Page 37 of Bonded Through Bite

“If we take this to the bedroom, she can bite me all she likes,” Santiago says with a devilish smile.

“Not helping,” Rafael grouses.

“He smells like lemon-meringue pie. I loooove lemon-meringue pie,” I purr and lift my eyes to meet Santiago’s.

“Samantha,” Rafael says, sounding exasperated and jealous at once.

“Don’t worry, you smell like chocolate cake. I like chocolate cake too,” I say and pat his hand.

Santiago laughs, a deep rumble that lights up his face and changes the air around him. Even Rafael chuckles along and I smile widely.

“So…” I reach my hand and tap a finger at Santiago’s neck. “Can I get a taste?” I ask him and he smiles down at me. Before he has time to reply, I turn to Rafael and pull on a serious expression. “See, I asked politely.”

“I’m willing,” Santiago says and in a flash, I turn back to him and snag his hand. I pull his finger into my mouth and suck, scraping my fangs along. His skin tastes just as sweet as he smells, but some internal warning stops me from breaking his skin.

I try to sort my feelings to pinpoint what feels wrong. I don’t have any issues thinking about sex with him, or more like sex with him and Rafael. Annoyingly, he’s there in my every thought. Touching Santiago and having him touch me feels right and I have a weird urge to pierce my skin, to offer him a sip.

But now, when his finger is on my mouth, a wall slams up when I think about sinking my fangs deeper. The idea of his blood unsettles my stomach and a faint hint of pain throbs at the back of my head. It’s the same feeling as when I tasted my own blood, or when I drank from that bag, but far fainter. Almost like an echo or memory.

A warning.

Frustrated, I let his finger go at once and turn to sink my fangs into Rafael. His pectoral still has my previous marks and now I sink my fangs just above them, not even really drinking. There’s a part of me that wants to punish him and another part that is pissed off that I can only have his blood.

When that thought surfaces, it clicks, echoing with truth. I fist my hand and smack him, hard.

Bastard.

He’s literally ruined me for other blood.

Chapter Fourteen

Samantha

“Samantha,” a voice calls.

“Sweetheart,” Rafael chokes out.

“Samantha, darling… ease up,” Santiago says and runs his hand over my hair and caresses my neck. “Nice and easy, let go.” His thumb runs over my cheek and jaw over and over again. It distracts me enough that I ease my fangs a bit and curl my hand into his hair instead of hitting Rafael again.

“That’s it, beautiful. Come back to us. Easy,” Santiago keeps murmuring and massages my jawline. It’s only then I realize how tight it feels, almost painful.

“You are doing well, sweetheart. Now just pull back,” Rafael murmurs softly, but there’s pain in the layers of his voice. That more than anything snaps me back to myself and my fangs slide free of his skin. Horrified, I look at the deep gashes I made. They are nothing like the previous pricks I left on him. These are ugly, red tears that go down to his muscles.

I gasp, trying to jerk away, but he doesn’t let me go.

“Shh… It’s all right. They’ll mend soon. It’s all right,” he soothes me, while Santiago keeps running his hand over my hair and neck.

“Just relax, darling,” he murmurs. “We’ve got you.”

“Wh-what happened?” I stutter when they both press even closer.

“You got angry at Rafael and lost control,” Santiago says. I can’t detect any reprimand in his voice and when I turn to look at him, his expression is gentle. “After biting him, you let go of your venom. From the looks of it, yours is quite… potent.”

“I—”

“It’s all right, sweetheart,” Rafael interrupts me. “I should have taken better care of you.”

“We should have taken better care of you, little fangs.” Santiago jumps in and leans in to kiss my cheek. “Let’s get you to the bedroom so you can feed and rest. Expending all your venom like that is draining even to older vampires.”