Once Bitten, Twice Shy

by Wood, C. C.

  I shoved the chair back and stood, pacing around the table where we had been sitting. I yanked at the ends of my hair, anxious for something to do with my hands.

  “I don’t know. I can’t stop thinking about him.”

  Finn stood and walked over to the window, looking out at the moonlit night. “Lex?” he asked absently.

  I nodded then realized he wasn’t looking at me. “Yes,” I answered.

  He turned to me, his eyes piercing. “Do you know how Lex feels about you?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “I haven’t heard from him in almost two weeks.”

  Finn chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy sound, and ran a hand over his face and through his long brown hair. “Foolish Greek. He’s old enough to know better.”

  I looked at him in confusion and then Finn’s smile became sincere.

  “Well, if I cannot take you for a lover, I would be pleased to have you as a friend.”

  Cautiously, I nodded, my heart still pounding and head still buzzing from the feelings his kiss evoked, as well as my own confusion and frustration over Lex.

  Calmly, Finn sat back down at the table and picked up his wine glass. “Should we continue our game?”

  Unable to think of a reason why we shouldn’t, I shrugged and sat down across from him and promptly lost.

  That night had been two days ago. Finn still made an effort to talk to me, making me laugh often, and sometimes he flirted shamelessly. It was Friday night and we were both sprawled on Conner’s huge sofa in his home theater, watching movies. Conner and Donna were at a business dinner and Finn had come round at Conner’s behest. With such spotty knowledge of The Faction, they were not going to let me stay home alone, even though I argued that I would be safe with Conner’s top-notch security system and panic room, well, apartment, in his basement.

  So, as punishment, I forced Finn to watch a sappy romantic comedy with me. Surprisingly, he watched the movie without complaint. We munched on popcorn and I drank a diet soda with rum. He sipped a beer. It felt like hanging out with any one of the guy friends I’d had in college. It was kind of nice.

  As the ending credits rolled, Finn looked over to me, wrapping one of my curls around his finger. I wasn’t sure what it was with these damn vampires and my curly hair, but they seemed to enjoy touching it.

  “So are all the men of this age such pussies?” he asked.

  I choked on my drink. “What?”

  “Well, the man in that movie basically allowed her to lead him around by his dick,” he commented.

  I rolled my eyes. Apparently, men hadn’t changed in the past thousand years or so, because I’d heard this particular complaint after a chick flick before. It seemed that the Y chromosome made men incapable of understanding why any man would want to bend over backwards for a woman.

  As he toyed with my hair, Finn said, “Though, for an arse like hers, I might be willing to put up with that for a bit myself.”

  I couldn’t help it. It was such a guy thing to say. I broke down into giggles. For some reason, I found his macho attitude hilarious. Probably because he looked like a fairy-tale prince, yet sounded just like a modern guy.

  I rested my forehead against his shoulder as I laughed, my eyes watering.

  “What the fuck is going on here?”

  I jumped as a deep voice bellowed just before the lights came on. I squinted against the brightness. Finn and I had been sitting in the darkened theater to watch the movie. I looked toward the door to see Lex framed in the doorway, dressed all in black and looking furious. Well, more than furious.

  Finn smiled lazily. “Good evening, Alexander. I didn’t realize you were on your way back.”

  He slowly unwound my hair from his finger, but still rested his arm along the back of the sofa. Lex watched the movement closely, his eyes burning with dark fire. Then his gaze zeroed in on my face.

  I shivered. Holy shit, he was enraged. For the first time, I worried that Lex might actually hurt me.

  “Ivie and I were discussing the film we just watched.”

  Lex’s eyes snapped back to Finn’s face and scrutinized him closely. Then he looked back at me.

  Lifting a hand, palm up, he said, “Ivie, come here.”

  I sucked in a shaky breath. For reasons I didn’t want to examine, I wanted to do as he asked. Every time he spoke to me in that tone, I wanted to melt in a puddle at his feet and do whatever he wanted. At that moment, however, I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t rip me to shred when I came within reach.

  He must have seen the true fear in my expression because he closed his eyes and dropped his head. I saw him inhale deeply several times before he lifted his head again. His eyes were less intense and he no longer appeared murderous.

  “I would never hurt you, little one, not in a way you would not enjoy. Come to me.”

  Somehow, I knew he was talking about hurting me in a sexual way. In a way that made my tummy flutter and my pulse thrum. Still unsure, I glanced at Finn. I thought I heard Lex growl, but I wasn’t sure. It was Finn’s small nod that convinced me I would be safe with Lex.

  Slowly, I got to my feet and walked toward the huge, angry vampire standing statue still in the doorway. When I got within reach, he lunged forward and I gasped. Before I knew what was happening, he threw me over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.

  “Lex, put me down,” I said quietly.

  “Fuck no,” was his terse reply.

  “Please, Lex,” I said.

  Whatever I had been planning to say flew right out of my head as his palm connected sharply with the cheek of my ass.

  After that, I knew it would be useless to try and argue, so I let him carry me out of the house and straight to his large, black SUV. Without a word, he dumped me in the backseat, his face taut with suppressed rage.

  “Seatbelt,” he snapped.

  My hands shaking, I sat up and buckled myself into the seat. I watched as Lex climbed in behind the steering wheel.

  “Lex,” I whispered.

  “Don’t speak.”

  His voice cracked through the interior of the car like a whip. I saw the muscle in the side of his jaw working. I had a bad feeling that my perception of things between us was not the same as his. In fact, I was getting the impression that I misunderstood the entire situation. Just as Donna had suggested. Why didn’t I ever learn to listen? This wasn’t the first time she’d been right and I’d ignored her advice.

  I huddled in the back of the car, trying to control the tremors in my limbs. I recognized the route we were taking. Lex was incredibly pissed and he was taking me home. To his home.

  We arrived before I was ready. I reached down to open the passenger door, but the child lock was engaged. I peeked over the top of the front seat and saw that Lex had both hands on the steering wheel, gripping it so tightly I thought it was going to snap in half.

  “Ivie, I’m going to offer you one chance to escape. If you really don’t want this, want me, tell me now. If you can tell me that sincerely, I’ll take you back to Conner’s and never bother you again. If you can’t, then you’re mine to do with as I please.”

  My stomach twisted viciously with fear and arousal. Considering how angry he was, I wanted to beg him to take me back to the safety of Donna’s McMansion. But I wanted Lex more. For the last two weeks, I’d been unable to get the thought of him out of my mind.

  “I’ll stay,” I whispered.

  I watched as he bowed his head and flexed his fingers. After a moment, he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. I was struggling with the clasp on my belt when my door opened and he hauled me out. His fingers manacled my wrist so tightly I was fairly certain I’d have marks. I didn’t care.

  His dark eyes looked black and surprisingly cold when he stared down at me. “Tonight, you do not speak unless I ask you a direct question. And when you answer, you do so out loud and you call me Sir. Do you understand?”

  I shuddered and nodded. His hand whipped up and tangled in my hair, tugging my
head back roughly. It was on the edge of being too painful, but never crossed the line.

  “How do you answer?” he demanded.

  Crap, I’d already forgotten. I had to say it aloud. “Y-y-yes, Sir,” I stammered.

  He nodded, his grip on my hair relaxing slightly. His gaze moved over my face, detached but keen. “If you need me to stop, all you have to say is zebra. I can promise that I’ll stop what I’m doing immediately. Do you understand?” he asked.

  “Yes, Sir.” My voice was a bit stronger this time.

  “What will you say if you need to stop?”

  “Zebra, Sir.”

  He nodded, his face relaxing even more. My heart was pounding in my chest like a bass drum, hard and fast. Dear God, this insane feeling careening around inside me was what I imagined when I’d asked my previous boyfriend to dominate me, only it hadn’t worked like that before.

  His hand in my hair became a caress. “Even if I stop tonight, Ivie, I won’t let you leave. You chose to stay and you will stay until I am done with you.”

  At his possessive words and the dark fire in his eyes, so at odds with the now-gentle movements of his hand in my hair, I began to pant. Every cell in my body was on high alert and a mixture of anticipation and fear twined within my belly.

  Then Lex smiled and it was wicked. And just for a moment, I wondered if I had just sold my soul to the Devil.

  Chapter Twelve

  Without another word, he turned and started toward the house. I almost tripped going up the short flight of stairs that led to Lex’s front door. My knees were weak and my thighs felt like overcooked noodles. Lex unlocked the front door and pulled me inside, his hand still tight around my wrist.

  He moved me deliberately, positioning me next to him as he locked the front door. My breaths were light and shallow. He still didn’t speak as he led me through the house to a plain black door. When I saw it, I realized exactly how serious Lex was about his kink.

  I didn’t have time to decide if that terrified me or not, because he opened the door to reveal a flight of stairs descending to a lower level. Lex didn’t even spare me a glance, merely started down the steps as though he expected me to follow, which I did because he still had my wrist in his grip.

  It was dark but Lex hit a few switches along the wall and lights came on throughout the room. He had recessed lighting throughout the space, and each fixture pointed to specific play areas of his dungeon. And it was definitely a dungeon. Though I’d never seen one except in my imagination or on the videos I sometimes watched online, I was sure this was a place for torture and pleasure.

  Beneath one pool of light was a St. Andrew’s Cross. What looked like a spanking bench sat beneath another. There were pieces of furniture I didn’t recognize and wasn’t sure I wanted to know what they were intended for. A huge bed, large enough for five or six people, stood in the center of the room, the wooden headboard carved to look like twisted, thorny vines and I assumed the style made it easier to secure someone to the bed. A huge black cabinet stood against the wall to my left, the doors shut tight. Floggers, restraints, paddles, and other paraphernalia hung along the same wall.

  My heart was definitely about to pound its way out of my chest. Lex was serious about his play and I was a novice. The tension inside me ratcheted up another ten notches. I wasn’t sure I could handle whatever he planned to dish out.

  I didn’t realize that I was no longer breathing until both of Lex’s hands cupped my jaw and tilted my head up so he could look into my eyes. Whatever he saw there, or felt emanating from me, made the anger drain from his expression. Concern replaced the rage.

  “Breathe, little one,” he prompted.

  I managed to suck a deep breath in past the tightness in my throat.

  “Another.”

  I exhaled and sucked in another breath until the urge to throw up, pass out, or both, lessened.

  His thumbs moved in circles on the hinge of my jawbone. “Ivie, I’m sorry I scared you. I promise, you are safe with me.”

  I blew out that breath and forced myself to take another.

  “I know,” I whispered. “I just got a little overwhelmed when you brought me down here.” I gestured around us. “I knew you were into kink but I wasn’t exactly expecting something this, um….” I trailed off, unable to think of how to describe what I saw around me.

  His dark chocolate eyes brightened for a moment. “I can see how that might take you off guard.” He grew serious. “Do you want to go back upstairs?” he asked quietly. “I don’t want you to feel as though this is something you have to do tonight.”

  My mouth went completely bone dry. Even though he was seriously pissed off and, judging from the tent in the front of his pants, even more turned on, this powerful vampire was willing to take my thoughts and feelings into consideration. That alone convinced me I had made the correct choice.

  “No, I don’t want to go back upstairs,” I said, my voice a little stronger than before.

  Lex’s eyes bored into mine for what felt like an eternity. I wondered if he was reading my mind. Or perhaps he was struggling with himself. Finally, he seemed to be satisfied with what he saw and his hands released my jaw.

  “Very well,” he said. He gestured to a small pillow nearby. It sat beneath another recessed fixture, looking as though it were under a spotlight. “Remove your shirt and pants and kneel on that.”

  I gulped and walked to the cushion. I pulled my shirt over my head, folding it neatly, trying to stall without being obvious. I set it on the floor next to the pillow. Then I stripped off my yoga pants, also folding them neatly and placing them on top of the shirt. I didn’t remove my bra or panties. He hadn’t said anything about them and I honestly felt vulnerable enough in nothing but my underwear. I was just glad that I had chosen a black bra and matching panties that morning when I’d gotten dressed.

  Lex seemed to appreciate my body as it was, but that only soothed my frazzled nerves a bit. I bit my bottom lip and knelt on the pillow, settling my bottom on my calves. I wasn’t sure what to do with my hands, so I rested them on top of my thighs.

  I chanced a glance up and nearly choked on my tongue. Lex had removed his jacket and unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt. In his hand was a set of padded wrist restraints and he was headed right toward me.

  He didn’t speak as he secured the restraints around my wrists in front of me. After he finished, he ran a finger under the material.

  “Are these too tight?” he asked.

  I shook my head.

  His hand reached up and cupped my jaw firmly, forcing my face up so that I was looking into his eyes. “When I ask you a question, how should you respond?”

  “N-no, Sir. They aren’t too tight.”

  He gave me a small nod of approval. “I understand that this is all new to you, Ivie, but, if I have to remind you again, I will be using my hand on your bare ass.”

  I squirmed slightly at his threat. As always, Lex’s keen eyes didn’t miss a thing and he raised a single eyebrow.

  “Are your hands numb or tingling?” he asked.

  I almost shook my head, but remembered just in time. “No, Sir,” I murmured.

  He smiled slightly at me, then an inscrutable expression dropped over his face. One that made me very nervous.

  Lex began to walk in a circle around my body, his hand lightly touching my shoulders as he moved. “Do you understand why you’re here, little one?”

  “No, Sir,” I whispered. Well, I had an inkling, but I also had no idea why he brought me tonight.

  “You did some things you shouldn’t have.” His fingers went from lightly tracing my shoulder into my hair. He gently gripped the back of my skull, tilting my head back so I had to look up the long line of his body to his face. “And now I’m going to punish you.”

  Every muscle from my belly button down contracted viciously at his words.

  Then he leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on my lips before he continued, “And you will love
every moment of it.”

  Before I could faint, which was a distinct possibility, he straightened and used the pressure of his hand cupping my nape as a cue for me to stand. I was a little awkward getting to my feet, but managed to do so without stumbling.

  With his hand on the back of my neck, Lex led me to the spanking bench. As we drew to a halt, I shuddered. Oh shit. He didn’t say a word as he positioned me and secured my hands to an O-ring in front of me. He used straps to secure my calves to the padded knee rests on each side of the bench. I was well and truly caught. He remained behind me and I couldn’t turn my head to look at him, causing my anxiety level to rise even more.

  His fingertips trailed down my spine, tracing each bump of my vertebrae, and leaving a trail of fire in their wake. When his hand reached my tailbone, he reversed direction.

  “Since this is your first time in my dungeon, Ivie, I will use my hand. If you misbehave again, I will use a paddle.”

  I opened my mouth, then closed it with a quick snap. I wasn’t supposed to speak unless he asked me a question, which he hadn’t. Still, his threat caused a rush of heat between my legs rather than having the effect I expected, which was fear.

  The damn vampire knew exactly what he was doing to me because he chuckled softly.

  Suddenly, his fingers twisted into my underwear and he ripped them off me with a quick jerk. My entire body quaked. Oh God. He hadn’t even really touched me yet and I felt like I was on the edge of an orgasm, which I hadn’t thought possible. I always had difficulty climaxing, often to the frustration of my partners and myself.

  I was distracted from my thoughts by the feel of his rough, hot palm cupping the cheek of my ass.

  Lex hummed in the back of his throat. “Your skin is so pale, little one. It will be a pleasure to see it turn pink, then red, beneath my hand.”

  I squirmed again and his hand came down on my ass in a sharp slap.

  “Keep still,” he admonished.

  I began to pant again. I didn’t know if I could survive this.

  His fingers began their leisurely travel up and down my spine again. “Do you know why you’re being punished, Ivie?”