Blood Delirium (Blood Trance Book 1) Read online

  He sat back in his chair, obviously thinking. “What would you like to do? If this were any random day, what would you do?”

  I thought about it for a second. “I would read, work on school work, go to classes, work out, and possibly play some video games.”

  Marcus gestured to one of the adjoining rooms. “I have plenty of books in there. Feel free to read any of them.”

  “Thanks,” I said, looking down at my food. I was still surprised by how nice he was being. I knew that it was all an act, but it was still surprising.

  “This isn’t the end of your life,” he said, looking at me frankly.

  I raised my eyebrows and looked at him skeptically. “No, I just get to spend the rest of my life in a cage with someone that hates me.”

  “I don’t hate you.” I laughed in response. “I don’t,” he tried to convince me. “I just want my companion back.” He sighed and looked sad. “Eternity is nothing when you spend it alone. Christopher is my best friend. I want him back.”

  “He’s stronger than you think he is,” I replied. “No matter what else happens, he will not give in to your manipulations.”

  “Is that what you think?” he laughed. “You are underestimating how much he cares for you. I give it a week before he comes to me, willing to offer anything if I’ll give you your life back.” He jumped up and was instantly towering over me, looking menacing. “And, if he doesn’t, I will train you myself and send you to your death at his hands.”

  “Good luck with that,” I said, standing up and walking away. “I think you’re underestimating both of our resilience.”

  He appeared in front of me and grabbed my shoulder. He backed me into a wall before tilting my head back. Quickly, he bit his wrist and pressed it to my lips. I squeezed my lips together and twisted my head, trying to get away from him. He grabbed my nose and squeezed, cutting off my air supply. I knew that I should just open my mouth, take in some air, but I had no idea what his blood would do to me. I bit down on my lips, keeping them closed. After more than a minute like that, he released me.

  I fell to the ground, gasping for air. I had come dangerously close to passing out from lack of oxygen. He stared at me for a few seconds before asking, “Who are you?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, coughing.

  He cocked his head and replied, “There’s something about you, something different. Who are your parents?”

  “Two high school teachers from Ohio.” I grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped the blood from my mouth, trying to make sure that I didn’t ingest any. “Why the hell do you care?” I was very confused by the look that he was giving me.

  He shook his head and turned to leave. Then, before I knew what was happening, his wrist was in my mouth. His blood was thick and metallic. I tried to push him away but lacked the strength and determination. It sent my head reeling. I could feel him pick me up, carry me to my bedroom, and put me on the bed before the blood took over.

  Chapter 40

  My skin was on fire. Waves of sensation flooded through me. I took in a deep breath, reveling in the way that it made me feel. I looked down and my hands and could almost see the heat radiating from them. I pulled the hoodie over my head and went over to the mirror, wondering what was happening to me. I realized that I didn’t know where I was or what I had been doing. I knew who I was, but that was it. All I knew was that I needed release. I turned to see a tall, handsome man standing in the doorway. I stared at him for a few seconds before holding out my hand.

  Instantly, he was in front of me. He touched his hand to mine, sending a spark through me. I grabbed him and pulled him closer to me, reveling in the way his skin felt against mine. He grabbed my chin and tilted my lips up towards his. I almost pressed my lips to his when I realized that something felt wrong.

  I stepped back, looking around, and tried to clear my head. I stumbled over to the bed and sat down, putting my head in my hands. Blinking, I tried to remember who I was and what was happening to me. “Jules,” the man said, coming over to me. “What’s wrong?”

  “Stay away from me,” I whispered, massaging my head. I looked at him and began to remember. “There is nothing that I want from you, especially not that.” I sat up and walked back towards the dining room. “You’re going to have to try much, much harder if you think that I’ll ever choose to do that with you.”

  “Challenge accepted,” he said with a laugh before forcing more blood down my throat. Last time, he removed his wrist after a few seconds. This time, it felt like I was gulping down liters and liters of coppery oil.

  My skin burned to the point that I wanted to rip it off. The only cooling sensation came from the hand at my mouth, forcing some liquid down my throat. With every passing second, I feel deeper and deeper into the sensation until all I could feel was heat and electricity. The hand at my mouth disappeared, taking away the only source of relief from the fire. “No,” I whispered, wanting it back. I looked up with heavy eyelids to see someone standing in front of me.

  “What do you want from me?” he asked with a smirk.

  “Touch me,” I whispered, reaching for his hand. I brought it to my forehead, reveling in his cool touch. He put both hands on either side of my face and slid them down. When they grazed my breasts, they sent shocks of electricity running through me.

  “Where?” he grinned wickedly, hands roaming over my skin. They stopped at the hem of my shirt and slid up, underneath the material. They settled on my waist as he stared into my eyes. “Here?” he asked. I shook my head. “Here?” he slid them a little higher. I blinked, unsure of what I wanted. “I know what you want,” he said. His fangs popped out, and he bit his lower lips, drawing blood. Then, he kissed me deeply. The electricity of his kiss and heat from the blood that was dripping down my throat sent sensations through me.

  I took his hands and guided them underneath my shirt to my chest. I unhooked my bra behind my back and slid the straps over my shoulders. He ripped the shirt off me, speeding up the process. I kissed him passionately before unbuttoning his jeans. He slid his hand under my pants and reached for my center. I arched my back and pulled him with me to the bed. He broke the kiss and stepped back. “Kiss me,” I demanded, beckoning at him.

  “If that’s what you want,” he laughed and moved so quickly that I didn’t even know what was happening. Next thing I knew, I was on my back, naked, with a naked man on top of me. I could feel him against my leg and smiled. I ran my hands along his back. When they reached his butt, they stopped and pulled him closer to me.

  “Now,” I whispered, caressing his lips with mine.

  Chapter 39

  I woke up with a gnawing sensation in my stomach. I rolled over to see Marcus lying next to me. Revulsion crawled across my skin as I remembered everything that had happened the night before. Jumping up, I ran the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before the contents of my stomach came flooding out through my mouth.

  “I thought you liked training your women,” I said, hearing someone come up behind me. “I didn’t realize that mean force feeding them your blood until they’re too high to resist you.”

  I looked up to see Christopher looking at me in horror. “No,” he whispered. “He didn’t.”

  Christopher took a step towards me, but I held out a hand. “Stay back,” I said as a fresh wave of nausea rolled over me.

  He handed me a towel from the sink and bent down beside me. He tentatively reached out to run a hand through my hair. “I can’t believe he did this to you,” he said quietly.

  “He was only doing what you and him did dozens of times over the years,” I glared at Christopher before standing up and taking the towel.

  “So he told you about that.”

  “He couldn’t wait to correct my misconceptions that you, the man that I love, could actually do something like that to another human.”

  “But Christopher isn’t human,” Marcus said, coming up behind Christopher.

  “No,” I agreed, reachi
ng out an arm to steady myself. Instantly, Christopher was holding me steady. He wrapped an arm around my waist and glared at Marcus.

  “Give up this ridiculous vendetta,” he pleaded with Marcus. “Please just let us leave, let us go back to things as they were.”

  “Do you really think you can go back to how things used to be?” Marcus replied cruelly. “When she looks at you, all she’ll be able to see is me. She will never love you like she once did because you are the reason I took her, did to her what WE used to do to other women. She’ll see me because you are me. We are the same.”

  “No,” I said, realizing that I needed to make a stand, needed to try to show Marcus that he was wrong so he’d let me go.

  “What?” he demanded, looking at me with shock and anger in his eyes.

  “Christopher has changed.” I wrapped my arm around his waist. “He is a different person from the bloodthirsty vampire that used to be your friend.”

  “Are you saying that you’re still in love with him?” Marcus demanded. I took a deep breath and nodded.

  Christopher turned to face me and ran a hand down my neck. “I told you I could do it,” he said quietly before grinning at Marcus.

  Marcus started laughing and applauded. I froze, convinced that I was misunderstanding what was going on. “What?” I whispered.

  Christopher pulled me out of the bathroom and threw me onto the bed. “It’s simple,” he said laughing. “Marcus doubted that I could find some innocent fool that would fall in love with me and keep loving me after being exposed to everything that I was.” He and Marcus came around the bed, each taking a side. “What I am.”

  “No,” I whispered.

  “Yes,” Marcus said. Then, they struck. Pain shot through me as each of them sank their teeth into the flesh just above my collarbone. I struggled and bucked against them, trying to break free. But, they held me with an iron grip.

  “It was very entertaining,” Marcus said, raising his head. “Seeing someone so ‘strong’ and ‘determined’ completely give herself over to someone that was clearly violent and abusive, just like most vampires.” He jumped onto the bed to straddle my chest before biting his wrist. Instantly, Christopher held my lips open, preparing me for more of Marcus’ blood. “You see,” he said, forcing the wrist into my mouth. “Your kind has romanticized vampires long enough that you no longer truly fear us. Even those of you that don’t believe we exist have fantasies of the gentle vampire lover that you can guide back to humanity.”

  My world had just started to haze over red when Christopher and Marcus switched places. Another liter of blood was forced into my mouth, but this time, it belonged to Christopher.

  “You can’t save me,” Christopher said, bending down to lick the traces of blood from my lips. “Because I don’t need to be saved.”

  Marcus grabbed some rope from one of the many dresser drawers, tied it to my hands, and attached it to a hook on the ceiling. Then, everything went red.

  The blonde one ripped the shirt off my body unceremoniously. Lifting my body, he positioned his mouth at my entrance and began to lick. My eyes rolled back into my head as waves of pleasure ran over me. The other one grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. “Eyes open,” he demanded gruffly before moving his mouth down to my breast. A prick of pain shot through me as he pierced through the skin, but it quickly faded.

  Impatiently, the other man broke the rope connecting my hands and pulled me over to the bed. He lay down and pulled me down on top of him, filling me up.

  The other man came up behind me and slowly pushed into me from the other end. As we rocked together, I felt more complete than I had in a long time.

  Chapter 40

  This time, when I woke up between Marcus and Christopher, I wasn’t horrified or fearful. I was livid. I pulled myself out of their grasp and ran for the kitchen, going straight for the knives. “What are you doing?” Marcus demanded when he saw me with a knife in each hand. In response, I hurled one of the knives at him. It buried itself in his shoulder, going all the way through to the hilt.

  He appeared in front of me and pulled the knife out of his shoulder. “That was a mistake,” he said and shoved the knife into my shoulder, mirroring the wound I’d given him. The anger flooded back through me. He and Christopher had taken me from my home, where I was happy. They’d treated me as a plaything and a blood bag. They had made me fall in love with Christopher before ruining me for all other men, simply because they’d been bored.

  “You could have stayed with us,” Christopher said, appearing next to me. “The three of us could have had fun for at least a year or two before we got bored with you. You’ve been so entertaining up to this point.”

  “You bastard,” I hissed and grabbed the hilt, pulling it out of my shoulder. I lashed out, swiping the blade against Christopher’s cheek.

  “You really want to do this?” he asked, looking coldly at me.

  “What the hell else am I going to do?” I lashed out angrily. “You’ve taken away my life and turned me into a slave. Do you really think I’m the kind of person that would just take it without retaliating?”

  “You don’t want to die,” he said, taking a step closer to me.

  “No,” I replied. “But, I don’t want to live like this either.”

  “You know I’m going to kill you, right?” he began pulling the knives out of his torso.

  I nodded. “I’m better off dead than what you were offering me.” Then, I ran at him. I brought the knives together and slashed them into his torso, making an X. Then, I slammed them down, into his thighs. He collapsed and I ran towards Marcus, grabbing another knife off the counter on my way.

  “My turn,” Marcus said and grabbed me and pushed, sending me through the air to land against the wall where I’d thrown the knives. Then, he hurled the knife that I’d embedded in his shoulder at me. I threw myself out of the way, trying to avoid it. Unfortunately, it buried itself in my arm, pinning me against the wall. Instantly, Marcus pulled one of them out of the wall and slammed it into my other arm, pinning me to the wall. He grabbed two more and mirrored the move I’d done to Christopher, effectively keeping me completely held in place. I screamed when they pierced my thighs. His eyes flashed black at the noise.

  The pain alone was almost enough to cause me to pass out. But, I knew that if I gave in to the pain, to the darkness, they would win. Even though I felt like a bug in a collection, I struggled against the knives, trying to pull myself free. Unfortunately, I was solidly held in place.

  “Do your worst,” I said and spat in his face. He retaliated by sinking his teeth into my chest, right above my left breast. He withdrew and plunged them into the space right above my hipbone. Christopher came to join him, drinking from the open wound that Marcus had just made. Next, they went into my inner thighs. Christopher pulled the knives out of my legs and threw them to the ground. My legs now free, I was able to kick out at Marcus. He seemed surprised, but grabbed my legs and forcibly wrapped them around his waist. He pressed himself against me and brought his lips to my ear. “Scream for me,” he whispered and nipped at my earlobe, piercing it with his fang.

  “I can deal with the pain,” I hissed back, I leaned forward and bit his earlobe as hard as I could. I pulled away, taking a chunk of his ear with me. I spat it out and brought my knee up into his groin as hard as I could.

  Marcus stepped back, eyes full of fury. He looked at Christopher, obviously contemplating what to do next. Then, he grinned cruelly. He pulled the knives out of my arms and pinned them above my head with one hand. Then, Marcus kissed me, pressing his body against mine. He slid the other hand down my body and stopped at my breasts, ripping my bra off. He rubbed his thumb over my right nipple and moved his head down to the other one. He sank his teeth into my other breast, running his tongue over the punctures. I closed my eyes and tried to think about anything but what was happening here, refusing to believe that Marcus was causing my nipples to harden without the use of his blood. I struggl
ed against him as he lifted his head to press his lips to mine once again. His other hand drifted from my breast down to my underwear. He slipped his fingers inside them, reaching down to touch me.

  Instantly, Christopher came forward and began to lick at the blood that was running down my arm, coming from the marks that the knives had left.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded fearfully.

  “Finishing this.” He sank his teeth into my neck.

  I twisted away from them, trying to break free. Pulling one of my hands free, I jammed a thumb into Marcus’ eye and sprinted for the door when he dropped me. “I’ve had enough,” he grabbed me and sank his teeth into my back. Christopher joined him, holding me from the other side and drinking from my neck. They kept drinking until I could feel everything starting to slip away. The room began spinning as the pain and blood loss caught up to me.