Bloodlust: House of Vampires

by Tabitha Barret

  I lightly slapped him. “I don’t want you to do either because that isn’t the kind of person I want to be. I don’t want to lead the coven the way he did. We, as a people, can do better without him.”

  A sly smile made his lips curl. “And that is why you’re here, dear princess.” He motioned for the guard behind me to take me away before I could reply.

  My heart sank when the truth of his words hit me. I was so busy trying not to be my father that I failed to understand that there were others who wanted to continue our antiquated traditions. The “they” Nikkos had spoken of didn’t want me in charge. If someone wanted things to remain the same inside the coven, it would be easier to control my brother than me, due to my father’s training methods.

  Perhaps I was wrong about my brother sending me to the ocean. Maybe it had been someone else. Marcario had never actually admitted to the crime so it was possible that someone else had imprisoned me.

  I never considered the possibility of anyone being opposed to me leading the coven since my father had made it the law. I also never considered that an enemy would strike at me before I even reached the high seat.

  The guard threw me out of the building and left me to find my way home.

  Feeling unsettled, I headed off to the woods to sit down and ponder this latest problem.

  Most people didn’t know about my plans to bring the coven into the 21st century, so why would any of them want to attack me?

  ≈

  Settling down on a flat boulder, my weariness hit me hard. I’d lost a lot of blood in my fight with Ceyla and was mentally worn out by seeing my father again. Consuming another vampire’s blood was good in a pinch, but it couldn’t completely satisfy my hunger. After sustaining two serious injuries, my body was starving again.

  I needed blood, fresh blood, not the bagged stuff. It was the only thing that would take the edge off my craving.

  Paranoia set in and I started to see enemies all around me. Was there no one on my side?

  My teeth ached and my breathing became rough. My three blood bag a day diet wasn’t enough to keep me functioning under these stressful conditions. My brain ran around in circles, trying to keep one single thought in my head that didn’t involve draining someone dry.

  I did what I could to control my breathing to avoid passing out. I had to get back to Vamp House without killing anyone and steal a blood bag.

  By sheer force of will and stubbornness, I made it far enough through the woods that all I had to do was cut across campus. Unfortunately, it would put me right in the path of blood filled students.

  I leaned against a tree and let gravity take me to the ground, allowing my legs to slide out from under me. I had to wait out my hunger. There was a chance that I was experiencing a blood delusion. In times of stress, vampires sometimes confused hunger for anxiety. We felt an insatiable hunger, but really, it was stress causing our bodies to overreact.

  This wasn’t the first time I had experienced a blood delusion, but last time I didn’t mind killing someone.

  I closed my eyes and focused on the wind blowing through the trees, the smell of the pine needles and the sensation of the air blowing through my hair. Calm yourself, Marianela, get it under control.

  Turning to logic, I thought about the tactics employed by the school to keep us and other creatures sedate. Our food was managed so that we were weaker from hunger, our movements restricted to keep us from rebelling and we were constantly reminded that we were alone. Rebellions were crushed, dissenters were made examples of and fear was an ever-present emotion that kept everyone from breaking the rules. I understood all of these tactics all too well because I had lived them my entire life. If I didn’t let them break me then, I wouldn’t allow them to break me now. I wouldn’t let Ceyla or Nikkos win.

  A flapping noise filtered through my heightened hearing, breaking my focus. My eyes flew open to see Talen shifting in front of me.

  “Marianela, are you okay?” His worried face came closer as he inspected my pale skin.

  I slapped away his hand. “It’s not safe to be near me, Talen. Go. I don’t want to hurt you.” Gritting my teeth, I did everything I could to ignore the sound of his heart beating as my fangs lengthened. I wanted to tear into his throat and ease my suffering more than I wanted him to live.

  “If you need help, I am here. Tell me what you need.” His warm brown eyes searched my face, trying to figure out what was wrong with me.

  “Blood!” I yelled, unable to keep the word from escaping my lips.

  Without a second thought, he extended his wrist to me. “Drink.”

  My fangs ached as I stared at his flesh. My hands shook, wanting to grab him and hold him to my mouth. “Run!” Gasping and panting, I didn’t have enough resolve to push him away.

  He leaned closer and looked into my eyes. “I trust you. If you wanted to kill me, you would have helped those fiends end my life. I don’t believe you would save me just to turn around and kill me. I freely give you my blood, Marianela. Please. Take it to end your suffering. I can’t stand to see you like this.”

  His kindness did little to ease the killing haze overtaking my senses with a force I had rarely felt.

  I shook my head and sat on my hands. “Go, Talen.”

  He raised his pointer finger and pushed his sharp talon through his nail. Pressing it against his neck, he smiled. “I trust you.”

  The tip of his talon unleashed the blessed smell I was craving. I fell forward and put my lips against his salty skin. My tongue touched the first drop of precious blood and I was lost to the pure taste of Talen.

  I drank down his blood, blocking out everything else around me. All that existed was my hunger and his blood.

  Feeling his arms cradle me against his hard body, his warmth enveloped me, chasing away the cold numbness. It was everything I could ever ask for in a feeding. I felt safe, protected and content.

  The need to kill eroded as the blood filled me and raced through my system. Smelling his musky skin, my hunger quickly changed into need. I rarely thought about sex while feeding, but something about Talen’s willingness to embrace me made me feel cherished and wanted. He wasn’t screaming, exciting the killer in me. Instead, his calm, relaxed body excited the woman in me.

  Releasing his neck, I checked the color of his skin and listened to his steady heartbeat to make sure that I hadn’t taken too much from him.

  His light brown eyes were darker and unfocused as he licked his lips and stared at my mouth.

  “Are you okay?” I put pressure on his cut to help it heal faster so that I wouldn’t be tempted to take more.

  He slowly nodded as if he was unable to form words. He dragged the back of his knuckles down my cheek. “That was unlike anything I’ve ever felt. I could practically feel my blood bringing you back to life. I wasn’t afraid of you, but your grip was tight and your body was rigid when you started to drink. Then I felt your touch become tender and your body come to life.”

  He leaned down and sucked on my lower lip.

  I gasped. Never had I wanted to fuck someone as badly as I did in that moment.

  Glancing down at his trousers, I saw that he was just as excited and ready for more.

  I slowly unbuttoned my shirt while his eyes trailed down my exposed chest. “Do you want me?”

  He nodded and swallowed harshly. “I have wanted you since the moment you kicked the shit out of my attackers.” He ducked down and ran his tongue between my breasts and up my throat.

  He shrugged off his blazer and unbuttoned his shirt just enough to pull it over his head.

  I pulled at his pants, releasing his hard length. He quickly finished off the rest of my buttons and tossed my shirt and bra over his shoulder. With one swift motion, he moved my panties to the side and pulled me onto his lap over his cock.

  I stared into his eyes as I lowered myself onto him. His hands were on my ass, helping to guide and steady me.

  Slowly riding him, he watched my nipples scrape a
gainst his chest.

  A small sigh escaped his lips. “This is exactly how I pictured us together.”

  I pulled him close to whisper, “Did you lay in bed with your hard cock in your hand as you pictured this?”

  He threw his head back and groaned. “Yes.”

  Increasing my thrusts, I rode him at the perfect pace to hit every needy place deep inside me. I pulled him against me so I could bounce up and down and fixate on the spot that would drive me high enough to come.

  He panted and held me tightly, never letting me falter or slow down until I clenched my teeth and growled, squeezing him and riding out my orgasm.

  “Bite me and drink from me so I can come with you, Marianela. Please!” His body shook, desperate to release the building pressure inside his cock.

  His frantic plea made my teeth lengthen, eager to give him what he desired.

  Driving my fangs into his healed skin and drawing more of his delicious blood into my body, I felt his arms squeeze my back as he yelled to the sky.

  His body exploded inside of me while I drank a few more mouthfuls from his neck.

  When he finally calmed and relaxed, I released his neck and licked my lips. His head fell against my shoulder and I cradled him against me.

  “Thank you, Marianela.” He lightly kissed my neck in the identical spot where I had taken his blood.

  “Thank you for trusting me, Talen, though you were a fool to do so. I could have easily killed you.” I was annoyed that things could have ended very badly for both of us had he died in my arms.

  He lifted his head and rubbed his nose against mine. “You believe that you’re a monster, but you’re not. Someone tried to turn you into a monster, but it doesn’t mean that you have to be one.”

  Searching his eyes for any trace of humor or sarcasm, I was surprised to find that he was sincere.

  “I’ve killed too many people not to be a monster.” I tried to stand up so that I could run away from his praise, angry that he had been fooled into seeing someone other than a monster.

  He held my arms to keep me from pulling away. “Stop this. I don’t know who made you believe you were only capable of bringing death and destruction but they were wrong. You have to fight to be the person you want to be, not the one they forced you to be.” He ran his hand through my hair and kissed my forehead.

  “You don’t really know me, Talen. If you saw all the horrible things I did before I came here, you would never say these things to me.” Tears formed in my eyes when I thought about all the anger and bitterness that helped me stay alive this long. Without them, who would I be? “I nearly killed someone today.”

  “Who did you almost kill?” His face held no judgment against me, only curiosity.

  “Landon. Ceyla, the vampire who is terrorizing the other vampires, ambushed me. She wants to kill me because my family wiped hers out. She didn’t fight fair, though neither did I. I had one of her men in a death hold.” I couldn’t look him in the eyes as I remembered Landon’s neck in my mouth.

  “Would you have killed him?” He brushed the hair off my forehead and I looked into my eyes.

  I opened my mouth to answer, but I wasn’t really sure. “I needed him out of the fight, but he also served as leverage. I didn’t want to kill him, but I’m not sure if I would have. I think it depended on how Ceyla reacted. In the end, one of her men stabbed me and I let go of Landon to save myself.”

  He slowly nodded. “You might have gone too far as a result of your training, but like you said, you didn’t want to kill him. I watched you fight those shifters. You left them alive.” He kissed my cheek. “I’ve asked around about you and you’re kind of feared.”

  I chuckled darkly at his assessment of me. “That I am.” I patted his cheek, knowing that I was feared because I was dangerous.

  He smiled as he put his hands on my cheeks. “We can change our actions, Marianela. Anger makes us do terrible things. Love makes us do amazing things. Choose to love, Marianela, and you can accomplish great things.”

  I let out a breath and looked away. “I don’t know if I can. Part of me wants to, but I feel like I’ll fall apart if I let go of my anger.”

  He winked at me and put his hands over my breasts. “Does this feel good?”

  I closed my eyes and groaned. “Very good.”

  “Does it make you want to kill someone or does it make you feel happy to the point where you want to share that happiness with others?” His voice dropped an octave as he massaged my breasts.

  Without thinking too much, I replied, “Happy to the point of wanting to share it.” I moved my hips over his waning erection.

  He chuckled and nibbled on my ear. “Then let’s work together so you can find something good to focus on instead of your anger. No one said that you had to do this alone. Let me help you so that you no longer have to rely on your anger.”

  He made it sound so easy, though I understood how truly difficult it was to let go of my anger. It meant forgiving my brother and the coven members who were all too happy to send me to my death. The anguish and fear I felt from Marcario’s betrayal would be difficult to let go of, despite how perfect this moment was with Talen.

  Looking into his eyes, I slowly pushed away his hands. “I appreciate what you’re doing, but this place will always bring out my anger and my need to fight. I’m sorry, Talen. I wish I could accept your offer.”

  I picked my shirt and bra up off the ground to redress.

  His arms were around me in an instant, pulling my back against his muscular chest. “You silly woman, it’s not a one time offer. You’re stuck with me now. Your bite has forever ruined me. I will never find anyone as thrilling, dangerous and sexy as you. I’m not giving up hope that you will accept my offer to guide you away from the darkness.” He ran his teeth over my shoulder and up my neck.

  Chills ran throughout my entire body, making me feel alive again. Feeling his hands return to my breasts, gave me a small spark of hope that I might one day feel the joy he was offering me for more than just a few moments at a time.

  I ran my nails over his forearms. “If I’m stuck with you, Talen, you’d better get your rest because this place will push me to my limits and I will need all the blood and sex you can offer to keep me sane.”

  “Gladly.” He whispered into my ear and lightly bit my shoulder.

  Chapter 8

  After another restless day of tossing and turning, I headed down for breakfast. Even though my hunger was under control and my body was craving Talen, I still felt off. All day, I thought about my fight with Ceyla and was plagued by dreams of my father. Yes, I wanted to be a better person, but right now I wanted to tear something apart.

  Walking through the common area towards the blood room, all I could think about was getting into a fight with someone to alleviate my stress. I definitely needed to find Talen quickly.

  I tensed up when I heard someone giggling. I wanted to vomit. Who the hell would giggle in a place like this? Sex was one thing but being sweet and cute with someone was difficult when our lives were threatened on a daily basis.

  Glancing to my right, I saw the pathetic giggling vampire locked in the embrace of a male with an ass that would make female suitors fight to the death to smack it.

  Valene was making a fool of herself as her eyes rolled back into her head while someone nibbled on her neck.

  I was about to give her the finger as I walk past when it suddenly dawned on me whose ass I was admiring.

  Shoving her boy toy off her, I watched Silvijn’s confused expression look up to find me scowling at him.

  “This is how you choose to occupy your time here, Silvijn?” I raised my eyebrow at the blonde vamp, showing him exactly what I thought of his choice of neck-sucking partner.

  He squared his shoulder and sneered at me. “I’m doing exactly what I want to do. I don’t have to kill anyone to please her. All I have to do is this.” He grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her close to shove his tongue down her
throat.

  Valene was more than willing to accept Silvijn’s rough kiss. She shoved her breasts into his chest, eager for him to grope her, which he happily did.

  Unable to watch the two of them maul each other in public, I pushed the wooden doors open and breathed in the cool night air. If I didn’t get away from Silvijn, I would rip out Valene’s throat and make him watch.

  Storming off in no particular direction, I ended up at the barrier wall near the gate. I slumped down and pulled my knees against my chest. I refused to be upset because Silvijn was kissing someone else. It was petty and I had other things to deal with. Granted, I missed his company and the long hours of plotting my brother’s demise, but he had made his choice.

  Never mind the years we had spent as friends before our betrothal. He had walked away from all of that to be with someone, anyone, other than me.

  How could he like that flirty little no one? He was supposed to stand by my side as I ruled the coven.

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  I looked up to find the owner of the perfect ass staring down at me with his hands in pockets.

  “Yup. Just fine.” I looked off towards the House of Witches, hoping that Talen was nearby.

  “Please don’t murder Valene in her sleep. I shouldn’t have brought her into this.” Silvijn crouched down in front of me to look into my eyes.

  “Into what? You wanted to get laid, so you found a cute vampire to fuck. So what?” I frowned at the thought of him bending her over a desk and making her submit, which they had probably done ten times by now.

  He shook his head and scowled at me with his piercing blue eyes. His hair was tousled from his make out session.

  “I knew if I kissed someone, I was marking her for death. With that in mind, I chose someone beneath your notice. I chose a blonde with a kind smile and tight breasts, who didn’t have a care in the world because she wasn’t bright enough to have one. I was tired of battle plans and revenge scenarios. I wanted someone who was simple and didn’t have an agenda.” He tugged on my long dark hair to cite one of our many differences.