Blood Lust (COMPLETED)

Chapter Forty-Six: Blood Lust

I held my trembling hand over his mouth, watching my blood drip into the darkness of his throat. It dripped and dripped and dripped. For what could have been hours, that was the only sound being made, echoing off every surface in the room. I wasn't sure how long we sat like that--me feeding him and everyone else holding him down-- but it was clear the scent of my blood was beginning to affect the others. Their fangs were extended and they shifted restlessly, uncomfortably.

"Audrey," Duke placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, but he is gone."

I looked up into his caramel eyes, blinking back tears. "No. No, he can't be dead. He can't."

Turning my sights downward, I squeezed more blood into Dean Lachlan's mouth while using my free hand to stroke his hair. "Do you hear me? I still owe you a dance, remember? And you owe me a raincheck. So you can't die, not now. Not like this."

My words fell on deaf ears.

"Gabriel, wake up." I moved to rub his chest, my voice cracking with the sobs threatening to consume me. "Gabriel. Gabriel, open your eyes!"

His eyes snapped open instantly. He gasped, I screamed, and the other vamps braced against him. He started coughing, choking on my blood, so I tried to help him sit up.

"Audrey, don't --"

I barely had time to register Duke's warning before Dean Lachlan took me by the neck, drinking from the same spot his father tore into moments before. He was gentle in his savagery, cradling me in his arms as he stole the life from me. Things started going dark, and I embraced it, satisfied with the notion that I was about to die to save someone I loved. That I was about to die in a place that finally felt like home.

Unfortunately, the other vampires had a different plan in mind.

"Come on, Audrey, drink." Nero was speaking to my left as something bumped my lips. "Stay with me."

It was then that I noticed Dean Lachlan had detached from me, though I doubted he was willing. I reached out for him, wondering if he was still close.

"Gabriel, take a breath."

I heard Duke say.

"Yeah, you don't wanna kill her."

Aiden that time.

"She's mine." Gabriel was panting, his voice strained. "I must have her."

"She belongs to us all." Lucius spoke with absolute authority. "And you need to collect yourself before you permanently rob us of her existence."

"Audrey, you need this." Nero pleaded softly. "Please, drink."

My head was pounding, my throat painfully dry. I gave a short nod and opened my mouth, and was rewarded with a warm shot of blood. At first I wanted to gag, to spit it out and puke up what I had swallowed, but the Lust quickly settled in, and soon I couldn't get enough.

Nero gasped, groaned as my fingers laced with his, latching on to his proffered wrist. I felt his erection poke me from behind, but I couldn't care less. In fact, I welcomed the intrusion. I craved it like oxygen, and rocked against him when my strength returned.

"Audrey." Nero spoke my name like a prayer; soft, desperate. But perched just beneath that softness was a warning, thick with restrained need.

It sent a frisson of desire through me.

I felt intoxicated, enthralled by his blood as I turned to look up at him. His eyes searched mine after his wrist fell from my mouth, then his sights turned to the blood running down my chin. It was like the whole world held its breath when Nero leaned in to slowly lick the blood off me. I locked up, frozen in place by the rise and fall of my chest, by the thundering of my heart resonating all the way down.