The question rang in my ears. He’d finally found my forbidden fruit–the one temptation I couldn’t possibly resist. “You can’t mean that.”
“I do. The cello was a gift.”
“I thought it was compensation,” I reminded him.
“That was a cheap tactic. I’m not trying to buy you, Thea.” Underneath the stormy exchange, I heard something new creeping into his voice: sincerity.
“Why would you want me to go to these parties with you?” He’d already pointed out that I didn’t belong in his world, so why was he escorting me to its literal gates now?
“Because you are interesting.”
That wasn’t what I thought he would say. I narrowed my eyes. “Interesting? That sounds like a consolation award.”
“Let me finish,” he said sharply. “You never respond the way I expect you to respond.”
“I’m not like all the other girls?” I guessed with a roll of my eyes.
“What human is like another?” he asked, misunderstanding my point entirely. In fairness, he’d missed out on the sexual politics of the last few decades. “You play the cello with a passion I haven’t seen in centuries. I would like you to play for me again. You’re young and innocent…”
Was he planning to corrupt me? I fought the thrill I felt at that idea. I hadn’t forgotten the sharp edge of his fang and what it promised.
“…and I can show you the world,” he continued. His choice of words echoed what he’d said earlier, but this time I listened. “Next week, I need to travel to Paris. There will be events in Venice, London, Hong Kong, and a dozen other cities around the world.”
“You mean, you need me to leave San Francisco?” My throat went dry as I considered this. “I can’t leave. School. My mother. Auditions.”
“Can all wait for a year,” he coaxed. “I’m offering you something most people could only dream of, and your obligations here will be seen to.”
“Wait, are you saying that you’re going to pay my bills?” After the picture he’d painted for me, this felt like he’d thrown cold water on me. “I can’t leave my mother. She just finished radiation and–”
“Thea,” he stopped me. “We will be traveling on one of the family’s jets. Anytime you need to return home to care for her, it can be arranged instantly.”
“My roommates and the quartet.” I was scrambling for reasons to stop myself from saying yes because each barrier he removed made it that much easier to picture what he was offering me.
“Rent will be paid, and I’m sure the quartet can find another broke cellist,” he said dryly. “You’re looking for excuses. What do you want?”
I wanted the world at my fingertips, and I knew experiencing it with Julian would be beyond my wildest fantasies. He hadn’t just been to those places before; he’d lived there. He didn’t know history; he’d lived it. I would be taking the trip of a lifetime with access to parts of the world most humans didn’t even know about. But there was just one problem.
“And all I have to do is pretend to be your girlfriend?”
His blue eyes sparkled in the dim light of the limo as he spoke. It was clear he knew I was attracted to him.
“What about the right to get married or whatever?” I asked.
“The Rites?” His bemused smile faltered into a frown. “The Rites are why I need you with me. If I’m already off the market…”
“No one will try to catch you.” I’d stumbled into a really screwed-up Jane Austen novel.
“Exactly.”
“Wouldn’t you rather ask someone you’re attracted to?” I picked at a piece of lint on my velvet skirt.
“Why would you think I wasn’t attracted to you?” he asked slowly. “Or did I misunderstand that kiss?”
I flushed so deeply that I wanted to crawl across the limo and hide on the other side. I was the one who had brought it up. Tactfully. Why did he have to be so direct? I screwed every ounce of courage I had and looked directly into his beautiful eyes. “You wouldn’t sleep with me.”
“That’s complicated,” he muttered. “You’re a virgin.”
“Not a leper.” Despite everything, courage burst through me. He did find me attractive. He wanted to kiss me. He wanted to put me on a private jet and fly me around the world. If this was a dream, I prayed Olivia didn’t wake me up.
“You’ve waited–” he held up a finger to stop me from interrupting “–for your own private reasons. That is a gift you should save for a man who deserves it.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Julian thought I deserved better than him. He needed to adjust his standards. “So, I will accompany you to parties, and then we’ll say good night?”
Julian shifted in his seat and pressed his lips together. “I never said I would keep my hands off of you.”
“But you won’t take my virginity?”
He studied me for a second, the brightness of his eyes fading with each second that passed. Was the monster overcoming the man? Or was I only hoping he would? “How far have you gone with a man?”
“I don’t know why you think…” I spluttered as I tried to come up with a response that covered up the truth.
“Or a woman?” he added apologetically, misreading my reaction.
“I’ve done things,” I hedged.
Julian’s tongue licked across his lips as if he could taste my lie. God, I hoped vampires didn’t have that ability. He moved closer, angling his head so that his mouth was near my ear. “This is very important, pet,” he whispered. “I sense your embarrassment. That’s unnecessary. I’m simply asking you to answer one question. Has anyone ever made you come?”
I gulped, suddenly thankful that the angle of his head kept him from seeing my face. Finally, I forced out a small “no.”
“I see.” He placed a gloved hand on my knee and stroked it with long, soothing sweeps. “Have you made yourself come?”
My body tensed, readying for battle. There was no way I was going to answer that question. Then again, not answering it was probably answer enough. Julian continued his gentle touches as I waged war against myself. I had–not that it was any of his business–hadn’t I? I took a deep breath and tried to shrug it off. “Of course,” I said, laughing nervously.
He lingered without another word until I swallowed my pride.
“I don’t know,” I said quietly.
“If you don’t know, then you haven’t.” He wasn’t teasing me, although I couldn’t guess why. The hand stroking my knee slid higher up my thigh, and I stopped breathing. “Tonight, I would like to rectify that.”
Oh my…
“But first, we need to attend this party,” he whispered. He moved slightly and brushed a kiss over my lips, “and appear madly in love. Can you do that?”
Could I cling to him like I was living for his touch? Something told me I could. “Can you? You’re the one who doesn’t want relationships and love and all that baggage.”
“Yes,” he agreed, and I ignored the pang in my chest, “but I will be thinking of all the ways I’m going to introduce you to pleasure. Not a vampire in there will question that you belong to me. You’re covered in my scent, after all.” He fingered the tuxedo jacket I still wore. “And I have a feeling I won’t be able to keep my hands off of you.”
I bit my lower lip, and Julian swore under his breath.
“I’m not sure I can wait until later,” he growled.
I braced myself as he reached to push up my skirt, but a knock on the window interrupted.
“If it’s the bloody driver, I’m going to tear his head off,” Julian stormed. There was another knock. He punched a button on the door, and the tinted window slid open. A moment later, a grinning blond peeked inside.
“Mother wants to know why you’ve been parked in front of her house for an hour. She said that if you don’t come into the party, I have to drag you inside–and that looks like a new suit,” he informed him cheerfully. The vampire glanced up and spotted me. His grin widened into a disarming smile. “Well, now I understand.”
“Thea, this is my brother Sebastian,” Julian said through gritted teeth. “He has a death wish.”
“Unfair.” He pursed his lips, attempting to look put out, but it didn’t stick. “I didn’t know you had a date in here.”
“We’re coming.” Julian pressed the button, forcing Sebastian to step away from the closing window.
“That’s your brother?” I asked. The two were as different as night and day.
“Half brother.” Clearly, the distinction mattered to him. “May I?” He gestured to his jacket. “We’ll only be outside for a moment. Next time, I’ll be certain you have a coat.”
“Oh, yeah.” I shimmied it off and passed it to him. His words had turned me into molten lava. I didn’t need the jacket for warmth, but I already missed his scent.
Julian reached between his legs and adjusted something. I stared curiously, trying to figure out what he was doing. He looked up, catching me, and raised an eyebrow.
“What was that?”
He barked a laugh. “Fuck, you really are innocent, pet.”
I frowned as I tried to figure out what was so funny. Then it hit me. “Wait, were you..?”
“Hard,” he finished for me, and I tried to turn away, feeling stupid. “No, don’t. I wasn’t laughing at you. It was cute.” He took my hand and moved it to the hard bulge in his pants. “Do you still think I’m not attracted to you?”
I cupped my hand over his erection and stroked.
“Christ, we’ll never get out of this car if you keep doing that,” he hissed through his teeth.
“What if I want to pleasure you?” I asked in a small voice.
Julian closed his eyes and groaned.
“I don’t really know how…” I admitted.
He gripped my wrist and lifted my hand from his lap. “I will happily show you that, too. But we should go inside now.”
Julian got out of the limo and paused to put on his tuxedo jacket before reaching to offer his hand. Thinking of what lay before me tonight made it easy to take it. But when I straightened, I saw what he’d reacted to earlier. A plush carpet had been rolled from the gate up a set of stairs that circled around to a lavish portico draped with purple wisteria blossoms.
“This is…”
“Extravagant,” he finished for me.
“I was going to say pretty.”
He glanced down at me as he offered his arm. “Stick close to me, pet. You’re too sweet. They’ll eat you alive.”
I swallowed at his words, knowing that he didn’t mean them figuratively. Julian took the stairs carefully like he was afraid I might stumble and plummet to my death. When we reached the entrance, two attendants stood by the door, each with a large silver tray holding a selection of masks.
“Familiars will enter through the salon.” The female held out a tray of masks made of plaster, lace, and painted with gilt accents. “And vampires will enter through the opium den.”
Opium den? I mouthed to Julian. But he was busy glowering at the woman.
“She stays with me,” Julian informed them. The woman with the masks shrank nervously. But the older male attendant shook his head. Judging from his age, he must have been with the family for years. Was he a vampire? It seemed unlikely given his wrinkles. Human? Did he have a choice about his job? Or had they compelled him to serve them?
“Lord Rousseaux,” he said, and my mouth hung open to hear him address Julian like that, “the Rites have been enacted.”
“Like I don’t fucking know that. Isn’t it a little early in the season for this shit?”
The man continued as if Julian hadn’t spoken. Maybe he was compelled. How else could he be so nonplussed by the furious vampire by my side? “Madame Rousseaux insists parties be separated.”
“I’m not a familiar,” I interjected, hoping this might sway them to make an exception.
“The Rites must be observed–”
“Oh shut up,” Julian grumbled and swiped a mask from the tray. Spinning me toward him, he looked deeply into my eyes. “I will find you immediately. Try not to be…overwhelmed.”
“Julian, what kind of party is this?” I tried to sound calm, but there was a hysterical edge to my voice.
He cast one more sharp look at the attendants as if any of this was their fault and then took a deep breath. “Welcome to the Blood Orgy.”
