And somehow, I knew it was her, immediately, when she summoned me earlier tonight. I’ve never experienced fury like I did when I saw Waylan attacking her.
I knew in that second that I would stake him for hurting her, no matter what it meant.
There’s a hitch in my throat.
As though something inside me has come undone.
CHAPTER 17: THE BLACK CARD
Paige
I’m panting heavily, spread out before her across the desk, exposed completely to her.
I lost count of how many times I’ve come, waves of pleasure cresting through me like she’s a storm, and I’m the shore. The remnants of my tattered dress and underwear are strewn across the floor of her office. I have no idea how I’m going to get upstairs to my room with my dignity intact, but honestly, I don’t really care about that right now.
She sees me eying my ruined clothes, and reaches into her pocket.
“Here,” she says, handing me a thick, black card.
I take it from her, propping myself up on my elbows with difficulty. When I realize what it is, my eyes widen. “Oh! No, that’s all right…I can’t take this…”
“You will,” she responds, curtly. “I ruined your clothes. You should buy yourself some new ones. As many as you like.”
I shake my head, trying to give her the credit card back. “Really, I don’t…”
“Take it,” she insists. “It has no limit. Bring a few friends to the city. Enjoy yourselves. If you don’t spend at least two grand, I’ll be disappointed.” I gape at her, open-mouthed. Twowhat?“And if I don’t see a few pairs of expensive lingerie on the statement…” she gives me a playful, provocative look. “I just might have to punish you.”
There’s a wonderful tingle across my skin as I imagine what a punishment might entail, but I’m too shy to ask her. And I don’t thinkI’ll be able to argue with her about this, so I take the card, although I don’t have anywhere to put it.
She crosses to a cabinet at the other side of her office, and pulls out a dark, long-sleeved shirt. I think she might offer it to me, but instead, she takes off her own bloodied shirt.
I’ve never seen her topless before. She’s lean, muscular, her breasts a graceful curve along her chest, with peaked nipples pointed upward. There’s a stretch of smooth skin at her stomach where I’d like to live…
My head spins. I’ve never looked at another woman this way before. But suddenly, the thought of moving my mouth over her is all I can think about…the idea of caressing her breasts with my tongue makes me become wet all over again…
She pulls the shirt over her head, then runs a hand through her short hair to smooth it. When she catches me looking at her, she grins.
“I wish we could continue, too, but the sun will come up in less than an hour,” she says. Then she crosses to the desk, and takes me in her arms, completely naked. Two fresh bite marks punctuate my breast, a trail of dried blood across my torso. She moves to leave the office.
“Wait!” I protest, squirming in her arms. “You’re…you’re going to carry me out like this?”
She raises an eyebrow. “I thought you liked being watched.”
Heat radiates from my center. I can’t deny it. I love the idea that everyone will see me with her bite marks on my breast, will know what we’ve done. “All right,” I concede, clutching the black card in my fist, since I have no where else to put it.
But to my disappointment, there aren’t many living humans or even vampires out at this hour. The one or two that are still mingling around the hallways watch me hungrily, although they avert their gaze when Crimson glares at them.
“Don’t worry,” she hums to me. “I’ll make sure to showcase you properly, soon.”
The thought is delightfully terrifying. I mull it over as she carries me up the stairs to my room. I get the sense that she could move faster, but she slows down so she doesn’t frighten me too much. Or maybe I just want to think that.
Maybe there are a lot of things I’d like to think about her. Maybe I’m naive, or silly.
But I know there was a look in her eyes, when she rescued me from Waylan. When she drank my blood tonight. Something tender, something real.
I don’t know what it means yet. But I know that, as I nestle into her strong arms, I feel like I’m right where I’m meant to be.
CHAPTER 18: SOMEONE AT HOME
