Of course, the people who were perving solely on Rans’ extraordinary good looks weren’t much use to me—even if I could sympathize with them one hundred and ten percent. But there were still a lot of people here who wanted the Domme and not the sub. The lust in this place was sharper than what I’d been able to manufacture with my little voyeuristic displays in the titheling village inside Hell. Here, there was a desperate edge of longing to the lust... and it was plentiful.
I could feel that familiar jittery sensation building inside me—the one indicating I was stretching my magical capacity to new depths. In some ways, it was a bit frightening, because rather than making me feel full or sated, the feeling seemed to build on itself. It was urging me to take more, rather than to stop. But I refused to pull actively from the innocent people around me. That was a hard limit as far as I was concerned. Unless someone was attacking either me, or someone I cared about—or unless they were being an asshole like Mr. Creeper in the dive bar had been—I wouldn’t draw animus beyond what was being freely offered.
There was one other source of sexual energy I hadn’t utilized yet, however... and I didn’t think he’d object to offering me a little taste of exactly what I craved. I let my whip arm fall to my side. Rans panted into the sudden silence, broken only by a few quiet murmurs in the crowd. His harsh—and completely unnecessary—breathing was another act... just like his bowed head, hanging forward as though he no longer had the strength to hold it up.
I used the handle of the flogger to tilt his chin up until burning blue eyes met mine. Those eyes held a sly promise of future sexual retribution that made my nipples tighten beneath the ridiculous tassels glued to my chest. Now, though, I was the one with the upper hand. And I was still hungry.
I cupped Rans’ hard length through the sinfully tight leather trousers he was wearing, continuing to hold his unblinking gaze as I rubbed and kneaded. The audience’s lust surged. I let it flow into me, but I also let in a trickle from the vampire in front of me. As far as I was concerned, it was like the difference between drinking a finely aged cognac and stale, lukewarm water.
Damn. No doubt about it, gorging on this much animus at once was messing with my head. Worried that my judgment was being affected, I made myself shut everything out, clamping barriers solidly around my magical core. With some difficulty, I pulled my hand away from Rans’ dick in favor of cupping his cheek for a slow kiss. The sensual slide of his lips against mine centered me, even if the look in his eyes when I pulled back still promised the most delicious kind of payback looming in my future.
A few whistles and a smattering of applause from the crowd gathered around us brought me fully back to myself. I unshackled Rans’ wrists and ankles before hooking the ridiculous leather dog leash to the collar around his neck and leading him away.
We made our way out of the building, ignoring the occasional wolf whistles and shouted innuendo. I stopped just outside the entrance, an unpleasant skittering sensation running up my spine. Confused, I looked around, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Rans gave me a concerned look. I shook my head, though—silently dismissing the odd frisson as another symptom of my current power overload. He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t protest as I continued on, heading toward the parking lot.
When we got back to the car, I sat in the passenger seat, shaking with reaction... or shaking with something, anyway. Rans rested one hand on the steering wheel and regarded me closely.
“Too much, too fast?” he asked.
I wet my lips. “I’m not sure. It feels like... filling up the pool somehow made the pool grow larger. But I don’t know that I can control a bigger reservoir. I think it’s fucking with my judgment a bit, to be honest.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “All right, love. No shagging tonight, in that case—more’s the pity. But I still want to get a weapon in your hand once we get back to the house. I’m curious to see what you can do with it while you’re topped up.”
I tried to control the jitters urging my knee to bounce and my fingers to pick at the seams of the leather corset. “Yeah. Physical activity would be good right about now.” I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “One thing about it—I guarantee that if I needed to get through the gate from Hell to Earth tonight, I’d have no problem whatsoever.”
Rans gave me an indecipherable look, and started the car.
* * *
The following evening, I stood at a workbench in the basement of the Vallecito house, preparing to crack open the casting molds I’d fashioned for my little DIY project. True to his word, Rans had driven us back from San Francisco in the wee hours of the morning, and immediately taken me out to the manicured back yard to spar.
Much to my shock, about twenty minutes into the session, I scored a lucky combination of a leg hooked behind his ankle to trip him, combined with a wristlock on his knife hand. I blinked in surprise at finding him pinned beneath me, my dagger at his throat and a look of satisfaction on his face.
“Were you holding back just now?” I asked suspiciously, not releasing my grip.
“In one way only,” he assured me. “Certainly not in the physical sense, though.”
I started to ask what he meant by that, but was saved the trouble when his body dissipated
