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On the way down the hall, I had my first regrets. Sander swept me off my feet, literally, and carried me into the elevator honeymoon style. When the doors closed, I heard his fangs snap down, and he nuzzled into my neck.
“Put me down,” I squealed to no avail.
After a few more nuzzles with me pounding on his back, he did, and I straightened my dress. “Surely you know I don’t want to have sex with you.”
Sander trapped me against the wall, leaning into me, touching and smelling the wisps of my hair that framed my face. “You smell like desire. You reeked of it even before I picked you up.” His hand went under the flowing skirt, between my legs to rub my crotch. “You’re very responsive to my touch.”
It was true. My nipples had hardened instantly, and moisture pooled around his intrusive fingers as he pushed the small bit of fabric of my panties away. My body wanted him, and it wouldn’t take much for him to have me again. “I think I’ll just leave,” I breathed, but I didn’t push him away.
Sander chuckled low in my ear, “You'll have to come up to my room to explain what the strange man was doing in your ear. But I hope you will soon forget all about him. After all, I paid for the whole night.”
“That’s not happening,” I panted as he pushed a cool finger inside of me.
“Would you like to make a bet, a friendly wager?”
I closed my eyes as he gently pumped his hand. Trying to fight whatever it was about him that made me submit every time as he licked my neck, I was losing. “No, I don't gamble.”
He started nibbling on my ear as his other hand cupped the swell of my breast. “The girl raised in the casino doesn't gamble.”
Sander always had to find a way to remind me of my past, a past I barely thought of anymore. A past I didn’t want to think of. I may have grown up in an abandoned casino, but I wasn't playing his game. Something in me snapped. I wiggled away from him, watching him seductively lick his juicy finger clean. The elevator doors opened, and I rushed into the hall with him close on my heels.
When we entered his penthouse apartment, I ran my hand seductively down my body. His eyes watching my hand, I trailed it between my legs. I hiked up my skirt to pull out a wooden stake I’d strapped to my inner thigh. Holding it to him, I warned him, “I don't play with cheaters. You're not going to use your vamp voodoo to get me into your bed again. We have more important things to discuss, like where you're holding my friend and what you're going to give me for letting you know about the bugs. I'm still supposed to plant them. You know I was supposed to put one in your ear, and I haven't. Because I must be crazy! What do you suppose that’s worth?”
He didn’t as much as flinch as I held the stake against his chest. “Noir I'm surprised you think you need a stake to threaten me. You realize I know you could kill me with one bite.” He paused to smile, but he’d put his fangs away, something I couldn’t do. “But you won't, and you won't hurt me with that stake either.”
“How do you know I won't?”
Sander laughed, confidently. “I have your boyfriend, actually, both of them. Besides, I’m your ally, if not so much more. You trust me. I have already offered to help you because of our connection.” Sander seized my hand, pushing the stake away from him but looking at the ring on my right hand. “It looks exquisite on your hand, and you knew which one to put it on.”
I let the stake fall to the floor as he squeezed my hand too hard, but it was still within reach. I beheld his right hand. Damn it, that’s where he wore his matching ring too. You’d know the old vampires would have to do things strange.
“The right hand is the ancient way. I didn't think you’d catch on so quickly, but it’s a sign. We are meant to be.”
Backing out of his reach, I yanked on the ring as he talked, but it wouldn’t come off. It was stuck on my finger.
Sander, only amused at my struggle sat down on the couch, propping his feet up, pleased with himself. “Who was trying to spy on me, and why should it be my good luck they send you? I didn't speculate you’d tell anyone about us. No wonder you didn't want my help.” He smirked. “In bed with my enemies, I am surprised.” Stroking his chin, he studied me, thinking I was playing both sides.
I was not playing both sides, not the way he thought. “No one knows about us," I stressed, defensively. Savy knew a little. She knew when Sander decided to take me from Aubrey because I’d asked him to remove Aubrey’s mark, so my ex couldn't rip me to pieces in a fit of jealousy, it was the one night a year Sander could choose a wife. Too bad, he performed the marriage ritual that saved me before he told me I’d be bound to him for eternity. “I’m not in bed with anyone,” I said to which he cocked an eyebrow, so I added, “I’m not working with anyone. Somebody knows about me. The same somebody wants something from you, but I swear I told no one.”
“Who else knew about your pretty boyfriend you killed on Hells road?”
“Hells Road?”
“On your way to the city.” Oh, he was talking about Jack.
“A few people. Aubrey was trying to figure it out for someone named Zeus.”
“Your other boyfriend, who’s out cold, how is he involved?”
I huffed at Sander always calling guys my boyfriends, but it was no use to argue. I sat opposite of him since we were finally getting down to business. “He’s innocent, being blackmailed like me. Quixon’s my friend and knows nothing about you and I, and I’d prefer to keep it that way.”
“I can smell him on you like he's marked you, pissed on you like a dog.” A bleeder couldn’t physically mark me like a vampire, or I’m sure Quixon would have by now. Sander stood, turning his back to me and going to the tall windows, looking out over the city. I could smell his anger, jealousy, hatred if his unusual actions didn’t show me as much.
“If I can trust you, send him home.” I put the tiny bag of bugs on the table along with the activator. I’d have to place one drop on each bug to... wake it up. “I have to activate these or Zeus will out me. Everybody will know what I can do.”
Sander didn’t say anything but went to the phone and gave the order to someone on the other line to take Quixon home.
I guess they knew where his home was because I hadn’t been asked. “Thanks.” My breath caught in my throat. Damn it. I didn’t even know why I’d said it.
Sander just brightened, his jealous aroma fading. It was unwise to thank a vampire. It meant I owed him one and not the agreed-upon deal of me giving him information about Zeus’ surveillance in return for Quixon’s safety. I owed him another one now.
The ancient vampire was beside me in a flash. He picked up and poured out the bag of bugs onto the table to study the tiny things. “You’re supposed to bug me and the room, but this isn’t my home.”
“And they know it. They messed up your last order for an escort, so they know about that place too.” Was Veles’ Castle Sander’s home? I didn’t know. “Maybe they aren’t sure if you live here or there?” I was thinking aloud.
Sander seemed to be taking it all in but not giving me anything in return. “What about the bug in your ear.” He touched my ear gently, causing a tingle to ring through me. “Only attached to the bleeder down stairs, right?”
“Yes, that’s what he said, and I trust him. It dissolves in twenty four hours.”
“Twenty four hours you say. These things can live a lot longer in a vampire. If you were to put that in my ear, I could be bugged forever.”
I never thought of that. I balked. I’d almost gave Zeus complete power over Sander. Not saying anything, I cradled my knee. Why should I care?
“You have to set the others, and then claim you bugged me as well. Maybe Zeus won't know if it will work or not. There's always a chance something like this will malfunction.” He squeezed one of the tiny worms, and it became nothing more than a smear.
“Who is Zeus, and what if he knows about us?"
“It doesn't matter." Sander leaned in close. "You’ll stay here until I can take care of him once and for all.”
Just him being closer made my stomach knot with desire. “I’m not staying with you.” I stood to get away from him, almost breaking my ankle in the heels.
Sander followed, reaching behind me to let down my hair. “You made your appearance tonight, wearing my ring, wearing a symbol of my cloud.” He touched the necklace around my neck, concentrating on the pendant. “You’re one of us now, and you’re part of me for eternity.”
The word eternity rung through me, making me want him even more, more than the pheromones, more than any dose of vampire blood I’d ever had. My feelings for Sander at the moment were more than a loss of inhibition. It was a hunger. Hunger for more than sex, different than a hunger for blood. It was ancient and wild and scared the shit out of me. "I think it's about time for me to set the bugs and go,” I stuttered, unable to compose myself.
I made it to the door before he said, "You will always return to me. We are one."
His words called to me, vibrating through my veins, walking up my spine and pouring all over me like a hot spring rain. I walked over to put my finger in his chest. "What are you doing to me?"
"Nothing.” He was defensive, his face squeezing together. “I’ve never used my powers of seduction on you."
"Bull shit, look at this dress." I twirled, channeling all my cravings for Sander into anger and threw it at him. “Doesn't it look familiar? Have you forgotten, taking me from my home, draining me to heal yourself, marking me and calling me to this city? Tricking me into having sex with you?”
"Most of that isn't true.” He rubbed my bare arms trying to sooth me. “I marked you and called you to the city but did not make you have sex with me. You did that all on your own.” I drew away ready to leave but in his vampire speed, Sander unexpectedly had me against the door, trapped again, saying, “You cannot resist me. I’ve never been able to ignore you. The night we saved each other was not chance. It was fate."
I crossed my arms over my cleavage, creating a buffering wall between our bodies. "Sure..."
“Why do you not believe in anything, Lily? Fate brought you to me”
I didn’t want him to call me Lily. It was too intimate. Fate had not been kind to me, I was supposed to marry Crow but was supposedly married to a vampire I knew nothing about. Besides, I didn’t think he believed in superstitions. “Now you're a believer. Fuck fate.”
“All you believe in is a man long gone.”
“I love him.” We both were talking about Crow, and I felt a tear slip from my eye as I remembered him as he was now.
Sander’s lips kissed away my tear and then fell to mine, barely touching, “Why would you trust a whore like love over destiny?” My lips parted, letting his cool tongue give more passion to his words. Enjoying the sensation of his lips, exploring me as his thumb brushed my jaw, wiping my continuing tears. I was soon letting his hands wander all over my body. Feeling his fangs with my tongue, I wanted him to bite me, use me for his food and his pleasure. I needed him to need me. I needed him to take away all my pain. It had to be a trick. Damn it! I kneed him in the crotch. He didn’t back away but the kissing was over.
"Why do you have to trick women into having sex with you?" I snarled, angry at letting him get to me again.
"So you think I had something to do with the first night we made love, right there in that bed?" Sander head jerked toward the bedroom and shot of vision of that night to my head.
"Think? I know. What were you doing just now? Tempting me." I beat his chest with both fists.
“You have more lust for me than you’ve ever had love for another man.” Sander beamed, showing me all his fangs, a sign that he felt the same. It only made me madder.
"Lust is nothing, but love means something.”
“The love between a man and a woman means nothing without lust. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you, you were mine. That I would spread your milky white thighs and fill you completely, become one with you.” Sander brushed the loose hair from my face staring into my eyes, his icy blue ones dead serious. He shot another memory into my brain of the night he pretended to kill me.
Part of me knew Sander had saved me from a horrible fate that night, but it didn't matter. I was mad, mad at everything. Wanting him so desperately, when I should have been scared of what Zeus would think happened tonight and worried about Quixon. I should have been even sadder about Crow too, anxious to use my wish so we could be together again like I have been all week. I should’ve been depressed about my career going down the toilet, having to live out in the fringe, but no, I was furious at my feelings for Sander, they couldn't be real. I forced myself to remember him how he looked on the first night I met him.
“The first time I laid eyes on you, I saw what you really are, a monster,” I all but spit in his face. “You thought your pretty face was going to make me forget your true form, the monster that drug me into that cave. Why would I have had sex with you all on my own?"
"Why do you fight what you want? Fighting fate is a dangerous gamble, Noir."
"I'm sure a vampire like you takes what he wants." I waved my ringed hand at him before he seized both of my wrist against the door beside my head. "I've heard they call you the Dragon. They call you a god." I laughed. "Everyone but me seems to know all about you. No wonder you hire takeout. The ladies probably know all about you and your tricks."
Sander’s face didn't show it, but I could smell his anger rising, tainting the sweet smelling sexual desire that’d been surrounding him. "You’re angry because you want me when you feel you should still love another. Run from fate and she will be merciless when she catches you."
"Fuck you!"
"I've never tricked you," he said, his mouth held tight as he still held me in place before composing himself with a smile. "It's true all vampires can allure, to an extent. Some are better than others. I’m one of the best."
I rolled my eyes. "You're not going to force yourself on me again."
"Force myself on you?" He almost shouted. I saw another vision of my first night with Sander. “Do you think you mean nothing to me?" Showing me the night he saved me from Aubrey this time, he sent his tender memory through me.
Why would I mean anything to him? I barely knew him. He’s a vampire. They’re all the same. I just hadn’t figured out what he wanted from me yet, besides sex. "You’re nothing to me, and I'm certain I'm nothing to you. Stop showing me those memories!"
He let go of my wrists and stepped back. “Showing you? You think I’m showing you? You’re taking those from my head!”
“What?” I shook my head.
There was a pause. I could feel it in the air. His anger felt like a growing fire, making the room hotter as I pressed myself into the door. "I gave myself to you. I am yours now and you are mine forever.” I could feel he was angry, heading towards rage. He was close to the edge, but I felt like I was the one going to fall. He balled his fists. I could feel him fight his anger. I looked to Sander's eyes, now changing from blue to red, back to blue.
Okay, that was some scary shit I’d never seen before. I turned to leave, trying not to be scared. "Do what you want with the bugs. I'll take my chances with Zeus." Trying the door, I found it wouldn’t budge. It wasn’t locked, but it wouldn’t open either. Giving Sander a scowl, I peered at him over my shoulder, pulling on the door with all my strength, demanding, "Let me out."
Immediately he was behind me. His hands steadied my shoulders, turning me to face him. "You want to be nothing to me. Do you think I’d let any bleeder get away with pretending to be takeout to spy on me for one of my enemies? If you were nothing to me, you'd be dead." Sander let go of me, almost pushing, and I stumbled out of one of my shoes but found my balance. He didn't scare me, red eyes or not. I squeezed my hand into a fist at my side and used all my strength to punch him in the stomach.
When he didn’t react, I put my hands on my hips and told him, “I’m leaving,” as if that settled it.
"You are going nowhere. I paid for the whole night."
I cackled, coming toward him. Running my hands up his chest, I mocked, "Oh yes. What would you like master? Should I get on my knees?" His eyes, back to their normal icy blue locked onto me as I walked away to the window. The city was beautiful from up this high, seeming to go on forever. The sky was turning a lighter shade of black, it would be dawn soon, and I would leave whether he wanted me to or not.
"You want to play like you're a whore?" Sanders voice was level, but it felt like he was drawing me towards him with an invisible thread. I had no choice but to go to him. My legs walked without my permission. His eyes were touching me all over as they had before, but this was different. It was rough and straight to the point, a violation between my thighs that felt too good. Unable to dislike the intrusion, fuck I was trying, my legs felt weak as my body reacted and contorted. I fell to my knees. Just like that, I was ready to let him do whatever he pleased. Chewing my bottom lip, I reached up to grab his belt with only one thing in mind.
Sander’s hands went to my hair, tangling in, towing my head back. “You’ll have to beg for it now.”
“Please,” I automatically moaned, meeting his lust filled eyes with desperation.
“No, it’ll take more than that. I want your blood first. Show me your neck.”
Although I was willing, Sander yanked my head over hard, exposing my neck “Take whatever you want,” I pleaded, working on his belt, towing his pants down to his knees.
He closed his eyes in ecstasy as I ran my hand over his huge bulge but told me, “Noir, you need to stop, now.”
I didn’t listen. All I could think of was pleasuring him. I yanked down his boxer briefs, releasing his erection from its confines, the sight of his cock making me more aroused. Suddenly, Sander backed away working up his pants. But I wouldn’t have it. I jumped on him in an instant, trying to climb him like a tree. He fell back onto the couch, taking me with him.
“Noir, stop.”
His words meant nothing. Straddling his lap, I pressed my exposed cleavage towards his face but he turned his head away. His refusal made me furious. Grabbing his gorgeous blond hair, I put my fangs on his neck, and he froze. I could smell his fear, and my mouth watered as it turned me on even more. In the back of my mind, I knew a bite would kill him. I didn’t want to kill him. Did I? I needed blood. Barely grazing his neck with my fangs, I licked my way down. I bit his shirt buttons off one by one, descending to his lap. Ripping open his pants, I had my mouth wrapped around his cock quickly. He protested again but held very still as I held tight onto his hips, my nails digging deep into his flesh while I worked my tongue, then my suctioned mouth up and down his erection. The smell of his blood was intoxicating, making me increase my pace. It wasn’t long before he responded by moving along with me as I sucked. Sander finally grunted as his blood exploded in my mouth. I drank the big dose in one gulp licking my lips when I’d finished.
Feeling satisfied in one way but not another, I stood and unzipped my dress. After it fell to the floor, Sander was behind me directing me to bend at the waist. My hands touched the cold marble floor as all the blood rushed to my head. My legs were straight as he moved my thong over to expose my clit to the air. Bending down behind me, he licked between my folds until I could barely hold myself up. When I fell on my knees and started to crawl to the couch, Sander snatched my hand, hauling me up to lead me to the window. He tore my thong off completely with a snap, then turned me around to undo my bra. I watched my breasts suddenly appear in my faint reflection, looking like two boobs hanging over the city. He pushed me forward to smash me completely against the glass. I longed for him to be inside me and spread my legs waiting for him to take me. He butted the head of his dick against my entrance, and I moaned, almost begging. He sank his fangs into my shoulder. Quickly feeling weak, I blacked out.
