Beautiful yet lethal

RAYMOND'S POV

I froze, unable to process that the CEO of Perez Industries had just claimed my lips in a demanding kiss.

The kiss was cold yet burning, gentle yet demanding.

The burning sensation from the bite mark immediately began to subside.

And it was instantly replaced by a different kind of heat that spread through my body with the speed of light.

I moaned against his lips as his tongue dug into my warm confines.

My hands slid up his chest as they came to wrap around his neck.

He felt hard.

He?

I was kissing a man?!

Reality instantly washed over me as I began to push him away.

But my arms felt like jelly against his hard chest and flat, board stomach.

He held me with an iron-tight grip while I squirmed and struggled.

And after what felt like forever, he finally pulled back as I gasped for air.

"You... You bastard!" I stammered at him as blood filled my cheeks.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Jude smirked and stood as if nothing had happened.

I rapidly began to wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.

"What the hell? Y- you can't just... kiss people like that!"

"I just did," he shrugged as he walked back to his desk, completely unbothered.

"Y-you—"

"You should be better now."

There was a sharp intake of breath when I realized that the burning feeling in my neck had faded into a dull throb.

I allowed my body to slumped against the wall as my hands pressed the bite.

I gathered the little courage I had left and attacked him verbally.

"Look, I'm straight! There had to be another way for you to stop the pain."

Jude laughed then, a sound that sent warm chills down my spine.

"That happens to be the only way, as the venom needs to be neutralized by the one who had injected it."

My mouth parted in silent terror, and I was uncertain whether to breathe or scream.

Was I going to have to kiss him every time I felt this overwhelming pain?

"But why a kiss?" I groaned.

"Would you have preferred that I bit you again?" he asked with a raised brow.

"No!" I spat without a thought.

"Then stop complaining."

He took a seat.

"Look, don't get any ideas. I don't give two fucks wether you're straight or attracted to furniture. What I need is your blood."

My head was spinning, again.

"We are bound, and there is now a blood contract between us."

I had been excited about this new job.

How on earth had I gotten involved with vampires and blood contracts?

"So what happens now?" I asked.

"Well," Jude began, "you have to move in with me by the end of the week."

"What?" I shouted as I sprang to my feet with a wince. "Move? No way!"

Jude stood with his dual coloured eyes flashing dangerously.

"Paragraph three of the contract you just signed states that as my kin, you will reside in my home for protection."

"But I can't just leave my life behind—"

"Your life," he cut me off with eyes that were blazing with fury, "is now mine."

"But you can't do—"

"End of discussion," he snapped.

I just stood there with my mouth hanging open like that of a fish.

This couldn't be happening.

"Take the contract and get out. I have actual work to do," he said.

I bent and picked up the paper.

"Read it while you are at it," he turned to his computer as he spoke.

But as I turned to leave, it was his voice that caused me to halt.

"Raymond?" I turned. "Don't think about running because I will find you anywhere you go, thanks to the bond."

I nodded.

"Scram!" He ordered coldly

I practically ran out of the office.

The secretary gave me a pitying look as I made it past her desk.

The rest of the day was a blur.

I had no idea how I passed through the motions of work.

I met with my coworkers and learnt about my job, even though my mind was somewhere else entirely.

It was dark outside by the time work was over, and I left the building.

I badly needed a drink.

I headed for the closest bar, which was a few blocks away.

I took a shortcut that I knew passed through an alley.

It turned out to be a huge mistake.

I was halfway through it when I heard footsteps behind me.

Someone grabbed my shoulder before I could turn around.

I was startled, my hands flailing in the air as they shoved me hard against the wall.

I winced in pain at the sudden attack.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" The face of a man with yellow eyes came into view.

He grinned at me as if he were showcasing his pointed teeth for me.

My blood ran cold.

He was just like Jude—a vampire.

"You're vampires too?" I murmured.

"He's a wimpy little thing," another voice came from behind me.

He wasn't alone.

My mouth opened in a silent scream as four others surrounded us.

They all had the same hungry look.

"Let me go," I said while trying to sound brave with my shaky voice.

The man leaned in and slowly began to sniff my neck.

"You smell like him, the lord."

"What are you talking about?"

"Casper, he is marked. This one belongs to Lord Perez," he said to his cohort.

They chuckled evilly, and the sound echoed off the alley walls.

"We are vampires, the ones who have been waiting for a taste of the lord's kin."

The intent in his eyes betrayed the fact that they wanted to take my blood.

That would mean another bite, another pain from everything.

I could not beat it.

"Let me go!" I yelled as I tried to break free from his iron grip. "I am not anyone's kin! This is all a mistake!"

"The mark doesn't lie," a female vampire hissed while pointing at my neck.

I swallowed at her words.

"You are Lord Perez's Chosen Kin, and I doubt that you know how special and valuable that makes you."

The leader licked his lips.

"And how delicious?"

"Please," I begged. "I don't understand any of this. I am just a normal guy."

"Well, not anymore. Let's see what's so special about you," he told me while he leaned towards my neck.

I closed my eyes.

I was trembling like a leaf as I braced myself for the onslaught of pain.

But it never came.

Instead, all I felt was a gust of wind before the grip on my shoulder vanished.

I opened my eyes to see that the leader of the vampire team was pinned against the opposite wall.

Jude was holding him by the throat, and his feet were dangling way above the ground.

"How dare you touch what is mine?!" He thundered in a voice that filled the entire alley and made me shiver in fear.

The other vampires began to back away with their heads bowed.

"Lord Perez," one of them stammered. "We didn't know that he was—"

"Silence!" Jude snarled.

All of them flinched.

"You knew exactly what he was because you can smell my mark on him," he enunciated every single word at them.

I see his grip tighten, and the vampire in his grip begin to claw at Jude's hand.

"F-forgive me, my lord. W- we were j- just curious," he forced out.

Jude's eyes burned with rage.

"And you will die for it," he promised in a terrifying whisper.

He turned to look at me.

I saw something protective flash in his mismatched eyes for a moment.

Then it was gone.

"Go to the car," he ordered. "It is at the end of the alley."

He turned away, but I didn't move.

I stood there and watched as he snarled and attacked the vampire in his hold.

He slapped him with his long nails, digging deep into his cheeks.

The man screamed in horror.

But I nearly peed my pants when he delivered the final blow.

The sheer power of it buried the man's head in the brick wall behind him.

My hands slammed against my lips to stifle the short scream I had emitted.

When he turned to me, both of his eyes were glowing in an ethereal way.

It was beautiful yet lethal.

But the other vampires beginning to come for me caused me to step back.

He reached for them one after the other, tearing limbs and breaking necks.

"Run, Raymond! Now!" he roared.

This time, I turned and ran.

I heard the horrible screams behind me, but I didn't dare look back.