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Grabbing her hips he angled her so I could get a better view, he certainly knew I was watching. My pulse was high and frantic, the knowledge that he knew I was there flipped all of my switches. I could feel my pulse dance between my legs as he ran his hand down her back, she arched more and he chuckled softly. Part of me couldn’t help wondering if he
were imagining that Maddie was me.
He’s not
.
I grabbed the pearls at my throat for dear life as he unbuttoned his jeans and slid them down over his hips, just enough so that all too willing flesh could slip out. He stroked himself a few times and I could feel that pleasure, my toes curled in my sandals and I squeezed my knees together. When he pushed into her I lost it, my eyes rolled back and I bit my lip so hard I could taste blood in my mouth.

“Who do you belong to,
” He demanded as I heard him pound mercilessly into her. I arched my back against the wall.

“You, Master. I’m yours,
” She answered between loud moaning squeals. My hand slid down my body, my fingers hiking up the skirt of my sundress before slipping into my panties. I couldn’t not touch myself as his pleasure spiraled through me. That blinding warmth ate away at my better judgment, as I felt myself nearing that pinnacle of warmth. I raised en pointe as I inched closer, my teeth cutting more and more into my lip as I fought against my moans. He spanked her hard, the sound reverberated off of the wall and down the hall echoed by a shriek.

“Good girl
,” He grunted as he came. I knew he came because that phantom pleasure knocked me off of my toes, and I took a picture off of the wall with me. It and I hit the floor with a combination of a crash and a thunk. I was mortified, my libido crawled up inside of itself and died as I sat on the floor my tongue trailing over the distinct teeth marks. I scrambled to my feet. “Go get cleaned up.” he groaned. “Remember no cumming for a week.” He called after her as she opened the door and I clamored for the opposite open doorway. I closed the door, elegantly trapping the skirt of my dress between the door and the frame. I gave it a little tug, but it wouldn’t budge.

As I pressed my forehead to the door, I could feel Aleksi walk down the hall, and hear his bemused laughter as he stepped around the shattered picture frame. My body still buzzed with denied pleasure. I had been on the very edge of orgasm when he came, and his pleasure hadn’t been enough bring me. My gaze danced over the room, there was a backpack on the floor next to the door. This also wasn’t the spare room. I hit my forehead against the dark wood and gathered every ounce of bravery in my body and opened the door.

      
Aleksi was on the other side waiting for me. He grinned at me a self-satisfied opened mouthed grin, flaunting those pink teeth at me, those pink teeth that I still so desperately wanted to be tinted with my blood. I traced the broken flesh in my mouth again and shivered. His jeans were pulled up again, but his skin was slightly flushed, he was clearly blood glutted, his normally blush pink lips were almost red. I couldn’t help but to stare like a moron, this was how Aleksi had looked in life.

“Enjoy the show?” His words coaxed me to swallow. “I felt you the whole time, I could smell your arousal through those thin lacy panties you wear. You should really wear thicker underwear or more pants.” He added as he turned from the door and started down the hall. I
followed, because I was always compelled to follow him.

“I’m… I’m surprised you…you could over hers.” My words made him laugh as he opened up a door next to the one to his room. I hadn’t noticed it before.

“Autumn, your scent is a rare intoxicating vintage that anyone could pick out. This is the spare room.”

I paused behind him and peeked into the room. It was certainly a spare room. The bed was pushed up against the corner and seemed an afterthought—it didn’t even have sheets on it. There weren’t any furnishings other than the bed and curtains, the room was so empty the softest sound echoed.

“Oh…are you… are you mad that I…”

“
No, you’re not my concern.” Those words eviscerated me, I could actually feel my posture sag.

“Is
th-there an-anything I-I c-can…” I fell silent that emotional pain had made it hard to speak. I set my jaw and went back to tracing my tongue over the perfect indentations of my bottom row of teeth.

“
No.” He clipped the word out to me before turning on his heel and leaving the room. “Maddie will clean up the picture frame.” He added before disappearing into the bathroom and closing the door.

I sat down on the bare bed and sighed heavily.
What were you expecting?
I looked at my purse whose strap was still wrapped around my wrist and took out my phone. I didn’t have access to the text messages since they were on the international phone, but I could check the e-mails. Bringing my knees to my chest I pulled up all of his e-mails from the last two months, all one hundred and sixty-five of them, and I started reading. They started out chiding and confident, and started to devolve into desperation by the middle, by the end the desperation had turned into despair. I set my teeth into my bottom lip again digging once more into the already tender broken flesh. The pain was welcome. I checked my phone for the time, 3 am.

Stepping back into the hall I paused outside of the door. No water was running and the apartment was quiet. I glanced down the hall, the broken picture frame was nowhere to be found. The door opposite the bondage room—play room seemed too innocent—was open. No one was on the bed and the backpack was gone. Faint noises came from across the hall. Again the door was cracked, I pushed it open. Aleksi was in a towel tidying up the room
. Putting all his toys back in their boxes.
He put a cane back on the wall and turned around to face me.

“I sent Maddie home,
” He divulged resting his hand on the knot in his towel. “She’s not coming back.”

“Oh…why?”

“Doesn’t matter.” He smirked and stepped around me leaving the room.

“Did she leave you?” I tilted my head to the side.

“
No.” Again the word of the evening left his lips. I followed him as he walked into his kitchen and pulled out a canister of blood from the fridge. He filled a wine glass with the thick liquid and tossed the canister in the garbage.

“I read your emails
,” I confessed as I watched him bring the glass to his lips.

“I figured curiosity would win out eventually.” He murmured into his glass. “Want a ride home?” He inquired setting the glass down.

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine.”

“Well, I’ll get some sheets for the bed.” He finished the blood and rinsed out the glass. “If you’re hungry, there’s something in the fridge I think.” He called as he disappeared down the hall.

I wasn’t hungry, but I needed wine. I walked over to the wine fridge and opened the door I expected to find a bunch of Reds again, but to my surprise it was stocked with Blushes. I picked a bottle and rooted around through drawers looking for a corkscrew. I found one by the time Aleksi came back in forgoing the towel for satin pajama pants that were that amazing shade of bright red. I froze as he floated across the floor to the other side of the island. He took the corkscrew from me and opened the wine.

“This one needs to breath for a few minutes.” He tapped the label.

“Y-you…you got new wine.” I assessed running my fingers back through my hair.

“Someone very dear to me enjoys blush wine more than red or white, so I felt I should indulge.” He offered a small smile, and I looked away and shook my head.

“I r-really am sorry.”

“I know.” He poured me a glass of wine and pushed it in front of me.

“Does this mean...we-we’re together again?” I asked softly tilting my head to the side.

“Were we ever together, Autumn? I wanted to be, but since that first night we’ve had a massive wedge between us. But now that
wedge
is gone, which leaves us in uncharted territory. Not since the first time you came here have we been free to have each other. Really have each other.” Those bright eyes darted to my glass and I sipped the wine eagerly.

“I…I thought we
were when I was in… England.” I stammered out between sips.

“I thought so too, but you ignored my existence for two of those three months.” He hissed, his voice dripping with the venom from the emotion behind those banal words. He pursed his lips
after a moment and sighed. “And we both acted like stupid kids because of it. I should have gone through with my original plan.”

“Wh-what was that?” I asked bringing the wine glass to my lips again.

“I was going to put the two months behind me completely. And pick you up from the airport, bring you back here and really claim you as mine.”

I finished my wine and set the glass down. “I thought I was already yours.”

“Yes and no. You’re my servant, and you’ll always be my servant. But you’ve never been completely mine, Autumn.” He drummed his fingers on the table and smirked at me. “You never gave your body to me.”

“I wanted to.”

“I know.” He smirked smugly and pushed off from the island.

“So…so where are we?”

“Not together.”

I frowned, “Oh.”

“Oh.” he hissed.

“Then… why?”

“Why send Maddie away? Because she said she was falling in love with me and I would rather not deal with that. That is the mature thing to do.” I couldn’t help but to feel like that last little phrase was a shot at me.

“What… what will happen with the mark?”

“You’re still my servant, Autumn. You’ll need to be there for official vampire garbage, but other than that you’re free to live your life as I will live mine.”

“But at these gatherings I have to be collared?”

“Yes, and on occasion I’ll need to
feed from you.”

“And i-if I d-d-don’t…do
n’t want you to?” I swallowed.

“Well, I’ll fake it. Look on the bright side, you’ll never have to deal with another vampire again.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“To them you will always smell like me. And I have always prided myself on the fact that I smell aggressive.” He smirked.

“I-want-to-go-home-now.” I blurted out at light speed, he nodded.

“I’ll call a car.”

The late June heat had risen to suffocating levels
and the AC in the taxi didn’t appear to cut through it in the slightest. I felt like I was roasting alive as I stepped out onto the curb in front of the theater in the wispy, pale pink, linen gown. It was Leslie’s from last year, and it made my breasts look enormous. Unfortunately, it was the only option I had. Well, it was that or roasting. Slipping my delicate pink mask on I headed up the stairs. I loved the mask, it had these tiny little pale roses on it and white lace. I didn’t ask how much it cost, but Colette gave it to me. Colette had filled the void left by my avoiding Kendra like the plague, and in all honesty she was a much better friend.

People were walking up the stairs and photographers were everywhere. Doormen dressed in tuxedos with full silver colored face masks turned people away at the door. I gripped my ticket white knuckled. People had to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars to be there and I got my ticket for free. Knowing the honoree had some perks. I could scarcely believe the elaborate masks some people wore. A woman gracefully glided up the stairs in a golden mask with great plumes of peacock feathers on each side, followed by an entourage ten people deep. I couldn’t see her hair, but I could tell by her build that it was Elizabeta. And sure enough as she passed me, I glimpsed her titian red hair wrapped in an elegant chignon as always. A trail of photographers and hangers on followed, one paused and obviously stared at me. There was something utterly unnerving about seeing an almost featureless mask turn and stare. Pursing my lips, I gathered my skirt and finished climbing the steps. At the door, I watched as Elizabeta and her entourage walked passed the two at the door without a word.

After watching that impressive show, I almost didn’t want to go in. I felt like a child who was somewhere they weren’t supposed to be as I presented my ticket to the doorman. He nodded at me and ripped that small scrap of paper while the other opened the red velvet rope. This was the sixth of these things I had been to, and every time having the red rope opened for me made me feel a little bit important. I smiled and murmured a thank you as I tucked my ripped ticket into my purse and stepped into the atrium.

Soft classical music drifted through the air. I recognized the piece, it was the act three solo from Sleeping Beauty, there was no keeping the frown off of my lips. Aleksi was there, but he never turned in my direction. He was easy to pick out of a crowd, his height and that bright red mask gave it away, as did that disheveled knot of a bun. Even at a black tie event he still wore his hair messy. I smiled a little, and then I saw the blonde clinging to his arm, it had only been a week. Maddie had already been replaced. I couldn’t help but to wonder how hard it must be to get someone who will let you paddle them if you go into the arrangement on a no feelings basis.
You know part of you still wants to offer yourself to him.
I swallowed as Miss Manners called me on my bullshit. I turned from them only to find myself face to face with Colette, she wore a floor length ballet pink satin gown with little black beaded flowers. Glancing around I was slowly made aware that all of the vampires had black on their masks.

Colette’s bright blue eyes shone out from behind the mask, I could have seen them from halfway across the room. In her hand was a glass of pink champagne that she held out to me.