Page 5 of A Bond Beyond Blood (The Butcher’s Daughter Trilogy #1)

J ack

As soon as I entered through the back door of Dad’s shop and it closed behind me, I froze, dropping my gym bag to the floor with a soft thud . The air felt different... shifted somehow.

I breathed deeply as I settled into a ready stance, reaching for the stakes at my sides—

Fuck. My hands came up empty.

Back at the gym, I’d been so focused on my reaction to Vinny that I never replaced the plastic stakes in my holster with wood ones. Stupid!

My actual stakes were still in my bag, and the plastic practice stakes—which would admittedly suck in a real fight but were better than empty hands—still sat at the bottom of my locker at the gym.

In the darkness, my eyesight was limited, but I knew this shop well and could maneuver through it with my eyes closed.

If there was a human intruder, keeping the lights off left them at a disadvantage.

If this intruder was like Vinny, however, a monster who survived on a strict diet of human sacrifice, only one thing would do.

Which meant I was screwed. I’d be a fool to think a vampire would allow me time to rifle through the bag at my feet for my weapons.

Besides, even if I was naive enough to try, Vinny had demonstrated countless times how swiftly he could move, how very unfairly we were matched.

And here I was, completely unprepared.

Caught off guard, all that training for naught.

My teeth ground together painfully as I shook my head. I’d have to think fast on my feet. But I had the upper hand; I grew up in this shop and ran it now in my father’s absence. I knew it like the back of my hand.

Ahead of me to the left, the walk-in freezer had rows of metal hooks. Terrifying and dangerous to a human, sure, but not against an immortal monster.

Directly across from the freezer to my right, was my father’s office. I did a mental scan of what could be of use to me...

In the center of that office, sat a wooden desk.

Much too big to break and definitely not with any speed.

But off to the side, a wooden stool. Difficult, but I liked my chances with the stool more than the desk.

At least I could smash the stool against the desk and use a leg as a makeshift stake.

It wasn’t ideal, but I was out of options.

Taking in a deep, steadying breath as quietly as I could, I sidled up against the wall and began to inch my way toward the office, heart beating wildly against my ribs.

Sweat beaded on my neck, dampened my palms.

A bloodsucker would smell my fear. He’d hear my heartbeat.

But I still had to try. I would never give up without a fight.

Even if this wasn’t the vampire I’d been waiting for, I was ready to go down swinging. The only good vamp was a dead vamp, as far as I was concerned.

With each step I took bringing me closer to the office and the makeshift weapon within, my fear began to dissipate, replaced with adrenaline that worked to spur me forward.

I’d been training for this moment for nearly a year now, preparing for a battle royale with the vampire who didn’t save my father’s life.

Eli made me an orphan, and in doing so, created his own worst enemy.

I knew enough about vamps now to know that all he’d had to do was offer my father some of his blood and the cancer would have cleared his system in a matter of hours.

He wouldn’t have had to turn Dad in order to save him, wouldn’t have had to be saddled with a baby vamp if fatherhood wasn’t his thing.

He simply needed to want to help.

So, though my father had supplied the bloodsucker with animal blood for decades to keep up his vegan lifestyle or whatever the fuck that was about, Eli had turned his back on Dad in his greatest time of need.

And that was all I needed to know about the man. The monster .

His apathy was unforgivable.

I would repay his cruelty in kind.

When I reached the office door, I slipped my hand slowly around the knob. Swallowing hard, I closed my eyes and braced myself for the sound of the knob twisting in the silence—

A hand snaked around my neck, cold and unforgiving.

I gasped, but the sound was quickly cut off with my breath as the fingers tightened around my throat.

Panic seized my chest, my heart racing as it beat against my ribs. I raised my hands and scratched at the cold grip, but my struggle was futile. I was gravely unmatched. Tears sprang to life in my eyes as I struggled, trailing down my cheeks.

A whimper crept up my throat, but even that sound couldn’t slip past the intruder’s vise hold on my windpipe.

He lifted me off my feet until just the toes of my sneakers shuffled back and forth against the floor, and panic seized my lungs as that squeak of rubber against linoleum filled the tense silence.

He hauled me backwards to his body, my back against his hard chest, then slowly lowered me until my soles were once again flat on the floor. Toying with me.

Finally, his fingers loosened and I sucked in a deep breath.

With that breath, a familiar, delicious scent hit my nose.

Then Vinny’s voice in my ear broke through my fear. “How can I trust that you’re safe if you insist upon being so careless?”

Fingers still scrambling against his hand, I gulped air into my lungs.

“Stop scratching me, Jacqueline.”

I froze, then curled my hands around his wrist and gripped him tightly.

“Good girl,” he murmured, and the feather-soft kiss of his breath against my cheek sent a shiver down my spine.

Vinny chuckled. “Such a weakness for praise.”

I scowled, though with his head positioned over my shoulder the way it was, he likely couldn’t see my expression.

“Tell me what you did wrong.”

His hand was still tight around my throat, but instead of choking the life out of me—which he could very easily do—his thumb traced back and forth over my jawbone. When his fingers flexed over my belly, I realized his other arm was secured tightly around my waist.

Was this the moment he would take control?

Shit.

Focus, Jack.

“Jacqueline,” Vinny warned. “Tell me what you did wrong.”

Swallowing hard, I said, “I-I’m unarmed.”

“Mhm.” Vinny nudged my ear with his nose, then pressed it against my temple and inhaled. “What else?”

My eyes fluttered closed as the hand on my belly moved to trace a finger over the waistband of my workout leggings. “I...” I cleared my throat, trying to force away the lust from my voice.

“Think hard,” Vinny murmured, but as he said the word hard , he tightened his grip on me and my body lined up more fully against his until the only hard thing I could think of was pressed against my ass.

“Vinny,” I whimpered, his name almost a plea.

“The door was left unlocked,” he said sternly. “You could have been robbed. Or worse.”

My shoulders slumped as defeat sank into my bones.

He was right. I’d been so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn't even paused when I found the back door to the shop unlocked. And, as I was the one who closed up tonight, I’d obviously been too eager to get to my hour with my hot vampire trainer to remember to lock the door behind me when I left.

Stupid.

His fingers dipped into the waistband of my pants and my skin jumped beneath his touch.

Desire tightened my belly. “The door was unlocked. You were unarmed.” He chuckled and the sound traveled south, turning into a throbbing heat that settled between my legs.

“Are you so bored you’ve decided to invite trouble, Jacqueline?

” He chuckled darkly and I shivered, then he added, “I’m sure I could find ways to entertain you. ..”

Oh sweet baby Jesus.

I didn’t answer, for fear he’d hear how much I wanted him. Desperately .

But then something occurred to me, and I opened my eyes, staring blankly into the darkness. “How’d you get in?” I asked, struggling to focus on anything but the way his touch ignited something deep within me, a craving I’d been fighting for so damn long.

A need I didn’t know if I could fight much longer.

Hell, I didn’t even know if I wanted to.

“I didn’t invite you,” I added for the sake of specifics—and keeping my mind occupied on details rather than Vinny’s hard body lined up with mine.

“Public place, little Fiorino.”

Public place. Right. Vampires didn’t need an invitation to enter any public establishments.

I could revoke a vampire’s freedom to enter the butcher shop, but it had to be specific and direct.

There was no allowance in the treaty—or the supernatural laws—for vague ‘no vamps allowed’ signage in the window. A revoking had to be personal. Direct.

I could annul his invitation right now. It would be simple. Vincenzo Ricci, I revoke your invitation to enter this building.

Vinny’s hand on my throat moved to cup my jaw and he tilted my head away from him. His nose trailed up the line of my heartbeat, tracing my pulse as he breathed me in. “Jacqueline,” he said. “Who are you training to kill?”

My brow furrowed as I struggled to catch up with his train of thought. “I-I’m not... it’s just self-defense.”

He tsked . “Don’t lie to me.”

I sighed. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, it definitely does.”

His tongue flicked out, just a quick stroke along the bottom of my jaw, and I shivered in his arms. Vinny cursed under his breath, then the wetness of his tongue was replaced by the firm press of his fangs.

My eyes flew open wide. “Please don’t,” I whispered, my voice shaking as fear snaked through my veins, quickly cooling the burn of lust.

His fingers flexed against my belly, dipped down further until they reached into my panties, but then they stilled.

I closed my eyes as he tightened his grip around my throat, tilting my head back to rest on his shoulder and holding me even tighter against his frame.

He kissed my throat, the pressure of his fangs now gone.

“Stop fighting this, Jacqueline.” He leaned forward and kissed the corner of my mouth. His tongue flicked out, a quick taste.

It took everything in me not to turn my head toward him and claim his mouth, that wicked tongue.

“You know I can smell your desire,” he murmured against my cheek. “Why do you fight it?”

Because I had no other choice. Because I hated vampires.

And because I needed him to train me, not drain me.

If the stories were true, succumbing to a vampire led to only one outcome—and I couldn’t avenge my father if I was dead.

“Vincenzo Ricci,” I stated loudly, even though the words pained me as they left my lips—

“No,” he said, his voice pained. His hands flexed as his arms tightened around my body, as if he could hold onto me and fight against the words I was about to speak into existence. “Don’t do it.”

He could have slapped a hand over my mouth. Could have snapped my neck to keep me from speaking the words into existence. The fact that he didn’t put up a fight confused me about him even more.

I closed my eyes, too cowardly to even stare into the darkness as I sent him away. “I revoke your invitation to enter this building.”

He cursed under his breath, and then I was alone. I knew it by the emptiness left in his wake and the depth of my body’s longing for his touch now that it was gone.

When I opened my eyes, I flicked on the overhead lights and frantically searched for him, but Vinny was nowhere to be found.

The disappointment and desire created an overwhelming urge that propelled me forward—

Just as I reached the door, I stopped abruptly, eyes wide as I shook my head.

“Goddammit,” I whispered into the empty shop. I’d almost chased after him, almost begged him to come back.

I couldn’t want Vinny Ricci.

Wanting a vampire wasn’t just against my beliefs but against the law itself. The treaty was quite clear and acutely specific: vampire and human unions were strictly forbidden.

But even scarier than the law, were my two older brothers. Getting involved with a vampire was one thing, but a Ricci ?

I laughed as I raised my hands in surrender. Not today, Satan. Not. To. Day.