Page 51 of Bloody Temptations

Finn wrinkles his nose as he thinks, shoving his hair back out of his face. He grumbles under his breath when it falls right back again.

“I don’t know. I can’t think. My brain feels like it’s shriveling up in my skull.”

Guilt about not taking proper care of him last night niggles at my stomach, but I would be lying if I wasn’t a tiny bit excited about being able to take care of him right now. I always knew exhibitionism was my primary kink, but who knew I had some sort of dormant caretaker thing going on? Finn must’ve awakened it in me.

My thumb draws a pattern on his hand and I cluck my tongue at him when he rests his head back down again. “Why don’t we go to the night markets? We can walk around, check out the stalls, pick up something nice and come back here before I drop you home?”

Oh yeah, I’m definitely an absolute sucker for this domestic thing. Downright horny for a trip to the markets to buy some specialty blood items. Maybe something homemade too. Like a candle. Or something knitted. Hopefully he lets me hold his hand. That would be hot.

I wonder for a moment, if it is relationships in general I feel like I’ve been missing out on, or a relationship with Finn specifically? It feels strange that something that wasn’t even on my radar a couple of months ago feels so damn important now.

When Finn looks up at me again, his pallid colour already improving as the blood hits his veins, I have my answer.

It’s him.

“Sounds perfect. Let’s do it.”

I can’t resist swooping in for a kiss. Despite his obvious fatigue, he opens for me, allowing me to sweep my tongue inside and taste the remnants of the blood he drank. It almost distracts me from my mission, but the nights are short and I want to pack in as much time as I can with him while I have him.

“We should get dressed,” I say, pulling back from the kiss, even though Finn’s lips chase mine.

“Sounds terrible. Let’s not.” He lurches forward to restart the kiss but I don’t give in.

Okay, I give in a little bit, keeping the kiss quick and relatively chaste.

Only a hint of tongue.

“Come on, hot stuff, I’ll let you perv on my ass while I’m bent over changing the sheets,” I tease, pulling him out of the chair and dragging him down the hall.

Yup, definitely a domesticity kink.

17

Finn

“Oi, what do youreckon it’s going to be like in there?” Jax asks absent-mindedly as he paces up and down the roadside, arms outstretched to keep his balance on the gutters.

We’ve all met at the cafe down the road from Hearts Gate. They all met earlier for dinner, while I joined them a bit later after I woke up and got ready. Nikolo and Kai haven’t arrived yet, and the cafe has shut already, so it’s just left us loitering while we wait.

“I don’t know? Just like a bar? What do you mean?” Bedeer answers even though his voice is muffled by Jesminda’s head.

It’s snapped cold again tonight and they are using the chilly night as an excuse to get as close as possible. Jesminda has stuffed herself inside Bedeer’s jacket, zipping it up around the pair of them to keep them both warm.

“Well, vamps are old aren’t they?” He reaches the barrier at the curb and, in a surprisingly nimble move for a guy his size, he jumps and spins, landing perfectly on the gutter to make his way back to the group. “And so they’ve all got different ideas of what’s cool or normal or whatever. And this is the place where they are meant to be able to be themselves. So do they dress up in the clothes from their day? And like, what sort of music do they play there? And biting’s going to happenright? Does it happen just out in the open or is it a private thing? Arewegoing to get bitten?”

To be fair, they are all perfectly valid questions. Ones we don’t have the answers to. Hearts Gate isn’t a secret club by any stretch of the imagination, but finding any information about it online is next to impossible. There’s no photos, no blog write ups, no social media. Nothing.

I mean, they do have a website, but it’s just a plain black page with an illustration of the wrought iron gates that seal off the property with their phone number and address.

Last weekend at the night markets I took the opportunity to pepper Kai with some questions, but he was pretty unhelpful. When I asked what the dress code is, he said "everything". And when I asked if there was anything we should know before we went, he offered up “don’t stare.” I mean, what the fuck is that for advice?

I relayed it to the group chat, though. Which is probably why everyone’s looking at me like I have all the answers.

I shrug, shoving my hands in my coat pockets. My fingertips are starting to ache with the cold. I need some more blood too. My teeth feel funny and my stomach’s a bit queasy. That could be because this is the first time I’m seeing Kai in front of my friends since we started having sex.

It feels like they will be able to see all the dirty details written on my face.

“You know as much as I do. Kai just said that it’s intense. Just be chill and it’ll be fine.”

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