Deathless Love (4 page)

She obviously had never mastered the art of the blow-off. Most of the female regulars at his club were quite practiced at it. They could ignore, shrug off, or even be downright rude to get a guy off their back, but not Kate. He'd just fed from her the night before, which meant he could feel her discomfort now. She was trying to make eye contact with him for a rescue.
Shit.
Reluctantly, he started to walk out from behind the bar and toward Kate.

“Do you want to get some dinner?” the guy was asking her.

“No, I can't,” she stammered. “I have to go over some stuff with Dom,” she improvised as he walked up, her eyes begging him to agree.

“I'm ready now, if you are,” he said.

Kate bounded off her bar stool. “Yep—totally. Nice to meet you,” she said with a genuine smile for the disappointed guy.

“Yeah, you too,” he muttered.

Kate followed Dom toward the stairs. He paused and looked at his watch. 7:30 pm. Which meant the sun had just set. It would still be light out, but he could deal with it. “May I buy you dinner?”

Her face lit up and she nodded, which made his heart simultaneously swell and sink. “Wait here, I just need to grab my sunglasses from the office.”

When he returned, he put a hand on her lower back and held the door for her. “Does Poca Cosa sound good?” It was a Tucson installation—a hip gourmet Mexican restaurant just around the corner, where the menu changed every day. It might be hard to get in tonight, but he could try slipping the greeter a twenty to lube the way. Kate deserved a nice dinner if he was going to shut her down.

“Sounds great.”

He stopped and hissed a little, blinking when they stepped outside, temporarily blinded by the remaining daylight. She took his arm the way you hold a blind man's and just stood there with him until his vision returned. The daylight felt hot on his skin, but hell, the air was hot. It was June and the monsoons hadn't come yet. They walked the two blocks in relative silence and were fortunate enough to be seated right away.

Dom dipped a tortilla chip into the salsa and crunched. “Ask away.”

“What?'

“You have questions for me.”

She blanched and he felt a ripple of embarrassment from her. “How do you know that?”

“I've been around the block a few times.”

“You mean about being a vampire?”

He shrugged. “You tell me.”

She rewarded him with one of her quick smiles. “Okay, so first of all, how do you do that? Can you read minds?”

“A little. I'm better at sensing emotions. Especially if I've had your blood recently.”

“How often do you… take blood?”

“We call it feeding. I'm an old vampire, so I don't need much. I can go a couple of weeks on what I took from you last night. Thank you again, by the way.”

“You're welcome,” she said, looking pleased. “How do you erase memories? Or do the mind control?”

“Well, both are done with hypnosis. There's no difference between what we can do and what a licensed hypnotist does, really, except that the induction happens instantly by looking into our eyes while we have the intent. Then we leave the hypnotic suggestion telepathically. Maybe it's a bit stronger than human hypnosis.”

“Have you done it to me?”

He shook his head. “Never. The fact that you're sitting here quizzing me is proof of that.”

“You mean I shouldn't know?”

“Right.”

“Are you going to scrub my memories?”

He shook his head. “You have too many now. And Fox says he's done it too many times for it to be safe anymore.”

“Are you worried that I'll tell someone? Because I won't. Fox already programmed me.” He could smell fear on her suddenly, and although he didn't want her afraid, he was glad she had good instincts that way.

He nodded. “I believe you,” he said mildly. “But you're right to be afraid. Vampires do normally kill or change anyone who can't be scrubbed.”

He let that sink in for a moment and felt her fear increase. “But you're safe. Fox has claimed full responsibility for you.” He would take responsibility for her too, but he didn't need to tell her that.

Their food came as she absorbed that. He ordered his usual—a chef's pick of three things off the menu. Tonight they brought him a chicken mole, some kind of tomatillo fish and his favorite—tamale pie with a pumpkin cream sauce. Kate had some delectable beef dish.

“Cheers,” she said, raising her margarita to clink his.

“
Buon appetito,
” he said, picking up his fork.

“So, according to some of the vampire novels, vampires don't eat,” she said accusingly.

He laughed. “Well, if I drank enough blood I wouldn't have to. But I enjoy food, so where's the pleasure in that?”

“So, I guess that means you use the toilet like everyone else?”

He nodded with a smile.

“How long have you been a vampire?”

“I was turned in 1522.”

“In Italy?”

“Si
bambina
. I was turned in Venice, but my home was in Parma.”

“Okay…” He picked up a nervous vibe from her. “So you don't kill people?” she asked in a low voice.

“As a regular practice? No.”

“But you have?”

He nodded. “I've killed mortals and I've killed vampires, yes.”

He saw a shiver go through her. “How many people have you turned?”

“None.”

She was surprised at that. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Who turned you?”

“A very beautiful female vampire who I stupidly let seduce me when I was away from home.”

“Did you stay with her?”

He shook his head. “No. I killed her, which is supposed to be impossible. And then I went home to my wife and daughter and begged their forgiveness and understanding.”

She looked at him with big eyes. “Does that happen often? A vampire living with his mortal family?”

“Never, as far I know.” He shrugged. “It was where I wanted to be. I stayed on my family property another fifty-some years until my daughter and granddaughter died of fever. Then it was too painful to remain.”

She sat back and wiped her beautiful lips with her napkin. “Okay, here's the real question I want to ask you. It's the reason I came down to the club tonight.” She had a confessional tone, and didn't it just make him lean forward, hungry for her next words.

“Will you do it again for me? What you did last night?”

Oh god.
His fangs elongated. Fuck breaking up. He'd never expected her to be so bold when she was sober. Her words ignited a fire in him that would be painful to ignore—he'd gone rock hard. He wanted her—he wanted to be in her, sucking her blood, making her moan and yes, spanking her beautiful bare butt.

She hadn't asked for a relationship—
yet.
He could make it clear that it was out of the question later. After he gave her what she wanted. He flashed his smile briefly at her to show her the effect her words had on his fangs and raised a finger to signal their server. He used his napkin around his mouth when he asked for the check to hide his fangs, which to his amusement, made Kate giggle.

He looked at his watch. 8:30 pm. She was probably on at Club Congress at 10 or 10:30 pm. They could go back to his office at No Return. Or… they could get a room in the hotel above Club Congress. Which would make it more just about sex, wouldn't it? Yes, it was safer that way. And hotter.

The room was adorned in retro décor. It had a queen bed with an iron headboard—perfect for a well-spanked girl to white-knuckle later when he was driving into her. He pushed that thought out of his mind. There was a beautiful fifties style clock next to the bed and a claw-foot tub in the bathroom. He pulled off his shoes and shirt and climbed up on the bed, propping the pillows so he could lean back against the headboard.

“I want to take off your panties myself,” he told Kate, who was nervously undressing.

“Oh! Okay,” she said, stripping off everything else.

Meow.
Yep, still hot. He crooked his finger at her and she awkwardly came toward him.

“Hurry up.”

She dove over his lap and he laughed. He took his time, stroking the curves of her tight little butt, then he warmed it up over her panties, spanking lightly all over first, then mostly concentrating his smacks at the beautiful juncture where the butt meets the upper thigh, alternating butt cheeks. She made little “oohs” and gasps and, as he started to increase the intensity of the smacks, she started to struggle and tighten her buns. He gave her another dozen hard spanks and then stopped and rubbed. She moaned softly.

He pulled her panties half way down her thighs and slipped his fingers between her legs. Not that he needed any confirmation—the heady smell of her arousal combined with the pleasure of having her so beautifully presented over his lap had already brought him close to orgasm. Her pussy was slick and swollen. She pushed her hips back at him eagerly. He laughed and pulled his hand out, giving her several spanks that were a little bit harder than the first set. She grunted and jerked, trying to escape his punishing slaps. Her bottom was turning a lovely shade of blush. He rubbed her again, and dipped his fingers between her legs again. “Who's in charge here, Kate?”

“You are?” she asked timidly.

“That's right,” he said, gliding his fingers up and down the glossy entrance of her sex. She moaned. “That means you'll get pleasured when I'm ready to pleasure you. And you'll be patient until I do.”

She made a tiny whimpering sound.

“You're lucky you have to work soon, or I might take all night to spank you.”

At that, she orgasmed, her butt cheeks tightening and a shudder running through her shapely thighs.

He laughed. “I guess I had it wrong—you'll be pleasured when
you
feel like it! All right, Kate. Let's get serious. Do you know why you're in trouble tonight?”

She shook her head, which was buried in the covers of the bed.

“You were a naughty girl. You're getting a spanking for letting those boys at the bar tonight make you uncomfortable.” He started spanking her again, hard spanks. It was divinely inspired, he thought. One of the many reasons he'd been reluctant to get involved with Kate in this way was that she didn't
need
to be more submissive. It may turn her on, but she'd be better served by standing a little more squarely on her own two feet. She was a brilliant and talented young woman who didn't seem to know how to stand up for herself. So offering her a discipline incentive to do so seemed like an ingenious twist, if he didn't say (well, think) so himself.

She was gasping at the burn he was laying down. He paused and rubbed. “You're a grown woman, Kate, who frequents bars at least two, maybe three nights a week, is that right?”

She nodded.

“You need to learn how to send out appropriate signals.” He adjusted her position slightly so that her butt was optimally presented and started spanking again, using the slap of his hand to punctuate his words. “You do
not
always need to be nice.” Smack. Smack. “And you do
not
need to lie.” Three more smacks. “And you most
certainly
do not need to rely on your friendly vampires to rescue you.” With that he gave her ten hard spanks that made her struggle to get away. He easily held her in place with his left hand.

“Kate,” he said lovingly. “When I spank you, I want you to try very hard to stay in place for me. Can you do that?”

She didn't answer. He could feel her emotions were starting to tangle. He'd pushed her limits a bit with those last spanks and fear had set in. Time to switch tactics. He slipped his left hand under her hips and found her clit, dripping with the nectar of her arousal. He rubbed her bottom with his right hand while his left made slow circles around her clit. She started pumping her hips and moaning. His right hand started spanking, slowly, and not too hard. She groaned. Gradually, gradually, he increased the tempo with both hands until she was writhing desperately under his hands.

“Please. Oh God. Oh please…
YES!
Oh!” It was a magnificent orgasm. He felt quite pleased with himself as she shuddered and contracted under his hands. After the little earthquake, she lay sprawled across his lap with an absolute glow on her face, at least as far as he could tell from the half he could see. She looked beautiful.

Despite that fact that he hadn't had relief yet himself, he felt quite satisfied. He'd done that to her. After a moment, she rolled off and freed his hard-on from his boxer briefs, taking him into her mouth with a reverence he wasn't sure he deserved. It was amazing, but he wanted to finish inside of her.
Crap.
No condoms.

“Kate?” he said, twining his fingers in her wavy blond hair as her warm, wet mouth moved up and down his length.

“Mmm?”

“Would you believe me if I told you that vampires can't contract diseases or have children?”

She pulled off him and he groaned. “No condom?”

He shook his head. “Sorry.”

She looked at him for a second, then said, “I believe you.”

“Good,” he said, flipping her onto her back so fast she gasped. “Because I really want to be in you right now.”

She drew her knees up as an invitation.

Lying with Dom after having mad, hot sex, she was beyond satisfied. She was blissed out in every way—her body was relaxed and warm, and she rather relished the burn she still felt from her spanking. And the blood sucking was oddly erotic as well. It was not at all what she'd previously feared—he didn't take that much, and it didn't hurt other than the initial puncture moment. And the puncture wounds from the night before were well on their way to healing, looking like nothing more than a cluster of mosquito bites, which is what she'd decided she would tell people if they asked.

She ran her hand over Dom's well-developed pecs. He was everything she'd ever fantasized about. She got up and pulled on her panties, bra and t-shirt. Dom was lying on the bed, watching her with heavy lids. She leaned over on the bed and kissed him.

“Listen, Kate,” he said, his face turning into a blank mask.