“Yes. Let’s do it,” she agreed.
“You sure?” he asked.
“Yes. Until we find this amulet, I’ll never get my life back. I need this, Luca. I need normalcy. Maybe supernaturals are used to living in a state of constant stress and chaos, but I’m not. I want my boring, Starbucks drinking, nine to five working life back. It wasn’t much but there’s one thing I’ve realized; when you lose everything…your job, your home, your identity, the only person who can put the pieces back together again is you. I’ve got to do this.” She caught Luca’s eyes and put her hand on his thigh.
He reached down and covered her small hand with his. Slowly rubbing the inside of her palm with his calloused thumb, he realized how protective he’d become of her. She was so beautiful and brave, willing to return to Sangre Dulce. She wasn’t a weak human lying down in defeat. No, she was a fighter. A quick glance at her smiling up at him melted his heart. What was she doing to him?
He hadn’t even known her very long but felt a deep connection to Samantha that he didn’t think he’d ever be able to break. His thoughts drifted to Ilsbeth’s words; it was rare, but they could conceive. A baby. Silently admonishing himself for even thinking about it, he blew out a breath. What the hell was happening to him? Luca didn’t do humans or love and here he was thinking about babies? While growing aroused at her touch, he was more concerned about the tightness he felt in his chest. I’m falling for this little witch.
“What are you thinking about? You okay?” Samantha broke his train of thought.
“Just planning our next move,” he lied. “When we go to Sangre Dulce, I’ll be by your side the entire time. You’re not the person you were when you were Rhea. Rhea was mere illusion, someone you were forced to be. We’ll go in, do our business and get out,” he promised.
“You know, when I saw those pictures, at Kade’s, I was just shocked that I could have been made to parade around naked like that in some kind of a magic stupor. I felt like a fool. And then there’s that whole submissive thing. I mean, it’s not like I’m not open to fantasizing in the bedroom, but what I did wasn’t exactly private.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head in embarrassment.
“You have nothing to be ashamed of, Samantha. Seriously. Number one, you were not in control of yourself. Asgear forced you against your will. And number two; even if you were a submissive, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. A lot of people experiment with fantasies. It can be fun.” He winked at her, trying to lighten the mood.
“I, uh, I don’t know, Luca,” she hesitated for a moment before continuing. “It’s just that I really haven’t ever been so intimate with anyone…until you. What we did last night, it was amazing. It’s not that I haven’t, you know, had sex. God, this is embarrassing. Okay, I’m just going to say it. There’s been no other man who made me, you know, come like that.” She giggled a little. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I’m telling you this.” She raked her fingers through her hair, twisting the ends nervously.
“Well darlin’, I’m glad to hear it. And if I have my way, I’ll be the last man who makes you come ‘like that’ as you put it,” he smiled at her, turning into his driveway.
“Look at what you do to me, woman.” He moved her hand from his thigh onto the hard evidence of his arousal. “We’re never going to get anything done,” he sighed. “Seriously, as much as I’d like to take you inside and make love again, we need to get over to Sangre Dulce,” He groaned due to his uncomfortable state of arousal. “When we get home, I’ll call Sydney and see if she can bring over something suitable for you to wear to the club. I also think we should bring Étienne and Xavier for backup. I’m not expecting trouble, but after what happened the last time we were there…Let’s just say that I’m not risking anything happening to you.”
As Luca pulled his car up to his home and turned off the engine, Samantha jumped out. As he approached her, Samantha wrapped her hands around Luca’s waist, pressing her face into his chest and hugging him tightly.
“Thank you, Luca. Thank you for talking me into coming back here to get my life together. Thank you for helping me. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”
“Well, I did threaten to enthrall you to get you home, so I guess that counts as talking you into it,” he joked, and kissed her head.
She playfully pushed his chest with the palm of her hand. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Yes. Yes, you are. And I couldn’t be happier that you’re with me.” He gathered her into his arms for a brief embrace and then released her. If he started kissing her, they’d never get to the club. He was two seconds from tearing off her clothes as it was.
“Come on now. Let’s get dressed.” He lightly smacked her bottom as she quickly walked up to the porch. Adjusting himself, he fantasized about how delicious it would be to spank her pink while taking her from behind. He couldn’t seem to stop thinking of Samantha and all the delightfully naughty things he wanted to do to her.
Knowing they had work to do, Luca decided it was safer to stay upstairs rather than follow Samantha down to his bedroom. He could barely keep his hands off of her for two seconds. She was driving him mad. It wasn’t as if he could stay in a cold shower forever. He needed to get himself together, which was not going to be easy, considering they were about to go to a sex club. He sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he was going to remain uncomfortably hard for the next several hours. It was going to be a long night.
Samantha tugged at her short dress as they walked toward Sangre Dulce. Sydney had come over to Luca’s to help her get dressed. After vehemently refusing to wear a little, very little, see-through number, she’d settled on a royal blue spandex mini-dress with a draped skirt that was gathered at her waist by rhinestones. One-shouldered, it exposed her creamy, pale skin; her golden red hair was straightened and tied back in a ponytail. Samantha enjoyed the black patent leather platform heels she’d borrowed. They made her feel more confident and tall, despite only adding a few inches to her five foot three stature.
She knew that the club catered to both humans and supernaturals; that was partly what had enticed her to go there in the first place. They’d all thought it would be fun to maybe see someone being bitten or spanked. Samantha didn’t recall either. Still, with the knowledge that there could be vampires there, she nervously stroked her neck as if to protect it. Sydney had given her a silver chain in case of an emergency, which she kept stowed in her small clutch bag. She’d tried to get her to take a stake, but Samantha trusted Luca to keep her safe. She reasoned that not knowing exactly how to stake a vampire could be more dangerous for her, if she tried using the weapon without practice.
Luca put his arm around Samantha’s waist and possessively pulled her against him. He planned to make it clear from the minute he stepped out of the car that she was his. He could practically feel her smooth skin through the barely-there, stretchy material that was her dress. He’d nearly had a heart attack when she came out of the bedroom tonight. With her hair swept up, he admired the fine lines of her neck; how he’d love to pierce her and taste her honeyed blood again. The spandex dress showed off every last curve of her luscious body without revealing a hint of cleavage. Samantha was simply stunning.