Page 17 of A Bond Beyond Blood (The Butcher’s Daughter Trilogy #1)

When I opened my eyes sometime later, Vinny was exactly where he’d been the last time I looked, in the center of my living room, arms crossed as he remained positioned between me and Eli, who was perched beside the Christmas tree, watching me, one elbow propped on the mantle.

In his free hand, he swirled whiskey in a rocks glass.

I hadn’t seen him leave the kitchen. I was losing time, which meant I was probably passing out. Great.

Two skilled killers in my house, and I’m over here taking catnaps.

I shifted, trying to take pressure off my right side, but as soon as I moved, I regretted it. Pain lanced through my torso and I hissed in a breath.

“Make yourself useful and get her something for the pain, will you?” Eli’s blue eyes flicked from me to Vinny. “I assume you know where she keeps her medicine.”

Vinny was in front of me in a flash, crouching down between the couch and the coffee table to look into my eyes.

“Jacqueline.” His fingertips trailed delicately over the bruising on my cheek and I closed my eyes as I sucked in a breath.

Even that feather-soft brush of his fingers resulted in a fresh wave of discomfort.

“Get her something for the pain,” Eli commanded, his voice taking on an edge of authority that snapped my eyes open and jerked Vinny’s shoulders back.

Vinny stood quickly, then strode toward the bedrooms. “Where can I find it?” he called over his shoulder as he disappeared down the hallway.

Frowning, I explained, “There’s ibuprofen in the medicine cabinet in the back bathroom,” then grit my teeth because even that was too much effort.

“You’ll need something stronger,” Eli said.

Forgive me for not having a supply of pharmaceuticals lying around.

Eli's lips twitched. “You’re a delightful little thing, aren’t you?”

When he smirked, heat bloomed low in my belly. Outwardly, however, I rolled my eyes, then squeezed them shut and began repeating the alphabet in my head to keep my thoughts from wandering to anything he might find interesting.

Like the fact that I found him a bit interesting.

“Too late for that, love.”

I jerked in surprise from his sudden proximity, then whimpered as my body retaliated against that slight movement. Upon opening my eyes, I was met with the intense icy blue of Eli’s irises just inches away from my own. He’d perched on the coffee table directly in front of me. Close.

Too close.

Close enough to—

I swallowed hard and chased away my wayward thoughts.

The man’s face was chiseled from stone, each plane beautifully defined. Masculine and sharp, save for those full, dusty rose lips, stark against the pale skin of his face.

“You forgot feminine ,” he teased, taking me back to the moments before our fight when I first realized he could hear my thoughts. Licking those full lips now, he held my gaze, canting his head to the side when my traitorous heart began to race.

Eli winked, then whispered, “If it helps at all, petit colibri , I find you equally fascinating.”

I swallowed hard, hating the way his words and that look in his eyes sent heat racing through my veins, as if I should be attracted to this monster—or worse, preening for his praise.

With a soft chuckle, Eli tapped my chin. “Drink this.” I lifted my head enough not to choke on the alcohol as he brought the tumbler of whiskey to my mouth, then I drank the amber liquid slowly.

“Dreadful stuff, that, but it may help to ease the pain a little.”

I narrowed my eyes but didn’t argue. It’s not like I spent much on booze, so I wasn’t all that offended that what I had on hand didn’t live up to Eli’s standards, the posh asshole.

His eyebrows rose and a smile teased at the edges of his lips.

When I finished the whiskey, he pulled the glass away, then dragged the cool pad of his thumb across my lower lip.

My breath caught in my throat, his intimate touch sending an unexpected thrill through my veins, then my eyes widened as he brought his thumb to his mouth and sucked the remnants of alcohol from his skin.

A responding pull tightened my groin and Eli smirked, clearly following my thoughts—or worse , scenting the way his actions had stirred my body even while I suffered greatly from the beating he’d delivered only a short while ago.

I must’ve sustained a brain injury to be attracted to the monster who just kicked my ass all over the butcher shop.

“I gave you only what you asked for, Jack. A fight, nothing more.”

I snorted and rolled my eyes, but Eli held my gaze for a long moment, mesmerizing me with the intensity of those striking blue eyes. “ Sleep now ,” he said in that oddly powerful tone of his, then he stood, and I caught motion behind him.

My gaze landed on Vinny’s hard stare, the flash of possessiveness in his dark brown eyes.

“Don’t do that shit to her,” he grumbled as he strode toward me, then held up a bottle of water and two ibuprofen tablets. When I opened my mouth and took the pills, drinking greedily from the provided water, Vinny made a pleased sound in his throat. “Good girl. Now try to rest, okay?”

I sighed and closed my eyes, surrendering as sleep pulled me under.

––––––––

“S he needs blood. I suppose I could—”

“No,” Vinny snapped.

“Fine,” Eli drawled. “Yours will do in a pinch.”

My eyes flicked open as my brain registered the conversation and instantly sent my pulse into overdrive. I blinked my surroundings into focus. Vinny sat on the coffee table in front of me, his elbows resting on his knees as he watched me intently.

Eli stood behind him, staring down at me. “Welcome back.”

I frowned, then ran my tongue over my teeth as I focused on Vinny. “How...” I paused. Talking hurt like hell. I moved my jaw slowly, assessing where the pain stemmed from.

“Don’t try to speak,” Vinny advised. “The swelling on your cheek is pretty bad.”

That would explain the pain, then, wouldn’t it? Must be swelling down the side of my throat as well. I exhaled a long sigh.

If there was anything beneficial about Eli’s invasion of my thoughts, it was not having to speak when it hurt so damn much to try. Thinking loudly—if that even mattered—I asked, How long was I out?

“Five hours, love. Give or take.”

“Unbelievable,” Vinny mumbled as he looked back and forth between us, then he focused on me. “Can you sit up for me?” He lifted the bottle of ibuprofen and a bottle of water into the air. “It’s time to take another dose of painkillers.”

“She needs blood ,” Eli repeated, reminding me of what had woken me in the first place.

“No,” I rasped. Never.

“Never?” Eli chuckled. “Suit yourself.”

I don’t want vampire blood inside of me.

Eli barked out a laugh. “But our cocks are fair game?”

“What the fuck?” Vinny was in front of Eli faster than I could blink. “What did you just say to her?”

Intentionally slowly, Eli straightened his shoulders, rising to his full height, easily a few inches taller than Vinny’s six-feet, as if he’d been hunched before, though I hadn’t thought that of him until now.

He was lean and lithe, but at his full height, with authority and power coming off of him in waves, he was even more formidable than he’d been downstairs when he kicked my ass around the butcher shop.

My pulse sped. I blinked as I watched the two vampires stand toe to toe.

“Kneel,” Eli ordered.

Vinny went rigid, like his spine had been injected with solid steel. His gaze flicked to me, his face lined with a mix of worry and anger, then he bowed his head and dropped to one knee all over again.

“Now, be a good boy and say you’re sorry.”

A muscle jumped in Vinny’s jaw. “My apologies,” he forced through clenched teeth, “your majesty —”

“Ah ah ah.” Eli made a sound of disdain deep in his throat. “I don’t require formalities, but you will remember your place in my presence.”

Your majesty?

My eyes widened and Eli caught my gaze, winking before he returned his focus to Vinny, face hardening so quickly I might have imagined the playful wink. Hell, after everything I’d been through, maybe I had imagined it; I could still be asleep for all I knew.

Vinny inhaled a deep breath as he lifted his head to look up at Eli. “You don’t want me to address you as your birthright demands, but you expect me to kneel—”

Eli was behind him in a flash. His long fingers curled tightly around Vinny’s neck as he lifted him to his feet then turned slowly until they both faced me.

He brought his lips to Vinny’s ear as he spoke in a low, threatening growl.

“What I expect , Vincenzo, is for you to respect the order of things,” Eli snapped. “Your elders at the top of that list.”

Vinny’s eyes were wide, and a vein bulged in his temple, thrumming with each beat of his heart as Eli held him immobile with just the strength of one hand.

Vampires didn’t need air to breathe, I knew that, but old habits die hard, and breathing came naturally to humans—something many vampires continued to do by habit long after they were turned.

The way Vinny fought to breathe was evidence that, in this moment, he’d forgotten that bit of his lore.

But it wasn’t Vinny’s lack of oxygen or his obvious distress over his inability to draw breath that had me sitting up and pushing to the edge of the couch even as my battered body screamed in agony from the movement; it was what those long fingers on that strong neck signified.

Eli was impossibly strong—even by vampire standards, I’d discovered when we fought.

Should he decide Vinny was more headache than he was worth, he could snap his neck without breaking a sweat. In the time it would take me to blink, Eli could, once again, rip another man from my life.

Eli’s lips curved downward. As he held my gaze, that glacier blue seeped back into his eyes, replacing the hellfire red until they returned to normal.

“I’m disappointed you think so poorly of me.”

You’ve given me no reason to think otherwise. My eyes flicked to Vinny and I whispered, “Please don’t hurt him.”

He tightened his grip around Vinny’s throat as he whispered, “Take care of our girl until I return.” Then he released Vinny, who bent over and gasped for large lungfuls of air he didn’t even technically require.

As if I’d just imagined the entire exchange between the two of them, imagined that dangerous moment when Eli held Vinny’s life in the palm of his hand, Eli stood beside my now-open front door with one hand tucked casually into the pocket of his slacks and the other on the doorknob.

His practiced nonchalance had returned full force, and keeping up with his epic mood changes left me feeling off kilter.

He cleared his throat and I lifted my gaze to his

“To be clear on one earlier point, Jack,” he said, “vampire blood already courses through your veins, if you recall.” He waved his hands in a flourish of presentation. “Mine.”

I grit my teeth against that. It was the second time he’d said as much, but I didn’t have to believe him. Didn’t want to.

Eli rolled his eyes. “Stubbornness does not alter reality, Jacqueline; it simply delays acceptance. No matter. We’re not finished, petit colibri , but I will give you a fortnight to heal before I return. The way I see it, you belong to me—”

Vinny growled, but Eli’s attention remained on me.

“Be it by blood bond or blood shared , I feel our story has only just begun.” He winked, and then he was gone.