Blood Ties Bundle: Blood Ties Book One: The Turning / Blood Ties Book Two: Possession / Blood Ties Book Three: Ashes to Ashes / Blood Ties Book Four: All Souls' Night. Jennifer Armintrout
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me roughly against his chest. He dropped me onto the bed a little less gently than I’d expect someone to treat a person who’d been practically dissected, then headed for the door again.
“Wait a goddamned minute!” I didn’t sound as stern as I’d intended, partly because my face was buried in the pillow. I pushed up on my elbows to glare at him. “You’re not going to do this, Nathan. You’re just not!”
He met my furious expression with one of his own. “Do what?”
“Walk out!” I struggled to climb to my knees without exposing too much of myself. “You can’t just go, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m your sire, and hey, lucky you, I’m all dark and moody and too wrapped up in my own stuff to worry about your feelings!’ It’s not fair!”
“Life isn’t fair, sweetheart. I’m real sorry if it hurts your feelings, but I don’t want to stand here and listen to you work through your issues.” He took a step toward the door.
“You don’t even know what my issues are!” Regardless of the fact I knew he’d just put me right back, I got out of bed and followed him.
“Oh, I think I can guess,” he said as he stormed into the kitchen and yanked open the refrigerator.
“Can you?” I watched him for a moment as he tried to remove the cap from a beer bottle. After he made several unsuccessful attempts to twist it off, I angrily snatched the bottle from him. “Well you’re one up on me, then. Because I have absolutely no idea what your problem is.”
I searched the silverware drawer. “Where the hell is your bottle opener?”
“Right here,” he said, transforming his face. He yanked the bottle from me and punctured the bottle top with one of his fangs, wrenching it off and spitting the metal into the sink as his features returned to normal.
“I can’t believe I’m tied to you on a cellular level now.”
The comment only served to irk him more. “I’m sorry I’m not more cultured. I’ll watch PBS. And cut people open for fun. Will that be better? Will you be less embarrassed to be my fledgling then?”
I probably could have cleared up the misunderstanding right then, but his whole attitude bothered me. I called him something very uncomplimentary and stomped into the bedroom. I started pulling out clothes and flinging them onto the bed.
Nathan followed me. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting dressed. I’m going out.”
“The hell you are!” His hand closed over my arm, and I yanked it away.
“Excuse me, I’m not your prisoner. You can’t bully me into staying.” I was so mad that my whole body shook. I found it very difficult to keep my human face on.
“Fine. Go out there and get yourself killed. This time, I’m not going to stick my neck out to help you.” His Adam’s apple twitched as he swallowed. The look in his eyes was so intense that it burned mine.
My heart pounding, I took a step backward. At the same time, he moved forward. The backs of my knees hit the bed, but he kept advancing. I slapped my hands against his chest to push him back, and he grabbed my wrists.
The surge of emotions that shot through the blood tie was astounding. There was no anger. Only incredible fear. Fear that I would leave, fear that I’d get killed, or worse, go back to Cyrus.
Even scarier was the naked desire that flared between Nathan and myself.
I knew I could fight it. At least, for a little while. I’d resisted Cyrus long enough. But I’d wanted Nathan before we’d shared blood, and my raging hormones wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Neither would his, apparently. He jerked me forward, covering my mouth in a smothering kiss.
Though it wasn’t tender, his kiss didn’t set me on edge the way Cyrus’s had. I didn’t have to brace myself for a slap, or flinch from Nathan’s touch.
He heard my thought, and annoyed hurt vibrated through the tie. His hands left my wrists and his arms wrapped around my waist, crushing me against him as his tongue slipped over my lower lip.
Trust me. His thought whispered through my head. But he didn’t trust himself. I felt him attempt to block off his emotions, to feel nothing for me beyond physical desire. I sensed confusion in him when it proved impossible.
Then it hit me. I’m his first fledgling.
He couldn’t help his urge to protect me, or his need to be close to me. That loss of control was what scared him most.
As if to prove he was still strong, still in control, he cupped my buttocks and pulled my hips forward against the bulge of his erection.
The giggling teenage girl part of me noted my new sire came with a serious upgrade.
Nathan heard the thought. I felt his lips curve into a smile against mine.
This is how it’s supposed to be. Our blood tie wasn’t evil. It wasn’t a burden or something I had to guard myself against. The blood tie is a powerful bond, and it had been corrupted and abused by my previous sire.
I had been corrupted and abused by him. Nathan’s blood in my veins and his hands on my skin eased the pain I’d felt since Cyrus had been my sire.
Nathan needed this, too, if only for the distraction. All of his thoughts were tainted by a sense of urgency. What could he focus on in the moment to keep the unfortunate realities of his past from intruding on the present? It made my head spin. I couldn’t imagine living like that every second of every day of my life.
I gripped Nathan’s shoulders as we tumbled into the same bed for different reasons. He avoided, I confronted.
“It’s been a really long time since I’ve done this,” he mumbled apologetically against my neck as his hands skimmed below my T-shirt.
His fingers raised gooseflesh on my thighs. I shivered. “You’re doing fine.”
Every inch of his body was as hard as it looked. There wasn’t a spare ounce of flesh on him, and when he pulled his shirt over his head I didn’t know where I wanted to touch first. My hands wandered restlessly over his smooth chest, his solid arms, the ridges of his abdomen.
Lying between my legs, he pushed my T-shirt up, baring my thighs, my stomach, my breasts. I pulled the shirt off and he rested his head against the curve of my stomach. When he kissed me there, I clamped my knees around his waist, my breath hitching.
With every gentle brush of his fingers, every stroke of his tongue against my flesh, he lost himself a little more in the act. His gratitude overwhelmed me.
Nathan sucked my nipple into his mouth, and I could only concentrate on his flicking tongue and the scrape of his stubble against my skin. I threaded my fingers through his hair and closed my eyes. Nathan crawled up my body, pressing kisses to my neck. “It’s the most incredible thing,” he whispered. “I can hear what you’re thinking. Where you want me to touch you. Was it like that with—”
The instant he said it, my body went cold.
He cursed. “That was probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever said.”
I wanted badly to cover myself. I was too exposed, too vulnerable. “It certainly wasn’t smart.”
“I only—” He shook his head. “You know you’re my first fledgling. This is an entirely new experience for me. I’m not used to being the one who needs information. I’m usually the answer guy.”
“I don’t know anything about being a sire, Nathan. I have no idea how it works. It’s something you’re just going to have to find out on your own.”
He rose onto his knees and it looked as though he was going to get up from the bed. His denied need throbbed painfully through my own aching body, and I reached for him. I’d never been the initiator in sexual situations.