Page 7 of Blood Lust
“You’re out of your goddamn mind if you think I’m just going to lay here in bed with Cole,” Braden said, swooshing out of bed as quickly as a gust of wind. “Come on.” He reached for my hand, and I took it, “I’ll keep you company on the couch.”
Cole sat up. “I think I’m going to hit the shower. Never got chance after the emotional farewell you gave Logan and Zac.” He arched an eyebrow at me.
“Yeah, maybe I’m PMS-ing. I don’t know what the hell got into me.”
“Don’t apologize for that, baby,” Braden said. “We just want you to be comfortable and start to feel better. Now, let’s get a show turned on for you, and you can fall asleep in my arms.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said, following Braden out of the room.
I think I’d made it halfway through the first episode of a prison documentary before I fell asleep, and I had no clue how long I’d been out before my eyes snapped open, my throat burning like never before and my teeth and gums throbbing. I was in agony, and I wanted someone to rip my frigging head off and be done with this shit.
“Oh. My. God!” I cried out in a whisper, unsuccessfully trying not to wake Braden.
He sat up urgently, running his hand along my back. “What’s wrong? What do you need me to do?”
“Everything okay in here?” Cole asked, rushing in from down the hall somewhere.
Their vamp hearing could get annoying.
“I need to get in a shower or something. Shit!” I growled gripping my head. “My teeth are killing me. My throat is on fire, and I just want it all to go away.”
Silence.
“When did your teeth start to hurt?” Cole asked, eyes darting between Braden and me.
“Just now. It woke me up. And the feeling in my throat…” I ran my hand down my neck. “This is worse than anything I’ve ever felt. It’s like I’ve swallowed acid.”
“May I look at your teeth and throat?” Cole asked as I nodded affirmatively.
Cole cocked his head to the side and examined the inside of my mouth. “This can’t be,” he whispered under his breath.
“Can’t be what?” I demanded, my voice hoarse now.
“I think the witch changed you.” Cole eyed Braden sharply, then looked at me, “I need to make a phone call right now.”
Changed me?I opened my mouth to speak the words, but they didn’t come out. My voice was gone.
“Can you stay here with Braden?” he asked. “I’m not holding back any secrets, but I’m also not going to put shit in your mind that isn’t validated.”
Go!I tried to insist, but again, no words came out.
I slumped down on the couch after Cole vamped out of the room, and as Braden sat next to me, everything changed. At first, the swishing of blood was pounding in my head with the steady thrumming of Braden’s heart pumping. I could instantly identify the four areas on his body where his blood called to me: his throat, neck, wrist, and his inner thighs. I licked my lips and felt two razor-sharp fangs extending out of my upper gums. I should have been having a fucking heart attack by what was happening to me, but I’d never felt more one-track minded. I wanted his blood.
“Oh my God,” I heard Braden say, turning my face to his. “She fuckingturnedyou!”
It was the only thing he could say before I crawled onto his lap, smelling the most delicious fragrance emanating from him. The harder his heart pounded, the richer the scent became. It was mouthwatering, it was calling me, and it was Braden’s potent and powerful immortal blood.
I straddled him and framed his shocked face with my hands.
Please?I mouthed, my voice still gone and throat burning.
“We need answers, baby,” he said, questions written all over his expression. “If you drink, it may seal the spell she hit you with. Make you a—”
Emotions overcame me, and I overpowered Braden before he could finish his sentence. I gripped his wrists and pinned them between where I sat facing him. My lips found the most accessible point to draw out the blood I was desperate for—Braden’s neck.
I plunged my fangs into his neck without hesitation, feeling his warm blood quench the fire in my throat almost instantly. It took away my thirst, my hunger, and my pain all at once like a magic pill, and I couldn’t get enough.
Oh my God, baby. I want to fuck you so badly. I’ve never felt anything like this.I heard Braden’s thoughts again almost as if he were speaking out loud.
