Took him seconds. Seconds!
“Why do you even bother driving?” I tighten my grip around his neck just in case he was thinking about putting me down. I don’t want to get left up here and have to hike back down in my Jimmy Choos.
Not that I think he’d leave me.
Come to think of it, I suspect he’s never going to leave me.
How weird is it that I’m increasingly okay with that idea?
The other reason I don’t want to get down is I kind of like being held in his arms. It’s…comforting.
Sexy.
Below us, Tucson and the valley glitter with lights.
“I like driving,” he says. “And a car is—”
“Practical. Yeah.”
“Well, you can’t haul luggage very effectively like this.”
“True.”
“And, eventually, even vampires tire. We might have better stamina and strength, but it is finite.”
It is a gorgeous view. I’ve hiked up here before. It’s kind of a touristy thing to do. Some locals will come up here, but there are prettier hikes in the area. Never been up here at night, though.
“I’m going to buy you a proper house,” he softly says, his breath cool against the top of my head. “Anywhere you want. Whatever house you want. I’ll pay for it all.” He stares into my eyes. “I don’t want you living in a building with a bunch of other people. I want you safe. Where I can make sure you’re protected. A place that suits you. Go house shopping, please? Preferably one with a pool and a very tall fence, a secure gate, a large garage, and maybe a dark basement for the occasional guest.” He smiles.
Wait, what? “What about you? You won’t live with me there?” That disappoints me waaay more than it should, considering I just fricking met the vamp.
And yet, I’ve also imagined what it’d be like if I let him play with me in the club’s dungeon.
Definitely a line of thought that dampens my panties.
“I’m talking about you.” He looks out over the city. “If you decide you want me permanently in your life, we can talk about that then. I am not going to assume you will desire to have a long-term relationship with me. Even if you don’t want to be with me, this is something I still want to do for you. No strings.”
I know I could say no, but I already see how that plays out. He’ll buy it, put it in my name, and all my shit will be moved there for me while I’m gone. I’ll try to go home from work one morning, and his guys will be waiting to drive me to the new house.
I can see it all as if it’s already happened. Because he’s already warned me he’s never letting me go.
And I know Garrett and Amber would probably let him and the movers into my apartment to help them do it, too.
The bills would automatically get paid every month, no matter what. The taxes paid every year. Insurance. Full state-of-the-art security system. A number to call if anything breaks or needs maintenance.
He won’t let me refuse him doing anything for me—I feel it to my core.
Fates help me, I don’t think I want to refuse him, either. “Why?”
His focus returns to me and he studies my face for several long minutes. “Because for the first time in too damned long, I actually give a damn about someone else. And it’s terrifying, but it feels good, too. I’d forgotten what it feels like to not feel alone. To feel alive. I have felt dead inside since losing Robert. For that, if for no other reason, I want to do this for you, if you’ll let me.”
* * *
We stay up there for longer than we probably should, but he’s a big boy. I’m ready this time and close my eyes when he blurs us back down the mountain.
“We’re here.” When he carefully sets me on my feet, I risk opening my eyes again.
We’re by the car. I turn, and next thing I know, I’m kissing him.
Yep, it was definitely me kissing him, even as my heart races and the last things on my mind are my apparently not-dead dad and my mystery whatever-he-called-it dog thing.
This is a kiss, a deep, slow one I savor and relish. He turns, his back against the Audi to cushion me, and yep—he’s hard.
Poor bastard.
I playfully grind against him, which backfires when my nipples tighten at the sexy friction between us, sending jolts of need straight to my lady bits. “Did you rub one out before bed last night?” I playfully ask.
He growls, but it only turns me on more. “Yes. Many. Including I woke up in the middle of the day horny and had to jerk off. That hasn’t happened to me in literally centuries.”
I’m still grinding on him. “I have to work tomorrow night, but come to the club as soon as it’s dark and bring me dinner, please? I’ll hold one of the rooms downstairs, and we’ll play whenever I can. Or, if it’s busy, once we’ve closed. We can stay there through the day, and I’ll tell everyone to leave us alone. It’s safe. I’ll even pack an overnight bag.”
He kisses me this time, his fingers threading through my hair and gently cupping my head. “I understand why you wear a wig for work. But when we’re alone in the room, no wig. I want to feel your hair in my hands. Deal?”
Oh, so we’re making rules? Okay. “Only if you don’t feed off of or have sex with anyone there but me.”
“I’m not feeding off of you yet, if ever. I promised you that. I won’t violate a hard limit. I can buy blood.”
I realize what I said, and thank fates he’s watching out for me. “You’re not the only territorial one. I mean, you get blood from the tap only, or a bag, not from the source. I’m not sharing you with the house Dobbys and crew for fangs or fucking.”
He smiles. “Deal.” We kiss again, and I’m wondering how severe the charge would be for getting caught fucking in public.
With one hand still cupping my head, he slides his other hand along my ass, cupping it, fingers digging in and squeezing, allowing him to grind back as he smiles down at me. “The first time you let me fuck you, I will apologize in advance if I get off quickly. I suspect I won’t be able to hold back. I will make it up to you immediately after.”
“It’s been a couple of years for me, so forgive me if I ride you like a stolen pony.” I can already tell he’s hung better than the cheetah shifter was.
Far better.
He smirks. “Who says I won’t have you tied up so I can spend hours eating that delicious pussy of yours that I’m smelling right now? It’s making my mouth water.”
Fates, the things this man does to me. I kiss him again, loving the low rumble vibrating from him into me. I hook one leg around his and really go to town grinding against his thigh. Then he shifts position, cradling me in one arm, his other reaching under my dress and easing inside my panties.
“Mmm,” he whispers. “Someone feels very wet.” When he slides not one but two cool fingers inside me, I see stars, and I’m glad he’s holding me up. I fist his hair and yank his lips back down over mine to help muffle my moans.
He slowly fingers me, dragging them over my swollen clit with every stroke. I don’t care if all of Tucson is watching us, it feels like the world ends just outside his arms, and it’s only the two of us. He takes his time building me up, our tongues dueling as he plays my body. If he’s this damned good and still has his clothes on, I can only imagine how fantastic he’ll be when we’re naked and horizontal and alone in a secure room.
The risks this man inspires me to take—I don’t understand why he makes me feel this way.
Why he blows through my defenses without even trying.
We kiss, and I completely lose track of time and space as he finally builds me up to the best orgasm I think I’ve ever experienced. It leaves me shaky and weak and satisfied like never before.
He finally breaks our kiss, smiling down at me as he brings his hand up to his mouth. Looking into my eyes, he slowly licks every finger clean. My brains are barely starting to fall back into my head when he says, “I’d love to fuck you over the hood of this car right now.”
I’m sure I s
queaked in fear because he laughs and pulls me in for a hug. “No, sweetheart. The first time I fuck you, I want to be in a comfortable bed, so we can curl up together and go to sleep after.”
“Really?” I feel like I could happily get lost within the safety of his arms.
“Really.”
Now that I can actually think again, I feel a little guilty. “But you’re… This isn’t fair to you.”
“I can take care of myself later.” He sighs as he stares down into my eyes. “I will not be rushed when I finally get to claim you. My beautiful, feisty, territorial Eilidh,” he says, and the sound of my name spilling from his tongue is like sunlight in my ears. His whole energy feels…lighter than it did when we first met. “My sunshine. My radiant one. I’m so glad I didn’t give up before I met you.”
“Me, too, Dex. Me, too.”
18
Eilidh
We make it back into the Audi without a public indecency charge—nertz—and he drives me home.
Yes, he walks with me up to my apartment. Then he stands there, hands in his pockets, as I unlock the door and step through.
I put my purse down and stand inside the door, just out of reach.
He waits.
Not that he has a choice.
“Can we please hold off on the whole buying me a house thing? Let me get used to having a boyfriend first. Okay?”
He smiles, looking incredibly smug and pleased with himself. “You want me to be your boyfriend?”
“Yeah. I’d like to try that label on for a while. If you’re okay with that? I’m not looking for a sugar…vampy.”
He slides his hands from his pockets, bracing them on the door jamb and those sexy as fuck fingers curling around it—Did I mention he’s six-three?—leaning in as far as he can. I literally see the way an invisible force presses back, a resistance, against his forehead and hair.
“Please be my girlfriend, Eilidh,” he whispers. “Please, be mine.”
I smile, stepping back, out of the way. “Come on in and let’s talk about it, big guy.”
I wish I could describe the look of shock on his face as he falls into my apartment and hits the floor, landing on my soft, fluffy pink faux fur area rug that I picked up at a yard sale for five dollars.
Laughing, I hold out a hand to help him up, but he kicks my door shut and pulls me down on top of him, where I sit up, straddling him.
Ooooh, yeah. Dude’s getting ridden hard the first time we do it.
Or, would that be ridden soft?
He’s getting rode—ridden?—until he can’t get it up again, and that’s the important thing.
“I will win you over, sweetheart.” He cups my hands in his and kisses them, then presses them against his chest. “As long as it takes. I’m patient and persistent. But once you’re mine? You’re mine. I will never let anything happen to you. I’ll protect you and keep you happy, whatever you need from me.”
“Doesn’t sound very sadistic and domly,” I tease.
He smiles. “Maybe I’m a sensual sadist.” His eyes widen. “A Daddy Dom!” I’m reminded of my talk with Amber, and I guess that translates to my face because he quickly adds, “But you can call me Sir or Master, not Daddy. We won’t do that.”
“Thank fates.”
“Provided I don’t scare you off by then.” I can tell he’s joking because of the sexy smile he’s wearing, but I spot the fear in his eyes.
Fear I feel, too.
Kind of makes me feel better to know he’s just as scared as I am. That this guy who can live forever and easily kill me if he wanted to—and who just gave me the best orgasm I’ve ever had—is worried that he might not be able to win me over.
“Haven’t scared me off yet, buddy.”
Chuckling, he pulls me in for a hug, rolling us to our sides so my head’s cradled on his arm. If you’d told me a week ago I’d be canoodling with a hunky, fanged DILFy dude who can be on the receiving end of the Okay, Boomer game with Jesus freaking Christ, I’d have called you nuts.
Seriously.
Now?
I have to say, I think maybe I could get used to this.
That’s when it hits me…
He’s a vampire.
—followed by—
3…2…1….
And he’s in my apartment.
He freezes. “Am I moving too fast for you?”
“It’s spooky that you can do that.” I sit up despite my nipples begging to rub against him again.
Against that firm chest of his. I let my fingers play with the buttons on his shirt. Hell, this suit he’s wearing, and his shoes, are probably worth more than my 4Runner.
Minus the new tires, obvs.
“The sudden, abject panic in your eyes was a clue,” he softly says.
“Sorry.”
“Please don’t apologize.” He sits up. “I had the best night in decades tonight. And I thought last night was fantastic.” He smiles. “The night before was pretty wonderful, too.”
“Maybe you can actually get past third base tomorrow night.”
He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I wish I could tell you how much I appreciate you giving me this chance.”
“You can have anyone you want. Literally. Why are you fixated on the one woman you have to work your ass off for?”
“Because I want someone who wants me because they want me, not just because I want them.”
This is getting a little too real a little too quickly.
I climb to my feet and kick off the Jimmy Choos, tossing them into my closet.
Then I can wiggle my toes. Oh, that’s better. “I have to hit the little girl’s room. ’Scuse me for just a minute.”
“Of course.”
After I take care of business, I look at myself in the mirror. My cheeks are flushed—my hair looks good, at least—and the girls are shown off nicely in this dress.
Fuck. I invited a fricking vampire into my apartment.
After he fingered me on the side of the road.
What the hell am I doing? Have I lost all common sense?
I return to find him sitting exactly where I left him. When he looks up at me…
Yeah. He’s hot. Hunky.
And sad.
Lonely.
Kinda like me.
A lot like me, in some ways.
I return to sit in front of him on the area rug.
He glances around. “May I ask a stupid question?”
“Because it’s a very small apartment, and it’s just me. I never have visitors. And I only get what I need because I leave it behind when I bug out, if it won’t fit in my car.”
He smirks. “Now who’s psychic?”
I shrug. “You had a ‘look’. Call it abject curiosity.”
He holds out his hands, wiggling his fingers at me, and I lay mine in his. “Ask me anything,” he says.
“Right now, I’m still in the processing stage.” He starts massaging my hands. “You’re not allowed to kill anyone at the club tomorrow. Even if they flirt with me.”
He growls. “Why not?”
“Murder’s bad. Lucius forbids it on the premises, unless he’s ordered it. Besides, sometimes the tips are better if I pretend to flirt a little. Especially if it’s a newer vamp who doesn’t yet know I’m immune to their charms.”
His growl deepens, and my clit flutters in response. “Yeah, I’ll need some of those pencils of yours.” But I see the hint of the smirk, the way one corner of his kissable lips is twitching a little.
We start talking again, and talking.
And taaalllking.
And, before long, we’ve totally lost track of time. “When do you need to head back to your hotel?” I ask.
“I’m sure I have plenty of time.”
“What time is it?”
“I’m not sure.”
That’s when I take a look out the windows, at the way the eastern sky is turning deep purple beyond the mountains. “Oh, crap!” I jump up.
&nb
sp; “What?”
“You realize you should have been out of here about twenty minutes ago, right?”
He stands. “What? Why? I’m sorry, did I say something wrong? I thought we were having a lovely conversation.”
I point at the wall of windows in my apartment. “It’s close to dawn. You gotta go!”
“So?” He shrugs. “You know what I am now. I’ll simply go to sleep. Draw the curtains. I promise, I’ll keep my clothes on and my hands to myself. You won’t even know I’m here.”
“Believe me, I’d love to take you up on that, buuuut got a slight problem.”
“What?”
I walk over to my fricking.
Wall.
Of.
Windows.
And hold out my hands. “Ta-da, dumbass. Do you see any fricking curtains? Kind of the point. I have window film, so people can’t see inside them at night, not that there’s much chance of that, anyway. But the windows flooding the room with light were a selling point when I signed the lease because I sort of have a problem with the dark.”
His brow furrows. “What about your bedroom? We can close the curtains and wrap me in a blanket. I’ll be fine. I’ve done it before, in a pinch.”
I stomp my foot and make the same two-handed wave at the rest of the room. “This is my bedroom. Murphy bed. It’s an efficiency apartment. One room, no waiting. That’s where the ‘efficient’ part of ‘efficiency apartment’ comes into play.”
His eyes widen as the severity of the problem seems to finally—finally—sink in. “Oh, shit!”
“Exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you, genius. With traffic, you won’t be able to make it back to your hotel in time. Even if you try running, you’ll be cutting it dangerously close. Not that I haven’t enjoyed our evening—because I have—but I really don’t want to have to go back to my boss and explain his old friend, guest, and nephew turned into a used piece of charcoal in my fucking. Living. Room. Oh, in a building owned by the Tucson pack Alpha. Who is expecting to ink a very lucrative real estate deal with you!”
Now he finally—thankfully—looks like he’s starting to worry. “What about your bathroom?”
Her Vampire Obsession Page 17