High Stakes (24 page)

Shocked atherself and him, but thrilled with the wild, edgy desire that shoved aside her inhibitions and sank her in bliss.

When his tongue touched her clitoris, she screamed, "Corbin! Please,more, please…"

When he bit the soft, tender flesh between her legs, and again on her inner thigh, when he sank his erection into her, and his teeth into her neck, she scratched and clawed at him in approval.

And when he came inside her with a hot, deep rush that had her clamping down on him in triumph, she careened into another orgasm with a cry hoarse from yelling, and a feeling that she had never known or understood her body until that moment.

Never known that two people could blend together with such wild, animal intensity.

That heady sensation lasted the length of her orgasm.

Then when her body settled back onto the sheet, and Corbin licked her torn flesh, she blinked up at him, every feeling sucked right out of her, leaving nothing except a vague embarrassment. As fast as she'd shot up, she crashed down even quicker. Crap, crap, crap, what the hell had just happened?

She'd had unprotected sex with a vampire, that's what.

Her phone rang. Immediately pulling out of her, Corbin turned his back to her, fixing his pants.Brittany felt a fierce blush burn-ingher cheeks. Oh, my God, she was a total, shameless slut who had begged a vampire to give it to her.

A glance over at her nightstand showed Alexis's cell phone on her caller ID. It was nearly four in the morning. Why would her sister be calling?

She grabbed the phone, a sick panic in her mouth. "Hello? What's the matter, Alex?"

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"Nothing, I was going to ask you that. Ethan thought maybe you were in some kind of trouble."

"Why would he think that?" Relieved,Brittany grabbed the sheet and covered herself, determined not to look at Corbin, who was packing his case back up.

"He thought he heard… shock from you.Yelling."

Alex sounded worried, butBrittany wanted to laugh in total horror. Ethan had heard her orgasm over at The Ava? That was so completely mortifying she wasn't even sure she could speak.

"Well, I'm fine," she managed to choke out. "Thanks for checking on me, but I need to get back to sleep." As if she'd been sleeping. "Call me tomorrow?"

"You're sure you're okay?"

No. "Positive. Love you, Alex."

"You, too, sweetie."

Brittanyhung up the phone, shimmied under the sheet, and pulled the pillow over her face. She could never look at Corbin again.

Maybe if she ignored him, he would just leave.

Corbin checked the zipper on his pants for the fourth time a stared atBrittany , currently hiding under her pillow. He was embarrassed and ashamed of himself. He never, ever turned a subject into a vessel for his own pleasure. He had lost complete and total control of himself.

ButBrittany was such an amazing woman, compassionate and honest, with a sensuality that was made even more appealing by the fact that she wasn't
aware
of it. She had pranced around in nightclothes that practically left her naked, yet never even seemed to notice. He had been lying to himself when he'd sworn he wasn't attracted to her.

Using passion to ease her discomfort over the needle had been a stupid, stupid idea. One taste of her and he'd been unable to stop from taking more.A lot more.

Moving out of her bedroom, he let his eyes adjust to the dark. He had much better than mortal vision in the dark and he wanted to find her kitchen.

"Are you leaving?" she called, her voice muffled, but hopeful. "I am getting you something to drink." He found her refrigerator, which was neat and tidy, with lots of little bottles, some of which he wasn't even sure what they contained. He recognized orange juice, knew that was a good source of sugar to replenish the blood she'd lost.

Lost? No—the blood that he'd taken. He had bitten her eight times.Eight.Taking blood each time, though not a lot. And it had been fantastic, the best sexual joining he'd had in centuries.Perhaps ever.

Even now his manhood hardened in memory.

Corbin clenched his fists."Ugh, stupid, stupid, idiot."

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"What?"

'Nothing."He went back to her room, found her lying ex-actlythe way he'd left her. "Drink this. You will feel better." He set the tumbler of juice on her nightstand next to the phone.

"I feel fine."

The pillow didn't move and she was nothing but a white bedding lump, a. few strands of her black hair visible on either side, her knuckles taut as she clutched.

"I guess I should be going." Corbin stood there feeling ridiculous. He should kiss her
au
revoir, say something nice about their lovemaking. But he felt like a young boy who takes a girl in a barn and then is unsure what conies next.

"Bye." Her fingers wiggled out from under the sheet and waved.

It had been many, many years since he had felt this kind of embarrassment and uncertainty. He did not like it.

So he left, understanding there is no bigger fool than an old fool.

"You're still worried about her, aren't you?"

Alexis picked at the eggs on her plate with her fork. "Yes." She abandoned the food and rubbed her eyes. They were eating— well, she was eating—room service in Ethan's suite before she left for work.

"She said she was fine." Ethan took a sip of his drink, which looked remarkably like a strawberry daiquiri, minus the cherry.

"I know." Alexis leaned back and unbuttoned the jacket of the suit she was wearing. "But I have something to tell you, Ethan."

She felt like hell, running on zero sleep, and worrying about Brit-tany. While showering and slapping some makeup on, she had re-alizedthat not only did she feel like hell, she looked like it, too. But she trusted Ethan, which kind of blew her mind, but she did, and she needed his advice.

He was looking at her, a touch of wariness in his eyes, his glass hovering in front of his mouth. "Yes?"

"The other night I got an e-mail inviting me to join a vampire slayers message list. I don't know who they are, or how they got my name. But what if they know aboutBrittany ? Do you think we should tell her? Is she safe out there inSummerlin by herself? Maybe she shouldcome stay here." Just the thought of telling her baby sister, hey, your dad was a vampire, made her sick, but she'd do whatever she had to do to keepBrittany safe.

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"Vampire slayers?"Ethan looked amused. "It's a minor annoyance to be so popular these days. We have to deal with these enthusiasts. I can't imagine thatBrittany is in any danger from them. But certainly, she is more than welcome here."

"Cool. Thanks, Ethan. I'll make her stay here for a while."

"Make her?" His eyebrow rose.

What? Like she was going to feel guilty? "Hey, it's for her safety! And maybe you should tell me everything there is to know about this undead thing, so I have all the facts before I decide whether to tellBrittany or not."

"What would you like to know?" He sat back in his chair, the perfect English gentleman. Who was very intense, rough around the edges, and drank blood.

"How did you become a vampire?" Alexis went back to her eggs, turning her plate a little on the white linen tablecloth of Ethan's round dining table.

"I was ambushed on the way home during the First Crusade. I was made a Turkish prisoner, starved, and beaten before they slit my throat. The guard turned me to vampire and helped me escape by tossing my body out with the dead."

Lovely."Why did he save you? He must have seen hundreds of prisoners die."

Ethan smirked. "Not he.She. Let's just say during my captivity she was impressed with my show of strength."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "So you're saying she had thehots for you? So what happened to her?"

His smile fell. "She was a young vampire. I never saw her again. I expect she got the guillotine when the guards determined she was a woman."

"Oh. I'm sorry," she said, reaching across the table to touch him. She meant the words. She couldn't imagine being suddenly thrust into vampire-hood without anyone to guide you. In movies and books they always had mentors, even if it was just a jerk likeLestat . "Damn, I can't even believe how many people you've known in your life. It must be millions."

Ethan met her halfway, enclosed her hand with his. "Why do you think we've banded together in a governmental body? Yes, for law and order, but also because there is something inherently lonely about being a vampire. We experience so many relationships, acquaintances, people coming and going, yet we exist in perpetual solitude, locked within our unique world. Together, we can bridge that gap between mortal andvam-pire , Impure and fledgling, and thrive as a healthy, prosperous People."

Alexis stared at him, checked the earnestness on his face, and raised an eyebrow. "Did Seamus write that for you?"Because it was a total load of crap.

Yeah, for my speech tonight.What do you think?" Ethan sat back in his Irish farmhouse ladder-back chair.

"I think you're overreaching with that last bit," she said honestly.

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"That's what I told Seamus, but he's like a terrier with a bone about this kind of stuff. Sometimes I think he should be president, not me."

"He's wound pretty tight, isn't he?" A little round of golf would probably do him a world of good. "But if you want to get people's attention, you need to stand strong, confident. You need to tell them what you've done right, and if most people, vampires, I mean, are happy, don't fix what isn't broken. And I don't think you're going to recruitImpures —I really do hate that name, by the way—with some 'why don't we all just love each other' kind of BS."

"No?"

Alexis liked how Ethan pretty much always looked relaxed.Intense, but relaxed. He was wearing navy blue lounging pants and a white skin-tight T-shirt since he was on his way to bed for the day, and he was sexy hot.

She stuck her feet up onto his chair, between his legs. Even when her toes brushed his crotch, he didn't flinch. Damn, she liked that.Especially since she could feel him getting hard. But she'd never admit it out loud.

"No, you're not a touchy-feely guy. Let Seamus pass out hugs if he wants to. You need to tell these people straight up whether you'll give them what they want or not. No dancing around the issues— just hey,Impures , you can have national health insurance—or whatever it is they want."

Ethan nodded. "That's the way I would like to approach it-

"So do it." She curled her toes over his erection, grinning at him.

Strong, cool fingers gripped her bare toes, shifted them off him. Ethan sat slowly up, leaning forward, lips parted. Eyes deepened toa rich cobalt and Alexis sucked her breath in.

Sexual energy radiated off him and he was coming to get her. She licked her lips.

Ethan said, "Move in with me, Alexis.Permanently." Huh? Her feet fell to the floor. "What? Can you run that by me again?"

"Move in with me. Not for the election, but because you are my chosen one.My mate."

Hello. Alexis almost swallowed her tongue. "What? Where did this come from?" And why did it suddenly make her feel inflated, giddy,euphoric ?

But he didn't back down and he didn't let go of her hand. "From the first moment I touched you, I knew you were different. I have known many women—"

"Thanks for reminding me," she sniped. They were probably all taller and darker than she was, too.

"And none have given me the sense of completion you have. I've fallen in love with you."

Shegasped, the words like a blow to the chest. "Oh." Tears pricked at her eyes, startling her. She never cried, ever, but she did now because, looking at Ethan, she realized the strange truth was that she might have fallen in love with him, too, at some point. It was possible. But she wasn't ready to commit to it yet.

Concern furrowed his brow. "Alexis?"

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Shaking her head, she bit her lip.Tried to speak.Blinked hard to keep the tears behind her lids, where they belonged. "I'm falling for you, too."

Okay, so she'd left off the "l" word, but hey, she'd gotten close.

"You are?" He looked inordinately pleased.

"Yes, Garlic, it's sad, but true. I really kind of have a thing for you." She cleared her throat and squeezed his hand, hoping she could say this right, wishing that she could leap into his arms without the bitterness that seemed to plague her, the understanding that she wasn't a woman who could manage a long-term commitment.

"But I can't live with you… I mean, what would we have, ten years? Fifteen tops? And I've seen how people get when they're married, how they make each other miserable with all their personal flaws spilling out onto each other. I don't want to walk away from you in ten years hating you, or you hating me."

He frowned.

"I don't know how…" It wasn't coming out coherent at all. She bit her lip. "Ethan, I'm never going to get married… Okay, I know you didn't ask me to marry you, but I'm assuming eventually that would happen, or even if it didn't, I mean, living together is committed, it's like marriage in that you're in each other's space and…"

Alexis took a deep breath and tried to reorganize her thoughts, clamp down on her panic. "I told you a little bit about my mother, but I didn't tell you about the day I realized I hated her.Brittany didn't hate her, but I did, because her own selfishness, her own personal shit, ruined her relationship with every person she said she loved."

God, she'd never told anyone about any of this stuff. She didn't even talk toBrittany about it. But Ethan had to know, deserved to know why she felt the way she did. Why she felt damaged beyond repair.

"She was married four times, the first time to my father. The second husband was short-lived, which was good, because he used to scare me. He had a motorcycle and all these tattoos and he drank. But when I was nine, my mom married Bill. He was a good man, he worked for an insurance company, and we moved into his house, which was clean and kept up. He treated Brittany and me like we were his, and he loved us, Ethan, he did, you could see it in his eyes. Some men can't love kids that aren't theirs but Bill wasn't one of those guys."