Present Tense (Out of the Fire #3) - Candace Blevins Page 0,6
to get into a computer. You had some fear and some anger, so it was enough for me to come in.”
“When I’m not driving, I’d like you to show me. Come in when I’m conscious of you doing it.”
“I’ll do my best, but if you aren’t conscious of when you’re irritated, it may be impossible for me to do it so you can see.”
“What emotions can you ride in?”
“Grief, terror, and anger are the easiest. I’m getting better at the lesser versions — sadness, fear, and irritation. I’m pretty good with jealousy if it’s strong, and I can sometimes manage with guilt over something big. I can usually get in through extreme joy, but that’s the only positive emotion I’ve been able to use, and it has to be someone who’s so happy it’s the only thing that exists for them in that moment.”
He’d refused to feed her because he hadn’t wanted her in his head. If he couldn’t keep her out, he may as well agree to helping keep her fed, especially if that meant sex. Vampire or not, she was pretty much his exact body type — curvy and stacked and cute as a button.
Just to make sure she wasn’t still in his head, he let himself think about what she’d look like without her jeans and t-shirt, how she’d look under him, writhing in the grip of an orgasm.
When he got nothing from her, and her scent stayed steady, he decided to test the waters another way.
“Kendra only stepped in enough to make sure we don’t take advantage of you.”
“I’m aware. You can punish me if I don’t follow the house rules, but you can’t have sex with me unless I verbally consent, or unless I agree to a power exchange situation. I’m also constrained against using mind tricks or venom to make you have sex with me, though the latter is acceptable if you consent to it first.”
“Do you have control over your venom?”
“Not as good as my former Master, but better than some of his flunkies. I’m still careful with the actual bite. It’s best if the person I’m feeding from stays reasonably still.” She turned to him with her entire upper body. “I excel at two things: computers and sex. I suck at nearly everything else. I’m horrible with social interactions outside of sex. I can’t do any kind of sport, other than sex. I’ve learned to speak casually since becoming a vampire, but before that, I’m told my grammar was too perfect, so I sounded like a computer, at times. It’s still something I work towards.” She was silent a few moments. “I guess I’m good at fashion and makeup, too, but to me, that’s part of sex. Foreplay.”
“You had no choice about who you had sex with for a few years before and after you were turned, right?”
“Incorrect. It was much longer than a few years. My former Master promised he’d turn me if I was his human sex slave for five years, and then his vampire sex slave until he tired of me. It seemed a reasonable payment for long life, and I didn’t hate my time with him. I don’t want to experience some of the humiliation he put me through, and I’ll never again agree to give myself completely to someone if I have a choice in the matter, but I wouldn’t mind some form of modified power exchange agreement, with the right person.”
If he didn’t need to make sure they were home before sunrise, he’d have pulled over to have this conversation with her. He wanted to see her face, her expression. He wanted to hold her gaze and dare her to look away.
But that wasn’t possible at the moment, and he also wanted to have this conversation between the two of them, before his housemates got involved. So they’d have it now, while he drove.
“Fabio agreed to feed you, with the understanding there’d be sex when you feed from him. I’ll make the same offer, but there will be caveats.”
3
If Kelsey had been human, her heart would’ve been running away in her chest. Since she was no longer human, she dug for control and forced it to beat slowly.
What would it be like to submit to this huge, beautiful man with eyes so blue it took her breath away?
But if she’d learned anything since becoming a vampire, it was how to keep from being made into a pawn. She wouldn’t have power in this house because it