Contract Bound (Blood Bound, #1)

by Elle Mae

I would rather die than get in bed with a vampire.

“Don’t be such a baby,” she chided and grabbed the back of my shirt, forcing me into a standing position. Keir was much taller than me, so it was easy for her to lift me high enough that my feet didn’t even touch the ground. I tried to swipe at her and force her to put me down, but she didn’t until she had dragged me all the way across the parking lot and to the entrance of a shady, worn-down building.

“You really must not care for your life,” I spat Nat reached out to touch my shoulder lightly, Keir caught the action her eyes narrowing. I shrugged Nat’s hand off and scowled.

“Who said I wanted you to quit?” Her eyes flashed dangerously. “Now that I know your preference, I am more excited to keep you around. All the other hunters they sent me were straight. Straight people are no fun after a while.”

“I would never fuck trash like you,” I spat at her. “Let me go before I hurt you.” She threw her head back and laughed like she had just heard the funniest joke on the planet. That was all the signal I needed.

“Let’s do this again sometime, Little Hunter.”

“I’m not,” she insisted and shifted on her feet. “Her dedication surprised me. And she is so tired she can barely keep her eyes open.”

“Well, you can’t go as a hunter. That would kill our reputation for working with your organization, but that would be the best place for an attack. So, we should be prepared.” She paused and grabbed my hand, forcing me to come closer. “So, you will go as my date.” I ripped my hand away from hers, disgust filling me. “Like hell I will,” I growled. “I will not demean myself as such.”

I could feel her eyes burning holes into the side of my face, so I took just a moment to look up, only to see her gaze fall to my lips. Her eyes flashed just the slightest red and the side of her lips twitched with amusement.

It is not that there was anything wrong with her hands, and that was why they were distracting me. . . it was because they felt different than I expected. They felt human.

Now I couldn’t even be disgusted by her touch. . . because there was nothing wrong with her touch. . . it was me who I was disgusted with.

Before I could respond she crushed me against her. Her shirt was still unbuttoned and had spread open, showing a lot more of her chest as we danced. I felt the heat of her skin against my cheek and it startled me. This was intimate, much more intimate than we would ever need to be. Until now she had taken precautions to only touch my skin where needed, but this became too much. The hand that was on my waist started roaming slightly downward.

I followed her spin but was caught off guard when she snapped me back to her, far harder than a human would, and dipped me. Her hand slowly made its way up my stomach, then over my breasts and finally gripped my neck and forced my chin up to expose my neck. I felt her bury her head in my neck and inhale deeply.

She doesn’t want anyone else taking her toy.

“It doesn’t count as sneaking if I let her go,” I said. “I knew where she was going and who went with her. No sneaking involved. I was in full control of the situation”

“If you weren’t so disgusted with my kind, I could show you how sorry I am.”

“We are not as bad as you may think,” Keir said after another short pause, then added, “My father may be, and the people who killed your family, of course. But we are not. Most are not.” She paused one more time. “I am not.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” I muttered turning back to my book. “You know,” she trailed, I could hear the smile in her tone. “Your indifference kind of turns me on.”

“You’re disgusting, you know that?” I asked. She leaned forward and propped her chin on her hand, her eyes twinkling in the dim overhead light. “Your wet cunt tells me that’s a lie,” she purred. Jesus fucking⁠—

She smirked before looking back toward her papers. “It’s cute,” she said in an amused tone. “When the color of your face matches your hair.”

But when I saw her icy blue eyes harden and her hand grip her sword, I was overcome with emotion. I thought for sure she would just watch, but she even interfered on my behalf. She was ready to fight a battle no one even dared to start. . . not even me.

No one had ever stopped him before. Even when I was just a child and was beaten and starved by him, no one would step in. They would let the small, sad child cry herself to sleep every night, even when those cries had turned into screams.

“Maybe I should wake you up more often,” she said, her voice dropping an octave. “That is some nice sleepwear you have there.”

As I pulled out the dress, marveling at the soft fabric, I felt her hand gently curl around a lock of my hair. I froze and cringed internally at my reaction. She lightly brushed my hair off my shoulder, making me shiver at the contact.

“Don’t touch me,” I muttered. “We have to act the part, remember?” she teased

She used the chance to push the boxes to the floor and pull me between her legs. I tried to pull back, but her hands moved to my hips, and with a strength like hers, I was planted to the space. The thin fabric of the slip did nothing to protect against the heat of her skin, and I couldn’t help but shiver at the conta...

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “It’s just us.” Her hand slipped under the hem of the slip, and heat pooled in my stomach as she lightly massaged my thighs. My breath caught and I glared down at her, but her gaze was elsewhere.

I gripped her shoulders tightly. “Stop,” I commanded. “But they are so perfect,” she whined and leaned closer to my breasts.

She watched me, then leaned back on the bed. Her head tilted and clear amusement played on her face.

“You don’t hate us as much as you say you do.” Her fangs showed as she flashed me a smile.

It would be a lie if I didn’t admit how attractive Keir was. Her sharp jaw, straight nose, and hooded expression could make anyone’s knees weak. She topped that off with the sinful outfits she wore, which nearly gave me a heart attack.

“I would rather die than let you touch me like that again,” I hissed and began to pick up what I was going to wear. “We will have to...

Keir grabbed my arm and laced it through hers. The action bringing flashbacks of earlier through my mind. “Time to pretend,” she whispered in my ear. I cleared my throat and gave her a smile. Her eyes widened and she straightened her posture. A light blush coated her cheeks before she cleared her throat as well.

“Remember our deal,” she whispered. “Yes, I remember,” I said under my breath, keeping the fake smile on my face. “I can’t wait until you try that again and see what happens to your throat.” “Maybe we can ditch this early and you can show me,” she said with a suggestive tone.

“You are a blood traitor,” she spat. I was pulled off her by familiar hands gripping my bare shoulders.

“Do you want to go get drunk?” she said after a moment. I don’t think I had ever gotten up faster in my life.

head. I wobbled on my feet but felt arms circle around me. “For what it’s worth, I am grateful for what you did,” Keir whispered.

A ripping sound filled the room and I looked down to see that she was ripping my underwear off. I shot her a glare as she threw my underwear away, but it was short-lived because almost immediately, she plunged two fingers inside me. “Fuck,” I groaned and ground against her fingers.

How could I let one of their kind touch me like that?

Keir stayed near the door, letting Gillard through, but when I passed she slipped her arm around my shoulders. I froze as she did so. “You were pretty drunk last night. I wonder how your head feels?” she asked, her teasing voice coming from above me.

I focused on my reading, hoping that Keir would stay silent, and she was for about five minutes. But as soon as those five minutes passed, my book was ripped out of my hands and her mouth was on mine. It took me a few seconds to recover, but I filled with panic when I realized what was happening. She let me push her away. When her eyes met mine, they were already a dull red. “What do you think you are doing?” I snapped at her, ignoring the heat that filled my body. “Continuation of last night,” she said, giving me a smirk. She went in to kiss me again.

“What do you mean by ‘a continuation of last night’?” I asked. Her eyes snapped to mine, and she pulled away to search my face. I begged that she would take the lie at face value, but her eyes narrowed. “So, we want to pretend that nothing happened?” she asked, fisting her hand in my hair and pulling it so my neck was bared to her.

“I am not pretending,” I moaned. She leaned down but instead of meeting my lips, her teeth tugged at my ear. “Don’t,” I warned. “You disappoint me,” she whispered in my ear. The words settled deep and hurt more than I would have expected from a vampire like her.

I still didn’t push her away. In my mind, I had already pulled her closer and we were locked in a passionate kiss as we shed our clothes.

“What if I told you we could keep this little relationship to ourselves?” she asked, her breath wafting across my neck and face.

“What if I told you that we could pretend that you hate my kind in public”—she paused and let her other hand trail up my thigh and into my shirt—“but in private, you’re mine.”

“This is no game,” she responded, then pulled back so she could meet my eyes once more. “I want to keep this hunter around as long as possible.”

“You are more interesting than the rest,” she replied. I would have rolled my eyes if we were in any other situation.

“My offer will stay open as long as you want it.” She started looking over papers once more. “Hand me the book by you, would you?”

She grabbed my wrist instead and pulled me in closer. “Clean yourself up before you see Gil next,” she said in a low tone, her eyes turning fully red. “We can smell your arousal.”