8. Chara

Chapter 8

Chara

My just recently calmed heart excites with the prospect of learning the master's rules, but then he turns on a booted heel and walks out the door of the playroom. Not even a backward glance, as though the connection between us just moments before was all in my head.

I take the time to absorb the room, letting my eyes rest on the implements, the masks, the blindfolds, and the length of wall dedicated to floggers of every length and size.

I wrap my arms around myself, making my way to the ornate queen-size bed with a red quilted coverlet in the corner of the room. It looks so inviting, after so much trauma and emotion, that I find myself lying atop the bedding and pulling part of the quilt to cover me up.

My mind swirls with everything that has happened in such a short amount of time. I try hard not to let it pull me into the dark where the wolf was moments from tearing my face to shreds and sending me to an early grave.

The need for sleep drags me under, and those deep, dark eyes that flame around the edges with passion follow me into the dark. Would Bistrita have saved me? Would he have thought I was worthy enough to be his charge for an eternity? What would it be like to be his, truly his? Would he really spank me, for punishment and for pleasure? So many questions about the beast with dark eyes who makes my blood race with unleashed desire.

My heart beats faster and faster as I wake, realizing just how dark my thoughts have turned, letting all the desire he stirred on that cross seep deep into the marrows of my soul. There is no doubting the attraction to the vampire who clearly knows how to please a woman in the bedroom and has probably had multiple women on that very same cross, doing the very same thing but for kinkier reasons than to calm her after a traumatic event.

I try to shake thoughts of the sexy devilish beast, but nothing helps. I force myself from the bed, smoothing the cover before getting a glass bottle from the mini refrigerator in the corner. I swirl the dark red liquid around, looking at the thick consistency with mixed feelings before putting it away.

Blood … thick, sticky, deep dark, blood.

They are vampires. And I just had a dream about becoming one at the hands of a sexy vampire who pulled me from the brink of death. Maybe it was all a dream, or maybe I'm not even alive anymore. Maybe the shifter killed me, and I just dreamed that I was saved. I shake the thought, still dazed from the near-death experience, and my very unusual encounter with Master Bistrita, the very dark and sexy vampire who has managed to take over my dreams.

A quick glance in the mirror brings color to my cheeks and full-on embarrassment to my soul, looking at the lingerie-like uniform with fishnet stockings and Louboutin heels we are expected to wear. Maybe when everyone else in the club is wearing the same thing, or a whole lot less— which is usually the case, it feels we're completely dressed. But standing in the middle of this room, processing raw emotion, with all of those implements and the kinky equipment, I desperately wish for my own clothes and more of them.

I don't need to hear the doorknob to know Master Bistrita is standing behind me in the doorway. I can feel the searing heat of his eyes dragging down the length of me. When he closes the door with a distinct click of the lock, I draw in a breath.

His dark-souled eyes meet mine in the reflection of the mirror. So much for myths. His hand touches my shoulder, sending pulses of energy through my body before his fingers have even found the nape of my neck. "I could feel your blood racing from down the hall. Perhaps because you're wearing very little clothing, in a room full of equipment intended to give you pleasure?"

My breath hitches in my throat. It takes moments and effort to avert my eyes from the dark ones that hold them captive. I follow every well-defined muscle of his body, covered in that snug fitting black sweater, and can almost feel the power of his thighs in those jeans.

He arches a brow, making my body tingle as his gaze heats my skin from the base of my nape all the way down to my toes. "I think we were talking about my rules before I had to go attend to something."

I swallow past the lump in my throat. He came back for me; he wants me as much as I want him, no matter that he is a vampire with sexual appetites that I have no experience with at all.

The master vampire shifts my hair and trails a finger down the length of my neck. "So incredibly creamy," he murmurs, causing my nipples to pebble underneath the lace of the bodice. He turns me to face him, his eyes tinging red around the periphery.

My heart races so fast. This time, not from fear, but a primal desire that draws me to him like no other. He closes the gap between us. The heat of his body presses against me as his hand cradles the back of my head, and my body slides against the coolness of the glass that doubles as a mirrored wall behind me.

All my senses are hypersensitive to the magnetism the master vampire exudes. When his mouth descends, it's as though the entire world ceases to exist. In this moment, the universe is right, all of my fears are gone, and his kiss sears me with a passion so intense that it ensures I am really alive. That I am real, and so is he.

He strokes me with a gentle finger down my cheek. "I should leave you as innocent as I found you. You're far too young and inexperienced for my world."

I start to say something, anything to argue against being sent away, because I already know this is not one of those relationships where you spend the night, say goodbye, and toss the memories away. This is going to be burnt into my memory bank for years to come.

His finger presses against my lips. "Instead, I want to do the most abhorrent things to you and soil you with my need. But only once you know all of my depravities will you be able to decide if you'd like to obey my rules."