your first time?” he asked, nodding his head. His touch was unexpectedly soft as he wiped away the wetness streaming down either side of her face. “She didn’t tell me that. I’ll make it good for you. I promise.” He followed the path of her tears with a trail of soft kisses. “I’m so glad you decided to stay here tonight.”
“She? Who? You knew?” she asked around the gag. Naturally, it didn’t come out like that and he had no idea what she said.
He nodded, though she knew for a fact he couldn’t be responding to her question, and sat up on his knees, wedged tightly against her hips. “The first time is always frightening. But after this, you’ll learn to enjoy it. There’s nothing like it, or so I’ve heard. I’ve been told it’s very erotic.”
What? What are you going to do to me? Sophie’s heart hammered against her ribs, sending adrenaline through her body. Every muscle in her coiled like tight springs, despite the bindings holding her legs straight and apart and her arms up over her head. Over and over, she tested the strength of the fabric holding her, yanking, twisting, tugging, but it didn’t give. Not an inch.
Meanwhile, she tried, despite panic so intense she was nearly blind, to study his face. When she went to the police—assuming she lived!—she wanted to be able to describe every inch of this bastard, right down to the mole on his ass if he had one. He would pay! Big-time!
When his hand cupped her breast, she arched her back in a quick thrust, hoping to knock it away. It worked, but only for an instant. He seemed undaunted as he grabbed the center hook of her bra and unfastened it, then squeezed both her breasts, one with each hand. “So lovely. So full and ripe.” He leaned lower and she shut her eyes, unable to watch him as he closed his mouth over her nipple. She was scared. Furious. Panic-stricken. Desperate to get away. Pissed off.
Again, she arched her back, hoping to hit the son of a bitch silly with her stomach, not that it was hard or anything. When it came to weapons, her belly was probably one of the lamest, but at the moment it was all she had. That and her head. She pulled at the strips binding her arms and legs, her mind racing, trying to grasp at a solution, an escape from what was becoming more inevitable with every breath she took.
Then, the inevitable became immediate. In a quick motion almost too fast to see, he ripped the front of her panties away, exposing all of her to his feasting eyes.
She gagged and tossed her head to the side, hoping she wouldn’t choke from her own vomit.
The man drew in a visible breath, his lips curled into a cruel smile. “The scent of your need. So sweet. Almost as intoxicating as the smell of your fear.”
“Go to hell!” she tried to shout.
“I don’t need you nude but”—he ran a finger over her sex, then brought it to his nose and inhaled—“I’ll enjoy my meal much more when you are completely uncovered. Your scent is so incredibly sweet. I can’t wait to taste you. To have your flavor fill my mouth, my throat.” When he smiled, a set of long fangs flashed in the dim lamplight. Fangs like she’d seen in the vampire movie she’d watched last month, and on that vampire romance book cover she’d checked out last week at Borders.
They’re real? Vampires really exist?
“You’ll enjoy the feeding. I promise.” He lowered his head, clearly aiming for her inner thigh.
Not fond of an insect bite, let alone the whopper of a chomp Mr. Fangs was about to impart on her, Sophie fought with a frenzy against her bindings. She tossed her head, kicked her feet, thrashed her body from side to side, twisted her wrists until she was breathless and dizzy and worn out. Finally, completely spent, she stilled and tried to psych herself up for more struggling in a minute or two.
“That’s it, my love. Relax,” he said, watching her dully. “It won’t hurt for long.” Again, he lowered his head to her thigh, but before his teeth even grazed her skin, she went into fight mode again.
Those teeth were not going to sink into her skin! Nuh-uh! That was bound to hurt like a son of a gun, never mind the whole “Will I become one of them?” question.
This time, he scowled. “You do not want to make me angry, my love. I must feed. I will feed.” This time he pinned her hips to the mattress with his hands as he lowered his head.
First she felt damp warmth as his tongue laved her skin. And then the fierce, blinding pain of his bite. She felt those teeth sink into her flesh. As he fed, there was a strange sensation of building ripples of heat washing up her body, ripples that traveled out from the point where he fed. Each one was bigger, hotter, fiercer until they were like gigantic tsunamis blasting her with white heat. She shuddered, her body thrown into an unexpected orgasm. Every part of her convulsed, even as he drew more and more of her strength from her body.
Finally, completely exhausted, she lay still. He lifted his head, licked away the blood smeared across his lips, and smiled. His teeth retracted up into his jaw. He kissed her forehead, whispered a promise to return to her, and flipped out the light. Despite her numb hands and feet, the burn at her wrists and ankles, and the throbbing on her right thigh, she fell asleep instantly.
When Sophie woke, the birds outside the window were chirping, the warm light of morning spilling in through the lace curtains. She was lying on her stomach. The bindings were gone but the red burn marks on her wrists gave testimony to what had happened last night. It hadn’t been a dream.
She tossed off the blanket to check her leg and found she was still nude. There wasn’t even the slightest bruise on her thigh where the vampire had bitten her, yet her ankles were marred with big, ugly red welts.
She couldn’t believe it! Vampires did exist and she’d been a snack for some dark-haired bloodsucker! Worse yet, he’d made her come! She wasn’t sure which part was the hardest to swallow.
She was still trying to deal with it when she stole a quick glance at the clock, then, shocked by the time, scurried from the bed.
“No way!”
Eleven freaking o’clock? One hour before noon! Not only did she miss Dao’s doctor’s appointment, but she was also late for work. “Shit!” She gathered her clothes from the closet, raced to the bathroom, showered, and dressed.
No one stirred in the master bedroom. Maybe Dao’d gone to the doctor without her? She hoped he was okay. Damn it, she’d known something bad was going to happen last night. Lisse was behind that little social call she’d received last night. She had no doubt. Probably to keep her from taking Dao to the doctor.
“Dao? Are you in there?” When Sophie received no answer to her knocks, she tried the bedroom door. It was unlocked. She pushed it open and peered into the darkened room. Right away, she saw there were two people in the bed.
One of the heads lifted—Lisse’s. “Did you sleep all right?” she asked, with the kind of smile that suggested she already knew the answer.
“I…missed the appointment.”
“That’s all right. I rescheduled. It’s just as well,” Lisse whispered. “My dear Dao. He’s so very tired. I didn’t have the heart to wake him this morning. You will lock the door on the way out?”
Was he sleeping or dead? “Yes. Of course,” Sophie said, not intending to do any such thing. She needed to see Dao, to make sure that blood-sucking, no-good snake hadn’t done something awful to him.
“Very
