by Primo, Jaz
My mouth gaped open.
“Wait a minute. With durable power of attorney, you practically own me!”
Her eyes narrowed. “Nonsense. Your best interests are imperative to me, my love. You shouldn’t question that.”
I scoffed. “You’ve got to be the boldest, most unbelievably alpha-controlling vampire I’ve ever known.”
She drew her body up to full height and towered over me somewhat menacingly, adopting a predatory expression as she gazed into my eyes.
She’s ferocious.
She stepped toward me, her green eyes blazing with a feral glow, emanating her vampire nature in veritable, powerful waves.
Momentarily caught off guard, I stepped backward until my back pressed against the SUV’s cool exterior.
Undeterred by my reaction, she slowly bent her head down to firmly kiss me on the lips.
“Face it. You love me like this,” she whispered.
My arms encircled her slim waist and I smiled into her kiss.
True.
I pulled her against me and initiated a series of lengthy, passionate kisses.
God, she’s a great kisser.
I could’ve stood there all night, in fact.
“So, how about taking me out for a spin in your new SUV?” she suggested.
I chuckled, and she sped around to the passenger side as I eagerly climbed into the driver’s seat, which felt like it had been made just for me.
“This is so awesome,” I said as I started the engine.
My fingers played across the dash to tweak the stereo and air conditioning controls like a pilot prepping an aircraft for flight.
“You can upload the music from your iPod into the entertainment console, as well,” she said.
Oh, yes, gotta’ have my driving tunes.
As we pulled out of the driveway, she reached out and lightly caressed the back of my neck with her fingernails, eliciting a shiver that ran all the way down my spine.
* * *
Less than an hour after returning from my maiden test drive and parking my SUV in the garage, Paige stopped by for an impromptu visit. I quickly took her by the arm and half-dragged her into the garage to see my kick-ass, though way over the top, birthday gift.
Kat watched with an amused expression as I pointed out the host of cool features to Paige.
She kept swatting at my hand. “Stop pointing at everything so fast, you country bumpkin.”
I folded my arms before my chest. As I watched her I could tell she was at least mildly impressed.
“Are you crazy, Red?” Paige finally asked. “You don’t give a man an SUV for his twenty-seventh birthday. That’s more of a thirtieth birthday gift, at best.”
Kat gave her a bland look. “And just what, precisely, should I have given him, then?”
“You give him what any twenty-something-year-old guy wants,” she said, pausing for dramatic affect. “The latest game console and a renewal to his favorite porn subscription.”
She gazed at me sidelong and offered an exaggerated wink. “Dominatrix Monthly, right?”
I glanced at Kat, noticing that her eyes nearly bulged from her head in surprise.
Then her intent gaze fell upon me.
Ooh, that’s not good.
“What?” I asked. “Your gift is the best, Kat. And besides, we’ve already got of the newest game consoles and—”
My head swiveled to stare at Paige. “Wait, they actually publish that?”
Kat groaned.
“Oops, making your Dom jealous,” Paige remarked.
My Dom?
I regarded Kat with a wide-eyed expression.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” she demanded. “I’m the one who’s wondering what kind of porn you’re into.”
“Wha—” I gaped.
“Oh, so our boy likes a little leather and riding crop action, eh?” Paige grinned. “I don’t mind saying, I’m a real kitten with a whip myself.”
My head pivoted to glare at her incredulously.
Kitten with a whip?
Whoa.
My imagination quickly generated a vision of that, and I felt immediate arousal. Fortunately, I caught myself mid-thought and raced to push that aside.
Major warning bells! La, la, la…don’t go there.
“I don’t think so, missy,” Kat said. “Just go practice your skills on Ethan, thank you very much.”
Paige shrugged innocently. “Hey, I’m just sayin’.”
Kat growled. “Well, stop sayin’.”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “Okay, okay, everybody stop!”
Both women stared at me curiously, though Kat appeared a little too exasperated for my taste. In fact, she appeared quite put out.
The vision of a perfect Dominatrix, in fact.
I shook my head.
Don’t go there!
I stared directly into Kat’s still-animated-looking emerald eyes. “Just to be clear, I don’t have a porn magazine collection.”
“They come in online subscriptions, too,” Paige said.
My attention darted to her. “Zip it! You’re not helping right now.”
I returned my focus back to Kat. “I don’t need any porn, Kat. I have you.”
Wait, that sounded better in my head.
“That’s oddly romantic,” Paige said with an arched brow. “Quirky, maybe even a bit twisted, actually. But romantic, nonetheless.”
My shoulders slumped. “Okay, I give up.”
Kat, ever the alpha, yet still sensitive, took control of the situation by wrapping her arm around my shoulders.
“I don’t have any concerns about porn, my love,” she said. “Your eyes told me everything I need to know.”
“And everyone in Pleasantville lived happily ever after,” Paige squeaked. “I think I need a tissue.”
I looked at Paige with narrowed eyes, silently mouthing, ‘shut up.’
She winked back at me and grinned.
“So, you bought him an SUV for his birthday, but where in the hell’s his birthday cake?” Paige asked.
“You know, you’re an absolute menace, shorty,” Kat said.
“I do my best,” Paige said.
Although, I had to admit that a cake sounded pretty good at the moment.
“Do I get a cake, too?” I asked.
Kat looked at me with a wry expression. “Your birthday’s not actually until July 17, you know. I still have time. Your gift was merely needed a little earlier than planned, that’s all.”
I shrugged. “Cool. Just askin’.”
Paige folded her arms before her and regarded Kat with raised eyebrows. “So, maybe a porn-looking cake then?”
“Oh, shut up, porn queen,” Kat said.
* * *
I was on my second hour of playing the latest version of Halo on the game console in the theater room when Paige suddenly appeared by my side, plopping down upon the floor Indian-style next to me.
“Hey, tiger,” she said. “Got another controller?”
I paused the game and fished another controller out of the storage cabinet.
“Damn, this is a huge screen for a video game,” she said, taking in the projection screen mounted on the wall.
“Bigger is better,” I said. “Hey, I thought you were chatting it up with Kat.”
“Yeah, well, Alton called and the chit-chat shifted to him,” she replied. “She motioned to me that it was a private call, so I hunted you down.”
I handed her the spare controller and reset the game configuration for an additional player.
“What the hell are we playin’ here?” she asked.
“Halo,” I replied.
“Well, Halo to you, too, twerp,” she chimed. “Honestly, what is it with you men and video games?”
“It passes the time until we get to have sex again,” I said.
“You nerd. Keep playing this stuff and you can forget getting any more sex,” she muttered.
“Oh, fun-ny,” I s
aid.
I showed her the controls and described the game for her. We had only played for about twenty minutes when she turned to stare at me.
“Listen, I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but Red actually treats you just like a dominatrix does her Sub sometimes,” she said. “It must feel very emasculating. But then, I realize that you seem like that sort of thing for some reason.”
“What do you know? And why are you still hung up on the porn topic?” I asked, annoyed over both her tone of voice and topic selection.
“Hey, don’t get all defensive on me,” she said. “I just call it like I see it. And you, my friend, are one whipping away from ‘Yes, Mistress, may I have another?’ That’s all I’m sayin’. But hey, if that’s your thing.”
Oh, dry up.
I grumbled an expletive, ignored her, and continued to play. Fortunately, she let the topic drop.
However, her comments struck a sour cord in me, and before long, my thoughts wandered.
I had never deeply considered the nature of what Paige had suggested, or even the structure of Kat’s and my dynamic relationship for that matter; certainly not from that angle before.
Do I feel emasculated by Kat? Is a dominatrix really what I want from her?
It was true that the balance and nature of our relationship was quite different from other couples.
It’s not as if that make me less of a man or anything.
Does it?
Those were all confusing prospects, as well as sort of emotionally overwhelming to consider all at once.
In fact, it made me feel aggravated.
“You don’t like Kat’s and my relationship, do you?” I asked.
Paige abruptly paused the game and turned to me.
“I never said that. And besides, Red’s like a sister to me; I love her. But you’re my friend, too, and I just want what makes you happy, okay?” she said. “It’s just that Katrina is a powerful vampire as well as a powerful woman. She’s a lot for any man to handle.”
She’s very powerful, for sure.
“Yeah, well, I definitely can’t see Kat getting handled by any man,” I said.
“My point exactly,” she said.
“You don’t exactly get handled by anyone either,” I pointed out.
She tilted her head slightly. “True. Except when I want to be handled.”
“Kat’s probably the same,” I said. “So what’s with all the concern all of a sudden?”
She frowned as she stared at me. Actually, it was more like right through me.
“I’m just worried that you’ll get lost in allowing her to control you like she does. Although, that has to be somewhat tempting for someone like you, isn’t it?”
“Someone like me?”
She reached over and patted me on the back.
“I love you, kiddo,” she said. “But you’re attracted to really assertive, powerful women, and that’s something you have to be sure not to lose yourself in. I’ve seen it happen the other way to women who’ve lost themselves in a powerful man. Eventually, they just forgot who they were.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that.
“You’ve come a long way since I first met you, tiger. And I adore the man that you’ve become. I like you just the way you are, so I’d hate to lose you; what you are now, that is.”
“Sure, but—” I said. “I mean, it’s really all about maintaining a healthy balance, right?”
“But then, that’s the challenge, isn’t it?” she asked.
She resumed the game and I half-heartedly returned to playing. However, what she said kept replaying over and over again in my mind.
…a powerful woman.
…you’ll get lost in allowing her to control you.
…tempting for someone like you.
…they forgot who they were.
Was I allowing Kat to swallow me up? Was that what I wanted?
Kat’s and my relationship had developed so quickly in the nine months since we began dating that I’d hardly taken time to consider its evolution.
Hell, I’m already her mate. That’s practically like “vampire married.”
Was I getting lost in her? Was I relinquishing my independence to her?
I contemplated my desire for her; how passionately I loved her, and how I craved her body.
Was I giving up my independence in exchange for love and sex?
Perhaps, but I couldn’t help feeling as though there might be more to it than that.
It is more. I don’t simply want her; I need her.
Was it because of my past; my abusive childhood?
I suddenly felt confused and filled with a host of uncertainties. It was exhausting to contemplate.
There’s too much for me to digest right now. I need a quiet place to think; to work it all out.
“You all right, tiger?” Paige asked. “You just got blasted by a baddie, you know.”
“Huh? Oh, crap,” I said, breaking from my train of thoughts. “And they’re called the Covenant, just so you know.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Ugly-ass, weirdie-lookin’ dudes,” she said. “Face it; you’re still such a hopeless little nerd sometimes.”
I nodded. “Yeah, but I’m your hopeless little nerd.”
She gave me a mock-horrified look. “Hey, you stole my line, you little turd.”
“Psyche,” I said, and restarted the level.
I forced our recent conversation about my relationship with Kat and its seemingly endless implications to the back of my mind while escaping back into the video game with my friend.
Somehow, fighting off an alien invasion felt much safer, and perhaps more familiar, territory.
Chapter 5
Caleb
The next day, I thought about what Paige and I had discussed. Her words kept replaying in my mind.
Determined to confront matters head on, I found Katrina in the sublevel room, essentially our grand subterranean bedroom, sitting at the station that supported the array of computer consoles and control center for the estate’s security and surveillance system.
She looked so sexy sitting there barefoot and wearing a pair of satin lounge pants and matching camisole. Her hair was pulled back into a single, tight ponytail, giving her that authoritative, yet sexy, look that I loved.
Had I not been so focused upon my question at hand, I might have considered more amorous endeavors.
“Hey, Kat, got a minute?” I asked.
Her welcoming smile was epic. “Always for you, my love.”
I gave her a quick kiss as I gathered my thoughts.
“What’s up?” she asked with an arched brow.
“I’d like to talk about some stuff that’s happened recently,” I said firmly. “And about us.”
The narrowing of her eyes was so quick that I almost missed it; her features quickly returned to a receptive expression. She rose from her seat and took my right hand in hers as she guided us to the edge of our bed to sit.
“Does this have anything to do with the parking garage incident from the other night?” she asked. “Or is it your birthday gift that’s still bothering you?”
Damn. I’m being outflanked already.
“More the former than the latter,” I said.
“Okay. Go on,” she said.
Despite her encouragement, I still felt uneasy.
Well, here goes nothing.
“I think—” I said. “Rather, I feel like you frequently make decisions for me. I think it’s better if we act as equals in our relationship, don’t you?”
Okay, that came out more bluntly than I’d hoped.
One of her eyebrows momentarily arched before returning to its former position.
“What I mean is, I feel like you sometimes disregard my preference in matters, especially in front of others. You sometimes order me around instead of asking my opinion. Some people might call that emasculating.”
“Emasculating? And by some, do you have somebody specific in mind
?” she asked. “Do you think that I emasculate you, or is that something you feel pressured by others to believe?”
Realizing I was suddenly treading in potentially dangerous waters, I paused to consider her question at length.
“Nobody’s pressuring me into this,” I said. “But let’s take right now, for example. You’re challenging me just for bringing up the topic.”
There. I said it.
But why do I feel like some overly-emo schmuck?
The look of shock on her face surprised me, and I watched as her expression morphed into something introspective. Her fingers lightly caressed the top of my hand in a soothing, yet mechanical, process.
Okay, this is going better than I expected.
Seconds later, her fingers froze in place and her eyes captured mine in a flat stare.
Strike that. This isn’t good.
“So, you’re saying anytime I disagree with your preference on something, even if I feel it’s counter to your safety, particularly when I’m much more informed than you on the matter and you’re willing to recklessly endanger yourself, I’m emasculating you?” she asked.
I swallowed, slowly digesting the multiple parts of her question.
“If I understand you correctly, that’s it exactly,” I said, chin held firmly up. “It’s a control issue, essentially. It’s how you demonstrate control in front of others, as well as to me.”
Paige would be so proud of me.
“So, I’m too controlling, as well?” she asked in a cool voice.
Eerily cool, in my opinion.
“And I emasculate you? Make you feel inferior?” she asked.
With a swift pull of my hand, she rose from the bedside, hauling me to my feet.
“What the—?”
She foot swiped my legs from beneath me, using my arm to smoothly control my fall facedown onto the carpet. Then she held my arm straight upward behind my back as pain centered in my shoulder.
“Ow!”
I felt the pressure of her bare foot against my shoulder blades, pressing me into the carpet.
“Kat, what hell are you doing?!” I demanded, glaring sideways at her as I stared at her other bare foot.
“Now this is emasculating,” she said coldly.
I was too stunned to say anything else.
