Page 32 of Mastered By Desire

“Oh, no, she’s totally believable.”

“People aren’tthatbad,” Dmitri scoffs.

“My stepfather was.”

“What?” Dmitri sets down his drink and looks at me. “He didn’t say shit like that to you, did he?”

I shrug. I shouldn’t have said anything. Dmitri and Danica have nice parents and a big, supportive family. They’re loud and rambunctious sometimes, and always in each other’s business. But at the heart of all that noise, they truly love one another.

He turns sideways to look at me fully, the TV show forgotten. “Leah. Really?”

“Look, it’s fine, it was a long time ago.”

You’ll amount to nothing, you little slut. Wearing those tops that show your tits. Disgusting. Like a bitch in heat.

Dmitri can’t possibly know what’s going through my head right now. It would be mortifying if he did.

I don’t know what he sees on my face, but he doesn’t ask questions. He slides to the center of the couch and holds out his arm, inviting me to get close.

Maybe I’m an idiot, but I scoot over to accept the comfort. When I lean against his chest, I feel infinitely better.

Academy of Ghostscontinues to play.

“This dude’s totally a vampire, isn’t he?” I point at the screen.

Dmitri laughs. “No spoilers.”

At the end of the episode, I sit up. Already I miss his warmth, his soapy, clean man scent.

“Another episode?” he asks, eyebrow cocked.

I want to say no because I resisted the siren call of this cultural icon for so long. “I don’t know, whatever you want.”

I secretly hope he wants to watch it.

“Well, I should call it an early night.” He picks up the remote and holds his finger over the power button.

“Wait,” I say.

He grins.

“Ugh, fine.” I fold my arms over my chest. “I admit it—AoG is pretty good.”

“It goes off the rails sometimes, but yeah, it isn’t bad.” Settling back against the couch, he skips the second episode’s cheesy intro. “Just wait until Season Three. That’s where it gets really good.”

“I am not going to watch three seasons of this!”

By the end of the second episode, I decide I am absolutely going to watch three seasons of this. In fact, I’m all in. My suspected vampire is actually a vampire-ghost hybrid of some kind, but he doesn’t even know it. My favorite heroine’s dorm room is haunted by a really hot guy from the Gold Rush era.

And as I watch, I can feel Dmitri looking over at me to see how I react to things, and that’s the most addictive part of it all.

It’s the third episode where things heat up onscreen. The ghost haunting the dorm room puts the moves on the heroine. He can’t touch her, but he directs her to touch herself. Because it’s television and it’s approved for ages fourteen and up, nothing is actually shown, nothing is explicit.

But I know what they’re doing, and so does the rest of the audience.

So does Dmitri.

It reminds me of what happened at Low Vice. Everything the ghost in the show says echoes in my mind, but in Gage’s voice.Touch yourself. No. Don’t finish. Wait. Listen to me, trust me, I’ll get you there.

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