“No problem. Just part of the job.” I methis eyes because I could. But just because he couldn’t glamour medidn’t mean it was easy to hold his unwavering silver-bluegaze.
“The job which includes killing vampires,”he said blandly.
I frowned. “That’s right.” I wore a Glock 22loaded with hollow point bullets filled with silver nitrate and Iknew how to use it. I’d only pulled the trigger twice—both times mylife had been threatened—but I was also the state mandated buttonman—or button woman in my case. That is, when a vamp was sentencedto death, I was the one who pushed the button that opened theskylight in the sun room where our fanged friends were executed.Hey, somebody had to do it and it was part of my job. Not a part Iparticularly cared for but I wasn’t going to apologize for iteither.
Corbin seemed to sense my defensive moodbecause he changed the subject. “I trust you got the informationyou needed and that our little establishment passed your test withflying colors?” he asked smoothly.
“You’re in compliance.” I couldn’t keep theannoyance out of my voice. Other vamp run establishments hadregular complaints but Under the Fang never had a singleproblem. Every employee was perfectly happy, every customercompletely satisfied. The local PD never even got any drunk anddisorderly calls which was unheard of since the club had a full barand last call wasn’t until five AM.
“You sound disappointed.” Corbin grinned,showing more than a little fang, which really pissed me off. Not alot of humans know it but displaying their fangs is more than justan expression of hunger for a vamp—it’s an outright sexual come-on.Corbin might as well have rubbed his hard-on against mythigh—that’s how subtle it was.
“Why don’t you close your mouth, Corbin. Idon’t appreciate your little display.”
“You should be flattered,” he said mildly.“Not many breathers affect me this way.”
“You get a hard-on for danger. Is that it?”I shifted my stance so my jacket fell open, revealing the Glockstrapped under my arm. Unfortunately, Corbin’s silvery-blue eyeswent to my breasts instead of my gun.
“Let’s just say I like aggressive women.” Hesmiled at me, not retracting his fangs a bit. “It’s a great pity,though, that you have to use a weapon to back up your threat. Itwould be so much better if you had the physical strength to meet meas an equal.”
“Why is that? You want to arm wrestle?”
He laughed, a deep, rich sound that seemedto go right through me. “I think I’d prefer a different kind ofwrestling and I don’t mean of the glam variety.”
I could feel myself blushing and it pissedme off. Corbin was talking about sex— not mind-fucking but actualphysical sex—which was highly illegal between humans andvampires. That’s because you can’t go to bed with a being strongenough to bend an iron bar in half and not wake up looking likeroad kill the next morning—if you wake up at all, that is. A vamp’sblood-lust combines with their fuck-lust when they try to have sexwith a human and the result usually looks like a Jackson Pollockpainting.
“I see I’ve given you some food forthought,” Corbin noted when I didn’t answer his innuendo.
“Yes. You have me thinking you’re offeringmore than glam-sex here, which, as you know, is against thelaw.”
He crossed his arms over his broad chest andgrinned. “I would never offer such a thing to a human—not unlessshe could handle it, Addison.”
The use of my first name pissed me off evenmore, as he no doubt intended. I reached for my cuffs—the ones madeof a tough silver alloy vamps can’t break. They’re also covered invelvet to keep their skin from burning on contact, which sort ofruins the effect in my opinion but whatever—they work.
“You want me to bring you in for threateningan officer?”
“Not threatening. Offering. You seemso tense—I just want to help you unwind.”
“Because being torn limb from limb by alust-crazed vamp is so relaxing. Thanks but no thanks,Corbin.”
He waved my words away with a languidgesture. “That kind of outcome is strictly the result of anunderage vampire who doesn’t know how to control him or herself. Aswe age, we gain finesse. I assure you, Addison, I could pleasureyou both very thoroughly and very gently. You would come over andover.”
I shook my head, sure that my cheeks were asred as my hair by now. That’s the thing with dealing with the oldervamps—they have no social mores left and they don’t care if theyviolate conversational taboos. Corbin was offering me sex ascasually as he might offer me a free drink from his bar and the sadthing was, it was the best offer I’d had in over a year. Or rather,the only offer. But there was no way I was letting him knowthat.
“Stick with mind-fucking your regulars,” Itold him. “I’m not interested.”
He shrugged, his broad shoulders rippling.“Suit yourself. But you ought to do something to relax. You arewound so tightly it makes me wonder when you’ll snap.”
“I do yoga three times a week,” I said,stung into revealing a personal detail. “That keeps me plentyrelaxed, thank you very much.”
Corbin looked interested. “If you’re able toopen yourself enough to do that kind of exercise, you should beable to let down your shields enough to let me glamour you. I couldgive you much pleasure without even touching you—since you fear mystrength.”
“I’d be stupid if I didn’t fear it,” I saidbluntly. “I’d as soon take a python to bed as a vampire—you’re bothcold blooded predators but I bet the snake is a hell of a lot morecuddly.”
“I can be cuddly.” Corbin’s voice droppedand his eyes were hooded. “And tender, and gentle, and passionate.Come, Addison, I can feel your need—it throbs through me morestrongly each time we meet. How long has it been since a mantouched you and gave you pleasure?”
“You’re feeling your own ego, buddy,” Isnapped, angry that he seemed to know about my dry spell. “And ifyou keep coming on to me, I’m going to site you so fast it’ll makeyour undead head spin.”
“Very well.” He held up his hands in a‘don’t shoot’ gesture and
