Page 31 of Ouch! My Vampire Doms Don't Sparkle
“Nothing, nothing.”She taps at her screen and looks as if she’s trying to hold back her smile.
I swipe out for the phone, but the little vixen shoves it under the sofa cushion she’s sitting on.
“Do I have to take you over my knee?”I ask.
She simply laughs.
I lift her up—and the cushion she rests on—and retrieve the phone from beneath while she shrieks with delighted protest.The device is locked.However, the screen lights when I lift it.I’m now viewing my own face.
But the image of me on the phone is different.Shining bursts of light coat my skin in the image, causing it to glow and sparkle.
I stare at the image.It makes no sense.“Why am I covered in glitter?”
She cackles.
“What is this abomination?”I ask in horror.
She collapses against the sofa, laughing her sweet little arse off.
Arms folded across my chest, I stare down at her.
In between gasps, she finally says, “There’s this book.The vampires sparkle in it.And because of the filter, now you do, too.”
“Oh, really?”I say, setting the phone on the coffee table.“They sparkle, do they?”
She pushes her lips together, trying not to laugh.“Mm-hmm.”
I take off my shirt and make a show of looking at my skin.Flex my muscles.Pride warms me when I catch Autumn ogling my form.
“I don’t see any sparkles,” I say.“Do you, love?”
“Not yet.”She stares at my fly.“But I haven’t searched you all over, Daddy.”
I’m about to answer her when my phone rings.“Hold that thought,” I say.
“How about you meet me in the shower?”she asks with an impish grin.“We can wash the sparkles off.”
“I’ll be there,” I say, and hurry back to my study to grab my device.Autumn passes me on the way to the bathroom, taking off her shirt and giving it a playful twirl over her head.I reach for her, but the name on my phone screen makes me falter.Fuck.It’s Gaius.
He won’t take kindly to being ignored.Better to get this over with.
I give Autumn a quick wave to let her know I’ll meet her in the shower soon.As she shuts the bathroom door, I swipe my phone to answer the call.“Hello, Gaius.”
“William.”He sighs.“I’ve been terribly bored since you and your frerte left my house.Freya, also, has confessed she is struggling with the monotony.San Esteban holds many delights, but none so diverting as your company.”
“You are too kind,” I say.It’s an automatic nicety.It holds no meaning.
Gaius laughs.“Kindhas never been a word used to describe me, old friend.”
He speaks the truth.Ruthlesswould be a more accurate word.The crimes I committed in his name.The blood on my hands, on my fangs….I take a deep breath.It is in the past.I’m not that man anymore.Neither is Xander.Elisabeth taught us to do better.Tobebetter.
“Other than boredom, how are you faring in my city?”I ask.
“We’re hosting a blood banquet tomorrow night to alleviate our boredom,” Gaius says.“That is why I’ve called.We would like to see you and Xander in attendance.”
“It’s a relief that you are issuing the invitation via a phone call this time.”
He chuckles.“Rather than bloodying your frerte, you mean.”
