Once Bitten, Twice Shy (7 page)

His eyes grew brighter and angrier. “Any newborn vampire could coerce or force someone to let them in and gain entry to your flat. You will stay here.”

“Fine. You’re right. It’s not safe at my place.” His face relaxed slightly until I continued. “I’ll ask Donna if I can stay with her.”

Lex looked angrier than before. “I won’t allow that and neither will Conner.”

I scoffed. “You don’t get to
allow
or
disallow
me to do anything, Lex. You are not my boss, my father, or my boyfriend. And I would even tell them to go screw themselves if they tried to make me move in with them against my will.” I shot to my feet, seriously considering walking in bare feet back to my fucking apartment if I had to. “Oh, and you forget, Donna lives with Conner now. You may be used to women who simper and do as they’re told, but you and Conner are in for a rude awakening if you think that she’ll go along with forcing me to live with you.”

Also, I hadn’t forgotten that he’d made quite an effort to get me worked up and then disappeared for two months. No way in hell was I mentioning that.

Lex rose, towering over me. “Do not test me on this, Ivie. You will not win,” he said. I knew it was a threat, just like I knew he wouldn’t actually hurt me. I wasn’t sure why I believed it, but I did.

“I can’t stay here,” I stated again. “I’ll feel like a prisoner. At least at Donna’s, I feel more like I’m visiting than trapped.” I couldn’t stop the wobble in my voice. I despised the weakness, but I couldn’t prevent it.

Lex cocked his head and studied me for a moment. His eyes began to return to their usual dark brown. “I understand, little one. I will call Conner and he will take you back to his home.”

I hated the disappointment on his face and in his words. Then I hated myself for giving a damn. Why couldn’t I keep my emotional distance from this man? I sank back down on the sofa as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and left the room. Hugging myself, I waited for him to complete his call and come back.

I waited for a good long while. Just as I gathered the courage to leave the room and go looking for Lex, he returned, tucking his phone back in his pocket.

His gaze moved over me from the top of my head to my toes, concern in his eyes. “I will drive you to Conner’s now.”

I pulled my lower lip between my teeth and nodded. He didn’t say another word, only gestured for me to follow him. Within five minutes I was in the passenger seat of his Audi, and we were pulling out of the driveway. I glanced back at the house as Lex drove away and had to force myself not to gape. His home was just as large, if not larger, than Conner’s.

He also lived close to Conner. The drive took only ten minutes. When he pulled up in front of the house, I climbed out of the car, heading toward the front door. I realized he wasn’t next to me and glanced over my shoulder. This time I couldn’t stop my mouth from falling open. He pulled a duffel and a garment bag out of his backseat and shut the door.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Getting my things.”

That was both an answer and a non-answer to my question. I sighed and leveled my eyes at him, meeting his stare full-on. It was difficult because his eyes carried the weight of several lifetimes. I’d never realized before now that his eyes gave away his age. Even though he appeared to be in his mid-to-late thirties, his eyes showed every year he existed.

I put both hands on my hips and took a stance my mother used on me when I was keeping things from her. It always worked for her, so I was hoping it would do the same for me.

“I’m not moving until you tell me why you have enough luggage to stay for at least a week,” I said.

Lex stopped on the step below me, but he was still a couple of inches taller than me, the bastard. “Because I am staying here. With you.”

A
few seconds after
Lex dropped that little bombshell, Donna threw the front door open and reached out to drag me into the house by my arm.

I whirled on her. “No. Just no,” I said, my voice high.

She looked confused. “What are you talking about, Ivie? I don’t understand. I thought you wanted to stay here.”

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Lex watching me with an inscrutable expression on his face.

“Please excuse us,” I said haughtily. I snatched the sleeve of Donna’s shirt and dragged her all the way through the house to the veranda in the back. Once we were outside, I led her another twenty feet away from the house. Then I dropped her arm, stood extremely close to her, and whispered, “I cannot stay here if Lex is under the same roof.”

She blinked at me. “What?”

I huffed out a breath and pinched the bridge of my nose. The mild headache I had been experiencing earlier was now a full-blown,
my head is in a vice
monstrosity.

“Dee, please keep up. I cannot stay here if he’s here. That man freaks me the fuck out!” I was almost shouting when I finished my sentence.

She pulled me into a hug, patting my back gently. “Are you afraid he’s going to hurt you?” she asked. “I know he looks really scary and acts that way most of the time, but he’s really a good guy. He just wants to protect you.”

I laughed, but it was short and completely devoid of sincere humor. “I feel like a particularly juicy steak must when it’s dangling a few feet above a Doberman who hasn’t been fed in a week.” I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead to her shoulder. “He doesn’t scare me. I’m scared of the way he makes me feel,” I whispered brokenly.

Donna pushed me back gently so she could see my face. “How does he make you feel?” she asked.

I licked my lips. “He makes me want things I know are bad for me.”

“How so?” she asked.

I wanted to laugh. She was using what I thought of as her ‘shrink’ voice. Whenever she wanted to get to the bottom of one of the girls’ personal problems, she would ask probing questions. And, I’ll be damned, but she usually got to the crux of the problem every time. The only obstacle this time is that I didn’t want to tell her that I wanted to stay human. I knew that she wouldn’t show it, but it would hurt her feelings if she believed I thought less of her for becoming a vampire. Honestly, I was glad Conner turned her. If he hadn’t, she’d be dead. But that wasn’t what I wanted for myself.

I didn’t think less of her, but most vampires, including Conner and Lex, thought less of me because I was human. I knew Donna didn’t share their feelings. She was too new, but I worried that she would one day.

“He’s very controlling,” I said.

She nodded. “Most vampires his age are. He was a powerful man when he was turned. He’s used to everyone, man or woman, jumping to do his bidding.”

I shrugged off her answer. “It’s more than that, Dee. I think he likes to be in control in all things…” I trailed off then sighed when she didn’t catch my drift. “I think he’s into kink, okay?” I snapped.

“Oh!” Donna’s mouth rounded into an ‘O’ and her cheeks turned pink. Then she hummed in the back of her throat. “That’s kind of hot.”

“Fuck me,” I muttered under my breath.

She poked me in the shoulder. “Don’t pretend you don’t like it. I’ve seen the books on your Kindle, bitch. You love it.”

I nodded. “I know, but I’m not sure he’d be good for me. I mean, why me? I’m just human.”

Shit, shit, shit. I hadn’t meant to say that. It just slipped out. I watched as the light bulb clicked on.

She leaned in closer to me. “Listen, Ivie, I don’t think you understand…”

“Donna?” Conner’s voice interrupted our conversation. “Is there a reason you and Ivie are whispering in the backyard while Alexander is still standing in the foyer?”

I closed my eyes, wondering how much Conner heard. Then I straightened and turned to look at him. “Sorry, Conner. I had a girl problem. Donna was just giving me a hand.”

Donna walked around me, rolling her eyes. “Don’t apologize to him, Ivie. He’ll think I actually care about manners.” She smirked at her fiancé. “Lex has been to our house quite a bit since I moved in and I don’t remember him waiting at the door like a child before.”

Conner tried to appear stern, but I could see the smile he was fighting. “You should be a better hostess, lass.”

“Whatever,” she replied. Donna turned and pointed at me. “You and I will finish our discussion later tonight.”

I opened my mouth to try and talk my way out of it, but she just shook her head and tisked at me.

“No. I will talk about it and you will listen,” she stated firmly.

I sighed and followed her into the house.

*     *     *

Later that night,
I was saved from continuing the conversation with Donna. She received an important work call from California around nine and locked herself in the study to deal with whatever emergency prompted the after-hours call. I was ensconced in my room by ten.

For some reason, Donna had given me a different guest room than before. I didn’t question it because the room was just as large and beautiful as the one I had stayed in previously. I took a leisurely bath in the huge, jetted tub in the bathroom and then stretched out on the fabulous mattress with my Kindle to read before I went to sleep.

Donna was right. I did have a lot of BDSM-themed books on my eReader. In fact, I was in the middle of reading a series by an author that I adored. Her female characters might be submissive, but they were strong, fun, and real. And the sex was, well, phenomenal and off-the-charts hot.

It was midnight before I finished the book I was reading and finally decided to try and sleep. I was incredibly turned on, but didn’t dare do anything about it with three vampires in the house. Especially since one in particular might decide to come offer me a hand…or something else.

As a result, it was almost 2 a.m. before I fell asleep. Immediately, I sank into a luscious dream. A large, muscled form slid into the bed behind me. At first, strong arms held me close, cuddling me. I moaned softly and snuggled closer, glad to have the contact, even if it was in my subconscious. When my ass came into contact with his hips, he growled low in his throat. Hot, rough hands began to move, over the huge men’s t-shirt I wore to bed, then under it. God, it was the most delicious dream I’d had in a long time.

I arched my back, grinding my bottom into the hips behind me, moaning in appreciation when I felt his erection. Then I gasped as strong, callused fingers plucked my nipples firmly. My entire body went taut. I reached behind me and sank my fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. As he played with my nipples, I began to whimper. When he lifted a hand to cover my mouth and muffle the sounds coming from me, I nipped his fingers.

His body went completely rigid. “Christ,” he muttered before his hard hand grasped my chin and turned my face toward his.

As soon as our mouths touched, his teeth sank lightly into my lip. It was then that I realized I wasn’t dreaming, that this entire situation was all too real. My eyes flew open and I leapt from the bed. I looked around and realized the room was empty. My body throbbed and my heart was hammering. It felt so intense, so real. How could it have just been a dream?

I sank down on the edge of the mattress, trying to control the wild beating of my heart and my shallow pants. Holy shit, if real life sex with Alexander Dimitriades was anything like dream sex, I would never be able to say no to him. Okay, so it was dream foreplay, but I knew exactly where that dream was heading and we weren’t going to have tea and cookies.

Once I was certain my legs would hold me, I staggered into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my hot, flushed face. I looked at my shell-shocked expression in the mirror and had to smile. A vampire wet dream might have been just as stressful as the dreams I had of the vamp that had kidnapped me, but they were still preferable. I’d take sexual frustration over terror any day.

I realized that reading a very sexy book before bed might not have been the best idea. Especially with a sex-on-a-stick vampire a few doors down who made it very clear he wanted to, as Kerry called it, go spelunking in my lady cave. Just thinking of the ridiculous terms for sex my girlfriends came up with helped calm my raging hormones. Spelunking didn’t sound like a sexy pastime.

After I dried my damp face, I wandered back into the bedroom and climbed into bed. As I burrowed under the covers, I couldn’t stop thinking of Lex and the way he made me feel. Between the book I had been reading earlier and that dream, I had gone way beyond hot and bothered, straight into nuclear meltdown.

With an aggravated sigh, I rolled over and punched my pillow into submission, trying to get comfortable. It had been too long since I’d had decent sex or an orgasm with an actual living, breathing partner. Stanley wasn’t a huge dud like Donna and my girlfriends made him out to be. We may not have had insane, mind-blowing, gorilla sex, but he always took care of me. It was nice. Comfortable.

The thought of sex with Lex, which made me smile because it rhymed, wasn’t nice or comfortable. It was consuming, terrifying. That man could chew me up and spit me out and not just because he was a vampire. I fell asleep thinking that I would enjoy the ride, even if I ended up mangled by the end of it.