Page 114 of House of Crimson Hearts
“No,” I say and shove my hand over my mouth, stepping away.
She grabs my wrist, yanking it off my mouth. “Listen to me. You are going to get worse. You’ll go through full-blown withdrawal. Your organs could shut down, you could fall into a coma. You could die, for fuck’s sake. Do you want another team to win? To take the cure from your sister?”
“Obviously not.”
“Then take the blood and let’s focus.”
“If I drink that, focusing is the last thing I’ll want to do.”
“Then we deal with that and focus after.”
“You makefuckingsound so romantic.”
She snaps, pushing me against the window. Pressing me into it. “Drink. The. Fucking. Blood.”
“We can’t keep doing this,” I whisper.
“You’re not drinking anyone else’s blood. It’s mine or nothing, or would you rather fall into a coma?”
I grit my teeth and grab her index finger bringing it to my lips.
“Fuck you,” I spit and then I suck her finger into my mouth, my eyes rolling back as the metallic liquid spills over my tongue, seeping into my bloodstream and instantly calming my body. My mind re-focuses, the sweating stops, the shivers cease.
Shit. The addiction is bad.
I gasp as she pulls her finger out. My mind is already addled by her blood. Hers is addled by the scent of us mixing.
This endlessly toxic cycle needs to stop. But I am utterly focused on her. The way her body curves into a tiny waist, the way her hips round into the perfect ass. Her long, thick thighs I want to wrap around me.
“I’m beginning to think you only want me for my blood and my mouth.”
I shrug. “It’s an expert mouth.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “After this is over, once I win the trials, this little blood and sex thing… it’s over.”
I’m not sure what pushes me to do it, but I reach up and pull her down until she’s looking at me. “You keep telling me I’m the one who’s jealous, the one who’s falling… but I think it’s you.”
Her plump lips press together, thinning.
“I don’t want to like you. I don’t want to need you. But the more blood you take from me, the harder it’s becoming to let you go. And that is a problem because you don’t want me. In fact, you’ve made it quite clear you don’t even like me. You only ever kiss me, want me, or fuck me when you’re high on my blood.”
“And whose fault is that? Who keeps giving it to me?” I say, pushing up onto tiptoes. Heat spills between our bodies as we edge closer. “You just pushed me to drink!”
“Yes, because I’m trying to keep you alive. You do need to quit, but not in the middle of this chaos.”
“That’s not only it, is it?”
“No. I deserve to be wanted. For me, for who I am. Not for what I can give you.”
“All these assumptions you keep making and yet how easily you forget, I’m the one who kissed you in the library.”
Her blood flows through my system, pooling between my thighs and we both know where this is heading. Whether she’s right or wrong about what we are to each other, we need the release now, talk after.
“Fuck me,” I whisper against her lips.
“No,” she says.
My eyes bug wide. “You’re going to hold out on me? You need this as much as I do.”
