Bite Me (8 page)

Conner scowled at me. “Don’t look at me that way. I was trying to be courteous.”

I really wanted to tell him what he could do with his brand of courtesy, but I was a little afraid of what he might do to me.

His scowl didn’t fade. “Okay, what exactly did I do wrong?”

I sighed. He couldn’t be asking me for an honest answer, could he? “Look, Conner. It’s after three in the morning, and I’m tired. Can’t we discuss this tomorrow?”

An absolutely wicked smile spread across his face, and I felt my stomach quiver. “You’re right. We can talk about this tomorrow.”

He had us both inside my apartment before I even had a chance to blink. Oh fuck no, this wasn’t happening. I wasn’t some booty call. Been there, done that during my stupid, wild college years. It was fun then, but now it just made me feel cheap and I didn’t like that.

I put my hand on Conner’s chest, and he backed up. “No.”

Conner blinked. “No what?”

“No to whatever it is you’re thinking. I am not a booty call, your fuck buddy, or some tramp you can use when you feel like it. You want a girl who doesn’t mind if you’re not there the next morning, call my coworker, Marissa. You buy her some dinner or a nice handbag and she won’t care what you do. Me, I have different expectations, and those include respect not designer gear.”

Inside, I was shaking in my boots but, on the outside, I sounded calm. At least I would get flattened with some dignity intact.

To my surprise, Conner smiled at me, flashing his dimple. “There you are.”

Say what? “What does that mean?” I asked.

“I watched you, Donna. I watched you for two nights. You are vibrant, honest, and real. You hold nothing back. That’s what I want from you. In my life, too many things must be held back or left unsaid. I’m disgusted with it. You are what life is made of and I want to feel alive again. I don’t want you to bite back your thoughts out of fear. I want to know you and I want you to know me.”

I took a step back. “Are you saying you aren’t going to suck me dry if I tell you that leaving without a word is something a dickhead would do?”

Conner laughed, the sound was like warm velvet. I loved it. “No. I want you to tell me what you are thinking. I can’t see into your mind. I need you to be honest with me.”

I tried to ignore the warm feeling that was spreading through my belly. I knew nothing about this man, er, vampire. Conner seemed to bring out Donna, the Queen of Bad Decisions. Also, no man I had ever met wanted real honesty. They wanted convenient honesty about things that weren’t really that important. No one really enjoyed getting called out on bad behavior, but most of the men I met became more defensive than a corrupt politician if I politely mentioned that they had their head up their ass.

Conner leaned in and kissed me lightly. “I can see your skepticism, but I assure you that I am sincere.”

With his slight accent, Conner’s words sounded even more prim and proper. I wanted to smile. Even though he looked as though he were in his early thirties, his old-fashioned way of speaking was beginning to give away his true age.

“Fine. You’ll get honesty but don’t blame me if you don’t always like what you hear.”

He grinned at me. “I’m over three hundred years old and long past the stage where a few truthful words will cripple my ego.”

I allowed myself to smile back right before I let loose a huge, jaw-cracking yawn that I barely had time to cover with my hand.

Conner chuckled. “Tired?” he asked.

I nodded. “Someone kept me up way past my bedtime last night.”

“Am I forgiven for leaving this morning?”

He smirked a little as he asked and looked so mischievous that I couldn’t keep from smiling back.

“Yes, you’re forgiven.”

I wasn’t sure what to do or say next. I wanted to ask him to stay the night but I felt awkward. Conner was different from all the men I had known in the past. He made me feel itchy. Unsettled. I hadn’t felt this unsure of myself since my teenage years.

“Would you, uh, like to stay?” I really wanted to roll my eyes at my own lack of sophistication, but it was too late to take it back now.

Conner’s dimple popped out when he grinned at me. “I would like that very much, Donna.”

My stomach chose that moment to growl. Conner laughed. “Did you eat dinner?”

I shook my head. My appetite had been non-existent during my dinner break, so I had skipped out on food and just sipped a soda.

“Why don’t I order a pizza while you take a shower?” he asked.

That sounded fantastic, and my stomach growled again in agreement. I knew my face was turning red, but I ignored it. “That sounds great. Thank you.”

I walked toward my bedroom before my stomach could growl again. I wasn’t sure that I liked how much lighter and happier I felt after Conner apologized and how upset I had been when I woke up to an empty bed that morning. One date, one night of hot sex, and I was beginning to care too much about him. Hell, my determination to only go on one date with him had disappeared sometime between orgasms two and three last night. There was so much I didn’t know or understand. Apparently all the vampire lore I was familiar with was well-thought out propaganda or outright bullshit and that was in regards to
what
he was. There was even more I didn’t know about
who
he was.

I mulled all this over as I turned on the shower in my bathroom and stripped off my work clothes. Getting involved with Conner was much more dangerous than dating the men I usually spent time with. He was a vampire. I’m sure he could snap me in half without breaking a sweat. That alone was enough to make me think twice about seeing him. Then there was the fact that, in one date he proved that he could, and would, treat me better than any other man I had ever been with. And that included mind-blowing, leg-numbing sex. All of those things combined made him incredibly dangerous to me. Not just my physical safety but the safety of my heart.

Twenty minutes later, I was clean but no closer to figuring out what to do. I dried off and slipped into yoga pants and a huge t-shirt. I decided I could be confused tomorrow when I was alone again. Right now I had company that may not be able to read my mind but he probably felt all the emotional turmoil swirling around in my head.

I left my bedroom and the smell of melted cheese and spicy pepperoni greeted me. My stomach reminded me yet again that it was empty. Conner was stretched out on my couch, two boxes of pizza on the table in front of him, along with an open bottle of red wine and two glasses. Conner smiled when I sat down next to him. I felt a little self-conscious in my lounging clothes, but it would have been stupid for me to do a full hair and make-up job at three in the morning.

I didn’t question how Conner got the pizza here at such a crazy hour. I was just grateful to have something to eat. While he poured wine, I opened the pizza box and snagged a piece. I almost moaned at the first bite of melted cheese and pepperoni. Conner set my glass in front of me but took a sip from his. He leaned back against the arm of the couch, his torso twisted to face me and one knee bent on the seat cushion. He looked as though he were straight out of a GQ photo spread.

I wiped my mouth with a napkin he had thoughtfully left on the table. “You aren’t hungry?” I asked.

Conner shook his head. “No, I’m not hungry.”

I could almost hear his unspoken words,
for food
. My stomach clenched, and I snatched up my wine for a deep gulp. After last night, I wasn’t sure if he would be hungry for blood or maybe something else. The thought made me squeeze my thighs together.

I must have broadcast my feelings loudly because Conner’s face shifted into a deliciously wicked grin. Resolutely, I ignored him and ate another slice of pizza. Once I finished my second slice, I drank more wine and felt my muscles relaxing. Conner was a nice dining companion. I didn’t feel odd eating while he sat drinking wine. He asked me questions about my day at work and chuckled when I told him about Lauren and Jenna’s antics that night. When I briefly mentioned Marissa, he seemed to understand that she wasn’t my favorite person and didn’t ask any questions about her.

It was nearly four in the morning when I glanced at the clock and sighed. “I need to get to bed. I have to work again tomorrow.”

Conner took my wine glass. “Go get ready and I will put away the food.”

I did as he said, wanting to get rid of my pizza breath. I brushed my teeth and used a soft rubber band to pull my hair into a loose ponytail. I hated waking up with hair covering my face. When I came out of the bathroom, Conner was already in the bed, his clothes neatly laid out on the chair in the corner of my bedroom. I ditched my yoga pants, but kept my t-shirt on as I slid under the sheets. I shouldn’t have bothered, because as soon as I got within arm’s reach, Conner yanked it over my head and threw it on the end of the bed so that I was dressed only in my panties.

He pulled me down into the crook of his arm, tucking my face against his shoulder. I placed my hand on his chest, surprised that he seemed to want to go to sleep immediately. I figured we might fool around a little.

Conner turned us so suddenly that I squealed. “If you wanted to play, you only had to say so, Donna.”

I guess he could read my mind after all.

I was drunk. Sloshed. Trashed. Hammered.

I was also having the best time. Of course, I always had a great time when I hung out with my girlfriends. The five of us were probably our waiter’s worst nightmare. He was young, probably early twenties, and adorable. After a few cocktails, the girls and I became extremely verbal in our appreciation of his assets. Shannon and Ricki in particular seemed to enjoy discussing his resemblance to Adam Levine.

Upon my insistence, we ordered a variety of appetizers. With the amount of alcohol we were consuming, I knew we needed to put some food on our stomachs before things became too crazy. As we plowed through nachos, hot wings, and other fattening fare, the conversation turned from work to men.

“I swear it’s been so long since I had an orgasm with someone other than myself, I’m afraid I won’t be able to do it with someone else in the room. Sort of like a shy bladder or some shit,” Ivie complained.

We all giggled and Kerry popped off, “So you have shy orgasms?”

Our giggles became raucous laughter. As we calmed down, Ivie’s eyes turned toward me.
Oh, shit
, I thought. She was about to ask me about my love life. I might be able to get away to fibbing to one of the girls, but all four of them together were better than any lie detector used by the FBI, CIA, or any other alphabet soup intelligence agency.

“So Donna, have you met anyone lately?” she asked.

My thoughts scattered wildly. Fuck me. I quickly decided that partial truth was better than outright lie.

“I met a guy, but I’m not sure how serious it is.” That was complete truth. “We’ve only been out a couple of times.” That was mostly a lie.

After our dinner at Concord, Conner met me at my apartment almost every night after work and stayed all night. He did take me out for a more casual meal on my next night off, but my schedule and his dictated that most of our time together was spent at my apartment. I was beginning to get upset that he had never invited me to his place.

We had been spending tons of time together over the last ten days and not once had he asked me if I wanted to come to his home after work. While he didn’t act as though I was his dirty little secret, I mean he had introduced me to Asher Leroux, he still seemed content to keep me away from the more personal aspects of his life. Well, with the exception of one.

All four ladies were staring at me with wide eyes and I realized that I had been sitting there staring off into space.

“If your face is any indication,” Ricki said, “it’s a lot more serious than you just said.”

I felt heat rising in my cheeks but ignored the blush. If I gave an inch, Ricki would have me singing like a canary before our next round.

“I honestly don’t know if it’s serious, but I do know he is seriously hot.”

The girls all leaned in. “How hot?” Shannon asked.

“Details, woman!” This was from Ricki.

I sucked back the last of my lemon drop and caught our waiter’s eye. I raised my glass and he nodded.

“Well, he has the tall, dark, and handsome shtick down.”

They all glared at me and I sighed.

“Fine. He is tall, and he has long dark hair. It’s almost black and it nearly touches his shoulders. He has fantastic bone structure, but he’s not what I would call traditionally handsome. I guess the best way to describe him is that he’s all man. I swear testosterone drips from his pores.” I paused, but they were still looking at me expectantly, so I continued. “He has the most beautiful blue eyes. I’ve never seen anything like them.”

The waiter arrived with my lemon drop and the rest of the girls ordered another round. I sighed in relief. Time to change the subject.

“What about you, Ricki? How’s it going with Craig?” I asked.

“Do not even get me started,” she said. Of course she continued, which made me smile as usual. “He’s a dog. A horny dog. I called him a few days ago and some woman answered. I didn’t freak because, hell, it could have been his mother or something. When I asked to speak to him,
she
went off. Asking me who I was and what I wanted. I told her I was Craig’s girlfriend, and it turns out I can’t be his fucking girlfriend because
she
is his girlfriend. I told her that was fine that I didn’t want his ass since he seemed to be happy to dip his dick into any skank that seemed interested.”