He would know she had been down here. If she were going to help these people, this would be her only chance before facing whatever wrath being in a forbidden place would bring her. Finding a device that looked something like a giant set of pliers she came back out into the cell room and went to the first cage. Fixing the device against the lock she pushed down with all her might, fighting the rusty metal until she heard something break.
“It’s going to be okay, I’ll get you out of here,” she promised as she dropped the pliers and quickly began prying the lock out of its hold before tugging the door open.
The woman behind the door didn’t acknowledge her presence. She hadn’t said anything beyond the nonsensical whisperings she continued to mutter so when she stood suddenly and launched herself at Quill it took her by surprise.
The woman threw her entire body into Quill, their bodies flying backwards into the cages behind them. The woman grabbed her shoulders and screamed the most gut wrenching and terrifying scream she’d ever heard in her life. She shook Quill violently, battering her head against the metal bars of the cage behind her as she reached out in dizziness trying to get a grip on the woman attacking her.
Despite all the times she had fought Nero the woman didn’t back down the way he did. She continued to panic, taking out her anger and fear on Quill’s helpless body until suddenly two hands grabbed the woman and threw her back into the cage with a snarl.
Try as Quill might to scamper back to her feet she was too dizzy, her body discombobulated from its senses as she attempted to regain her composure. The vampire who had come to her rescue sedated the woman with a bite before moving to the cage and tsking at her rudimentary destruction of the lock before going to find something else to secure it with.
Even after he was finished with the cage and turned his attention to Quill, she still saw stars and standing was completely out of the question.
Sensing her helplessness he reached out and grabbed her collar, pulling her to her feet with an echoing rip. She grasped at his hands, one of hers checking to see if he had ruined her shirt while the other braced herself against his strength.
“You ruined my shirt,” she mumbled with a thick tongue. The vampire didn’t care as he grabbed her by the neck and unforgivingly walked her back to the stairs and all but dragged her up them. As they were going up, they were passed by another vampire heading down toward the cages.
“Is he going to feed on someone?” she asked, helplessly trying to turn to look before being twisted back toward the stairs as her ankle smashed against the edge, pain rippling through her leg. She would’ve gasped if not for the fact his tight grip was nearly cutting off her windpipe.
“Nero isn’t going to be pleased with your treatment of me.”
“Fuck Nero. You’re trespassing.” They got to the top and he threw her on the floor. Her body landed with a thud and she coughed on air as he freed her. The impact of the floor against her already aching body only worsened the pain shooting up her back and neck. She rolled for a moment before lying there under the spell of another bout of stars. People needed to stop knocking her about or she was likely to be sick everywhere.
“If he heard you saying that…”
“You tried to free one of our subscribers. You’ve trespassed in a place you were told to stay away from. I’m well within my right to punish you.”
The way he said punish made her breath hitch as he loomed over her. Her heart suddenly sped up as her muscles tightened in fear.
The way he hung there reminded her exactly how powerful he was compared to her. She found herself often forgetting how easily she could be swatted like a fly. He could crush her bones and not even blink an eye or feel the slightest hint of remorse. She was nothing to him, an inconsequential speck on his lengthy existence.
She blinked and realized she wasn’t staring up at the vampire anymore, but her father. He curled his hand around the supple leather of his belt, making a grip on the whip that lashed out toward her, connecting with her skin. She flinched like the leather had actually touched her, her eyes rolling back in her head as her body started to shake.
His hand came down on her, a fist that bruised the soft flesh. It didn’t matter that she cried in pain, crying out for him to stop and begged like the child she was in his presence. It didn’t matter that she was flesh and blood. In his eyes, she had failed him today, yesterday and would continue to do so. This was just another lesson in strength. It was a lesson of character, of ability, of weakness… Everything with him was a lesson and anything anyone said differently was wrong.
It didn’t matter that the doctor had told them her heart was weak from the physical strain of her training. When, in fact, her mother and her sister knew that it was the strain of abuse she endured at the hand of her father. It was worth it though, that’s what Quill told herself. If it kept Rose out of the limelight, if Rose was safe then that’s all that mattered. Rosalie’s safety was the only thing that had ever mattered for Quill. There had been many a time when their father had come home and used her as the brunt of his frustrations. But Rose had always been safely tucked away in a closet, under the bed, in the next room. She was never within his line of sight and never got hurt. At least, that’s what Quill had always hoped.
What had happened after she had left the house, forced out by her sister who told her run and save herself, she didn’t know.
The vampire hadn’t even laid another finger on her but there she laid on the ground trembling like a frightened child, sniffling and sobbing thanks to a man who was nothing more than a figment of her imagination. Her father was long gone in her eyes. She would never have to see him if she didn’t want to, but that didn’t mean he didn’t haunt her some nights. That didn’t mean there were days when she chased him away with beer and booze. She did what she had to to keep his memories at bay.
She was a wreck as sobs wracked her body. The vampire stared down at her in fascination. He had never seen a creature break down so easily before. It was as though a levy had snapped.
All that control for naught, one day without it and she broke. She’d felt her grasp slipping for hours now. Here it was: the cumulative result of Nero’s insistence that she just let go. She hadn’t just let go, she’d been bashed around until her grip had slipped. She had worked so hard to keep this at bay.
Her nose bled though he hadn’t touched her, slipping down her lips and dribbling off her chin. It was her body’s natural reaction to the stress of her memories. Her chest ached as it tightened and her heartbeat suddenly rose higher than it was used to working. Her blood rushed through her body as her head spun unnaturally. Even if she had the strength to sit up, it would’ve been impossible and all the while the vampire hell-bent on revenge stared down at her in surprise.
As the blood started to come out more freely only then did he react naturally as his incisors lengthened in desire and he sunk into a predatory position.
CHAPTER 10
“Get away from her!” The door slammed open as Nero all but flew into the room, drawn by the smell of her blood - as intoxicating as any other smell he’d found on her. He snarled at the other vampire, grabbing him by the throat and squeezing until the black ooze they called their blood seeped between his fingers and the sinew of his muscles draped over his fingers like decorations. He squeezed until there was nothing left to grab and the corpse dropped to the floor in a heap of rotting flesh.
The room stank but Quill didn’t notice. Her eyes wide and horrified followed Nero as he got closer to her. His eyes were the same dark red from the last time he’d lost control, but his teeth were fully extended in the excitement of his kill. And from the scent of her blood.
She tried to shrink back, but her back ached. The small movement was enough for him to see he was scaring her and immediately he stood, composing himself. He called for Clovis who appeared long enough to remove the body before he bent down and scooped her up like a helpless babe, bringing her over to the cushions.
“
What happened?”
What was she supposed to say? Admit her weakness or worse: admit her snooping? He’d smell her down there eventually, that is if he ever went down there, but neither option was all that appealing.
The second vampire that had passed her going downstairs reappeared with a man on his arm, dreamily clinging to him and smiling like a goof. He brought him over to Nero and dropped him on the cushions. He barely spared her a second glance as he leaned down and brought his mouth to the man’s neck.
There was a soft gurgle before the man moaned in pleasure, his hand sliding up Nero’s neck and gripping his hair with a firm tug. Nero replied with a moan of his own. Even in her dizzy state Quill felt the stirrings of lust alongside the disgust she felt at the blatant display of cannibalism.
“Do you mind?” She tried to keep her tone as sharp as usual, but the ache through her body and the exhaustion she felt from the memories made her sound drowsier than anything.
“You’re the one who helped herself into a room I told her to stay away from. You wanted to see what was in here, now see it.” The man’s hands roamed more freely now, clearly enjoying every second of his debauchery. How could someone be so happy about being used like a decanter?
But more shocking still was when the man grabbed her hand and placed it against Nero, indicating clearly the arousal he felt from the feed. She jerked her hand away and glared at him before shoving Nero away from her.
He chuckled as he pulled away with a pop, turning to look at her with glassy eyes and a chin soaked with red.
“Remove him.” He spoke to the vampire still lingering in the room who flitted forward as commanded. Once they were gone, he spoke again, “don’t be so disgusted. You knew this was our way.”
“Feeding and sex.”
“Go hand in hand. It is an erotic experience to take blood from the willing.”
“Why someone would be willing is beyond me.”
“Just like why someone would enter a room they were forbidden from is beyond me.” Her cheeks burned hotly and she huffed.
“You don’t control me. I was merely reminding you of that fact.”
“Oh trust me, my pet. I know.” He reached out and stroked her cheek lovingly. “You shouldn’t be so upset about the feeding. It was necessary so I might control myself around you while we tend to these wounds.” He reached out and swept his thumb up her chin and over her lips, catching them carefully as he lingered there staring down at them.
The way he stared at them was as though he imagined the things he would do to her mouth if she would let him. For half a second, she found herself considering saying yes. The spell was quickly broken as he finished his sweep, collecting the blood under her nose before he brought his thumb to his mouth and sucked the blood clean off it.
“Mmmm…” he murmured making her nose curl in disgust. He laughed as his eyes opened again at the expression on her face. “Perhaps one day you will understand the appeal.”
“Never,” she reminded him with a sharp glare.
Nero chuckled and looked down at Quill with a knowing smile, “we’ll see,” he said before reaching out and brushing under her nose again. This time he didn’t lick it, she was thankful for it as he continued to clean her up in a surprisingly gentle way. She watched him with bated breath, expecting the shoe to drop soon enough. He couldn’t possibly hold his composure this much for this long.
“So, are you going to tell me what happened?” He looked down at her like he was scolding a child and she shrugged. She still hadn’t decided which story was acceptable.
“Was it about your father?” He prodded her making her head snap up as she looked up at him with a frown.
“Why would you think it was about my father?”
“You kept saying...” He arched an eyebrow at her and she frowned more.
“What?” she snapped, prying for an answer.
“Nothing. If you don’t remember it’s probably for the best.”
“No, I want to know what I said.”
Nero shrugged slightly and looked over at the pool of black blood on the floor, “did he hurt you?”
“He threw me around a bit.”
“Why was he getting physical with you?”
“I might’ve been downstairs in your dungeon.”
“Ah, I see.”
“And I might’ve been trying to set one of your subscribers free.” This time his frown darkened and Nero turned to look at her.
“You cannot do that. It’s not safe.”
“Oh, you mean about how they’ll attack me and try to choke the life out of me if I do? Yeah, good to know... Now.”
Nero chuckled and shrugged, “I tried to tell you not to go down there. I can’t help it you have exceptionally poor listening skills.”
“Why did she attack me?” Quill instinctively rubbed her neck where the woman had wrapped her hands, deliberately trying to choke the life out of her.
“They’re addicted to the bite.”
“Addicted?” Quill arched her eyebrow, questioning the arrogant tone he’d so casually spoken in.
“Yes, when done right the bite can release endorphins that become addicting to a subscriber. They enjoy the pleasure that comes with the bite, but most of my family don’t just feed. They fuck as well.”
“Feeding and sex.”
“Exactly. They more or less go hand in hand and most of those people downstairs like both.”
“But why lock them up? They won’t escape if they enjoy it...”
“Of course not, but as you saw they aren’t entirely human anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“They’ve also consumed vampire blood and their body isn’t able to process it like we would food or drink. Vampire blood attacks the system and tries to kill it but of course you can’t turn without actually dying so instead they’re in a lot of pain. It literally drives them insane and the bite is the only thing that can satiate them. Of course, they only get the bite when we need to feed as we have no kind of addiction to them or the pleasure they offer.”
“That’s awful.”
“It is, but they were not forced to take our blood. They asked and received willingly, knowing the consequences. Most of them succumb to human arrogance believing they would be the one unlikely person who actually did manage to change without being killed. Of course, it’s never been known to happen. You have to be killed and then resurrected properly for the venom to actually work.”
“It sounds complicated.”
“It is extremely complicated.”
“But possible. Otherwise, the first vampire would’ve died out.”
“Indeed.” Nero reached out and brushed her hair out of her face, tracing his thumb along the curve of her lips once more. Her stomach tightened with need before she forced herself to look away. He was too close, and despite his body temperature there was a distinct rise in heat between them all of the sudden.
She wanted him for reasons she couldn’t explain with a kind of lust she’d never fathomed before. Logic told her he was every bit wrong for her, even more so than most men she had ever been with but that almost made the desire stronger. He was a complex creature, one minute completely uncontrollable and the next touching her gently like a lover would.
Worse still was his ability to make her forget herself completely around him. She had hundreds of questions and thousands of smart remarks to shoot at him, but all of them didn’t matter as soon as his body was near hers. They were gone like smoke in the night and it wasn’t until much later and he was far, far away that she managed to even recover them.
Her body drew closer to his, the magnetic attraction pulled in the middle of her stomach. His chest was millimetres from hers, the heat of her body emulating onto his and warming his skin just enough. She licked her bottom lip in a devastating gesture that made him want to throw all caution to the wind and just take her right there. But he knew now, more than ever, she was broken and he had to be careful. Too much, too fast mi
ght push her away but at the same time not enough would push her away just as quickly.
She was the one who leaned in first, her lips colliding with his sharply and stealing her breath. He moved his hand up into her hair, threading his stiff fingers through the soft strands of her curly dark hair before deepening the kiss with hunger. Her stomach knotted and she felt the world around her melt completely as she lost herself in him. It was too much but not overwhelming. Her mind screamed to run, but her body was steadfast, almost clinging to him where her fingers curled around his thighs and leaned in closer to him. Her breasts arched upwards splaying against his chest as he leaned into her, caving her in with his body.
If she planned on running it was too late now, she was trapped. Why had she been scared of him again? She’d completely forgotten. It didn’t matter anymore. Her leg curled up along his side and the one free hand he had travelled its length memorising the hardened muscles underneath her skin from years of harsh living.
Her body melted perfectly against his like it had been crafted specifically to match his shape and he held her there against him as his tongue swept against hers ingraining the saltiness of her flavour in his mind.
Her hips arched up against his, straining and longing for friction, but he kept his body taut and above hers, never giving her the release she craved. She wasn’t ready and he wasn’t prepared to end their power struggle. He didn’t want her giving herself over to him in a moment of weakness just because he saved her from an inevitable ass-kicking.
“Isabelle.” He pulled back, his tone stern enough to snap her out of her lust and she stared up at him, suddenly realizing the magnitude of her lack of control. It took her only a few seconds to react as she pressed her hands to his chest and forced him off her again. Just like that she was gone and he felt a little bit sorrier for it but the time would come again and next time it would be perfect.
Desecrated Beauty (Twisted Fairy Tales #1) Page 10