Page 41 of House of Crimson Kisses
“One. Drink,” I say to Red.
I slide my fingernail down my wrist and cut until the vein bursts and blood wells up. Red is lightening quick and sinks her increasingly sharp teeth into my wrist.
My pussy reacts immediately. This is not going to be helpful. I inhale, trying to force calm through my body. Forcing myself to think about hairy legs and decomposing corpses and anything disgusting so I don’t think about how fucking wet I’m getting, how every pull of her mouth against my veins makes my breathing rougher, my clit pulse harder.
“Fuck!” I yank my arm away. “That has to be enough.”
Red doesn’t look even half satiated, but the colour has dropped back into her skin and the sweating has eased.
“You okay?” I ask.
She nods. “I may need to go to the er… well, somewhere private.”
“I use a bedroom in the back when I can’t be bothered to return home. You’ll find what you need in there. But first we need to talk.”
Red shifts in her seat, glaring at me hard. But I’m well aware of her need. I have the same one pulsing between my legs. She repositions her trousers and then nods at me to continue.
“Your hunger is increasing,” I say.
Amelia stops drinking and scrunches up the blood bag, chucking it in the bin under my desk.
“What does that mean?” she says.
“Xavier, check the door, send Frank away, make sure Erin is at the end of the corridor, and tell her no one is to disturb us.”
He speeds out the door and is back in ten seconds flat. Red is skittish. Her eyes drop to my wrist and then Amelia’s blood bag in the bin.
Amelia catches Red’s movement and fidgets. No one says anything.
“Alright, I’ve had enough. What aren’t you telling me?” Red asks.
Amelia puts her head in her hands. “And feeding her more vampire blood won’t help? How much have you given her? What if Xavier and I?—”
“No. In terms of vampire blood, it’s mine and only mine,” I snap.
Red’s eyes narrow to slits. “What do you mean in terms of vampire blood? What other blood is?—”
She cuts herself off. Her gaze drops to the bin where Amelia just threw the blood bag. She gets up suddenly, shoving the chair she was sitting on away.
“No. Absolutely fucking not. No way. Never,” she says, pacing the office.
Xavier’s nostrils flare as wide as his eyes. Amelia is wearing a grimace I’m not sure she’ll ever remove it’s so deeply engrained in her features. This is what we feared.
“Amelia, this is on you. You’re going to have to convince her. Otherwise… well, I don’t want to experience the consequences.”
“We’ll talk. And then I’ll head off and do the research,” Amelia says.
“We have a little time until the next trial. I’m taking Xavier to see a contact I know and hunt down the people attacking the hunters. And especially the vampire who attacked Red on Castle Beaumont grounds. We need to find out who he’s working for. In the meantime, I am entrusting your sister to you. Her life is in your hands.”
“I won’t let you down.”
“I am fucking here. And since she is MY baby sister, I’ll be doing the looking after, thanks. I’m fine now I’ve had some of your blood. Save for the raging horn I’m currently experiencing. I’ll come with you,” Red says.
“Gross,” Amelia cringes.
I don’t care what Red thinks she needs; she needs to rest. “You’re staying put, and you’re going to talk to your sister. Xavier and I won’t be long. This room. Those of us here now… I…”
I pause because what I have to say is so alien I’m not sure I’ve ever uttered words like it.
