Deathless Love (7 page)

“Okay, cool. Well, if you change your mind, we're at 5
^th
and University.”

“Okay, thanks.” She barely gave him any eye contact, looking away immediately, as if dismissing him. He left without a pause.

She could feel Dom's hazel eyes on her and she started to flush. “What? It's true,” she snapped defensively. When he didn't answer, she dragged her eyes up to meet his.

His lips were curving in a smile, “I was just going to say well done. You handled that perfectly.”

She felt her face grow even hotter, this time flushing with pleasure at his compliment. “You think so? Thanks!” she beamed like a little girl.

He chuckled and she knew it was because she was a dork. Oh well.

The employees finished cleaning up, drank their shift drinks, and started to leave one by one. If she didn't know better, she would think that he was stalling so they could be alone. Finally, when Stella—who was the last person there with them—started gathering her things up, Kate got off the bar stool and walked around behind the bar, which was absolutely forbidden when the club was open for business.

“Are you ready? I'm thinking I'll ride with you first to make sure you have the feel of it.”

She should have been thrilled at the obvious attempt to spend time with her. Instead, she heard the insult to her driving and rolled her eyes.

Dom frowned. “Did you just roll your eyes at me?” His tone was stern.

She shrugged.

“Do I really deserve so little of your respect?” There was no trace of humor on his face at all.

That threw her off balance. He seemed like he was really upset with her. Unsure, she blinked at him. Or was he just playing authoritarian for her again? That thought sent a rush of heat between her legs and butterflies to her tummy. Dom's eyes dilated suddenly and she thought she saw his fangs get long. Oh god—he must have smelled her arousal again. Seeing him like that—the look of hunger on his face, his dark hair falling into his face, his eyes burning—she felt almost light-headed with desire for him.

“I can't decide if you're serious or just trying to tweak me.”

His lids lowered and he stepped closer to her, pinning her against the wall. “I am serious,” he said in a low, sexy voice. “
And
I like to tweak you.”

Mission accomplished
.

His fangs were fully elongated, the sight of which made her even wetter. He leaned forward and dragged the tip of his fang along her neck. She trembled, waiting to see what he would do next. He didn't strike her vein, instead he pulled back up and looked her in the eye, with the same stern expression. “If you roll your eyes at me again I will spank you. And it
won't
be the fun kind of spanking.” He lifted his eyebrows. “Do you understand?”

The temptation to roll her eyes again was so strong. Not because she liked spankings, but because he really was being over the top and it would relieve the shuddering excitement that was building inside her. But she was an obedient girl by nature and directly defying him was too much. She nodded weakly. Then she reached out and boldly pulled his hips toward hers till their bodies were pressed together. He gave a soft groan. She could feel his erection pressing against her. She began to stroke it through his pants and with a growl he cupped her bottom and squeezed, then slid his fingers around to the front of her, slipping under her skirt and into her panties to stroke at the outer lips of her slippery pussy. She gasped.

He picked her up and sat her butt on the counter top, spreading her knees and pulling her panties to the side to suck at her core. She fell back on her elbows and moaned. He flicked his tongue over her clit, then penetrated her with it and she wriggled about as her need grew stronger. “Yes, Dom!” she gasped.

That urged him into action and he used a fang to shred her panties off. Freeing himself from his pants, he pulled her hips closer and entered her, driving upward and in with a satisfying vigor. He continued at that pace until she moaned again and then he picked her up, holding her weight easily in his arms and lifting and lowering her entire body rapidly so that her silky wet sheath traveled up and down his cock with the full gravity of her weight. Up and down he bounced her until she was screaming, “Yes, oh God, yes!” and coming like there was no tomorrow.

He came too, then pivoted and pressed her back to the wall, leaned forward and struck her vein, suckling gently as if it were a caress. And God, did it turn her on. She orgasmed a second time, her muscles spasming around him, drawing his semen deeply within her. Good thing vampires couldn't have children, because a condom hadn't even crossed her mind. Like the past two times, he didn't suck for long—which was a relief, because just the idea of losing blood made her feel weak. When he finished, he licked the wounds, which she had learned from Fox made them heal faster.

“
Oh Jesus!
” he said suddenly, pulling back and inspecting her with concern. “I forgot about your accident. Are you all right? I shouldn't have been so rough.”

She shook her head. “No, it wasn't too rough.” But now that she was calming down, she was starting to feel worse for the wear. There was a pain in her ribs. She pulled up her shirt to inspect. He flicked the overhead florescent back on, blinding them both for a moment. There was a nasty bruise from her seat belt beginning to emerge. Dom ran his finger lightly over it.

Why was it that his concern was so… nourishing to her? She drank up the attention like it was life-giving water or something. She loved him inspecting her, making soft noises of worry. But that was stupid—she didn't need the worrying sort of attention. That was the kind of need that turns women into drama queens or “thespians,” as they called them at the club. No, it was just the intimacy between them that felt so satisfying.

“Put some ice on that when you get home, okay?”

She nodded.

“Or do you want me to make you a Ziplock bag right now?”

“No, thanks. I'm fine.”

“All right, let's get you home.”

She smoothed her skirt down and stooped to pick up the shredded panties.

“Sorry about those,” he said with a wicked grin.

“No, you're not,” she said with mock tartness. He put an arm around her as they walked out the back door, and he led her out to his silver Mercedes, which was parked in his private parking space.

“Listen,” he said with a hesitating tone, spinning the keyring around his finger.

Oh God, what?
Her red flags went up with that tone.

“I don't want you to think this errand running gig is contingent on you screwing me. I just realized that it might seem that way. What just happened… well, I hope you didn't feel like you owed me.”

She snatched the keys from his hands. “Don't be ridiculous,” she snapped. She was offended. As if she
would
have sex with someone just to use their car.
Please.

“Sorry,” he muttered and shook his head, as if realizing he had blundered. He climbed in the passenger seat, making her nervous as he silently watched her familiarize herself with the instruments on the dash. After she adjusted the seat and mirrors, she backed out carefully. She was overly cautious, checking and double-checking her progress in all the mirrors. She felt like she was having her driver's exam all over again.

“So I'm driving you home?”

“No, drive to your place. I have my own way of getting home,” he said, winking at her when she looked over.

Waiting at a stoplight, he said, “Do you text and drive, Kate?”

“No,” she said immediately. Then shrunk a little in her seat.

He was looking at her as if he knew she was full of shit. She kept her eyes on the road.

“I mean, only if I need to…”

“Yes or no?” His voice was quite stern.

“Sometimes.” Hers was quite squeaky.

“I spank for lying, too,” he said casually.

Her heart did a double beat. God, he had the ability to flip her world on its end with a simple turn of phrase. And stealing a glance at him, she could tell that he totally knew it.

“When you drive my car, your phone will stay in your bag the entire time, okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” she said, trying for a casual tone. “If you say so.”

“I say so. And if you disobey me you're going to find out how a spanking with my belt feels.”

Her belly jumped into a knot at those words. Dom looked at her for a long moment, then leaned back as if he was satisfied.

She drove in silence, waiting for the inner quaking to fade. Then she ventured, “Dom?”

“Mmm?”

“I was just wondering… I mean, I'm just curious—when Stella said you spank hard, was she just saying that or was she speaking from… personal experience?”

Dom shifted in his seat. He seemed uncomfortable. He took a deep breath. “Stella and I used to be a couple. A very long time ago.”

She already knew that from Fox. She wasn't trying to pull a jealous act or anything. She just wanted to understand Dom's past. With spanking. Like, why was he so good at it? And who else had he spanked? And was it a turn-on for him? Or had it been in the past?

“I know. And you guys… you spanked her?”

Dom seemed even more uncomfortable. He tugged at his earlobe. “Well, it was not that kind of spanking. It was more for punishment, not for play. I mean, sometimes it ended up going in a sexual direction, but mostly it was the other kind.” He shifted nervously around in his seat again, twisting to face her. “You have to understand, Kate, that it was hundreds of years ago. At that time it was common for a man to discipline his woman when he thought she required correction.”

Oh. God. Her internal muscles spasmed at that in a spontaneous mini-orgasm. Dom must have known it because he started chuckling in a low rumble.

“Shut up!” she snapped.

“Don't be rude,” he said, but there was no sternness to it, and he was still smiling. “Does that turn you on?”

She didn't answer. She could feel the blush on her face. She was totally and completely embarrassed.

Suddenly he sat forward a little, his smile gone, his brow furrowed. “I wasn't laughing at
you
, Kate. Did you think I was?”

“Right, you're laughing
with
me,” she muttered.

He brought his hand to her nape and ran his thumb along her cheek. “I would never mock your desires. I'm sorry if it seemed that way. To be honest, I feel…
privileged
that I know how to turn you on.”

She ventured a sidelong glance at him. He was looking at her intently.

“You can trust me with your quirk,” he said softly. “And I never, ever kiss and tell,” he added as an afterthought. “In case you were worried about that.”

It was unnerving how well he got her.

“Oh, well okay,” she said, shrugging like it had been no big deal. “Thanks.”

She wanted to ask him why. Why he had effectively broken up with her two weeks ago and now was acting like a long-term boyfriend. She wanted to ask, but she was afraid of opening that can of worms. She was happy enough with the way things were going and she didn't want to mess it up. She parallel parked the car in front of her house, jockeying it forward and back, nervous about her audience.

He got out and walked her to the door and suddenly was all business. “Okay, so here's my library card. I reserved some books online and they're ready for pickup. Himmel branch.”

“Sure, no problem. What else?”

“I'll text you if I can get you an appointment for the body work. You'll enjoy it, whether you feel stiff tomorrow or not. It's great stuff.”

“Thanks. When do you need the car back? For the evening?”

Dom shrugged. “I'm not sure I do. I'll text you. You playing at Congress?”

She nodded.

“Okay.” Then he leaned forward and kissed her—an undemanding, tender sort of kiss. “Thanks for the sex.”

Her eyes flew up to his. He was looking at her a little wistfully, which she didn't understand. And then he dematerialized before her eyes.

* * *

He materialized right in front of the stone Kate. His Kate. He sucked in his breath.
Damn.
Was he really so undisciplined that he couldn't stop fucking a mortal when he'd decided it was necessary? He stared at the marble image for a long moment. His chest was filled with such a strong warm feeling that he couldn't deny—he loved this girl. His instinct to protect and care for her was so strong, there was nothing he wouldn't do for her. Well, if that were true he would've kept his hands off her, wouldn't he? Because he already knew that a relationship with him would only cause her pain.

He sighed and went into the kitchen and sat down at the breakfast bar, where his laptop was set up. He checked his emails idly for a while, then pulled up the site for Victoria's Secret. He owed her a pair of panties, didn't he? Except… jeez. What to pick? He didn't want to overstep. He wanted to buy what she would want, not what he would want to see her in. Except he wasn't really sure. He should have grabbed the shredded panties from her.

Maybe it would be better to just get her a gift card and send her out to buy her own panties. Yes, that was a good plan. Except now he wanted to present her with it tomorrow. How could he get a gift card tomorrow, unless he sent her to pick one up? Should he just leave her money in an envelope? He rubbed his forehead. God, he was such a sap. All this thought over a pair of panties.

In the end, he put a hundred dollar bill in an envelope, sealed it up and wrote on the front of it: “One more errand—to be completed by Friday. Please go to Victoria's Secret and buy yourself some new panties. You must spend the entire amount on yourself. Bring me the receipt as proof.”

Satisfied, he materialized to the passenger seat of his car and set the envelope down on the driver's seat. He glanced up at Kate's place—it was a small guest house or
casita
, as they called them in Tucson, set behind a larger main house. Old adobe architecture from the 1930's or 40's. The lights were off. He found himself wondering what position she slept in. Curled up on her side? Sprawled on her back? Or was she a belly sleeper? He shook his head. He was totally losing it over this woman. He flashed back to his place, disgusted with himself.