Claimed by the Immortal

“You need to dress me? Why?”

“Because trying to do this with you in your usual garb would be impossible. A robe. I need a robe for you. And for me. And silken bonds.”

“I have no idea where to find those.” Although in truth she did. Being a cop had taken her to some interesting places. She just wasn’t sure she wanted to shop in them. “I still need to think about this.”

“Of course. I can go out and gather the items we need while you do research at Jude’s if you like. Or we can gather them whenever you are ready. It’s up to you.”

Up to her. That was the damnable part. As much as her body was shrieking yes to the whole idea, her brain was turning traitor and wishing it had no decision to make at all.

Utterly unlike her, she told herself scornfully. Then she wondered if she had ever really known herself. Because here she was, wanting to be tied up by a vampire.

Oh, that really made sense, didn’t it.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes and wished away the edgy nervousness that had filled her ever since he’d brought this up. It was what she had been wanting since she’d met him, wasn’t it? To find out what it would be like to make love with him?

And the little experiences they’d had together had already shown her that he could take her places she had never imagined existed. So why was she being difficult? Why was she fighting what she had wanted?

Simply because he called it a ritual?

What was wrong with that? she asked herself. She’d had a few boyfriends in her time, and sooner or later the sex had become almost ritualistic anyway. The same things, the same way, every time. Once, she’d tried to change that and had lost a boyfriend, who felt she was insulting his skills as a lover.

“What steps are involved?” she asked, hearing a thickening in her own voice, undoubtedly another response to the fires he had stirred in her. She wished she thought he couldn’t hear it, but what the hell. Every time she got wet for him, he knew it. Heck, every time she felt the least arousal he smelled it. She had no secrets. He probably knew exactly how strong her response had been to the idea of having him tie her up. At least so far he had respected her wishes even when they were in conflict with the hormonal flags she must be wearing.

Life used to be so much easier. Having secrets could be a good thing, but it had been stripped from her by a vampire’s knowing nose. Damn it.

“I prepare the space,” he said quietly. “Candles, incense, no distractions. We must be totally focused on one another.”

She couldn’t imagine that that would be a problem.

“We take a ritual bath. It should be together, but we can do it separately if you like. We must cleanse ourselves.”

“Okay.” She envisioned them standing naked in her shower together. No way could the tub hold them both at once.

“Once we are clean of all the lingering detritus of the world, we go to the chamber. There I will make love to you with every bit of skill and power and caring I possess, transporting us to ecstasy, to a place that can be reached no other way. Our gifts will join as our bodies join. And afterward, I shall hold you until the sun makes me go.”

That didn’t sound too bad, she thought. In fact it sounded rather delightful. “Is there a time length or anything?”

He smiled faintly. “If it doesn’t take several hours, then I haven’t loved you properly. Each gift must be cherished, every instant enjoyed.”

Oh, wow. From past experience, she would have thought an hour tops. How could he spend so long loving her?

She realized then that she very much wanted to find out.

“Okay,” she said.

“Tomorrow night,” he answered. “I need to get some things. Let me take you to Jude’s so you’ll be safe while I go out.”

She looked around her small apartment, sensing that just beyond the circle he had created that thing was hovering again. “It can’t hear us?”

“The elemental? Not within this circle. And the wards Jude put here should keep it under control.”

“I can back out at any time?”

“If you wish. Of course you can. You may be bound, but this must not involve force of any kind.”

Maybe she could live with that. If she had to agree to everything...

The thought was interrupted by an unexpected surge of wildness in her, as if she were ready to jump off a cliff to see if she could fly. Cautious, ordinary, sensible Caro vanished as another part of her nature emerged. As a cop she often took risks, but they were part of the job, and she always tried to manage them as carefully as she could.

This was a different kind of risk, and she thirsted for it. Like the thoughts she had once talked herself out of about trying a fire walk at one of those self-improvement seminars. She sensed, though she could not be sure, that on the other side of this would lie freedom. Freedom from what, she didn’t know. She just felt a sudden certainty that she would be tossing aside shackles she hadn’t realized she wore.

“Let’s go,” she said. She still had another day to change her mind, after all.

* * *

It was a day that proved excruciatingly long. Damien had returned with large parcels in the early hours, then had excused himself to go sleep.

Caro wondered what was in those parcels, but they were in the inner office with him, and she simply did not want to open the door and risk any possibility that he might inadvertently receive some exposure to light. She didn’t entirely trust that blackout curtain.

She tried sleeping on the cot in the room just off the front office, then tried again on the couch. The night ahead loomed before her, alternately filling her with anxiety and eagerness for the passion he had promised.

She was a mess. She had to sleep, to be ready for the night’s mysteries, for they would certainly be mysteries, beginning with the fact that she had never really made love to Damien, and ending with the fact that she honestly had no idea what to expect.

This approach to sex struck her as artificial, yet she had indeed checked online and discovered just how old and widespread was the belief that sex could unleash powers, sometimes just naturally, but often as part of organized ritual.

God, she felt like a virgin on her wedding day, with absolutely no idea of what was to come. Knowing the basics wasn’t enough. Damien had thrown a lot of other things into the hopper with his talk of rituals, bindings, increasing power...a whole bunch of mysteries and things to get edgy about.

Things she had never done before, things she had never considered before, all of them looming. It was no help to remind herself that he’d said she could back out at any time.

Chloe was busy at the computer, and busy being her watchdog. That felt silly, too. She’d pushed the thing away herself, hadn’t she? So maybe she had little to fear from it.

Regardless, she was going stir-crazy, locked up like this under constant watch, and sleep was so elusive she wanted to scream. She needed to be in top form for tonight, whatever it held.

And she did want tonight, she finally admitted to herself. She’d been wanting it one way or another almost from the instant she had set eyes on Damien. She couldn’t remember the last time simply looking at a man had aroused her, and she couldn’t be anywhere near Damien without her thoughts turning to the sexual.

So tonight she would find out if it was as good as her body wanted it to be. The more she thought about it, the more she even liked the idea of being bound, of giving up all responsibility. There was something enchanting in that notion, the notion of just experiencing without having to do a damn thing except enjoy it.

Heat pooled between her thighs. She had never had a purely selfless lover, one who would take his own pleasure from hers. Not that she had ever expected one. Sex should be a shared giving and taking. But suddenly she was being offered something she had never imagined: a lover who would expect nothing from her but her own pleasure.

Wow.