Amelia frowned. “But I thought it took a stake in the heart to kill a vampire.”
“Superstition,” Dimitri told her, meeting her gaze in the rearview mirror. “If you damage the heart badly enough, a vampire cannot heal.”
“I lay in that alley, bleeding out my life, when David found me. He bent over me.” Varina looked away, staring out the window at the darkness beyond. “I could smell the life in him. And I went… a little mad. I took him.”
“You attacked him?” Amelia’s jealous imaginings of vampire seduction vanished in a poof of sympathy. David had tried to help someone, and had had his life ripped away for his efforts. In a moment, he’d lost both his job and the woman he loved.
Varina nodded bleakly. “I lost control. By the time I regained myself, it was too late. He was dying. There was only one way to save him, and that was by making him a vampire.”
Amelia felt sick. If Varina was telling the truth, David hadn’t cheated on her -- he’d been victimized through no fault of his own.
God, she wanted to believe that. But how could she trust anything Varina said? She wasn’t even human. How could Amelia even trust her own need to believe? What if Varina was using her powers to trick her?
Besides, no matter how he got that way, David was a vampire now. None of these people could be trusted. “Okay, fine. If David wants to call me and talk, I’ll listen. But in the meantime, stop the car and let me out!” That last emerged as a scream of mingled rage and fear.
The vampire shot Amelia a hard look, her pretty face impatient. “No.” She ground her teeth in frustration. “Eh, I’m wasting my time. I’ll let David explain -- or whatever he cares to do to you.” Ruby eyes met hers. It was like falling into a crimson sea. “Sleep, you stubborn, jealous little fool.”
And for the second time that night, everything went black.
Chapter Two
Amelia opened her eyes to meet the gaze of a sweetly smiling angel peeking out from pine needles. She blinked and jerked, instantly realizing two things. First, the crystal angel was hanging from the branch of a Christmas tree, and second, she was bound and naked under the tree in question.
Frowning, she looked down her body at her bare breasts. Pine needles brushed her nipples, and some smartass had tied a red bow around her neck, as if she were a puppy.
She was pretty sure she knew who the smartass was.
“Bitch,” Amelia growled, and squirmed, testing her bonds. Her wrists were bound together at the small of her back, and her ankles were circled by some kind of leather cuffs attached to either end of what felt like a bar. The arrangement arched her breasts upward and spread her thighs.
She lifted her head. Several small, neatly wrapped packages surrounded her in an artistic pile. Her eye fell on a little card attached to the bow around her throat. The tiny envelope read To David.
“Perfect, just perfect,” Amelia muttered, as her heart began to pound. “I’m Christmas dinner!”
Her traitorous nipples hardened as a wash of longing took her by surprise.
“Cut that out,” she growled at them. “He’s a freakin’ monster.” Pain slid into her heart like an icepick. Her handsome, seductive David was now a vampire. The man she’d have trusted with her life six months ago might well kill her before the sun came up.
Unless Varina had told the truth, and David was the man he’d always been.
But hanging around to find out could get her killed. She’d try contacting him again on her own terms; the thing to do now was get the hell out. The question was, how?
Obviously the first step was to free her hands, which meant rolling off her bound wrists. Gingerly, Amelia began to wiggle her way out from beneath the tree. At the same time, she shot a look around the room, trying to figure out where she was.
Damn, the Vampire Queen had money.
The room was huge, with a soaring cathedral ceiling dominated by an immense chandelier. A thick Persian carpet spread over the honey gleam of the hardwood, providing a soft cushion for her bare back. Nearby, a marble fireplace dominated one end of the room, decorated in swags of fresh pine. A set of French doors and floor-to-ceiling windows lined the other wall, inset with stained glass in swirling abstract patterns.
An elegant couch, loveseat, and two armchairs upholstered in rich, vibrant red stood before the blazing fire, and scarlet candles stood here and there, casting a warm golden light over the room. The air was full of a Christmasy blend of spices -- cinnamon, nutmeg, and peppermint. Carols played in the background, a soft, blues arrangement featuring lots of sax and somebody with a really nice baritone.
None of which was enough to get Amelia to hang around.
She worked her way a little further out from under the tree, decided she was clear enough to work, and rolled onto her side for a go at whatever it was around her wrists.
Amelia was hoping for Velcro cuffs like the ones she used to wear during the bondage games she and David once played, but no such luck. These cuffs felt like tough leather, linked by a short, thick length of chain. Twisting her hands awkwardly, she searched for a way to unfasten them.
She was just starting to panic when the French doors opened at the other end of the room, admitting a draft of cool night air -- and David.
He stopped short in surprise, blue eyes widening. Despite the dictates of common sense, Amelia found herself staring at him with starved longing. His dark hair was longer than she remembered, as if growing out of the stern cut he’d affected as a cop. He wasn’t as deadly pale and drawn as the last time she’d seen him. If anything, he looked even more tough and fit, and those broad shoulders looked even wider.
Then again, it might have been all the black. David was dressed in a black turtleneck and black trousers, with a long leather duster swirling around his booted feet. The clothing looked so expensive and well-cut, Amelia wondered if Varina had bought them for him. The thought was accompanied by another stab of irrational jealousy that made her grind her teeth. Her inner green-eyed monster didn’t seem to care that Varina was married.
It was easy to see why anybody would want to cheat with such a stud. David had one of those starkly masculine faces, broad across the cheekbones and wide at the jaw, with intriguing hollows here and there. His nose was a trifle long and hawkish for a true GQ male beauty, but his mouth made up for it, with a full lower lip and a hint of a dimple. He’d hated those dimples, though they, along with those dark-lashed blue eyes, made him irresistible to anything female.
Including vampires, apparently.
God knew Amelia had never been able to resist him. And still couldn’t. Despite everything, pain and need lodged in her heart.
It had been so long.
As she gazed at him in besotted fascination, he smiled slowly. Amelia realized that while she’d been checking him out, he’d been returning the favor. And since she was stark naked, his view was a hell of a lot more comprehensive.
“Well, well,” David purred finally. “Look what Santa dragged in.” He started toward her in a seductive male swagger, his eyes fixed on her breasts with an intensity that made her nipples peak.
“Touch me and I’ll scream,” Amelia managed. Her voice was embarrassingly hoarse.
His smile was wicked and starkly erotic. “You always were a responsive little thing.”
“I meant I’ll scream for the police,” she gritted.
David shrugged. “Go ahead. In the unlikely event that anybody hears you, I’ll send them away.”
The same way Varina had made her get in the car. “You really do have psychic powers?”
He sank gracefully to one knee beside her, his eyes very hot and blue. “Vampirism has its privileges -- one of which is undisturbed quality time with naked blonde Christmas presents.”
Before she could shrink back, he reached for the bow around her neck and plucked free the card. Amelia watched his long, strong hands as he opened it and read. Her heart was pounding as if she’d run a marathon. She couldn’t seem to keep the plea betwe
en her teeth. “Don’t hurt me.”
Blue eyes flicked to her face. “Don’t be insulting. Besides, the terrified captive act would be a lot more convincing if your pussy wasn’t wet.”
“It is not!”
He reached between her thighs. As Amelia gasped in outrage, a long, strong finger thrust into her sex, sliding easily into her slick depths. The jolt of pleasure that zipped through her almost tore a humiliating moan from her lips.
David’s eyes blazed hot and blue. Slowly, he drew the finger back and pushed it deep again. “You do realize I haven’t had a woman in six months.”
Her gaze flicked below his belt. The bulge in those expensive slacks was a vivid testament to his hunger. She sneered anyway. “What about the Queen of the Damned?”
“The Queen of the --” His brows flew upward as he withdrew that deliciously probing finger. She suppressed her groan of disappointment ruthlessly. “You mean Varina?”
“Yeah, ‘Varina’.” She felt remarkably petty even as the words left her mouth. “This is her house, right? And unless I miss my guess, she paid for that Armani you’re wearing. Have you got a threesome going with her and the blond, or what?”
Male satisfaction lit his gaze, and he rocked back on his heels. “Jealous, darling?”
“Of a bloodsucking monster?”
David flinched. Such stark pain flashed across his face, she caught her breath. Then he looked away and picked up one of the wrapped presents. “Is that why you hung up on me -- you don’t talk to bloodsucking monsters?”
Amelia hesitated, thrown off-balance by that moment of anguished vulnerability. He started ripping the paper off the gift, his big hands quick with anger. Cautiously she said, “I didn’t think there was anything to say.”
Blue eyes flashed up to meet hers. “Evidently not.” Flipping the lid off the box he’d unwrapped, David glanced inside. His eyes widened. “Well, what have we here?” He withdrew a tube from the box and read the label aloud. “Ass Master Lube.” He smirked, glancing down at the card. “And it’s from Dimitri. I don’t think he likes you, darling.”
She stared at the tube like a bird at a snake. Ohboy.
“As I recall,” he drawled, “you once said you’d had fantasies about my buttfucking you. I wonder why the hell I said no. God knows I was seriously tempted.”
Amelia licked her lips. “You were afraid of hurting me.”
David shrugged those broad shoulders. “I’ve got a big dick.” Eyeing her bound and naked body, he gave her a deliberate leer. “Luckily for me, bloodsucking monsters don’t worry about the damage they do to tight little virgin assholes.”
Her mouth went dry even as her sex clenched in hungry anticipation. It seemed her body didn’t share her mind’s fear.
His dark smile broadened as he made a show of inhaling. “And judging by the smell of that pussy, I don’t think you’re worried about it either.”
“Bastard.”
David shrugged. “Of course. Comes with the whole bloodsucking monster package. And speaking of packages…” He picked up another gift and tore it open with a flourish. Lifting the lid, he grinned into it. “Ahhh. Perfect. Nipple clamps.” He gave her a toothy smile. “Varina doesn’t seem to like you much either.”
“It’s mutual.” As Amelia watched, he slipped one of the clamps onto his own pinky, then winced and adjusted a tiny screw. “What are you doing?”
He glanced down at her. “Tightening it, of course. I want to make sure it gives those little nips a good bite.”
She frowned. It had looked to her like he’d loosened the screw. Which was completely in character for David -- but not for the soulless undead thing she’d thought he’d become.
Had Dimitri and Varina been telling the truth? Could David be the same man he’d always been?
No. She hadn’t imagined the bloodlust in his eyes that first night. Whatever he was now, he wasn’t the man she loved.
Amelia was still wrestling with that thought when he suddenly bent down and enclosed her nipple in the wet heat of his mouth. Remembering those deadly fangs, she tried to twist away. “No! Don’t hurt me!”
David’s head jerked up, and once again she saw that flash of pained vulnerability. “I have no intention of hurting you, sweet -- yet.” One big hand came up to cup her breast, cupping her gently. His fingers were very warm as he caressed her stiffened nipple. “I just want these pretty pink nips nice and hard.”
Despite her fear, pleasure rose in a warm, tingling wave as he skillfully twisted and pinched the sensitive tips. Watching her face, he smiled, slow and male.
He lowered his head again. This time she felt too much anticipation to protest.
David flicked his tongue tip over a blushing point, once, then again. Then he gave her a slow, sampling swirl before settling down to suck until hot lust danced along her nerves like sparks from a campfire.
God, he was so good at that. He always had been.
Despite her fears, her body insisted this was her David, her lover, the man she’d ached for every day of the past six months.
The man she loved.
Still suckling her right breast, he reached for her left with his free hand. Cool metal brushed over the hot peak. Closed tight. Amelia arched against him, gasping in a shivering blend of arousal and pleasure and just the slightest hint of fear.
He’d put the clamp on her.
Instinctively, she tried to pull it off, only to realize again that her wrists were still bound. She was helpless. Amelia moaned, the sound half protest, half pleasure.
This was nuts. He was a vampire. If he hadn’t been bound to the bed that night all those months ago, she had no doubt he’d have killed her.
Yet here she lay, trussed up under the Christmas tree while he tormented her tits, her arms going to sleep even as her pussy grew steadily more creamy. She knew good and damned well he planned to bang her ass with that big cock of his. And when he was done with that, he’d bite her on the neck and drink her blood. He could easily kill her.
Except…
She didn’t really believe it. Oh, Amelia had no doubt she was in for an anal grudge fuck that would make it impossible to sit for a week, yet she didn’t believe David would really hurt her. He’d always loved playing dominant as much as she’d loved playing submissive, but there wasn’t a cruel bone in his body.
At least, there hadn’t been when he’d been human, Amelia reminded herself. He wasn’t human anymore. She didn’t really know what he was capable of now.
But it looked like she was going to find out.
Chapter Three
David was twisting the clamp now while he licked and suckled her breast. Reaching between her thighs, he slipped a strong finger into her core, tearing a gasp of pleasure from her mouth. “Mmmm,” he purred. “You are wet, aren’t you? Too bad, really.”
“What?” She sounded pleasure-drugged even to her own ears. “What do you…?”
He flashed his fangs at her. “It’s not your pussy I’m gonna fuck, Amelia.” Sliding his index finger from her slick core, he pressed it to her anus and began working his way inside. Amelia caught her breath. The sensation of being slowly stretched was both painful and unbearably arousing. “Oh, yeah,” he breathed. “I’m in the mood for a tight little asshole. And given those six months of celibacy, you’re in for a very rough ride.”
She swallowed and made herself sneer. “Yeah, right.”
His mouth tightened into a hard line. “Believe me or don’t. Your ass is mine one way or another.” Withdrawing his finger, he picked up the tube of lubricant and squirted a generous dollop into his hand.
Amelia watched helplessly as he reached between her spread thighs. Two fingers went in this time with a strong, hard thrust that made her gasp. She blinked up at him, heart pounding in reluctant, ferocious arousal as he pumped in deep.
“I’m going to fuck you hard, Amelia,” he told her in a deep, rough rasp. “I’m going to grind my cock in your ass and make you come until you scream.�
��
She licked her lips, fear and desire warring in her. “And then what?”
He bared his fangs. “What do you think? I’m going to drink your sweet blood.”
Amelia shivered. This time it was definitely fear. “Don’t… take too much. Please. If you ever cared anything about me…”
There it was again, that slight, telling flinch. A muscle flexed in his jaw. “I may be a bloodsucking monster, but I’m not a killer. It doesn’t take that much to satisfy me.”
David stood, rising to his feet to tower over her. Reaching for the hem of the black turtleneck, he pulled it off over his head. His chest was deliciously broad, tight and lean with sculpted muscle. He threw the sweater aside and balanced on one foot to pull off his boot. It dropped with a bang that made her jump. She watched breathlessly as he pulled off the other boot, then reached for his belt. The buckle rattled. His zipper hissed as he pulled it down and started stripping off his pants. His cock leaped free, thick and hungry, flushed dark with lust, so hard it angled upward. It looked even longer than she remembered.
And he was going to drive it into her virginal ass. Amelia whimpered softly in mingled fear and anticipation. God help her, she did want him.
He wasn’t the only one who’d been celibate for six months.
David looked down at her, feet braced apart, cock jutting. Slowly, tauntingly, he stroked the massive shaft. “Yeah, whimper. I’m going to take my time with that tight little butt, baby. Slow, deep, and hard.” He sank to his knees beside her bound body. “So I suppose the least I can do is make sure you’re good and hot.”
Amelia cleared her throat. “That’s sweet of you.”
Fangs flashed. “I’m a prince.” He uncuffed her ankles from the spreader bar, then tossed it aside and settled between her legs. She caught her breath in anticipation as he draped her knees over his brawny shoulders and lowered his head.
Fingers spread her vaginal lips, giving him access to her helplessly creaming flesh. His first lick made her close her eyes and clench her teeth against a desperate moan. “Damn, baby,” David breathed against her flesh, “you are wet. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were looking forward to getting your ass reamed by a bloodsucking monster.” She flinched at the bitterness in those last two words.
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