Page 47 of House of Crimson Hearts
Just. The. Blood.
When it’s out of my system, things will go back to normal, and I won’t care about her anymore. I won’t want her because this is temporary.
“No. This isn’t about you or your human feelings. This is about the feelings it creates in the vampire.”
Oh. I take a step back, the flutters shifting to unease. “What do you mean?”
“Feelings of… ownership. You see, you’re mine now. I own you. You belong to me.”
I take a step back.
She steps with me.
“No one owns me. I own myself.”
She smiles, the first hint of a fang dropping. “Really? Then why can I smell your excitement? Why can I taste your desire in the air? There’s no one else here, Verity. Just me. Which means all of that… it’s all for me.”
“I…” My heart pounds, my breath is short because she’s right. I do want her. I want her to fuck me against the wall, on the bed. I want her to hang me from the ceiling and fuck me until I can’t walk. But worse, I want her blood. More of it. It is liquid gold and fire and glistening ecstasy.
“What do you want, Verity?”
The way she says my name, it curls around her tongue, like magic, a purr and a secret. She says it like it’s hers. Like she does own me. Like she’s always owned me.
“My. Name. Is. Red.”
Her eyes drop to my arm and the red tallies that gave me my nickname.
“So many dead. So many kills.”
That gives me a shot of confidence. A reminder of who I am. I stand taller. “Yeah? And how does it make you feel to know one day all that will be left of you is a red mark on my arm?”
“It sounds like you’ll be keeping me forever. Like either way I win.”
Motherfucker.
She steps closer.
I step away.
Again and again until my back is pressed against the door. My legs quiver with want. I’m desperate for her to rip my towel off me. To take me where I stand and yet some quiet region of my brain is screamingno. The conscious part of me is louder.
“What do you want, Octavia? You’ve made your point.”
“I want you. I want you to be a good girl and drop that fucking towel already and let me make you come all over my face.”
I can’t speak. All I can do is suck in short sharp breaths and stare into those crimson eyes. If the pull I’ve been feeling between us is really as strong in her as it is in me… This only ends one way.
“W-what?” I say.
“You heard me. I’m going to make you come. We both know it’s what you want.”
And she’s right. It is. The excitement is already sliding down my thighs. The more she speaks to me like this, the more I am struggling to stay focused. To remember why I hated her, why this is such a bad idea. Especially when my clit is aching with desperation.
“Are you a good girl, Verity? Good girls get rewarded.”
“What kind of reward?” I say, switching into the role she’s giving me.
“Whatever you want. Do you want to touch me?”
