Did he know somehow why she was there? Is that why he dangled it before her? Jessi almost cursed. She entered the dark, sensual bedroom once again and accepted the necklace with the rough, round red ruby at its center.
“Interesting,” Xander said. “You’re still standing.”
“What?”
“You don’t notice anything strange about it?”
She turned it over in her hands. Black metalwork held the gem in place. In the dim light of his bedroom, she was able to make out a small symbol on the metal: a moon in two separate phases, full and crescent. The ruby glowed faintly, as if there was a light at its center.
“No, it’s beautiful,” she murmured, managing to hide her frustration at holding what she came for. “Family heirloom?”
“Something like that.”
She rolled her eyes at the vague answer then stretched up on her tiptoes to wrap the chain around his neck. He was tall enough that the movement caused her body to rest against his, however briefly. He steadied her with his hands on her hips. She almost dropped the necklace at his touch. The heat of his large hands burned through her thin dress, and warmth bloomed within her. He smelled like the room: dark, smoky and slightly sweet.
Definitely five years since any man touched her.
Jessi fumbled with the lobster clasp on the black cord necklace, completely shaken by his size and heat.
“Today would be nice.” Xander’s low voice, with its naturally husky edge, made her flush. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re enjoying this.”
She focused hard on the clasp, her senses filling with him. “I assure you I’m not. I have the feeling you can do this yourself.”
“Yeah.” He pulled her closer, until her hips rested against his.
“You are a piece of work!” Her breath caught at the direct contact of their bodies and the effect it had on hers.
“Does it bother you?”
“You want me to say yes, don’t you?”
By his smile, he did.
“Done,” she mumbled and stepped away quickly. “Your court awaits you.”
“After you.”
“No, really. You go.” She was too rattled to deal with anyone. She needed five minutes to herself to cool down. Maybe a cold shower or two.
“You’re not leaving my sight.”
Frazzled, she went. He slapped her on her ass as she passed him, infuriating her.
“You know that’s sexual harassment?” she snapped. “If you want me to quit, keep it up.”
“You won’t quit.” His reply was far calmer than she felt.
He was right, but she wasn’t about to admit it. The man who didn’t seem to know what to do with her yesterday was toying with her today. She didn’t like it at all, not when there was so much at stake. She needed to grab that necklace and leave. Fast.
He trailed her down the stairs and into the formal living area. Toni’s face lit up, and she thrust out her chest in a way that made Jessi want to laugh in embarrassment on the oblivious model’s behalf. Jessi stepped aside to let Xander deal with the gorgeous woman, hoping Toni made him as uncomfortable as he did her upstairs.
Within seconds, the woman was hanging off of Xander’s arm, throwing herself at him.
“I knew you were big, but I didn’t know you were this big,” she said with a sugared laugh.
Jessi rolled her eyes. Xander caught the movement. She turned away fast.
“Laurencio, start taking pics,” Toni ordered. “You care to pose with me, Xander? Maybe that oh-so-sexy vampire thing you do with your assistant at the end of every show?”
This guy has his own show? Jessi made a mental note to look up who exactly Xander was. She didn’t dare turn around, not certain she’d be able to witness Toni throwing herself at Xander without laughing at him. The awkward silence behind her was soon filled by the clicking of Laurencio’s camera.
“Ingrid, I’m Gerry,” the hazel-eyed man said, holding out his hand.
“I’m Jessi. Ingrid is on vacation,” she said. She was at once lost in his bright smile. “Do you all want coffee or anything?”
“I’d love some. In fact, I’ll help you. Toni’s got her hands full,” he said in a lowered voice and winked.
Jessi led him up the stairs to the kitchen, not caring what Xander said about staying where he could see her. She soon heard Toni’s high-pitched laugh as the woman started the interview with Xander. His low, quiet responses were the opposite of Toni’s annoying whinny.
“How can you stand that?” Jessi asked Gerry.
“She pays well and has connections.” He pulled open the refrigerator and retrieved the creamer.
“At least you’re honest about it.”
“And you? How do you put up with … him?” Gerry glanced at her. “I thought it was all fake, for the show. Does he wear those red contacts all the time?”
“Looks that way. I don’t even know what show he’s on,” she admitted.
“He’s on two. It started with Secrets of a Vampire, which is some soap opera show about a family of vampires. He has a cooking show, too.”
“Cooking?” She laughed. “He can’t even make coffee.”
“From what I read, the cooking show was an accident. He was a guest on a show, and the ratings were so high, they nudged out the original host and put him in there.”
“Figures,” Jessi muttered. “So far, he’s an absolute jackass.”
Gerry grimaced. “A lot of these sudden celebrities are. Toni’s dad is Antonio Porter. The Antonio Porter. She’s done nothing but ride his coattails.”
“Wow. He was one of my favorite action heroes growing up,” Jessi said. She crossed to the railing of the loft area overlooking the formal living room with its two-story hearth. “She’s totally sitting in Xander’s lap.”
“All she talked about earlier was nailing him. She collects men like this.”
“Seriously?”
“Oh, yeah. Every photo shoot, this happens.” Gerry joined her, watching the four below.
“Xander can keep up with her,” she said. “He sleeps with a different woman every night.”
“I’m so jealous.”
“Really?” she asked, considering. “I mean, he’s got an incredible body, but … Oh, you’re talking about sleeping with a different woman every night.”
He winked. “I see where your mind is.”
“He offered to make me Ms. Tuesday.”
“And you said …” There was an odd edge in Gerry’s voice.
She studied him, noticing the sharpness of his gaze for the first time. He was taking in everything around him with eyes that were never still. Almost like Xander did. Or the goon Jonny sent after her. Or Jonny.
“I told him to go to hell,” she said. “Do you …” How did she ask what she wanted? If he was some sort of vampire freak? “…know him?”
“We’ve crossed paths. I know him well enough to think he didn’t take your rejection well.” Gerry’s smile was guarded.
“He laughed,” she said with a shrug. “He’s almost always an ass. I don’t want anything to do with him.”
“I thought women were drawn to jackasses. I keep telling myself that’s my problem. I’m too nice,” he said.
Jessi started to laugh then realized the handsome man was serious.
“Gerry, bring me something to drink,” Toni called.
They looked down to find all four of those on the lower level staring up.
Jessi ducked back from the railing and retrieved a cup of coffee. She placed it on a tray with the creamer and sugars then handed it to Gerry.
“Coffee, Jessi,” Xander echoed.
“We’re fresh out of everything, Xander,” she replied.
Gerry winked. “You’re messing with a tiger. Just be careful with him.”
“I’ve met scarier animals.”
Gerry appeared interested in her words, until Toni whinnied at him again. He left.
Jessi made her own cup of coffee and went to the railing. She watched him walk into the room, appreciative of his athletic frame. Xander glanced up at her then followed her gaze. He seemed amused, but she had no idea why. Gerry catered to Toni, whose chest was thrust even farther out than before.
Xander stood and disappeared from Jessi’s view while Toni fussed. Toni was lecturing Gerry on how she took her coffee. Jessi’s attention was on Gerry, who was smiling politely while his jaw ticked. She wanted to commiserate with the horse’s assistant, who seemed as awkward in his role as Jessi felt in hers.
She didn’t notice Xander approach. He reached the railing and leaned beside her. Jessi was caught in his strange spell for a moment. He handed the iPad to her.
The calendar was completely blank.
“Really?” she demanded quietly enough that those in the nearby living area couldn’t hear. “That’s so juvenile!”
“Coffee.” He handed her his mug.
She snatched it and went to the kitchen, still rattled by their earlier interaction.
“I’m guessing Toni is Monday, which is why you offered me the Tuesday slot?” she grumbled.
“My calendar fills up quickly. I can’t guarantee I’ll have time for you the rest of the week.”
“Alas. I think I’ve got plans,” she replied with an exaggerated sigh. She poured him coffee.
“Not with a man.”
Jessi glared at him. “I’m not a model, like your women, but I don’t have a problem getting a date, if I want to. Some men want more than looks.”
“Right.” He was amused. “Who is it?”
“Gerry.”
He crossed his arms, and his gaze darkened.
“He said you don’t deal with rejection well,” she said sweetly. “Does that bother you?” She had him off guard again, the way he was yesterday and the way she’d been all morning so far. “By the way, Xander, you can get your own damn coffee.”
She moved to the sink and dumped his out. Mirroring his pose, she crossed her arms and leaned back against the counter.
“Maybe we can stop toying with each other now?” she asked in a tone she used with her cousins.
He entered the kitchen, stopping too close for her comfort. Jessi gazed up at him, goose-bumps forming on her arms as she recalled what she’d felt with his hands on her hips earlier. Unlike her cousins, he knew when she was bluffing.
“We just have to survive the week, and I’m out of your hair,” she added nervously, trying not to inch away.
“You started this.”
“I did?” she asked, surprised.
“Fine if you don’t want to be Tuesday. But don’t fuck with my coffee.”
He reached past her, his heat and scent stirring her senses once more. He was watching her closely, and she willed her body not to respond to him as it had earlier. She was too aware of that body, of the open offer to sleep with him. How incredible would he be? The dazed woman Jessi led out of his bed in the morning had murmured about what he did. Jessi tried not to listen but wasn’t able to shake the vision of the dreamy look on the woman’s face as she relived the night.
He took her mug of coffee but remained in her space.
“You’ve got a nice ass,” Xander said. “Real women have something back there to grab.”
“You’re like a junior high jock trapped in a Redwood tree,” she replied and planted her hands in the middle of his chest to push him away. He didn’t move.
“It was a compliment. It’s clear Toni makes you uncomfortable about yourself.”
“Telling me I have a nice ass is supposed to make me feel better?”
“I’ll do better. I’ll show you. You want Monday? I’ll move Toni to Tuesday,” he said, a glow in his gaze.
“Hell no!”
Xander turned his head to the side. “Gerry, off limits.”
“Got it,” Gerry replied promptly from somewhere behind Xander.
Satisfied, Xander winked. His eerie red eyes swept over her again before he slid away, out of the kitchen.
“This is the worst job ever,” she muttered.
“Wow. He is an asshole,” Gerry said.
“I told you!” Jessi poured herself more coffee, eyes going to the blank iPad calendar.
“You’re not going to last.”
“I’m ready to quit already.”
Gerry gazed at her sympathetically. She sighed.
“Tell you what. I’ll give you my cell number. When you feel like venting, call,” Gerry said and picked up her cell. “Oh, and tell Xander I’m not hitting on you.”
“You’re afraid of him?” she asked in agitation.
“You’ve got balls. I wouldn’t throw down the gauntlet with him,” Gerry said with gravity.
“I want him to back off. I’m here for a week then gone.” Hopefully not dead.
“You don’t seem to fit this line of work. Why take this job?”
Jessi sighed, uncertain how to answer. Her thoughts went to her cousins. She was doing her damndest not to think about what happened if she failed. Pretending this was a normal job was draining.
She went to the railing again to watch Toni throw herself all over Xander under the guise of conducting an interview.
“I didn’t really have a choice,” Jessi said when Gerry joined her. “Anyway, thanks for the offer to talk. I’ll probably be texting you this week.”
“Anytime.”
“They’re perfect for each other,” Jessi said, glimpsing Toni posing provocatively for Xander while Laurencio snapped pics.
“Ger, we’re going to do some photos on the beach. I need my other shoes,” Toni called.
“Fetch, Ger,” Jessi whispered to him. She added a snap of her fingers that pulled a quiet laugh from him.
“Come on, we’ll talk more,” he said and waved for her to follow as he went to the stairs. She trotted down the steps behind him. Gerry stopped to grab a satchel that was by the door then took it to Toni.
The clicking of the camera drew Jessi’s attention. Laurencio was taking her picture.
“No, none of that,” she said and held up her hand. “I’m a temp.”
“You’ve got a glowing aura. He’s trying to capture it,” Xander said from across the living area.
“You’ve got a glowing aura. I’m trying to capture it,” Laurencio repeated.
How bizarre. “Um, thanks. But, no.” She kept her hand up.
“Don’t waste good film on someone who buys her clothes at an outlet mall,” Toni said to Laurencio. “Come on. I’m wearing my bikini under this.” These words were addressed to Xander.
I’m not going to last two days, Jessi grated to herself. She tried to hang back, but Xander motioned for her to follow them. Grudgingly, she went to the opened doors opposite her that led directly onto the beach.
Gerry waited for her. Toni was hanging off Xander while Laurencio snapped a flurry of pictures. Jessi stopped to take off her sandals as she trailed them onto the beach. Gerry walked beside her.
“So, where you from?” he asked.
“Northern California. It’s like a whole different country.”
“I bet! I’m from Nebraska originally. Moved here to pursue my acting career.”
“You’re an actor?”
“Someday. I’ve had a few bit parts and been in a rut for awhile.”
“How is that possible?” she exclaimed. “You have problems dating and can’t get an acting job?”
“It takes connections for both around here,” he said. “I’m a dime a dozen. The girls all want to date people with money or family who can get them places.”
“That’s stupid,” she replied. “If you need a short, fat date for something, call me.”
“You’re not short or fat!”
Her eyes went to Toni, who had stripped off her shirt. “Um, yeah, I am.”
She was feeling insecure, and for good reason. Xander’s comments about her rear end did nothing to help, though she gave him credit for trying.
Jessi and Gerry stopped to watch as Laurencio’s assistant set up a tripod. The photographer coached Xander how to stand. When happy, he snapped pics. Toni watched, her hungry gaze taking in every part of Xander. It got worse when Xander removed his shirt. Toni was almost prancing with her excitement to get close to him.
Jessi saw what Toni saw, but she wasn’t going to drop at Xander’s feet. She exchanged a look with Gerry before her eyes went past him to the group of three women watching nearby. All wore similar dreamy expressions to Toni’s.
“Am I the only one with any sort of self-respect?” Jessi asked.
“Or maybe you’re immune to his … charm,” Gerry said with a grin. “I haven’t known him long, but I see this happen wherever he goes.”
“You’re saying I’m the weird one, not these girls?” She raised an eyebrow at him.
“Unfortunately. It might not be that good of a thing,” he said. “From that exchange in the kitchen I overheard, I’d say you drew his attention.”
“He’s interested in every woman. Just because I’m the only one who doesn’t …oh. Oh.” She frowned fiercely. “So because I don’t act like everyone else, he noticed me.”
“No one else talks to him like you do and lives to walk away.” The words seemed to be meant as a joke, but there was an edge in Gerry’s tone that made her think he knew Xander much better than he let on. “Maybe if you were like everyone else, he’d let you go after your week is up.”
Let you go. Fear slid through her. She never considered she was getting into something she wasn’t going to escape. She assumed Jonny was the only danger. Her instincts warned her that she didn’t want Xander’s attention.
Whatever was going on, Gerry was somehow involved. Jessi wasn’t able to figure out how Jonny, Xander and Gerry were connected, except that they had to be. They just weren’t normal.
“You’re saying that, instead of treating him like I do my teenage cousins, I should pretend I’m dealing with a five-year-old who’s convinced his stick figure drawing is a masterpiece.”
Gerry laughed.
“Okay. I’ll play along. I’ll try anyway. I don’t think I can look that desperate if I tried,” she said, amazed at Toni’s brazen attempts to flash Xander.
Jessi studied Xander’s body once more, forced to admit that the man had the perfect combination of rugged beauty and flawless form. Even the muscles along his back were roped, defined. They rippled with his controlled movements.
Laurencio finally motioned a preening Toni into the shot. The woman lost no time in running her hands over Xander’s body. She unsnapped the button of his jeans with one flick of her fingers and plunged her hand down his pants. She gave another high-pitched whinny and posed beside him. Laurencio was encouraging her.
“Omigod!” Jessi stifled a laugh.
“Yeah. Wow.” Gerry rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “This is getting awkward, isn’t it?”
She’d hoped to see Toni drive Xander crazy. He seemed at ease with the female attention or at least, unconcerned with where Toni’s hands went. The photographer issued them a few directions, with his assistant helping them pose. Toni was almost shimmying up and down Xander’s body in her excitement.
Jessi’s mouth was agape at the erotic poses Laurencio called for them to do. Xander pretending to bite her neck while she lay on top of him, the two of them spooning, even one where the massive man straddled her and pretended to hold her down.
Toni’s face was glowing. Xander looked bored.
“How about a beauty and the beast shot,” Xander said. “Innocence and danger.”
“Toni, this last one might work better if you’re wearing a shirt,” Laurencio said. “Sort of a beauty and the beast, innocence and danger.”
Jessi was perplexed by the verbatim repetition of Laurencio. Gerry muttered something. She glanced at him.
“Toni isn’t innocent looking,” Xander added. “How about Jessi?”
Laurencio copied him again. Jessi wondered if she was the only one who heard Xander, which made no sense, considering the photographer stood between her and the massive man.
“Or Toni could put on her clothes,” Gerry suggested. The edge was back to him again. He tossed the model her shirt. She pulled it on with a dirty look at her assistant.
Jessi covered her mouth but ended up faking an outburst of coughs to keep from laughing out loud. Xander looked at her again, a flicker of something she thought might be cunning crossing his features.
The photographer seemed to be considering.
“Jessi’s got that look,” Xander prompted.
“Jessi’s got that look.”
“Absolutely not,” she replied.
“I can be innocent looking!” Toni replied. “I’m an actress.”
Laurencio, however, was looking at Jessi. “You’re right, Xander. Tell your assistant to come down for a shot.”
“Tell your photographer no,” Jessi shot back.
“She does need to lose double-digit pounds,” Laurencio said.
“Sorry, Ingrid. I’ve got the number to the best weight loss doctor in town.” Toni gave Jessi a triumphant look.
Gerry caught Jessi’s eye. He shook his head.
What a bitch. Jessi bit back her words. She knew very well she had some physical assets that drew men, even if her body wasn’t ideal like Toni’s.
“She has a sweet aura,” Xander said.
“Toni, I think he’s right,” Laurencio said. “She has that very sweet aura. Will make for a great Bella and the Beast photo.”
Play along. Gerry mouthed the words to Jessi then added for her ears only, “I’ll take you to lunch tomorrow, if you do it.”
“Really?” she asked, surprised the handsome man wanted anything to do with her after Xander’s warning.
“Date?”
“Yeah,” she said, unable to help the smile that crossed her face. “Date.” Her first date in five years was with someone who looked like Gerry. She was unusually pleased by the idea.
“Give Xander what he wants. Figuratively, not literally. Pretend like you’re an actress, like Toni.” He rolled his eyes.
She choked back another laugh then turned her attention to the photographer.
“I’d love to do this, Laurencio!” she exclaimed with all the enthusiasm she could. “Xander is my all-time fave. I’m his biggest fan girl!”
Toni looked her over in irritation as Jessi walked towards Laurencio. The photographer was pleased, Xander suspicious.
“All time fave,” she repeated and batted her eyelashes at him the same way Toni did.
“We’ll have to do some post-photo work,” Laurencio said, looking her over.
Jessi forced herself to keep smiling. He’d just called her ugly after insisting she participate in this stupid photo shoot.
“Quite a bit, I’d say,” Toni added. “You may want to focus on a headshot.”
“I got an idea,” Xander said. “Similar to the last shot but a bit more … provocative. I’ve got my fangs.”
Jessi refused to flinch. “Omigod, that would be awesome!” She pretended to fan herself.
“Oh, we haven’t seen those yet,” Toni said in a honeyed voice. “You’re welcome to bite me, Xander. I’ll warn you that I bite back.”
“I look forward to that,” Xander replied.
Laurencio stepped back and was alternately gazing at Toni and Jessi through a box he made out of his hands.
“You’re both right,” he declared with enough self-importance that Jessi wanted to scream. “She’s got the innocence but not the body. Headshot, close-up of Xander and his fangs.” He motioned to his assistant.
“I can do innocent,” Toni whined.
“Not this kind of innocence,” Laurencio replied. “Those big eyes are the key. You’re a little too ...”
“Whorish,” Jessi supplied with a sweet smile.
Toni stared at her. Xander chuckled. Laurencin’s assistant took Jessi’s arm before she could see how red Toni’s face turned. Disappointed, she turned her attention to Xander, whose half-smile was one of warning, not comfort.
“On your back,” the assistant said, motioning to the sand.
“Total fan girl moment,” Jessi said.
“What’s the name of my show, fan-girl?” Xander challenged.
Jessi pretended to take her time settling on the sand, struggling to recall what Gerry said the name of Xander’s show was. She lay down.
“Vampire something,” she said then gave a breezy sigh. “I’m too excited to remember!”
The assistant squatted over her mid-section and fanned out her hair, positioning and repositioning it around her head.
“Makeup,” he said without glancing up.
Someone tossed him a small kit. He dipped a pinky into it and roughly spread lipstick across her lips then dipped his pinky again to smear something on her cheekbones.
“Eyes closed.”
She obeyed. He swept something over her eyelids.
“Rub your lips together.”
She did. He took her hands and positioned them over her head. She opened her eyes. He was frowning and glancing back at Laurencio for direction. He positioned her hands on either side of her head.
“Good,” Laurencio said. “To keep this a headshot, Xander will need to be lower than last time.”
“Best day of my life!” she exclaimed. Toni appeared pissed while Gerry was a cross between amused and concerned.
“We’re about to make your dreams come true.” This came from Xander. He kicked one of her feet with his. “Spread ‘em.”
“Excuse me?” she raised her head.
“No! Don’t move!” the assistant cried.
She lowered her head. The last pose with Toni was far too …intimate for Jessi’s taste. She hoped they took her picture and left her alone.
“We’re all professionals here,” Xander said, a smile crossing his face.
“We’re all professionals here,” Laurencio echoed. “Xander, your head needs to be level with hers. We’re doing an extreme close-up, so we don’t have to do too much post-photo work.”
The assistant left, and Xander replaced him. He didn’t hesitate to straddle her hips and rest on his haunches. The nearness of his bare chest and feel of his strong thighs on either side of her made her heart flutter. The smile she plastered across her face was starting to falter.
“It’s like sex,” Xander added. “You have had sex before, Ms. Tuesday?”
Toni sighed.
“Don’t call me that!” Jessi flushed, cursing him under her breath. She tried to look towards Gerry and silently beg him to help her.
“Don’t move your upper body,” the assistant ordered.
“You can tell she’s never done a shoot before,” Toni said.
“Spread ‘em, fan-girl,” Xander said again. He shifted forward, gripping her forearms in a way that brought their faces inches apart. Her breath caught, and she hated herself for it. His chest rested against hers, and he nudged her thighs a part with a knee.
Aware he was trying to make her uncomfortable, Jessi refused to meet his gaze as he settled between her legs. The intimacy of the pose made her body hot from the inside out. He was heavy, though most of his weight was on the hips squeezed between her thighs. With him on top of her, she was able to feel just how strong and wide he was. His grip on her forearms was loose but firm. His skin was hot, working its way through her thin dress in a way that did nothing to lessen the warmth racing through her blood.
“Best day of my life,” she said through clenched teeth.
“You’re not fooling anyone,” he told her calmly.
Play along. It wasn’t working. He knew it. She wasn’t certain she could pretend, with the heat in her blood. She might just melt at his feet like Toni did.
Of course the control freak would choose a pose where he was holding her down with the sheer size of his body, her hands pinned by her head. Agitated by him and the fire he caused, she was also awed by how small and delicate his muscular frame made her feel. She was trying hard to ignore the sensations in her body.
“Hold that pose, Xander,” the man on top of her whispered.
“Hold that pose, Xander,” Laurencio directed.
Jessi looked at him, perplexed as to how Laurencio heard him from the ten feet separating them.
“Wanna see it again?” Xander asked.
“See what?”
“Break out those fangs, Xander.”
Laurencio repeated the words.
“So he does what you say,” Jessi said.
“They all do. It’s one of my special talents,” he said. “I can manipulate minds.”
“And you’re a vampire. I get it. You’re messing with me.”
“Watch,” he directed. He lowered his head until his hot breath tickled her ear. She shivered at the sensation of his roughened jaw against her cheek and the heat of his bare chest. “Pretend it hasn’t been five years since you’ve gotten laid, Jessi, and relax.” His whisper was barely audible, even as his lips moved against her ear.
“Hey, pretend it hasn’t been five years since you’ve gotten laid, Jessi, and relax,” Toni taunted.
“You son of a bitch!” Jessi hissed at Xander. “It’s been four, and now everyone knows it!”
Xander eased away from her, satisfied. “Ready for the fangs?”
“Secrets of a Vampire,” she recalled suddenly. “What total fan girl doesn’t want to be bitten by her idol.”
“Fan request granted.”
The photographer’s assistant yelped suddenly, and she turned her head, needing the distraction from the infuriating wall of pure male lying on top of her. She saw the camera in the sand, one of the tripod legs two feet shorter than the other two. Laurencio rushed towards it, snatching it from his assistant and cradling it to check for sand. Gerry was covering up a laugh while Toni appeared startled.
“This might hurt a little.”
Jessi’s focus returned to Xander. His face six inches away, he was gazing at her with a strange light in his eyes, but it wasn’t the glow that caught her attention.
“Omigod. Those look so real!” she breathed, staring at the four inch fangs.
Xander was silent for a long moment, holding her gaze. She couldn’t see any signs that the fangs were a prosthetic. They were the same shade of white as the rest of his teeth and seemed a natural extension from his gums. He’d been holding her down when he put them on, puzzling her as to how he did put them on. They were even with the teeth around them, as if his incisors had just …grown.
Like Jonny’s.
“It wasn’t an invitation!” she blurted out. “You are not going to bite me. I don’t care what you make Laurencio say.”
“You sure?” His half-smile was back. He squeezed her forearms in reminder she wasn’t able to do anything about it if he did decide to bite her.
“If you ever want another cup of coffee, you won’t do it,” she replied. “Promise me you won’t bite me.”
“Would it bother you if I did?”
Her head dropped back, and she swallowed hard. The moment stretched on as the others worked on the camera and tripod. Jessi felt Xander’s heartbeat against her chest. His breathing synced with hers, until they breathed the same air at the same pace. The heat and size of his body, the erotic pose, his direct gaze … all fed the desire burning within her.
“It’s not gonna work,” she whispered. “I won’t be Tuesday.”
“I’ve got a week.”
“I’m going to lunch with Gerry tomorrow.”
“He knows his place in this mess,” he mused. “I’ll make you a deal. Be Tuesday, and I won’t bite you.”
“No to both!” she said, hearing her own uneven breathing. “I don’t want to sleep with some sadistic man-whore, and I don’t want rabies.”
“I think they’re called gigolos, and I am gonna bite you.” His decisive whisper was husky.
Her eyes went to the fangs the size of paring knives. A bite with those things would kill her. There was no way he was serious.
“Fine you win. I believe you’re a vampire now. But I’m not sleeping with you,” she relented.
“Wrong answer.”
“We’re set, Xander,” Laurencio sounded relieved. “Nothing wrong with my camera.”
The assistant straightened her hair once more then stepped back.
“Love the fangs,” Laurencio said.
“Give her a bite, Xander,” Xander whispered.
“Give her a bite, Xander.”
“I will drop you and your cat off at the humane society!” she said, starting to believe he was serious.
“Just don’t move,” Xander told her. “It won’t hurt. If you do … no guarantees you make it out of this one alive. Your choice.” He lowered his head to the side of her neck away from the camera and nuzzled her neck in a way that made her heart race faster.
“You won’t bite me,” she said. A small part of her hoped he did or at least, he turned that nuzzling into a hot kiss.
“Don’t move,” he warned.
His grip on her forearms tightened, and he pressed them into the sand. It was the second sign he was serious. The third: a pinch in her neck. She jerked at her arms, unable to dislodge them from his grip.
Jessi felt his teeth sink into her neck, confused when there was no pain beyond the initial puncture. She heard the sound of the camera snapping pictures and began to think she’d entered some sort of surreal world. Utterly still, she forced herself to breathe, or she’d pass out.
“Good!” Laurencio called. “You need to look scared, not ambivalent.”
Another sensation rose up within her fast and hard. Not quite panic, not quite desire.
Hunger. Need.
She gasped at the intensity that turned her lower belly into a furnace and swept through her, making her achingly aware of his scent, the heat and smoothness of his skin, the size of his body and the hot mouth pressed against her neck. Her skin grew so sensitive, the scrape of sand and heat of his hands were almost orgasmic. The tension building within her wasn’t something she’d felt in years. Her eyes drifted closed.
“Scared, not sleepy!”
Laurencio’s voice reminded her they weren’t alone. Jessi fought back whatever spell was trying to engulf her. It swallowed her senses, but she wasn’t about to lose complete control to someone like Xander. On a beach. With a ton of people watching. Whatever he was doing to her, he made her want to beg him to finish.
“Xander, head up. Look at each other as if you’re in love.”
Xander withdrew from her neck, but not before his tongue flickered out to trace the sensitive spot. She shuddered, his spell retreating. He lifted his head and met her gaze. A drop of something warm fell onto her face.
Blood. His fangs were red from blood. Her blood. The realization helped her push back the trance she’d been about to fall into.
“You did bite me!” she said in a breathless voice. “What kind of psycho are you?”
“You’re a smart girl. You can put two and two together,” Xander said.
The fangs, the eyes, the ability to manipulate the minds of others. It struck her that the red eyes weren’t contacts and the four inch incisors weren’t implants. Her blood was on them. He tried to tell her he was a vampire. She didn’t believe in them, until Jonny. She hadn’t wanted to believe she might be caught at the mercy of not one, but two real-live vampires!
“There you go. You got it,” he said, his look turning cunning. “Vamp got your tongue?”
Jessi’s lips parted, but the words she wanted to say were stuck in her throat.
“Excellent emotion! Perfect!” Laurencio exclaimed.