Incipient A Dark Paranormal Romance - Bianca Scardoni Page 0,49
up to my waist and drew me toward his body. It was barely noticeable to the naked eye, but I felt every touch and movement between us as though an invisible band had suddenly strung up between us.
“Okay, that’s enough!” shouted Trace as he knocked Gabriel’s hand away and then plucked me off him.
Gabriel winced as my teeth scraped his skin, desperate to hold on, before Trace dragged me to the other side of the kitchen and tucked me in against him. As disappointed as I was, I couldn’t even be mad. I felt like I was floating two feet off the ground; like my blood had just been infused with some kind of magic tonic that made my body defy the basic laws of physics.
And the pain from the compulsion? Gone.
“Oh, my god, it worked!” I said as I pulled in a cleansing breath and then met Gabriel’s eyes.
My heart jumped against my ribcage as I noted his chest rising and falling quickly and his white-knuckle grip on the edge of the table he was still leaning on.
“Shit. I took too much,” I realized aloud, wanting to kick myself for having no restraint when it came to Revenant blood. Why did I always do this? What the hell was wrong with me anyway? “I’m so sorry, Gabriel. I didn’t mean to,” I said as I rushed over to his side, kneeling before him to get a better look at his face.
“You needed it more than I did,” he said and tried for a smile. “I’ll be better soon. No harm done.”
Typical Gabriel, always so gracious and giving. Even with the blood in his own damn veins.
“Get me a knife,” I called back to Trace, knowing that I could at least make this a little better on him.
“No!” said Gabriel and Trace at the same time.
I rolled my eyes at their dramatics. “I wasn’t going to bleed myself dry,” I said and then met Gabriel’s eyes. “Just a little bit to help you feel better. I really don’t mind.”
Gabriel shook his head, albeit weakly. “We can’t risk creating another bloodbond.”
“It doesn’t work that fast,” I pointed out, remembering how slow and steady it had been with Dominic. “But I get what you’re saying. I nodded, knowing it wasn’t worth the risk, but still feeling horrible about leaving him in this state.
“He’ll be fine, Jemma. I’m sure he has, you know, food or whatever at his place.” Trace stepped behind me and gently pulled me back into a standing position. “We should go.”
“We can’t just leave him like this. There’s no way he can drive in this condition.”
Trace furrowed his brows as he looked him over and then nodded. “I’ll port you home. Show me your place,” he said and then touched Gabriel’s shoulder. He immediately yanked his hand back as if he’d just been burned by him and then fixed him with a weird look. “Jemma get your stuff ready. I’ll be back in two minutes.” And with that, he touched Gabriel again and the two of them disappeared from the kitchen.
I let out a noisy sigh and then walked back out to the living room in search of Ben. He was passed out on the plush, luxurious couch with an old episode of Unsolved Mysteries playing on the television. Craning my head to get a better view, I noted how sweet and peaceful he looked when he slept and then grabbed the throw blanket from the headrest and spread it over him.
Poor guy. He’d taken such a beating when we’d lost Taylor. It was so obvious to anyone with eyes that he had been madly in love with her. I imagined he carried a heart full of blame around with him every day of his life. Blame for not telling her how he really felt. Blame for not being able to save her when it mattered most.
I wasn’t the only who had lost my way that faithful night. He’d lost everything too.
“You ready to go?” asked Trace from the entrance, his voice startling me as I stared at Ben, probably looking like some kind of weirdo freak that liked to watch people sleep.
I turned and met those fiercely loving eyes of his, and all of my worry disappeared. “I’m ready,” I said as I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. And with that, we were gone.
19. NO TEARS LEFT TO CRY
We materialized back in Trace’s scantily lit bedroom with my arms still wrapped snuggly