Page 51 of Accidental Vampire

“You need to get your shit handled, too, Lachlan. There are too many lives at stake if you don’t.”

His expression wasn’t challenging or snide. He was simply stating a fact. Shaw picked up the glass bottle of medication Sugar used, inspected it, and tucked it into his pocket before walking out of the room.

“The girl?” I asked before Shaw disappeared from sight.

“Not yet.”

I nodded, knowing we were coming to an agreement. We were both too proud to say it though.

Shaw wasn’t wrong. I was a fuck-up, a pet, I could barely take care of myself. I stretched out on the couch as far from the drug cabinet as I could get.

THIRTY-THREE

LACHLAN

Aurora threw her phone at me. I threw it right back. Rude. She swiped the screen and held it out to me. I didn’t take it.

She turned the phone to read it. “Rory, this isn’t funny anymore. You need to pull Lachlan off whatever he’s fucking and get him back here. Everyone is freaking out. Veronica is a terror. Wolfgang was summoned to her place three days ago, and no one has seen him since. Kyle is weeping uncontrollably at Ruelle. It’s embarrassing.”

She tapped her phone with a flourish to make the screen go dark. She threw her hands up and stalked around when she didn’t get the response she was so desperately seeking. She took a deep breath and put her hands on her hips.

“Whatever you are doing here is not working. You have to go put in an appearance. You can’t put off Veronica forever. She’s not just going to forget she announced you as Scion.”

I scowled. I needed more time to think. She sat on the couch next to me and casually threw a leg over mine. I pushed off her hand when she started playing with my hair.

“You are also Legate.”

I snorted in disgust.

“I know you think it’s meaningless, but it’s not. Everyone takes their cues from you. And you not being there, well, shit is falling apart.”

“Not my problem.”

She shifted her weight and straddled me. She held my face in her hands and traced my lower lip with her thumb.

“Everyone is suffering. It’s going to get bad. They need you. I need you.” She pressed her lips to mine and breathed into me.

She moved in my lap, kisses trailing down my neck. Until she got to her favorite spot. Her tongue darted out and then a fang. She grazed her teeth up my neck. I tilted my head back, enjoying our favorite tease. She had never broken my skin. Never would. I told her that the first night she showed up in my life. Newly pledged to the family. She wore the ribbon around her neck with pride, out in the mortal world too, where it was just fashion. Aurora went right for the top, jockeying for a spot in Veronica’s bed. Rebuffed, she came for mine.

“We can manage Veronica,” she said between nibbles on my earlobe. “She’ll draw this out for as long as possible.” I turned my head away, pulling my flesh from her teeth.

“You know what you have to do.” I traced my fingers along her neck, pushing down on her pulse, feeling her voice in my fingertips. “You have to give her to another family. Koen is the best bet.”

I closed my eyes, pushing her words away.

“Or Seattle. You know it is the safest option.”

I tried drowning out her reasons, close myself off to it.

“Veronica can’t know about her. And it won’t be forever. Fifteen, twenty years maybe. Then you can stage a fake reunion or something.”

I wanted to push out her words, get lost in her familiar body. Anything to dismiss the fact that she was right. She shifted her weight to sit more directly on my cock. Aurora picked at the buttons of my shirt, she’d leave my belt buckle for last, like the first night I met her.

She had tossed some mortal girl off my lap in a club, right by her hair even. Claimed space in my lap and promised me the best bite of my immortal life. It wasn’t the best bite. Not even close. Warren could leave you a crumpled mess, and Saint, all he had to do was curl his lip up and flash fang, and I’d be on my knees begging. I made her beg for my blood that night, and every night since. The denial of the one thing she wanted made fucking her all the better.

“You need this.” She breathed into my ear, her nails scoring tracks in my chest. “You’re all wound up.” She nibbled at a nipple. “Frustrated.” She ground herself against me, trailing her tongue back to my ear. “You want to fuck her, don’t you?”

A grunt escaped me, my dick got instantly hard.

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