Curled up in the middle of the massive bed, Kate wiped at silent tears spilling down her cheeks with the back of her hand. Her thoughts were fragmented, each vying for dominance in an overwhelming rush.
Luc took life giving energy from sex, not just blood. Kate liked to think she wasn't the kind of girl that had sex with someone before the first date, but ...too late. Not that she had mustered much resistance, particularly after he gave her her first orgasm.
She liked to think she wasn't a prisoner in some freakishly old looking tower or castle reminiscent of something that could have been featured in the pages of Home Beautiful: The Middle Ages. So far, lying to herself wasn't working out too good for her.
Mirabelle, a beautiful vampire and possibly Luc's ex, wanted her gone. In a permanent sense. Mirrabelle's current lover, Nicolas, gave the phrase perve extra meaning. Nicolas wanted something from Kate, which she guessed involved enacting some sort of revenge against Luc, and was even prepared to look like Luc to get it. Who does that?
Luc had forced her to bond with him, whatever that meant, so that other vampires had no powers over her. It seemed there was something in the blood on her mother's side that called to vampires. She wanted so much to believe it only meant that if they tried messing with her, they had to answer to Luc. She was still processing the whole 'you are now my human servant' thing.
When she slept, her dreams were full of sacrifices, blood and orgies, in no particular order. The sacrifices were always of her. Of course.
Luc was trying to convince her she was some kind of witch, descended from a long line of powerful witches. Kate was pretty sure she would know if she had awesome power to do, well, stuff.
But it was the last that got the pity party into full swing. Something had changed inexplicably deep within her with the bonding. The only way she could describe it to make sense to herself was that when Luc had forced her to drink his blood, his essence seemed to flow within her. Through the bonding, she experienced flickers of emotions without warning. At first she thought she was going crazy, until she realised the intruding flashes of emotions weren't her own.
So she cried. Kate didn't know how long she lay there curled up on her side, hiding beneath the sheets. She wanted her favourite pair of jeans, and chocolate, and her mum.
"Katalina."
Kate was unprepared for his silent approach. Her fingers tightened about her pillow.
"Kat." His voice was soft, coaxing. The bed dipped, then tugs on the sheet. It was an unfair fight. The sheet was easily drawn from her, revealing her creamy nakedness to the cool circular chamber.
"Go away." Her voice was muffled by the pillow, but he had vampire hearing so she didn't care.
"Little one, look at me."
"Huh." He just had to look at her with those gorgeous green eyes fringed with black spiky lashes, and her willpower died a hot, pleasurable death in his arms. She knew if she looked at him she would end up doing sexy things with Luc, letting him have his way, and her blood, and enjoying it all way too much.
Cool hands slipped into the shiny golden mane tumbling with abandon around her, drawing it back from her face. She murmured in protest, throwing her arm over her face.
A month ago she had been a virgin, and ignorantly bliss to the cravings Luc easily wrought deep inside her. It wasn't just sexual urges either. Sex alone couldn't explain how Luc affected her the way he did.
Kate gasped as she was scooped up into the cradle of strong arms. Not ready to face him, let alone let him see her naked, her hands pushed at his chest, her body wiggling in his arms as he lifted her from the bed. She cringed in agony when her hand accidentally caught in her own hair.
"Damn it!" she cried.
"Stop, Katarina. Tell me what is wrong, so that I may rectify it."
As angry as she was, his command made her giggle. Which turned swiftly into a sob.
He strode to a soft leather chair, and she ended up sitting across his thighs with her legs dangling over the padded arm chair. His hand cupped the back of her head, tucking her face against his broad shoulder. She rubbed her cheek against him, her hand fisting in his shirt. She breathed him in, the unique scent that was Luc easing her.
Everything, all thoughts of fighting him, of wanting answers to questions she was too frightened to ask, melted away. Instead, that hidden place deep within her that awoke with the bonding and was no longer hers alone, began to expand with feelings of possessiveness, cherishment, hope. It was the last that should have worried her the most.
The silence stretched as he waited, his thumb stroking her hip.
"Tell me."
"I don't want to talk about it," she grumbled.
"So there is something wrong." His voice held a hint of masculine triumph.
"No. Yes. It's...everything is so overwhelming." Understatement. But she didn't want to think right then, wanting nothing more than to stay wrapped in his arms, where nothing could reach or hurt her.
Lips pressed against the crown of her head. A finger curled beneath her chin tipped her head back, and lips softly whispered against hers. It was impossibly sweet, and not entirely welcome as it brought a glimmer of tears to her closed eyes. His mouth moved softly against hers, teasing, nipping, until finally she was no longer able to resist him. She kissed him back, her fingers sinking into the thick silky black hair at the nape of his neck. A gentle hand traced her collar bone, before wandering gently over her breasts. Light whisper touches seared her, coaxing fine shivers from her pale body held firm in the circle of muscular arms.
Kate's lips parted on a mew when he ended the kiss. He gazed down at her, her head resting back on his arm, her lashes lowered. Green eyes searched her heart-shaped face, still glistening with her earlier tears.
"You are precious to me. I fear I have been entirely selfish in my desires. You are young and incredibly innocent, and I am not," he told her quietly. "It has been trying for you here, among my people, and I have forced the bond for your own protection. It pains me deeply to see you hurting and unsure of us. The bond is more than words can explain, and I promise you in time you will come to see it is a beautiful thing. In many ways, you are not ready for what will be between us."
Kate pressed her face against his chest, her fingers clutching his shirt in a fist. She felt too emotionally fragile to even begin to untangle the meaning of his words.
He held her, and only when her tears dried did he say "Let me take you somewhere this eve."
"Where?" she asked, curious despite herself.
"It will be a surprise, little one."
He rose from the chair, gracefully lowering her to her feet. Hands smoothed down the column of her back, spreading shivery tingles as they landed caressingly on her bottom, before falling to his side. Feeling suddenly shy standing before him in nothing, she covered her breasts with her hands, ducking her head.
"You are exquisite." He murmured, pressing lips against her pinkened forehead, her temple, his teeth grazing her ear lobe. Hands traced up her sides before coming to rest over hers where they cupped her breasts. "It takes all my strength to keep from pinning you on that bed and pleasing your delicious body until you are flushed and dewy from our loving, my name a whisper on your lips."
Through the fragile bonding, she caught a flash of intense hunger, leaving her breathless and shaken. She imagined the feel of him surrounding her, moving intimately within her. Her fingers tightened instinctively over her breasts, her pink nipples budding. Between her thighs was a familiar melting.
He left her while she struggled with her own wanton feelings. Her eyelashes flickered open, dismay warring with relief. Kate watched him stride over to a narrow archway that she could have sworn was not there earlier that evening when she woke alone.
He disappeared, to return carrying a scrap of pale lavender silk. It turned out to be a beautiful scooped neck dress, only not the twenty dollar variety from the local chain store.
He watched her intently while she slipped it on over her head. It had a zip on one side, from breast to hip. It was deceptively simple and elegant, with cap sleeves, gathering over the slight swell of her breasts, skimming over her waist and hips to float gently around her knees. The material shimmered slightly, and moved against her like water. She felt incredibly beautiful and feminine, like Audrey Hepburn. Only without panties.
Giving him a considering look, she walked past him. Standing in the narrow stone archway, she looked into a surprisingly large chamber, filled floor to ceiling with feminine clothes, shoes, accessories and bags of ever shape and colour. Taking up about a quarter of the space were darker, more masculine clothes, no doubt Luc's.
"Oh."
As surprises went, it was pretty impressive. Sometime soon, Kate knew she would spend hours exploring what else was in that chamber. Kate didn't even want to think about how the chamber itself, which wasn't there yesterday, now simply was. There was something incredibly shifty about the place where she was a prisoner.
Asking Luc where her clothing came from only elicited a shrug and a small satisfied smile. He leaned against the archway, arms crossed, one ankle hooked over the other. It should worry her, the expanse of beautiful things. It hinted at a permanency she was far from wanting. She didn't push it, not sure if she was ready for answers.
Walking over to the floor to ceiling shelves filled with shoes of every variety, she ran hands over the beautiful designs, coming to rest on a pair of silver sandals with kitten heels. Slipping them on, she sighed. They softly moulded her feet, not like the clunky shoes she had worn for work.
In a rows of drawers filled with feminine things, she finally found a pair of panties. Selecting the first pair she spied, pretty lace panties painted with pastel flowers, she slipped them on beneath a pair of amused green eyes. Kate knew asking him to leave would have likely ended in her being naked beneath her dress.
