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1933563311-Convince-Me-Ramagos.doc

Page 5

by Convince Me (lit)


  "Are you still in my head?"

  "No. I only clouded your mind for a moment, in that first second of the kiss. Whatever you felt after, whatever you are feeling now, is all you."

  "I am feeling out of this world!" She slid a hand to the back of his neck and pulled his face down to hers. She sampled her own blood on his lips, what still lingered in his mouth. It tasted warm, metallic, sweet. His cock remained hard inside her, God, the man's control was unreal, and her vaginal muscles clinched around him. She felt his hand move down her leg, under it to lift it up off the bed and drape it over his shoulder. The position opened her legs and her pussy wider and he slid his cock in deeper still.

  He caught both her hands in one of his and pinned her wrists to the mattress above her head. Then, without warning or pretense, he eased his dick out of her and slammed it back in.

  "Damian! Oh, God!"

  "I'm going to fuck you now, Kailey. Just like you asked for." And he did. His dick pounded into her. Hard, harder, hardest. She swung her other leg on his shoulder and locked her ankles around his neck. Though he released her wrists, she kept her hands above her head, loving the feel of him in complete control, of being dominated. His hands slid under her ass, cupped her butt cheeks and elevated her ever so slightly until he filled her to the point of bursting.

  It felt exquisite, the fierce thrusting of his cock so deep inside her. Though only mere moments passed since he last made her cum, in seconds he brought her there again. This time, she felt him give in to his own needs, heard the grunt from low in his throat when he finally allowed himself to cum.

  Sweaty and breathless, she let her trembling legs fall to the mattress on either side of him, closed her eyes and waited for her world to stop spinning. He slid his cock out of her, rolled to lie beside her and the emptiness that instantly consumed her made her reach for him. When she opened her eyes she found him propped on one elbow, gazing down at her.

  Idly, she stroked his chest with the backs of her fingers. Cool to the touch, she realized. His skin felt cool without a dribble of sweat, while she, on the other hand, was slick with it. Even the blood around his mouth had disappeared. "No fair," she said, still a little breathless from decidedly the best marathon of sex she ever experienced.

  "What is not fair, my sweet?" His temple rested on one balled fist while the fingers of his free hand traced the line of her jaw.

  "I need another shower now and you…" She let her gaze slide pointedly down his beautifully naked body. "You look so fresh you could grab a suit and attend a meeting with the President of the United States."

  He chuckled. "There are many advantages to being a vampire."

  She nodded slowly, thought about that. "Like not breaking a sweat, no need to breathe, never getting gray hair or gaining weight."

  "Yes, those are but a few."

  "Will I be the only one tonight?"

  "The only what?"

  "The only mortal?"

  He studied her for a long moment and then answered. "No, there are a few others."

  "Do they know who you are? What you are?"

  "Yes. Those who are here tonight know. The party this evening is by invitation only. Those who were invited know the company they keep."

  "And the rest of the time?"

  "The rest of the time? You mean when it is not Halloween?"

  She nodded.

  "The Hotel of Darkness is open to anyone who wishes to visit, mortal or undead, the remaining three-hundred-sixty-four days of the year."

  "Why limit the clientele on Halloween?"

  "I should think that would be obvious."

  "Too dangerous."

  "It could be. Yes. This is not a slaughterhouse, Kailey. This is a hotel, a place of business, just as any other in the city. We do not feed on unwilling guests. But yes, sadly, when so many immortals get together there is a potential for accidents."

  "Accidents!" The word came on a sudden burst of cynical laughter.

  "Yes, accidents. Though we are open to any and all, we do monitor how many of the undead are under the roof of this hotel at all times."

  "Population control of your own kind in your own hotel?"

  "Of a sort." He nodded. "We never allow more than we can keep watch on. All of the undead know the rules of mingling with the mortals inside these walls or the surrounding grounds."

  "Except on Halloween," she concluded.

  "Yes, except on Halloween."

  "How many accidents have happened over the years, Damian?"

  "None."

  "So far."

  "So cynical," he said and all but tsked. "Yes, my sweet, so far. Are you worried?"

  She thought about that, remembered all of the people she saw in the hotel lobby when she arrived and remembered the big dog. The dog somehow frightened her most. "Maybe a little," she admitted with a small shrug. "There aren't just vampires here are there? I mean, there are others, other kinds of immortals."

  "Shape-shifters," he said and nodded. "Yes, there are shape-shifters here as well."

  "Then it wasn't some oversized dog," she said more to herself than Damian.

  "What wasn't?" He seemed immediately on alert. It made her heart trip a beat, the way he grew so suddenly still, expectant, concerned.

  "Earlier, in the lobby, before you decided to play with my head, there was this dog. At least I thought it was a dog. But when it looked at me there was something in its eyes, something in the way it walked, moved, something almost…human."

  "Not a dog but a wolf. A werewolf. Was he alone?"

  "I think so. Are there more of them?"

  "Yes. Many more. George is the leader of the pack. But it is Amaranda that I worry about."

  "Why? Who is Amaranda?"

  "She is the oldest female of the werewolf pack."

  "So she's like George's wife or significant other or whatever werewolves call their mate?"

  "Let us just say that she expects to be. But you did not see her in the lobby? You are certain of this?"

  "As certain as I can be. Of course, I had just spotted George when you decided to flash that filmstrip of you on the bed surrounded by all that silk in my head." Kailey raised her head enough to gaze pointedly down his body. Christ, the man was outrageously ripped for a dead guy! "It was a bit distracting. I suppose I could have missed her. Is she supposed to be here?"

  "No. She should not be here at all tonight." Damian sighed and shook his head. "It disturbs me that you saw George. I was not aware that he shifted and decided to promenade the hotel this evening. He has been asked repeatedly not to do that."

  "But I thought werewolves were like part man and part beast or something. In the movies…" Her voice trailed off as she realized how ridiculous she sounded. Hollywood rarely pegged anything correct to reality. Why would the movie world's version of the werewolf be any different?

  "Some can partially transform when they want but they are not the ugly beasts you are picturing. In truth, they are quite beautiful."

  Yes, she thought as she pulled a clear image of the wolf in the lobby from her memory bank. It had been very beautiful with its solid black, fine-looking fur, large green eyes the color of gum drops and its strong neck and legs.

  "There are many shifters here tonight. Not all wolves. Some are lions, tigers—"

  "And bears? Oh my!" She slapped a palm to her cheek, formed her mouth in a huge O, and feigned surprise. It probably wasn't the best time to crack a joke but she couldn't stop herself. A smile flirted with the corners of his lips and she smiled too. Good time to joke or not, the knot in her stomach did loosen just a bit.

  "No, Dorothy, no bears tonight." At the surprised look she knew must be on her face, he added, "One can not live for centuries and not enjoy all of the classics."

  "I guess not."

  "Do not be nervous about tonight, my sweet."

  "Too bad we can't just stay here in bed all night." She let the hand on his chest dance lower, stop just above his navel, and toy with the dark hairs sh
e found there. Oh, how she loved the contrast of that dark hair against his so pale skin.

  "What a tempting offer. If I did not have to host this party tonight, we certainly would stay here."

  "Guess that's what I get for being the boss vamp's date." She sighed and hated the edginess that she couldn't seem to erase from her voice.

  He heard it too because his tone turned consoling. "It is for that reason that you will be safe. You are with me." His fingers trailed lightly down her throat, her chest, to the fang marks he left at her right breast. "Everyone will know you are with me."

  "Is that why you…" She faltered, looked for a word other than bit that wouldn't make her squirm. "Kissed me there instead of my neck?"

  "It is a good reason. Should you choose to wear your hair down tonight, it would cover any mark put on your neck. Here," his thumb drew a lazy circle around the fang punctures, "it will be seen. The costume I picked out for you does put your cleavage on display."

  "Oh joy." She managed to sound only slightly sarcastic. She thought she deserved a pat on the back for that one. She didn't normally go for clothes that revealed so much.

  "But I chose your breast rather than your neck simply because I wanted to. It is more erotic, even to me. A place I do not normally feed upon with my human servants. A special place I have saved for a lover, for the woman I love."

  Kailey's breath caught even as her pulse hammered in her ears. Because of the deafening sound, she was certain she heard him incorrectly. She rolled on her side toward him, pushed herself up to rest on one elbow and glared at him through narrow eyes. "The woman you what?"

  "I care about you Kailey. That is why I could not simply let you walk away."

  "Yeah, I get that much but you more than care about me. You just said you love me." Her voice actually squeaked but, holy cow, he loved her. Loved her!

  "Perhaps it is a bit too soon for me to profess such a deep attachment to you. I do not mean to scare you."

  "Then don't say things like that." She sat up straight beside him and hugged her knees to her chest. When he reached for her, slowly grazed his palm down her spine, she flinched and he pulled his hand away. She needed for him not to touch her right now. Yet, at the same time a part of her needed him to touch her more. That part of her instantly regretted her action but what could she do?

  "Would you prefer I lie to you? Would you prefer I hide my true feelings from you?"

  She'd made him angry. She didn't have to look at him to know she'd pissed him off and probably hurt him to boot. It was there in the tightness of his voice, in the way that he stopped touching her and made no attempt to persuade her to lie back down with him. "No, of course not. You have already pretended so much with me, Damian."

  "That is right. Because when I told you the truth you did not believe me. Just as you do not believe me now." He sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed, his back to her. "I wonder though, Kailey, what would I have to do to convince you that my heart is true? I had only to bring you here tonight, to show you the world of the undead and those who inhabit it for you to believe me the vampire I claim to be. Where would I need to take you to prove to you my love?"

  Kailey didn't know what to say to that so she asked a question of her own instead. "Why do you even have to bring love into this? Why can't we continue from here without all of this emotional bullshit?"

  Damian's head whipped around and if eyes could shoot daggers she would have been full of bloody holes. "I assure you, Kailey, that my love for you is not bullshit. I want more from you than what we just shared. I want more than the sex we can have. But if my sexual plaything is all you wish to be, I supposed I could grant you that place. You are very good, after all."

  Disbelief made Kailey stare at him for several long moments before she found the ability to speak. "You bastard," she whispered. "That was cold, cruel."

  "And you aren't being cold and cruel to me, my sweet?" His nickname for her took on a more sarcastic ring than one of true endearment.

  Kailey sighed. "Maybe I am." It was she who reached for him this time, but unlike moments before when he'd attempted to touch her back, when she put her palm on the back of one broad shoulder he didn't flinch, didn't try to move out of her reach. "I'm sorry, Damian. I really didn't mean that the way it came out. It's just that, well, love always screws up everything. It makes people act differently, causes them do crazy things."

  "Like invite the one they love to a party for the beasts and undead of the city on Halloween? Like pour out their heart in hopes that the one they love with admit to loving them back?"

  "No. Like possessiveness, abuse, even murder." Her voice hitched on the last word and he turned all the way on the bed to face her. She quickly looked away, not wanting him to see the tears that intruded in her eyes.

  "You? Did someone who claimed to love you try to kill you?"

  Kailey shook her head and whispered. "My mother."

  "Your father murdered your mother?" Damian asked, obviously trying to make sense of her words.

  "No. Not my father. My father drank himself to death when I was five. But even he had a warped sense of love. Love drove him to drink too much. He believed in order to keep my mother happy he had to work himself to an early grave and he used the bottle to battle the stress and help him get there. I don't know." Kailey shook her head again, this time in silent desperation. "Maybe he was right in a sense. Maybe it did take loads of money to keep my mother happy because the next guy she married, Adam, was loaded. Of course, so were his fists."

  "He killed your mother?"

  "He beat her to death."

  "How old were you?"

  "Eighteen."

  Damian nodded, a keen understanding moved to shadow his eyes. "And you have run from love since then. Scared of what it might do. Terrified of what might happen to you."

  "I haven't run from it. I've been cautious. Careful." Kailey fisted her hands in her hair and pulled, just enough to send pain signals from the part of her brain that registered such facts to the part that allowed her to think clearly. Her thoughts were getting all screwed up again. Not because of Damian, or at least not because he was inside her head. Because he was making her think of things she put behind her long ago, making her face things she didn't want to face.

  She let out a growl that probably rivaled one of the beasts stalking through the hotel tonight and let her hands fall beside her on the bed. "What does it matter? You can't love me, Damian."

  "Why can't I?"

  "You hardly know me!" It was only one of the many reasons that instantly popped to mind. It was accompanied by things like, we only met a little over a month ago, we only went out a handful of times, you can't love me because I have no clue how I feel about you. Oh, and her favorite and biggest reason of them all, I'm mortal and you are a vampire.

  "Actually, my sweet, I know you far better than you think I do. I have been inside your head a time or two. Your thoughts tend to give things away."

  "Are you sure it's not lust? We just had sex. Amazing sex, mind you, and what was it, three times in the last hour? But what if, once the newness wears off, you realize it's only lust? People get the two confused all the time. They think they are in the big l-o-v-e when really what they are in is a heavy case of l-u-s-t."

  "I am a centuries old vampire, Kailey. I think by now I should know the difference between love and lust."

  Okay, he had a point there. "Yes, you should but—"

  He began to shake his head before the last words were even out of her mouth. His ebony hair was long, just past his shoulders, and straight but a few shorter strands framed his pale, handsome face. Those strands flew in his face now as he disagreed with her so vehemently. "You are wrong, my sweet." He turned to settle back on the bed once more. When he opened his arms for her, she went to him. Some unexplainable powerful pull left her unable to resist. "I loved you before tonight," he told her as she rested against his hard wall of a chest. "I loved you before you walked out on me the last
we met." He sighed, a hopeless, helpless sound. "If I had but one wish right now, it would be that you could go inside my mind, read my thoughts, know my heart as I can yours."

  "If you know my heart then you know that I am not in love with you." Maybe it was a cold thing to say but it did hold truth. She didn't love him. Care for him? Yes, she would admit to that much. Lust after him? Oh, hell yeah. She definitely lusted after him. But love a vampire? Could she ever?

  "No, my sweet. I know you do not love me. But you could. That much I do know. That much is inside you. And you will." He pulled her until she sat in his lap and he leaned in, brushed his lips over her bare shoulder. "I convinced you that I am not a mad man. You know now that vampires are real, that I am one. Now it will be my quest to make you see how much I love you."

  Chapter 5

  The nervousness Kailey experienced when she arrived held no comparison to that which shook her insides as she accompanied Damian through the doors of the ballroom forty-five minutes later. All heads turned, men smiled, women frowned and whispers started. Her fingers tightened on Damian's arm and she did her best not to turn around and run back out the doors she’d just walked through.

  "You are trembling, my sweet." Damian leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Since you have told me to stay out of your head, I can do nothing to calm your nerves. That is up to you now. Please know that you are safe, Kailey. This is simply a party. They are simply my guests."

  Yeah, simply guests that could drain all the blood from her body or shape-shift into her worst nightmare! On first impulse, she wanted to tell Damian to forget her orders to stay out of her head. She desperately needed calm right now. Couldn't the immortal smell fear? Animals certainly could and a shape-shifter of any kind did in fact become an animal with all the instinct of that animal.

 

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