Page 13 of A Bond Beyond Blood

So, though my father had supplied the bloodsucker with animal blood for decades to keep up his veganlifestyleor whatever the fuck that was about,Elihad turned his back on Dad in his greatest time of need.

And that was all I needed to know about the man.Themonster.

His apathy was unforgivable.

I would repay his cruelty in kind.

When I reached the office door, I slipped my hand slowly around the knob.Swallowing hard, I closed my eyes and braced myself for the sound of the knob twisting in the silence—

A hand snaked around my neck, cold and unforgiving.

I gasped, but the sound was quickly cut off with my breath as the fingers tightened around my throat.

Panic seized my chest, my heart racing as it beat against my ribs.I raised my hands and scratched at the cold grip, but my struggle was futile.I was gravely unmatched.Tears sprang to life in my eyes as I struggled, trailing down my cheeks.

A whimper crept up my throat, but even that sound couldn’t slip past the intruder’s vise hold on my windpipe.

He lifted me off my feet until just the toes of my sneakers shuffled back and forth against the floor, and panic seized my lungs as that squeak of rubber against linoleum filled the tense silence.He hauled me backwards to his body, my back against his hard chest, then slowly lowered me until my soles were once again flat on the floor.Toying with me.

Finally, his fingers loosened and I sucked in a deep breath.

With that breath, a familiar, delicious scent hit my nose.

Then Vinny’s voice in my ear broke through my fear.“How can I trust that you’re safe if you insist upon being so careless?”

Fingers still scrambling against his hand, I gulped air into my lungs.

“Stop scratching me, Jacqueline.”

I froze, then curled my hands around his wrist and gripped him tightly.

“Good girl,” he murmured, and the feather-soft kiss of his breath against my cheek sent a shiver down my spine.

Vinny chuckled.“Such a weakness for praise.”

I scowled, though with his head positioned over my shoulder the way it was, he likely couldn’t see my expression.

“Tell me what you did wrong.”

His hand was still tight around my throat, but instead of choking the life out of me—which he could very easily do—his thumb traced back and forth over my jawbone.When his fingers flexed over my belly, I realized his other arm was secured tightly around my waist.

Was this the moment he would take control?

Shit.

Focus, Jack.

“Jacqueline,” Vinny warned.“Tell me what you did wrong.”

Swallowing hard, I said, “I-I’m unarmed.”

“Mhm.”Vinny nudged my ear with his nose, then pressed it against my temple and inhaled.“What else?”

My eyes fluttered closed as the hand on my belly moved to trace a finger over the waistband of my workout leggings.“I...”I cleared my throat, trying to force away the lust from my voice.

“Think hard,” Vinny murmured, but as he said the wordhard, he tightened his grip on me and my body lined up more fully against his until the only hard thing I could think of was pressed against my ass.

“Vinny,” I whimpered, his name almost a plea.

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