Addictive Blood

Michael approached Aurora and squatted down behind her so he could look over her shoulder at the book. His smiled softly once he realized exactly which book she was reading.

“Peter Pan. That’s always been one of my favorites,” he said gently, understanding it was probably the little boy she had felt sorry for.

Aurora smiled up at him and placed a kiss on his cheek, “Thank you for letting us come here and read your books.”

Michael was about to respond when Kane’s face was suddenly looking over her other shoulder. He scowled at the blonde wondering what he thought he was doing.

“Is that the copy I bought you in London?” Kane asked with a tilt of his head.

“Yes it is,” Michael answered. “Now please stop leaning over her like that.”

“Oh, it’s okay… I don’t mind,” Aurora said. “I still owe him for throwing him down the stairs.”

Skye frowned not having heard this story yet and leaned back on his hands trying to picture Aurora taking on the blond Sun God who was powerful enough to open portals into the demon realm.

“No worries about that love,” Kane informed her gallantly. “Michael will eventually realize I’m making a complete nuisance of myself on purpose and threaten to kill me while chasing me around the house with one of his broadswords.”

The words had barely left Kane’s mouth when the tip of such a sword appeared under Kane’s chin. He arched an eyebrow and slowly stood up, looking over at Michael as he did so. The two brothers stared at each other for a moment before Kane suddenly swatted the sword aside and ran like hell out the library door.

“Get back here!” Michael yelled.

“NO!” Kane yelled back. “You’re gonna hurt me and I bruise easily.”

Aurora and Skye remained in the library listening to the sounds of thumping before the sounds moved upstairs and more noise commenced. The Fallen looked at each other before they burst out laughing.

“Those two are funnier than I thought they’d be,” Skye admitted. He hadn’t really known what to expect when they’d first showed up. “You pick out the next book,” he instructed nodding toward the stack.

Aurora looked through them and finally picked one that had a castle on the cover of it. Out of curiosity, she started flipping through the pages looking for pictures. She frowned not seeing any and quickly closed the book, hissing when she received a paper cut due to the quickness of her motions.

“Ouch,” she frowned remembering getting such cuts from the sharp blades of grass she used to play in as a child. It had always amazed her how such a tiny little slice could sting so much.

Skye smirked watching her glare at her injured finger. “You know, the pictures you see in your mind are a lot better than anything you would find drawn in the pages anyway.”

Upstairs, Kane found himself pinned to the wall in the game he and Michael were playing. He guessed he was wrong in thinking Michael was having trouble because he seemed just as much fun as he usually was.

“You bruise easily huh?” Michael mocked.

“I can still kick your ass into next week,” Kane said cockily.

Michael smiled and released Kane, letting him fall to the floor. They looked at each other, Kane from the ground and Michael slowly landing on his feet. They started laughing because neither one of them had realized Michael had actually been holding Kane off the floor.

Kane was about to get up when a tantalizing scent reached him. He frowned when he noticed the obsidian color suddenly overwhelm the amethyst of Michael’s eyes. He watched in morbid fascination as Michael inhaled deeply and looked over his shoulder toward the stairway.

Michael swallowed when he smelled Aurora’s blood. It was a small amount but still enough to send his momentarily forgotten craving flooding back with a vengeance. With the next heartbeat, Michael traced down the hallway and disappeared from Kane’s view.

All of the fun drained right out of Kane and the humor vanished from his face. The only time he’d ever ran across eyes that dark he’d been staring into the face of a demon.

“Well… that can’t be good,” he pointed out to the empty hallway.

Just as quickly, Kane was on his feet and following Michael down the stairs. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know what that sweet scent was and where it was coming from. He stepped into the library just in time to see Michael kneel down in a blur beside Aurora and take her hand in his.

Aurora flinched when Michael suddenly appeared beside her and took hold of her hand. The action broke hers and Skye’s concentration and she wondered what he was doing until he held up her hand to inspect the small cut she’d gotten from the thin page of the book. A single drop of bright red blood had welled up and she frowned wondering if he just didn’t want her to get it on his book.

Looking up into his eyes she was startled to find only small flecks of glowing amethyst scattered within a sea of darkness. “Michael?” She whispered knowing something was wrong with him.

All movement stilled as Michael slowly brought the injured finger to his lips and kissed the injury. Unable to resist the temptation, he drew the tip of her finger into his mouth and sucked on it sensuously. He wanted more of her flavor and let the edge of his fang gently glide across the cut.

Aurora gasped as heat began to spiral through her core and pool between her legs. The sensation of his tongue rubbing erotically against her finger caused her to whimper softly and she bit her lip when his sharp teeth grazed the injury, stinging and soothing at the same time.

Skye remained leaning back on his hands also watching the Sun God with rapt attention. The connection between him and Aurora hadn't completely been broken and he was inadvertently siphoning off some of what she was feeling… and it was amazing. He tried to hide the fact that his breathing had quickened by taking shallow breaths.

Michael closed his eyes and savored the small rush of power until it turned into an overwhelming craving to drain demon after demon. Noticing the deafening silence, he looked up to find Kane watching him closely from the entrance of the library. He inwardly cursed knowing he’d just given his weakness away to his very observant brother.

Kane knew for certain that Michael wasn’t in his right mind but this was way out there. The moment their eyes met, Kane could see Michael’s hunger as though it were something tangible… contagious and addicting. His brother had recently drained way more than just one demon and had lied about it.

His mind searched for answers and it suddenly made sense as to why Michael was drinking demon blood. If only a few drops of Fallen blood could cause this kind of reaction… then being able to drop all restraint and completely drain a Fallen’s spawn would be the equivalent of dark chocolate.

Kane moved his gaze to Aurora seeing the high color spread across her cheeks and the way her breathing had become shaky. She was becoming aroused from Michael’s lips on her, not understanding that if he lost his restraint then things could turn very dangerous for her. She was an innocent in all of this even though she’d inadvertently caused Michael’s strange addiction.

‘More proof that love is blind,’ Kane thought to himself.

The floor vibrated through Kane’s boots but he paid it no mind until he saw one of the books beginning to tremble out of its spot on the shelf. Glancing around the room, he noticed more than a few of the volumes shivering in place. Kane lifted his hand to push the book closest to him back in when he saw the lamp on the table near Michael start sliding across the polished surface toward the edge.

“Michael,” Kane's soft whisper sounded loud in the silence of the room.

Michael could hear the warning in Kane’s voice and he flinched realizing what he was doing. Drawing away from Aurora’s injury, he placed a soft kiss on the tip of her finger before releasing her and forcing himself to calmly back away.

“You should be careful, sometimes the pages of these old books are sharp,” he smiled distracting her from what he’d just done.

Aurora slowly drew her hand back and closed it, still feeling the heat of Michael’s lips on her skin. She brought the hand to her chest and protectively shielded the wonderful feeling with her other hand before nodding at Michael with bright eyes.

“I promise to be careful,” Aurora said shyly and Skye nodded his agreement. Neither one of them had noticed the vibrations in the room because their attention had been riveted on Michael’s seductive kiss.

Much to Kane’s relief, the light vibrations immediately ceased and the lamp stopped sliding less than an inch from its edge.

“Aurora, Skye, we will leave you to your reading while we go scout the area for anything that may pose a danger to the humans,” Kane suggested, praying Michael would take the hint and come with him. “Besides, if we stay here we’ll just be a distraction.”

“I’d say.” Skye’s eyes widened realizing he’d just said that out loud. He smirked when Aurora giggled at him.

Michael was inwardly cursing himself and decided that Kane was right… leaving the room was the best idea for the moment. What he was not looking forward to was the fact that Kane would follow him and that was the last thing he needed right now.

Turning toward Kane, Michael smiled and added, “You can take the east while I search the west end of the area.”

He stalked past his brother intending to do exactly as he’d just said and hoped the demons were stupid enough to be close by. He made it to the porch before his brother caught up with him and grabbed him by the arm jerking him around.

“What was that?” Kane demanded in a low hiss. “It was just a small injury, hardly worth that kind of attention.”

“She was bleeding,” Michael growled as though that would be answer enough… it wasn’t and they both knew it.