Page 52 of Inked & Bloodbound
“The blood helped some,” I try to reassure her, “but?—”
“But not enough.” Her voice is flat, clinical. She’s gone into nurse mode, assessing the situation with professional detachment even as I can see the fear flickering in her eyes.
She sits back on her heels, staring at the spreading damage, and I watch her reach some internal decision. When she looks up at me again, her expression has shifted from worry to determination.
Without a word, she pulls her soft golden hair away from her neck and tilts her face toward me.
“Drink from me.”
The words land in my chest like a punch I never saw coming. “No.”
“Cass—”
“Absolutely not.” I try to sit up and suppress a grimace when my burned skin pulls and tears. “Do you have any idea what you’re asking me to do?”
“I’m asking you to stop being stubborn and let me help you.” She leans in so she’s inches from my mouth, and the scent of her—coconut, sunshine, and life itself—makes my fangs throb with desire.
“You need blood. I have blood. It’s not that complicated,” she points out.
“It’s very complicated.” My voice comes out ragged and desperate. “When vampires feed from humans, especially when we’re injured and starving like this, we don’t just take blood. We take everything—life force, innocence, sometimes pieces of their soul. And we don’t always know when to stop.”
Her chin lifts, and she glares at me with pure defiance. “So you’re saying you might hurt me.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Without meaning to, without wanting to, but I could hurt you. I could even kill you.”
The confession tears out of me, and I squeeze my eyes shut to block out the sound of her racing heart.
She pulls away and sits on the edge of the couch, close enough that I can feel the warmth radiating from her skin. “We have an unexplainable connection, Cassini. You know that, right? This isn’t normal. You can hear my thoughts. I can hear yours. Have you ever fed on someone you could connect to like that?”
“No, but?—”
She smiles. “Well, then you don’t know how it’ll be, do you? If you start taking too much from me, you’ll know for sure. You’ll hear me.”
“You don’t understand?—”
“Oh, I understand.” Her voice is calm, certain. “You’re scared. You think your hunger will override everything else and turn you into a monster.”
“Iama monster.”
“No, you’re not.” She reaches out, carefully avoiding my burns, and strokes my face. “You won’t hurt me. I know you won’t.”
She leans closer, her forehead almost touching mine, and presses her lips against me, lighting a fire across the soft tissue of my mouth. Her tongue traces along my bottom lip, seeking entrance, and when Ipart my lips for her, she deepens the kiss. It becomes hungrier, more desperate.
She threads her fingers through my hair, mindful not to disturb the burned patches on my scalp, and pulls me closer until there’s no space left between us. I can feel her pulse racing beneath my hands where they rest on her throat and can smell the intoxicating scent of her blood so close to the surface.
By instinct, my fangs extend, and I don’t stop them. She pulls back and cocks her head to the side with a satisfied smile, reaching a finger out to touch one and running it lightly along the point.
“Just one thing,” she murmurs, her brows knotted with concern. “This won’t make me…like…”
“Like me?” I say. “No, to make a vampire is a much more complicated thing. A bite alone will not turn you.”
“Good.” She sighs, delicately lifting my blistered hand and holding it against her chest, so I can feel her heart. It gallops steadily, and the rhythm of it threatens to drive me insane.
“Okay.” I swallow. “I’ll drink.”
“I trust you.” She tilts her head, exposing the elegant line of her neck, and in an instant, her skin becomes translucent. Every capillary glowing under the surface and calling to me like a siren song.
She closes her eyes, and I can feel her pulse speed up, but not with fear. With anticipation.