Present Tense (Out of the Fire #3) - Candace Blevins Page 0,38
first time we had sex, too. I’m not known for being gentle, but even for me, I was... I don’t know. Brutal is too much, but rough doesn’t adequately describe it. Now that I think of it in the terms you suggest, I believe Kelsey was feeding from me the whole time, from my energy, and I also believe she somehow circumvented the part of me that holds back.”
“An excellent assessment.” He looked to Kelsey. “We’ll need to do some experiments, but it is my belief you feed from lust more than sex. My Secundo holds an office at a local billiard club known as TBC, near Hamilton Place mall. The office includes a bedroom.” He looked to Fabio. “I believe it would be beneficial if at least one of you comes, but preferably all three, so you’ll understand what’s happening, and you’ll see how we train Kelsey to turn this off and on. She won’t get it exactly right until she’s had some practice, but I can teach her how to stop before things get as out of control as they did last night.”
“I’m on the menu this morning. I’ll go,” Fabio said.
“I’d like to observe,” Eunice said from the door.
Marco turned to look behind him. “Excellent. Since you won’t be having sex with her, I was hoping you’d be able to step in as a referee, of sorts.”
“Our contract says we can rescind her lease if she’s found to not be in control,” Eunice told him.
“Do you wish to do so?” Marco asked.
Kelsey had that weight in her stomach again, terrified she’d have to leave.
“No,” said Fabio. He looked to James. “Are you going with us to TBC?”
James leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his hands relaxed in front of him. He met her gaze, his brilliant blue eyes focused on her as if no one else was in the room. “I like you, Kelsey. We both know we formed some kind of connection that first night. Not a sexual one, though that was there, but a human one, despite the fact neither of us are human. I don’t do vampires because I don’t want them in my head, but you could get into my head even without the transfer of blood, so that took away my reason for not feeding you.” He took a breath. “Now, I find out you’ve jumped up in power, and I know there’s always a learning curve when that happens. I’m going to trust you not to feed from me again until you have this under control. I’m not going to go today, because I don’t want to know what to look for. I want to be able to trust you.” He leaned back. “Trust is earned, in my world, and when it’s lost, it’s gone. Do you understand?”
Kelsey wanted to reach out to him. It was as if her heart wanted to touch his, and she knew she could do it, even from this distance, but she held herself back. Her instincts told her that reaching out to him with vampire powers would be a bad sign.
“I do. I’ll miss you while I figure this out, but I respect your decision, and I thank you for the trust.”
Marco stood, walked to Eunice, and stopped three feet away. “I can guarantee you no one will touch you without your leave, nor will they drink from you. However, if you’re in the office during this lesson, I can’t guarantee no one will feed from you. If you don’t want someone to feed from your emotions, it’s important you not put them out to be fed from. Do you understand?”
Eunice uncrossed his arms and looked at the Master Vampire a few moments before answering. “I do.”
“Do you still wish to accompany us?”
“I’ll follow in my own vehicle.”
“If there’s room,” Fabio told Marco, “I’d like to ride with you and Kelsey. I feel as if she’ll do better with a friend by her side.”
“That’s acceptable,” Marco said as he walked out the door.
Kelsey followed, though it took effort to leave the safety of her basement room. How had it become home so soon?
12
Eunice considered what he knew of vampires as he followed the limo. The vampire had three werewolf guards as well as two vampires with him. Were the vampires guards, or had he brought them as part of the lesson?
And had they gotten out of the lightproof bags used to get them into the limo, or were they still in them?