“Are you sure the medicine’s kicked in enough?” Mateo’s voice came from across the room.
“She’s tough. She’ll be fine.”
I opened my eyes to glare at Dennis for disregarding my feelings, but he wasn’t paying me any attention. He touched a couple more places before looking up.
“Ready?” he asked. I violently shook my head.“Would you rather me do it slowly or fast to get it over with?” He waited for my answer, but I kept shaking my head.“Okay. Fast it is.”
I was about to say no when he placed a thumb on the bone and pressed. The towel hardly muffled my scream; it sounded like someone was being gagged and murdered.
“Are you okay?” Ari came running into the room as Dennis pressed another spot.
The towel smothered another shriek—the sharp, convulsing pain was back. My nails dug in as I fought to get my voice under control. The room was spinning.
“I’m guessing you fixed it?” Sean casually walked in.
“I don’t think we let the Vicodin set in enough,” Dennis said.
“Told you.” Mateo came to inspect me.
“Time to rinse it off.” Dennis was trying to hide his reaction, but I could see it. I could tell.
“You think this is funny, don’t you? Are you fucking sadistic?”
“I am. And your screams are turning me on.” He picked me up and carried me from the room, brushing past Ari along the way.
My nails dug into his neck as another spasm took hold of my ankle. We entered a large bathroom and he set me on the counter.
“Wait a second,” I pieced something together as he lifted my leg,“doctors don’t do this at home. How would you see your mom do this a million times?”
“It got you to shut up, didn’t it? Minus the screaming. You’ll be fine.” His eyes strayed to my ankle, which was covered in fresh blood. “What a waste,” he murmured. His fingers trailed along it, careful not to touch the injury itself, until they were drenched.
My stomach lurched as he licked them clean. “Do you have to keep doing that? It’s…” I was planning to say gross before I realized I didn’t knowhowto feel about it.
“Do you want me to stop?” He gently stroked my skin, running through the blood a second time. My heart was racing—I’d gotten so used to the vampire thing that seeing him actually lust over my blood was a shock. “I could clean it, you know.” He licked a finger, then traced my blood again. “We don’t need water.”
“I…” I froze, watching him play with my blood.Tastemy blood. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I’d gotten too comfortable and coming here was a dangerous idea.“I think the medicine is working,” I realized. The pain had dwindled to a strongacheand the nausea was slowly receding. “And you can’t have my blood. Use water.”
“If you insist.” He slid me close for easy access to the sink. “You should probably change.” He washed his hands while the water ran to room temperature.
“Why?”
“The combination of your blood and the skirt. It’s… tempting.” His eyes stayed on the running water.
“So?” My skirt had come unzipped again, leaving only the remaining three inches of fabric at the top of each side. “That’s what self-control is for. Use it.” I tilted my head to see his eyes darkening.“Is that what that means?”
“What?” He felt the water before deciding it was a good temperature and placing my ankle beneath it. The water stung, but the pain was nothing compared to before.
“When your eyes turn black. It means you want blood? Or sex. Or both?” I leaned back on my palms, watching the blood rinse away.“I can’t believe this is turning you on.”
“Look at how you’re sitting,” he shot back.
I smiled and leaned forward.“Be happy I have something underneath today.”
“Do you usually not?”
“Depends on the day.” I watched as he grabbed the paper towels and ointment.“Can I do that part? I feel so pointless sitting around doing nothing.”
“Sure.” He tossed both my way. I managed to grab the roll of towels, but the tube clattered to the floor. He laughed and picked it up.“You need someone to teach you how to catch.”
