Page 160 of A Bond Beyond Blood

“Drink, baby,” I begged.“Please.”

The blood flowed into her mouth but I couldn’t force her to swallow, couldn’t figure out how to make her body do the most natural thing when she was so far gone.

I roared again, then tipped her head back and flexed my fist to force blood to pour out faster from the wound I’d created.When my wrist started to heal, I bit into myself again and repeated the motions until her mouth was overflowing with my blood.

Tears dripped from my cheeks onto hers as I watched, waiting, breath held and heart beating so frantically I thought it might rip free of its cage to join hers.

Then her lips moved.

Gannon sucked in a breath, but I couldn’t look away from my girl.

Her throat moved with a swallow and I cried out in relief.“Yes, sweet girl, that’s it.That’s my good girl.Drink, Jacqueline.”

Gannon dropped to his knees on the other side of her, eyes wide as he watched her swallow down the blood that would save her life.His arm was suspended in front of him, wrist just inches away from his mouth.Ready to jump in if I needed to tap out.

We both cried openly, looking back and forth from one another to her over and over again as she swallowed the gift of my blood.

I pressed my wrist to her mouth and leaned forward.“You’re doing so good, sweet girl.I’m so proud of you.”

Her body jerked and her face twisted into an expression so consumed by pain I’d never get the image of it out of my brain.Then her body lurched into a sitting position and she vomited every drop of blood she’d just received from me in a projectile arc across the room.

She heaved and heaved until nothing could possibly remain in her belly.It spewed from her mouth, leaked past the holes in her throat, a grotesque, horrifying scene.

There was no way she could recover from this.No fucking way.

He’ddestroyedher.

My body trembled with the weight of this moment, the fear and the anxiety shaking my limbs as shock and adrenaline warred inside me.

I looked at Gannon.His face was white as a sheet, and I absently wondered if he’d soon toss his lunch into the pile to join hers.

“She’s rejecting my blood,” I said, the words sending ice through my veins.“She’s...”I swallowed hard and—

Gannon stood abruptly, his face taut with determination.“It’s because of him.”His gaze flicked back and forth between me and our girl.“Isn’t it?His blood already runs through her veins, right?”

“Fuck.”Shaking my head even as I said the words, I growled, “Get him here.”

Gannon had his phone in his hands before I even finished the command.

I dragged Jacqueline into my arms and cradled her head against my chest, tucked up beneath my chin as I rocked her.“I love you so much, sweet girl.Stay with me just a little longer, okay?”She didn’t respond, but the soft tempo of her heart didn’t fade away either.The sound of that fixed rhythm was the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard.

Even as she continued to lose blood, it seemed that my blood had helped her, even just slightly, before she’d expelled it.If that meant I had to feed her again and again, even if she vomited every goddamn time, if it meant I could keep her with me until the vampire king arrived, then I’d do it.

One glance at Gannon, and the fearful, determined look in his eyes, and I knew he would too.

By the time Elias showed up, the floor of the gym looked like a massacre had taken place here.The bastard’s gaze swept the area before it landed on us, then he strode quickly toward me.

When he crouched beside me and reached for her, I growled, instinctively pulling her tighter against me, but he raised his eyebrows and extended his arms, waiting patiently for me to succumb to the reality of what had to happen next.

“Allow me to help her, Vincenzo.”He spoke the words softly, calmly, no threat in his tone.

“Vinny,” Gannon pleaded, his voice breaking on my name.

Closing my eyes on a long blink, I lowered my head and loosened my grip on my girl to allow him to pull her from my arms.He settled on the floor in front of me and tucked her carefully into his lap, then he leaned forward and dragged his tongue over the flayed flesh of her throat.He moaned at the taste of her and I almost lunged for him, but Gannon’s hand on my shoulder stopped me.

I grit my teeth and closed my eyes, fighting to remain still while another man cared for the woman I loved.

After a moment, when I thought the sound of Elias’ mouth working over Jacqueline’s flesh and cleaning her body of blood was almost too much to bear, Gannon squeezed my shoulder and I opened my eyes.

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