Bad Vampire by Lauren Dawes (read aloud books txt) 📕

on my wrist for a minute. I relaxed into the sweeping sensation, trying to let my thoughts drift away from what was happening right now. I had to stay sharp, alert.

“Deep breath,” he murmured. “Keep your eyes shut. Don’t move.”

Sucking in a lungful of oxygen, I braced for the pain…

That never came. I small gasp escaped me as heat flooded my body. It wasn’t heat from a fire. Rather, it was the heat that came from a lover’s caress. I warmed all over, all thoughts of a witch taking my blood and vampires leaving my mind. All I could focus on was this warmth. I let out a groan when Sawyer skimmed my thigh with his fingertips. Granted, this was not how partners touched, but I found I didn’t actually care right now.

He feathered his hand farther up the inside of my thigh, rubbing the seam of my jeans, sending sparks through me. I widened my stance, giving him the access he needed. God, I hoped he needed it because I wasn’t ready for him to stop touching me like this. He applied more erotic pressure, playing, teasing, making me drip with desire. I had never felt this alive, this electrified, with barely a hint of foreplay before. I guessed bedding an incubus did have its perks.

I ground my pussy against the heel of his palm, begging for more—more friction, more touching, rougher touching. I wanted it all.

He laid his mouth against my arm, licking from my wrist to the crook of my elbow. If it were any other fool licking me, I would’ve told them to fuck off by now, but with Sawyer, I wanted to hold his head there forever. I decided then that he could do whatever the fuck he wanted to do with me and I would go along with it.

Willingly.

Sacrifice me on the altar of Sawyer’s dick and sexual prowess, and I’d become his priestess.

“It’s done,” he whispered, and I opened my eyes. Blinked. Stared at the cut on my arm. It hadn’t been his tongue on my skin, but the blade. Blood oozed out in thick wave, and the witch was there with a red Solo cup, scooping up what she could. I jerked back when she dipped her head and ran her tongue over the wound.

“Enough,” Sawyer growled. “You have your payment. Do what we asked.”

The witch smiled at me with blood-stained teeth and shuffled into the kitchen. I turned back to Sawyer, still too stunned to move.

He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wrapped it around my arm. “This will have to do for now. I assume you have a first-aid kit in your apartment?”

Blink. That’s all I could do. My brain felt fuzzy and thick, my thoughts coalescing slowly and without much sense. What had just happened to me?

Blink.

Blink.

I squeezed my legs together as an echo of an erotic throb pounded through my pussy. Sawyer’s eyes had grown darker. He had a hand wrapped around my uninjured arm, holding me like he was worried I would bolt.

“We’ll talk later,” he said softly, brushing his fingers along my cheek.

I blinked again. Fuck, I had to get some other innate function going. Breathing! Oh, wait, I was already doing that. Crying? Nah, not in front of a witch I’d just met… and was potentially going to be running into in the building in the future. Because hooray for me.

The witch returned with a shard of mirror about an inch wide and three inches long, one end tapering off to a sharp point.

Sawyer demanded, “What’s that?”

“A conduit.”

“And what does it do?”

“I’ve bespelled the mirror so you can see what the vampire is seeing.”

I cleared my throat, finally finding my voice. “Wow, that’s just needle-in-the-haystack fantastic.”

Sawyer coughed pointedly and held out his hand. “I’ll take it.”

The woman shook her head. “Her blood. Only she can see.” She thrust the piece of mirror at me, and I reluctantly took it. As soon as my fingers touched the smooth surface, my skin seemed to sizzle. I pocketed the thing and hoped it didn’t stab me in the ass.

The witch tittered to herself. “Powerful. Powerful. Watch them burn.”

“Can we leave now?” I asked Sawyer, not even trying to hide my desperation to leave.

“Yes.”

Without another word, we left the apartment while the witch got lost in her own head, muttering those same words over and over again.

“Never take me on a date like that again,” I said to Sawyer as I rode the elevator up to my apartment.

He quirked an eyebrow at me. “That’s what you call a date?”

I shrugged. “I haven’t been out much. Plus…” I drifted off, letting my thoughts die. My partner didn’t need to know about my sexual habits, although considering he nearly just got me off in front of a witch, maybe he already knew.

“Plus?”

“Oh, look, my apartment!” I exclaimed with way too much enthusiasm and volume. I opened up the door and walked in, not caring if Sawyer followed me in or not. After tonight, I think I wanted to be alone anyway.

“Where’s the first aid kit?” he asked, shutting the door and bolting it.

“Bathroom.” I placed the mirror shard on the table and plonked down onto the couch, staring at the blood-soaked handkerchief until he returned with the medical supplies.

“How does it feel?”

I jerked my head up and stared at him. How did what feel? If he was talking about the cut, I barely felt it. If he was talking about the echo of his touch? I was all up for exploring that further.

I erred on the side of caution. “Dull.”

Lowering himself onto his knees, I watched him through half lidded eyes as he removed the handkerchief and cleaned the wound. It was a neat cut, one that would hopefully not scar. He didn’t say anything for a long time, and neither did I, since I was still processing every fucked-up thing that had happened.

“I’m sorry.”

“Not as sorry as you’re going to be,” I replied in a half-hearted sing-song voice.

“Not