Prima

Chapter Twenty

Daedalus stretched his long arm and pressed a button on the wall behind the lounge chair.

Sugar sat up straighter. “What was that for?” The wine had taken the edge off her anxiety, but it sprang back so easily.

“It tells them we’re ready for dinner.”

She crawled off his lap, settling her dress over her hips and tucking the girls deeper in their cups. This was it. She’d be biting some stranger. Breathing grew difficult. “Did they turn up the heat in here?”

He melted into the chair. “You’re so cute.”

She smacked his arm. “Stop that.”

“Relax.”

“You’re making it worse. I get—”

The door opened, and a man in his mid-thirties strolled in. Dark brown curls tumbled to his ears, and he moved with a dancer’s grace in the tight black slacks clinging to his thighs. When he closed the door behind him, he grinned. “I had heard rumors that you had returned, Master. Glad you haven’t forgotten me.” He sauntered across the room and shook Daedalus’s hand in a firm grip as his gaze traced over her. “And who’s this?”

She offered her hand, head spinning. “I’m Sugar.” She’d never conversed with dinner before.

Nick reached across the sedan, over Daedalus, and steadied her. “Whoa, sweet thing.” Setting her next to Daedalus, he glanced at the empty wine bottle then at her lover. “Are we sharing?”

“No, but you’ll be her first feed. I couldn’t think of anyone better to handle this.”

Nick’s back stiffened. “A fledgling?” He undid the top buttons of his shirt and opened his collar. Scars laced his throat and upper chest in a sorrowful design of old puncture wounds and cuts. Horror must have shown on her face because his expression grew dark. “I ask them to leave the marks.” He traced a rather gruesome bite on his collarbone. “Guess who gave me that one.”

She couldn’t stop from glancing at Daedalus. Would she ever stop being shocked by his lifestyle? Probably not. Part of his allure was his experience with crossing boundaries when she feared to even tread those edges. Maybe becoming vampire would loosen her restraints and allow her to fulfill some of those forbidden desires.

Turning her attention back to Nick, she noticed he’d rolled up a sleeve to bare his wrist. “We’ll start here.” He offered her his upturned hand.

“I take it I’m not your first fledgling?” She held his arm. Bite scars lined his pulse point. If she bit from this angle, would she miss the artery? Maybe she should come at him from a different angle. What if she bit too hard and her teeth went through his arm?

Daedalus pressed against her back and slid his hands over hers. “Nick’s a professional. He’s been feeding our kind since he was...”

“Fifteen.” Nick gave her a reassuring smile, like she was a child being convinced to eat her broccoli. “You’re thinking too much. Just bite me.”

“What if it hurts?”

His eyebrows shot up, and he gave a nervous laugh. “I’m hoping it will.”

Yeah, dumbass, he got off on pain. Stupid, stupid, stupid... Enough stalling. She opened her mouth and set her fangs against his skin, trying to ignore the memory of what had happened with the watermelon. With gentle pressure, she sank into his flesh.

He didn’t pop like Clementine said skin sometimes did. It could be the scar tissue.

Daedalus moved for a better view. “Release the bite so his blood will flow easier, and seal the wound with your mouth.” He set his finger on her chin and assisted with her fangs retreat.

Hot liquid scorched the tip of her tongue. She hadn’t realized how cold she felt. The siren’s beckon of Nick’s heat called to her, and she pressed her mouth against his wrist. Metallic flavor filled her senses, and she closed her eyes as she savored the way it eased the sharp hunger tearing at her soul.

“That’s it, babe.” Daedalus stroked her back.

“She bites like a kitten.” Nick chuckled and relaxed against the lounge chair. “How long will you be in town for?”

“For awhile.” Watching Sugar’s lips on another man’s skin should have bothered him more, but he’d known Nick since this restaurant hired him decades ago. “Are you interested in becoming privately owned?” Sugar’s feeding anxieties might be alleviated if her donors weren’t strangers all the time. In an odd way, he trusted Nick. He wouldn’t try seducing his naive fiancée for one thing, since his main preference was men.

Wait until she found out about that. Daedalus restrained his chuckle.

Nick gave him a seductive smile. “I’m not getting younger. If the pension plan were right, I’d be in the market for it.” Always the businessman. Daedalus could use someone like this in his company. Especially since he’d killed his best financial advisor this week.

Sugar’s swallows grew more frantic.

“Fledglings have to feed daily. I can’t feed her by myself. She’d drain me dry within a week.” Nick eased her head from his wound.

She blinked in a daze while he guided her up to his neck. With more ferocity, she stabbed with her dainty fangs.

Nick’s hiss of pleasure faded as she eased and drank with more voracity. “That’s better.” He turned his attention back to Daedalus. “What were you offering?”

“Help recruit a couple others to be her regulars and feed her for a year until she’s acclimated to a vampire’s life, then I’ll give you a choice. Retire on some island, or cross over and work for me at Pal Robi Inc.”

Nick grew very still.

Daedalus continued to stroke Sugar’s tense back as her feeding slowed. He didn’t make this proposal lightly. The halls of Pal Robi Inc. were empty, and he needed to fill them. His old allies might return, but he’d like some new blood to keep the old vampires on their toes.

“I think that’s an offer I can’t refuse.” Nick held out his hand again and shook Daedalus’s with a firm grip.

“It might be a few weeks before my offices are running well enough to draw up the contract.”

“That’s fine. I’ll feed her in the meantime and look for others until then.” Nick glanced at her. “She’s special to you.”

Daedalus pointed to the ring on her finger. “She’ll be Prima, which means hands off to any of the others you pick as well. Unless they have an excruciating death wish." Adjusting to others touching her even in the most platonic manner would be another test of his self-restraint.

She lapped at Nick's throat. The flow of blood had slowed to a trickle.

Slipping his arm around her waist, Daedalus removed her from Nick’s arms. “That’s enough.” He set her on the empty lounge chair across from where they were sitting and ran his thumb over her bottom lip. She seemed dazed and satiated. He couldn’t remember blood having this kind of effect on him, but he'd seen others in this state.

Nick buttoned his shirt. “If she remains this gentle, my other needs won’t be fulfilled.”

For a fledgling, she’d taken to feeding with a rare grace. He had half-expected to have to pry her off Nick’s body. She’d been remarkable. He eyed Nick. “I’ll introduce you to Pallas, my clan brother. He’ll take care of your other desires.”

Nick raised a speculative eyebrow.

“Trust me. If you want a Dom, he’d be willing.”

A wide grin spread across Nick’s face before he left the room.

It would be best if he made sure Pallas could restrain himself before introducing him to Nick. The loss of the human would be a nuisance, especially if Sugar grew attached.

She lay still on the lounge, one shoe off, the other dangling from her toe. She stared at nothing, then she blinked. Licking her lips, she sat up straighter and searched the room. “Where did Nick go?” The loose shoe fell with a dull thunk on the carpeted floor.

“He has other things to pursue tonight. How do you feel?” He ran his hand over the smooth skin of her leg.

“Uh.” She looked around the room once more. “A little confused, otherwise great.” She crawled onto his lap, straddling his hips.

He moaned while pulling the hem of her dress over her head.

“Daedalus.” She covered her chest and glanced at the door in earnest. “What if someone comes in?”

“No one will enter unless we ring.” He leaned toward the buzzer. “Want to see?”

“No.” She laughed and wrapped her arms around his as if she could hold him down. Glimpsing the playful twinkle in her eyes, he sighed. Giving her control might not be such a bad idea.

He let her pin him to the lounge chair. “You’ve got me, you tyrant. What are your vile plans?” Please let them be very vile.

“Oh, I plan to have my way with you.” She rose and crossed to the lounge chair then tossed him an uncertain glance over her shoulder. “You sure about the door?”

He left his comfortable spot and locked it. “Positive.” Anything to get her to relax and let go. This was the Sugar he remembered. Playful, fun, and bashful. A growl rolled in his chest.

“Ah-ah.” She wagged her finger at him. “We’ll have none of that, Mr. Pal Robi.” She sat on the edge of the lounger and crossed her legs, dressed in only her white lace panties and bra, always white for Sugar. “You’re overdressed for the occasion.” Tapping her chin with her fingertip, she watched expectantly.

Looking down, he gestured to his attire. “You’re right.” He let his jacket slip off his shoulders and fall at his feet. In seconds his shirt and pants joined it. He stalked toward her.

“Commando?” She licked her lips.

“Always.” He stood in front of her, imagining that tongue doing more interesting things. More desperate and depraved things. His cock ached at the sight, but this was her night, and he wouldn’t make any demands. However, he wasn’t beyond begging. He palmed his hardening dick and gave it a few consoling strokes.

She contemplated his form, letting her gaze travel over his body. “I’ve missed this.”

“We have all the time we need now.” The last word caught in his throat as she took over his stroking with her tantalizing hand. Her fingers barely met around his shaft. He bent and licked her bottom lip, tasting the faintest hint of blood.

“You never fed,” she whispered against his mouth.

“I’m old enough that I don’t need to feed every day, but I’m not so old not to want you daily.”

Shivering, Sugar parted her lips and pulled away from his mouth, sliding lower along his torso. She trailed kisses along his abdomen until she reached his cock and traced the tip of her tongue over its head. Then with firm strokes she lapped at him like an ice cream cone.

He sank his hands into her hair, his fingers struggling not to command her next move. “Oh, kitten.” The softness gliding over his hard flesh sent waves of pleasure through him.

She nicked his cock with her fang.

He hissed at the sharp burn. A drop of blood beaded on the small cut. “Don’t stop.” Gently, he guided her back. “Please.” He needed to be sucked off in the worst way. After everything they’d been through the last few years, he had to know she still wanted him.

Sugar opened her lips wider and swirled her tongue around the crown of his shaft, picking up the drop of blood. She moaned and drew him inside her wet, hot mouth with a slow, tight swallow, sliding him deeper and deeper.

He felt the careful brush of her hands over his hips. She caressed his ass before pulling him forward until his knees pressed against the edge of the lounger.

“Oh, fuck, yes.”

She fondled his dick with her tongue as she rode it up and down, digging her nails into his flesh so he couldn’t move. Mingling his pain with pleasure. Little noises of ecstasy escaped her talented mouth as she turned his legs into Jell-O.

Panting, he thrust into her mouth, trying to get farther each time. His balls rose so high, he thought they might vanish back inside his body. His cock slid back and forth between her lips as one of her hands strayed inside her panties.

She pulled the lace back so he could peek at her blonde curls while she touched herself.

“Oh yeah, babe.” He couldn’t breathe. Like a linebacker had tackled him from behind, he arched his back and came in heated jets. He tried to withdraw from her mouth to avoid hurting her, but she dug her nails into his ass. Swallowing, she responded to his climax with impassioned moans.

The pressure in his balls eased, and he sank onto the lounge chair. “That was amazing.” He lay on his back, a victim to her desire.

She straddled his hips and unsnapped her bra, setting the lush bounty inside free. Her pink nipples, hard and taut, skimmed over his skin as she crawled forward, baring her fangs.

Stunned by her ferocious glare, he froze. Nothing was sexier than a woman with a purpose, especially when they were as small and exquisite as his Sugar.

She scratched her nails across the expanse of his chest and lowered to circle his areola with the tip of her tongue.

He groaned at the mixed sensations and ran his hands over her firm thighs. Tucking his thumbs under the hem of her panties, he lowered them until she crawled free. He grazed the wet, tender lips of her pussy with his fingertips, naked and all his.

Hesitating over his chest, she arched her hips in invitation.

Not one to miss an opportunity, he probed deeper and found her slick with desire. Velvet flesh caressed his fingers as he pushed them past her entrance.

She moaned, tossing her head back. Her needlelike, fledgling fangs glinted in the dim light as she ground against his hand, then she struck.

The sudden sting caused him to shout in surprise as she bit into his chest. His cock surged back to life. He’d explored many avenues of release with Sugar in their time together, before she’d been hurt, but this was new.

She withdrew her fangs and licked at the drops of blood dangling from them. “Daedalus?” Panic laced her voice. “Should I like doing that?” She thrust harder on his fingers, clenching with increasing passion.

“Fuck, yes.” He dragged her closer. “Do it again.” His words held an edge of unexpected pleading. It had been so long since he’d taken a vampire female for a lover, he’d forgotten how their bites affected the beast inside him.

Without pause, she pierced his flesh again, just below his collarbone.

He arched his back, lifting both of them off the couch. Before he could draw another breath, she struck again on the other side. She elicited sounds of wicked submission from him. He couldn’t recall being trapped so eagerly.

Her lips suckled his flesh for a moment before moving higher onto his neck. She caressed his smooth scalp. “You taste like magic.” Then she bit again, this time harder, with a little snarl.

He wasn’t sure what flipped his switch, the fierce bite or the sounds she made, but he gripped her in his arms, pumping into her as she gnawed deeper into his flesh.

The taste of Daedalus coursed through every cell in her body. It kept calling to her. Have more, have more. He held her so tight, she couldn’t move as he thrust inside of her over and over again. All she could do was cry out while her orgasm burst inside her body, flooding her senses until she lay limp in his arms.

He bent her over the back of the lounger and gripped her hips.

She lifted her head and flashed to the first time they’d been together. He’d taken her in a similar manner. Rising onto her elbows, she tossed him a glance over her shoulder. The motion made her breasts swing free.

A dark hunger burned in his eyes as he rubbed his erection between her ass cheeks. He gathered wetness from her pussy on the tip of his finger and circled her anus.

She gasped, curling and unfurling her fingers. It had been ages since he'd touched her in this place. Tingling spread around the area as she imagined him filling her, stretching those secret muscles to aching ecstasy.

He pressed a finger inside to loosen the tightness. “You remember our safe word.”

A nervous laugh bubbled out of her. “Y-yes.”

He pushed deeper, adding another finger. “Say it.”

“Touch—” She moaned and tried to catch her breath. “Touchdown.”

“Good girl.” He spread her thighs and loomed over her. “I’m going to fuck you hard.”

The head of his cock teased the entrance to her wet pussy. She raised her hips to give him better access. Being at his mercy gave her a thrill. To have this much male power thrusting inside of her, knowing he could render her into tiny pieces but trusting him not to. Even though she was now a vampire, he could still end her existence, yet his losing control never crossed her mind.

With a smooth motion, he impaled her and pushed deeper inside her pussy.

She gripped the edge of the couch, filled to capacity. Words seemed too difficult to form, and submissive noises rolled out of her throat.

He plunged his fingers in time with his cock, shoving deeper and harder, spreading them to stretch the muscles of her anus.

“Oh God.” She threw her head back at the assault, but she wouldn’t utter the safe word. This erotic pleasure was what she craved. She loved the sounds he made as he took her, like she sent him to a place of bliss. More. She tried to say it, but a hungry noise came out instead. It seemed like enough.

He pulled out of her pussy and yanked her hips to set the tip of his cock against her back hole. His hands trembled as he eased it past her tight orifice. He went so quiet and tense, she feared for a moment he’d lost interest.

All she could hear was him panting. His fingers dug into her hips, flexing then releasing. She rolled her ass and managed to slide him in farther.

His snarl caught her off-guard. He shoved inside her until his balls rested against her ass.

She cried out at the sudden stretch, the pain so sweet she couldn’t move.

He threaded his fingers in her hair and yanked her head back, exposing her throat. His breath singed her skin below her ear. His chest bellowed against her back. A low growl reminded her that the Nosferatu were more feral than any of the other vampire clans. He licked a slow line over her flesh as if testing her taste, then thrust again sharp and hard, eliciting another of her cries.

Then he struck. Fang to flesh. Burning. Thrusting.

Her body pulsed with delirious bliss. A shudder welled up. She clung to the chair, searching for an anchor before Daedalus swept her away for good.

Then again, from his impassioned moans, she might be his tidal wave. He released his bite, and those moans turned into her name over and over. A hot wash in her core followed as his cries filled the room. It sent her off the edge in a slick slide to her release.