Page 10 of Kentucky Nights
He tilts his head, his eyes flashing a bright crimson. He lifts his hand for me to see, and one by one, each nail lengthens to a sharp claw.
“Ah, I hear your heartbeat. It’s quicker with fear.” He combs his fingers through my long, wild, red curly hair. “There’s no need to fear me. I don’t think I could ever kill someone as beautiful as you.”
“Fuck you.” I gather the spit in my mouth and launch it in his face, where it lands right on the corner of his mouth.
He snarls, grasping each of my legs and spreading them apart. “Do not tempt me. Remember, it is you who is helpless. Not me.”
“What…do you…want?” My teeth chatter. Not from the cold, but shock.
“You. Do you not remember the fun we had last night?” He continues to brush his fingers through my hair, his claws catching on the tangles. “We danced. We drank. You were all over me.”
My brows pinch together in thought, trying to remember anything from last night. I’m drawing a blank. I can’t remember how I met him, talking to him, or how I got here in this rundown cabin.
He pretends to be sad and frowns. “Aw, that’s okay, Druscilla. You wouldn’t remember because I made you forget everything. We met on that dating app and met for drinks.” He kisses my cheek, and I pull away, not wanting him anywhere near me. “I told you my name was Louisville, but everyone calls me Louis. Ringing any bells? You said you loved how unique my name was.” Louis smiles as if it were a fond memory. “I could make you submit to me right now, but where’s the fun in that?” He flattens his tongue on my cheek and licks the tears that I couldn’t hold back any longer. “This is so much more fun when you fight me.”
“You’re sick,” I hiss. “You’re insane. Vampires aren’t real. You’re sick. Please,” the word is a broken sob. “Please, let me go.”
“That’s not going to happen.” Louis grips my chin, forcing me to look into his scarlet irises, and my stomach turns. “I suppose that would be an easier explanation for your puny human mind to comprehend, but no, I am perfectly sane. Come on,” he urges,playfully knocking my chin with his fist. “You know what I am. The truth is screaming at you, clawing at your gut.” He pats my stomach. “Come on, Druscilla. Come on,” he urges, his voice becoming higher as he antagonizes me.
Again, he licks me, only this time he gathers the dried blood on the other side of my throat. “Tell me and I’ll heal the bite marks on your neck. The left side is still oozing. I wonder if I sank my fangs in too deep. I’d apologize, but”—he sighs, clicking his tongue—“I just don’t care.”
“You’re a vampire.” I hold my head high, staring into his eyes because no matter how scared I am, I will never cower. “Or youthinkyou’re a vampire.”
“Think?” he repeats.
With a smile, he is nothing but a blur until he is on the other side of the living room. “What about now?” Louis speeds across the room, standing in front of me again. He unties one wrist, my hand tingling with the new blood flow, and he stretches my arm.
I hate that I groan because it feels so good.
I sway again, a dizzy spell weakening any fight I had in me.
“I might have taken a little too much blood, but now I have to show you the truth, so you’ll believe me.”
My eyes droop, wanting nothing but to go to sleep.
His hand slaps my cheek, and my eyes snap open to see him glaring at me. “Watch me.”
I don’t know why, but I feel compelled to listen to everything he has to say all of a sudden. “I’ll watch,” I reply, witnessing him bringing my wrist to his mouth.
“Are you watching?” he asks.
“I am.” My voice is dull and monotone, the urge to follow his command stronger than my will to live.
His fangs rip into my flesh, the pain burns, igniting a scream that sears my throat.
Removing his cuspids, he groans, tilting his head back, keeping the grip on my wrist as he licks the corners of his mouth. “So delicious.”
He drops my arm, and it hangs limply by my side.
“Do you believe me now?” The bright embers bear into my soul.
Adrenaline surges through me, awakening my weak body. “I do.”
I have my arm freed. This is my one chance to get away. Not that I have a chance to survive a vampire, but I have to try. I’m not going to warn him. I’m not going to ask any questions to prolong this conversation because while I know in my soul, he is a vampire, there is a small part of me that doesn’t believe a damn word he says because how the hell are vampires real?
I can’t think about that right now. All I need to focus on is making it out of here alive, and if he is a vampire, then my chances are slim to none.
“Now that we have that out of the way, I’m thinking a few things. One, you can be my human blood bag because I really do love how you taste, or?—”
