Page 102 of Trapped By the Blood Ruby

His eyes darted between mine. “Some, yes. I haven’t had the honor of sifting through them yet.”

Don’t bother, I almost muttered. It wasn’t as if there was anything worth seeing in my past, but it felt cowardly. I’d made my decision to offer up my blood and I stood by that decision.

“All right, then,” I said. “I’d like to see what happened.” He’d already given me blood earlier but that didn’t dampen my excitement. It should have worried me, this eagerness. “You’ll have to tell me how to do it, though. How to sift through thoughts.”

“Very well. May I?” He reached toward me, then hesitated.

I eyed his outstretched hands. “Okay.”

He took my waist and dragged me onto his lap. A little gasp rushed from my lips as my back pressed neatly to his front, my ass resting atop his length. “Just relax. It will be easier this way.” His lips were at my ear, brushing against my skin. I shivered. “Now, when you take me in to you,”—my eyes widened at his crude wording—“normally you would see flashes, yes? Memories rushing by. This time, focus on what you want to see. You are searching for one specific thing. A recent memory from earlier, a memory of what happened. Yes?”

I managed to nod, but only just. I couldn’t focus on his words. Couldn’t focus beyond the growing erection prodding me. I hadn’t even started drinking from him yet and he was already getting hard.

“Good, are you ready?”

I gave him another nod.

I heard the pop of skin as he bit into his wrist. My mouth instantly watered. As soon as it was presented, I wrapped my hands around him and pulled the wound against my lips, groaning at the taste as his blood filled my mouth. Or was it Laurent who groaned?

His memories came rushing in with my first swallow, one after another. I let them flow by as I greedily sucked him down. God, he tasted so good. “Little flower,” he gasped against my ear, tightening his hold around me.

My stomach dipped low as my core turned molten.

“Focus,” he demanded, his voice growing rougher.

Oh. Right. I did as he said, spiraling in to his thoughts, and found Zola’s rescue. The scene loomed before me the way his memories did.

The warehouse was dimly lit. Bodies blurred, moving chaotically as vampires grappled with demons. It was a melee that assaulted my senses. Shouts of surprise. Crashes and explosions as bodies were thrown against crates, against walls, through doors. Windows shattered, sending glittering fragments of glass everywhere. The scent of iron-rich blood mixed with rot and decay. The oppressive feel of demonic magic was nearly suffocating.

I leapt forward, following my nose as the world blurred around me. I came to a room. Thick, heavy chains lined the walls. It looked like the other nest we’d found. Zola was restrained, some of her children around her. A few were already desiccated, long dead. Those who lived, sagged in their bonds, weakened by the iron.

Fury ripped through me as I surged forward. Iron was dangerous for most supernatural creatures, vampires included. But it wasn’t completely crippling unless used like this, in mass quantities on an already weakened body. The strength flowing through my veins—Lily’s amplifier blood—surged to the surface allowing me to rip the chains from the walls. I used my bare hands to break their shackles apart. They were clamped around necks, wrists, ankles. Holding my family like animals in a cage.

“They used…the amulet…against me,” Zola gasped, falling to her knees. “To trap me.” I bent, tenderly scooping her up, setting her on her feet. Three demons rushed for us.

“Eliminate them,” I ordered her, turning to free the others. Zola’s children were in worse condition—far worse. I helped them find their footing.

Marco and Lixin rushed into the room, helping to support those too weak to move. I swept through the warehouse, ripping out throats. I spent little time lingering over their memories. Several rooms had been used like surgery spaces to syphon blood—the blood of my family. Blood that had come from me, belonged to me.

When I finished, the warehouse lay in ruins, all but collapsing. I ordered everyone out, then set fire⁠—

The memory cut off abruptly as Laurent’s wrist healed, tossing me back to the present. It was disorienting, leaving one place for another. I licked at what little blood remained, my head spinning. As I came back into myself, the first thing I noticed was him. His breaths were rough against my ear. His chest rising and falling against my back.

His next action made me freeze. He buried his face in my hair and nuzzled me, tightening his hold. “It was a massacre,” he murmured, his voice rough.

I relaxed into him, all but melting. It felt…nice. Soothing. Heat spread where we touched, the heat of his blood burning hottest. I felt it everywhere—felt him everywhere—both inside and outside of me.

A steady pulse built between my legs.

I collected my thoughts. Zola had lost four of her children. The other five were severely weakened but would recover. Something else had me opening my mouth. “It’s not your fault, Laurie,” I whispered. “What happened to them. It wasn’t your fault.”

He went rigid against me. “We are not going to have this conversation.”

I sighed. “Okay.”

He relaxed but he didn’t release me. I could have squirmed free, but I didn’t want to.

My blood had helped him tonight. I’d felt it, felt the strength and power it had lent him. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been enough. Vampires had still been lost.