Page 43 of Life Blood
“Wait a minute, I’m lost somewhere between the part where Istoleyour vampires, and now they won’t touch your blood,” I looked at Val, ignoring Elizabeth’s attitude.
“After they merged and became as strong as they are, we always teased them by calling them super vamps,” Sophie said as she pushed her curly blonde hair out of her face. “It’s silly, but it’s sort of true. You know they have to drink blood to maintain their strength, right? We all do, but the only blood that can give them their strength is the blood of a supernatural—like us. It’s not that theycan’tdrink human blood, but it doesn’t sustain them the same way.”
“Why don’t you just tell her everything about how it all really goes down?” Elizabeth glared at me. “When vampires feed, it’s a highly sexual experience. Our endorphins release at such a high intensity while we feed on another vampire that sex is always a part of the feeding process. If they decide to feed off of you with your potent lifeblood, chances are, you’d better be ready for them to fuck you.”
“Thanks for putting that so delicately,” I narrowed my eyes at her, knowing now why she hated me. “I don’t think you have to worry about me screwing any of them. They’ve already said they won’t drink my blood, and I’m not really able to imagine something like that happening.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Sarah, the sweet blonde one, looked at me with a sympathetic expression, “trust me, you will let them in and when you do,” her eyebrows rose up, locking her blue eyes onto mine, “I can’t even imagine how a human would react to the intense orgasms a vampire would give.”
I gulped and forced a smile, “Well, that’s not going to happen anytime soon. I just met these guys, and I’m still trying to grasp the concept that these four have claimed me and somehow I’ll be into all of them.”
“Your poor little human mind,” Olivia grinned, “I know it has to be tough accepting it,” she nodded over at Elizabeth who kept her glare locked on me, “but we all know that you’ll fall for all four of them. Maybe all at once, or maybe one at a time.”
“Why do you think Zac is acting like a total dick to you?” Sophie questioned.
“Because I screwed with his life. I get it, though. It’s not like they had a choice either. I’m not the only one who has to deal with it.”
Olivia smirked, “They could help it if they wanted to, but they don’t, and they won’t resist how desirable you are to them. Zac,” she shook her head looking out at him, “that guy isn’t one for sharing. When he gets over himself, I’m sure he’ll admit that to you. Imagine falling deeply in love with someone, only to know that your three best friends were also in love with the same person. I know it’s more complex than that, but the ego involved is pretty intense.”
“Well, that changes just about everything,” I said, throwing a twig next to me onto the fire, “I’d be pissed too. So truth is … they see me as a sex object?”
“God, no!” Sarah looked at me as if I had three heads, “They’d never press you into the act if you didn’t want it. They’re in love with you. All four of them. It’s up to you to decide if you want to return those feelings. Sex is not the only way for a vampire to show their love. Those four will protect you, adore you, and make sure you’re the happiest person who has ever lived. Zac will come around, he just needs a little time. His anger isn’t toward you.” She shrugged, “It’s jealousy toward his cousins.”
“Word has it that you asked Braden to sleep with you tonight?” Sophie smiled.
“How would you know that?”
“Vampire hearing. We hear everything,” she laughed, “All I’m saying is that if Zac was any kind of a dick to you today, it’s because he’s pissed at Braden.”
“He avoided me all day, and since vampires have enhanced hearing, maybe he can hear this: I’m not planning on screwing his cousin. I just wanted the company. It was an impulse that hit me, I accepted it, and asked him to stay with me. End of story.”
“The impulse?” Elizabeth asked. “I swear, once you let them feed on you, I’m leaving this damn house.” She finished with a laugh.
“Can I change the subject to something other than sex?” I half-smiled with that question.
I hardly knew these vampire chicks, but I was learning quickly that their nature was to have intense sex and I just took the four best ones off the pleasure market for them.
“What would you like to talk about?” Val smiled, twisting a strand of her pitch-black hair in her fingers.
“The Banners were born immortals, right?”
“All of us were, yes.” Sophie answered.
“So why do you stop aging at twenty-one? Seems like an arbitrary number.”
“We stop aging for our own survival. We’re predators by nature, though we don’t kill our victims. The best blood from a human comes between the ages of twenty and thirty years old. Our genetics were altered to not only be attractive for the human but to also be the age that the human would desire one of us to be.”
“I really don’t want to go back to this again, but I’m curious. You said drinking blood is a sexual thing for vampires. Have you had sex with a human while you drank their blood? Or do you only feed on vampires too?”
“We feed off both. We don’t require supernatural blood to sustain us the way the Banners do.” Val answered.
I squinted. “So you have sex with humans, then?”
“No,” Sarah simply added. “We won’t have sex with a human. Our coven at least resists that impulse if we were to feed from a human. It’s respectful to their race.”
“So if by chance, the Banners have to feed on me…” My eyes zeroed in on Zac, I could totally sympathize with the guy now. “They could resist that sexual impulse, right?”
“If they feed on you, you will be aroused in a way you’ve never experienced before.” Val smiled. “You’ll be begging them, sweetheart.”
