He’d been attracted to women upon meeting them, but never with such a visceral, electric desire to throw her on the nearest bed and fuck her until they were both wrung dry.
Holy hell. “Come back to my hotel with me,” he blurted.
In answer, Echo studied him. Thoughtfully. So long, Elijah nearly opened his mouth to beg her. He didn’t beg for anything.
Then suddenly, Echo hopped off her stool with the speed and lightness of a supernatural being. Flutters awoke in his gut as the vampire pressed in between his legs. And then she did whathehad wanted to do.
Echo wrapped her hand around his nape, curled her fingers tight into his hair, and pulled him toward her. As soon as her lips brushed his, electricity sparked through him. She teased, whispering her mouth over his for a second or two before finally kissing him properly.
Possessiveness flooded him, and he gripped her waist tight to hold her to him, taking over her kiss, deepening it, forcing her lips open so he could slide his tongue against hers.
Echo’s whimper made him instantly hard, and he chased her for more, devouring her.
Elijah completely forgot where they were as he tried to pull her closer.
But suddenly, his hands were holding air and his lips were missing hers.
Blinking rapidly, dazed, to his disappointment when he focused, he found Echo standing a foot away. Over the loud music, she spoke. “I’ll be in Brussels for your gig. I’m staying at the Heritage. It’s not far from the venue. I’ll leave your name andan extra room card at the front desk. If you still want me when you’re sober, come get me.”
Frustrated and angry at being deprived of her, Elijah opened his mouth to argue that he wasn’t fucking drunk, but she was already moving across the club away from him.
And then it occurred to him this was a game.
Echo wanted to control this thing.
Didn’t want to be just another groupie who fell on his cock.
Annoyed, Elijah slid off the stool and willed his arousal to fade.
He shouldn’t play her game.
Shouldn’t chase her.
And yet, he could still taste her on his tongue, feel her supple body against his, and the heady scent of her, like vanilla and spice, clung to him.
He was definitely going to her hotel room when he arrived in Brussels.
Catching Leoni’s eyes across the room, seeing the smirk and come-hither look on her face, Elijah was shocked and even more irritated to discover that the gorgeous Austrian now elicited no reaction from him whatsoever.
None.
His body had decided only one woman would do. A freaking vampire of all people! Where were his instincts now? Usually he’d be running for the hills.
But not only did he want to ruin Echo for any other man, there was a dark, secret part of him that wanted to know what it would be like to feel her teeth sink into him.
2
The room was perfect.
Echo pulled on the iron handcuffs William had given her to make sure they were locked securely to the bed frame. It had taken a while to find accommodation that used metal bed frames. It wasn’t the best hotel, but Echo imagined that would only make her part as a journalist on assignment more realistic.
She slid her fingers over the silvery iron. Pure iron wasn’t as tough as the iron used in most products these days. It was slightly more malleable. For instance, if it were Echo being locked into these things, she’d snap them off in a second.
William had warned her that fae sensed when iron was in the vicinity, but considering Elijah didn’t know what he was, Echo reckoned he wouldn’t understand if he suddenly experienced fatigue when he entered the room.
William thought she was still in the early stages of investigating Elijah. That she hadn’t been able to learn much about him in Vienna but that she’d caught his attention, and they’d agreed to meet on the last leg of the band’s tour. Garm soldiers had accompanied her but were staying in a different hotel to not arouse suspicion. Echo was to call on them if shediscovered Elijah was in fact fae. And William had given her the handcuffs to test him.
She didn’t need to test him.
