She stepped back from him, her calves. .h.i.tting the edge of the couch. "Why do you care who bites me?" she taunted, curling her lips into a smile she didn't feel.

He circled her neck with his hands, the pressure on her flesh a silent threat, and Carly held his furious gaze, her smile unwavering. He could threaten her all he wanted. She knew men, and she knew he wouldn't hurt her.

"Do you care, Vasile?" she asked softly, knowing he'd deny any feelings for her. Only a fool or a child would care for another person so quickly.

"Biting can be dangerous." Vasile released her, dropping his hands to his sides. He no longer had claws, if indeed he'd ever had claws. She must have imagined them. No humans had claws. "And I told Frey I'd look after you."

"Ah, right." Carly guessed that Frey was Vasile's scarred friend, the man who had spirited Perla away from her. "And you always do what you say you're going to do." As if. She laughed.

Vasile's lips flattened into a grim white line. "Yes."

He lied. She had yet to meet a man who kept his promises. Carly sank back down on the couch, emotionally weary. "Is that all you're going to do... look?" She cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and spread her thighs, needing the distraction of s.e.x to ease her pain.

His eyes darkened as his gaze dropped to her p.u.s.s.y, and she hid her disappointment under a knowing smirk. Yes, Vasile was a man like all the others, and a good, hard f.u.c.k was the only thing she could depend upon him for.

He frowned and drew up to his full height, his form tall and lean and imposing. "I don't lie, Carly." His cold voice sliced through the thumping tribal beats, silencing the conversations around them. "And I'm unlike any man you've ever met."

She narrowed her eyes, her smile fading. "How are you reading my thoughts?"

His brown eyes glinted. "As I said, I'm unlike any man you've ever met. You would do well to obey me."

Obey him? Carly opened her mouth to tell him off.

"Hush." He held up one long, pale finger.

He dared to hush her? She straightened, preparing for a fight. "You arrogant son-of-a --"

"Master." A green-haired waitress stepped forward, her head lowered. She had big b.o.o.bs, a tight a.s.s, and a beautiful face, and Carly's fingers twitched, the embarra.s.sing urge to touch Vasile, to announce her possession of him, almost overwhelming her pride. "Your help is needed. Kerrick's men aren't taking their removal from the club well."

Vasile's gaze met Carly's. "I will be back."

Like she cared. Carly rolled her eyes. "I might be here... if my friend doesn't return."

He leaned forward, staring into her eyes, his breath warm on her face. "You will wait for me, Carly. I'll be five minutes."

She snorted, unable to contain her disbelief. "Right." He planned to calm a gang of p.i.s.sed off men in five minutes. At least her dad had made promises he could have kept... if he had wanted to. "Five minutes." Carly picked up her phone, noting the time. "Starting now."

"Carly..."

She felt Vasile's gaze upon her, but she didn't look up from her phone's tiny screen, striving to forget him as he'd soon forget her and his promise.

Carly texted her friend Perla, telling her about the last guy she'd f.u.c.ked, how she suspected he might be a vampire, and how he'd bit her. She didn't mention Vasile, his strange reaction, or her even stranger reaction to him.

She didn't care about him. She barely knew him. She glanced at the time. Four minutes left.

Carly looked around the club, indulging a natural curiosity about her surroundings. She wasn't searching for Vasile. She didn't care about him. Not at all. And if she was looking for him, she'd be out of luck because she didn't see his chiseled cheekbones anywhere amidst the s.e.x and decadence.

A redheaded, freckle-faced preppy had his mouth full of hard, Asian c.o.c.k. A man hung upside down from the ceiling, his naked body suspended by a black leather sling. A plus-sized woman was bent over a solid wooden table, squealing with joy as a big, hairy beast of a man f.u.c.ked her a.s.s.

Carly sighed in envy. Nothing compared to a.n.a.l play, that decadent sensation of being stuffed. She fingered her phone. It was good, yes, good, that Vasile no longer interested her, because he was so neat and tidy looking, and a.n.a.l s.e.x often got messy.

She glanced at the screen. Two minutes remaining until he broke his first promise to her. She suspected that would hurt, which was foolish because she didn't know him.

She certainly didn't trust him.

Carly tapped her fingers on the couch cushion, looking in the direction Perla had gone. If she left now, she would never be absolutely certain Vasile had broken his promise, and maybe that wouldn't hurt as much.

But she couldn't desert Perla. Carly closed her eyes. She kept her promises, even if no one else did.

"If I promised you heaven, I'd keep that promise," a deep voice intruded on her public solitude.

She glared up at the man, transferring her irritation with Vasile onto the stranger. "What is with everyone reading my thoughts?"

The dark-haired man, so similar in appearance to Vasile yet so different, took a step toward her. "A beautiful woman like you shouldn't have such serious thoughts." He extended his hand.

She studied the smooth, white skin of his palm. Not one man she had f.u.c.ked tonight had a decent tan. She glanced upward, meeting his gaze. They all had red r.i.m.m.i.n.g their eyes. He smiled at her, flashing the tips of abnormally large canines.

Vasile had claws.

No, he didn't because..."Vampires don't exist," she muttered, shaking away her absurd suspicions.

"Don't they?" The stranger's mouth curving in a smarmy smile. "Come with me, beautiful, and find out."

If she went with the stranger, if she threw herself into s.e.x, she might avoid the pain. Carly played with the b.u.t.tons on her phone, unwilling to look down at the screen and verify what she already knew. Vasile had broken his promise.

G.o.d. Why did you have to be like all the others?

"I'm not like all the others," Vasile murmured, and Carly dropped her phone. Where had he come from? "I said I'd be back in five minutes. I'm back in five minutes."

He had kept his promise. What did that mean? Could she count on him?

No. Carly pushed that wild thought from her mind. It was a fluke. One kept promise meant nothing.

"I... I... I didn't know, Master." The other man stepped away from her. Coward. She curled her top lip, disgusted with his wimpy behavior. "I never w-w-would have... I didn't mean --"

"I know." Vasile leveled a hard gaze on his rival. "That's why your head is still connected to your neck." The man swallowed hard, his pale skin turning even paler. "Now be gone." Vasile waved his hand, dismissing the man.

And just like that, he fled. Carly watched as he disappeared into the crowd. "Does that happen a lot?" She turned her head to study Vasile. He watched her with a hungry expression on his face. "People following your orders?"

"Everyone obeys me." His arrogant words were paired with a slow, lazy smile that made her stomach flutter. "You waited for me." Vasile held out his hand.

Without thinking, Carly took it, the warmth of his palm traveling up her arm. "I didn't obey you. I waited for my friend." She allowed him to pull her to her feet. Her naked curves flattened against his fully clothed, rock-hard physique. They fit together perfectly, too perfectly, their instant connection unnerving her. "I'm still waiting for her."

"Frey will take care of his little dragon." Vasile slid his hands up her back, and Carly shivered, antic.i.p.ation overwhelming her apprehension. "I will take care of you." He bent his head. She rose onto her toes and parted her lips, the urge to taste him unbearable. Their flesh brushed together in a tender caress, the minty scent of his breath sending tingles along her skin.

A rumble rolled up his chest, obliterating the softness. He covered her mouth with his, his kiss hard and demanding, his tongue stabbing into her, searching, taking, conquering. Carly moaned, surrendering to his dominance, clinging to his shoulders, her worries about future pain forgotten.

He lowered his hands, stroking the small of her back with his fingers, before cupping her a.s.s, dragging her closer to him, pressing her mons against the large, thick ridge in his dress pants. She swiveled her hips, grinding against him, and entwined her fingers in his blue-black hair.

Carly opened her mouth wider and wider, needing to devour him, to match his wildness. She flicked her tongue over his elongated canines until the sharp tips pierced her flesh, and she moaned, pain honing her desire to a fine edge, their kisses flavored with her blood. He growled a reply, the sound thrillingly animalistic, and he sucked frantically on her tongue -- his tugs and pulls felt down to her p.u.s.s.y.

"Vasile." She dropped her head back, offering her neck to his mouth.

He peppered her skin with hard love bites, marking her, and then licked her flesh soothingly, muttering words in a language she didn't know. She arched, thrusting her b.r.e.a.s.t.s upward, and he obligingly lowered, mouthing her curves, rubbing his chin back and forth over her right nipple, teasing her mercilessly.

She needed more. She needed him inside her. Carly pulled back on his belt buckle, anxious to feel him, free him.

"No." His hand covered hers. "Not here. Not now." Vasile straightened.

"But..." She stared at him, bewildered by his sudden coldness. Didn't he want her?

Vasile sighed. "I want you." He raised her hand and kissed her fingers one by one, pinky finger to thumb. "But if I take you, I'll forget everything else."

She raised an eyebrow. How was that a bad thing? That was one of the reasons she had s.e.x -- to forget.

"The club is my responsibility," he explained. "Especially as Frey is... occupied." He shrugged off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders.

She tugged it close and breathed in deeply. The leather smelled like him. She would smell like him. "Then when and where?"

"My place before sunrise."

Before sunrise... Carly eyed his pale face. It was simply a phrase. Vampires didn't exist. "I don't normally wait for anything."

"You'll wait tonight." He curled a lock of her hair around his left index finger. "I won't disappoint you."

"Right." Carly stuffed her hands in his coat pockets. She'd heard those words before.

Chapter Two.

"I'm not going in there." Vasile's skeptical beloved nodded toward the front door of his two-story, magically enhanced brick home. "I don't know you. You could be an axe murderer or something worse."

Vasile glanced toward the glowing horizon and ground his teeth in frustration. "I am something worse. I'm a vampire, and if I had wanted to drain you dry, I would have done it in the alley by the club. You're going inside." Preferably before the rising sun burned him to a crisp. He placed a hand on her back and pushed.

Carly finally moved, slowly and begrudgingly, glowering at him over her shoulder as she stomped up the stairs, her brown eyes speckled with golden shards. "Vampires don't exist."

He opened the door for her, leaning in to catch a whiff of her womanly musk as she pa.s.sed by him. "So you keep telling me." He was hungry and h.o.r.n.y, and she'd been doubting him all evening. No one doubted him. He hadn't broken a vow in centuries, if ever.

He slammed the door shut behind him and whacked the b.u.t.ton automated shutters. The hallway darkened and his vision adjusted to the lack of light.

Carly squinted at him, her nose adorably scrunched up. "You don't like the sun?" She handed him his jacket, revealing her blood red, sinfully short dress.

He clenched his jaw, suppressing the urge to howl. "I'm a vampire." He tossed the jacket into the open closet, not bothering with a hanger.

"Right." The twist of her lips told him she thought he was full of s.h.i.t. "I --"

Vasile's renowned control snapped, and he captured her doubting words in his mouth, tasting her disbelief, cupping her beautiful face, her skin soft and golden under his fingers. This was what he needed: to claim her, to own her, his beloved, his everything. She sighed her capitulation, sagging against him, her puckered nipples rubbing against his silk-covered chest.

He yanked at his shirt and b.u.t.tons popped, the tiny circles of plastic dancing on the hardwood floor like raindrops on a rooftop. She explored his skin with her fingers, tracing his nipples and humming her approval against his lips.

Needing her skin against his, Vasile tugged her top down, releasing her generous b.r.e.a.s.t.s. So perfect. He weighed them with his hands, her curves filling his palms. So sensitive. He squeezed them, and she cried out. He swept his thumbs over her nipples, and she arched toward him.

"Vasile, I need..." She unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants, the fabric falling into a puddle around his shoes. Cool air hit his hard, heated flesh. "Yes," she murmured, wrapping her warm hand around his shaft. His body had been primed from hours of wanting her, and he jerked at the contact.

She stroked him with a firm hand, her grip exactly right. "Do you have a --"

"Left pocket." He didn't need a condom. His body was immune to disease, but his stubborn beloved didn't yet believe he was a vampire. She tore open the wrapper and sheathed him quickly, her urgency mirroring his. Vasile grinned. "You want me."

Up my a.s.s. Her thoughts curled around him.

His c.o.c.k bobbed agreement. There was nothing Vasile liked more than a good a.s.s f.u.c.king, and Carly had the most beautiful a.s.s he'd ever seen.

"I'll take your p.u.s.s.y first." He lifted her high against the wall, then pushed the hem of her dress up. She wasn't wearing panties, her p.u.s.s.y bare and clean-shaven.

"Stop reading my mind." She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him against her, her heat enticing and her scent delicious. "And f.u.c.k me already." She clung to his neck.

"You have no patience, Carly." He teased her entrance, dipping his tip into her wetness, his hands on her hips, his lips on her right earlobe. "That's one of your issues."

"Why should I have patience? The future is uncertain." She pushed her hips forward, taking him deeper inside her. "Right now is all I can count on."

"You can count on me." Vasile slammed into her fully, burying himself up to his base, and she screamed, her body stretching impossibly tight around his shaft. He gritted his teeth. f.u.c.k, she felt like forever. He yearned to spill everything he had into her, taking his pleasure quickly, selfishly.

"Carly." He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on hers, forcing his control back into place. He'd give her satisfaction before taking his own. Their noses brushed, her breath soft on his lips.

"Vasile." His name was a plea he couldn't resist.

He rocked into her, pressing her supple form against the hard wall, and she undulated, her body rippling like silk over him. He devoured her mouth, tasting her sweetness, their tongues tangling, tumbling, dancing together.

As they kissed and f.u.c.ked, all his senses heightened. He heard her long, blonde hair wisp against her shoulders. He smelled the musk of her desire. He felt every inch of her hugging his shaft, squeezing his c.o.c.khead. He gazed into her warm brown eyes, so full of life and love and past pain.

He moved faster, thrusting deeper, smacking her a.s.s against the drywall, trying to banish that hurt, needing to please her, to make her happy once again.

"Yes. Yes. Yes." She panted, her fingers gripping the back of his neck, her nipples rubbing against his chest. "Take me, Vasile. Ride me harder. Make my body yours."

"You are mine," he growled. "All of you." She belonged to him. She was his beloved, his eternal lover. "Body, mind, and soul." He grazed his fangs along her neck, following her jugular vein, and he synchronized his thrusts to the pumping of her blood until he pulsed to her heart's music.

"Yes." She dropped her head to the side and entwined her fingers in his hair, tugging, pulling, his scalp aching with her sweet abuse. "Bite me. Feed on me."

"Soon," he promised, and he nipped at her earlobe. She squeaked, and her p.u.s.s.y tightened around him. f.u.c.k. She felt fantastic. Vasile pounded into her, his b.a.l.l.s bouncing against skin, his control tattered and frayed.

Careful. She is still human, he reminded himself, loving her with only a fraction of his full strength. Her skin glistened with drops of moisture. Her heart beat faster and faster. So human. So mine.