Bite Me (24 page)

Finally grasping hands did catch me. I thrashed wildly, desperate to escape.

I heard Conner’s voice, “Donna!”

I turned my head. “I’m here! Help me, Conner.”

The hands holding me shook me hard. I screamed and fought with everything I had.

“Wake up now,” Conner demanded, his voice stern.

I opened my eyes and stared up at his face. Panting, my eyes darted to the room around me and I realized I was in our bed. When I realized I was home and that I was safe, my face crumpled, and the first sob felt like it was being ripped out of my lungs.

Conner sat up and easily shifted my body so I was curled up in his lap. He rocked me like a child as my tears fell against his chest. I had never cried so hard in my life. I clenched my hand over his shoulder and wailed. All the pain and fear that had built within me that evening poured out, washed away by a storm of tears. As quickly as it came over me, the storm died. My breathing was harsh as the last of the terror faded away, leaving me hollow and exhausted.

When he sensed I was better, Conner moved me off his lap and pulled the covers up to my chest as I reclined on the pillows. He climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom. I noticed he had left the light on and the door cracked so that the bedroom had not been in complete darkness as we slept. Almost as if he knew the nightmares would come.

A few minutes later, he returned with a damp washcloth and a small cup of water. He started to dab my face with the cloth but I stilled his hand. I took the cloth myself and pressed it lightly to my swollen eyes before I wiped the last streaks of drying tears from my face.

A slight smile appeared on his face as he handed me the cup of water. Tired beyond comprehension, I drained the cup and gave it back to him.

“Why are you smiling?” I asked as I leaned back and placed the cloth back over my eyes.

“You’re returning to your normal self,” he commented.

I wanted to glare at him, but the cool cloth felt wonderful and I didn’t want to move it so that I could see his arrogant face.

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

I felt Conner’s fingers brushing my hair back from my face. He must have removed my clip sometime in the night because my hair was loose and clinging to my forehead.

“When we arrived earlier tonight, you allowed me to care for you as I would a child. I bathed you, even held a glass to your lips. Now you are exerting your independence as you typically do, insisting on doing everything for yourself even though you are almost too tired to hold your eyes open. I’m glad to see it.”

I snorted but didn’t respond. He did have a point. It had driven several of my boyfriends crazy in the past, my need to do things for myself and maintain my independence. Realizing I was about to fall asleep, I slid the washcloth off my face and handed it back to him.

His smile spread across his face fully when he saw my expression. “I see that your spirit was only subdued by tonight’s events and not broken.”

“That’s me, tough as nails,” I quipped, throwing my arm over my eyes. “Can we talk later? I just want to sleep for a year or two.”

I heard Conner moving around before he pulled me to him again. I tucked my forehead against his throat, put my hand over his heart, and threw my thigh over his leg. This was my favorite sleeping position with my big Highlander.

“As you wish,” he said.

Only Conner could surprise me by quoting my favorite movie. I was still smiling as I fell asleep, no longer fearing the darkness or the nightmares that had chased me earlier.

“Goddammit, Donna. You are staying home today.”

Wearing only a lacy black bra and panties, I put my hands on my hips and stared at the big, stupid vampire standing between me and my clothes.

“Of course I’m going to work. It’s only my second day on the job. How the fuck would I look if I don’t show up?”

Conner growled at me and, coupled with the fact he was damp and wearing only a towel, my lady parts vibrated with interest. Silently I told my hormones to stand down. I needed to convince him that I would be fine.

“I don’t give a fuck how it looks,” he said, his accent thickening, “Your safety is my first and only concern.”

That was the only reason I wasn’t currently throwing objects at his head. I knew Conner’s bossy behavior was stemming from his worry for me. After the kidnapping attempt on Friday, he hadn’t let me out of his sight. His men hadn’t been able to find Parker or the man who I had seen Parker arguing with. Conner was convinced that Vanessa Santino had something to do with the whole situation but he wouldn’t have proof unless he found Parker. Fucking Parker Hanes. I wish I had kicked him in the balls when I had the chance.

The only way Conner was going to be able to keep me at home was if he stayed here with me. However he had meetings today that he couldn’t miss and I intended to go to work.

“Conner, I’ll be fine.”

“Damn right you will, lass, even if I have to haul you down to the basement and lock you in again.”

I screamed in frustration and threw my hands in the air. It appeared we were having our first official fight as a couple.

“You don’t understand. I have to do this. I can’t live my life afraid and hiding every time something bad happens,” I said.

“And I can’t stay focused on finding that walking dead man you used to call a boss if I’m constantly worried for your safety,” he retorted.

I huffed out a hard breath. This was getting me nowhere. Instead, I decided to try a different tack. I walked to Conner and laid a hand on his chest.

“Can’t we come to some sort of compromise?” I pleaded. I hated to beg, but I knew I would go crazy if he started locking me in his McMansion again.

He studied me as though he were trying to read my thoughts. Maybe he was. Or maybe he was just trying to read my emotions. Finally, the tension went out of his shoulders and he sighed.

“We can come to a compromise but on my terms.”

“Um, Conner, that is the exact opposite of a compromise. If you’re the only one who gets your way it isn’t compromise, it’s fascism.”

He gave a short bark of laughter before his face turned serious again. “No. I am going to give a little. You come with me to my office while I conduct my meeting. I’ll call your boss at Savage Technology and tell him that I needed you for a temporary assignment this morning. This afternoon we will work out of your office.”

“We?” I asked.

“If you think I’m letting you go anywhere without me after Friday, you’re bonkers.”

I giggled at the term he used. “Bonkers?”

“Mad. Insane. Loony.”

I supposed that this was the best I was going to get without ending up in the basement apartment again.

“Okay, but it’s going to look pretty strange if you start coming to work with me every day.”

Conner sighed. “Well, Savage Technology hasn’t been performing very well this year. I’ve intended to investigate ways to improve things within the company. This is as good a time as any for me to look into company efficiency and perhaps meet with my Marketing President and Senior Vice-President to design a marketing plan.”

I smiled widely at him. He really did intend to compromise. I rose on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.

“You’re going to have to do better than that to make it up to me,” he muttered darkly.

I leaned into him, letting my hand trail down his side to his hip where the towel met skin. “Do you remember that tie you were wearing Friday?” I asked.

He nodded, his eyes flaring. Their color lightened to the electric blue that I had grown to love. It meant that I was pushing him to the limits of his control.

I put my mouth to his ear, my body pressed to his from shoulder to hip. “Do you remember what I wanted you to do to me with that tie?”

He growled low in his throat and I felt the vibration of it against my chest. Oh he remembered all right.

“If we do that tonight, will we be even?” I asked, leaning back and batting my eyelashes at him.

Conner grabbed me and kissed me hard and thoroughly. He set me away. “No. We won’t be even.”

I pouted. “What do I have to do?”

He touched my cheek with the back of his hand. “You make it worth it just by being you. I may tease you that you owe me but there will never be debts between us. Even if there were, I would not want you to feel you had to repay them with your body.”

I blinked at him, tears threatening to fill my eyes. “Stop being so fucking sweet,” I demanded.

He threw his head back and laughed. “You’re the only woman in the world who would hate sweetness from her lover.”

I stomped on his foot before I slipped around him and headed toward my half of the enormous walk-in closet.

Conner’s arms wrapped around me from behind, holding me hard and fast. His voice was low and rough in my ear when he spoke. “Since you dislike sweetness, perhaps I should turn you over my knee and see if that improves your disposition.”

A shiver ran through me, and my nipples hardened. I’d never had a man spank me before but hearing Conner say those words in that accented voice, well, it made me want to jump him then and there.

He dragged his nose up the length of my neck and inhaled deeply. “You smell like arousal and fear. There’s no better combination to a vampire. Have I discovered a secret fetish?”

God he was turning me inside out. I opened my mouth to speak but had to clear my throat. “I don’t know. I’ve never had a man spank me before.”

“But you would like to.”

It wasn’t a question so I didn’t respond.

As suddenly as his arms had come around me, Conner released me and swatted me on the ass. I jumped and stifled a moan. Jesus, who knew I had a little kinky streak?

“Get dressed or we’ll be late for my meeting,” he said.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw the unholy gleam in his eyes. Fuck. He was going to torture me all day. I could tell just by looking at him.

It was my turn to growl at him, not out of arousal but anger. “Fine, fangboy. Just know that two can play this game.”

His amusement seemed to hang in the very air as we both dressed in silence. After we finished getting ready, I made toast for myself while Conner left a message for my boss on his voicemail.

Since I had moved in, I noticed that Conner hadn’t been lying when he said he rarely ate. He almost never ate breakfast with me. Even when he made dinner, he often just sat with me at the table and drank a glass of wine while I ate. He said he found it erotic to watch me enjoy a meal he prepared with such gusto.

He did drink coffee though, so I made us both travel mugs for our drive into his office downtown. It felt very domestic to do a little chore like that for him. I liked getting ready with him in the morning, and I realized that I liked climbing into the car with him to drive to work. Instead of listening to crappy morning radio shows, we bickered and laughed. I had never experienced this level of intimacy with a man before.

Sure I had boyfriends, but they didn’t inspire the closeness I felt to Conner. Everything just clicked. That’s when I knew that I had made the right decision to agree to the Claiming, even after such a short time together. It wasn’t about the big things. Sure, Conner was gorgeous, had more money than God, and made my legs numb with pleasure when we made love, but that hadn’t convinced me. It was the little things. Him cooking dinner for me several nights a week. Treating me so gently after the kidnapping attempt. Appreciating the deep-seated independent streak in my personality and the sarcasm that inevitably flowed from my mouth without a second thought.

I looked at Conner with new eyes as he wove through the downtown Dallas traffic. He glanced over at me.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Yet another reason I made the right decision. He honestly cared about my feelings.

“I love you,” I said.

Somehow he knew I’d just had an epiphany because he took a moment to really look at me when he said, “And I love you.”

A little devil perched on my shoulder and I couldn’t resist goading him a little. After a heartfelt moment, I needed to lighten things up. Traffic was heavy and moving slowly so I knew I would have time to tease him a bit.

“So Savage isn’t a very Scottish surname. How did you come by it?” I asked.

He gave me a strange look at the quick change of subject. “Pardon?”

“Well, your last name is Savage. That’s not Scottish. How did you end up with that name?”

Conner shook his head. “Your mind works in the strangest ways,” he commented, “and the name Savage is actually Scottish. It just wasn’t the name I was born with.”

I sipped my coffee. “Are you gonna answer me or what?”

He sighed. “My friend, Asher, he’s French.” He paused.

I just waited and stared at him. When he realized I wasn’t going to let the subject drop, he finally continued. “When I met Asher, I was wild and in a bit of trouble. It was the early eighteen hundreds, and I had done some things in Paris that made me very unpopular with a certain crowd. I met Asher when I was attempting to escape a particularly murderous mob. He was kind enough to help me out.”

“But how did you end up with name?” I prodded.