“Really?” I was beginning to wonder what form this punishment was going to take. If spanking was out and sex was out, what was Corbin going to do with me?
“Yes, really.” He nodded. “In fact, I will barely touch you tonight.”
“Honestly?”
“On my word of honor.” He nodded gravely and then reached out to cup my cheek. “Addison, I do not like to be at odds with you.”
“Then let me go home,” I said at once.
He got an almost regretful look on his face. “I am afraid I cannot do that. But though I cannot let you go, I will not hurt you either. Can you at least trust me enough to believe that?”
I looked into his eyes—those silvery-blue depths that always seemed to conceal hidden monsters—and saw only sincerity. He means it. He really means it.
“I…believe you,” I said slowly. “I don’t know why but I do.”
Corbin smiled, flashing some fang. “That is the first sensible thing you’ve said all night. Now come.” He gestured to the stone stairs again and this time I went with him.
He was right—the passage did open up after a few hundred feet. It led to a small antechamber with a computer screen and door that looked like it belonged on the outside of a bank vault.
“This is one of my daytime resting places.” Corbin placed his hand on the flat screen and each one of his fingers was briefly outlined in light, one after the other. “Consider yourself lucky,” he said when the vault-like door emitted a hissing sound as though it was depressurizing. “I have never brought a human down here before.”
“Not even to fuck?” I asked tartly.
Corbin gave me a long look. “Lest you get the wrong idea about me, fucking humans isn’t something I do all the time. It takes a great amount of control and I have to care very much to want to expend the effort. I haven’t cared that much in years.”
Great—he kept going on and on about how careful he could be but he’d basically just admitted that he was way out of practice at vampire/human sex. Of course, maybe it was like riding a bicycle—now there was a mental image that brought a blush to my cheeks. And speaking of being out of practice, it had been so long since I’d slept with anyone I was practically a virgin again. Not that I wanted a four hundred year old vampire to break my dry spell. I was definitely not going to volunteer to help Corbin test his much vaunted control.
“After you.” He swung the door open and gestured as he had at the top of the steps. And I hesitated again, just as I had earlier. Was I really going to do this? Lock myself into what amounted to a bank vault with a creature who could kill me as easily as I could swat a fly? But really, what choice did I have? I couldn’t let Corbin send Taylor back to Celeste. He had kept his end of the contract—my best friend was safe somewhere, hidden away from the sick assholes who had tormented and tortured her. Maybe now she could start enjoying what was left of her life and I could stop feeling so guilty for leaving her alone that night and letting her get turned into a vamp in the first place. If, that was, I survived to stop feeling guilty.
Corbin stood quietly, letting me think, which I doubt any human man would have done. But that’s a vamp for you—they have unlimited time, which usually equates to greater than human patience. In this case, I was glad of the difference.
“All right,” I said finally and stepped through the door.
The room I entered appeared to be a bedroom, and it surprised me by not being an obvious “sex lair” like the one we’d found Taylor in. There were no slick satin sheets or sex toys. Instead, it actually looked like a room where someone lived and spent time—if you can call what vampires do living.
There was a large brass bed covered in a dark green and gold bedspread against one wall and a fireplace opposite it against the other wall. There was already a small fire going in the grate—its flames were reflected in an old fashioned full-length mirror that stood in a golden claw-footed frame in the far corner of the room. Angled to face the fires was a large brown leather easy chair and beside it stood a tall wooden bookcase filled with all kinds of books.
I walked over to the shelf as Corbin shut us into the room and studied his private library. I was trying desperately not to think about how we were now locked in together but despite my nervousness, a few of his books caught my eye.
There were a lot of things I would have expected to see on any guy’s night table—some Clancy novels, histories of different wars, mostly by Shelby Foote. There were also books in French, Spanish, and possibly Japanese, which I couldn’t read. Hmm, Corbin was well read at least. Being an English major, that was definitely on my wish list for Mr. Right—too bad he wasn’t human and I couldn’t stand him. Besides the novels and the foreign language books, there were a few volumes so old I was afraid to touch them—was that really a first edition of Tamerlane?
“Amazing,” I murmured, daring to trace the spine of the book with a single finger.
“A fine work by a tormented man.” Corbin was suddenly standing right behind me.
I looked up at him. “You knew Edgar Allan Poe?”
He shrugged. “In passing. I knew one who considered bringing him over. Unfortunately, his mental illness near the end was such that it was feared he would be too destructive if he became one of my kind.”
“But think how much more he could have written,” I breathed. “Maybe your, uh, friend should have taken the risk.”
“Maybe. It is a difficult decision—there is a fine line between genius and madness.”
I looked farther down the bookcase and found something that topped even Tamerlane. It was a tattered paperback book with a picture of a bare-chested muscular man in a kilt with fangs. At his feet was a woman who was falling out of her low cut dress. I had known that there was a proliferation of vampire romance novels ever since the fanged set had come out publicly about ten years before, but I had never dreamed that a real, self-respecting vampire would read them. Especially a four-star vamp like Corbin.
I looked up at him. “Uh…Immortal Highland Lover? Seriously?”
He smiled. “I read it for comedic effect. The historical inaccuracies amuse me. As well as the way the writers always assume a vampire would keep his accent for centuries.”
“Doesn’t he?” I asked, frowning.
Corbin shook his head. “Maybe if he or she was able to stay in their country of origin. But in the era I was brought over, the need to keep moving, or be suspected of what one was, made that impossible. By the time I was a century old I had been around the globe twice and spoke twelve different languages. The accent is one of the first things to go.”
“Can you still use it if you want to?” I asked curiously.
He grinned. “That I can, lassie, an’ ye wish it.” His brogue was so thick and startling that I started laughing. Corbin laughed with me and before I knew it the book was back on the shelf and I was in his arms. “You’re beautiful when you laugh,” he murmured. There was still just a touch of an accent in his deep voice.
I looked up at him. His body was big and hard in all the right places against mine and I couldn’t help the way my heart started to race when he was so close to me. He’s the enemy, I reminded myself sternly. A vampire’s a vampire, no matter how charming he is.
“Don’t do that,” Corbin whispered, looking into my eyes. “Don’t talk yourself out of feeling for me.”
I frowned. “How do you know what I was thinking? Are you trying to glam me?”
He looked frustrated. “No. I’m trying to make you care for me. But it appears to be an uphill battle.”
I shrugged. “Those are the breaks. Maybe you should have fallen for someone who hasn’t seen what vamps can do—how violent and destructive they can be. Or maybe you should just glam some other woman into thinking she loves you.”
He frowned. “Is that what you think I want? A false love? A woman who only thinks she cares for me because I manipulated her mind?”
“It’s what a lot of vamps seem to want,” I pointed out.
I had seen it more than once—a human so enslaved by glam-sex that they would literally do anything for the vamp who was supplying them. No crack head in the world has anything on a glam-addict.
“I see it is useless to try and change your mind.” Corbin let me go abruptly. “Therefore, let us commence your punishment.” His eyes were hard and every trace of the thick accent he’d used earlier was gone. I felt like a cold wind had swept through the room, taking away the warmth that had been momentarily between us and replacing it with chilly civility. But please, like I wanted to have warm fuzzies over a vampire?
“Fine.” I lifted my chin. “You said no sex and no spanking. So what are you going to do to me?”
Corbin settled into the brown leather chain and steepled his long fingers. “To begin with, I will watch you disrobe.”
I looked at him in disbelief. “You’re serious? You want me to strip for you?”
“Exactly.”
“God.” I ran a hand through my hair, which was beginning to come down out of the tight ponytail I always wore it in. “Where’s some cheesy music and a stripper pole when you need them?”
Corbin shook his head. “There is no need for you to try and make a show out of it to arouse me. I am quite certain I will find the sight of your naked body erotic enough without any other efforts on your part.”
Sure, if he had a thing for freckles, small breasts and big thighs. At least I didn’t have to worry about him losing control once he saw me in the altogether. In fact, seeing me naked might just cure him of his ridiculous obsession with me—as I have mentioned before, I don’t hate my body but I’m not exactly model material either.
I took a deep breath and started unbuttoning my jacket. Great—so my punishment was going to be humiliation. But if Corbin thought he could rattle my cage by getting me naked, he was mistaken. I could get through this, I told myself fiercely. Besides, taking off my clothes was a hell of a lot better than having sex with him.
I kept telling myself that until I got down to my bra and panties. They were pink and lacy and innocent looking, which made me feel like an inexperienced little girl in front of Corbin, who was watching my every move intently. At least they matched. I was absurdly glad that he hadn’t caught me wearing my granny panties although I told myself I shouldn’t care what he thought.
I was reaching behind my back to unsnap my bra when Corbin held up his hand. “Stop.”
“What?” I looked down at myself. Had he already decided he’d seen enough? That was a little insulting.
“What is that? On the inside of your elbow?” He pointed and I looked down with a growing sense of dread. It was Taylor’s bite from the night before and it was still raw.
Corbin was up and out of his chair in a blur. Suddenly he was standing in front of me and the light in his eyes was truly frightening.
“I…I…” I tried to back away from him but he already had my arm grasped firmly in his big hand.
“Did I not tell you that you weren’t to give Taylor any more of your blood?”
“Take it easy! That’s from last night when she came to see me at my place,” I protested.
Corbin seemed to relax a little. “All right. But earlier you told me there was nothing more for me to heal, Addison. Why did you lie to me?”
“Technically I told you there were no more scars, which is true,” I pointed out.
He shook his head. “You kept this from me on purpose. Why?”
I could tell from the look in his eyes that he wasn’t letting me go until I answered. “Because the way I felt when you…when you healed my wrists freaked me out, okay?” I said, feeling the hot blood rush to my cheeks as I remembered the way my body had reacted to his touch. “I couldn’t imagine letting you do that, letting you put your mouth on me, farther up my arm.”
Corbin’s eyes darkened. “I fear that very soon you will have to get used to my mouth all over your body, my darling. In the meantime, you have incurred another punishment for lying to me.”
“What? But I’m not even done with this one yet!”
“Indeed you are not.” He let go of my arm. “Continue, please.”
Trembling with anger and indignation, I went back to fumbling with my bra strap. But somehow the damn thing was stuck or else maybe my hands were just shaking too much. At any rate, I couldn’t get it undone.
Corbin saw my problem. “Here. Let me.” He reached behind me to unhook the strap and then drew the bra slowly down my arms. Without asking, he knelt at my feet and slowly teased my panties down my legs until I could step out of them. Afterward he simply sat there, staring up at me.
I wanted to be brave and proud and fierce and not care what he thought of me but too many years of body image issues got in the way. I put an arm over my breasts and my other hand between my thighs, cupping the neatly trimmed strip of red-gold curls that grew there. “Okay, I’m naked. Are you happy now?” I asked, feeling like my cheeks must be as red as my hair with mortification.
“Not yet. Move your hands, Addison. Let me look at you.”
“I don’t want to,” I said stubbornly. This punishment was turning out to be harder than I’d imagined. “I…I’m shy.”
“I can see that.” His voice was curiously gentle. “Nevertheless, I wish to see you.” He continued to look at me, waiting silently. After a while I realized there was no point in hoping he’d get bored or decide to move on to something else—he literally had all the time in the world. He could sit there staring at me like that forever until I gave in.
Better to get it over with—like ripping off a bandage. Gritting my teeth, I dropped my hands to my sides and closed my eyes tightly. Corbin might want to look at me naked but that didn’t mean I had to watch him doing it. There was a long, long silence in which I could feel myself getting more and more embarrassed.
“Anytime you’re done looking,” I finally ground out. “I mean, unless my second punishment is standing naked in the middle of the room all night.”
“As lovely as you are, I do not think that will be necessary.” Corbin’s deep voice sounded closer. My eyes flew open to see him standing in front of me now, so close his chest was almost touching my bare breasts. “And your second punishment will not begin until I have healed you.”
“You mean now…like this?” I wanted to bolt from the room though I knew there was no getting through that damn bank vault door. But just the idea of him touching me, of his warm, wet mouth on my skin when I was naked, was enough to make me panic. He was going to be able to see his effect on me. See when my nipples got hard, when my pussy got wet. It was going to be absolutely humiliating.
“Don’t be so upset, Addison. That wound has to hurt—you’ll feel better when I am done.” Corbin took my hand and drew me over to the chair. He sat down and took me in his lap. Beneath his cotton t-shirt his chest felt hard and cool and being close to him, I could smell a rich, masculine scent that reminded me somehow of the ocean. Was he wearing aftershave of some kind or was it just his natural smell? I didn’t know and didn’t care—I just wanted to be away from him and this whole embarrassing situation. I sat stiffly on his knees, trying to keep my legs closed as much as possible, and refusing to relax.
Corbin brought my arm to his mouth and lapped gently at the ragged bite mark Taylor had left. “I wish you could relax and trust me,” he murmured as a rush of tingles enveloped me. “I would never harm you.”
“You’re harming me now,” I pointed out as he sucked and licked the inner bend of my elbow, making my nipples harden painfully and sending a rush of heat to the tender V between my thighs. “You’re embarrassing me and touching me against my will.”
“Do you really dislike it so much?” He kissed my inner arm gently, sending warm sparks of pleasure through my entire body. “Do you find my touch repulsive, Addison?”
“You know I don’t,” I said reluctantly. “You can tell that much at least, I’m sure. But just because you make me feel a certain way doesn’t mean I want to feel that way.
”
“And what way are you speaking of exactly?” The black of his pupils had eaten the silver-blue of his irises, making his eyes look very dark and deep. “Do I arouse you when I touch you, Addison? When I kiss you, do you find yourself becoming wet and ready for me?”
I felt my breath catch in my throat. “I…it isn’t right. I shouldn’t be able to feel this way for a vamp.”
“Because I’m evil? The enemy?”
“Yes, I guess so.” The soft, hot kisses he was dropping onto my rapidly healing arm as he talked were extremely distracting and I was finding it hard to think.
“But we are allies now, you and I. Enemies no longer,” Corbin pointed out. “Can’t we agree to be friends?”
“Friends don’t sit naked in each other's laps and drive each other crazy like this,” I pointed out breathlessly.
Corbin smiled. “That depends on who your friend is and how much you care for him.”
“But I don’t care for you,” I insisted.
“No, of course not,” he agreed soothingly. “Your body reacting to mine is simply a coincidence—not a response to any real attraction.”
I opened my mouth to agree with him and realized he was being sarcastic. “You…” I wanted to hit him but that would have meant wiggling around naked in his lap and I was afraid that if I started wiggling I might not stop. I could feel something hard pressing against my ass and I was pretty sure Corbin was as aroused as I was.
He kissed the crook of my elbow one more time. “You’re healed now.”
“I…thank you.” I looked down at my arm, which was completely unblemished, and back up to his face. “Can I get off your lap now? Please?”
He nodded. “Briefly. Just long enough to walk over to the bed—unless you’d rather I carried you?”
“The bed?” My heart began to pound even faster, this time from fear. “You promised you would barely touch me tonight. Why do we have to go to the bed?”
“To get more comfortable. And don’t worry, Addison—you are the one who will be doing the touching.”
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