Bite Me (18 page)

I wanted to tell her to find me my fucking backbone, but Conner gave my neck a warning squeeze. So instead I kept my mouth shut and allowed him to do the talking.

“Hello, Stephanie. We need a selection of evening gowns in red and purple, size six please.”

She smiled politely at both of us. I had to give her points for not drooling all over Conner. “Of course. Would you like a glass of wine while you wait?”

A few minutes later, Conner and I were sipping champagne as Stephanie flitted around the department, bringing dress after dress into a private dressing room. She even asked my shoe size and called someone to bring me a selection of stiletto heels to match the dresses.

I knew a lot of women would enjoy such treatment, but it just made my skin crawl. I would rather have a book, a good glass of wine, and a quiet place to read than a personal shopper. Finally, Stephanie came to get me and the entire process began.

The first dress I tried on was dark purple. It made my small frame look gaunt and my skin sallow. Goddammit, this was why I hated shopping.

As soon as Conner saw me in it, he shook his head. “Stephanie, I do believe that dark purple is not Donna’s color. Please remove those dresses from the selections.”

Oh thank God, ten less dresses to try on. Next, I slipped into a bold red satin dress that wasn’t half bad, but it just didn’t seem like me. But Conner shook his head as soon as he saw it. When I went back into the dressing room I forced myself to really look at the garments. I chose a dark crimson dress that was the color of blood in a vial. Cut on the bias, the dress looked as though it were straight out of the 1930’s. Well except for the halter neckline that left most of my back bare.

I despaired that the material didn’t allow for underwear. I was totally against visible panty lines, and even my thong wasn’t skimpy enough to be unnoticeable under the satin. I cursed silently but pulled them down my legs anyway. This was the most promising of the entire group Stephanie had brought into the dressing room. I checked the fall of the fabric again, wondering if Conner would notice I wasn’t wearing panties. Fuck it. I slid my feet into a pair of gold strappy sandals.

When I came out of the dressing room, Conner looked me up and down silently. I waited a moment, but when he didn’t say anything, I smoothed my hands down the skirt.

“Well?” I asked.

“Turn around,” he said.

I slowly turned so he could see the back then completed the circle so I was facing him again. Stephanie was standing behind him, smiling. In a completely incongruous gesture to her outward appearance, she gave me a semi-dorky thumbs up. I smiled back at her.

Conner stood from his chair. “This is the one,” he stated. “You look beautiful, Donna.”

I turned my smile to him. “Thank you.”

He glanced over his shoulder at Stephanie. “Please ring up the dress and the shoes.”

I was so grateful to be done with the shopping torture that I didn’t even argue about the shoes. I just hurried into the dressing room, carefully removed the dress and shoes, and threw on my own clothes. When I came out of the dressing room, Conner was waiting for me with a leather jacket thrown over his arm.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Don’t we need to wait for her to ring up the dress and shoes and take them with us?”

Conner shook his head. “No. They’ll be delivered tomorrow. I’m just glad that the dress needed no alterations.”

I seconded that. I couldn’t imagine having to stand still while they pinned and fitted the damn thing. He held the jacket out so I could put my arms through. I just looked at him blankly.

“Um, Conner, that’s not my jacket.”

He smirked. “Yes it is.”

“No, it’s not,” I argued.

Still holding it out, he continued to grin at me. “It is.”

“It is not!”

I realized that heads were turning in nearby areas and felt my cheeks heat up. Shit, take me to a nice store and I turned into a crazy person.

I stepped closer to Conner. “What the hell are you doing? Trying to drive me crazy?”

“No. I noticed that your jacket is getting rather worn, so I asked Stephanie to bring me several jackets in a similar style and your size. I chose this one. If you don’t like it, we can always go look.”

“No, no, it’s a very nice jacket,” I said, sliding one arm then the other into the sleeves. No way in hell was I subjecting myself to more shopping in a store where most of the items cost more than my monthly rent.

After Conner draped it over my shoulders I realized that was the truth. The black leather was supple and it was cut to fit me as though it were made for me. It was also exactly what I would have chosen for myself.

I stroked the soft leather. “Thank you.”

Conner kissed my cheek. “You’re welcome,” he said.

As we walked out to his car, I asked, “They’re going to deliver the dress tomorrow?”

He nodded.

“Isn’t that a pretty tight schedule? What if something happens? A car accident, nuclear attack, anything. If they can’t get the dress to your house in time, does that mean I get to wear my jeans?”

Conner laughed. “No. I know you have a dress in the luggage I packed for you so you will wear a fucking dress.”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “Fine.”

What could I say, I hated dressing up. Skirts and casual dresses, yes. Evening gowns that made me feel like a kid playing dress-up, no.

As Conner opened my car door, he said, “Don’t worry. You only have to wear something formal for the Claiming ceremony and our wedding.”

I decided to drop the dress argument since it was obvious that I wasn’t going to win. I wanted to ask Conner to take me to a restaurant. This was the first time I had left his house in the last two weeks, and I had a newfound appreciation for simple things like going out to eat or running to the grocery store for milk. Conner assured me that I would have my freedom back after the Claiming ceremony.

When we arrived back at his house, Conner headed into the kitchen.

“Come keep me company while I cook,” he demanded.

Normally I would have given him shit for bossing me around, but I was just glad he wasn’t sending me back down to the basement. I followed him into the kitchen and poured us both a glass of wine while he started prepping vegetables to go with our supper.

As he scrubbed and peeled carrots, he glanced at me. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

A little alarm went off in my mind. Though his face and voice were bland, something told me that I wasn’t going to like what he had to say. And of course that smug little bitchy voice was right. What he said next pissed me right off.

“After the ceremony, you can’t go back to work at the lounge,” he said.

I choked on my wine. Excuse me? After a few minutes of hacking pinot noir out of my lungs, I sucked in a breath and said, “Excuse me?”

Conner set down the knife he was using to slice the carrots with a sigh. “I know I didn’t say that well, but I need you to understand. If you want to work, I will make sure you have a job at one of my companies. I just can’t allow you to work at the lounge any longer.”

Obviously dementia was still possible in vampires otherwise he would never have said that last sentence.

“Allow me?” My voice was about three octaves higher than usual. My brain whirled in an attempt to wrap itself around what he was saying and decide on a response.

Conner scrubbed his face with his hands. “Dammit, I know I’m fucking this up.” He came around the island so that he was standing in front of me at the bar where I was seated. “Donna, as my Claimed, there will be certain expectations. Other vampires will expect me to provide for you in all ways. That is the way a Claiming works. You will live with me, and I am supposed to provide for each and every one of your needs. If I do not then others will see me as a weak mate and attempt to lure you away at the end of the five year Claiming period.”

Was he for real? “Seriously?” I asked.

When he nodded, I snatched up my wineglass and drained it. Then I quickly set it back on the counter before my white-knuckled grip cracked the crystal.

“I don’t like this, Conner. I mean, what the fuck? You just spring all this on me now! I knew that I would have to move in with you, but I was okay with that because I prefer living with you to whatever Vanessa would dream up for me. But quitting my job? You can’t just demand that I quit.”

He came around the bar so he towered over me as I sat on the barstool. “You’re right. I can’t demand it, and that’s not what I was trying to do. Somehow I seem to say the wrong things. If you want to work, I don’t have a problem with that. But I need you to work for me in some way.” He held up a hand when I started to argue. “You don’t have to work
directly
for me but at one of my businesses.”

I scowled fiercely at him. “Great. Then everyone I work with will have something to discuss behind my back, how I’m sleeping my way to the top.”

He shook his head. “No, that won’t happen. Most of my employees are vampires. They expect me to hire you. It makes me happy that you don’t want a job you’re not qualified for or a token position.”

I growled low in my throat and Conner laughed.

“You’re cute when you’re angry,” he said.

I poked him in the chest hard. “Don’t patronize me, fang boy. I am not comfortable with this, but I’ll do it. I draw the line at you buying me a bunch of stuff though. I will buy my own clothes and cars, thank you.”

I could tell he didn’t like it, but Conner nodded in agreement.

“You worked in advertisement before you got your job at the lounge, correct?” he asked.

“Yes and I was damn good at it.”

He reached over the bar to the bottle of pinot noir and refilled my wineglass. “Well, I own several companies, and I’m sure one of them has an opening in the marketing department. Or a department that is too overloaded.” He handed the glass to me. “Or, since you have experience at a bar, you could be an assistant manager at my nightclub and work your way up to manager.”

That was tempting, but I missed my job in advertising. I wasn’t exaggerating when I told him that I was good at my job. I enjoyed the challenges and the deadlines. I thrived on them.

“I’d prefer a job in marketing or advertising, but only if you have a position available,” I answered.

Conner kissed me lightly. “Good. Thank you.”

I sipped my wine. “Oh, and as long as you’re not my boss.”

He went back to the cutting board to finish prepping for dinner. “Technically I am your boss if I own the company, but I have a feeling that’s not what you’re talking about.”

“No, just not my direct boss. I think that it would get old very quickly.”

Conner threw the vegetables in the wok on the stove top. “I agree. I won’t be your boss in that sense.” He stirred the contents of the wok. “Back to what you said in regards to my purchasing things for you. I will agree not to buy you a car for now but I will want to buy you gifts when the mood strikes me. And I’m sure it will strike me a lot.”

“For fuck’s sake, Conner!” I yelled. “Can we please do this in a way that doesn’t make me feel like a fucking prostitute?”

In a flash he was in front of me, right in my face. “I don’t ever want to hear you talk about yourself like that again.”

Holy shit he was pissed. He sounded like Chris Hemsworth in that Snow White flick. As scary as he was in his fury, he was also hot as hell.

“First, I don’t think of you like that. To you this may not seem right but, to me, this is expected, and I want to do these things for you. Second, you don’t seem to realize how deep a Claiming is. It is like marriage for us and damned hard to get out of before the period is over. Most vampires who Claim a human don’t bother with a marriage ceremony because, in our society, this is just as deep and important. So when you reject certain aspects of that relationship, it’s a slap in the fucking face to me.”

I knew my eyes were huge. I hadn’t realized how big of a deal this was to him. He kept talking about marriage in the future, so I assumed this was more like an engagement party. Hell, he’d described it as a type of engagement. I certainly didn’t want to make him feel the way he did.

“I’m sorry, Conner. I wasn’t trying to belittle you or our relationship. You described the Claiming as sort of an engagement. Now you’re describing it more like a marriage. I’m confused.”

He leaned back and took a deep breath. “I know. I was trying not to scare you away when I brought it up. You were worried about how fast we were moving, and I was concerned you would run for the hills or do something stupid and land right in Vanessa’s hands.”

I placed a hand on his chest. “I really am sorry. I’ll try to be more open-minded, but I want you to understand how hard this is for me. I’m used to taking care of myself. I’ve never been dependent on a man.” I took a deep breath. “I won’t throw your gifts back in your face as long as you take it easy and don’t start buying me tons of stuff.”

Conner pulled me close, hugging me to his chest. “I can do that.” He rubbed my back. “I do have a question though.”

“What’s that?” I murmured against his pectoral.

“Explain to me why you get horny every time I get angry.”

I jerked away. “What?” I scowled at him. We already discussed this and it was embarrassing enough the first time. “That’s not a question,” I deflected.

He grinned at me so broadly that his dimples made an appearance. “Every time I get angry, I can feel it. You get turned on. You’re practically broadcasting it.”

I knew my face was turning beet red with embarrassment. “Um, didn’t you already ask me this question and didn’t I already answer it?” When he nodded, I continued, “Well, then you know the answer.”

Conner threw his head back and roared with laughter. When he stopped chuckling long enough to speak, he leaned in so his cheek was against mine, and his lips were right by my ear. “Well, lass, since it affects you so much I suppose I’ll have to cater to your fetish.”

I shivered in his arms. Fucking hell. He had purposefully thickened his accent, and it was fucking hot! Of their own volition, my hands wandered to his waist, and started to slide up the back of his shirt.