Page 9 of Blood Submission

Laney’s eyes burned as salty tears slid down her cheeks and into her mouth. Refusing to give up, she ground her teeth together in anger, and tossed her head back and forth, trying to shake it off her, uncaring that she was probably ripping up her neck in the process. When that didn’t work, she tried to reason with the thing. She tried begging it. And finally, she began to struggle in earnest again. It completely ignored all of her efforts. Laney started to feel woozy as she twisted and kicked, her strength quickly waning.

After what seemed an eternity, but in reality was probably just a flicker of time, it disengaged its fangs and lifted its head. Laney fought to stay conscious while it licked her wounds. She had to escape, had to find a way to get away, or she was going to die in her bathroom before the day wasover.

The vampire’s arm appeared in front of her eyes. She wished it wouldn’t hold it there like that, or at the very least would hold it still. It was making her nauseous to watch it. Laney blinked. Its wrist was bleeding.

“Drink,” the vampire ordered, then pressed the open wound to her mouth.

Laney tried to turn her head away, but it stopped her by pressing its cheek against the side of her face and tightening its hold around her arms andbody.

“Drink,” it commanded again, and rubbed its wrist against her lips until it was able to work its way betweenthem.

Laney tasted the copper-laced tang of her own blood from her teeth cutting the inside of her lips as she tried to resist. But then something else mixed with it, something that reminded her of a well-aged, heady wine. Or at least what she imagined one would taste like. Thick and warm, it coated her tongue and dripped down the back of her throat. Without realizing she did so, she moaned aloud at the earthy flavor, swallowing before eagerly sinking her teeth into the wounds and sucking. The creature groaned, rolling its hips into her behind as its blood crept through her body with an erotic heat, slowly making its way down her arms and legs to merge within the very core of her, igniting every sensual nerve ending on its way. Laney moaned and writhed in the vampire’s arms, sucking harder, wanting stillmore.

The vampire growled low in her ear as her behind wriggled deeper into his lap, pressing against the sudden hardness there. With an audible click of its teeth, it pulled its wrist away from her mouth.

“Now sleep, little mouse,” it gratedout.

Laney felt her eyes slide shut on command, and then there was nothing.

* * *

Dante studiedthe tiny human female in his lap as he breathed through the desire raging through him. He wasn’t adverse to much, but fucking unconscious women was not his thing. He preferred them to be awake, so he could see the flicker of fear in theireyes.

Even though there were no windows, it wasn’t completely dark in the little cave he’d created for them. He could see quite well by the dim light coming from the electric toothbrush that was charging on the sink. The back of her head rested against his chest once again, and her beautiful long hair tickled the inside of his arm. Even without the light, he would recall the vivid color—not an average brown, but with natural strands of red running through it—rich and warm and fragrant. It had tumbled around her shoulders as she’d knelt on the floor, begging for him to bury his hands and face init.

She was strong, this one. Defiant. He’d been unable to control her until he’d managed to get her to drink from him again. But rather than anger him, the memory of her resistance stirred his blood. Her delicate jaw had been set with a stubborn mien in spite of the paralyzing terror that he’d seen in her tawny brown eyes—expressive, bedroom eyes full of heat and courage. For a few intense seconds, staring into them, he had been completely distracted from feeding. He’d like to see her looking up at him from her knees like that again, but for an entirely different reason.

All in goodtime.

First, he needed to figure out how the hell he was going to get them out of here. He needed to get the fuck away from this desert and go home. But even without looking in the mirror, Dante was well aware of how he must appear. He estimated it would take a few more days before he would be presentable enough to be seen by humans so he could get on a plane. Even if he covered his head with a hood, anyone that caught so much as a glimpse of his macabre face would run screaming in terror, and rightlyso.

Everyone, that is, except the tiny human in his arms that had dared to stand up to him, and even tried to escape. It had been a foolish attempt. The sun wouldn’t save her from him. Nothing would save her now that he’d tastedher.

He briefly wondered if the fact that he’d killed her roommate would cause her distress, but then he shrugged it off. She would learn to accept it. Or not. It didn’t really matter tohim.

The only reason she herself was still alive was for the sole purpose of feeding him. Her blood was potent. He would be healed very soon. His eyes roamed up her gorgeous legs, over her soft belly, and up to the bit of cleavage he could see down the front of her nightshirt. When he healed, he would add fucking him to the list of her reasons to stay alive. Once he’d had his fill of this one, however, he’d snap her neck just like the others. Or maybe not. Maybe he’d kill her slowly, let her screams of terror wash over him like a gentle rain before he silenced them forever.

At the thought of ending her life, Dante’s arms tightened around her protectively. The instinct to safeguard her momentarily confused him, but he brushed it off. He was tired, his mind spinning from one thought to thenext.

As soon as the sun went down, he would wake the woman he held and find out if she had a car. If so, she could drive them to Seattle. It was the easiest solution. At his age, as long as he was covered from the sun, he would survive the trip. That way, they could leave right away, and he could bring his new canine friend withhim.

Maybe he’d even take the cat. The dog seemed fond ofit.

With a plan decided upon, Dante closed his eyes and fell into a healing sleep.

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