on your mind?”
“I’m just wondering what or even if I should tell the girls. Cleo
and Amy love to give me shit about you.”
“Yes, I caught that. You tell them whatever you want, Red. If
you want to tell them I’m your girlfriend, you can. Or you can tell
them to mind their own business. It’s completely up to you.”
“I like the way the girlfriend thing sounds,” I muttered in reply,
biting my lip.
“Then I’ll tell Cleo to shut the fuck up.” I laughed at her toothy
grin. The porch light made her canines shine. “You’re sure you’re
okay?”
“Yes. Good as new.”
“Okay. I’ll see you in a few minutes,” she said, touching my
cheek with the back of her hand.
This time, I kissed her, but just a quick peck on the lips. Then I
slipped inside before we ended up making out on the porch.
❖
I met the bright light of the foyer like a new woman. Again, my
life had changed in a matter of minutes. Camila knew the truth, and
• 137 •
reBekah WeatherspOOn
I hadn’t died of embarrassment. Not only was I still upright, but she
actually liked me back. I damn near skipped past Kyle and Julia on
my way up to Cleo’s room, greeting them with perky hellos. They
looked at me like I was nuts, but I didn’t care. I had a girlfriend now.
I also had a bizarre interest in biting Amy, but that wasn’t the point.
There was music coming from Cleo’s room. When I opened the
door, I felt like I’d stepped in on an impromptu Soul Sisters of ABO
meeting. All the African-American girls in our sorority were there.
Cleo was singing along with Carlos Santana while flipping through
a magazine. Ebony was watching Layna’s handiwork as she put the
finishing touches on a fresh set of micro braids in Irene’s hair.
In high school, I’d spent a weekend in Atlanta with my friend
Morgan and her family. Her cousin Shanice ran a salon out of her
house. She’d walked me through some simple braiding techniques,
but nothing as fancy as what Layna was doing.
I stood in the doorway and looked over at Cleo. “Should I come
back, or is the meeting almost over?” Ebony and Layna laughed.
Irene smiled and then winced. Her new do was a little too tight for
her to show any drastic emotions. Just then, Benny came out of the
bathroom. She’d already changed into her pajamas.
Cleo flipped the pages of her People. “Amy and Danni will be
back in a sec. Either way, you’re black by association. And B here’s
got booty for days.” She reached forward and slapped Benny on the
ass. Benny didn’t even blink. She just plopped on the bed and curled
up with her cheek on Cleo’s thigh. I knew they were just friends, but
they would have made a cute couple.
“How’d your stats test go?” Benny asked me.
“Oh, good. I think I got an A.”
“Is that what you’re smiling about?” Ebony asked.
As a reflex, I frowned. “I’m not smiling.”
“Well, not now.”
Before I could rebut, Cleo’s bedside phone rang.
“Aloha.” Her eyes shot to me. Crap. It was Camila.
“Oh really?…Okay,” she said. “Sounds good.” She tucked the
phone against her shoulder. “I promise…Okay. Later.” She hung up
and turned to me. “Anything you want to tell us?”
• 138 •
Better Off red
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said casually. I
walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I quickly
changed but took my time brushing my teeth and putting up my hair.
I’ll admit, I was giddy. I’d become a pro at publicly denying my
feelings for Camila. Now I had to think of what to say since it was
okay for us to be “out” to the rest of the girls.
Danni and Amy were perched on Cleo’s bed when I came out
of the bathroom. They were both pink cheeked and giggly. Clearly,
a quickie had been in order the moment Amy came upstairs. I felt
bad for being angry and jealous and even worse when it dawned on
me that Amy had probably been thinking of Danni during Camila’s
feeding. Amy had been embarrassingly honest about her feelings
for Danni. It was so stupid of me to think that interactions between
Amy and Camila were anything beyond their arrangement as blood
donor and vampire. I had some serious apologizing and explaining
to do. After Cleo was done harassing me.
“Out with it, bitch.” Cleo snickered.
“Okay. Fine. I have a date tomorrow.”
“With Camila?” Amy squealed.
“Yes. Tomorrow night.”
Amy squealed again.
“But I have no idea what to wear. My closet is full of going
to class stuff and maybe looking decent for brunch stuff. Not date
stuff.”“Where are you going?” Layna asked. She sprayed some glossy
mist on Irene’s hair and gently spread it over the tight braids with
her palms.
“I don’t know for sure. Dinner I guess and then we might spend
the night at a hotel.”
“Ooh, girl,” Cleo sang.
“We are getting you some lingerie.”
“Amy—” That’s as far as I got before she cut me off.
“No. Have you seen the underwear she has?” she asked Cleo.
“Yeah. We broke into your room to get your sizes,” she said
with an odd grin.
• 139 •
reBekah WeatherspOOn
I did a double take in Cleo’s direction before turning my
attention back to Amy. I’d talk to her about my feelings on their
necessary breaking and entering later.
“She hasn’t complained about my underwear so far,” I told them.
“Probably because she took them off the first chance she got,”
Danni joked. Sort of.
My mouth popped open as if I had some sort of response, but
she was right. I hadn’t spent much time fully dressed around her.
And now I was seriously regretting the revenge pj’s I’d grabbed for
tonight.
Just then Barb stuck her head in the door.
“Come on, ladies. Movie time.”
“After pancakes, I’ll take you to the mall,” Cleo said to me,
leaving no room for argument.
The girls headed for the door, but I hung back. I needed to talk
to Amy now.
“I’ll be right there. Amy, hold on one sec.” She kissed Danni
on the cheek and plopped in Cleo’s papasan chair. I closed the door
behind Benny and sat on the bed.
“I’m sorry, about being all pissy back there,” I said.
“No, I’m sorry. I know how it looked. I didn’t mean to…hump
her like that.” She frowned. “But either way, we both thought you
would be gone longer, and she told me she’d nearly missed her
feeding with Benny on Wednesday. We were just trying to get it out
of the way.”
“Yeah, she had a crazy week. Things are just, well, they’re
complicated.” Rodrick’s suggestion that I keep the truth about my
blood a secret for a while came to mind, but now I wanted to tell
Amy. She had become a true friend, and I was starting
to see that
keeping things from her wasn’t helping either of us.
“Promise you won’t say anything?” I threw out the unnecessary
precaution.
“Of course. I won’t even tell Danni, I swear.”
“Okay. It’s kind of a long story, but somehow I have vampire
blood in my system. Camila thinks my birth mom drank from one of
them when she was pregnant with me.”
• 140 •
Better Off red
“Wow,” she gasped. “So what does that mean?”
“I don’t know yet, but Camila can’t live off my blood. And I
think it’s just another reason I’ve been acting so weird about all of
this. I already feel like the odd one out, and then I went and fell for
the most important vampire in the house.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Amy said. “I promise I won’t say
anything. And you can talk to me, Ginger. Seriously. I know I get all
girlie and annoying sometimes.”
“Only sometimes?”
“Okay, a lot of the time. But seriously. I love Danni, but you’re
my friend. I might not be able to understand the vampire stuff, but
you can tell me about it.”
“I will. From now on. Trust me, I will.”
Amy walked over to the door. “Okay, so what happened in the
car?”“Walk with me,” I said as I wrapped my arm around her
shoulder. “I’ll tell you on the way.”
• 141 •
• 142 •
Better Off red
Chapter eight
I didn’t know how good a red cami, black flannel pants, and
heart-shaped, fuzzy slippers could look until I saw them on
my new girlfriend. I did my best not to push the other girls out of
the way to get to her, to tell her just how adorably cute and human
she looked. Instead, I waited until she greeted them each with a kiss
on the cheek as we stepped off the elevator. The hello she had for
me was a minty, open-mouth kiss. She’d actually brushed her teeth.
Just for me.
Movie night as a sorority event had started off with a bizarre,
yet erotic twist. We met the rest of the girls and the sister-queens in
the carpeted room that had been the setting for last week’s feedings
and sexual festivities. There were still big cushions on the floor,
but this time a few comfortable couches had been set up around a
large projection screen that dropped from the high ceiling. Tokyo
had decided we’d watch Mean Girls and Teen Witch, but before the
movie started, there was the matter of a formal punishment to be
handed out, literally.
Samantha had missed curfew twice. The dumbass had gone off
with Greg and couldn’t be bothered to check in.
Camila gave Sam a piece of her mind, reminding her the
nine o’clock check-in time was a rule of Alpha Beta Omega and
not a suggestion. When that tongue-lashing was over, Natasha had
Samantha wait on all of us, bringing us drinks and candy from a
• 143 •
reBekah WeatherspOOn
small kitchen in the back. And once everyone was served and
settled, Samantha was told to strip.
Her physical appeal was totally overshadowed by her bitchy
mouth, but as she pulled off her clothes, it was hard to ignore
just how gorgeous Samantha was. Her whole body had a natural
olive tone to it. It went perfectly with her brown hair with its sun-
kissed highlights. My opinion of her hadn’t changed. Still, she was
beautiful.
Conversations hushed as everyone’s attention settled on
Samantha, naked and on her knees between her sister-queen’s
legs. Natasha had her gently by the chin with one hand and was
pinching one of Samantha’s light brown nipples with the other. Sam
whimpered as she tried to sit still through Natasha’s lecture. It had
definitely been a sound of frustration and pleasure and not pain.
Natasha took Samantha over her lap. She gave her one hell of
a spanking, twelve licks, two for each of the other girls who served
Natasha, including Samantha herself. I had no idea how anyone
could be turned on by that kind of pain, but it seemed like she was
enjoying the punishment. It was hard to look away as each blow
hit its mark, and it was hard not to react to every pathetic sound
Samantha made.
I enjoyed the spectacle of it all; I couldn’t help it. Watching
Samantha’s whole body blush to pink, the cheeks of her ass flashing
to red every time Natasha’s hand came down, the sharp jiggle of
her breasts as her nipples pointed toward the floor. Or maybe I was
caught up sharing the experience with Camila. We were cuddled
together on a nearby couch; Danni, Amy, and the girls around us,
Camila’s arms around me. My pussy had started to ache the moment
I stepped off the elevator and into her embrace, but it soaked and
throbbed when I felt her lips and her fangs drawing slowly across
my neck as we watched Natasha go to work.
The final smack left the whole room silent except for Samantha’s
breathless sobs. Natasha pulled her upright and immediately sank
her teeth into Samantha’s neck. She fed deeply, pinching Samantha’s
bright red ass cheeks the whole time. Samantha came instantly. It
• 144 •
Better Off red
didn’t seem fair that she would get to come so hard after breaking
curfew, but as soon as Natasha was full, Samantha was forced to
the rest of us play.
When the lights were dimmed and the movie started, all around
the room, articles of clothing started to hit the floor. I was anxious
and prickly, hot and wet from watching Natasha’s passionate
enforcement of the rules. I eagerly welcomed Camila’s strong
fingers as they slipped gently between my legs. She’d stroked my
clit through my boxers and my underwear, her rhythm bringing her
fingers lower, soaking the layers of cotton even more. And then
she bit me. My shuddering moan echoed across the room, and I
remember thinking in the back of my mind that another of the sister-
queens must have decided to feed at that exact moment.
Camila didn’t drink from me for long. I don’t know if she’d
read my mind or if she’d felt the same way, but the second after I
came, she turned me in her lap and kissed me, hard and slow. The
movie played in the background, coupled with a chorus of cries and
lustful sobs that had filled the room. We barely made it halfway
through Mean Girls before I was begging her to take me back to
her bed.
As our bodies rolled together under her satin sheets, I noticed
there was a different sense of desire. There were still the fluttering
in my stomach and the heat that would rush over my skin. All the
physical reactions were the same, but somehow heightened and
transformed by an overwhelming sense of happiness. I honestly
didn’t know emotions like that existed.
I knew what it was like to love someone and to see others in
love, but now I finally understood why Danni and Amy were so darn
cute together,
why Anna-Jade would light up if you even mentioned
Micah’s name—the unconditional way my mom cared for my dad.
Now when Camila reached for me I truly felt weightless. She hadn’t
said the words, but I felt loved and I felt wanted.
❖
• 145 •
reBekah WeatherspOOn
The morning came way too soon. Our shower together was
way too short. Camila excused herself to let Cleo, Benny, Danni,
and Amy in while I was getting dressed. I heard Amy blab that they
were taking me shopping for our date after the pancake breakfast.
I cautiously took the keys when Camila offered to let us drive
her Range Rover to the mall. I argued with her for a few minutes
when she offered to pay for my outfit. I hadn’t spent a cent of the
money I’d made bagging groceries over the summer. I was happy to
have this new title to our relationship. Okay, I was happy there was
an actual relationship at all, but I wasn’t looking for a sugar mama.
She claimed the girls had shopped on her dime every chance they
got. I wasn’t buying it. Cleo settled the debate by snatching the wad
of cash from Camila and dragging me toward the door. I got Cleo
back, though, the second she asked to drive the Range Rover.
“This is some kind of bullshit, and you know it,” Cleo grumbled.
She channeled her frustration into the satellite radio, changing the
station again.
I pulled the Range Rover into the entrance of the mall and bit
my cheek. Cackling in Cleo’s face would have been a bad move.
“Stop cursing at me and maybe I’ll ask her if you can drive
back to the house.” I glanced over and then snickered at Cleo’s
poisonous glare. There was no way I was letting her drive Camila’s
super expensive, custom SUV without her permission.
“I don’t like you anymore, Ginger.”
“Why?” I coughed, choking on my laugh.
“You used to be so nice.”
“No. You thought I was nice. Ask Amy. I’m a total bitch.”
“She’s right,” Amy said playfully from the backseat. “Total
bitch.”
“Cleo, I’ll ask her if you can drive back. I want to get ready at
the dorm anyway.”
“Make it a real date?” I caught Danni’s smile in the rearview
mirror.
“Exactly.”
We hopped out of the car, and just as the alarm beeped, I heard
my cell phone go off. It was a text from Camila.