Taste of Torment Read Online Free PDF Page A

you and I won’t fucking care.”
    Cristiano nodded, again dropping his smirk. Very wise of him.
    Antonio relaxed into his chair. “In that case, prepare the squad. You should all leave in an hour.”
    Ava gave me a small but genuine smile. “Thanks so much. We appreciate it.” She really was sweet. I had to wonder how she and Cristiano could possibly be related.
    After debriefing the squad, Jared and I made a pit-stop at our apartment to top up on NSTs, wanting to be at full strength. Otherwise known as Nutritive Supplemental Tonics, NSTs were a mix of blood and other vitamins.
    The second we arrived in the kitchen, Jared expectedly began interrogating me. “Now that we’re alone, you can tell me what the deal is with that guy, Cristiano.”
    Having retrieved a couple of NSTs from the refrigerator, I handed him one and then leaned against the counter. “I was still human when I met Cristiano. It was back when I was a student in college. My friends and I often went out to the local student bar. Vampires love student bars because most students are eager to have fun, like getting drunk, and aren’t fussed about memory gaps – all part of getting rat-arsed, right? So if they wake up feeling weak with a vague recollection of flashing irises or fangs, they’re simply going to blame the alcohol or believe their drinks were spiked, just like I had.”
    I paused to take a long gulp of my honey-flavoured NST. “One night in the bar, I met Cristiano. He laid on the charm, but I’d just come out of a relationship and I wasn’t in a kissing-perfect-strangers frame of mind. So he left me alone. But there was this bloke who kept pestering me. He made me feel really uncomfortable and kept trying to kiss my neck. I couldn’t shake him off. Then he tried dragging me outside into the alley. That was when Cristiano appeared again. He acted as if he was my boyfriend and he’d been looking for me, and I played along. He got me away from who I just thought was a creepy bastard, which I was totally grateful for. His payment was a kiss.”
    Jared’s growl wasn’t a surprise. When I hesitated, he pressed, “Go on.”
    “Obviously the kiss had just been his way of getting close enough to bite me” – another growl from Jared – “but I was so plastered that the brief sting didn’t ring any alarm bells. He explained to me after I was Turned that the vampire who’d harassed me was known for throwing parties that included human ‘party favours’. In other words, I’d be laid on a table and the vampires seated around it could simply lean over and drink from me any time they wanted until I was totally drained of blood.”
    “So he really did save your life.” Jared swallowed the last of his Cola-flavoured NST and slung the bottle in the bin. “He said he looked out for you, too.”
    “He did. So did Ava. You know I escaped from Victor a couple of times. They both played a part in helping me. Of course, each time I was tracked down and brought back to the nest, Victor was beyond pissed. The last time I did it, he almost killed me. But Cristiano managed to calm him down and insisted it would be more beneficial to the nest if Victor stuck to the original plan and allowed me to live and serve him.”
    Jared stuffed his hands in his pockets. “What I don’t get is why Cristiano did all this. I mean, he doesn’t strike me as the gallant type.”
    I fisted a hand in Jared’s shirt and pulled him close. “He’s not. He took his payment afterwards each time.”
    “You mean he drank from you more than once?” Jared asked through gritted teeth, placing a hand on the counter either side of me to cage me in. “Not that I can blame him. You taste fucking amazing.” He delivered a sensual lick to my neck. “But I hate him for doing it. I hate him for touching you. And I hate him for kissing this mouth I love. Every inch of you is mine.”
    And those words were as near to romantic as Jared’s were ever likely to get. But I