by Renea Mason
He growled. “What did you do?”
“Mating has to be consensual now. I wanted to make sure that you didn’t get the bright idea of taking what my precious Eudora doesn’t want to give you.”
“What?” He growled.
“You heard me. Win her over with sincerity or you’ll melt into a puddle of vampire goo.”
He stabbed his finger in her direction. “Wait until I tell the Council about your behavior.”
She tapped him on the forehead with her index finger. “Wait until I tell the Council your penis may have incited a war.”
“They’ll never let you get away with it.” He crossed his arms.
“As far as they know, you’re missing, and without Eudora escorting you out of this tower, you’re stuck here. I’ll just let them know that the spider queen said you were delicious.”
“You bitch.”
“That’s witch to you. Tata for now.” A flurry of glitter particles floated to the floor in the place where Baba Yaga once stood.
Chapter 6
Spanking
Hours passed and Marcus said nothing. Silent but for the rumble emanating from his chest while he paced the room.
When he stopped and stared up at the stucco ceiling, I took my opportunity. I couldn’t handle the silence any more. “Talk about damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I’m really sorry you’re going to have to die.”
He spun his head toward me. “Not an option.”
I grinned. “Afraid so. Living for-fucking-ever mated to you is a fate worse than death so—”
He grabbed me by the throat and pressed my body into the couch cushion with his weight. “I thought I told you that I will not tolerate profanity from you. Was I somehow unclear?”
I swallowed against the firm grasp he had on my throat. “How can you even worry about something so fucking trivial at a time like this?”
“Because if you’re going to be my mate you will have to learn to obey me.” The tips of his fangs pressed against his bottom lip.
I laughed. “You trying to gain my obedience will be the death of us. Remember, I have a death wish.” I squirmed. “Let me up. I need some air.”
“Why should I?”
“Because you’re harder than a diamond, and I’m not willingly going to give myself to you. But if you don’t let me up I’m going to continue to do this…” I rubbed my pelvis against his cock. “…until you do.”
He squeezed tighter. “That’s very naughty of you, and you know what I do to naughty girls?”
He didn’t give me time to respond before he rolled me over and planted one swift smack to my bottom.
“Son of a bitch.” I clenched my teeth.
Another smack.
“What the fuck?”
And another. “Keep going, I can do this all night.” His palm planted against my back made it impossible to move. “Anything else you want to say?”
“Fuck you.”
The crack sounded through the room. He lowered himself until his breath blew hot against my ear. “You must love this, since you keep asking for more. I wonder…” He slipped his fingers between my legs and into my underwear. “There is hope. You’re sopping wet. This situation is starting to show promise.”
“You are such a bastard.”
Smack.
“What? Bastard isn’t swearing.”
“You’re insulting my mother. Close enough.” He plastered his body against my back.
“Let me up.”
He rubbed his cock between the cheeks of my ass and pressed his lips to my ear. “You know that word you’re so fond of? The one that drives me crazy every time I hear you say it? Well… I’ve been doing it for hundreds of years. Perfecting my technique. Making women scream with pleasure.” He set a subtle rhythm with his hips against my ass.
My body was on fire. I didn’t want to want him, but that place between my thighs ached to have him fill me. It had been so long, but still… What the fuck was wrong with me? Heat flooded my cheeks, and I pushed back against him.
He groaned. “All I need to do is lift this tiny skirt of yours and slide those already soaked panties aside and my cock will slide right in.” He placed his hand on my hip and coaxed me into angling my pelvis upward so that his cock rubbed against my sex as he moved. “Don’t you want to know what it would feel like? To come like you never have before? It’s only one time, we won’t be mated, and don’t you think you owe it to yourself before you die? To feel my fangs in your neck and my cock inside you?” He panted against my ear.
I was weak with need. It had been so long since my body had felt such things. He was an attractive man. I was about to die after all, one time wouldn’t kill me and it might help pass the time. “You really think you’re that great of a fuck?”
He leaned to the side, slapped my ass, and said, “Yes.” He ran his fangs along my neck. “How about you stop saying that word and start doing it?” He worked my skirt around my waist and hooked his fingers in the corners of my panties. “Come on. What do you have to lose? Let me fuck you, little one. Just say that one simple word.”
I could no longer resist. “What do you want me to say?”
“I want you to say, yes.” He rubbed his cock harder against my sex. “I’m going to ask you again. Do you want me to fuck you?”
The friction had me on the brink of madness. I stifled my moan. Letting him know the impact he had on my body was not an option.
“Just think about it. Think about how my cock will feel sliding into you. Stretching you.” He inhaled, allowing the air to linger in his lungs before speaking. “You know I can smell you—your desire.” He leaned to the side and slipped his hand between us. “So wet. So ready. Do you want me to take you hard or slow, little one?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and cursed my traitorous body.
He licked my neck while his finger slipped up and down between my folds. “Hmmmmm…” He ran his nose up the side of my neck. “You smell absolutely delicious.” His fangs grazed my skin. “Let me have just a taste.”
I couldn’t have answered him if I wanted to—paralyzed as I was with need, want, and determination to not give in. But I was losing the battle. With each touch, my lust-fueled curiosity threatened to win.
“Come on, Dora, what do you have to lose?” His fingers moved faster, bringing me to the edge.
So good. So long. My body gave into his touch even when I couldn’t give him the words. Without my consent, I moaned.
He hissed, “Yes. That’s it. And think…this is just my fingers. Wait until you take my cock.”
I pressed my pelvis harder against his hand. So close to falling.
“Say it. Say yes. Give me your body.”
I swallowed hard as euphoria crested within me. A second later all I felt was the cool air of the room. No hand. No friction. No motherfucking orgasm. “What the fuck?” I sat up, arms wobbly and stared at him.
He stood nude, cock pointing to the ceiling, with his arms crossed. “You didn’t say yes. I won’t let you use me. Either we both get what we want or neither of us does. Isn’t this so poetic for our situation? We either learn to love fucking each other or we’ll be fucked out of existence. Why don’t you think about that for a while? Sweet dreams.”
I growled. “I so fucking hate you.”
“That’s two I owe you.”
“Two what?”
“Spankings. Don’t think I’m going to let any of them slide.” He walked to the door and opened it, but paused.
I called to him from across the room, “You know you can’t get out of the tower.”
“I know.”
I crossed my arms, feeling some trepidation about his answer to my next question. “Where are you going?”
“To do some research. Wet dreams, Dora. Wait…sweet dreams. Actually, either way works.” He winked and stepped through the door.
“Motherfucking son of a bitch.”
From the other side of the door his voice carried, “That’s th
ree.”
Chapter 7
Confessions
I groaned and rolled over in my bed. Again. I’d gotten little sleep. My head had whirled all night from the events on the sofa four nights ago. I had almost given myself to him. Almost made the biggest mistake of my life. Wait…second biggest mistake. Loving and trusting Julian was my first. But he felt so good against my skin. His scent. His warmth. I never expected a vampire to be warm, but he was. And soft. Damn it. I crawled under the covers and sighed. I could still smell him on my skin. Why did he have to smell so good? Feel so good? Fuck. I needed to avoid him. Trusting myself would only get harder.
I tried to avoid him. But each night he returned to my quarters after searching the library for answers, to what I’ll never know. Baba Yaga hadn’t made an appearance since the night I shredded the Tina Turner inspired underwear she had so graciously gifted me, and it had been nearly a week of me trying to find excuses to stay clear of Marcus. I quickly corrected myself. Stay clear of fuck head. I couldn’t afford to humanize him, but every night when he returned to rest on the sofa, I wanted nothing more than to ask him what he had been doing. Was it loneliness that drew me to him? Whatever it was, I couldn’t allow it.
The door opened and he stepped through like he did each night. To the washroom and then his place on the couch. Tonight, when I heard the sound of his body settling into the fabric of the sofa, it was followed by a long sigh. I almost asked him what was wrong, but caught myself before my dastardly mistake.
Another lingering sigh.
I placed my hand over my mouth to keep from inquiring, but before I could finish chastising myself for even contemplating asking him to unburden himself, he spoke, “Dora?”
Shit. “Yes.”
“Remember that first day, when you tricked me?”
I cleared my throat. “I remember rescuing you, yes.”
He sat up and looked at me over the back of the sofa. My bed a mere ten feet or so away. “Extorting me in a moment of weakness is a more apt description, little one, but yes, that is the day I’m speaking of.”
I rolled onto my side facing him and tucked my arm under my pillow, trying to ignore the fluttering in my stomach. Why was his interest so important to me? “What of it?”
“Do you remember what you asked me?”
“Yes, I wanted you to kill me.”
He let out a placating chuckle. “Yes, but remember the special request you made? About how I should get Baba Yaga’s permission to take you to Louisiana?”
“Oh, yes. The jambalaya.” I smiled at the thought.
“When you asked me, I wasn’t thinking straight, given the circumstances. But before our webbed encounter in the basement, I couldn’t help but think that we had met before. I generally have perfect recall, but how you were so familiar eluded me. For the past few days I’ve been spending my time on the third floor looking for clues.”
“Regional magics.”
“Yes. A decade or so ago, I lived in New Orleans. Vampires run the city, but you probably already knew that.”
“I figured as much since the bookshelf for that area is riddled with books on vampire lore.”
“It didn’t occur to me then, but your last name is Spence.”
“What of it?” My brow furrowed with curiosity.
He took a deep breath. “The reason you love jambalaya is because you visited your family in the French Quarter often, correct?”
“Yes, I went with my father.” The memories overcame me. “He even took me to a masked ball the year before he died. I felt like a princess in my fancy dress and tiara.”
He rubbed his hand across his brow. “That’s what I thought. It explains everything. How could I be so stupid?”
I sat up. “What?”
He stood, walked to me, and in a most unexpected action kneeled on the floor before me. Placing his hand over mine, he stared up into my eyes. Turmoil stirred in his gaze. “Do you know what your father did for a living, Dora?”
“My father worked as a recruiter. He traveled a lot.”
Inhaling a deep breath, he squeezed my hand. “Recruiter, is that what he called it? It explains why you were so familiar to me. Why when I saw you that first day in the library, I couldn’t keep myself from coming back.”
“What are you talking about?”
“In my research, I came across a book about the vampire slave trade in Louisiana. I try to block that night from my mind. But when I read the history and saw your family name…”
“Marcus, please…” I needed him to get to the point. Sexually frustrated Marcus I could deal with. Worried Marcus left me disconcerted.
“When someone is inducted into the vampire royal family, for lack of a better word, they get certain…benefits. Much like politicians in human society might receive favors either considered illegal or immoral to the general populous. Think drugs, prostitutes, and the like. Vampire leaders are no different.”
“Like you need prostitutes.”
He closed his eyes. “You’re right I don’t, but it’s hard for a vampire to turn down a blood slave.”
“Blood slave?”
“Yes.” He opened his eyes and stared into mine. “I was new and every year the new members of the governing council are summoned to New Orleans to receive their first perk of leadership. The Spence family arranged and coordinated the victims. All we had to do was show up and claim our right of position.”
I gasped. “Oh my God. That’s what you think my father did? Led the lambs to slaughter? That can’t be true. My father wasn’t like that. Why are you doing this?” Crossing my arms over my chest, I prayed for some other explanation.
Marcus sighed. “He didn’t know that’s what he was doing, exactly. He thought he was recruiting young women for an exclusive overseas finishing school. With his help, we were able to gain the family’s permission, which made it easier for all of us when dealing with the repercussions in the mortal world. Each student was assigned a sponsor—her master.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “How could my father not have known? That’s crazy. Wait… Finishing school? No—”
He interrupted me. “We have lived a long time and can be very convincing. Plus, when compensated well, people tend to avoid questions.”
“I don’t believe this. It can’t be true.” Squeezing my arms tighter around me, I broke eye contact.
He bowed his head, staring at his hand holding mine. “My slave was beautiful. She was soft, supple, and had a smile that lit up the room. I remembered thinking how hard it would be to not mate with her.”
His womanizing ways irritated me so much that my sarcastic remark cut through my fear and anxiety. “Yeah, I can imagine that would be a real struggle for you, given that you’ll pretty much screw anything, even spiders.”
“You don’t need to remind me.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “The senior most member of the vampire council had seen my potential, so I was gifted the most prized blood slave. Though she was human, there was something about her that drew me to her the moment I saw her. Not something that happens for me often. I remember thinking how lucky I was.”
My skin tingled with worry at his shaky words. His story could only lead one place. My legs trembled as I waited to hear his acknowledgement.
“At the masquerade ball her father gave me her hand, transitioning her care to what he thought was her sponsor, teacher. I remember how vivid and alive her eyes looked as she stared back at me from behind her mask. Her scent was like ambrosia. I had never felt that way about a human female. It frightened me.”
I covered my mouth with my hand, stifling my sob.
“You know how I am, it was all I could do not to take her there, in front of everyone. We danced and she consumed my every thought. After the final dance, I pulled her into the hallway and kissed her like I had never kissed anyone before. Knowing even then, in my soul, she would not be good for me. Too much temptation. But sometimes self-destruction is the siren’s call. In my frantic haste to
feel her body under mine, she whispered to me, “Please, be gentle.” I stopped and pulled back to look at her. She was young, so young. Sixteen maybe. I came to my senses as her innocence stared back at me. I refused to victimize her.”
Tears filled my eyes. “It was you.”
He squeezed my hand and on a whisper said a simple, “Yes.”
My voice was shaky. “I remember my father being so happy that I had been accepted to the academy. He told me you, my sponsor, were the son of some dignitary, and you would make a good husband if I minded my manners. When you ran away after kissing me, I thought you hated me.”
“No, no, no, little one. Quite the opposite. You were perfect. Too perfect. I wanted you too much. I could feast on your blood as often as I wanted, but if I bit you while having sex with you three times, we would be bound. Mating with mortals is forbidden. That includes blood slaves. They would have killed us both.”
“My father was angry with me. I felt like I failed him. They expelled me from the academy.”
“I was the only vampire ever to reject a blood slave. He thought he was giving you a better life. He was so proud that you had been accepted, but didn’t understand our end game. Had he known the truth, he would have been most pleased that I refused to sponsor you.”
I slapped him. “How could you do that? Those poor girls.”
Before my hand could impact him again, he grabbed it. “Listen to me. Please… The first thing I did when I became king was outlaw blood slaves.”
I froze and stared at him. That couldn’t have made him popular with his people.
“Little one, please understand…” He wiped a tear from my eye with his thumb. “I know you see me as a philandering sod, and in many ways, you’re right. I’ve never turned down a willful participant, but you were too young to consent, didn’t know what you were being asked to do, and I refused to take advantage of you.”
