Blood Deep (Bound in Blood Book 1) (3 page)

Jacob nodded in response before they both fell silent. He continued wiping down the bar and Patrick tried desperately not to focus on the sound of the other man’s heart. Without warning, that faint heady scent overwhelmed his senses. It was spicy and earthy, with an underlying cloying sweetness. Patrick took a deep drag before stopping to think. A flavor unlike any other he’d ever tasted burst across the back of his tongue and he felt his body harden with acute arousal. The tight pants he wore pushed painfully against his contained cock and Patrick gasped at the feeling. Somehow the pain made him want even more.

“You alright?” Jacob asked reaching out and wrapping the palm of his hand around Patrick’s wrist. A sudden burst of heat followed by another pulse of that appetizing scent made Patrick look up.

“You…” He trailed off. Patrick’s mouth hung open as his eyes caught sight of a small bead of blood traveling down Jacob’s neck. With a jolt, Patrick realized what that tantalizing smell was. It was Jacob’s blood.

Never before had the scent of anyone’s blood been so overwhelmingly tempting, not even at the beginning of Patrick’s vampiric life. He was horrified to feel his mouth filling with saliva and his teeth itching with the need to sink into that tanned supple skin.

“Come home with me.”

Jacob’s grip on Patrick’s wrist tightened and his expression went from vague concern to blank. When he withdrew his hand, Patrick wanted to whine at the loss of that warmth. Jacob eyed the other man and Patrick instinctively shrank away from that steely gaze. When would he learn to keep his mouth closed?

“Why?”

The question threw Patrick off and he looked up at Jacob in surprise. “You’d actually do it?” He asked incredulously.

“I didn’t say I would. I asked why you wanted me to,” Jacob replied firmly. He’d stopped wiping down the counter and now stood staring at Patrick with his arms crossed across his chest.

Patrick nodded. “Right, makes sense.” He didn’t say anything else. Truthfully, he didn’t know what to say as he hadn’t meant to open his big mouth to begin with.

“You didn’t mean to ask me that, did you?” Jacob asked.

Patrick shook his head. “No, I truly didn’t. I haven’t asked any to come home with me in…decades really. My mouth just doesn’t seem to know when to stay closed I guess.” He looked up at Jacob and gave a self-deprecating smile.

Jacob snorted and turned his gaze to the far wall. Both men seemed to hang in the awkward tension.

“Fine. My answer is yes,” Jacob replied. Patrick’s gaze snapped back to him in surprise. “But for a price.”

Patrick paused. “Isn’t that like…prostitution?”

“Never said I’d have sex with you,” Jacob replied with a sneer.

Patrick nodded. “Right, well then why don’t you come work for me? I need an assistant, and I can pay you and give you a place to live for free.” Patrick’s brain was screaming at him to stop. This situation was dangerous, but he couldn’t seem to halt the stream of words coming from his mouth. “Unless you’d rather keep this job?”

Jacob snorted. “The pay here sucks as do the customers.” He eyed Patrick. “Literally. Regardless, can you pay me at least three grand per month?”

Patrick scoffed. “I can pay you four.”

“Deal,” Jacob replied and held out a hand. Patrick looked at him for a moment, before reaching out and grasping the outstretched hand in one of his own. He tried not to show how shaken he was by the electric feeling when their skin touched.

“One more thing.”

Patrick warily looked up from their clasped hands. “Yes?”

“Don’t look so frightened vamp boy. All I want is a favor.”

Patrick cocked his head to the side. “A favor? What kind of favor?”

“That would be mine to decide, but nothing that will get your pretty little head in trouble by human or vampire standards and bylaws. Trust me, I’m well versed in both.”

“Oh…well, that sounds fine.”

Jacob pulled his hand away. “Well alright then, we have a deal.” He picked the damp towel back up from the surface of the bar. “Leave me your number and address and I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Right, okay.” Patrick grabbed a napkin grateful when Jacob supplied him with a pen. He quickly wrote down his information and took another deep breath of Jacob’s intoxicating scent.

Chapter 2

Jacob had noticed the vampire as soon as he’d stepped on the bottom stair and had turned his ocean blue gaze outward. No other vampire that he’d seen had ever looked so uncomfortably out of place among their own kind.

It was intriguing…and unnerving.

Jacob wasn’t used to giving a shit about others, especially vampires. Most of them were stuck up assholes who thought being a little faster and stronger meant they were higher on the evolutionary train than mere humans. To Jacob it was laughable, though he had to admit they did often make excellent bed partners. Still, he tended to go out of his way to avoid them these days. If only he’d gotten that memo sooner he might not have been forced to bartend in a club that catered to them or engage in servicing them on the side. The way some of the club’s patrons would eye him pissed him off. Then there was the newly turned bimbo who’d managed to give him a light bite on the neck before being dragged out by security. He was lucky she’d been lousy at aiming otherwise she might have opened up an artery and he’d be forced to either die or be made a vamp too. Neither of those choices sounded very acceptable to him.

Still, he had to admit that he was fascinated by how obvious the new golden haired patron was in his disdain for the entire establishment. Jacob couldn’t deny that it made him want to talk to the vampire and see what made him tick.

“What can I get for you?”

His mouth went on before his brain caught up and he found himself privy to one of the most interesting if not frustrating conversations he’d had in a while. Somehow without him fully realizing it, he’d ended up with a new job and the one thing he’d really needed securely in the bag.

A favor.

“What’s your name vamp?” Jacob asked before the other man could walk away from the bar. Those electric blue eyes pierced deep almost to his very core and he had to force himself to seem unaffected.

“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s Patrick.”

The vampire’s voice was soft and not particularly deep. He looked barely old enough to have gained entry into the club, but for all Jacob knew he could be well over one-hundred years old. It was hard to tell age when the person never grew old.

Covering his thoughts, Jacob gave Patrick a one-handed salute. “I’ll see you tomorrow then Patrick.”

The other man nodded and gave Jacob a small smile before melting away into the mass of pulsing bodies on the dance floor. It was disconcerting how good vampires were at practically disappearing.

“What was that all about?” Jacob’s coworker, Kevin, asked as he walked out from the door behind the bar. The other man was also human, and a particularly popular one with the newly turned vampire crowd. It wasn’t surprising; with his light brown hair, sultry hazel eyes, slight build and delicate features, he practically screamed ‘dominate me’ on a normal day. At work, he played up those characteristics making lots more tips with his breathy voice and easy smile. Jacob made considerably fewer tips whenever he was scheduled to work with the younger man, but he didn’t blame him. Kevin was an orphan and was single-handedly raising his little brother who was about to graduate high-school. Kevin needed those tips a lot more than Jacob did.

“And what the fuck is on you—don’t tell me you got jumped again?” Kevin’s voice sounded amused.

Jacob was not.

“Another one of your potential clients wanted to start a little early,” Jacob growled.

Kevin shook his head with a smile. “Hell no. I’m not taking anymore newbies after the last one that tried to bite off a little more than I wanted her to chew.” Both men winced at the memory of Kevin almost being castrated by one of his newly turned clients. That had been a terrifying experience as Jacob had been the one to find the younger man and take him to the hospital. There are some things that he wished he could unsee.

“I don’t blame you,” Jacob said truthfully. “Thankfully it seems that vamp boy over there is of the vegetarian variety.”

“No shit?” Kevin looked in the direction that Patrick had disappeared to.

Jacob wasn’t surprised at the disbelief in Kevin’s voice. He might not have believed it himself if not for Patrick’s insistence on finishing his own flute of animal blood and refusing to even touch his friend’s.

“Oh, you know you’re bleeding, right?”

“Fuck, not again.” Jacob put his hand against his neck brows furrowing when he drew his fingers back and saw blood on the tips.

“You really got nicked, huh?”

Jacob snorted. “Not the fucking word I’d use. More like got chewed on by a blood hungry tick with the self-control of a boy going through puberty.”

Kevin’s laugh did not make Jacob feel any better, but he figured it was better than lamenting his situation again.

“So how long will you be gone for this job?” Kevin asked. It was normal for the human bartenders to rotate between the club and private clients. Some even found more permanent solutions in either being turned or becoming essentially kept pets that found additional members to add or became useful in other ways. Typically the people who found work like this either had no other marketable skills or fell into hard times.

Kind of like the people who work in fast food.

Jacob didn’t judge. It would be hypocritical of him considering the fact that he found himself now doing the same thing. He worked at the club because he could. His look and stature made most of his vampire clientele seek him out as if they felt better taking it up various holes by someone who looked like him. He often wondered if it was something from the vamps’ previous lives or a major character flaw that came along with the change. Either way, it helped him afford rent, food and other things.

“No idea. The vamp just said he wanted an assistant instead of a fuck buddy,” Jacob replied. He finished wiping down the counter and turned to count out his tips for the night.

“That’s a first,” Kevin said. “Is he legit?”

Jacob shrugged. “Guess we’ll see. I’ve got to be there tomorrow morning.”

“That’s fast. So I guess I better call some backups for tomorrow night?”

“Bingo.”

Jacob pulled out the napkin from where he’d stuffed it in his pocket. He was glad his shift was ending. He had a lot to do before tomorrow starting with packing up his meager belongings and explaining what was going on to his roommate. Anna was not going to be happy.

“You’re what?”

Jacob winced at the volume of his roommate, Anna’s voice, but he didn’t pause in his packing. He didn’t have very much clothing to take with him, just a few pairs of jeans and shirts. He’d never been big about collecting a lot of sentimental items not having much use for them. He’d traveled around a lot during his childhood only settling down a few years ago.

“You can’t be serious about doing this, Jacob.”

“Anna, you know I don’t have much of a choice.” Jacob placed the last shirt in his duffel before turning to the doorway. Anna stood in the door way of his small room. Her curly brown hair was pulled back into a messy bun and her small frame was dwarfed by the oversized sleeping shirt she was still wearing. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, but he could tell from the look in her brown eyes that she was more worried than angry.

He sighed. He knew Anna still had feelings for him that went further than just friendship and perhaps she’d thought that living together would allow him to grow feelings for her as well. If not for needing a roommate and not having any other friends, he’d never have accepted her invitation to find a place together. He’d made sure they always slept in separate rooms and other than a drunken kiss at the beginning of their living arrangements, they’d never crossed the lines of friendship.

“I know it’s not the best way—“

“Not the best way? That’s a fucking understatement!” She threw her hands in the air. “And what would your dad say about this? You know he’d be completely against it.”

“Well he’s not fucking here right now, is he?” Jacob growled out. He glared at her for a second before walking over to the doorway that led to his en suite bathroom. He sighed and rested his hands on the sink.

What the fuck was he doing? Essentially moving in for who knows how long with an unknown vampire who hired him as an assistant with no real word on what exactly he’d be assisting in. Jacob lifted his head and gazed at himself in the dingy mirror. He knew what he looked like and he knew how other people responded to him. He was attractive, tall and muscular. If not for extenuating circumstances and his own need to keep others at arm’s length, he’d probably be living it up and getting the most out of life. He sighed.

“This won’t bring her back Jacob.”

Jacob’s gaze remained unblinking, but he felt like he’d been shot with Anna’s words. He knew she meant well, but it was a low blow and one that had the opposite effect from what she’d probably been hoping for. He grabbed his tooth brush and opened the medicine cabinet to take out his other toiletries.

He turned from the mirror once he’d collected everything. “This isn’t about her, Anna.” He walked over to the door pushing past his friend and back into his bedroom. He threw the small bag into his duffel before zipping it.

“Then what is it about? Damnit, Jacob. Just stop and talk to me!”

Two small arms wrapped around his waist and a warm body fit itself firmly against his back. Jacob paused, arms stiffly held by his sides.

“You always do this. You run off with God knows who for whatever reason and when you return you’re so…so down and morose for weeks after and I’m the one who has to pull you back out of it. I can’t do it anymore Jacob; not like this. I lo—“

“Fine.”

Jacob pulled himself from the circle of Anna’s arms. He reached down to grab the strap of his duffel and toss it over his shoulder.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am, Anna.” Jacob said softly. He walked over to the door way of the bedroom before looking back at her. This wasn’t how he wanted things to go, but if he really thought about it, he’d always known it was inevitable. Regardless of whether or not he had ever met Patrick last night, he knew that things would never have ended well between Anna and him. She’d never have stopped loving him and he’d never be able to leave without breaking her heart. “I care for you, just not in the way you want and I never will.”

“Jacob…”

“Take care of yourself Anna, and try not to worry too much about me. I’ll be fine.”

Jacob turned and walked away hoping that everything he’d said would hold true. He walked through the living room picking up his keys from where he’d thrown them on the table when he’d come home last night. He fumbled with them as he moved to remove the apartment key.

“Keep it.”

Jacob looked up. Anna was standing in the door frame of his bedroom, her eyes red from the still visible tears on her cheeks. His hands paused.

“Why?”

Anna smiled sadly. “For when you need a place to escape to. For when that vamp fucks you over and you have nowhere else to go.”

Jacob sighed. “Anna…”

“No, listen to me Jacob,” she said firmly walking into the living room. She stopped a few feet away. “I’m not as clueless as you think I am. I know what vampires want when they see you and I know what you do with them and why you think you have to do it.”

“Good.”

“But I also know you can’t keep doing it forever and sooner or later it’s going to come back to bite you in the ass someday.” Anna crossed her arms again as if shielding herself from her own words. “When it does and you feel you have nowhere else to go, just know that there will always be a place for you here even if it’s not the place I was hoping.”

Jacob gave her a small smile before striding over and enveloping her in a tight hug. The scent of her lavender shampoo calmed and relaxed him and he took one last deep drag of it before stepping back. Sometimes he wished he could love her. It would have been so easy to settle down and enjoy a quiet life with Anna, but even though he cared deeply for her, he knew in his bones that he’d never see her as anything more than a good friend.

“Be careful, Jacob,” Anna whispered. “Stay in touch and call me or text me so I know you’re okay.”

Jacob nodded. He took her face in his hands and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “I will.”

“And don’t do anything you don’t want to do.”

Jacob snickered. “That’s never been a problem, An.”