Passion And Fire (Passion #4)

by J. a Melville

  Flame

  When I crawled out of bed the next morning, late since I overslept, I braced myself for Chloe’s barrage of questions. I was certainly expecting a few because she’d been there, right in the middle of it, when Damien had turned up at the door, brandishing my panties around like he was waving the fucking Australian flag.

  The bastard had really enjoyed my discomfort and there was no way Chloe could miss that we’d obviously had sex and that was why I lost my panties. She saw us go upstairs too, but had she been awake to notice he hadn’t come back down again until close on daybreak?

  I was relieved at least that my body bore no lasting pain from him and I fucking again. Damn man needed to stay away from me. I don’t know why I was so weak when it came to him. It had to be the chemistry between us. As much as I wanted to hit him sometimes, I couldn’t deny the attraction between us. It was volatile, I conceded that. It was like throwing a match into a petrol tanker. It was explosive and that’s probably why we fought with as much passion as we fucked.

  I just couldn’t seem to say no to him, or maybe I could, but he wouldn’t listen; so we’d fight, we’d touch and then suddenly we’d be fucking. If only he sucked at it, but he didn’t. Having that cock of his in me; feeling those piercings rubbing every sensitive nerve ending was an unbelievable turn on, and I came spectacularly every...fucking...time.

  My greatest fear was he would ruin me for any other man. Would sex ever be the same again with a man who wasn’t pierced? He was going to be a hard act for any man to follow and that worried me. I had already let him in more than I should have.

  Sighing, I walked into the kitchen to get my caffeine injection only to find Chloe already there, getting herself a bowl of cereal and making coffee. She smiled at me, but I could see the questions in her eyes. No way would she let it go and pretend she hadn’t seen Damien with my panties in his hand. She would be dying to know what was going on; she was just that kind of person.

  “Morning.” I mumbled at her and sat down at one of the stools at the breakfast bar.

  She gave me her usual bright smile. Chloe was one of those people who always seemed bright and bubbly; always appeared to be happy, disgustingly so in fact. It was impossible to be angry with her or to be rude to her because of her upbeat personality.

  “Coffee?” She asked and I nodded.

  “Please, has there ever been a morning where I’ve said no?” I gave her a brief smile.

  She gave me an answering grin and darted around the kitchen like she was spring loaded, making my coffee, finally placing the steaming brew in front of me. I gratefully took a couple of sips and waited for the questioning to begin. I didn’t have to wait long.

  “So you and Damien have a thing going on?” She asked, wiping down the bench tops and not looking up at me.

  I snorted. “No, no we fucking well don’t.” I said.

  She looked up at me. “He had your panties in his hand; he had them in his pocket. He made it pretty clear you two had made love.”

  I laughed out loud. “Damien and I don’t make love, we fuck. That’s it, just fucking; hard, intense fucking but nothing else. Don’t let that soft heart of yours turn this into a romantic thing Chloe. I have no desire to be in a relationship with anyone and sure as hell not him. You know what he’s like. He can barely do happily for the night let alone happily ever after.”

  “He likes you Flame. I’ve never seen him like that with any other woman.” She rolled her eyes. “Trust me, there’s been a few. He can pick up a woman a night and he just takes them off somewhere, his home or something but that’s it. I’ve never seen him as worked up as he was last night with you. I think he likes you.”

  I groaned. “Don’t make it out to be more than it really is. I was nothing more than a challenge to him. I rejected him the first time he came onto me; I called him a loser.” I grinned at the memory of his expression and glanced up when Chloe gasped.

  “You didn’t?” She gaped at me, her eyes wide. “How can you call him a loser? He’s gorgeous. You are so lucky to have had the chance to be with him. I’d love for him to make love to me.” Her expression was dreamy.

  “You are a true romantic aren’t you?” I smiled at her. “Damien’s not romantic and he doesn’t make love. He fucks and damn, that man fucks like an animal.”

  “That good huh?” Chloe’s voice held a note of envy in it.

  I almost said that she should know, until I remembered, no she wouldn’t. He’d wiped her memory of all those times he’d used her body.

  “He’s huge Chloe; I’m talking huge, massive, put the damn horses to shame and pierced. He’s got piercings all around the head and the feel of them…” I trailed off, feeling myself getting wet just thinking about them.

  “Fuck Flame; that good huh and he’s really that big and pierced? You were saying? They feel like…?” She prompted me to continue.

  “They feel…amazing.” I flashed her a grin. “When I leave town eventually and the next man comes into my life, it’s going to be hard not to compare. Fuck, let's face it; it’s probably going to be hard to find someone as good as him. He’s the best fuck I’ve ever had, but I swear too much of him and I’d never fucking walk again.” I laughed.

  “Ah, so that’s why you were walking carefully last night is it? You had sex with him before you came home? Why didn’t you stay with him like he asked?”

  “I didn’t go to his home. He gets me so hot, damn him. We had sex against his car, can you believe it? Anyone could have come along and seen us and they very nearly did. He wanted me to go home with him but I panicked and left. I don’t want to risk liking him Chloe. I never stay in the one place very long, and I avoid potential heartache by not getting involved with people. Anyway, I can’t get involved with someone like him.”

  “Why not? He’s a good looking man and he seems to like you.”

  I shook my head slowly. “No he doesn’t. He just likes pussy and now he’s had mine, he’ll move onto the next one I’m sure, plus we’re too different for it to work between us.” He sure was different. Vampire, human, no way could it work. Not that I could tell Chloe that.

  “I think you’re wrong Flame. I think he does like you. I have never seen him behave the way he was with you last night. Either you two are perfect for one another or you’re both terrible for one another. All I know is, you seem to fight with each other like crazy and I bet that makes the sex hotter than hell, right?”

  “Yeah.” Was all I could say before I finished my coffee and stood up. “I have to go out for a while.” I told her, dumping my mug in the dishwasher before heading back upstairs to get dressed.

  Two days later and I was beginning to think I was probably going crazy. Damien had made no effort to contact me, and I was torn between relief that he appeared to be no more interested in me than I was in him, and disappointment that he hadn’t made any effort to come and see me.

  Cassie was back from her parents’ place and it was going to be a rare night where we were all home. Of course Chloe hadn’t wasted any time telling Cassie about the incident with Damien, and she couldn’t understand my reluctance to have anything to do with him either.

  “Why don’t we all go out and have a girl’s night out?” Chloe asked.

  I silently groaned. “Where, where do you want to go?”

  Cassie laughed. “Well there’s not a hell of a lot of choices here so the club I’m guessing.”

  “Why would you want to go to the club Chloe when you work there? Don’t you get sick of it? I have no desire to go to the strip club when I’m not working.” I said.

  “I don’t care. I like the club and I want to drink and dance, maybe pick up a man or two. Maybe we can find one each?” Her expression was hopeful and I groaned.

  “You are such a hopeless romantic.” I told her. “I don’t want a man. I keep saying this but no one listens to me.”

  “I know, I know, you’re going to leave town, but really Flame that doesn’t mean you can’t ha
ve some happiness while you are here. Why you don’t want Damien I don’t know. The man is sex on legs, hung like a horse, pierced and you don’t want him? Are you completely mad?” Chloe’s expression clearly questioned my sanity.

  “You’re missing the point. He doesn’t want me. The man’s a whore. You said that yourself. He doesn’t want me, any more than I want him.” I ignored that little pang I felt inside. “If he really wanted me, then where is he? He’s made no effort to contact me in a couple of days.”

  “He might have been busy Flame, and you just said you don’t want him, so why do you seem like you’re disappointed?” Cassie asked.

  “I’m not. So, are we doing this? Are we going to dance and get drunk and not necessarily in that order?” I asked, wanting to get the conversation off the sexy vampire and they both nodded.

  Chloe jumped up with her usual never ending enthusiasm. “I’m going to work out what to wear.” She almost sang at us as she danced out of the room.

  Cassie and I grinned at one another after she’d left. How can she always be that much of a glass half full kind of girl?” I asked.

  “She’s always like it.” Cassie groaned, standing up. “I guess I’d better go work out what to wear too.” She grinned before walking out of the room, leaving me alone.

  Reluctantly I dragged myself up. I had no idea what I was going to wear. I wasn’t exactly struggling to contain my excitement over going to the club. Last time I’d been there had been when Damien took Melody home. Surely he wouldn’t be there tonight though and if he was, would he be with someone else? I hadn’t seen or heard from him in two days, but I doubt he’d have gone that long without sex and certainly not without blood. He had a voracious appetite for both.

  Still a part of me had to allow for the fact he might be there tonight and how would I react if he was with another woman? I’d be fine, I wouldn’t care. He was a free spirit and so was I. He could fuck all of Hobart and it would mean nothing to me. So why did I feel a flash of pain at the thought of him with someone else?

  “Ugh, just go and work out what to wear Flame.” I muttered under my breath and headed upstairs to prepare for our girls’ night out.

  Three hours later I stood before my bedroom mirror and checked my appearance for what felt like the hundredth time. Why did it matter so much to me that I looked good? ‘Because he might be there’ that little voice inside my head happily pointed out to me.

  I’d gone all out tonight with my wardrobe, although I wasn’t entirely sure why. My dress was one that I’d been given as a going away gift from one of my previous jobs and was my feel good dress. It was black, made from a material that looked like leather, but it wasn’t. It was strapless and the bodice was a corset, lacing up the back tightly. I felt like the Sunday roast after I got Cassie to do it up. The dress hugged me like a second skin, finishing just a few inches below my ass. It was short but it was too tight for it to ride up at all. I finished off with red heels that matched the laces that cinched up the back and a clutch purse to complete the outfit.

  I had piled my hair up into a clasp at the back so it looked like a very loose ponytail, with curls tumbling over my shoulders and a few framing my face. I’d even gone all out with more makeup than I normally wore, and now I stood nervously staring at my image, and wondering what the hell I was doing.

  I had just contemplated washing off some of the makeup to tone it down to my more normal look, when Chloe walked into my room dressed for our evening out, in a silver dress that shimmered with every move. Just as I was about to tell her she looked great, which she did, she gasped as her eyes moved over me.

  “Wow Flame. You look amazing. You’re going to have every man in the club after you tonight, probably Damien too if he’s there.”

  “Don’t start with that again. I’m going out for a girls’ night out. I drink, I dance; I do not get picked up by random men, and I don’t get picked up by Damien either. I’m sure if he’s there, he will have his next fuck with him. He’s not exactly a hearts and flowers kind of guy. He’s more the rip off their panties and ram his cock in, fuck em and leave em kind of guy.”

  “So if he’s there with another woman you won’t care?” She asked watching my face closely.

  “Not at all, I don’t own him and he’s not my boyfriend or husband. He can do what he wants and who he wants.” I told her, working to keep my expression neutral.

  “So if he had no one with him, you would be fine if I came on to him?” She said slyly.

  Ignoring the feelings inside me that were unfamiliar to me, I smiled and told her. “Go for it.”

  Suddenly Cassie appeared in my bedroom doorway. “Are we ready to hit the club?” She asked, looking amazing herself in a pale lavender dress that hugged her slim, but curvy figure and we both nodded. “Well, let’s get out of here.” She disappeared from my doorway and with one final check of my appearance; I followed them from my room.

  Damien

  “So what are you going to do with yourself this evening brother dear?” Francesca walked into the living room dressed in some long black dress that was split so high up the front; he could almost see her panties. The top was just as revealing and Damien noticed her breasts were almost spilling out of the deep ‘V’ neckline. Her hair was piled on top of her head and her makeup dark and dramatic as always. “I thought if you don’t have plans we could go to the club together and hunt. If all else fails, we’ll fuck each other. What do you say?”

  He frowned at her words. He hadn’t been feeling quite himself the last couple of days and had been drinking from Fran when she fed. He suspected he’d been weakened a little by giving Flame too much blood the other night. Of course if that annoying, argumentative damn woman had just done as he’d asked, and not ranted at him for what felt like ages while he bled out on her bathroom floor, he’d have had more blood left in him. Not her though; no, she’d chosen to argue, and then to really add insult to injury, she’d complained about the mess he was making, and not shown even an ounce of concern for him.

  She was the most frustrating woman he’d ever met, and yet he could no longer deny to himself that she was getting under his skin. The prospect of him having any real feelings for her scared the hell out of him. No bloody woman was going to have that kind of hold over him. He’s survived decades without his heart being involved and he intended spending decades more, not feeling any kind of emotional attachment to anyone. The most sensible thing to do would be to stay away from her. Given he hadn’t been feeling quite his usual self the last couple of days, staying away had been easy.

  Still tonight he was ready to go out and find a blood meal for himself. Going with Fran wasn’t a bad idea. Worst case scenario they’d feed off each other. The fucking part he wasn’t so sure about and he hated that the image of a woman with bright red hair tried to make its way into his head. Damn her for making him want her. She just had the most amazingly tight cunt and he loved the feel of it squeezing his cock so hard. So many women he fucked had cunts that were well worn. Cunts with a lot of miles on them were what he called them. Either Flame’s job kept her tight or she hadn’t been so big on letting men into hers over the years.

  Given her job, it was a natural assumption that she fucked around a lot. Still after watching her twice now in the club, it was apparent she was only interested in doing what she had to do for her job, then getting the hell out of there without picking up anyone. Ok, she’d explained her ability made it harder for her, but he’d fucked her a few times now and hadn’t exactly been smashed repeatedly over the head with flying objects. Only those she had gone out of her way to throw at him.

  “So brother dear, shall we do this? Will you come hunting with me? I know you probably see me as a poor alternative to Lucian but that boy’s so head over heels in love, you’re never going to prise him out from between Arissa’s slim thighs to get him to go feeding and fucking with you anymore.”

  Damien snorted. Francesca always had such a way about her with the words. “W
ell, when you put it so eloquently Fran, how can I refuse? I know our bro is in love and it’s nauseating to see him the way he is. If I could vomit, I’m sure I would. No woman is ever going to make me need her the way he needs Arissa, or our sire and Sirene, even Dominick and Allegra. All bloody pussy whipped they are.”

  “No man is ever going to own me either. Free spirit I am and that’s how I want it to stay. So your little pole dancing redhead doesn’t tug at your heart?” She gave one of her signature smirks.

  “Hell no.” He spat out vehemently. “That woman is enough to drive a man to drink if I still drank. I would have to be insane to want to tie myself permanently to someone like her. All of eternity fighting with her; do I look nuts to you?” He asked and she laughed.

  “Methinks the man doth protest too much.” She gave him a long searching look. “Well, whatever you say brother dear. Come then, let’s go find ourselves a nice body or two to feed from.” She held out her hand and with his mind suddenly in turmoil over his thoughts of Flame, he took her slim cool fingers in his. As they walked to the front door, he tried not to let images of flaming red hair cascading over creamy shoulders invade his mind. He tried to suppress the memory of bright green eyes filled with passion meeting his gaze in the bathroom mirror, and as they walked out the front door, he closed his eyes briefly against the remembered cries when she’d come, and the way she had tightened around his cock, milking him. Shaking his head to clear his mind of her, he glanced down at Fran and with a deep sigh; he fought to get himself focused on tonight; blood, sex and nothing more.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Flame

  When we arrived at the club and pushed our way in through the large double glass doors, immediately the pounding of the music hit us.

  “Where are we going?” I yelled.

  “We can stay here or go see the live music. I have a surprise for you, something I’d like you to see.” Chloe said, smiling at me. I saw Cassie’s answering grin, so obviously she was in on whatever the big secret was.