"I... God. I'm sorry. Is this your house? We didn't know anyone lived here. The door was unlocked. It wasn't really my idea. My uncle—" She realized she was babbling and shut her mouth, taking a step back.
"This is, in fact, my house," the man's smooth voice said from above her. "You should not have trespassed."
Lily's heart, she was quite sure, dropped directly into her stomach. She hated upsetting people. Hated feeling like she'd done something wrong. In the dark, she felt her cheeks flush pink.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, unable to make her voice come out any louder through the tight clench of her throat. "I'll go. My uncle and Fred should already be downstairs… I thought I heard them running. They probably wanted to avoid you. I'll tell them that they made a mistake. We won't be back. I'm so sorry that we bothered you. It was—"
This time it was the homeowner who cut her off, laying a long, cool finger against her lips. Even in the barely-there light, she could see the white flash of his smile.
"One apology is enough. I admit that it is likely you did not know the house was occupied. And I cannot say I am entirely disappointed to be graced with such a lovely, if unexpected, guest."
Lily's blush deepened, and she opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again.
"I am sorry I frightened you, if it makes any difference." He lifted his hand away, fingers brushing—accidentally or not, she wasn't sure—against her cheek before the touch was gone entirely.
She saw his eyes widen.
"Do not cry," he said, voice suddenly gentle. "I didn't know I had frightened you so badly. I only meant to play a bit of a game. It's been a long time since I had much contact with anyone."
Lily lifted a hand to her cheek and it came back wet. She hadn't even realized she was crying.
"I'm sorry," she said, mortified. "It's not your fault. I cry easy. I'm just so embarrassed. I can't believe we just walked in here. Oh god. I can't believe we didn't pay any attention to the locals. They were probably trying to tell us the house was occupied. I thought they were just shaking their heads at us because my uncle is here to hunt ghosts. Which is stupid. I think it's stupid too. I wouldn't even be here, except I'm staying with him because of my job, and... You don't need to know that. God. I'm sorry. I should be getting out of your house and I'm standing here telling you my whole life story."
When she looked up, he was laughing. There was no sound to it, but that was definitely what he was doing, a smile on his—really very beautifully shaped—mouth, his shoulders shaking in silent mirth. Lily felt the flush on her cheeks run all the way up to the tips of her ears.
"You must think I'm an absolute idiot," she said, wishing the floor would just open up and drop her into the basement the way it did in horror movies, because even that would be better than standing here in front of the very attractive owner of the house she had trespassed in, babbling about her stupid life with her uncle and his stupid ghost-hunting plans.
"I think nothing of the sort," the man said. "And I have been very rude. My name is Damien. Damien Arbor."
He held out a hand, and Lily, after a moment's hesitation, took it, laying her own against his cool fingers. "Lily Mead," she said.
Instead of shaking her hand, he turned his own and lifted it, brushing a kiss against her knuckles that made her cheeks so hot they hurt.
"A pleasure to meet you, despite circumstances," he said. "I don't believe you need to run right out. It's been a very long time since I've had any company. If you'd like to stay?"
Lily shook her head.
"I'm sorry. Maybe if I had come in a little less ridiculous way. I just..." She was too embarrassed to even think about staying and trying to have a conversation with this man. She took a step back, intending to find another way down to the main floor and out the door. Back home, she could put this whole horrible incident behind her and pretend it never happened.
"Don't go," he said, and it wasn't a plea but almost an order, spoken low.
Lily stopped as though she had been frozen in place. Damien reached out again, brushed his fingertips along her cheek.
"Truly," he said. "I wish you to stay."
When she looked up, he was nearly in her space, looking down at her with those astonishingly blue eyes, and she found herself trying to breathe through lungs that suddenly felt much too small behind the heavy wall of her chest. Lips parted and eyes wide, she stared up at him.
"If I kiss you," he asked, leaning nearer, "would that be considered entirely unacceptable?"
Mutely, Lily shook her head. It was probably strange. Probably not all that acceptable, actually, but she couldn't imagine saying no, and suddenly wasn't even sure, caught in his eyes like that, why she had wanted to leave after all.
He leaned down slowly, his cool hand curling around the back of her neck and guiding her closer until their lips met. Lily melted against him with an ease that made her embarrassment flare anew. What on earth was she doing, kissing the owner of the house they'd broken into in his dark upstairs hallway? She'd only just met him. But his mouth was moving against hers, his tongue slipping between her lips to deepen a kiss that became suddenly hungry. It was a kiss like a claim, and his hand settled against her hip and curled around it, confident that she would give in.
She already had given in, hadn't she? Lily reached tentatively up and wrapped an arm around him in return, holding on as her knees trembled a little beneath her. Whatever was happening here, it was a lot more pleasant that what had been happening a few minutes before. Her camera was still in her other hand, her fingers holding it loosely by its strap.
When the kiss broke, Lily nearly stumbled as she took a step back, and her fingers tightened convulsively around her camera.
"I..."
She wasn't sure what to say. What did you say to the guy you'd just met that had kissed like that? Like he owned you and expected you to just go along with it? What did it say about her that she wanted to just go along with it? Her breath was coming sharp and fast and a little unsteady, and she looked anywhere but at him. Cool fingers slipped beneath her chin, lifted it.
"Tell me what you're thinking," he said.
"I'm thinking that I can't be here, doing this. Because it's ridiculous. I broke into your house and now I'm kissing you and that's just strange. And I think you're really hot," she admitted, words spilling out the way they had been all night, like she couldn't stop talking. Like she couldn't do anything but obey him. "I don't even know what to think. I'm really confused and kind of embarrassed and I probably shouldn't be kissing some guy that I only just met."
"And why not?" he asked, taking a step forward to match the one she had taken back, until he was pressed up so close that she could almost feel him, though they didn't quite touch. "I see nothing wrong with it."
And then he was kissing her again and Lily wasn't seeing anything wrong with it either. She set her camera gently on the floor next to their feet and wrapped both arms around his shoulders this time. Whatever it was that was happening, she was surprisingly okay with it after all.
Chapter Three
His arms lifted her like she weighed nothing, pulling her up until she had no choice but to wrap her legs around his waist, holding on to him so she wouldn't fall.
"I promise," he said, breaking the kiss just long enough to speak. "That I will not harm you. I swear it."
Lily didn't have time to answer before his mouth was on hers again. Dimly, she thought that was kind of a strange thing to say in the middle of a kiss, but maybe not such a strange thing if you were strangers who had met in the dark after one of you broke into the other's house. And then she was thinking about how likely she was to end up on an episode of some true crime show. And then she wasn't thinking about any of that, her attention caught up in the way his mouth was moving over her jaw, down her throat. She tipped her head back with a little sigh as he kissed down her neck, pressed his lips to the place at the base of her throat where her pulse beat.
It felt, Lily thought as
Damien groaned softly against her throat, like a dream. She wasn't entirely sure it wasn't one, in fact, given the events had become so absurd, except that she was sure she remembered the drive out to the town, the long hours in the van listening to her uncle and Fred talk about how they were going to get famous when they got the ghost of the Arbor mansion on tape. That wouldn't have been in a dream. Unless she just had really boring dreams. Or, she had fallen asleep in the van, listening to them talk, and dreamed the rest. When she woke, they'd be pulling into town, the mansion still ahead of them.
Damien was moving, walking them down the hall toward the door at the end, and Lily wondered if she should protest. Her camera was still laying in the hall, and that brought her back a bit. She couldn't just leave it there.
"My camera," she said, voice soft. "It's still where we were standing."
"It won't be harmed there," Damien said. "There is no one to harm it."
"But it—"
He kissed her until she forgot entirely what she had been protesting about, until her hands were tangled in his hair and she was moaning softly into his mouth. And even if this wasn't a dream, it was too good to stop. Like the kind of stories that happened sometimes, even in real life. Not the kind of story you told your grandkids, for sure, but maybe the kind you kept for yourself. An adventure. Definitely more interesting than any other one night stand she'd had in her life. Lily laughed a little at the thought, and Damien pulled back enough to look at her as he opened the door at his back, carrying her into the room beyond.
"Is something funny?" he asked, eyebrow lifted.
"Oh." Lily flushed. "I was just thinking about how I was going to explain this to someone someday. I mean, it's kind of crazy, isn't it? Breaking into someone's house and then ending up in their bed?"
His teeth were very white, she thought as he smiled. And there was light, she realized suddenly.
"It is perhaps a bit unorthodox, but I don't mind if you don't."
Lily shook her head. She had stopped minding. She was just going to go along with the ride. Her eyes moved past his face to look over the room they were in. It was big, with wide windows that looked out on the soft folds of the hills beyond the house. And there were candles everywhere, burning cheerfully on tables and dressers, reflecting in the mirrors and filling the room with golden light. To her right, a fire was settled in the grate. And directly behind them was an enormous four poster bed, with a heavy duvet of deep purple.
"Wow."
Damien smiled again. "You like it? I thought you might."
"I like it," Lily said. "I like it so much I wish I had my camera, actually. This would make a gorgeous shot."
He was laughing as he dropped her gently to the bed, joined her there, his body stretched out along her own. Even in the warmth of the room, his hand was cool as he traced the curve of her cheekbone with his fingertips, slid them up into her hair, and pulled the tie that held it back loose. It spilled out over the plum sheets, and he made a low, approving sound in the back of his throat.
"These sheets," he said, "are exactly your color. They suit you almost as well as your name does."
His mouth was back on her neck, moving down again. Lily tipped her head back, arching into it with her eyes slipping shut.
"This is going to hurt, I am afraid. But only for a moment," Damien said, but there was no apology in his voice. Only a matter-of-fact warning. Almost a command. This is going to hurt. Accept it.
Lily's eyes snapped open, her hand lifting from his shoulder to settle in his hair. But she didn't have time to do anything before there was a prick like a needle sliding under her skin, and then his mouth was pressed to her neck and it felt... It felt...
She didn't have words to describe it. It didn't match any experience she'd ever had before. The pain was gone quickly, a fleeting memory in the face of the burning pleasure that replaced it, starting in her feet and her fingers and moving up through her body as though his touch was drawing it through her bloodstream.
"Oh," she breathed. "Oh my god."
His hand was in her hair, holding her still, though she wouldn't have moved away. She could see through half-open eyes the shadows of the firelight dancing on the canopy, and it made the whole thing feel as dreamy as she had thought it a few moments before. The world spun a little, reoriented itself, and she took in a sharp breath, then let it out slowly. Damien's fingers were curled around her hip, and she felt each one like a brand, cold against the sudden fever-heat of her own skin. She was going to come, she realized. Just like this. Just with his mouth on her neck. It wasn't as strange a realization as she might have expected.
"Damien." The word came out breathless and sharp. "I—"
He growled against her skin, a low, hungry sound that shuddered along her body until she felt like a guitar string plucked and vibrating. His hand slid down between her thighs, pressed hard against her through her jeans, and she came undone beneath him with a wordless sound, her fingers curling and uncurling in the blankets, her spine arched and her thighs trembling.
Chapter Four
When she opened her eyes, Damien was pulling back, licking something that she realized after a moment of hazy staring must have been blood from his lips. He smiled, and she saw fangs, slim and curved, sharp as needles. She should have been terrified, but there was only the warm lassitude of afterglow, and she was more fascinated than afraid, staring up into blue eyes.
"I didn't think vampires were real," she said after a moment.
His grin was slow and sharp-edged and wicked.
"Now," he said, "you know."
The obvious next question was whether or not he was going to kill her, but he'd already told her that, hadn't he? I promise that I will not harm you. Before he'd bitten her, she might have thought of that as potential harm, but it had been anything but painful.
"So the ghosts…?"
"Are only me," he agreed, shifting to lay alongside her so he could pull her jacket off, then sitting up and taking one of her feet in his hands, undoing the laces of her shoes with motions faster and smoother than she could imagine a human managing. "And the owner is not a distant relative of the family, but the son who inherited the home before his seeming death at the front. I have passed it down to a series of imaginary beneficiaries over the years."
Her shoes were off and her socks with them, but the room was warmed by the fire and she wasn't cold. His fingers unfastened the catch of her jeans, but did not take them down yet.
"Why not live openly here then, as one of the relatives?"
"I've been waiting," he said, sitting back and meeting her eyes. "For the last of those who remember me to be gone. Soon, though, I will make my triumphant return." He smiled at her. "Sooner rather than later, I think. There is someone I would very much like to see again."
Lily felt heat paint her cheeks.
"We haven't said goodbye yet," she pointed out.
"No," Damien agreed. "And won't, until dawn."
Lily was pretty sure she was okay with that. She arched up toward him as he leaned down to kiss her, and while his hands skimmed her jeans down her legs she began unbuttoning his shirt. Her own touch was clumsier than his, not so fast, but he didn't take over for her. Instead he pulled back long enough to take her shirt off over her head, Lily pausing and lifting her arms for it, and then his mouth was on hers again. When the kiss broke once more, he paused to pull his shirt off, dropping it carelessly over the side of the bed.
"If you say no," he said, reaching out and curling his hand around her neck, pressing just enough to let her feel the touch, but not enough that he cut off her breath. His thumb stroked circles over her pulse point on the opposite side of her neck from the place he had bitten. "I will stop."
Lily wondered what was coming that she might want to stop, then thought the words were like the warning he had given her before the bite. She nodded, showing that she understood.
She didn't know where the cords came from. He produced them seemingly out of thin air, m
oving with a speed that was almost too fast for her eyes to follow, and then she was bound to the posts of the bed, her arms stretched out above her head, her ankles tied. The bonds were soft, and when she moved they didn't rub against her skin, but being held like that, at his mercy, made her stomach twist in a way that wasn't entirely unpleasant, made new heat settle between her thighs. Damien looked down at her with a hunger that struck an answering spark under her own skin.
"You look good like that," he told her, smiling, not bothering any longer to hide his fangs away. "Edible, in fact."
He ran his hands along her waist, the curves of her hips, then settled down against the bed with the grace of a snake and sank his fangs into her thigh. Lily bucked against the restraints, feeling the tug of them as she moved, and then the momentary pain once again became pleasure, and she was moaning, writhing under his hands, his mouth. He pulled back after only a moment, licking over the stinging place where he had bitten. Lily wasn't sure whether she was dizzy with blood loss or desire, but when his nails raked lightly down her outer thigh, she knew that she wanted.
"You are so easily marked," Damien said, running his fingertips over the resulting red lines. He seemed pleased by them, fascinated by the rising color. He leaned down and licked along them, mouth cool against her own life-warm skin. He nipped gently but didn't draw blood. "Even hotter there than elsewhere," he murmured, almost to himself.
His hands were unfastening her bra. He didn't bother untying her, broke the strap with a flick of his fingers, and laughed when Lily protested. "I will buy you a new one." Her underwear went the same way, ripping under his touch, and that was actually really hot. Lily lifted her head enough to look down at him, feeling his eyes on her, squirming a little with the desire to cover herself from the intensity of his gaze. But her hands were tied in place, and he could explore her body with his eyes at his leisure.
MILITARY ROMANCE: The War Within Himself (Alpha Bad Boy Marine Army Seal) (Contemporary Military Suspense & Thriller Romance) Page 9