Page 32 of Fated In Blood

The cosmic shift that happened in the very center of me, like moving across a chessboard, pawn to queen—prey to predator. My fangs slipped out the rest of the way, leaving a bloom of blood coating my mouth, every cell of my being hyper focused on that powerful, corded neck.

“A nice offer, but I’m afraid my answer is…fuck no.” Unfortunately, one of my too long fangs sliced through my tongue on that final word, blood dribbling out of my mouth, down my chin. His eyes flashed like a match ignited.

Ever so slowly, he grinned, lips parting to reveal huge, curved fangs, and I stepped back, turned, then ran, not even caring where I was heading, fear and excitement intertwining as I wove through the trees.

Branches tore at my face and what was left of my dress, feet pounding against the ground, energy humming through me like I’d been struck by lightning. I could run like this forever and the feeling was the closest thing I’d ever felt to flying.

The ground beneath me thundered as I wove through bushes and around stone walls, then a fountain of dancing fish. I was so caught up in the glorious sense of freedom I didn’t realize the shaking was Blake closing in on me until his arms captured my waist and we tumbled into the grass.

“Get off me.” I kicked out and was instantly pinned, flattened to the damp ground by two hundred pounds of pissed-off male vampire. Leather-encased thighs rubbed against the bare skin of my legs, one huge hand banding around my throat to hold me in place.

“What the fuck are you?” he hissed in my ear. “You should barely be walking right now, much less being a pain in my ass. Stop fighting this. Stop fightingme.”

I elbowed him in the stomach with everything I had, and he trapped my hand like he’d trapped my body, poised over me like a cage of flesh and bone. “You need blood before you’re too far gone.” Blake lowered his head until the soft skin of his throat brushed my clamped-together lips.

“Fucking drink or I’ll force-feed you, stubborn girl.”

All I wanted was to tear at him, viciously, ruthlessly, like the animal I now was.

No. I couldn’t become like them.

I whipped my head wildly from side to side, my fangs so long they cut through the insides of my cheeks, every panicked breath I drew saturated with his heady scent, which was torture and temptation and fucking sin all wrapped into one.

He dominated me in both weight and strength, effortlessly trapping me with his powerful body until friction burned between us, delicious heat smoldering between my legs, hunger riding me too hard to deny for much longer.

But I’d fight this compulsion until the bitter end.

“If you deny your body sustenance, your biology will change. There is a chance you will become a thrall. A mindless creature incapable of reason or independent thought.” Blake sounded detached, like he was narrating one of those nature shows. “So if that’s how you want to end up, then keep fighting your instincts. Otherwise, stop being stubborn and just fucking feed.”

God, I wanted to.

His soft-as-velvet skin rubbed against my lips, and coupled with the weight of his body…my rationale was slipping away, right along with my self-control. I opened my mouth, and the second the tips of my sensitive fangs touched his skin I moaned, the sound so primal I sucked in a shocked breath.

“That’s it, let your instincts take over. Bite me, little one. Your body will take over from there and tell you what to do.”

My tongue snaked out of its own accord and slid up along the tendon, dancing over the pulsing vein I would give my life to taste. God, Blake smelled irresistible, and when my lips fastened over his pulse, he groaned, his body tensing against me.

Something just…snapped. Self-control vanishing as I turned into a writhing ball of mindless need.

Before I could stop myself, my fangs sank deep into the vein, warm, rich blood pooling in my mouth like a river of fire. I guzzled down gulp after gulp of pure power and never wanted to stop.

This was addicting. Exhilarating. Dangerous.

And I didn’t care.

Explosive, strange energy rippled through my body like wildfire spreading through the underbrush, until all I heard was the roaring in my ears.

My fingers bruised his shoulders while I savaged his throat like an animal, barely aware of what I was doing, only that this relentless hunger wasn’t lessening—it was growing more intense. His fingers twisted into my hair, and I growled, fangs sinking in deeper, but he only adjusted the angle of my head so I could take blood faster.

Dimly, I understood this was wrong. I had to stop this. My humanity was shredding away, leaving only the animal beneath.

But I was an animal—a ball of primal, raw need, nothing but pure instinct driving me, hyperaware of everything, especially the male at my mercy.

The earthy smell of the crushed grass beneath us, Blake’s rich male scent, his blood hitting my system like a drug, the lovely brutality of our bodies writhing together as I drank him down like I’d never get enough. The edges of my world blurred as Iwrithed against Blake’s hard cock, so wet between my legs I was soaked.

The world tipped as he flipped our positions, then I was straddling him, his hardness pressing against my core, wicked pleasure streaking through me in wave after delicious wave. I clawed until I reached skin, his shirt shredding beneath my fingers, needing more than just his blood inside me.

I wanted him.

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