My Blood Approves: Fate Part 18

"She's a firecracker!" the vampire laughed, but it was that tired, blissed-out laugh people have when they're really high. "You've got your hands full with that one, don't you?"

"I make do," Jack told her, but looked severely at me. "Alice..."

"I'm not leaving Milo here," I insisted.

"Well, I'm not dragging you out on the d.a.m.n dance floor to look for him." His pursed his lips when he glanced nervously out at the crowded dance floor. Going across the room wouldn't be so bad, but wading through there for any length of time, with all those people grabbing at me, it was liable to be serious trouble.

"I can keep an eye on her for you, if you need to me to," the vampire next to us offered. "I'm full, and if I get a little hungry, I've got a snack right here." She patted the girl on her lap. "And I know how hard it is to keep the flies away from the food." Jack narrowed his eyes at her, debating.

"Just keep an eye on her, nothing else," Jack warned her.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," she promised him, crossing her heart with her long black fingernail as she did.

"I'll be right back." He hesitated before leaving, and then placed his hands on my cheeks and quickly, he pressed his lips against mine but stopped before I could really even register that he had just kissed me. Keeping his face close to me, he whispered, "Don't let anybody touch you."

"I won't," I nodded breathlessly.

"Good." Reluctantly, he turned and almost instantly disappeared in the writhing bodies on the dance floor.

"What's your name?" my vampire baby-sitter asked me.

"Alice," I told her timidly. I hugged myself tightly and tried to keep my eyes fixated on her and the girl on her lap, and not on the room full of leering vampires around me.

"Olivia," she gestured to herself, and then to the girl on her lap. "This is Hannah. She's mine."

89.

"Congratulations," I said lamely, unsure of what else to say.

"Thanks," Olivia laughed. "It's tricky what you have with him." She nodded at the door after Jack.

"Why hasn't he turned you?"

"It's a complicated situation." I rubbed my arms nervously. The girl on Olivia's lap stirred, and she stroked her hair gently to quiet her. "Why haven't you turned Hannah?"

"I wouldn't have any reason to keep her if I did," Olivia explained, but she looked at her with some affection. "You've heard the saying 'why buy the cow if you get the milk for free?' Well, if I bought the cow, I wouldn't get any milk at all." She wanted Hannah for her blood, and nothing else.

"So why do you think he should turn me?" I asked curiously.

"He loves you," Olivia sounded surprised when she looked up at me. "You must know that." I s.h.i.+fted uneasily, but didn't answer her. "And I'm betting that he's not getting any milk either." She narrowed her bleary eyes at me, genuinely appraising me for the first time. "I bet you're a virgin in every sense of the word."

"Not entirely," I raised my chin defiantly, like I had showed her in some way.

"He's never bitten you?" Olivia was still trying decipher what exactly was going on.

"He's tasted me." When I told her that, her eyes widened. The first time we had kissed, I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood, which is what incited the kiss in the first place.

"And he hasn't bit you?" Olivia was stunned and unbelieving. "If you taste even half as sweet as you smell... That boy has some restraint. If I were you, I'd get that boy back in here and make him turn me right here and now. You don't want to let that slip away. And it's only a matter of time before he slips, and with that much pent up, he'd probably go way too far, if you know what I mean."

"We have... things under control," I told her rather unconvincingly.

"Well, h.e.l.lo there," a deep voice purred from behind me, and I whirled around to see the vampire that had touched me on the dance floor. His eyes were a bottomless black, but they were almost glowing at me. A strand of black hair came loose and slid onto his forehead, so he pushed it back with unpleasantly long nails, at least for a man. Other than that, he was almost blindingly attractive. The only person who could possibly out s.h.i.+ne him might be Peter, and even that was rather doubtful.

"That's Alice!" Violet announced with her shrill, sparkling laugh. She leapt off the couch and almost skipped over to us. She stopped so close to him that they were almost touching but not quite. "Isn't she a treat?"

"Sweet as pie," he purred with an exaggerated southern drawl, reminding me of when Hannibal Lector mocked Clarisse Starling in Silence of the Lambs. He breathed in deeply, leaning in closer to me, but I was in a dear in headlights and couldn't think enough to take a step back. "Breathe, honey."

With that, I gasped and filled my lungs with precious oxygen. Whatever he did to me, it was far worse than even what Peter could do. My mind was less of a fog, but my body completely lost the ability to do anything, like breathe or blink or move. Even though he had reminded me to breathe, the rest of my senses still remained locked away, and I just gaped at him.

90.

"You are precious!" he smiled maliciously, and Violet giggled next to him.

"Oh, leave her alone!" Olivia shouted from behind me. Her voice was gaining some strength and losing its bleary edge as she came to my aide. "She's just a kid, and her boyfriend's out there in the other room."

"What's it to you?" He looked past me at her, and I caught a glimpse of primal rage flas.h.i.+ng in his eyes that, thankfully, he directed at her. If it had been at me, that probably would've been it. I would've just collapsed to my knees and begged him to spare my life.

"He left her in charge," Violet explained, leaning in close to him. Then she lowered her eyes at me, smirking hungrily. "He left her alone."

"What do you want?" When I finally found a voice, that's what I decided to ask, which was actually a total waste of a question. I knew exactly what they wanted, and I probably really didn't want to hear it said aloud.

"You're so scared!" This fact seemed to amuse him a little too much, and he made a sound that was a tad aroused. "You have nothing to be afraid of. I'd just like us to be friends. Me, you, and Violet." He spread his arms openly, as if he expected me to run into them. "To put you at ease, I'll introduce myself. My name is Lucian, and I am a vampire."

"His name's not really Lucian," Violet confessed coyly. "It's actually Hector, but that doesn't sound nearly as decedent." He glared at her severely, and she recoiled a little, but then forced a smile at me. "But trust me, sweetie, he's all vampire."

"So am I," Olivia interjected tiredly from the couch. "Why don't you two cut the c.r.a.p and go prey on someone you actually stand a chance with? This girl isn't going anywhere with you."

"You must be getting senile in you're old age, Olivia," Lucian snarled at her. "Because I didn't say anything about going anywhere. We're just having a friendly little chat. Isn't that right, Alice?"

"I'm not much for talking," I mumbled quietly. Talking had somehow frightened me more, and my heart was beating erratically and much too fast. Both Violet and Lucian had that eye-fluttering pleasurable look, and I knew they were way too tuned into it.

"My G.o.d, that's beautiful," Lucian murmured, almost inaudible. "It's so delicate and frantic. Like a fly caught in a spider web, desperately beating it's tiny wings... but it's not going anywhere."

"You guys are big into the insect metaphors," I whispered, and I was finding it difficult to swallow.

"Here's another: welcome to my parlor," Lucian smiled, this time purposely showing me his fangs.

Like Violet's, they were sharper and larger than Jack's, and all the more frightening.

"My boyfriend is right out there, and he'll kill you," I warned them breathlessly. "And he left Olivia in charge, and I think she takes her responsibility seriously."

"That drugged out old hag?" Lucian laughed and leaned in closer to me. "She's not going to do anything. She's not even conscious." I wanted to check and see if this was true, but I was too transfixed. His eyes were locked on me, but that was better. As long as they weren't on my neck, watching my pulse, I still had a chance. "And you're boyfriend won't hear anything. If he really cared, he would never have brought a snack like you here in the first place. I think maybe he wanted this to happen."

"That's not-not true," I stuttered. Then it happened. His eyes dropped to my throat and he had leaned in even closer to me.

91.

"Oh, Alice, I'm afraid you've really fallen into a rabbit hole this time," he whispered. I closed my eyes, unwilling to witness the inevitable.

"Lucian!" Olivia shouted. "Oh, Hannah, will you move!" I whipped open my eyes and saw the irritated expression on Lucian's face, and then Olivia appeared next to me. "I told you to back off!"

"Olivia, Olivia," Violet purred, stepping away from Lucian to take care of Olivia. Lucian meanwhile, had leaned back up straighter, but hadn't really moved away from me. He just wasn't quite as poised to bite my neck. "Aren't you sick of that tired old blood bag you're always taking around with you?"

"Violet, not right now," Olivia groaned, looking disgusted. "I'm just trying to keep this girl out your hands, okay? She's not yours. There's plenty of other girls here that you can go crazy with. So just leave this one alone."

"I'm here too, Olivia," Violet batted her eyes at her and rubbed her arm seductively on Olivia's. "I know you're always traipsing with those little dolls of yours. When was the last time you were with a real woman?"

Olivia was momentarily distracted by Violet, who had started pressing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s up against her, and that was all the time that Lucian needed. His arms were around me, so strong and tight, that I couldn't breathe or move or even scream. He was carrying me away, but it was too quick and nauseating for me to figure out where. The wind was whipping through my hair, and he had my face pressed into the hard, unyielding muscles of his chest. If he didn't let me go soon, I would suffocate.

Without warning, he dropped me, and as soon as I could gasp for air, I started to scream. I was about to call out Jack's name, but then I realized Jack was already there. We were in a narrow hallway dimly lit by a single bulb, and I had apparently been dropped rather heavily onto the cement floor. Lucian was sprawled out on the ground a few feet from me, and Jack stood in between the two of us. On the other side of Lucian, blocking the door back to the bar where we'd come from, Milo stood growling, and behind him, Olivia was looking none to happy either.

"Get up," Jack said his quietly, his voice trembling with restraint. Lucian scrambled to move, and I could see blood on his face, extending from a wound that was already healing. "Get out of here before I rip your f.u.c.king throat out."

"You shouldn't have brought her if you didn't want to share her!" Lucian insisted, almost plaintively. Milo made a move towards him, but Olivia grabbed his arms and held him back.

Frightened, Lucian snuck past them and hurried away.

Jack glared after him for a second, but before Olivia could even release Milo, Jack had turned and dropped to his knees next to me. He gently touched my forehead and let out an uneasy breath, and then with great effort, he pulled his eyes way to look me completely over. His breath came out in shallow rasps, and I could feel a hungry panic from him that I didn't understand.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked, looking carefully at my neck. His eyes met mine, and they were filled with agony.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Are you? What's the matter?"

"I'm okay." He took the hand that had been touching my forehead and held it for me to see. His fingers were shaking, and I noticed something dark staining them. "You're... you're bleeding."

"Oh no," I whispered quietly.

92.

"Take her out the back way!" Olivia suggested. "She won't make it through that room."

"Okay." Jack kept his eyes fixed on me. "Alice... do you trust me?"

"Yeah," I breathed.

"Good." He leaned over and gently, he kissed my forehead.

I heard Milo yelling something, but Olivia kept him restrained. Ever so softly, I felt Jack's tongue lap at my wound, and that simple little touch sent s.h.i.+vers of pleasure rippling through me. He wanted me so badly I could hardly stand it, and it made me desperate for more of him. I moaned softly, and then suddenly, Jack sprang back from me, panting hoa.r.s.ely.

"What did you do?" Milo wailed.

"I need the bleeding to stop!" Jack licked his lips and looked at me hungrily. "You and I ... we won't last being around it. But my saliva will make it heal quicker."

"Get here out of here before the others catch scent of it!" Olivia commanded, sounding far more worried than I would've liked.

Unfortunately, I could no longer really feel worried or frightened. Jack had overwhelmed me with his ravenous thirst for me, and that left me wantonly reciprocating. I was still sitting on the floor with my back pressed against the wall, and I was vaguely aware of a throbbing headache and a pain in my back. Jack was half crouched across from me, pressing himself tightly against the other wall, and his translucent blue eyes were completely locked on mine. He was almost willing himself to stay there, and despite the precarious situation I was in, I couldn't shake how badly I wanted his will break.

"Jack!" Milo snapped, and I felt his painfully strong grip on my arm as he yanked me to my feet.

He obviously hadn't quite gotten the magnitude of his new strength, and I was lucky he hadn't snapped my arm in half.

"Sorry," Jack mumbled, reluctantly standing up. Milo had managed to semi-snap us out of the trance we were in, but we were both still pretty dazed.

"We gotta get out of here!" Milo hissed, looking nervously over his shoulder. I looked back behind us, but all I could really make out was darkness.

"Yeah, right, okay," Jack nodded but made no effort to move. He just stared dumbly at me, and I tried to look away before we got ourselves caught in a moment again. He shook his head, then looked at Milo, almost stuttering, "I, uh, I don't know where the back exit is."

"Oh, h.e.l.l," Olivia rolled her eyes. She slid in between us, her long hair brus.h.i.+ng like silk across my skin.

"Grab the girl. We have to hurry." She was already jetting ahead, gliding lightly on her knee-high boots.

There would be absolutely no way I could keep up with her, and I was about to say that when Milo tried to put his arms around me. At the same time, Jack was making the same play, and they b.u.mped into each other. Jack gave Milo an odd look, but he seemed unwilling to relinquish me so easily.

"I got her!" Jack insisted, and then scooped me up in his arms before Milo could protest further.

93.

"Just be careful," Milo warned.