Possession (7 page)

He opened his bedroom door and slipped
inside.

***

Her hand still in his, he pulled her in the
room with him. Her heart-beat rapid like a bird’s, she cast wide
eyes about the room, taking in his private sanctuary. He smirked,
drawing her farther in, closer to the great canopy bed with its
ebony silk sheets. She knew what she was here for, of course. It
had been her training for weeks.

The vampire let his coat slide off his
shoulders to the floor, then sat on the bed, his hands on her
shoulders gently pressuring her to her knees. She was nervous, but
with anticipation, not fear.

She’d never seen a grown man revealed in the
flesh before, so as she unfastened his trousers, her eyes were
fixed on that spot. It was easier than looking up into the
intensity of his eyes. She could feel them burning through her
skull.

His erection sprang out as she lowered the
zipper, surprising her. She touched it, caressing it softly with
her fingertips. The vampire hissed in pleasure, the heat of her
hand in contrast to his room-temperature skin. She was again
surprised by how soft his skin was, yet the muscle underneath was
hard as steel. Her hand made passes over and around as she learned
his contours, until she felt his hand in her hair. It was a signal
to get on with what she was supposed to do.

She couldn’t take that thing in all the
way…her mouth just wasn’t that big, but she tried her best, and
found it wasn’t entirely unpleasant to have him this way.

He moaned at the first feel of her lips
passing over the head and down his shaft. Praised how hot she was.
He made more encouraging sounds when she grazed her teeth along his
length as she lifted her head back up. Up-down, up-down. Apply
suction. Flick her tongue in the little cleft. She fell into a
rhythm, learning what he liked.

Even learned she wanted to please him.

It was soon apparent, though she was on her
knees, that she held the power here. She could bite clear through
and maim him. Rip his testicles off with a twist and pull of her
hand. Make him make a myriad of sounds, good or bad.

Lucky for him she was determined to make him
scream in pleasure.

His body warned her of what was coming next,
so she was prepared for the jerk of his hips and the spurt of thick
fluid down her throat. She’d been trained to swallow, too, unless
he didn’t want her to. It didn’t go down easily but the taste was
alright. The hand that had been tangled in her hair massaged her
scalp. She released him from her mouth. She looked up at the
panting vampire.

He pulled her to him to kiss her, plunging
his tongue past her lips. They clashed in desire, warring for
dominance.

He had to have her now…

She needed to be satisfied…

***

Was that really
my
dream?

***

Julian hadn’t been as drunk as he let on, but
he still woke up with a bad taste in his mouth and a headache.
Rolling out of bed, he realized he never ate the night before. That
would explain why he felt out of sorts.

He remembered talking to Catherine. How sweet
she’d been. Helpful. Concerned about
him
.

It wasn’t the natural order of things between
a human and a vampire. On the street, she would’ve been just
another meal.

“Don’t get to know your food,” he muttered,
heading for the shower.

Julian didn’t do soft feelings, not since
Celia, and not
that
much then. Celia wanted her “naughty
wicked boy”. She’d rather have a freshly-beating heart on her
birthday than flowers or pretty baubles, though the jewels were
never thrown out. His goddess liked to dress to the nines no matter
what the era. Always a lady, even when covered in blood.

So, he liked the human. Wasn’t the end of the
world. Could be the end of his business, but that wouldn’t be the
end of the world, either.

Two choices: turn the girl over to Lorcan, or
let her sneak off with enough dosh to get to London in one piece.
Her contract only made them responsible for the girl’s well-being
if she was on the premises. It was up to the Great Idiot to collect
her if she was out on her own.

Julian was tempted to wish her good luck and
wash his hands of the whole thing.

And why was that? When had he ever avoided
trouble? It certainly wasn’t out of fear of Lorcan--he hadn’t felt
that since he was a fledge. The money didn’t matter.

It was…

“Ah, hell, figure it out later.”

He wrapped a towel around his waist, then
worked a bit of gel into his hair, smoothing it down with a comb.
Grabbed a packet of O-neg out of the mini-fridge and heated it in
the microwave. He’d just sunk his fangs into the bag, when there
was a knock on the door.

“Enter.”

The door opened slowly, part way. “Just me. I
wanted to see how you were.” It was Catherine.

“In or out, pet. You’re lettin’ in a draft.”
He squeezed the last of the blood into a glass.

She slipped inside. “Ooops, sorry! Oh…”

Catherine stopped and blushed, averting her
eyes.

“I-I didn’t expect you to be…um…”

He smirked, his eyes twinkling as he watched
her stammer through her embarrassment. He couldn’t resist teasing
her.

“Two minutes sooner, and you’d have caught me
wanderin’ around starkers, so I’d say you’re timing is perfect,
Miss Mitchell…unless you
wanted
to catch a peek?”

“No! I mean, not that you aren’t worthy of
peeking at, if one planned to do so, but that so wasn’t my plan,
and, um, oh God… I’m just gonna go.” She turned around, only to
find him blocking the door.

“So soon? I thought you had a question for
me,” Julian purred, stalking her.

***

Don’t look at the perfectly-chiseled
nearly-naked man,
don’t
look at
the…

“Eeep!”

He took gentle hold of her arms.

“What are you
doing
?”

And pushed her down to sit.

“You were about to run into a chair,” he
replied. He picked up the crystal tumbler again. “Head’s fine, by
the way. Just need my breakfast.”

“Good! That’s…good…”

“What day is it?”

She thought for a second. “Friday?”

“Mm, excellent. I’m thinking, you’ve read
about demons, but you’ve hardly seen any. We need an outing.”

“You and
me
?”

Julian shook his head. “Everyone! Been too
long, cooped up in the house and such.” He paused to make notes on
a pad on the desk.”

“Uh, where?” She dropped her eyes to her lap
when the towel loosened to reveal a couple centimeters of butt
crack. But, he did have the most beautiful back…

“Demon bar or club, wherever we see first.
Alana can make a few contacts…” he replied absently. He made a
couple more jots on the paper, folded it, and turned it around to
hand it to her. “Here, take this down to Alana so she can get
started.”

Catherine had stood, resolutely keeping her
eyes at shoulder level.

“
What?
”

“Uh, Julian…”
Please don’t make me say
it
.

He looked down, then behind him, and noticed
the towel had caught on the desk chair.

And rolled his eyes.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake…get out of here.”

Her blush deepened. She briefly met his eyes,
then sprinted from the room.

***

Julian flicked his erection and swallowed the
last of his blood, scowling.

“See what you did,” he scolded his lower
brain, and walked to the closet.

***

“You’ve seen penis!” Alana exclaimed upon
seeing Catherine’s face.

“
What?
No! I haven’t! I didn’t!”

“Oh. Well, poo. And I thought this day was
finally going to get exciting.”

“Well, I saw Julian on my way downstairs and
he gave me this for you.”

The redhead scanned the page.
“Uh-huh…uh-huh…I can do this…
unh
-uh, not on short
notice….okay, okay…okay! You can go now.”

Catherine exited the office, shaking her
head. She still wasn’t completely used to the half-demon’s
no-nonsense manner. Word spread quickly amongst the girls that
Julian was sponsoring a night out. She wasn’t so excited.

When she came downstairs in jeans, a sweater,
and sensible boots, Julian vetoed the outfit immediately.

“You’re not going to a club like that! Go put
on something appropriate!”

“It’s
cold
outside!” she argued.

“So? You can’t go into a demon bar looking
like that. It screams ‘lunch’.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and
cocked her hip at an angle. “Well, then I’m not going!”

“Sorry, not an option. You’re going, and
you’re going to change clothes
now
.”

Catherine remained defiant. “
No.
”

The tendon in his jaw ticking with anger,
Julian charged up the two steps to tower over her. “Get your
fucking skinny ass up those stairs now and do what I bloody tell
you.”

She lifted her chin. “No. I’m not a piece of
meat, yours or anyone else’s. You want me to go; I’m going like
this, or not at all.”

He nodded, then bent his knees and put his
shoulder into her stomach, hoisting her over it to dangle
upside-down, and charged up the stairs two at a time.

“Julian! Put me down, you Neanderthal!”

“Only if you quit acting like a spoiled brat,
love.”

She wasn’t going to go easily. She squirmed
and kicked, pounding his back with her fists, though his leather
coat mostly absorbed the blows. He dropped her on the first landing
when she finally managed to kick him in the balls.

Catherine took advantage of landing on her
back to kick the side of his knee with her heel. Julian dropped to
one knee as she got up and ran down the hallway towards the back
stairs.

***

He pushed the pain away and took off after
her.

The knee grit and shifted as he put weight on
it.
Teach a girl a new trick, and she uses it against
you.

“Errgh…Catherine, will you
stop
? This
is bloody stupid. Everybody’s waiting.”

She stopped and turned around at the end of
the hall. “You’re the one who insisted I change clothes, and tried
to drag me upstairs. We could be on the road by now.” She turned
the corner, heading for the back stairs.

How’d she get that far, already?

“I’m going to tan that pretty little ass if
you don’t get back here and do as you’re told!”

***

Have to catch me first
, Catherine
thought.

She’d spent her free time, once she was
allowed to roam freely, learning the mansion’s nooks and crannies,
as well as doing research in the library. Like many extremely old
and large residences, the house had a few secret passageways, like
the one she was hiding in now. She was betting on Julian running
past to take the stairs and not pay attention to her heartbeat in
the wall.

If his footsteps slowed, then she’d move.

She watched him fly past, leather duster
billowing behind him. She waited a minute, then opened the door
panel and cautiously peeked out, only to be grabbed by her collar
and yanked out of the passage.

***

Julian pulled her out of hiding by her
sweater, but the struggle wasn’t over. He was pissed off, but he
didn’t want to damage her permanently, so he wasn’t using his full
strength, and Catherine was a slippery little thing.

They came to a stalemate, her back hitting
the wall as she pressed a sliver of wood against his t-shirt over
his heart. He glanced down at the pointy object, then at her
defiant glare.

“Clever girl,” he murmured. “Dust me now, and
you have your freedom.”

He could practically see the options running
through her mind. 1) Plunge the stake through his heart and get the
hell out of Dodge. Alana wouldn’t stop her. 2) Drop the stake and
be at his mercy, whatever he planned to do to punish her.

Being an impatient sort, Julian opened door
number three.

***

Catherine found herself being kissed. He
leaned forward just enough to press his lips to hers, the point of
the stake making a dent in his shirt and skin. All she had to do
was push and he’d be dead, but the kiss…

Oh, God…

Her arms wrapped around his neck, instead. He
growled into her mouth and pressed her body against the wall with
his.

What am I doing, what am I DOING? I’m dead
or unconscious… I’m dreaming. Julian conked me on the head and I’m
dreaming…there’s no way this is real. How does he taste so
good?

His hands were on her waist. She jumped up to
wrap her legs around his hips. He plunged his tongue into her
mouth, grinding his erection against her center.

***

She’s so warm, so unguarded.

He’d turned a key and somehow unlocked the
passionate woman inside the girl. The way she sucked on his tongue
when he tried to pull it back, how she pressed her breasts against
his chest whenever he shifted his hips a certain way, the little
whimpers she made each time he pressed her against the wall again.
Her right hand clutched the back of his neck, her nails slightly
digging into his nape, the stake somewhere on the floor. Her left
hand clung to his coat. She wasn’t afraid he would drop her--she
wanted to keep him close. It was a heady thought, and god, he
wanted to rip her clothes off and have her right here—

“
Ahem.
”

They froze, waiting for the sound to have
been a fluke. Imagined.

“Yes, I’m still here,” Alana said, rolling
her eyes. “The girls were getting antsy. Should we go without
you?”

Catherine slid her legs down Julian’s body
and hid her face in his coat. He cleared his throat and turned to
his partner.

“We’ll be right there,” he replied.

Alana shrugged and teleported away.