Blood Bond

Blood Bond, a short story I wrote will be included in Evernight Publishing's Just Vamps anthology due out on Halloween. Check out the book blurb/excerpt below:

Book Blurb:


 

Tori Gallagher and Gianna Pugliese have been best friends since kindergarten. But when Tori’s family is forced to leave suburban Lowell, Massachusetts behind and move to Boston for her father’s job, their world falls apart. Distraught at the possibility of separation, the two girls slit their wrists and forge a blood bond, sisters by means of their fluid exchange.

Flash forward fifteen years. Gianna still lives in Lowell, working at her parents’ Italian bakery, La Dolce Vita. Tori follows into her father’s footsteps and peddles prescription drugs to local doctors and hospitals as a pharmaceutical sales rep. One day on the job, she helps screen patients for a clinical trial of an investigational medicine. There she meets Dario Potente, a smoking hot vampire who shares her deviant sexual desires.

The chemistry between the two lovers is intense, until Gianna ends up on her doorstep claiming to who have seen and felt every detail of their latest lust-filled escapade.

Excerpt:

           “So tell me about this dream,” Tori said as she took a seat on the sofa next to her husband and nuzzled into the crook of his arm.

            Gianna’s cheeks flushed hot at the thought of revealing the nitty gritty details of the dream. Tori appeared safe and content, but on the off chance her best friend was in trouble, she had no other choice than to spill her guts. She needed to see the expression on her face in order to unearth the truth. Her gaze darted left to right to avoid direct eye contact as she relived the graphic sexual content of the fantasy that had unfolded between the two newlyweds. Whips and chains aside, the intense emotional connection between them caused her voice to crack as she spoke. Still, she managed to confess that she’d watched like a voyeur, reveling in each eagerly awaited brush of skin against skin.

            Gianna clenched her thighs shut, trying to keep her companions from smelling the pungent scent of her sex. Liquid had already moistened the flimsy material of her pink cotton panties. As the last few flashes of their erotic encounter spilled from her lips, Gianna stared up at Tori. There were a myriad of questions on her mind. Could it be true? Had her best friend willingly allowed Dario to pierce her flesh and guzzle down her blood?

            While the possibilities swirled around in Gianna’s brain, Tori cocked her head sideways as if to gauge her husband’s reaction. “How is this possible? Could Gianna have somehow gained a window into my subconscious?”

            Dario’s eyebrows furrowed. Then he scrubbed a hand over his unshaven jaw. “I’m not sure. Have the two of you ever exchanged blood?”

            Suddenly both women drew back, their reflections laden with shock. Gianna hesitated before she answered, swallowing hard as realization struck. “Yes, we have. As children, we slit our wrists and forged a bond.”

            “But I never thought anything of it,” Tori interceded, standing up to pace the confines of her small living room. “It was just a silly, childish game.”

For the first time, Gianna noticed the drastic transformation the room had endured. Before, her friend had incorporated neutral shades of brown and tan with a splash of mauve thrown in to brighten up the space. Now the décor took on a much darker, more catastrophic feel. The couches were made of rich Italian leather and the carpets a deep, crimson red. Framed lithographs by renowned painter Salvador Dalí lined the walls with depictions of hellfire and brimstone.

In addition to her interior design preferences, Tori had changed a lot in the past few months. Most likely, Dario had been the cause. If the dream she'd experienced was any indication, sex for them teetered on the brink of kink. It seemed that that was exactly the way her best friend preferred it. She’d no doubt moved on from drunken one night stands with frat boys to submissive interludes with a sadomasochistic lover who drank blood for sport.

Although Tori would have had to be blind not to notice the flagrant sexual intent in her husband’s gaze the moment Gianna appeared on their doorstep. How could she stand by and watch him ogle her best friend? Unless, were they both into that kind of thing?

Gianna watched as Tori continued to walk nervously back and forth, but soon her husband grasped her wrist, and made her slip down into the comfort of his lap. He smiled at Gianna, a sympathetic gesture it seemed. “I know it all sounds crazy. Let me try my best to explain.” Dario combed his fingers through his hair, then took a deep breath and relaxed into the cushions of the couch. “I’m fairly certain you’ve already this figured out by now, but I am a vampire. Despite my proclivities, I’d never hurt your friend. I love her too much. Tori and I have shared fluids, including blood, and as a result, we can merge our minds.”

“You can read each other’s thoughts?”

“Not exactly,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s more intense than that. We can see, hear, smell, even taste what the other experiences.”

“The sensations can get a bit overwhelming at times, but you get used to it.” Tori dipped her head back to plant a kiss to her lover’s stubbly cheek. “I must have somehow broadcast the manifestation of my desire for Dario to you through our open channel of communication. Funny, before today, I never even knew it existed.”

Look for my short story, Blood Bond, due out on Halloween from Evernight Publishing.

http://www.evernightpublishing.com/pages/Annalynne-Russo.html