Tempted by Blood

by Laurie London

  “No, this will be fine,” he said curtly.

  “You okay?” she mouthed. That arm was bothering him a lot. She hadn’t seen him move it since they arrived.

  He nodded as he wiped a thin sheen of sweat from his brow.

  Liar. His condition had to be getting worse. Why was he trying to be so stoic about it? What was the big deal? People in his position were probably always getting hurt. Why wouldn’t he just seek treatment? Was he that much of a guy that he thought he could just muscle through it himself?

  “Is there a first-aid kit in there?”

  Alfonso hesitated and Jackson shot her an angry look.

  “I twisted my ankle at some point and I thought I’d better ice it. Maybe even wrap it.”

  Alfonso looked down at her feet. She was suddenly aware that she was standing squarely on each one.

  “Yes,” he said. “It’s got Tylenol, antiseptic, topical pain reliever, butterfly bandages. The whole works. Just in case you should need those things, as well.”

  She cast a quick glance at Alfonso, but his expression was unreadable. She wondered whether he’d figured out that the first-aid kit was not for her.

  “Can I get you something to eat?”

  “No, thank you,” she said, yawning. Despite the nap in the car, she felt as if she could sleep for days. Must be some of the energy she’d passed on to Jackson. “We stopped on the way.”

  “Okay, then. Sweet dreams.”

  After checking on Krystal and making sure she was fine sleeping clear down in Zoe’s room, she came back to hear the water running in the adjoining bathroom.

  She’d wait till Jackson was done, then she’d take a quick shower and hop into bed. With these heavy shutters on the windows to block out any light, it should be easy to fall asleep.

  A crash then a thud sounded from the bathroom.

  That didn’t sound good. She put her ear up to the door, but didn’t hear anything more. Just the running water from the shower. “Jackson?”

  No answer.

  She tried the handle, but the damn thing was locked. “Are you okay?”

  “Stay out,” he growled.

  “What happened? Do you need help?”

  “I’m fine.”

  She could tell he wasn’t. She didn’t know anything about vampire physiology and wasn’t sure what she could do to help him. “Do you want me to get Alfonso?”

  “No, keep him out of this.”

  This? There was a this to be kept out of? Obviously he meant something other than the fact that he was injured.

  She didn’t care if he thought he didn’t need her help. She sprinted out of her room and into his. Bursting into the bathroom, she found him sitting on the closed lid of the toilet, a towel around his waist. Hunched over, he was cradling his arm in agony.

  “Oh, my God, Jackson.”

  He looked up. His fangs were extended, his pupils dilated. “Get the fuck out.”

  She forced herself not to back away, even though all her instincts were telling her to run. He was the predator and she was his prey, but he’d had plenty of opportunities to kill her if that’s what he wanted to do. He certainly wasn’t going to harm her in the house of one of the only friends he could trust.

  “If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’ll have no choice but to get Alfonso.”

  “Goddamn it, Arianna. Leave me alone.”

  “I have been, but that’s obviously not doing you any good. It’s him or me. Which do you choose?”

  He hesitated and she could tell he was weighing his options. Slowly, he lowered his hand from his upper arm. The gash was an angry red, spanning from one side of his biceps to the other. The edges appeared to be knitting together already, but it wasn’t neat or clean.

  “That silver knife really screwed with you. I’ll bet it hurts like hell.” It looked as if the wound was getting infected, though she couldn’t tell how deep it was.

  “Arianna, you need to get out of here.”

  “Why? So you can suffer on your own?” She started opening all the cabinets looking for the first-aid kit.

  “I need you too much. That’s the problem.”

  Need? A warmth filled her whole body. “What do you mean? You’ve not let me do anything for you.”

  “I’m talking your blood, Arianna. That and your energies.”

  She tried to conceal her disappointment. Those were generic things he could get from any human, though she wasn’t sure why that bothered her. She wasn’t special; she just had what he needed. Jackson had a focused look to his expression, almost like a trance as he stared at her. His eyes darkened further, the green of his irises gone. She could’ve sworn he was looking at her neck.

  She snapped her fingers and he blinked, his unholy concentration broken.

  “Leave me,” he choked out. “I—I was almost gone.”

  “What do you need? Blood? Energy?” Without waiting for a reply, she took his hand, knowing this was how he absorbed the energy of a human. Her hand, then arm numbed as she felt that flowing sensation again.

  He tried to pull away. “Let go. I’ll take too much.”

  “Your lack of energy is probably why you’re not doing so well, and you’re in no shape to go out and get it.” Same probably held true for blood, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to offer that up. Giving him a little of her energy was fine, but blood? “Now, come on. Let me get that wound dressed before it gets any more infected.”

  As he waited, she located a stack of washcloths, a bottle of antiseptic, a small first-aid kit and got to work. “Does it look like I’ll live?” She could tell he was trying to make light of a serious situation.

  “Have you ever been injured like this before?”

  “Sure, lots of times.”

  Yeah, she could see all the scars crisscrossing his well-muscled chest.

  She opened the bottle of antiseptic and doused a cotton ball. “This will probably sting just a little.”

  He hissed in a breath as she applied it to the wound.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Mmm.” He’d pinched his eyes shut.

  Yeah, it probably hurt like hell.

  “How did you get some of these?” she asked in an attempt to take his mind off the pain.

  “I’ve forgotten about most of them.”

  “How about this one?” She ran her finger over a thin white line that extended across his rib cage. She wasn’t sure if it was from a surgery or an old injury.

  “That feels nice.”

  “Your arm?” She’d have thought it’d be painful.

  “No, you touching me like that.”

  “Oh.” She pulled her hand away, not realizing she’d been lightly tracing the scar with her fingertips. “That didn’t tickle?”

  “I’m not ticklish.”

  “You’re not? That’s crazy. Is that a vampire thing?”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s just me.”

  “So how’d you get the scar?”

  “Down in Argentina, I got whacked with a machete. A silver-tipped one.”

  “Is that what causes the scarring? The silver?”

  “Yep.”

  She pointed to a thick scar in the shape of an X above his heart. “How did you get this one?”

  He turned away. “I don’t remember.”

  He was lying, but she decided not to pressure him. He’d have told her about it if he wanted her to know.

  She’d cleaned the wound as best she could and was now trying to close it up with a series of butterfly bandages. “Why don’t you want to have someone take a look at this? I’m thinking that you need stitches. And probably a tetanus shot. That is, if tetanus is something
you guys need to worry about.”

  “If I go to a medico clinic, they’ll do tests on me.”

  “Yeah, probably, but why is that bad?”

  He didn’t answer right away and she thought maybe he wasn’t going to answer at all. When he did speak, his voice was low and choked with emotion. “I’m afraid of what they’ll do when they find out about me.”

  She stopped what she was doing and rested her hand on his good shoulder. “Find out what?” she whispered.

  “That I might be on the verge of reverting to the violent ways of our ancestors.”

  “How do you know that? You seem pretty normal to me. Well, as normal as I’d imagine a vampire to be. Actually, I take that back. I’d have expected you all to be like those Darkbloods, but you’re nothing like them.”

  “Not for long. My energy and blood needs are much higher than they should be. Most of us can go for weeks at a time without blood. I can last a day, maybe two, before I need more. It’s the first sign of reverting. Many Darkbloods or sympathizers started off that way. No longer did the Council’s peaceful ways make sense. Their blood instincts became too strong to ignore or control.”

  “And what happens if the Council finds out?”

  “For normal members of our population, it means rehabilitation. But for a Guardian, things aren’t that simple.”

  “Surely this has happened before.”

  “Yes, it has. And I was there to witness the execution.”

  Her hands got suddenly weak. Watching someone die had to be awful. “You’d be put to death for something that you can’t help?”

  “If I kill someone, yes.”

  “But you haven’t killed anyone…have you?” she asked cautiously.

  “Not yet, but that could easily change. Being around Krystal is taxing all my willpower.”

  “Then that’s it. She and I are going home.”

  “No. Darkbloods will come after you there.”

  “Not if we move.”

  After she’d bandaged his arm, she helped him to his feet and back into his bedroom. Without ceremony, he dropped his towel and pulled the sheets back, as if it were commonplace for him to strip naked in front of a woman he just met.

  His ass was tight with a dimple on either side near the base of his spine. His back and shoulders were heavily muscled, flexing as he moved. It would be worth the tackiness of putting a mirror on the ceiling just to watch his muscles in action during lovemaking, she thought. When he climbed into the bed, she caught a glimpse of the front of him. Not only did his shaft dangle heavily between his legs…and God, was he built…but something down there glinted in the light. Something…metal. He wasn’t pierced, was he?

  She felt a tightness low in her belly and chill bumps covered her arms. Those kinds of piercings were done to increase a woman’s pleasure during sex, weren’t they? A man who wore one had to be turned on by the act of pleasuring a woman. How would it feel? Would it rub in such a way that it’d hurt? Would she even like it?

  What was she doing thinking about sex at a time like this? She reached over and fluffed his pillows. So the guy was hot and she’d been virtually celibate since she left her ex, when, after finding out about Paranormalish, he laughed at her, told her it was a stupid thing to waste her time on. Shoving those thoughts from her head, she started to tuck the sheets around him and noticed how icy cold his skin was. Could he be going into shock?

  Thank goodness the bed had an electric blanket. She found the switch and turned it on. With his eyes closed like that, his dark lashes lying heavily on his cheeks, he looked almost angelic. When she turned to leave, his hand shot out and grasped her wrist.

  “Stay with me.”

  Her heart raced in her chest. Had he realized she’d climbed in next to him last night in the hotel room and shared some of her energy with him? She knew he’d never take it from her otherwise, unless she forced it on him as she’d just done in the bathroom, and he seemed in desperate need. When she saw him after he woke up, even though he still looked like crap, he was in better shape than he had been. Lying next to him as he slept, without any of his defenses up, she could’ve sworn that some of his energy flowed into her, as well, but she couldn’t be sure.

  “But I thought you wanted me to leave.”

  “I changed my mind. Your presence is…comforting. I’d like you to stay.”

  She rubbed his arm and noticed that the worry lines between his eyes had softened. “Okay. I’ll stay.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  JACKSON WAS FULLY ERECT by the time she climbed under the covers with him. He wasn’t intending for anything to happen between the two of them, he only wanted to feel the warmth of her body and sleep with her calming energies next to him. He was ninety-nine percent sure she’d done this the night before in the hotel, at least for a short time, but he hadn’t wanted to ask. How stupid would he have felt if he was wrong?

  He couldn’t deny how attracted he was to her, even in his weakened condition. His ass tucked perfectly into the hollow made by her belly and legs, and although she wore an oversize T-shirt and a pair of leggings, she was soft and curvy in all the right places. Like a little furnace, she warmed him from his heels, along the backs of his calves, his quads, his glutes, his back, all the way to the nape of his neck where her cheek rested against his shoulder blade.

  He couldn’t really explain it, but her touch both excited him and calmed him at the same time. The pain radiating outward from his arm seemed to have lessened since she’d given him some of her energies. She’d be tired now. He should just let her sleep and yet every fiber of his being wanted to make love to her.

  She’d be warm inside, too. Hot, probably. If he slipped a finger between her legs right now, would he find her wet and ready for him or would he have to press the pad of his thumb to coax her along first? As if she knew what he was thinking, she shifted her hips slightly, which made his erection thicken further and his balls ache for release.

  Her arm was tucked awkwardly between her chest and his back. He could feel her trying to get comfortable without brushing against his injury. Without asking, he grabbed her hand and set it on the top of his hip. No need for her to be shy.

  Her caresses started innocently enough, like a cat kneading its paws open and closed. He wasn’t entirely sure if she even realized what she was doing. But he sure as hell did.

  God, she turned him on.

  If he shifted slightly, rolled to his back right now, her hand would slip to his shaft where she would then—

  Damn. His piercing. How could he have forgotten? Arianna wasn’t the kind of woman who would go for that. She’d probably be turned off just knowing he had one, let alone want to make love to him. Men got pierced there for one reason and one reason only. To get laid. A lot.

  Ignoring the pain in his arm, he flung back the covers and stormed to the bathroom. Once inside, he caught a glimpse of his reflection. His pupils had dilated with lust, but surprisingly, his fangs hadn’t emerged yet, although his gums tingled as they threatened to break through.

  Stupid son of a bitch. Don’t fuck things up with her. She’s not like the others.

  Arianna wasn’t the type who hung out in clubs, trolling for someone to sleep with. She probably met men in coffee shops, bookstores, or through friends. Not in some Belltown meat market. Besides, she didn’t have time for a clubbing lifestyle. She worked hard during the day, then at night on her blog, and now, raising her cousin when no one else would.

  No, he wouldn’t make love to her with the piercing in, he thought as he carefully removed the metal stud. She deserved better than that. He opened a drawer and set it on a folded washcloth.

  Besides, he realized, he wouldn’t want to rush things with her. He’d want her pleasure to build slowly, deliciously, and he’d want to sa
vor her reaction. He would take his time with her and do it right.

  But when he returned to the bedroom, she was gone.

  ARIANNA TIPTOED DOWN THE DARK hallway back to her room, though she wasn’t sure why she was trying to be so quiet. The girls and Alfonso were in a totally different wing of the house.

  She wasn’t sure what had happened back in Jackson’s room. She could’ve sworn he had wanted to make love to her—why else would he have invited her into his bed? But when he tensed as she touched him then jumped up as if he couldn’t get away from her fast enough, things became pretty clear. He’d obviously had a change of heart. Maybe he’d been genuinely grateful for the care she’d given him, but things had progressed in a way he hadn’t wanted or expected.

  Rather than wait for him to emerge and then endure all sorts of awkwardness when he asked her to leave, she’d decided to save him the trouble.

  She stared at her bare feet as she walked, noting in the back of her mind that she was badly in need of a pedicure. Maybe Lily had polish in the house. If not, she’d see about running to the store. It’d give herself something to do tomorrow, since she was without her computer.

  A cold draft ruffled her hair as she rounded the corner. Good. The chill would help her hormones cool down and her head to clear.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  She snapped her head up to find Jackson leaning against her door with his arms crossed, essentially barring her from entering. How had he gotten here before she had?

  The breeze. Of course. He’d shadow-moved.

  “In there,” she said, pointing.

  “No, you’re not. You’re coming back with me.” From his tone, it was clear he didn’t expect her to argue. He grabbed her hand and without waiting for an answer, he led her back down the hallway.

  “But I thought—”

  “What? That I had changed my mind?”

  “The thought had occurred to me when you got up suddenly like you did.”

  “Don’t leave my bed again.”

  What the— “You’re ordering me back to your bed?” The kind of women he slept with must respond to this sort of thing. Well, she wasn’t one of them.