Chapter 17
I was getting impatient.
I went home, took a cold shower for good measure, and climbed into bed to wait.
I wasn’t tired in the slightest; I was way too buzzed by what happened at the bar.
I wasn’t sure what was taking him so long, but as I rolled over in bed for the dozenth time and three a.m. crept around, I grew frustrated, flopping onto my back and staring at the ceiling.
My boss was a vampire.
Moreover, I still had feelings for him. I didn’t want to run, or make any decision that could push him away from me.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, forcing myself to take deep breaths. I was supposed to be thinking things over, but I couldn’t stop wishing that James hadn’t stopped us in the bar. Instead of restlessly tossing and turning alone in bed, we’d both be sated and fast asleep, wrapped up in each other.
Wait, did he even sleep?
I didn’t want to think about it anymore—I just wanted him, plain and simple.
I snatched my phone from the nightstand, scrolling through until I found his number.
“I thought I told you to wait for me.”
“I have been—for hours. You better have a good reason for keeping me waiting.”
There was a pause. “I was giving you time to change your mind.”
“I need to see you.” The words were out of my mouth before I could think twice about them.
“Ryder—”
“Don’t coddle me. You’ve told me your deep, dark secret, and I still want you. Yes, I have a lot of questions, and likely a lot of learning to do, but I want you.” I sighed, wiggling in place.
James’s voice dropped, taking on a slow, sultry tone that flipped my stomach. “Are you hard again, love?”
I grunted, and my hips took on a mind of their own as my free hand wandered. I wasn’t wearing anything under the blankets. It’d require no effort to slide my hand beneath the sheets and—
“Go on, touch yourself.”
My hand froze, clenching the hem of the sheet in my fist. “How did you know?”
“Lucky guess. I know what you sound like when you’re horny.”
“Fuck.” Maybe being unable to hide my arousal should’ve turned me off, but it only made me hotter. James’s low chuckle through the other end of the phone sent another wave of heat over my body.
“You like touching yourself to the sound of my voice, Ryder?”
A hitch in his voice hinted at what he was up to on the other end of the call, and the realization hit me like a freight train. “James, are you…?”
“Mm, what do you think?”
“Holy shit.” I couldn’t wait any longer.
I retrieved the bottle of lube from my nightstand, poured some in my hand—and in my haste, on the bed as well—and kicked the sheet away, breathing a sigh of relief when I finally wrapped my hand around my engorged flesh.
“Keep talking while my hand translates,” I begged.
“You’re creating such a beautiful image for me.”
“Return the favor?” I asked.
“You’ve got quite the imagination,” he said. “Why don’t you tell me what you want?”
My heart rate climbed. I’d never tried phone sex before. I groaned, dropping my head back against the headboard and thumbing the sensitive tip of my erection. “You,” I finally said, voice thick with desire, “kneeling between my legs, your hands on me.”
“That’s all you want? My hands on you?”
“Mm,” was all I could manage against the vision in my mind.
I undressed James in my imagination, his now-naked form bent over between my thighs.
Naked except for his silver chain glinting as the moonlight reflected off the metal.
I reached forward, body protesting as I removed my hand to grab onto that chain and jerk the man toward me.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” I moaned to the real James.
“You need to take them off. Keep the chain, though. It’s the perfect handle to pull you closer. ”
James grunted and muttered, “Christ.”
A grin pulled at the corners of my mouth. “You like that?”
“More than you’ll ever know.”
The James in my mind turned his lips to my neck, kissing a trail down the front of my body until he reached the sticky mess I was leaving along my stomach. I released the breath I’d been holding, bringing myself away from the orgasm building inside me.
“Come on, love. Tell me all about how you look when you’re coming all over yourself.”
I gritted my teeth in an effort not to do just that. He wasn’t making it easy. “I don’t want to come to just the mental image of you,” I panted. Then quickly added, “Again.”
That laugh sounded through the phone again. “What do you want, Ryder?”
“Come over.”
“Are you sure?”
I let go of my dick as the threat of my orgasm grew imminent. “Yes,” I strained. “I’m sure.”
The call ended, and I rested my head back to catch my breath before he showed up. A knock at the door sounded only a few moments later.
Ah, right—super speed.
I got out of bed, fumbling around in the darkness to find a pair of boxer briefs. I made my way downstairs and opened the front door.
There he stood, all six-foot-two of his gorgeousness on display as he leaned against my door frame. Even with more clothes on than ever—he wore a thin jacket—he looked just as delectable. He swept his gaze up and down my mostly naked body, smiling. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
I shivered against the cool air. “Oh, that’s a thing with vampires, isn’t it?”
“Good manners? I didn’t think so.”
I grinned and stepped aside. “Come in.”
James shamelessly kept his eyes on my body as he crossed the threshold, the door swinging shut behind him to banish the cold.
He hooked a finger behind my waistband and tugged me closer.
Whereas his hands had always been ice-cold before, I was pleased to find they were warm.
Our bodies crashed together, my nose coming to rest along his jawline.
“How are you changing your body temperature? You were freezing earlier.”
“That’s just something I can do. I thought I’d warm you up a little.”
“There’s more than one way to do that,” I laughed.
“Well, you know what they say about assuming.”
I traced along the seams of his jacket with my fingers, eliciting a shiver. “What else can you do?”
“I can feel how hard you are, love. Do you really want to stand here in your foyer discussing my abilities?”
I pulled back to look at him. Even in the darkness of the room I could see the crimson swirling around in his eyes. I was hard, but so was he: if he could draw this out over the phone, then I could tease him right back. “You plan on going anywhere anytime soon?”
He shook his head. “Not a chance. What do you want to know?”
“We already played that game, and I’m decidedly bad at it. Considering the extent of my knowledge about vampires comes from Van Helsing and Twilight, why don’t you start?”
James cocked a brow at me. “Team Edward or Team Jacob?” His grip tightened on my waist. “Your answer will determine whether I stay.”
“Pfft, come on. It’s Emmett or nothing.”
He gave me that heart-stopping smile. “I’ll take it.”
“So tell me,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. “What else can you do, Mr. Vampire?”
“Hmm.” His body temperature dropped again, then he lightly traced an icy finger up my back. “You know that chill you get down your spine? Some might say it’s someone running over your grave?”
I nodded, recognizing the expression from my childhood.
“It’s really a vampire rushing past you too fast for you to see.”
The wheels in my mind started to turn, trying to count every time I’d felt that chill since starting at the bar. “How many times have you done that to me?”
James visibly bit back laughter. “I plead the fifth?”
“Can you even do that if you were born before the Constitution existed?”
He shrugged. “I was there when they wrote it. I think I can interpret it however I want.”
“Man, talk about robbing the cradle.”
I took a step away to lead him farther into the house, just to cry out in surprise when his arms wrapped around me from behind. “You’re not getting away that easily, Clark.”
Taking his hand in mine felt easy, natural. I led him to the kitchen. “You want a drink?”
“No, but I won’t be offended if you need another.”
I glanced at the top of the fridge, mulling over the idea of grabbing the whiskey.
Deciding against it, I grabbed a bottle of water.
James leaned against the table in front of me.
His eyes raked over me again, settling on my stomach.
His head tilted and his expression changed.
I followed his gaze to the crescent-shaped birthmark under my ribcage.
“Oh, God. Please don’t stare at that.” I covered the splotch with my hand. “It’s so silly.”
“I think it’s cute,” he said.
I changed the subject. “Given that vampire popularity is at an all-time high in the last few decades, why do you hide it?”
“For that very reason. When I first turned, sneezing the wrong way could get you executed. Nowadays, I don’t think anyone would take us seriously. Either that, or we’re fetishized. People already have a view on vampires no matter what we do.”
“So the whole sparkling thing…”
“Completely made up,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Thank you, Twilight.”
“Can you turn into a bat?”
James rolled his eyes and grinned but true to his word, he didn’t judge me for asking. “No, I can’t turn into a bat—although that would be pretty cool.”
I reached out, and he stepped into my arms, caging me against the sink. His head ducked down, and I struggled to talk as I felt his lips on my neck. “What about the coffin thing? That might be kind of hot.”
James reared back to look at me. “I don’t sleep in a damn coffin. I sleep in a bed, with very expensive silk sheets that I’d gladly push your face into while you scream my name.”
I tried not to let on exactly how much that got my heart racing. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Not if I hold you down first,” he growled.
I didn’t come up with a witty retort before his lips were on mine.
I let out a surprised noise, my hands fisting his jacket and pulling him closer.
He pinned me to the countertop with his hips, grinding against me while his lips moved; first along my cheek, then my jaw, and finally, my neck.
I tipped my head back to give him more access, willing my legs to keep me standing as he latched on.
He marked me, his mouth pulling more and more blood to the spot.
I arched into him, opening my mouth to beg for more when I felt a different sensation, something I’d never felt before.
Like two sharp, tiny blades scraping my skin.
“Fuck, are those…” He didn’t need to answer me. I knew what they were.
Fangs.
“I can put them away if they freak you out.” He licked his lips. As his tongue retreated into his mouth, I saw the tips of his fangs protruding over his bottom lip. “It might take a moment, but I can make them go away.”
I shook my head. “Don’t.” Before he could protest, my mouth was on his again. His fangs pinched my bottom lip.
Despite melting into each other, he wasn’t close enough for me. I twisted my fingers into that silver chain and pulled hard. James grunted, hips canting forward into mine.
I let out a throaty chuckle. “You like being jerked around, don’t you?” I emphasized the words with another sharp tug on his chain.
His response was breathless. “I like that you take what you want.” He cupped my ass in his hands. Then he growled, tearing his hands away from me. They went to the clasp on the chain.
I planted a hand on his chest to make him pause. “This isn’t going to be a ‘Girl with the Green Ribbon’ situation, right? Your head isn’t about to fall off?”
“No, smartass,” James said with a smile as he removed the chain from his neck. He gathered it up and put it in his pocket.
Then it hit me: the chain was silver. “I thought silver burned vampires.”
“High purity will. I can still move quickly, and adjust my temperature, but this chain contains the right amount of silver to make sure I don’t get out of control. It helps keep my powers in check when my control slips. Like when I’m around you.”
A smile crept onto my face. “What can you do now that it’s off?”
He lifted me off the ground and onto the counter so fast that my head spun. “Whoa!”
James pressed a delicate kiss to the base of my throat, hands gripping my hips so hard I worried they’d bruise. “Put that smart mouth of yours to use and tell me what you want.”