Blood & Lust [Book Two of The City of Eternity Series] [✔]

2.3: Sense

Violet

I'd awoken with the familiar, distinct taste of an unusually sweet blood coating the back of my throat, willfully wiping away the bitterness that had ended my night. The cause of such bitterness wasn't as far as I'd expected them to be. The head of this forgettable prey lay delicately in my lap, their nose nuzzling into my hip.

That unquenchable pit in my stomach that came hand in hand with becoming the creature I was, had managed to be satiated by an elaborately complex taste of blood that I had forced into my arms last night. It made me want to retire early to my room and abandon the festivities in the club, which I had made known to anyone I'd come across.

Despite this, I'd still found my bed covered in scantily clad beasts begging to have their desires attended to. The dark-haired, spritely girl sitting in the middle of my bed refused to lose eye contact with me the second I'd entered the room. So when I found myself crawling towards her, the rest of those beasts had disappeared from the room, sensing I'd made my choice.

Such a choice. I regretted it almost immediately. If only I'd stayed true to my ideals; one a night and no more.

Her amber eyes had looked up at me in delight as a foul pungent taste filled my mouth and overpowered the rich honey flavour that had only just begun to dig its roots into the roof of my mouth. I couldn't stop though. Not until she collapsed in my arms completely drained.

I had to work on my self-control.

I'd closed my eyes for a brief moment, basking in the tanginess that was slowly creeping back over every inch of my throat, finding every trace of bitter toxicity and cleansing it. I must have been too involved in my own desires because when my eyes had snapped open the beast had crawled off of my lap and onto the floor beside the bed. Her hand was reaching for the bottles of water I kept on the side but fell short.

That saved me the trouble of dealing with her myself. A task I dreaded on mornings like this, with the red glow of the sun peeking in through the small window above the bed. It merely suggested I laze about and enjoy the delights of immortality alone a little longer. That's what it felt like anyway, that it was strongly emphasising the alone. Its gold-tinted glow whispered into my ear, reminding me that those short encounters with those little beasts weren't worth it.

I dragged my body from the silk sheets, trailing my hand over the fabric as I went. Touch was thankfully one of the few things I shared with my human counterpart; the sensations of different textures on the skin sending pangs of electricity down my spine.

Stepping over the lifeless bodies on my bedroom floor, I escaped from the confines of my room. The state of my own personal space followed into the hallway, men and women groaning against the walls, lightly licking at their wounds and taking deep breaths. Their clothes were either completely amiss or torn loose from their body. A few of them were holding bottles of alcohol precariously, almost touching the soft skin of their lips but always just missing; as though one part of them told them they'd had enough while another was gagging for more.