Her Vampire Addiction - Tabitha Black Page 0,3

sharp, prickling pain at the base of my skull and I realize Ethan has wrapped my hair around his fist and is tugging me back into the booth. “Feisty little thing, aren’t you?” he says coolly. I’m horrified by how casual he still is—and by his strength. I’m not one of those tiny, slender little women who look like a stiff breeze could carry them away. I’m tall. I have hips, and thighs. And I can fight. Been doing it all my life.

I’m still wondering how Ethan is overpowering me with such apparent ease when a loud tearing sound rents the air and I realize he’s ripped my dress clean off my body, exposing me to his piercing gaze. His expression, as he wraps one hand around my throat and pinches my nipple cruelly with the other, is contemptuous. Mocking. “Oh dear,” he says coolly. “I told you not to let me get to three.”

2

Maximus

Saturday nights are always the busiest, but this one’s even worse than usual. The line outside of people waiting to get in is longer than ever, and I’m grateful I’m on dungeon monitor duty tonight. It’s too damn hot out there so there are too many bugs. Why Lucius had to pick Arizona of all places to settle is beyond me, but we’re here now so we have no choice but to make the best of it.

Besides, there’s always something. He turned me 1600 years ago. In that time, I’ve seen it all and done it all, and nothing is ever one hundred percent perfect.

A ragged gasp catches my attention and I look to the source of the sound. Some people might have trouble differentiating between the regular noises people make when they’re engaging in BDSM, and the sounds they make when they’re in some kind of trouble. I’m not some people. I do have a huge amount of experience, after all—not to mention very keen senses. I can literally hear a pin drop.

The gasp came from a pretty young thing with her top rucked down to expose her breasts. Clover clamps are affixed to both her nipples, crushing them in their vice-like grip, and Eddie is tugging at the chain to make them tighter, a grin of sadistic pleasure lighting up his face. The girl gasps again, a definite sound of pain, but her expression is calm, her hips writhing softly as if she were humping the air.

False alarm then.

I settle back onto my stool. It’s tucked discreetly away in a corner between the private booths and the play stations, within hearing distance of pretty much everything right up to the bar. All the better for me to watch out for everyone.

A slender redhead struts by and for the briefest of seconds, I feel a pang in my chest where my heart used to beat. Caroline’s hair was the exact same shade. Then I clench my fists and will the thought away. It’s been over a century. I should be over it by now. I am over it.

Then why are you still atoning? a tiny voice in the back of my mind asks me insistently.

I’m not atoning for anything, I argue back. I just like to look out for people. The world is a dangerous place—I should know—and, especially in this day and age, there’s not enough kindness. Chivalry. There aren’t enough heroes.

There was a time when women were regarded as the precious, sweet, fragile creatures they are. When they were treated differently. Now, they strut around believing they’re equal to men in every way. Certain they can handle themselves, regardless of what happens. I wish it were so, but all too often, they overestimate their abilities and someone has to step in and rescue them.

It might as well be me.

“Help!”

Immediately I’m off my stool, tense, alert, my mind automatically triangulating the direction of the sound. It was faint but plaintive, easy enough to catch. Then I hear it again.

“Help!”

Help is never a safeword. Within moments, I’ve reached private play booth number three and yanked the curtain back. “What’s going on here?” I growl, immediately clocking the pretty blonde who’s wearing nothing but a thong and high heels, and Ethan, who has one hand around her throat and one of her nipples between his thumb and index finger. The woman looks terrified.

“We’re playing, Maximus,” Ethan rasps. “Nothing to see here.”

“Is that so?” I raise an eyebrow and address the woman directly. “Did you just call for help?”

A mortal might not have noticed the way Ethan’s