Black Heart: Coeur de Sade (Black Heart Series) (40 page)

            I matched his smile.  "Yes.  I can't punish my parents, so I needed children to get it out of my system.  It's a time honored tradition."  I cupped my boobs, lifting them up.  "Uh, that shirt.  Please.  Unless you plan to seduce me."

            "Do vampires need any more seduction that a hearty 'you wanna?'"

            I wasn't sure if that was a jab, a joke, or a sincere question.

            "No we don't, but I personally like it when someone puts in the effort," I said.

            That answer got an, "Ah," before he left to fetch me a shirt.  There was still a worry he would give me one of Heidi's shirts.  I didn't want anything of hers, even though I probably could wear most of her clothes.  But he wasn't completely dense, and brought me one of his button down shirts.  It was white, long sleeved.

            "Thank you," I said, suppressing the temptation to address him as "lover."  I took a seat on the leather couch, and he sat next to me.  "So, what are your plans?"

            "Keep on keeping on," he said, staring off into space.

            He was zoned out.  Dane did that sometimes.

            "You have to get a new place to live," I said, trying to get him back into this world.  "Do you have enough money for a deposit?"

            "Yeah.  But it isn't that easy," he said, grinning sheepishly.  "I was blamed for the vampire attack at my old apartment.  That comes up when landlords run a background check on me."

            "Ouch," I said, grimacing.  So I was in part to blame for his problem.  "That isn’t right.  You had no control over that."

            "Doesn't matter.  I'll stay here," he said.

            "Are you crazy?  The vampires all know you are a hunter, and that you live here," I said.  "It's not safe to be here right now.  The only reason you're still alive is they couldn't imagine you'd be stupid enough to return here."

            "So I'm stupid?" he said.

            "If you plan to live here you are," I said.  "Get another apartment.  Hell, move to New York City, and stake their vampires.  It's not safe in Dallas for you anymore."

            "I'm not going anywhere," he said.  "I killed three girlfriends here."  He frowned.  "Maybe I deserve to be killed by a vampire."

            "Bull shit," I said.  "You didn't kill anyone.  We
chose
to help you.  We all made the decisions that resulted in our deaths.  Not you."

            He was silent several minutes.  Then, "Heidi was terrified of you, and despised you," he said.  Dane shook his head.  "I tried to tell her you were not a threat to her, but she wouldn’t listen."

            "She tried to kill me," I said.  I know, it was terribly wrong to speak ill of the dead, especially the recently dead.  "The last time right here in this house.  The only reason I'm alive right now is because she couldn't handle all the blood that chopping off my head would produce."

            "So she really used the talisman on you?"

            "Yes.  Then spent all that time you were gone humiliating me," I said.  I glanced at the floor, mouth watering and that taste of floor wax returning.  "I'd probably still be kneeling in that closet if she understood how to use the talisman."

            "Humiliated you?  How?"

            "I'd rather not go into that," I said.  "Heidi was insanely jealous of me.  She thought I would steal you back.  So, she did what she thought she had to do to eliminate the competition.  The fact that I was a vampire meant she could kill me without legal ramifications."

            Dane stared at me, aghast.  I shrugged, kinda embarrassed.  Trashing Heidi seemed so spiteful and petty.  But I thought he needed to understand what she was doing, why she made certain decisions that resulted in her untimely death.  Dane had to understand it wasn't
his
fault.  It was mostly Heidi's fault, and some of my fault.

            Yeah, I had regrets on how I handled Heidi.  I never did anything to alleviate her fear of losing Dane back to me.  I only stoked the fires of her fears and hate.  Of course, I did want to win Dane back.

            "I'm sorry.  I knew that," he said.  "I just didn't want to deal with it.  I thought if I showed her enough love and support, she'd get over it."

            "Well, me showing up around every corner, and every other day surely didn't help," I said.  "She knew I wanted you back.  Heidi was afraid you still had enough feelings for me to succumb to my wicked feminine wiles."

            "If not for Heidi being there, I probably would've," he said.

            That hit me like a brick between the eyes.  I did manage to not grunt.  He was still interested?  To say that meant he'd given it some thought.  Right?

            My heart began to race and my throat tightened.  To my horror, vampire pheromones soaked the air.  I felt him slowly becoming aroused.  Not what I wanted.  I mean, I wanted him, but not because of the aphrodisiac my undead body emitted.

            "Is that you?" he said, giving me a worried look.

            "Yes.  I'm sorry," I said, shamefaced.  "I'm trying to suppress it."

            "Trying?"

            "It's not easy.  You excited my libido by indicating you might still be interested in me," I said.  "I want you so bad I reacted immediately.  Maybe I should go."

            I started to get up, but he put his hand on my right thigh.  I froze, looking into his eyes.  He looked worried.

            "Don't go.  I don't want to be alone tonight."

            Oh, that hit hard.  Warmth flooded my body and the pheromones started pumping.  The thought he was seducing me crossed my mind.  Well, whether intentional or not, he was seducing me.  If I didn't leave right then, we'd end up in bed whether either of really wanted it or not.

            "Are you sure this is what you want?"

            "No," he said, giving my thigh a squeeze.  He closed his eyes and shook his head.  Then Dane took a deep, steadying breath. "Wow, that is heady stuff you're putting out.  You really don't have any control over it?"

            "Some, but not much," I said.  "Once it gets this far I'm a goner, unless you do something that pisses me off.  Please don't piss me off."

            He released my thigh, and reached up to caress my cheek.  I could smell and feel his arousal.  He was just as stimulated as me, just as needy and eager.  Any remaining thoughts of avoiding sex was immediately swept away.

            "I've always loved you," I said, rolling to all fours on the couch.  "I'll do anything for you."

            "Anything in bed, you mean?"

            "Anything in or out of bed," I said.  "In bed will be more fun.  I no longer have any sexual inhibitions.  For me, nothing in bed is taboo."

            "That's both exciting and sad," he said.

            "I know, but now I'll do all of those really naughty things in bed I refused to do before," I said.

            I couldn't help but wonder if Heidi did any or all of them.  Bet she did.  She was a very sexual person.

            I leaned over him.  The scent of his desire was heady.  I breathed him in, then with lips slightly parted I moved up close to his face.  Dane was panting, his mouth ready and hungry for my kiss.  I could feel his breath on my face.  I pushed in until our lips almost touched, then drew back half an inch.  Dane almost groaned.

            I smiled, loving the way he needed and wanted me.  All was well with the world again.  So I kissed him.  Firm, deep, open-mouth, but no tongue.  Not yet.  I let it linger a long moment, both of us groaning.

            Dane reached up and cupped my hanging boobs through the shirt.  A thrill ran up my spine.

            "Tell me you love me," I said.

            "I love you."

            "I love you more," I said, held his face between my hands and kissed him.

            He rolled me over on the couch, and I found myself beneath him.  When did he unbutton the shirt?  I was completely exposed, while he was fully dressed.  That wasn't right.

            "Unless this is some bizarre safe sex ritual, you need to shed all of those pesky clothes," I said, and giggled.

            "Not my job," he said, kissing and sucking on my left ear and neck.  Both of his hands were on my breasts, doing a wonderful job.  Better than I recall.  Did Heidi teach him how to play with boobs?  "You have to strip me."

            "Okay," I said, eager to get started.

            His left hand reached down between my legs and a finger slipped between my nether lips.  My back bowed, I gasped wide-eyed, and clutched at his shoulders.  Okay, Heidi
did
teach him a few tricks.  Thank you, Heidi!

            "In due time," Dane said, and began masturbating me.

            His unshaven face was deliciously painful on the super soft skin of my breasts.  I entwined my fingers in his hair as he went to town on my boobs with lips, teeth, and tongue.  That newly talented finger on my clitoris was quickly turning my insides to mush.

            I writhed, moaned, and groaned beneath him.  In no time he had me panting, body jerking and sitting on the precipice of orgasm.  Dane must've sensed I was close, because he quickly kissed his way down my belly and pulled my sex open with his thumbs.

            "Oh Jesus, yes!" I cried, as he buried his face between my legs.  A second later he found my clit and pushed me over the top.  "Yes!  Uuuuggghhhhhhh!  Oh God, yes."

            My lover didn't stop.  I thought he would stop after climaxing me and strip.  He didn't.  Dane kept right on eating me out.  And it didn’t take long to have another orgasm, and another and another.  After five climaxes, he stood up with a very pleased with himself look and stripped.

            "Kinda proud of yourself, aren't you?" I said, grinning.

            "Yeah," he said.  "Now my turn."

            "You want me to give you oral pleasure, big boy?  Kinda return the favor?"

            "Later," he said.  "I want it face-to-face, heart-to-heart the first time."

            Warmth flooded my body.

            I shifted so I was lengthways on the couch, legs wide.  Dane slipped between them.  Reaching down, I guided him straight in.  It felt good and right when he penetrated, going deep inside of me.

            "Oh, Jesus, this is good."  I gasped and squirmed.  Then I smiled mischievously up at him.  "How come you didn't let me strip you.  I was going to do it right."

            "I figured that," he said with a strained voice as he pumping in and out.  I could feel his pleasure, and the fact he was so aroused he wouldn't stay in the saddle long.  Shame, that.  "I couldn't wait that long.  Maybe you'll...oh, lord...yes, maybe you'll be inspired to strip me another time."

            "I'll be inspired to strip you every damned day, baby," I said.

            Dane climaxed then.  His pleasure washed over me, giving me another orgasm to enjoy as well.  It was glorious.  My joy was bursting out, and all felt right with the world again.

CHAPTER 24

            After spending most of the night with Dane, I went back to Kale's house.  Kale had to go to work, but Desiree spent the day with me.  Trapped in Kale's windowless master bedroom, we made a little love and did a lot of business.  I can stay up all day if my mind is kept constantly occupied.  Any lull in the action, and Momma goes right to sleep.  Good luck getting me up and coherent after that.

            First order of business: where would Desiree and I live.  Kale left no doubt he wanted us there.  Brandon Wesley wanted us to move in, too.  Desiree wanted to move in with Brandon, while I favored Kale.  Truth was, I preferred my own house but I was homeless and penniless.

            "No, I can't move in with Brandon," I said.

            "Why not?" Desiree said. She caressed a thirty thousand dollar diamond necklace around her neck.  "He's very generous.  He'd be even more generous to you."

            "Exactly why," I said.  "I'd be prostituting myself."

            "What's wrong with that?"

            Bad choice of words.  Desiree was a streetwalker, and loved her job.  She had no problem having sex for fun and profit.  One might says she had a passion for it.  Desiree loved sex almost as much as a vampire.  She'd make a much better vampire than me.

            "You know what I mean.  If I move in with him, he'll have power over me.  He'll be my sugar daddy," I said.  "That scares me."

            "But you're exactly the kind of vampire Brandon loves!  He doesn't want any vampire that wants him too much," she said.  "He wants someone who wants him for something other than his money."

            "He should be more careful about the vampires he sees," I said.  "That kind of money is too tempting.  Imagine if Antoinette sank her fangs into him.  She'd suck his fortune dry in short order."

            "Naa, he's a trust fund baby.  He has no control over his own fortune," Desiree said.  "His parents didn't trust him not to lose it."

            "They knew he is a fang whore?"

            "No. Gambling problem," she said.  "But he has a very generous allowance."

            All that talk of money soured my mood.  I'd spoken to Boney just before dawn.  Antoinette did have the Giorgi sisters within her absolute power.  I wasn't getting my money back.  Antoinette already drained their accounts dry, taking my fortune as well.  She wasn't pleased with me.  No favors for Sable.

            Though, she did offer me a job — as a call girl.

            So I was officially poor and going to remain so for the foreseeable future.  But I learned my lessons well, including how to steal another vampire's money.  I did it to Yuri.  The Giorgi Girls did it to me.  In fact, I and many vampire hunters "confiscated" the money and bank cards of the vampires we staked.

            "Do you know of any rich vampires that have gone rogue?  Or otherwise deserve to be staked?" I said, only half joking.