Page 45 of A Bond Beyond Blood

Some fucking first date this was.

I raced through traffic, running red lights and dodging cars on my way toward the village.

When I reached the back of the shop, the car was barely in park before I jumped out of it and raced to the stairs leading to her apartment, but then the wind changed and I froze.

The scent of her blood was overwhelming.

My fangs extruded and the hunger burst to life within me even though I’d hit the bank before our date tonight.I fought through the bloodlust as it burned through my veins and clouded my thoughts, then finally pushed it down to a tolerable level so I could think.

Jacqueline was bleeding.Where?

I looked up at the apartment.The lights were on, but there was no movement within.Swiveling back, I ran down the stairs to the rear entrance of the butcher shop.The door pushed open easily, unlocked, and I raced inside, stopping as I came upon her body.

“No,” I yelled as I knelt beside her.“Jacqueline!”In the span of a few seconds, my brain caught up to two sounds: her heartbeat was one, and I exhaled with relief.

Her quiet crying was the other.

“Oh, fuck, Jacqueline,” I said as I nudged her to look up at me.

When she lifted her head, a roar tore from my chest at the sight of her face.

One eye had the telltale purple mottle of a blooming bruise, and her lips were swollen.Blood trickled from her mouth and nose, and another blotch of mottled bruising marred her cheek.

“Who did this to you?”I growled.

Her face crumpled as she struggled to sit up and crawl into my arms.“He didn’t want to be saved, Vinny,” she said, her crying getting louder now that she was in my arms.

I tensed as the scent of her blood became overwhelming, fighting against the thirst as I tucked her close to my chest—

She cried out, wincing in pain.

I cursed under my breath.“I’m hurting you.”

“It’s okay,” she lied.“Please take me home.”

“Who did this to you?”I asked again, picking up on another vampire’s scent but unable to place it.

Jacqueline just shook her head and tucked it against my chest, muttering words I couldn’t understand through her tears and I shook my head.Anger, frustration, and hunger warred within me.

Whoever dared lay a fucking hand on her would pay with their life.

If it was that kid Gannon, her useless excuse of an ex-boyfriend, I’d make it extra painful for the little fuck before I ripped his head from his body and pissed down his throat.

But first, I had to tend to my girl.She was bloody and beaten, and the blood on her face wasn’t even the worst of it, judging by the way she cried out when I tried to pick her up.She’d been through the ringer tonight and all I could say about her attacker was that they were lucky she was still alive.

Had she died...

No.I couldn’t fucking fathom it.

I tightened my grip on her and left the shop, then marched up to her apartment with revenge and thirst at war with my desire to care for this woman in my arms.

As soon as I entered the apartment, I froze.

The one who harmed her was in her apartment.

On high alert now and ready for anything, I set her on the couch and brought my finger to my lips to silence her.Then I turned around, fangs bared, and crouched—

When the man stepped casually out of the kitchen, a glass of wine in his hand and an old blood stain drying on his shirt, I quickly retracted my fangs.

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