by Mila Young
"I don't get why you're angry," I said aloud, thinking that he was somewhere in the house and could probably hear me. "You had to know that I wasn't just going to sit around and go along with this plan of yours to get me into a marriage with you. This whole situation is your fault, so you can't blame me for getting myself out of it."
I took a bite of the chili, raising my eyebrows. The place two blocks down from my apartment no longer served the best chili I'd ever tasted.
"I mean, the food is doing a good job of tempting me to stay," I continued, serving everything that was set out for me onto a plate and taking a few more bites. "The kiss too, but I'm still not there yet."
"Do you talk to yourself all the time?"
I spun around, almost dropping the plate in my hand.
A woman was standing across the room from me. Her skin was almost translucent, and she was painfully thin, looking like she was three years beyond the last hamburger and fries. Her hair was a dark brown, and her eyes looked black.
Still, I wasn't going to let her appearance give me any kind of illusions. A vampire could move across a room faster than I could blink and could break my neck easier than I could break a toothpick, although some vampires were known to savor a slow kill.
"Usually, yeah," I answered, nodding slowly. "Best way to... have a... you know, have an intelligent conversation."
The vampire tilted her head. "That sounds rehearsed. Would you like to try it again?"
"Nope, I'm good. Did..." I paused to clear the dryness from my throat. "Did you guys come up with a price for me to pay, or are you still mulling over it?"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I mean that the dusty quartet doesn't look like they come to a consensuses quickly."
"We already knew what we wanted from you before you left the room." The vampire stood almost impossibly still, watching me with her black eyes. "It was just better to let you come to terms with our decision before telling you about it."
"Well, name your price." I took another bite from my food. "I mean, I don't have much money, but it would probably be enough to keep the lights on in that shack of yours for another hundred years."
Her lips quirked up. "You are bold, talking back to a vampire like that. We have no need for money. That house has been there since before you were born—"
"Sure looks like it."
"—And it will be there long after you pass away. The only mark that you will make on it is if you pay what you owe us for your freedom. Will you hear our price or not?"
"That's why you're here, isn't it?"
"Our price is a hundred barrels of Cloris wine," the vampire said, still standing utterly still as she watched me. "Each barrel will have one drop of your blood."
I narrowed my eyes. "A hundred... does this place look like it can produce a hundred barrels of wine?"
"It is a vineyard?"
"It was about ten years ago, now it's a patch of dirt. How the hell am I supposed to get you a hundred barrels?"
"We do not know. We do not care. All that matters is that if you want that contract dissolved, that is our price. Pay it or not."
I blinked, about to take a step forward, but the moment that my eyes opened again, there was nobody in the room with me. The only evidence that I hadn't been talking to myself was a faint, sickly sweet smell in the air.
"Shit," I hissed, taking another bite from the food as I moved out onto the terrace. I wasn't sure what I would be able to see. The moon was illuminating the area, but there was nothing there. Nobody was standing there.
I sat down, putting the plate on the floor next to me. If there was anything to be said about the vineyard, it at least looked a little less bad in the moonlight than it did during the day.
Footsteps were coming out of the house behind me. They were moving slowly, like he was trying to be tentative, trying to be sensitive.
Or something.
With everything, I couldn't bring myself to look over to him as he took a seat next to me.
"I guess you heard all that?"
Rog didn't answer right away, but finally, he sighed. "Yes."
"So you know that I'm probably not getting out of this anytime soon."
He didn't answer, and I peeked to see that he was just staring out into the open with me. Finally, he handed me a bottle of wine, already uncorked. He had one of his own and took a long sip, straight from the bottle.
"I'm pretty sure that this place won't be able to grow vines for at least a year," I whispered, taking a sip. "Soil's no good, would take a while for us to fertilize it the right way again. And even then... I don't have the money to bring a place like this up on my own. And hell, with my luck, birds will eat out any vines that we plant."
Still nothing from him. I wasn't sure what his game was, going silent now.
"You're probably happy as all hell right now," I muttered, taking another sip from the bottle. "No way out for me. Everything's aces for you."
"I didn't want this," he finally whispered. “I did, but I didn’t.”
Now he had me confused. "What, did you really expect me to fall in love with you?"
"Of course not, but... I don't know what I expected, but I didn't want you to stay if you didn't want to. I know... I know what it feels like to be trapped in this place, and I wouldn't want it for you. For anyone. I hoped you’d fall in love with the place as it belonged to your auntie." He took a long drink from his bottle of wine. "I want to make it hard for you to go, but an eternity of hating each other is just going to grate on my nerves. And that is not going to turn out well for you."
I smirked, looking at the bottle in my hand, guessing that was the closest I’d get to any form of an apology from him. "I had a job that I loved in New York. Journalism. I was a junior editor, sure, but I was making my way up. Getting what I wanted and working for it every step of the way."
"Had?"
"Yeah, they... they fired me the day before I flew out here. Budget cuts was the official word. A bunch of my coworkers got the ax too. Honestly, that newspaper is probably going under in a couple of months if they don't get a cash infusion, but that was above my pay grade. I get a great recommendation, and I probably could have gotten picked up by any other media outlet in New York, keep my career going after a month off or something."
"Not anymore?"
Another sip from the wine. "Not if I'm gone for a year, or longer. Employers don't like seeing a big empty spot on my resume. If it's a year, it'll be a fifty-fifty shot of my getting a decent job. And it'll get worse the longer it takes."
"I can help."
I laughed, shaking my head. "Do you have some connections in New York that I don't know about? Poor Blood Demons Almanac?"
"I'll help you pay the price that the vampires demand," he whispered, taking a swig from his bottle.
My head snapped around so quickly I felt a jolt of pain. "What? Why? Why would you help me break your contract?"
He shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe I don't want to be the reason why your whole life goes away."
That was suspicious enough, but when I looked at him, I couldn't see the blackness that was his true form. Even his eyes were just reflecting the cold light of the moon, with no brilliance to them whatsoever.
"How can I believe you?"
"The question is, what choice do you have but to believe me?" he countered smoothly, rising up and offering me his hand. "We have a lot of work to do tomorrow. I suggest that you finish your dinner and get a good night's sleep. The wine should help with that."
Chapter 12
Sleep wasn't coming. Same as when I had heard that Moira was dead, it just wouldn't come. I looked around the bedroom, half-expecting a woman to appear in the corner of the room.
At this point, I wasn't even sure anymore if that apparition had been Moira. It just seemed too convenient. Why would my aunt push me into this kind of situation?
I wasn't going to get any sleep, not tonight. It was a quick and almost instinctive decision
to get back up out of bed. My pajamas were light and cooling, and I felt a shiver as a soft breeze shifted through the window slats and through the room.
My movements were almost mechanical as I headed to the door and pulled it open. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I knew that I didn't want to be alone.
I froze in place. The darkness was a little darker and a pair of red gleams were staring at me, sending an icy rush up my spine as I looked into his eyes.
His form materialized, partially, although I could still see the red in his eyes.
"I... was coming to your room," he admitted.
"And I was going to yours," I whispered in response, not sure why I'd even say that. Still, I took a step forward, sucking in a deep breath as I reached out for him, feeling an icy chill meet my hand before his fingers tangled with mine.
He gripped my hand, pulling me in closer as the heat of his skin suddenly touched mine. I could feel it over the thin pajamas, showing that I wasn't wearing anything underneath.
"Why?" I asked.
"Why?"
"By rights, I should hate your guts," I whispered, running my fingers up his bare arms, realizing that he wasn't wearing much of anything either. "You tricked me, trapped me. I should be thinking of ways to rip into your chest and strangle you with your own entrails."
He moved in closer, taking my hands and gliding them down his chest, showing me that he wasn't wearing anything at all. "And what are you thinking about instead?"
"How badly I want to sit on your face." Just saying the words had me blushing, but I thanked the darkness for concealing my heated cheeks.
His eyes glowed with a little more intensity. There was certainly something to be said for how outrageously sexy those eyes were, and at this point, I could use a bit of a pick-me-up. Though was he the right person for me to go to at such a time?
It was just very unsettling how attractive they were.
"Witches and demons have shared a mutual attraction for a very long time," he whispered, running his fingers through my hair, letting the tips brush my cheek as he did, sending a jolt down my spine as I took an instinctive step forward, letting his heady scent envelop me.
"Well, yeah, but I never thought that it was this... literal of an attraction," I said, feeling a catch in the back of my throat as he gripped the back of my head, roughly turning it so I was gazing up into his eyes, taking in a shuddering breath as I felt his chest pressing ever so gently into mine.
"Honestly, neither did I," he answered, leaning down and placing a light, tender kiss to my lips, giving me no way back as his other hand circled around my waist, drawing me in, getting a gasp out of me as I felt his teeth lightly trap my bottom lip.
The slow build was considerably different from our last time, and I wasn't sure which one I preferred, feeling his hands slowly exploring over my clothes. I closed my eyes, savoring every press, every touch, the feel of his lips on my cheek and then my neck, the heat radiating from his bare skin.
My hands were exploring as well, traveling up the hard planes of his chest, circling over his shoulders, tracing my fingers in random patterns, just wanting to feel as much of him as I could, taking in a deep breath and letting him walk me backwards until my back hit a wall.
As much as I wanted him to claim me against it, I could feel the structure shudder just from my leaning on it.
"We should get to the bed," I whispered, reaching up and gripping him instinctively by the throat before he sent us both through the wall.
He nodded, dragging me with him into my room. The darkness was all around me, making my whole body pulse as he drove us toward the bed, pushing me onto it.
I let out an unintentional squeal as my back hit the mattress, my legs splaying out. He joined me on the bed quickly, spreading my thighs around his hips as he came in over me. I reached out, sucking in a deep breath, pulling him closer.
Rog’s hands fell to my thin underwear and ripped them right off me, sending me into a small shudder. I gasped, grinning as I felt his hands sliding in under my shirt, hands gripping the fabric and yanking it apart.
It was impressive, and I sucked in a deep breath, watching him toss my ruined pajamas aside, lowering his head to press his lips to my collarbone, leaving light kisses. He growled softly in my ear, an inhuman sound, and he dipped his head down, pressing his lips to my neck. One hand moved up, around me, enveloping me, and rushing through my long, red hair before gripping the back of my head, pulling me in closer to him.
"That all you got?" I hissed back at him, grinning as he drew back to look me in the eye.
He smiled back, and I could see in the darkness a deep red gleam in his eyes.
"You’re a temptress," he rumbled with a harsh rasp in his throat, letting me feel the vibrations from his chest radiate into me.
He left heated imprints over my naked skin, hands moving down and gripping my hips, dragging me closer to him, closer to the edge of the bed.
A soft moan jumped up from my throat, my body buzzing with every touch, lighting me up. Tingles raced up and down my back, sliding between my thighs. He made his way in that direction, his face buried between my legs. His mouth was a wicked beast, that tongue flicking so fast, so perfectly, I arched my back, moaning. My legs fell wider while my hips tilted toward him.
A long groan left his throat as he ate me like a starved demon.
I was in big trouble, I sensed it deep in my gut with the rising feeling inside me of what Rog brought out in me. So much more than the lust driving me crazy, but all the little things leading up to this point. Agreeing to help me, making his way to my room. This wasn’t a demon who hated me, now was it? I never thought he really had, but it was hard to tell with him.
With a tortured growl, he broke his hold and climbed to his feet, staring down at me with pure hunger in his eyes. He was the predator and me, the prey.
I was turned on as hell and lay wide open for him. For a demon…I still had to remind myself who I was dealing with, but it didn’t seem to make a difference to how much I was drawn to him.
"Did you like that? "
"A bit too much." I laughed at how truthful I was.
The red eyes turned on me again, sucking the breath out of my lungs as he came in closer, leaning into me and kissing my lips and dragging me closer by my hips. I could feel something hard pressing between my thighs, my whole body pressing down toward it to meet him as his hips drove it deep inside me.
"Oh... fuck," I gasped, letting the syllable last as my whole body tightened around him, holding him to me and giving him no way to go but deeper. He was huge, and I adjusted my hips to make it easier for him. He stretched me while I cried out with pleasure.
I didn’t want to worry about every other consequence in that moment, and I shoved all thoughts aside. I wanted to just have this demon claim me, over and over. For me to enjoy every moment of being beneath him.
"Fute-mă," he whispered in my ear, driving himself in as deep as he would go.
I breathed heavily, grasping onto his strong, round shoulders. I didn't know what that meant, although given the context, I could venture a guess. And I wanted him to keep whispering words like it in my ear.
He drew back and thrust forward again, roughly enough to make the bed rock, letting my nails dig into his skin, dragging him to me as a rush crossed through my body, his teeth digging into my shoulder.
"Harder," I growled, gripping his hair with my free hand, not letting him pull away as he picked up the pace.
He pounded into me, his strength unbelievable, while I floated on the arousal, on the pain he caused with his bite. It all blended into the most eutrophic feeling that swallowed me.
My toes curled as he pushed in and out, never stopping, but going faster.
Then the tidal wave came at me so unexpected, I suddenly screamed as my orgasm flooded me, my whole body shaking.
He never stopped taking me the whole time, but pumped into me, held me to him just as he roared like a bear with his own explo
sion. Jammed all the way inside me, he froze, tensed, and I felt him pulsing inside me. My climax hit me hard and I released myself before collapsing on the bed, spent.
Heat flooded my body, while he still gripped my hips, buried deep inside me. He leaned forward and kissed my lips, his tongue sweeping over my lips. "Feeling better?"
“Yes,” I breathed. "Will you hold me?"
"As you wish."
A cool breeze was still filtering into the room as I looked out through the slats. I assumed that there would be a way to seal the windows come winter, and the slats were a temporary fixture for the warmer months.
Not really the sort of thing that I should be thinking with a demon lying in the bed beside me, but I needed a minute to come back down. Feeling the breeze caress the sweat still covering my naked body was a good way to do that.
"About that... mutual attraction."
I turned to look at him, as bare as I was and unabashedly reaching out to trace his fingers over my hips.
"What about it?" I asked, turning myself over, taking his hand and guiding it up to my breast.
"You said that you didn't think that it would be this literal."
I nodded. "Is this what the marriage is about? Are we... destined to jump each other’s bones at any opportunity we get?"
"No." He shook his head. "Nothing quite like that. I actually entered into a similar arrangement with Moira—but things never escalated to this point, and she was here for years."
I shook my head. "I just... the grossest thought just occurred to me, and I need to make sure. You and my aunt never... right?"
"We never fucked, if that's what you're thinking." He smirked, looking at me sideways. "That was something that she said would be the case from the start. Said that she knew better."
"I'm going to have to ask you to do me a huge favor."
"Yeah?"
"Let’s not talk about my aunt anymore while you've got my breast in your hand."
"Right. But... there was something about her that you should know. So long as I've already broken that particular rule, we might as well keep heading through that door."
