Page 26 of Taken By The Vampire King

My face burned as I followed along behind a younger guy with dark hair and an equally dark suit. Everything about him looked slightly deadly, even though he was shorter than Nicolas.

I touched one of my warm cheeks self-consciously. When had he become Nicolas in my head? Was that the effect of yet another of those drugging kisses? I lost myself when he kissed me like that. Let go and floated away, only conscious of his lips, his tongue, his hands on my skin, and my body pulsing with desire.

And I really had let myself go in his arms. I felt safe, and I felt wanted. But how far would I have gone? The memory of his body beneath mine, hard and ready, sent another wave of desire through me, and I inhaled a breath at how sharply I felt it. I’d wanted him inside me. Craved it, in that moment. But I barely knew him. Would I have gone so far?

I hadn’t with any other man, and while I imagined the full romantic experience—soft lighting, and a kind, understanding man in a comfortable bedroom—apparently my body was A-okay with a bench style seat on a Baton Rouge roof terrace.

The fresh heat over my skin was less leftover lust and more embarrassment now. After all, I was fast abandoning the idea that being a twenty-eight-year-old virgin was a good thing these days. It wasn’t something I generally told guys. The idea of purity didn’t exist in our porn culture, and I hadn’t been saving myself. Lack of opportunity definitely shouldn’t be mistaken for lack of sexual confidence in this regard…although there was part of me where that confidence eroded daily. Being wanted was a powerful aphrodisiac.

That said, I wasn’t about to jump on the first guy who came along.

Except I had.

Twice.

If Nicolas’s phone hadn’t interrupted us, what would I have let myself do? Would I have stopped? Stopped him? What would he have done?

I shook my head. Probably better I didn’t know the answer to any of those questions. I’d said I wouldn’t sleep with him, and regardless of whether he took that to mean actual shut-eye, I’d definitely meant sex. So that was that.

Except I was still so aware of him. His scent clung to my clothes. My skin felt branded where he’d brushed his fingers over me, his touch both teasing and purposeful.

I shivered just thinking about it, and Jason turned to glance at me, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses, his nostrils flaring slightly as he inhaled.

A slight smile lifted his lips. “You enjoy your lunch with Nic?”

I nodded, rolling the shortened form of Nicolas’s name through my head. There was an intimacy in using it that wasn’t mine to claim.

“Okay.” Jason pushed through a door, and suddenly we were on the main floor of the casino. “I know Nic showed you around in here, but did he let you play anything?” Again, he half-turned, directing his words to me.

“Oh, I didn’t want to.” I had too many images of the tables Dad might have sat at while he squandered everything we had—fucking squandered me, even—to want to sit there myself. “All these people wasting their money? I don’t know. It just doesn’t look like fun to me.” I shrugged, and Jason smirked a little. “I mean, no offense, or anything.”

He chuckled. “None taken.” Then he lowered his voice. “But you know, this can be fun. Not everyone plays to excess. It’s supposed to be a game. But Nic will be the first to tell you the house always wins, and we do in the end. The important part for you to remember, for anyone who comes in here to remember, is that when the fun stops, you stop. The danger starts when people start chasing the next big win or try to make up what they just lost, when they’ve played what they can’t afford to lose, you know?”

I nodded because shit, yeah. I knew about people playing what they couldn’t afford to lose. “Sadly, I think I’m one of those things my dad thought he could afford to lose.” I laughed but it didn’t make my words any less raw.

“Yeah. Shit. Sorry.” Jason sighed. “I shouldn’t have said that. If it helps, though, I don’t think Nic agrees with that philosophy.”

Unexpected hope flickered in the center of my chest. But I extinguished it quickly. “I guess he just got lucky that I’m able to help him fulfil a couple of business-related commitments.”

“I guess.” But Jason’s tone was noncommittal. Then he changed the subject. “Come on. Let me show you the blackjack table. If it helps, blackjack wasn’t Jean’s game.”

I laughed again. “I think none of these were really his game, or I wouldn’t be here, right?”

Jason blushed a little but he chuckled. “I guess they weren’t.” He led me to a table with a smiling dealer. “One more to play.”

“No. I can’t. I don’t know how.” I stopped before I sat down, strangely flustered.

“Ahh…a blackjack virgin?” The dealer raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow, and Jason glared at her.

“Cut it out, Sabine.” Jason’s tone turned commanding. Then he looked at me. “This is one of the easiest games. You start with one card and can request one card at a time from the dealer by knocking on the table. The idea is to get cards to the value of twenty-one or as close as you can. Closest wins. The number cards each hold their number value, face cards are worth ten, and an ace is worth eleven, unless that would send you over twenty-one, in which case it holds a value of one. Getting both a face card and an ace in your first hand is a blackjack.”

“Okay,” I said. “I can do simple math, I hope. But I have nothing to play.”

“Nic has you covered.” Jason set a pile of gold-edged black chips in front of me. They all stated the name of the casino and had the tiny heart logo in raised gold ink.

Sabine lifted both her eyebrows. “The boss has very deep pockets today.”

“Really. Can it, Sabine,” Jason growled almost under his breath. He took the seat next to me as she started to deal. “So, have you got any brothers or sisters?” he asked me.

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