Page 50 of A Bond Beyond Blood

I must’ve sustained a brain injury to be attracted to the monster who just kicked my ass all over the butcher shop.

“I gave you only what you asked for, Jack.A fight, nothing more.”

I snorted and rolled my eyes, but Eli held my gaze for a long moment, mesmerizing me with the intensity of those striking blue eyes.“Sleep now,” he said in that oddly powerful tone of his, then he stood, and I caught motion behind him.

My gaze landed on Vinny’s hard stare, the flash of possessiveness in his dark brown eyes.

“Don’t do that shit to her,” he grumbled as he strode toward me, then held up a bottle of water and two ibuprofen tablets.When I opened my mouth and took the pills, drinking greedily from the provided water, Vinny made a pleased sound in his throat.“Good girl.Now try to rest, okay?”

I sighed and closed my eyes, surrendering as sleep pulled me under.

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“She needs blood.Isuppose I could—”

“No,” Vinny snapped.

“Fine,” Eli drawled.“Yours will do in a pinch.”

My eyes flicked open as my brain registered the conversation and instantly sent my pulse into overdrive.I blinked my surroundings into focus.Vinny sat on the coffee table in front of me, his elbows resting on his knees as he watched me intently.

Eli stood behind him, staring down at me.“Welcome back.”

I frowned, then ran my tongue over my teeth as I focused on Vinny.“How...”I paused.Talking hurt like hell.I moved my jaw slowly, assessing where the pain stemmed from.

“Don’t try to speak,” Vinny advised.“The swelling on your cheek is pretty bad.”

That would explain the pain, then, wouldn’t it?Must be swelling down the side of my throat as well.I exhaled a long sigh.

If there was anything beneficial about Eli’s invasion of my thoughts, it was not having to speak when it hurt so damn much to try.Thinking loudly—if that even mattered—I asked,How long was I out?

“Five hours, love.Give or take.”

“Unbelievable,” Vinny mumbled as he looked back and forth between us, then he focused on me.“Can you sit up for me?”He lifted the bottle of ibuprofen and a bottle of water into the air.“It’s time to take another dose of painkillers.”

“She needsblood,” Eli repeated, reminding me of what had woken me in the first place.

“No,” I rasped.Never.

“Never?”Eli chuckled.“Suit yourself.”

I don’t want vampire blood inside of me.

Eli barked out a laugh.“But our cocks are fair game?”

“What the fuck?”Vinny was in front of Eli faster than I could blink.“What did you just say to her?”

Intentionally slowly, Eli straightened his shoulders, rising to his full height, easily a few inches taller than Vinny’s six-feet, as if he’d been hunched before, though I hadn’t thought that of him until now.He was lean and lithe, but at his full height, with authority and power coming off of him in waves, he was even more formidable than he’d been downstairs when he kicked my ass around the butcher shop.

My pulse sped.I blinked as I watched the two vampires stand toe to toe.

“Kneel,”Eli ordered.

Vinny went rigid, like his spine had been injected with solid steel.His gaze flicked to me, his face lined with a mix of worry and anger, then he bowed his head and dropped to one knee all over again.

“Now, be a good boy and say you’re sorry.”

A muscle jumped in Vinny’s jaw.“My apologies,” he forced through clenched teeth, “yourmajesty—”

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