Page 41 of Ouch! My Vampire Doms Don't Sparkle
“Really,” she says, smoothing down the skirt of her gown and adding fire to my thoughts.“Where did you get my dress?”
“I saw it in a boutique and bought it earlier today.Will told me about the invitation, and I thought you might need a gown.”
Tilting her head to the side, she studies me.“You were going to sneak me to the banquet all along.”
“No.”I focus on the road.“No, not at all.I wanted your attendance to be an option, though.Then something happened tonight—Gaius showed me what he wants.This is the best way I know to send a message in return.”
“Ah.”
She’s quiet for a long moment, but the silence holds an extra weight to it.
“What is it?”I ask.
“I just…I’m the way for you to send a message.I should’ve guessed that you’re using me.”
Now her feelings are hurt.That’s not what I intended.“Look, you’re treating this evening like a date.It’s not a date.It’s a political maneuver.The sooner you understand that, the easier of a time you’ll have here.Do you understand?”
“I understand,” she says, turning to look out the window.
There’s nothing beyond but darkness broken by the occasional street light, but now that we’re reaching the edge of Old Thirty-Three, where the houses are fewer and farther apart.
I hurt her feelings.I hate that.If I could just get her to leave us and live her fragile human life with its comparatively simple trials and dangers, everything would be so much easier.She wouldn’t be sad right now, and I wouldn’t be in pain for causing her sorrow.
“What else do I need to know about Gaius?”she asks.“Does he have a frerte or sorte?An amant?”
This is more comfortable ground for me.Facts, not feelings.“He has a frerte.His name is Benjamin.Their amant is a woman named Freya.You will meet them tonight.You will not speak to them unless they speak to you.The same goes for Gaius.He is very,verydangerous, Autumn.”
We reach the driveway and I pull in.Autumn is quiet as we travel through the darkness.There are several cars parked along the paved circle in front of the house.I park near Will’s.
I help Autumn out of the car.She clings to my hand.She smells so fucking good, and I can’t look away from her gorgeous mouth.She put some kind of gloss over it, making her lips shinier than usual.
After I shut the car door, I close the distance between us until she’s pressed against the side of the car.
“Xander,” she says, her voice quiet, “what are you doing?”
My hands form fists.We’re about to walk into a mansion full of vampires, and she is an unclaimed human.I want to grab the soft fabric of her skirt, bunch it up around her waist, and drop to my knees in front of her.I want to imprint her scent on my skin, and take hers all over me.Everyone should know that she’s mine and Will’s.I lean in, run my cheek along hers.
“Xander,” she says again, pulling back.
“You shouldn’t go inside without my bite,” I say.
She shoves at my shoulders.“What the fuck?”
“Please.You go in there with your neck exposed, no marks on this smooth skin, obviously unclaimed?It’s akin to ringing a dinner bell for my kind.”
“Unclaimed?”
The way she tilts her head as she asks this question lengthens her neck, makes her even more irresistible.It’s all I can do to keep from rubbing my body along hers, yanking down that bodice to expose her tits so I can play with them while I drink her blood.
“Xander,” she says.“My eyes are up here, not in my neck.”
I tear my gaze away from her throat and meet her fiery expression.“Right.”
She says, “I asked you a question.What does it mean that I’m unclaimed?”
I look at her neck briefly before exercising what little self-control I have left and focusing on her face.“It means you haven’t been marked as anyone’s amant, and you aren’t a vampire.It means you’re unclaimed.It adds extra danger for you here tonight.”
“And biting me will help with that?Will you claim me?”
