Once Bitten, Twice Shy (9 page)

Dinner was great. Conner had made shepherd’s pie, my favorite comfort food. I eyed him speculatively after we ate, wondering if he had fished that little piece of information out of my brain.

When he caught me staring at him for the third time in fifteen minutes, Conner sighed and set aside his fork. “Okay, what now?” he asked.

I blushed lightly, but met his gaze squarely. “Did you know shepherd’s pie is one of my favorite things?” I asked.

He nodded. “I did. Donna told me.”

My blush intensified. I hadn’t thought of that. I had just assumed that he took advantage of his abilities because he could. It was embarrassing to realize that I had been so suspicious of my best friend’s fiancé. Her fiancé who just wanted to do something nice for me, like make my favorite dinner.

I sent him an apologetic smile. In that uncanny way of his, and Lex’s, he seemed to understand what I was thinking and sent me a wink.

After that silent exchange, some of the tension in my belly dissipated. The rest of the meal was actually a lot of fun. I had never realized how witty and sweet Conner really was. His tales of his life before he came to America and the shenanigans he was involved in as a boy in Scotland were funny and bittersweet. I could sense that time had not dimmed his memories or the feeling he had for his friends and family who were now long gone.

I was beginning to understand what Donna meant when she said a lot of vampires were more like humans than monsters. Seeing this side of Conner, I could understand why Donna fell in love with him.

After dinner, I insisted on helping Donna with the dishes. Well, I insisted Donna and I do the dishes. Conner had laughed when he saw the dirty looks my friend was shooting me for volunteering her for the chore.

He walked over to Donna, leaned in, and kissed her lightly on the mouth. “I have some calls to make, lass. Don’t kill each other while I’m gone,” he admonished.

Donna scoffed and waved him away. “You don’t have to worry about what I’ll do to her. Worry about the torture she’s going to inflict upon me.”

I rolled my eyes as I finished clearing the table. “Washing dishes isn’t torture. It’s a household chore no one really likes, but it’s only fair we do them since Conner cooked.”

She grumbled about pain in the ass humans and fiancés who used every dish in the house to make a single meal, but she helped. It was after eight when we finished drying the last dish and putting them away.

“Thanks, babe,” she said, folding the dish towel and throwing it on the counter.

“You’re welcome,” I answered. My back and neck were killing me from all the computer work I’d done that day. “I think I’m going to head upstairs and take a hot bath and check out early,” I said.

Donna nodded. “Sounds like a plan. I think I’ll do the same.”

I gave her a hug and headed upstairs to my room. I filled yet another fantastic tub, wondering who picked out Conner’s bathroom fittings. Every bath in the house seemed to have a huge jetted tub. Once I had filled the tub with water and added lavender scented bath oil, I stripped down, twisted my hair up and secured it with a clip, and slid into the hot water.

Finally, after waiting an entire day for Lex to show up to continue our ‘conversation’, I felt like I could relax. It was almost ten and he wasn’t back yet. I doubted we would have our talk tonight.

When the water began to cool, I climbed out of the tub and dried off. I wrapped the towel around me. It was a bit chilly in my room at night and I’d forgotten to bring my pajamas into the bathroom. I stepped into my bedroom and stopped short.

Lounging on my bed in all black, his shirt unbuttoned to reveal his toned chest and abs, was Lex. He was studying a sheaf of papers in his hand, his legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankle. I realized his feet were bare. He looked completely relaxed and at home. His eyes lifted from the page to look at me, then his entire body went still.

“What are you doing in here?” I asked, tugging at my towel to be sure it covered me. Thank God, Conner and Donna had enormous bath sheets in their guest rooms. I moved to the dresser and grabbed the first nightshirt and shorts I could grab, snagging a pair of underwear at the same time. “Never mind. I don’t care. I’m going to go into the bathroom and get dressed. Please be gone when I come out. If you want to talk to me, you can knock on the door like a normal person.”

With that, I sailed into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. My hands were unsteady as I dressed. I never hesitated to speak like that with my other boyfriends, but Lex was different. You didn’t tell Lex what to do. You asked him and hoped he would concede.

Sure enough, when I opened the door, Lex hadn’t moved an inch. Somehow I knew that was his way of telling me that he was in charge. I leaned a shoulder against the door jamb between the bedroom and bathroom and crossed my arms over my chest.

Lex calmly continued to go through his paperwork, not looking at me. “Come here, Ivie.”

I didn’t move. I wanted to acquiesce, even felt my feet wanting to move without my direction, but I couldn’t. I reminded myself that I had decided to keep my distance, that I was just food to this man unless I allowed him to change me in the most fundamental way.

Finally, he looked up from his paperwork, his dark eyes sharp. “Come here.”

I shook my head.

He turned and put the papers on the nightstand next to him. Then he turned back and was studying my face intently. “What are you thinking?” he asked.

I didn’t answer, glad that I seemed to have mastered the ability to hide my thoughts.

“Whatever it is, stop. I can promise that it is not that bad,” he said gently. Lex lifted a hand to beckon me again.

“Lex, I can’t do this.” My voice was soft but firm.

“Do what?” His question seemed genuine, as if he sincerely wanted to know what I was thinking. That’s the only reason I answered him.

“I can’t get involved with you.”

He cocked his head. “Why?”

“Lex, you left for two months without even saying good-bye. Then you show up and expect to pick up where we left off? Can you understand why I might be hesitant?”

He nodded, his face thoughtful.

Since he was listening, not arguing or brushing off my opinions, I decided to continue.

“There’s another issue. I don’t know about you, Lex, but I don’t see my food source as equal. I wouldn’t speak to a cow or chicken or treat them like I would another human being. While I would never be cruel to an animal, they are food and their existence ends in order to help me continue mine. I don’t want to be the cow or chicken.”

As I spoke, his eyebrows rose. When I finished, he no longer looked surprised. Instead he was scowling. I had to admit it was intimidating as hell.

He snapped his fingers. “Come here now.”

I gave him wide eyes. “Excuse me?” He had not just snapped his fingers at me.

He growled. “You will not like it if I have to come to you.”

With a sigh, I straightened from the door frame and walked to the bed. I stood at the end, arms hugging my midriff loosely.

“Sit down, Ivie. I won’t bite.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. His words were poorly chosen and almost funny. He didn’t even react. I moved so that I was kneeling on the farthest corner of the bed from Lex. I sat back on my calves, keeping my eyes on him.

He didn’t look pleased with my choice to sit as far away from him as possible, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he raised a knee and rested an arm on it, looking completely relaxed. Only the brightening of his dark brown eyes clued me in to the fact that he was disturbed. It was even more disconcerting to have him staring at me with those glowing eyes, as though he could see into my soul.

“I can see that you don’t fully understand the relationship between a vampire and their blood servant.”

I clamped my jaw tight at his words. As he usually did, Lex saw the changes in my expression and body language and raised a hand.

“Please don’t misunderstand. It’s a literal translation. Basically, a blood servant is someone who serves blood. Not a servant, not property, not a slave. A better term would be gifter of blood, because we see the relationship as a gift. If a human shares their blood with us willingly and repeatedly, most of us value that beyond any other treasure. It is acceptance, something we rarely experience from most humans.” He paused and saw that I was actively listening, so he continued. “You compare how you treat a cow or chicken with how I would treat you if you chose to share your blood with me. That’s inaccurate and unfair. You haven’t spent enough time around me, or vampires for that matter, to make that assumption.”

There was a chiding undertone to his words and I couldn’t help but feel a bit ashamed. Still, my previous experiences had been traumatic. How else would he expect me to view vampires?

“Well, I’m sorry you feel that way, Lex, but the first time I interacted with a vampire, he told me he intended to keep me as a pet. Not even a well-treated pet. In fact, I believe his exact words were, ‘I’ll keep you collared and leashed to the end of my bed and fuck your face, pussy, and ass at least once a night. If you behave and make sure I enjoy it, perhaps I’ll even feed you and let you bathe.’ I’m sure you’ll understand if I am more than a bit hesitant to be involved with another of your kind.”

The expression on Lex’s face was thunderous. In fact, it was incredibly frightening. I started to inch back to the edge of the bed. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but I was certain he was angry. When he saw my subtle retreat, his face cleared. His deep brown eyes were bright, almost the color of golden topaz, and the light emanating from them was so intense I could swear that it was burning my skin.

“I’m sorry to frighten you, little one. I did not know about his threats.” He drew in a deep breath and the glow from his eyes lessened slightly. “Please come here. Please.”

It was his pleading look and the gentle way he spoke to me that convinced me. I crawled forward a bit before Lex sat up, grasped my wrist, and tugged me against his long, hard body. He used his hand to push my head against his shoulder before he wrapped the same arm around me, pulling me flush to his side.

At first, I held my body rigidly, but he began to run his fingers through my hair and down my back, his strokes long and slow.

“You know that the vampire that attacked you is dead?” he asked.

I nodded, my cheek against his shoulder. The warm, light scent of his cologne filled my nostrils and I relaxed further into him. Before I realized what I was doing, I placed my hand on his chest, right between the open edges of his black shirt.

He squeezed me a bit tighter. “If I had known what he planned for you…” he trailed off.

I felt the steady beat of his heart beneath my palm. “What?” I asked.

“I would have made him suffer for weeks before I cut off his head.”

His voice was so cold and furious that I shivered, even surrounded by his warmth.

“You killed him?” My voice was soft.

Lex’s fingers stilled in my hair. “Yes. He committed treason. Once the Council found him guilty, he was put to death. Before I carried out his sentence, the Council charged me with interrogating him, using whatever means I deemed necessary. It’s something I excel at and I could have kept him alive and in pain for a very long time.”

My blood ran cold. I’d never understood that expression until that moment. Hearing the complete sincerity in Lex’s voice, I knew that the vampire who kidnapped me would have suffered a great deal before he died.

Lex resumed stroking my hair. Slowly, my heart rate returned to normal and my insides warmed. Though the cold detachment Lex just demonstrated terrified me, he had never been anything but gentle or bossy with me. While his domineering ways were annoying, I didn’t think he would hurt me the way my kidnapper had threatened.

“While it pains me to say this,” Lex said, “tonight’s conversation was a bit much. I can see that bad memories have returned for you. There is more for us to discuss, but it’s getting late and you need sleep, little one.” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “Climb under the covers.”

While I pulled back the blankets and arranged my pillow the way I wanted it, Lex went through the room, turning off the light in the bath and the overhead light. The lamp was the last light he extinguished. I heard the rustle of clothing, but honestly didn’t care. He had been correct when he said that our conversation brought forth bad memories.

Moments later, I felt his large, muscled form slide in behind me. Lex rolled me so that my cheek rested against his bare shoulder and my body cuddled into his side, just as we had been lying before, only now he was practically naked. I could feel the elastic waistband of his briefs through my thin nightshirt. Other than those tiny pieces of fabric, he was naked and warm.

I decided I was too damn tired to care, snuggled closer, and sighed. A few moments later, I was asleep.

T
he night air
was cold against my bare legs. I looked down and saw that I was wearing my nightshirt and baggy shorts. How did I get outside? And why in the hell was it cold? It was September in Texas. Night temperatures rarely dropped below the mid-seventies during the last part of summer.