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“No, she didn’t,” Eloise says, sorrow entering her voice. The change tugs at me and I frown. Why should I care about this woman’s emotional state? “By the time I realized she hadn’t listened and I got there, she was gone. Her phone and purse were in a dumpster, so she had to have been captured by force. The police took the information, along with her phone and purse as evidence, and told me they’d call me with any news.”
I snort. “Let me guess. The officer taking your statement then dropped the file on the top of an already large stack and no one looked at it before you left.”
“That about sums it up,” she agrees bitterly. “So I came here. To the source of Rapture and the king said to make deals.”
Has Eloise been foolish enough to ask around the Barrows for her friend? If the woman has been captured by those in defiance of me, Eloise is fortunate she hasn’t met the same fate. A missing human means nothing to me; however, if the woman has information about the leak in my Rapture supply, I must know. Jedidiah was too much of an idiot to be a large player in the supply of the drug.
He’d been an ant among cockroaches.
“I’ve been known to make deals, that is true.” I tilt my head, curious to hear what she may offer. “Tell me your proposal.” Does she know that words have power in my world, and words in a certain order could mean something different in another.
“I want help in finding and bringing Deidre home, safely if possible,” she says. “In exchange, I can promise the information Deidre has collected on the new supplier of Rapture.”
I cross my arms, smirking as Eloise eyes the dried blood on my shirt with distaste. “No.”
“What?” She takes a step forward with balled fists. Ashe goes to grab her shoulder but a sharp glance from me has him retreating. “What do you meanno?”
“Exactly what you think,” I answer cavalierly. “Now that I know of her name and last known location, there’s no reason why I can’t simply send my men to find her and extract the information she has. Kasar is very skilled at just that.”
She blinks, her shoulders lowering along with her brows. “So, you’ll look for her?”
I snort. “I may tell my men to pick her up if they come across her. But it isn’t as if this friend of yours is the only source of information in this city. No. I will not make the deal because what you’re offering isn’t worth it.”
I don’t lie exactly. No matter what happens with Eloise, I will be releasing my Lion on a hunt. If this woman does have valid information on the leak from my clan as well as those Topside supporters of my rival, I need her. What Eloise doesn’t realize is she’s bargaining for her friend’s lifeafterI have the information I want.
“What do you want, then?” She’s right to sound wary.
I make a point to drink her in. She really is a beautiful specimen.
Eloise is short, not even rising to my shoulders with her three-inch heels; and everything about her is thick and soft. Her wide brown eyes watch me with suspicion, but her pretty pink tongue darts out to wet her plump lips. My cock twitches as I wonder if her other lips are just as ripe.
A juicy lamb oblivious to the salivating beast in front of her.
“Your blood.”
My answer surprises her but then she shrugs. “Fine. I’ll trade some blood in exchange for my friend.”
I hold up a hand. “You misunderstand, Ms. Morse.” I look to Ashe, who moves to her side in a flash and grips her arm, twisting until the inside of her wrist is facing me.
Eloise struggles against him, but her strength is no match. A beautiful scream slips from her lips as he digs his nail into the meat of her wrist, her vibrant crimson blood welling up and dripping down her arm. I stand and take my time moving around my desk to them.
“What the hell are you doing?” she demands, still struggling against Ashe’s hold but glaring up at me. The fight’s leaving her as recognition enters her eyes—Ashe isn’t who she should be afraid of. I take possession of her arm, my guard slipping away as quickly as he’d appeared, and hold her eyes.
“I don’t want a few mere pints of blood, little lamb,” I say, breathing in the sweet tangy smell coming from her wrist. It’s so different, so much better, purer than Jedidiah’s rotten stench. This close, her scent alone assures me she has no toxins in her blood meant to poison me. “You see, I had to dispose of my former feeder. She had problems remaining exclusive.”
I make a show of running my nose along the line of her arm, barely avoiding the tempting red rivulets of blood. My fangs extend, need coiling tight around my spine as I fill my lungs with Eloise. I want to sink my teeth into her flesh and drink her dry. The nature of me, the monster I keep controlled, demands something more though.
I want Eloise. She’s mine, no matter if she agrees to the bargain. After scenting her, I can’t let her go. I refuse to consider what this sudden possessiveness could mean. It’s impossible after so many centuries.
I breathe out in satisfaction, eyes following one of the red drops sliding down her arm. “Already I know you’re going to taste so much sweeter than she ever did.”
Her blood flows faster as her heartbeat increases, belying the stoic response Eloise is trying to present. I grin, the tips of my fangs revealed now that they’re almost fully extended.
“I have a life,” she snarls, yanking against my marble grip. She’s a butterfly trying to push over an ancient tree with the flutter of delicate wings. “I won’t spend the rest of it letting you suck me dry.”
A dark laugh escapes me and she freezes. I look into her dark eyes, smirking wide enough to reveal all four of my fangs. Two longer ones the humans got right, and the smaller ones on either side that they always seem to miss. “I would never expect that, sweetheart. I found I much prefer lionesses over cattle.”
Keeping her gaze, I lick along her wrist, collecting the liquid gold on my tongue. She’s bursting with iron and sin and decadence. Eloise is gourmet, meant to be savored and enjoyed, not just consumed for survival.
