Read Online In Blood We Trust by Christine Cody - Free Book Online Page B

of my blouse.
    I gasped, not expecting this. But it seemed natural with the heat in the air, in us . With the exposed skin, the sensual swaying and the nuzzling and nipping, the rising aroma of lust round us as nails drew blood lines on flesh.
    I wanted to be a part of it all. A part of him.
    So very ready for more, even if it might harm me.
    Gabriel understood that, and he undid my shirt. When he parted it, the air hit my skin. His palms covered me as he gripped my waist, his thumbs tracing my stomach. My shirt scratched against my breasts, making the tips go hard.
    Behind me, an interested bystander ran a hand down my back, as if wanting to be a part of me and Gabriel, too, a real community of Reds.
    Only Reds.
    Nothing else mattered when Gabriel skimmed his hands upward, cupping my breasts. The creature behind me tugged down on my shirt and, for the first time I can remember, I didn’t mind being revealed.
    We were monsters who didn’t have to hide now.
    When Gabriel seized me by the waist and lifted me into the air, I couldn’t breathe. Other hands grabbed at me, at the lacings on the sides of my pants, but their fingers didn’t undo them. Maybe they wanted to be able to feel me as I exploded into what fascinated them—a form echoing 562’s.
    The daughter our origin had chosen to exchange with rather than anyone else.
    Gabriel pressed his face against my bared belly, rubbing against it, absorbing my scent. Through our link, I could sense his temperature rising, adapting to my own.
    By now, more Reds had gathered round us, whispering words I couldn’t really hear. Most had shed their clothing, and trails of blood marked their skin—nail skids, appetizers for something that hung in the atmosphere like a brutal promise. It seemed that the drums were louder than ever, stomping on my chest, or maybe that was only my body giving way to what it should.
    â€œYour blood,” said someone in the crowd.
    And, suddenly, others took up the chant.
    Your blood, blood, blood ...
    I looked down at Gabriel as he looked up at me, fire in his eyes, his fangs sharp in his adoring smile.
    He was going to bite me again, even if it would poison him. He wanted me that much.
    No one had ever felt that way about me before.
    In utter ecstasy, I leaned back my head, listening to the chanting— your blood, blood, blood —then spread my arms as if I could take flight. My shirt hung off me like wings.
    Blood, blood—
    I could feel Gabriel, ready to strike at a tender point in me, and not knowing exactly where it would be only added to my excitement.
    Your blood!
    I sucked in a breath . . .
    But before I felt a bite, someone yanked me down, away from Gabriel, plunging me into a sea of bodies that forced me to the ground.
    In the next fevered heartbeat, I felt silver links wrap round my limbs, restraining me, and I grunted in discomfort as it sent me to weakness.
    A gunshot split the air. So did a familiar voice.
    â€œBack off!” the oldster yelled over the cacophony.
    The music had stopped, but the hissing and growling had just begun.
    I strained at the bodies round me, but they were determined to keep me on the ground—older, wiser were-creatures who’d gone through a half change so that they were part animal, part human. Half-pumas, lions, tigers . . . They were all still capable of logic before it melted away with the reshaping of the bones and form.
    The oldster fired his revolver again. I started to cool as I noticed that the older were-creatures carried stakes, too, and that a whole lot of Civils were down here backing them up.
    So Chaplin had gone after help.
    â€œHer blood is off-limits,” the oldster yelled. “You hear me?”
    From somewhere, a vampire hissed, “You weres want it.”
    The growling intensified from the monsters who were guarding me. It sounded as if the younger were-creatures who’d been dancing were slinking back to their elders now,