animalistic, everything that’s wrong with the vamps, everything that made the humans call us feeders in the first place.

And both are absolutely right. I’m so hard right now I feel like I’m going to lose my fucking mind. Juliet’s blood is magical. I knew it would be. Her smell is intoxicating, like the sweetest perfume I’ve ever smelled. That night when I smelled her getting herself off, it took all my willpower not to drag her out of her bed and straight into mine, like some fucking caveman.

But coupling her scent with the taste of her blood, I don’t even know how to resist anymore. Goddammit. This is bad.

I walk along the line of cabins, taking the two steps up into mine in one stride, and slam the door behind me. My body is on edge, my fangs digging into my lips, my chest heaving. I don’t need to breathe anymore, but arousal still has the same effect on me as it did when I was human. My heart is hammering in my chest, and I tear my clothes off, heading straight for the shower. I need relief from this.

I turn on the taps, and as I lick my lips I find a small speck of her there, in the corner of my mouth. I slam a fist into the wall as my cock twitches.Fuck.

Under the warm water, I hold onto her taste as I fist my cock. I feel her blooming on my tongue, imagining her in here with me. I pump myself, picturing her against the wall, legs wrapped around my hips as I sink into her. I can practically hear her crying out for me. I can almost feel that cunt clenching around me as I bite her, sinking my fangs into that soft neck.

I brace myself against the shower wall as I keep jerking myself off, imagining her bent over in front of me, screaming my name as I fuck her from behind.

I wonder if her pussy tastes as good as her blood. I bet it does. Of course it does.

I groan as I release, my cock pulsing in my hand, spilling hot jets of cum down the shower wall. Fuck what I wouldn’t give to have her in here with me. I press my hands flat against the shower wall, wishing it would somehow help. I need to calm down. She’s not for me. I can’t have her.

And I’m instantly filled with fury as I think of her in bed with that fucker, that useless impotent fuck head from the breeding farm. Smelling him on her was torture. Carrying her over my shoulder and smellinghim- no. His life was in danger. I meant it when I said I’d tear his head off.

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