by Rena Marks
“I know the reason why. You’re my mate, consummated or not. Willing or not. My brand is still on your back.”
“We don’t get a choice?”
“No.”
“But I’m tied the same way to Julian.”
“I know. I don't think a situation like this has ever existed. You were only able to become Julian's human servant because your brand wasn't willing or consummated. My brand didn't disappear because you were mesmerized into becoming a human servant. Even that wasn't completely willing.”
But I was done with talking. I leaned forward and licked his neck. I felt a growl emanate from deep within him and instead of scaring me, it peaked my desire. I licked again, the way a wolf might. There were so many senses involved, the visual, the taste, the satisfaction in giving pleasure. It was carnal and sinful and so very, very hot.
Leo pulled me onto his lap, my legs wrapped around his waist. My mouth found his again and it was a wet, sultry mesh of tongues and pants and moans.
I wanted him badly. I wanted to feel him take me on my knees, like a wolf with my ass in the air. Thrust into me, dominate me, give me unimaginable pleasure. I wanted him to howl as he came and spill hot semen into the core of my body. The most primal instinct.
Slowly I came to my senses. I jerked myself away and stood on quivering legs to get to the door, a safe distance away.
“Sorry,” I said, without looking back. “It’s your muscles. You need to stop working out. Maybe you should try to get fat.”
I was through the door before I gave a quick glimpse back. He still sat on the bed but this time there was smug male satisfaction across his face.
And an erection to rival the one I had dreamed about.
Chapter Nine
He was gone by the time I woke. I missed him as I showered for work.
I’d never realized how lonely my life had been previous to Julian and Leo. I’d never realized that there was something lacking. I loved Julian, of course. But Leo, he was easy companionship. A true friendship. Something I had been lacking.
I was aware it was a friendship I was ruining with my runaway hormones. I was leading him on and about to kill the friendship. Apparently I needed to satisfy the hormones, so I sought out Julian for an orgasm-induced feeding.
After our feeding, Julian and I were back downstairs at the bar, enjoying a break together before I returned to the gym. After the previous day of laughing over Anna, we’d fallen into a comfortable companionship. I felt guilty. I fed Julian and I received my satisfaction during it, but Julian never got his release. It was truly a one-sided relationship. Just like my relationship with Leo. What was it with me and relationships? Was I selfish? Was I bitter over my ex-husband?
It wasn't all bad with Julian. Sometimes when I went to Bang’s to visit with him, I waited for him to take a break for a feeding. I watched him work, feeling like one of the vampire voyeurs myself.
His muscles seemed to glide under his skin. His hair gleamed under the lights. He commanded attention and gave smiles of praise to his employees. It was enough to melt my insides, to turn me into molten liquid deep inside.
I’d made up my mind to change our relationship. I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, but I did have an eternity to spend with him. I was happier when I was with him. That night I took the back stairs up to his office.
I entered to a scene I'd never expected.
Julian and Danielle sat on the sofa. She was wrapped in his arms. They pulled apart at the sound of my breath sucking in. My stomach knotted and the back of my neck tingled.
Danielle licked her lips deliberately. Julian had open bites on his neck.
I thought I was going to get sick.
But I had chosen this. I didn't have the right to have a broken heart. Especially not when I was attracted to Leo.
“A word with you, Julian? In private?” I asked, mostly to break the awkward silence.
He nodded and Danielle rose gracefully. She glided past me, smirking the tiniest bit on her way out. Julian grabbed a tissue and wiped the bites on his neck. I'd interrupted before she had sealed them with her saliva.
“Here, let me,” I took the tissue from him and dabbed lightly. “Do you want me to get her back to seal them shut?”
It would kill me to fetch her. I really hoped he wouldn’t.
“No, it’ll be fine.”
He continued to let me dab. I did it because it was an excuse to touch him. And dammit, he was mine.
“Danielle was feeding because she is still weakened from her punishment. Only her master’s blood is powerful enough to restore her health.” Julian's voice was soft.
“You don’t need to explain to me.”
“I do,” he gripped my waist. “I love you, Anjelia.”
“Please.” I lowered my forehead to his. “Let’s not go there. I can't go there right now. I hurt.”
“You don't have to hurt. We could be so happy. My body aches for you, day and night. I would do anything you asked, you have to know that.”
“Would you let me date others, Julian? Would you let me be with Leo? Because you'll still be with Danielle.”
Silence was his answer. He could no more watch me with Leo than I could watch him with Danielle.
“How do I know if I really love you? How do I know I’m not mesmerized? How do I trust you?”
“I can no longer mesmerize you, my sweet. You attained that benefit when you became my human servant.”
“Yet I was mesmerized the whole time.”
“I'd placed it beforehand. I'm so sorry. I wish I could undo the chain of events.”
“How do I know that the feelings I have now aren’t left over from being mesmerized? How do I know they’re true? I’ll never know.”
“I know that I cannot watch you with another, Anjelia.”
“You may have no choice. We’re tied together until death.”
“So you cuddle to Leo and I return to Danielle? Is that really what you wish?”
The mental image of Julian with Danielle was too fresh. And this was the pain he felt when I was with Leo. I closed my eyes briefly. Julian wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his head to my breasts. “It’s going to be quite painful to watch each other with others when we have to come together daily for skin contact and blood exchange.”
“Are you saying that if I’m with Leo, you’ll be with Danielle?” I whispered. I couldn't believe he was threatening me.
“I’m saying that I can no more watch you with Leo than you can watch me with Danielle.”
I pushed him backward. He looked up at me, expressionless, his face smooth. I sighed and straddled his lap.
His mouth was sinfully tempting. Slowly I lowered my lips to his, hovering so close but not touching. He never moved a muscle.
“Do I want you so badly because I’m your human servant and we’re connected? Or because I love you?” I whispered. “I wish I knew.”
The pain in my heart knew. I wasn't sure I wanted to face that.
“Did you want me before you were mesmerized by me? In either case it doesn’t matter. You want me now, like I want you. Why must you continue to fight it?”
He was so close I could feel his breath.
I pressed my lips to his. His breath caught.
There had been no emotion in his face yet I could make his breath catch with just a caress. His hands spanned across my waist. I took them and held them behind his back. With his hands held prisoner, I leaned in and kissed him deeply. He opened his mouth willingly and my tongue swept inside. At the last moment I remembered the sharp fangs and pulled back. He was breathing harder now but just watching.
I unbuttoned his shirt slowly, knowing that I could stop at any moment. When it was loose, I spread my palms across his chest. His skin was smooth, his musculature more subtle than Leo’s but definitely defined. I pressed a kiss to the satiny skin and released my hands so they could wander up his arms. I let my fingertips glide over his muscular forearms and biceps.
I licked a nipple while my fingers trailed lower to the waistband of his pants. I paused, considering. I wanted this so badly. Was it worth the consequences? Would he expect a change in our relationship tomorrow? Worse, would I?
“Don’t stop, my sweet. Please, don’t stop,” he whispered in a deep voice thick with need.
“I want you so badly, Julian. Is it the binding?”
He nodded. “What we had before the binding was simply enhanced. We’ll feel this way throughout eternity. A long time to fight ourselves.”
“What happens tomorrow? What will you expect of me?”
“I expect nothing but the continuation of our pretense. Anything else you wish to do I’ll accept gladly. On your terms.”
So tomorrow we could go on the same as always. It was almost too good to be true.
The entire relationship was up to me.
“I love you, Julian. I want us to be happy again. Can we try?”
He nodded, cupping my face and bringing me to him to kiss.
I released the waistband of his pants and unzipped his zipper. The room was silent and the sounds echoed loudly.
His erection sprang forth, proudly male. He raised his hips long enough for me to tug his pants down his hips and then sat back down, me on his lap again.
“Can I touch you, my sweet?”
“No,” I whispered. “Keep your hands to yourself. You said I set the rules.”
“For now,” he agreed, and I was too far gone to argue any longer.
I leaned toward his neck and lapped the wounds made by Danielle. I knew the punctures would be highly sensitive.
He closed his eyes and groaned.
A human suck will leave a hickey while a vampire suck is drinking instead. But a human suck over such a sensitive area can be erotic ecstasy. A little taste of blood was in my mouth but for some strange reason I wasn’t repelled. It was simply Julian, a form of Julian.
We were interrupted as the door opened. He was unclothed, so I blocked him with my body and looked over my shoulder. Danielle stood hesitantly in the doorway. Julian watched her with eyes that were hooded.
“You dare to enter my private office?”
She paled. “I am sorry, Master. I remembered I hadn’t sealed my bite and wondered if you needed me.”
Julian didn't answer. He simply watched me.
So I answered instead. “He doesn’t need you, Danielle. He has me.”
I never heard the door shut. I slid off his lap and kneeled between his legs, carefully shielding him from her view. I leaned my head down to his lap and felt his hand bunch in my hair. The door clicked and angry footsteps echoed in the distance.
I took him into my mouth.
His hand pressed against the back of my head as though he couldn’t bear to let me go. My mouth was filled with sweet hardness, the headiness of Julian.
He groaned as I kissed his cock. I released him long enough to lick up and down his shaft and then just sucked the head into the warm wetness of my mouth.
“My sweet, how I’ve longed for this.”
“Really? Then you’ll finish like this.”
I wanted to swallow his essence. The first time ever.
His cock throbbed with excitement. I cupped his balls in my hand, feeling the weight of his balls inside the satiny skin that covered them.
I took his entire length into my mouth. I worshipped his body freely, showing the love I had for him in every slow, sensual movement. Every kiss, every lick, every stroke.
He was helpless, making small grunts of satisfaction and thrusting carefully into my mouth.
I knew what he wanted. I pulled him closer to the edge of the seat. “Fuck me like this,” I whispered and helped him thrust into my mouth. It drove him wild.
I could feel when he was close. His cock was throbbing, and his balls were tight. Then he released with a groan as he spurted down into my throat. I swallowed him greedily, the sweet essence that was Julian.
He lifted my head from his groin and moved me back enough so that he could kneel before me too. He ground his mouth to mine, tasting himself on me. I moaned at the eroticism. Laying me backward on the floor, he lifted my skirt to my waist and removed my soaked panties. Then he lifted my shirt and unsnapped the front closure of my bra, freeing my heavy breasts. My nipples were rosy and hard, pointing into the air. So ready for his attention.
His face was level with my groin now. He reached up with both hands and pulled on my nipples, then twisted them lightly. I gasped. His tongue found my clit. He licked it wetly and deliberately, just the right amount of pressure.
“Ohmigod,” I moaned.
He continued his tongue action, long licks between my swollen lips, with a light sucking on my clit. He brought one hand down from playing with my nipple to finger my passage, thrusting in and out of my wetness.
It felt amazing. This was how much pleasure I’d brought him just moments ago.
He sensed my orgasm and concentrated on sucking harder on my swollen clit.
I exploded like a time bomb, millions of fragments of me bursting throughout my body at the warmth of his mouth on my most sensitive area.
“Julian,” I gasped.
He lifted his head.
“I love you.”
He crawled up the length of me, lying on his side and looking into my eyes. “As I love you, my sweet. Always.”
We were collapsed on the carpet. His fingers lightly encircled my bellybutton, playing with the jewelry that pierced it.
“It’s late, Anjelia. I should get you to bed.”
I knew he meant his but I needed to be on my own home ground.
I turned toward him. “I need to get home. Will you stay there with me?”
“Yes, my sweet. Let’s get dressed.”
After we dressed, we made our way down the back staircase. Danielle was in the main section of the club and averted her eyes as we walked by. Julian called out to Johnny that we were leaving. Maybe she had learned some humility.
I have to say that Julian and I getting back together was a relief. No matter what he had done to trick me, I had to come to grips with the fact that I loved him. It certainly made things easier since I did tie myself to him. Eternally.
* * * * *
The next day at the gym Lily stopped by, looking frustrated.
“I'm sorry, Leah. I need to work out, release some steam. If I don't, I'll strike Danielle and violate the rules of my existence.”
Ah, another Danielle confrontation.
“Does it seem like confrontations with Danielle occur whenever someone is alone?” I wondered aloud, remembering my own with her when Anna saved me.
“It does seem like that’s often the case,” Lily responded.
“Well, Lily, let me make your day.”
I told her about Julian and me getting back together again. I told her how. She started to giggle, especially when I told her about Danielle walking in on us. Her eyes grew huge. “And you did what!”
I smiled. “I kneeled between his legs and there wasn’t a thing that Danielle could do about it. You should have seen her face.”
Lily laughed, holding her sides. I was glad to see her mood uplifted.
“I guess this means I’m out of the running?” Anna asked.
I whirled around.
“Don’t sneak up on humans. You scared her,” Lily admonished.
“Sorry,” Anna said. “I forget.”
She reached for a lock of my hair, gently caressing it between two fingers.
I swatted her hand away. “Knock it off.”
Lily rolled her eyes at us. “I’m heading back to Bang’s. Get her to tell you about her revenge story. You’ll love it.” She called out as she left.
Anna raised an eyebrow to me. “A real Danielle story?”
I smiled. “It’s real.”
“I thought you were making up a story to make Lily feel better.”
It was rare, but sometimes Anna had a sweet side.
&n
bsp; “Did you just come by to check on her?” I asked.
“Yes. To make her smile again. But you beat me to it. Now, move over and share your secrets, girlfriend,” she said, straddling the bench with me.
Anna and I were laughing at Danielle’s expense ten minutes later when the phone rang. I was still giggling over the experience.
Lily was on the other end, her voice in a panic. “Leah, come over. There are cops swarming all over the place.”
I looked out the front window and saw one squad car.
“All over?” I asked. She leans toward exaggeration.
“Yes. Upstairs in Julian’s office,” she answered, her voice breathless.
Anna and I headed to Bang’s, feeling more than a little worried. While entering the bar, I ran smack into Johnny.
“Where’s Julian?”
“He’s up in his office with the police.”
“Police? What do they want?”
Johnny shrugged as if it were no big deal. He suddenly grinned when realization dawned. “Lily call you? Why don’t you go up and find out for us all?”
I grinned back and realized that if it were as serious as the dramatic Lily imagined, Johnny would be next to Julian as his second-in-command. I headed up the stairs and knocked on the door, opening it when I heard his voice call out to enter.
“Here she is now.” Julian was saying to the two uniformed officers.
I raised my eyebrows.
“Anjelia, these officers have questions for you regarding my whereabouts last night.”
One of the officers cleared his throat and spoke without looking at me directly. “We’re just asking questions, Councilmember Romere. No one is under investigation here. In fact, we were hoping that you might be able to help us.”
The officer was under the common misconception that by looking into a vampire’s eyes, his will would be immediately compromised. As if the vampire could drive you to do something outrageous like rob a bank. Mesmerization without blood draw.
I spoke as gently as I could. Not all vampires had this wondrous ability. Most were only able to mesmerize for feeding or sex. Even then, it involved contact.
“I’m human, officer. You don’t need to avoid my eyes.”
He raised his startled eyes to me. “Of course not, ma’am.” He lowered them again.