by Sarah Bailey
She slapped a hand over her face. Time to face the music.
Stripping out of all her clothes, she put on a more conservative outfit and tied her hair up in a bun. She stomped downstairs. When she reached the kitchen, she found her eldest brother sitting at the breakfast bar enjoying a cup of herbal tea.
“Theo,” she muttered.
“Oh look, it’s my lazy younger sister,” he replied with a raised eyebrow.
“You know I have trouble sleeping.”
It was the truth. She went through phases of it and none of the traditional fae medicine helped.
“Oh, that again. A human doctor could prescribe you sleeping pills.”
“And deal with Father’s disapproval, I think not.”
The housekeeper had left her breakfast on the stove. She turned on the gas and stirred it.
“What are you and him doing here anyway?’ she asked.
“Can’t I just want to see my favourite sister?”
“Don’t make me laugh. Everyone knows your favourite is Bella, you two are like peas in a pod.”
Theo rolled his eyes. It was the truth. Bella and Theo had always been conspiring with each other. She was surprised Bella’s husband, Gyan, wasn’t jealous.
“Fine, he’s here to deal with some incident involving our cousin, Willow. Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.”
“I haven’t done anything to warrant getting a lecture.” Except hang out with a vampire and have sex with said vampire and breathe a human when I’m not supposed to. “What did Willow do this time?”
Their cousin was forever getting involved with the wrong crowd.
“Oh, pissed off the werewolves. Father should really just lock her up. That would solve everything.”
“Didn’t Novus say the Alpha is a complete bitch?”
Theo grinned, giving her a wink.
“Oh, more than a bitch, I swear that woman could kill with a single look.”
She took her porridge off the stove and dumped it out in a bowl. She took out the cut fruit from the fridge and mixed it in before sitting at the breakfast bar with her brother.
“Say, you seem perkier than usual.”
She frowned. Theo wasn’t normally so perceptive.
“Just glad to be away from the insufferable fae court.”
At least this was the truth, she hated the court and all its rules.
“Bunch of idiotic, simpering fools. Can hardly blame you.”
“How are you anyway? You’re the heir to the throne now.”
Whilst she didn’t think Theo deserved to rule the fae, they needed stability now more than ever. The uncertainty during Gwilliana’s rule over the line of succession had only brought trouble. Now, the future of the crown was secured.
“Don’t remind me. Father is lecturing me almost daily.”
“Oh boohoo, poor little Theo. You were going to provide the heir before. This is hardly that different.”
“Don’t you bring that up.”
He scowled, turning away from her. Oh yeah, I forgot, Candace is a sore subject.
“I’m sure Father will find you a wife who won’t run off with the Devil.”
“I’m going to put you in a headlock if you don’t stop talking.”
“Ooo, so scary.”
She picked up her bowl, slipping off her stool and flicking his ear before hastily retreating into the dining area.
“You really are a little brat.”
“Too bad I’m Father’s favourite then isn’t it?”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
“You need to be taught a lesson.”
“Who needs a lesson?” Novus asked, strolling into the room.
“Dandelion.”
“Don’t call me that,” Dani said, throwing a cushion from one of the dining table chairs at Theo’s head.
Novus caught it as he walked over to her and placed it back down on the seat.
“Stop winding each other up. Honestly, it’s like being around five year olds.”
“Theo might be fifty, but he acts like a baby every time I bring up his ex-fiancée.”
Dani imitated crying with her hands. Novus smiled at her.
“Oh yeah, she prefers angel dick to Theo’s tiny prick. Can hardly blame her.”
“Both of you can fuck off,” Theo said, stalking from the room.
Novus sat down next to her, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
“You know winding up Theo never ends well.”
“Who cares? Serves him right for being a fuckwit. Are you here to lecture me?”
He stole her spoon and dug into her breakfast. She slapped his arm before taking it back.
“Staying out all night with a vampire is playing with fire,” he replied, his voice low.
“I’m in one piece, am I not?”
“My beautiful daughter,” she heard her father’s voice booming from behind them.
Dani got up, flicking Novus’ ear before going over to her father and kissing his cheek. When she looked back at her brother, he was rubbing his ear, scowling. He hated her doing it.
“Hello, Father.”
“How are you faring alone with your brother? I hope you’re not getting up to mischief.”
“Novy is the one you should be worrying about.”
Mitah smiled at her, his green eyes lighting up.
He should really be worrying about what I’m getting up to, but best not to let on that I’m out partying with other supernaturals.
“My little Dandelion, I never have to be concerned about you.”
“No, you don’t.” Yes, yes, you really do.
“Now, I only dropped in to say hello. I will see you for dinner this evening.”
He stroked her cheek before turning away. Dani loved her father, but he wasn’t half blind when it came to her. She reminded him of her mother. And the thought of how much she missed her mother made her chest feel tight.
She would’ve understood my need to be free.
Chapter Seven
Creeping around in dark alleys was so cliché for a vampire, but Jamie had business to conduct. At times he wished he’d never gotten involved in this shit, but at others, he just didn’t give a fuck.
His contact was late, but it hardly surprised him given the short notice. It gave him time to think and thinking wasn’t in his best interests right now.
I can’t get the thought of Dani with her legs spread wide and my head between them out of my mind. Shit, I want to fuck her again and in ways she might not agree to.
That night had plagued him for two weeks. They hadn’t seen each other since. Dani was in the doghouse with her brother because she’d stayed out all night.
He had no idea how he was going to feel when they did finally meet up. He still had a craving for her blood. She really shouldn’t have let him taste her. Especially not whilst magic pumped through her veins. The taste of that and her made him crazy. Memories flooded him again.
Dani on her stomach with him running his tongue down her back. Her breath coming fast. Her fists clenched in the sheets. Her moaning his name.
He slammed a fist into the wall. The bricks cracked underneath his knuckles. He watched the grazes heal over after a minute before shaking out his hand.
“Bad night?” came a voice a few feet to his left.
“You’re late.”
“My apologies.”
The woman came into the light, her red eyes glinting. Working with demons was hazardous at the best of times, but he knew this one well.
“Did you bring it?”
She held up an envelope. He tugged out two vials of liquid from his jacket pocket. They exchanged their items quickly.
“What made you leave Prague?” she asked.
“You know I don’t talk about personal stuff, Selene.”
“You’re a little terse this evening. What’s gotten into you?”
He hated the fact that Selene knew anything about him at all. There was simply nothing he could do to cha
nge that.
“Nothing. Are we done?”
Selene looked him over before holding the vials up to the light. Her eyes flickered.
“Yes. I’ll be in touch.”
He stepped back into the shadows without saying goodbye and was within the walls of his flat soon after. Sitting down heavily on the sofa, he put his head in his hands. Not only did he hate himself for what he was involved in, it reminded him of things best left forgotten.
There was a faint knock at his front door. He moved and checked through the peephole. The last person he expected to see stood outside, fidgeting. He opened the door, raising an eyebrow.
“Before you say anything, I know turning up unannounced is stupid, but I have problems sleeping sometimes and you said you weren’t working tonight.”
Dani stared at him with those intense blue eyes of hers, full of hesitation. He stepped back, sweeping an arm out. She walked in, looking up at him.
Damn, if she’s not a sight for sore eyes. His fingers itched to touch her.
He shut the door and followed her into his open plan living space. She stood by the coffee table.
“You can sit down,” he said.
“You’re not mad?”
“Why would I be?”
“Well… I mean we haven’t seen each other since, you know.”
He walked towards her, wanting to cup her face, but knowing it’d be a bad idea.
“We don’t need to talk about that night.”
“We don’t?”
“No.”
She looked away.
“Even if I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”
Her being here alone with him was dangerous. Especially when she’d just admitted that to him.
Dani, please don’t tempt me any further. Friends. We’re friends. Sex makes it complicated. Sex fucks things up.
Her blood called to him. Her scent made him hard. Everything about Dani drove him crazy.
“It didn’t mean anything. We both needed something from each other that night. That’s all it was.”
It killed him to keep the truth about how he really felt from her. Her eyes snapped to his.
“Don’t give me that bullshit. You and I are not going to lie to each other.”
Her ability to read him frustrated him no end.
“What do you want me to say? Yes, sex between us was incredible and every time I think about it, I get so fucking hard I have to resist the urge to find you and have you again. Is that what you want to hear?”
“Is that the truth?”
“Yes.”
She searched his face for several moments. She stepped away, pacing the room.
“I don’t have any idea how things like this are supposed to work. Friends. You and I both know that’s all we can be to each other. Friends shouldn’t want to rip each other’s clothes off and fuck each other senseless.”
No. That’s definitely not what we should want to do.
Was Dani trying to rationalise what was happening between them? There was no logical explanation. They should never have had sex in the first place. A fae and a vampire together was almost as taboo as a vampire and a witch getting it on.
“Isn’t there a human concept for this? What the hell is it called?” She tugged a hand through her hair. “Friends with benefits.”
“What exactly are you suggesting?”
“That we make sex a part of our friendship.”
Dani had an insane knack of completely ripping the rug out from underneath him at every turn. Was she seriously suggesting they should make having sex with each other okay?
“I swear you’ve completely lost your mind right now.”
“Have I? Tell me you don’t want to bend me over the sofa and fuck me. I’ll leave and we’ll never talk of this again.”
As if her presence here wasn’t enough, her talking like that just made him harder.
“You just told me not to lie to you.”
“Then ask yourself this… Do you want to drive yourself crazy resisting this pull between us or do you want to have mind blowing sex with your friend who desperately wants you to touch her?”
He clenched his fist. Shit. What the hell do I even say to that? I have literally got no self-control when it comes to this girl.
He moved, appearing in front of her suddenly and wrapping his hand around her throat. He leant down, running his tongue along the curve of her ear.
“I don’t just want to have sex with you. I want to fuck you in ways and places you’ve never been fucked before. Worst of all, Dani, I want to bite you,” he whispered. “The thought of your blood makes me so hard, I can barely think straight.”
“What do you mean in places I’ve never been fucked before?”
He expected her to question why he wanted to suck her blood or why his hand was wrapped around her neck, but Dani never did what he thought she was going to do. He cupped her behind, tugging her closer to him.
“No one has fucked your mouth, have they?”
“No, but I’ve thought about doing it with you.”
“And no one has fucked you here.”
He squeezed her behind, knowing he was walking a dangerous line. He could possibly scare her away by admitting what he truly desired, but she’d told him no lies. No lies between them.
“You want to… to… fuck me there?”
“Mmm, yes. It’ll be so tight, so hot. The thought of being the only one to touch you there makes me ache.”
She wrapped her hands around his waist.
“Can I think about it?”
He wasn’t going to force her no matter how much he wanted it.
“Yes, it’s your choice.”
“Jamie…”
“Mmm?”
Her fingers tightened around his waist.
“My bodyguard doesn’t really count as a sexual partner. Before him, there was only one and he wasn’t very adventurous. I don’t want… what do humans call it? Vanilla.”
He smiled, pulling away to look down at her. Dani’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes full of caution.
“Vanilla? I’m going to fuck you like the depraved girl you really are.” He backed her towards the sofa, his hand still around her neck. “I want you begging me not to stop.”
She swallowed.
“You like to act all innocent, Dani, but I see you. Danger is what you thrive on and what’s more dangerous than asking a vampire to fuck you in the ways you’ve only dreamed about?”
What the fuck am I saying? I don’t normally treat women like this. I’ve done some fucked up stuff, but shit, she really brings out something in me I thought I’d kept hidden.
“Are you going to keep talking about it or are we going to fuck?”
They were most definitely going to fuck. She turned him on in ways no other woman had. He flipped her around and shoved her down over the arm of the sofa.
“Stay there.”
He pushed up her skirt and tugged off her underwear. Running his fingers up her sex, he found her dripping.
“Fuck me,” he muttered.
“Jamie, stop procrastinating.”
“Procrastin… Damn it, Dani.”
He tugged open his jeans, pulled out his cock and slammed into her right up to the hilt in one thrust. She yelped, fingers curling around the sofa cushions.
He’d wanted this since the moment she walked in his flat. Would he ever be able to keep his hands off her?
I won’t have to. We both want this.
He thrust into her in short, deep strokes. She clenched around him. He gritted his teeth. She was insanely tight.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he told her. “All I’ve wanted to do for the past two weeks is be inside you.”
“Haven’t you slept with anyone else?”
He pushed her skirt up further, running his hands over her behind. He’d had opportunity, but no one turned him on in the way she did. Thoughts of her slick heat did things to him. Cravings had b
een awoken and he was hard pressed to put them back to sleep.
“Would it bother you if I had?”
“I don’t really have a say in what you do.”
He almost stopped pounding into her. He reached down and gripped her chin, forcing her head back. Her ice blue eyes were lustful, but there was also a hint of worry.
“I haven’t fucked anyone else. I have no intention of taking another woman to my bed. Are you going to continue to sleep with your bodyguard when you breathe humans?”
“I don’t need to. I have you.”
He let go of her chin, gripping her hips and thrusting harder. She most certainly did have him. He wanted to bite and fuck her when she was high on magic. He wanted her blood.
“Good because I don’t like it. You should only have sex with people you want to.”
“I want to kiss you.”
He pulled out of her and dragged her up. Turning her around, his mouth crashed down on hers. She gripped his shoulders, pressing closer. Tasting her made the urge to bite her more pronounced. His fangs slid out. Her tongue ran along one of the canines. He groaned.
“Fuck, I want to bite you.”
She blinked.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“None of what we’re doing is a good idea.”
She drew back, eyes cautious.
“I’m serious. I said sex, not making me into a meal.”
It was the very last thing he saw her as, but sex and bloodlust went hand in hand for him when it came to her.
“That’s not… You’re not a meal. This is such a bad idea.”
He let go of her, backing away. She grabbed his arm before he could retreat from her fully.
“I need to think about it. I might want to see the world, but letting you drink my blood and… do… I can’t even bring myself to say it. Those aren’t things I’ve ever considered.”
I feel like a complete dick for asking her now. Dani might be assertive and confident, but she was still innocent of so much.
“If you don’t want it, it’s fine.”
“I never said I didn’t want to.”
He raised an eyebrow, stepping closer.
“Oh?”
Her cheeks stained red and her gaze fell to the floor.
“Now you’ve said it, I can’t help but wonder what it’d feel like.”
“The biting or the fucking?”