WiredinSin (9 page)

Dominick had never been as nervous as he was picking up the
phone to call Victoria. His hand shook and he laughed at his anxiety. Even the
sound of his voice was strained. This was it, though, and he knew it. This was
his one shot at getting Victoria to see him and know that he saw her.

The first ring made him jump. He’d been too lost in his own
thoughts to realize that he’d finished dialing. He ran through the details one
more time while taking a deep breath. He’d swallowed down the noxious
fortifying brew moments before, he’d added a layer of protection around his
aura to dampen it slightly, and their date location was firmly embedded in his
mind. There wasn’t anything else to do other than wait for her to pick up the
phone.

The third ring had him breaking out in a sweat. What if
she’d decided to cancel their date?
Shit
.
Maybe he’d dialed the
wrong number?
Damn antiquated landline phones with no displays
.
He could hang up and dial again, but then if she was just reaching for the
phone and he hung up on her she’d be pissed and—

A quiet click ended his mind-racing panic. When a sigh
flowed across the wires and caressed his ear, he was in bliss.

“Hi, Dominick. Sorry it took me so long to get to the
phone.” Her voice was just above a whisper, throaty with a slight hint of rasp.
It tingled over his nerves and made his already hard cock twitch. He loved the
sound of her voice, especially like this. Not the fake seductress routine but
the real Victoria.

“Hello, Victoria. How are you this evening?”

“Oh, so formal. I’m fine. A little nervous, although I’m not
sure why.” She still sounded too quiet.

“Me too actually.” He stalled and cringed at the silence.
Should he invite her into his head? Just let her flow there on her own? He
hadn’t felt the pinch of the magic yet, so he knew she hadn’t started the
spell. He cleared his throat and fell short of the cutesy flirtatious vibe he
wanted when he stumbled over, “Um, so how was your day?”

You are the lamest lamewad.
He smacked himself in the
forehead.
Way to be smooth and sexy, ask about her day, dumbass
.
He
stammered unintelligently for a second, trying to find a way to salvage his
dignity. He was stopped by her breathy chuckle.

“It was good, and enlightening. Did you know that there is
this guy, who I’ve met a handful of times before, who might possibly be my
mate? Isn’t that crazy?”

Dominick stopped breathing. His heart seized in his chest
and a blanket of thick anger coated his mind. He was her mate, not some other
shithead. He growled low in his chest. “Who, Victoria? Who is this guy?”

“Oh, you might know him. He’s a techno-wizard, works for
some bigwig company downtown.”

Her voice was still low but he could hear the amusement in
it. How could she be laughing at this? They were supposed to be on a date and
she was talking to him about another guy? Fuck no. But then there was the
little voice in his head that reminded him that he hadn’t claimed her and he
didn’t have any rights to her if she decided to choose another male. Defeat
slammed through him, clenching his chest. Physical pain radiated from his
wounded heart.

“Have you met with him yet?” He couldn’t mask the pain in
his voice and cringed at the sound of his weakness.

“Not yet, but I will soon.” Her chipper attitude further
drove a stake into his heart. “So, we have the whole night. What’s the plan?”

Relief, cool and calming, flowed through his thoughts. She
still wanted the date night. She was still going to spend the evening with him.
She couldn’t want to meet with this other male too badly if she was still
interested. Dominick tried to shake off the icy grip of pain still wrapped
around his chest.

“Well—” He cleared his throat and tried again.
Geez, man,
you’re falling apart like a fucking wuss.
“I’d planned some different
things. Virtual dinner in a little place in Italy, a fabulous replaying of the
Stanley Cup Finals with imaginary perfect seating, and hopefully topping it all
off with some mind-blowing sex. Are you ready?”

“That does sound fun, but—” She sucked in a shaky breath
that sent shivers of anxiety down his spine. He didn’t know how he’d react if
she came out with a “let’s just go as friends” statement. “How about you come
let me in and I’ll explain what I had in mind.”

Those words didn’t make any sense. Come. Let. Me. In. Was
that English she was speaking? Those four syllables would imply that she was
there, outside his apartment. And he knew that couldn’t be right. She wouldn’t
be there, not while talking to him on the phone.

The doorbell ripped through his thoughts and left him
momentarily blank. Then the denial set in even as his logical mind set to work.

She can’t be here. It’s a coincidence that she said to
let her in and then the bell rang.

Of course it’s her, you dumbass.

What the hell am I going to do if it is her?

Go open the door for her. That would be the smart thing
to do.

But I’m dressed like a pauper’s third cousin.

“Dominick?” He jerked, realizing that he was still holding
the phone. “I can hear you mumbling. Come open the door. It really is me and I
don’t care how you’re dressed.”

Fuck
.
He’d said that all out loud? Flames
licked up his face as he blushed. Had she sounded upset, exasperated? What the
hell was he doing making her stand in the hallway outside his door while he had
an internal meltdown?

He rushed across his bedroom, threw the door open and ran to
his entryway. His phone was still clutched in his hand, pressed against his ear
hard enough to cause slight bolts of pain as he sprinted through the rooms. He
absently wondered how he’d kept the phone, as it had been attached to the wall
before he left his room. He pulled the handset away from his ear and stared
blankly at the severed cord. He couldn’t waste the time wondering how he’d done
such damage, not with his mate standing silently on the other side of the door.
With a shaky hand he unlocked the deadbolt and slid the chain off. It took
another heartbeat to deactivate his protection spell and the alarm. One more
heartbeat to open the door.

“Hey.” Victoria bit the inside of her cheek to keep from
grinning. What an understated way to say, “Hi, I’ve decided that you’re my mate
and I came over here wondering if you’d still take me, and yeah, I’m pretty
sure my demon is going to eat you alive when we get it on.” But she couldn’t
think of anything else to say with Dominick standing there looking all yummy in
his pajama pants and mussed dirty-blond hair.

“Hey,” he breathed.

At least we respond the same way to life-altering
situations
.
The word “awkward” came to mind as she stood in the
hallway staring back at him. She wanted to absorb the first real look at him
though. Emerald-green eyes flashed in the light from the hall. They swirled
with emotion as she studied him. His hair looked blonder than in his picture,
but the lighter coloring made the jeweled color of his eyes even more striking.
He wasn’t much taller than her but he seemed to take up so much more space.
Perhaps it was his aura or the magic flowing off him in waves. Or it might have
been just that he was a muscular male who intrigued her. Whatever the reason,
she couldn’t tear her eyes off him.

Seeing him in the flesh brought flashes of memory from
meetings over the last few months. She’d been so stupid to try to ignore the
fact that she’d been in the presence of her mate all that time. His scent
washed over her and made her mouth water.
Yep, see, you’re going to eat him
.
Her demon perked up and chuckled at her. A flash of another type of
devouring, the licking, sucking, swallowing kind blasted through her mind and
nearly had her knees buckling.

He must have shaken himself from his stupor because his
energy changed just before he moved out of the doorway. He seemed flustered,
but it was kind of cute. He cleared his throat and blushed just a little. “Come
in. Gods, I’m an idiot. You’ve surprised me and I’m not handling it well, it
seems.”

She squeezed by him and walked into his apartment, feeling
the first twinges of peace. Yes, she knew that the next few minutes would be
uncomfortable, but being with him eased something in her chest. They’d been
playing cat and mouse for long enough. It was time to see if fate knew what the
hell she was doing by pairing the two of them together.

His apartment was open and masculine, but she was happy to
see that it wasn’t slobbish. The short entryway opened into a large living room
full of brown leather and creamy accents. His TV was massive, mounted on one
wall like the centerpiece of a technological shrine. She caught a peek of blond
cupboards off to her left. His small kitchen was separated from the rest of the
room by a long bar, complete with tall, high-backed chair. Minimalistic. That
was the best way she could classify his home. She’d expected magazines, dirty
dishes, books, photos…something that would tell her what type of man he was.
There was nothing she could collect information from. Whatever Dominick found
important or interesting didn’t overflow into his living space.

“Why don’t you sit and I’ll grab some wine for us. Or I have
beer?” His voice was still shaky but she could tell that he’d finally gotten
over the shock. She turned to find him watching her with a guarded look on his
face. It was time that she laid her cards on the table. But first, a little
liquid courage was a good idea.

“A beer would be great, actually. Thank you.” She smiled at
the flash of surprise. “Yes, I know, I don’t strike anyone as a beer drinker.”

“No, that’s fine. Let me grab those.” He waved at his sofas.
“Sit anywhere you’d like.”

She watched him round the bar. Just seeing him in his
natural environment made her smile.
He’s not a creature to study, Vic.
She snorted then coughed lightly to cover the sound. No, he definitely wasn’t,
but she liked seeing him move with grace and purpose. He moved smoothly, like a
shifter but without the prowling, predatory stalk. She wondered if he’d move
like that while making love. If he’d lose control or if he’d remain reserved
until the moment of his orgasm.

The popping of beer caps brought her from her thoughts.
Strolling to one of the couches gave her a moment to look around the room
again. She sat slowly, savoring the feel of leather and soft cushions wrapping
around her bottom. Pulling her jean-clad legs up and tucking them under her ass
had her snuggled into the corner of the sofa when Dominick came back into the
living room.

“So what are you doing here, Victoria?” He handed her a
frosty beer before sitting on the other end of the sofa. “Don’t take that
wrong. I’m
extremely
happy to see you here, but I’m confused and
concerned.”

She wrapped both hands around the icy bottle in hopes that
the cold would help to slow her racing heart and allow her to get all the words
out before she became too self-conscious. She stared at her hands and tried to
start at the beginning. “I’ve decided that I need to embrace my supernatural
side. I’ve been fighting it, you see. I’ve always hated the demon inside me,
tried to bury my feelings, construct emotional barriers so that I didn’t have
to face what I’d become. But in doing so I was trying to stay human. I tried
for years to pretend that if I just worked hard enough at it I could go back,
become what I once was. I’ve hated being what I am. Parasite. Leech. Sexual
deviant.” She sighed but continued. “When I was turned, I attacked a man in the
hospital. I’d just woken and the slight lust that oozed off him was enough to
make my demon come to life. I killed him. Sucked him dry right there in my
room. From that day I’ve been terrified of what I’ve become. I’ve killed a few
more—too many. I started looking for ways to feed without sex right away.”

She looked up to gauge his thoughts and found only interest.
It helped and she went on. “I found a brothel that would let me rent a room
without becoming a service-girl. I would sit in that room night after night,
absorbing what energy I could from the men that visited the females on either
side of me. Then after a while I started working for the woman who ran it. I
did whatever she needed. Errands, laundry, bookkeeping. A few years of working
in the office got me a better room and the opportunity to buy the business from
her.

“For years I ran the brothel, making sure enough clients
came to the building that I could feed from their energy each night. When I
really needed actual touch I had the pick of males that came to us. I took in
more and more females who didn’t want to have sex to feed. As those numbers
climbed I started thinking about the phone sex business.” She stopped talking
after she realized she’d been rambling. She took a deep breath and let it out
slowly. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I’ve avoided my succubus side
as much as possible, convinced I’d harm anyone that got close to me. I’ve had
few friends since turning and fewer males whom I allowed to spend any amount of
time near me.”

She looked up again and straight into his concerned eyes.
She cringed at the understanding there, but she continued while their gazes
were linked. “I sensed you that day in the boardroom. Knew that my mate was
close, and it terrified me. I don’t know how to date, how to have a
relationship, how to keep from abusing you. I was young when I was turned and
didn’t have much experience then. If you want to take this further than sex,
I’m begging that you have patience with me, because I really have no idea how.
And isn’t that the sad part? Casual sex is normal for me. Emotional attachment
scares the shit out of me.”

Lighter. She definitely felt emotionally lighter. Maybe all
those talk show people weren’t wrong. It did feel better to offload some of her
baggage, even if it terrified the one man who she thought she could get close
to. But if he was going to be around her, date her, then he needed to know how
messed in the head she was.
Dating
.
What a weird concept for an
immortal succubus to
date
someone. They fed. They fucked. They didn’t
date. She was no normal succubus, though, and dating sounded exciting—and
scary, but mostly exciting.
If
he was still interested after all that
verbal spewage.