Page 82 of Connected

She smiles as she dances her fingers along the edge of the black satin sheets. The room is painted in a deep dark purple color and the wall facing the end of the wrought iron bed is filled floor to ceiling by an enormous ornate silver framed mirror.

“I guess you like to watch yourself sleeping, or is it for when you’re fucking? Well, whichever it is—it’s very you,” she laughs.

“Maybe.”

“Maybe? Which… sleeping or fucking?” She stares; he smiles but doesn’t answer. “So, what do the women you bring here think of that?”

“Well, you know I don’t sleep much… and I don’t know, what do they think?” The smirk fills his face then taking her by surprise, he grabs her cheeks and kisses her. “We could try it and see exactly what you think?”

“Darius…” she holds him back. “Are you telling me you haven’t had any women in here? So why all this? Those…” she gestures to the leather chained restraints fixed to the wall behind the bed. “What are they for if you don’t have anyone come here?”

“The mirror, that came from an old house of mine from a long time ago. It was being thrown out and I couldn’t bear to see it destroyed. As for those… they’re new,” he smiles. “They were just in case I ever found anyone special to share time with. Someone I trusted who shared my tastes.”

“And did you—find anyone special? Someone, you trusted?”

“Yeah, I found her.”

He smiles and drops the towel from around his waist and presses his body against hers. “I need to be with you.” She takes a deep breath and groans. Luna’s growl becomes a roar—and the constant loud howls give Kat a headache. Once again, she struggles to hold the shift, and gritting her teeth she has to concentrate—force the wolf to be quiet. “Darius, I don’t think I can. I told you She—”

“Shh…” He drops her against the bed and through her shirt, his hand gently touches her breast. His cock fills with lust and hardens with pulsing desire, and Kat can feel its hardness pressing against her thigh.

She wants him just as much, but Luna continues to howl. “Shit… Darius get off me!” Quickly she pushes him back and moves to the door. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry. She just won’t let me be with you. I should have waited. I can’t do—”

“Waited? Waited for what? Kat, please… Stay there. Please, just stay, I told you I have something that could let us be together. It could shut her out—at least temporarily.”

Kat nods as she curiously waits—hovering by the door. “Darius, what is it? I don’t understand. How are you going to shut her out?”

“Please, just listen. Just hear me out because you won’t to like it. But trust me—can you do that? Remember when we talked once before—about pleasure and pain, about it being a circle; that one is much the same as the other? This will give us both.”

Still temptingly naked, he goes to the dresser drawer and takes out a black cotton bag. He stays distanced from her as he turns around. “All right now I don’t want you to freak out because I’m not going to hurt you—well, not unless you want me to?” he smiles. “And you don’t have to do this—I’ll respect whatever you decide. If you’re willing to try, then I think it will let us be together. And… I think it’ll give you a lot of pleasure.”

While focusing—only on each other—he puts his hand inside the bag. Kat’s eyes widen in horror as he removes what she can see is the wide metal band—the ornate silver collar that Alvarez incarcerated her with.

Her eyes blaze deep green with fear, and she steps from the doorway into the hall. “Where the hell did you get that?”

“I picked it up after Digby dropped it, hey don’t worry, I have the key. I figured it was better to bring it back and keep it safe than leaving it there for someone else to find. Besides, as weird as it sounds, I couldn’t resist how beautiful it was. There’s so much workmanship that went into this—it is utterly unique. Whoever made it was very skilled. It must have taken hours, and it seems a real labor of love. Kat, come closer… look at it. There’s so much beauty in its pain.”

“I can’t. Darius do not bring that near me. What seriously, you want to put that on me? Uh-uh, no way. I can’t. Besides the burn, from the silver, everyone would know when we did it. No sorry, please just put it away.”

“No one will know—you know I can make the wound and the pain go away. Trust me, I’ll take it off the minute it gets too much. Kat, it will keep her out of your head and stop her from keeping us apart.”

“What, you mean it would stop her from killing you?” Apprehensive, she swallows nervously; Luna’s already clawing angrily; growling in a mad frenzy inside her head. But all she’s focused on is the swirling tease of Darius’s violet eyes, the muscular tone of his naked body, and the firmness of his already erect cock as she considers what he’s asking her to do.

Could she really suffer the pain of wearing that collar—just to be with him?

He can see hesitation by the look on her face and the dilemma reflected in her eyes. “Kat, you know I’m stronger than you—a match even your wolf might not win. I won’t risk fighting with her because it means I would have to hurt you and I don’t want to do that. I know how hard it will be to choose to put that on. But I think it will work and we can be together without her. Please say you’ll consider it?”

“Darius, I don’t know if I can. You don’t understand the pain—how much it burns. Really, it’s not that I don’t want to be with you but… I just don’t know.”

There’s a silence. As he holds the circle of metal in his hand, she can see red marks forming on the tips of his fingers. “Wait… how come you can hold that? I thought, well I thought silver affected vamps too?”

“No—I mean, yeah sure, silver hurts and it can kill me, but only if it penetrates the body; bullets, knives… It burns my fingers because of the wolf inside me—it would seem I have a stronger connection to my wolf with you around. The vamp side of me counters the reaction and heals it—kinda like a chemical reaction. Oh, don’t ask, it’s difficult to explain, and even after all this time I don’t really understand it.”

“Okay, well I guess I won’t understand it either.”

Kat swallows her nerves and her body trembles. She continues to focus on the collar, watching as Darius twists it around in his hand. Taking deep slow breaths staying calm she steps forward and reaching out she touches it.

Almost immediately, she jumps back as the heat from the silver stings her skin. Luna scratches frantically on her insides; barking madly, she shows more concern for the collar than her continuing fear of Darius—the wolf uses all her power to will the woman away from both dangers. But Kat ignores her inner voice and allows Darius to step forward.

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