Microsoft Word - Blood and Sex from CE.rtf (4 page)

“Then buzz off,” Blane said.

His words pulled her attention back to his arm around her. Blane was just trying to help, to rid her of an annoyance. Nothing else. So there was no reason to keep standing here so close to him. And no reason to be licking her lips, taking in another reminder of the minty taste of him.

She straightened, pulling from his grip, and took a cleansing breath. “Thanks.”

Blane shoved his hands into his pockets, flexing his biceps. “Yeah. You’re welcome.”

“I’m ready to leave.”

“Jonas wants me on the door until four.”

“Then I’ll call a cab.” She turned toward the bar again.

“Wait.” He slid up beside her again. “I’ll take you back.”

“It’s okay. I don’t need an escort.”

“But I’m responsible for you.”

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She let the words hang there for a moment. They were a harsh reminder of the true nature of their relationship. She’d let her lust get the best of her, hadn’t she? The kiss wasn’t about anything other than his assignment to watch her. He was her protector while she was here, that much was clear.

Blane’s hand touched hers. “Let me take you home.”

Her skin warmed under his touch. He’d fed much more recently than she had, and it made him feel almost human. Under different circumstances, she’d love to have those hands—
No
. She couldn’t think like that.

Christiana pulled her hand away. “I need to introduce myself to Elena. Is she there?”

“Probably.”

“Then take me to the estate.”

* * * *

That kiss had been a mistake. He had to get control of himself. She was a professional, an extension of their leader, and here on business. What had he been thinking?

That was the problem; he hadn’t been. The only thing that had been a factor in that kiss was some strange random need to display his claim on her to that fucking human, like she was his. That was a joke. She didn’t even like him.

“Blane?”

He turned toward the sound of the high-pitched female voice and saw the tiny blonde who’d been hounding him all night. Apparently, she’d been to the back with him before.

Damned if he could remember it, though. After a few years, all those random girls he’d fed on

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started to look the same, like trying to remember what one particular hamburger looked like when you ate hamburgers every night.

“You’re not leaving yet, are you?” The girl crushed her body against his. “I thought we’d go into the back first.”

“Not tonight.” He peeled her hand off his chest and caught a glimpse of Christiana’s glare as he pushed past the girl. Christiana was pissed, though hell if he knew why. Hadn’t she just made it very clear that she had no interest in him beyond what her job required? Maybe it was just the fact that a human was interrupting them. She was probably like those old vamps who refused to see humans as anything more than lapdogs and servants.

He grabbed Christiana’s hand and tugged her toward the door. “Come on.”

She resisted little until they were outside, but once they were in the darkened parking lot, she jerked her hand from his. “Don’t pull me around like a child.”

“Fuck. What is your problem?”

“I don’t like to be led around like that.”

“Excuse me for laying a hand on the royal skin.” Blane clicked the remote and unlocked the doors to the black Escalade he’d borrowed from Michael’s growing automobile collection.

* * * *

“Ugh!” Christiana stormed up the stairs inside Michael’s mansion. “You left me there with a bunch of…miscreants!”

“Oh, come on.” His feet were falling in heavy steps behind her. “I couldn’t help that they left when we got there. Jonas doesn’t ask my permission. And he ordered me to watch the front.

What was I supposed to do?”

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She huffed. It was more than a coincidence that Jonas decided to leave with Elena just after they’d arrived, leaving her to spend the evening in Jonas’s silly vampire-themed club. Of course she’d stood out in the crowd while the wild-haired Blane had fit in perfectly. “I don’t have to read minds to know you’re trying to keep me from doing my job.”

No, that was all too obvious from the way he’d sent over some strange human with a ring in his eyebrow who flirted incessantly, bought her drinks, offered to take her out, and even pulled her toward the dance floor a few times, attempting to make her break the ironclad “I don’t dance” rule.

If Blane tried any harder to distract her, she’d lose her mind.

That nagging little bit of deception filtered through his cool arrogance. “I’m not trying to keep you from your job. I just wanted you to—”

“Don’t lie to me.” Christiana reached for the doorknob and turned.

It didn’t budge.

She jiggled harder, but it still didn’t move.

Blane cleared his throat to her left.

Christiana glanced just to her left and saw his hand held out in an odd angle, as if he were gripping a doorknob. He was a telekinetic. She groaned. “Release the door.”

“No.” Instead of doing as she asked, he closed in, trapping her between him and the door.

“Let me make it up to you.”

She ignored the way his muscled chest pressed against her back. “I want to go in my room.”

He leaned forward, pressing the length of his body to hers. When she tried to pull away, he grabbed her around the waist with one arm and whispered, “You could come to my room

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instead.”

Christiana took a deep breath and tried not to think about how long it had been since she’d had someone else pressed to her like this. Blane had one mission: to keep her from finding out if Elena was a succubus. Anything he did was just to distract her, including his attempts to seduce her. She took another breath, then said, “I told you, I’m not as easy as those human girls who were falling at your feet.”

“I know. I’m willing to work for it.” He exhaled, forcing his warm breath across her neck.

She shivered.

“How long has it been?”

There was no way she was going to tell him that. Not only was it none of his business, but he would just use it against her.

“That long, huh?” His lips brushed her earlobe. “I could give you a night worth all that wait.”

Christiana swallowed hard and tried not to think about how his stubble felt on her neck.

“While I appreciate the offer, Blane, I am really not interested. I just want to go to my room.”

“Your loss.” He moved a little and the door pushed open. “Think about me when you’re in bed,
Princess
.”

She stepped inside and slammed the door in his face.

God, she wanted him. But it wasn’t the first time she’d passed up a night of pleasure to keep the drama out of her life. He didn’t trust her, no matter what he said, and that meant she could trust
him
even less. Plus, the last thing she needed was some torrid affair with a
vampiro

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thug who would eventually and inevitably go wrong and bring a flurry of rumor and innuendo to Khalil and the family. No, it wasn’t worth it. Nothing was worth disappointing her
creatore
to that extent. Christiana owed him her life. Without Khalil, she would have died as a child—or worse.

Blane was good, she had to give him that. Not only had he managed to figure out she was an empath, he’d kept her from her job for the entire night. And now, she couldn’t stop thinking about having sex with that crude green-haired thug.

What she needed was a long, cold shower to clear her mind. She stripped quickly, tossing her clothes onto the chair next to the bathroom door, and went to the private bath that connected to her room.

Under the cool water, she closed her eyes and dipped her head into the flow. Blane was going to be a problem. He hadn’t left her mind for five minutes all night long. It hadn’t helped that she couldn’t stop feeling his arousal. It had raged on, feeding her own each time he’d looked at her. The only time the feeling waned was when another strong emotion like his thirst came into focus. Then it roared back to life each time she’d begun to relax.

She could only imagine what he’d been thinking about, but it all sounded good. Several things had crossed her mind, like when he’d bent to pick up her dropped napkin and rose back up in front of her. Seeing him down like that had flashed images of him between her legs. Surely, a
vampiro
with his vital sexuality had plenty of practice between women’s legs.

In fact, he was probably a god in bed.

Grabbing a loofah and a blue bottle of body wash, Christiana started to work on her legs.

Blane probably would make all that wait worth it if she let him try. Right now, she’d like nothing more. Having those broad shoulders hovering over her, those narrow hips perched between her