Page 2 of The Virgin and the Vampire

I nod, still confused. He holds out the objects in his hands and smiles, or maybe that’s more of a grimace. In any event, it exposes the tips of two white fangs and I lose my shit. And in myexcitement I drop the wineglass that naturally shatters on the tile floor.

The man moves faster than lightning to push open the door and pick me up. Before I can utter a word, I’m sitting on the kitchen counter having my feet inspected. I gape in astonishment when he places his mouth over a small gash on my instep. The cut doesn’t hurt, but his hot suction on my skin? It’s mind-blowingly good.

“Um, who are you?”

He waits to answer me until he’s laved my cut with his tongue three times. To my disappointment, his fangs don’t come anywhere close to piercing my flesh.

“I’m Kade and you are not to walk around with glass in bare feet again, understand?”

I stare into his dark eyes. “No. I don’t understand. What business is it of yours?”

He straightens to his full and rather intimidating height. “Now that I’ve tasted you, Ms. Coletti, everything about you is my business.”

Frowning, I meet his dark blue gaze directly. “You didn’t bite me, so I don’t believe you.”

His lips twitch. “If that was a challenge in an attempt to manipulate me, be very, very careful, little one.” His head lowers to mine, not touching, but so close I can feel the heat of his skin. He rumbles in my ear, “I will bite you, over and over and over again, my sweet little thrall, but only after you complete the paperwork and wear my collar. Put some shoes on and we’ll take care of the jewelry tonight.” He pauses thoughtfully, as if admiring the efficiency of his plan.

I’m less convinced. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t know you! Maybe you tell really bad jokes. I’m not stupid enough to sign up for a few hundred years of that without thinking it through first.”

Thralls are the bonded blood donors for vampires. Not all vamps have them or ever did. Keeping a woman chained in the basement doesn’t count, and I think that was all Hollywood, anyway. But according to the small amount of research I’ve been able to find, a fully bonded thrall (meaning the vamp has drunk her blood and had sex with her) will live either her natural lifespan if the vamp dies first or, and here’s the kicker, die only when the vamp does. Assuming that’s decades or centuries beyond when she might have naturally passed. It’s strange, but the thought of living for a few or even several hundred years beyond my natural lifespan doesn’t throw me off as much as you might think. I’d never considered it as an option except maybe in my fantasies, but I’m smart enough to know not to go down that road with someone I’m not compatible with.

Kade frowns, as if he’s used to people following his orders without question.

“The collar is not a lifetime commitment, little one. That comes with… other things. It’s simply there to keep other vamps away and mark you as claimed.”

I roll my eyes. Is he afraid to say sex in front of me? Did someone tell him I’m a shy little virgin? My eyes narrow. “Carina put you up to this, didn’t she? I’m fully aware that the full bonding requires both biting and sex. You can say the words, Kade. But the very fact that you thought you couldn’t proves my point. You don’t really know me.”

He rubs his tongue over the tips of his fangs. “I don’t know the minor details, but your blood told me everything important. You aremine, Gianna. You can take some time getting used to the idea, but you’ll wear my collar while you do it.”

The arrogant grumpiness in his voice has my pussy clenching with excitement. Kade could be one of my romance novels come to life. Only better because his attention is completely focusedonme. Just to see what he’ll do, I tilt my head to one side and, uncharacteristically sass, “Make me.”

When he unceremoniously picks me up and tosses me over his shoulder, I remember why I stick to conversations that keep me in the background. Kade quickly carries me out to his car. When he turns me right side up in order to set me on the seat, he growls, “Don’t move out of this seat or I will tie you to my bed for a week.” The threat slides right over me and down to my eager clit, which throbs in response. For some strange reason, I’m not afraid of Kade or his threats. It’s not completely rational that I’m not. I should be. Everything in me recognizes that he’s dangerous and yet… I can’t help feeling that he’s sweet deep down on the inside.

He locks up and returns to his vehicle, handing me my purse and keys that I’d left on the sideboard just inside the entry.

“Why are you kidnapping me?” I ask, remarkably calm.

He looks startled. “I’m not. I’m simply bringing you back to my place so I can collar you. I wasn’t expecting to find such a delicious treat this evening, angel, or I’d have come prepared.”

His strong hands rest lightly on the steering wheel as he drives competently down the narrow country roads towards Snowberry. There’s minimal traffic and yet he won’t answer any of the questions I pester him with. He doesn’t argue. It’s more like he’s unaware I’m even with him. It’s annoying as fuck.

And yet… I find myself yearning to snuggle into his side. To have those elegant fingers currently curled around the steering wheel grip my flesh instead. And there’s also a strange kind of knowing. Like maybe my soul recognized him and this was the moment I was waiting for, a reason to be brave and take a monumental risk. Even if my sister would say I’m wet in the head and need a keeper instead of a vampire lover.

2

The sweet flavor of Gianna lingers on my tongue. I’m dying to taste the rest of her, too. I don’t know if vamps are eligible for fated mates, but what I am sure of is when you’re as old and bored with life as I am, and then you start feeling completely alive and excited, you take notice. And you claim the sunshine making it happen before some other vamp tries to soak it up too.

I let Gianna purge herself of questions. They are all things that are better answered with experience. Words will only scare her. That said, I delight in hearing her voice, her infectious enthusiasm for all things vampire. I amuse myself picturing what Etienne will make of her. I want her weighed down with my claiming jewels before that happens. He’s old and bored enough he just might attempt to steal her for his own amusement, and a taste of that sunshine I mentioned. He’ll have to register the thrall contract, though, so there’s no avoiding it forever.

Pushing the button on the dash to open the gates, I wait for them to open. Gianna stopped talking a few miles back, but her eyes are everywhere, curious and bright. She gasps a little when I pull through the gates and my home is revealed. It’s on the smaller side as mansions go, but it has plenty of room for just the two of us. Thankfully, I keep a housekeeper, so there should be some food in the kitchen for her.

I forgot to fetch Gianna some shoes when I locked up her little house, so I pick her up in my arms again. This time I cradle her to my chest so I can watch her reaction. “I can walk, you know,” she grumbles. I raise an eyebrow and incline my head towards the gravel in the drive.

“Why would you want to? I’ll find some slippers for you inside. After you’re properly dressed.”

She frowns at that. I carry her inside and up through my bedroom to the walk-in closet. The closet alone is the size of the house I grew up in, but things have certainly changed over the centuries. I set Gianna down on one of the bureaus so I can rummage in one of the lower built-in drawers. Every vamp I know keeps a collar and cuff set on hand just in case a miracle should happen. Mine have never been used, so they’re a bit antique in style, I suppose. Gianna and I have more in common than she realizes. I too was terrified of being linked with a woman whose inane chatter would drive me to put a stake in my own heart. We’re human, not truly immortal, so a bullet would be more efficient, but it lacks the romantic element.

Without a word, I take the intricate diamond necklace out of the case and wrap it around Gianna’s slim throat.

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