“Oh, my apologies." His saccharine voice rises, wrapping around me. “My name is Victor. And I’m here to offer my services.” He lifts a hand to his mouth, showing me the first flash of a retractable fang before puncturing the skin on the pad of his index finger. The tinge of his blood taints the air. My nostrils flare, my muscles bristling.
I can smell the alcohol in his blood, something that makes Bloodlust the perfect host for the red rooms. Drunk blood always tastes better.
Normally, I’d be turning him away. I have no interest in those who are desperate enough to offer themselves up as a meal like this. The bar is full of them. Ungoverned district members who cannot wait to be used by the Blood Order.
They have no idea what they are to us, how we view them—as little more than farmed cattle for our feeding pleasure. Andras has done a damn good job keeping them loyal and obedient. We don’t even have to fucking hunt anymore. We just take up their offerings as payment for protection or slip out for a little visit to the red rooms.
They don't seem to realize what kind of depravity it takes to be their protectors. That we're the worst of the monsters here, that they should run and hide from us rather than offer up their life force to keep us fed and in power.
I roll my shoulders, forcing my head down and the bloodlust within me to subside. Not an easy task with such a willing meal less than an arm’s length away. “Goodnight, Victor.” I turn away, trying to get the scent of his blood out of my nose. “I have no need for you here.”
He steps forward, so fluid it’s like he’s wading through water. “Now, I know that’s not true, gorgeous.” He’s right in front of me now, draping a hand over my shoulder and lifting his finger up to my lips. His blood has beaded against his olive skin, the drop growing heavier by the second. It finally falls, slipping off the tip of his finger, and down the side to the ground below.
Or it would have, if I hadn’t let my tongue dart out to stop it.
My eyes roll back in my head at the taste of blood, sucking his finger into my mouth before I can think about what I’m doing. I'm hungrier than I thought. The small taste has me spiraling, losing all control. I knock his finger away, fisting his grey suit in my hand to keep ahold of him as I drive him backwards, against the brick wall beside the back door.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask, but it comes out in one long string of syllables as I clench my jaw together to keep myself from tearing into his flesh.
“Because,” he purrs, lowering his hand to my belt. He flattens his palm against my length, his eyes flashing with delight when he finds how hard I am. “I have this issue where, when I see a need, I have to fill it.”
His hand starts moving against my dick and for the briefest of moments I let myself enjoy it. I let myself imagine it’s Sterling here with me, kissing me once more in the back alley of the bar. That the trainwreck of this morning never happened and I was letting myself enjoy his company tonight instead. It’s only a split second but it’s magical. But then the male moans, breaking my reverie, reminding me Sterling isn't here.
“Whatever you need. Blood, sex, just say the word and I’m yours.” His fingers start fumbling with my belt buckle and I snap out of my daze, pushing him hard into the brick. I keep my eyes on him, the anger and pain and frustration oftonight reaching a fever pitch inside me, crashing violently into the bloodlust poisoning my veins.
And I let it win. I don’t even try to stop as it tumbles out of me in a rage-filled motion. I’m on the male in an instant, hands pulling at the collar of his clothes until fabric rips and his neck is exposed to me. He tilts his head so I have better access. I don’t even remove my veil before my fangs are tearing into his neck.
He gasps at the sudden pain surely coursing through him, but he melts into it—the sound morphing into another moan. “Fuck—” His breath is ragged as his head lolls back to rest against the brick wall. “I just realized I don’t even know your name.”
I unlatch from his throat, blood running down my chin. “Shut the fuck up. Say another word and I'll rip you in two.” But the threat only seems to turn him on more. He nods, fumbling with the button of his suit pants.
I should tell him to get lost. But the promise of more blood is too strong to pass up. I press him up against the wall once more, my forearm pushing into his throat as my hand wraps around his face and angles him exactly where I want him.
I tear into him again just as he gets his dick out and starts stroking it. I have half a mind to reach down and rip it off him for having the audacity, but it’s nothing I haven’t experienced before. So many of these creatures get off on feeding us. Maybe he came out here hoping for an easy hookup, but I have no interest in fucking this male. So hecan do the job himself, like the pathetic creature he is, and I will use him for what I need and discard him just as easily.
The rougher I am, the more enthusiastic he becomes; which in turn just makes me more agitated and forceful with my feed. It’s a messy, frenzied few minutes that makes me hate myself all the more for it. He comes all over the ground just as I unlatch and pull away, disgusted.
“Gods,” he breathes, slumping against the wall.
I wipe his blood from my maw, looking at him sidelong as he tries to recover from his orgasm. To my surprise, he drops to his knees in the midst of his cum splattered against the concrete—another offering for me.
I sneer, spitting at the ground. I’m suddenly desperate to get the taste of him out of my mouth. “Get up,” I order.
He is reluctant to obey, confused why I’m refusing him. He puts his hands up once he’s on his feet. “I only want to return the favor.”
I step into him, wrapping my hand around his throat and pressing him against the wall till I know the brick is biting into the back of his scalp. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear, snake. I did you no favor. You offered your blood to your superior, as you arecalled to do.It’s not my fault you can’t keep it in your pants.”
He swallows against my hand at his throat. “Understood,” he croaks.
“Now get out of my sight before I decide against sparing you and rip those pretty little insides to shreds.” I tighten myhand around his throat and toss him to the side. He stumbles, falling over himself as he sprawls out on the ground. But he’s quick to recover and is brushing himself off in no time, buttoning up the remnants of his collared shirt as best he can and running his hands over his suit jacket.
He turns to the back door, ready to return to the bar, but pauses for a moment to look back at me.
“Go!” I scream, jolting forward and raising my fist. He scurries away, whatever words poised on his tongue long-forgotten as he disappears easily within the shadows of the bar’s backrooms.
“For fuck’s sake,” I breathe, slamming the door closed once more and turning to venture deeper into the alleyway. Once I’m sure I’m out of sight of the street beyond, I lean against the wall and slump to the ground.
The serpent shifter’s offering may have calmed my bloodlust, but it did little to settle my nerves. I run a hand over my face before pulling out a cigarette. It takes me three tries to get the lighter to work, my hands shaking with unspent rage.
