Page 13 of V for Vengeance

“Got it,” I managed to say through a tight throat, exhaling nothing but sexual tension.

What a fucking night, am I right?

Jo stole a quick look at me, her clever eyes depicting my internal struggle. When her lips rose, I swallowed so hard she would have to be blind to miss it. “Seems like your night is just getting started…”

I thought today was already peak sexual tension, but now the promise of punishment by a sexy bad boy lingered in my body like an omen. To be fair, Phillip would be lucky if I was still conscious by the time he could make good on his promise.

I slow-blinked, barely moving my legs to keep upright. Jo noticed how much trouble I was having, and she went to a knee to offer me her back.

It was a point of pride for me that I hadn’t done something seriously embarrassing yet—like face-planting into asphalt or telling Jo that she was prettier than any knight in shining armor I could’ve imagined for myself. Sadly, I didn’t have the energy to argue with her about how she was the second person in my adultlife to give me a piggyback ride. Instead, I got onto her back and collapsed like goo against her softness. She lifted me and started to head for the street where our inconspicuous getaway car was parked.

Our little gang of pretty boys will just have to Uber in their epic escape, I guess.

I spent the entire stroll fighting a cataclysm of contradicting thoughts, mostly about kissing a woman who could slit my throat as easily as she could make me smile. Whose past was a mystery and a half. Whose entire personality warranted caution.

Worse, I was somehow entangled with not two, not three, but a whopping four terrifying supernatural creatures. I’d gone from the girl with no romantic history to someone navigating several years’ worth of relationships. Not sure if that counted as good or bad luck. What would one call the holy fucks of relationship troubles when it came in four sexy packages?

I hadn’t forgotten about Cash’s stolen kiss while pleading for me to see past what I’d been told about him, to see him for the person he truly was. Fat chance, but it did make me hesitate when I shouldn’t.

It would be a lie to say that Cash didn’t intrigue me. Granted, a lot of that intrigue came from how absolutely ridiculous the man was. Karen memes had nothing on this bright and shiny diva star. But in a weird way, the Dark Fae had worked his way into my heart despite the promise I made myself to keep him at an arm’s length.

Nothing prepared me for Jo, though.

After landing two gorgeous men who weren’t afraid to share me, I thought that was all I’d need. But the blossoming thing with a dangerous woman with a mysterious past gave me pause. It was different, and I, no matter how many times I ignored it, wasn’t confident I could go back to how things were before we kissed.

Now as I piggybacked on a woman who scared me as much as she aroused me, I wondered if I could safely navigate this new mayhem of fuckery. You know, several male egos vying for my time, a bisexual awakening, terrifying powers, and a plot to overthrow the very people who made me.

Chapter 8

V for Very Vampire

Ifought to stay awake, but I lost the fight somewhere along the way. When I woke up, I wasn’t in the hotel room I shared with Sloan. I was next to the man who demanded I be ready for him when he got back. I breathed in nothing but his thick cologne, and I hadn’t realized how much I missed it.

My throat was horribly dry. A thirst I hadn’t felt since the first time I woke up as a genetic vampire hybrid scratched at my throat. I couldn’t focus. Couldn’t ask questions about Fredrick or what they learned at the club while I was asleep. The need for blood was a violent echo in my body. Like it hadn’t been satiated in months.

I was so fucking thirsty.

The smell of his blood lengthened my fangs to points, and the foggy thirst made me move before I could think, hungry, desperate, in terrible need. I needed to go where the steady pulse was—where the blood never stopped flowing. And my body moved on its own. It took me to where his pulse was the loudest; where the smell was the strongest.

Phillip was shirtless and sitting with his back against the headboard, phone in one hand and his other gently running through my red hair. But as soon as I moved, the older Hunter tossed his phone onto the bedside table next to him and grabbed a glass filled with…

Blood.

“I was able to get you to swallow some earlier, but you need more,” Phillip’s deep voice entreated, handing me the glass.

He got me to swallow some?

I noticed I’d been stripped down to my black bra and underwear but was too thirsty to taunt him about it. Taking the proffered cup, I drank down the contents, then licked any remnants from my mouth. It wasn’t long before I found myself running my tongue along the inside of the cup, shamefully desperate, violently thirsty, and annoyed there wasn’t more.

Phillip’s chest constricted as the Hunter sucked in a sharp breath. He watched me clean the inside of the cup until there was nothing left. “I was worried this would happen, but we’re a little short on blood, maus.”

His artic-blue eyes dropped to my mouth, then he stole the cup right out of my hand. I whimpered, unsatisfied and ready to fight him for it, but Phillip swooped in to silence my complaints. He sucked my bottom lip into his mouth and drove his tongue inside.

It didn’t matter why he was kissing me, only that he was, so I responded immediately. I’d been craving him for so long it smothered my thirst. No, if anything, it made me thirsty for something else.

Phillip’s kiss was as punishing as I fantasized it would be. He dominated my mouth like he wanted to replace everyone else and their touches. Like he was all I’d ever need. We couldn’t get enough of each other. I’d been waiting for his kiss, and I’d do whatever I could to keep it. When I nicked him with my fangs,the taste of his blood spread across my tongue. It called to me in a way nothing ever had.

I wanted more.

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