Page 7 of Bite Me
I could feel his gaze on me like a laser beam. When I peered at him from the corner of my eye, he was smiling softly, his eyes roaming the side of my face.
“Nothing offensive about being on point,” he finally said. “Your friend seems to be having fun.”
I glanced back at Sheri and almost swallowed my tongue. She was draped over the guy’s lap, kissing him like mad while he inched his hand up her skirt. I promptly looked away.
Russel cocked his head to the side. “Do you mind my company? Am I making you nervous?”
“No. No. It’s okay.”
I waved my hand around and almost knocked over my drink. Russel steadied it with his superhuman reflexes, and I blew out a breath.
“Yes. I’m nervous as hell,” I admitted.
“This is a safe space with hard rules. Even if I wanted to do something against your will, I wouldn’t dare do it here.”
His blatant acknowledgment of the danger he posed made me feel oddly safe. “No, that’s not…”
He raised his eyebrows questioningly.
“Attractive men make me nervous,” I blurted. “You’re attractive.”
His smile widened. “You’re the most beautiful man in the room, Eddie.”
I scoffed. I worked in communication, and I knew a line when I heard one. He saw me as easy prey. And even so, my heart thumped faster and my cheeks heated from the compliment.
For heaven’s sake, could I summon at least some of my workplace confidence?Just imagine he’s a new client. Because that’s not weird at all…
“Doyoucome here often?” I asked, loud and clear, without the slightest stutter. I gave myself an imaginary pat on the back.
“No,” he replied. “I don’t like dinner clubs.”
That didn’t make sense. “Why are you here then?”
His smile grew sad. “Because I need to feed.”
“Do you need to drink blood every other week?”
“More or less, yes.”
“You sound like it’s an inconvenience.”
Russel raised his eyebrows. “I don’t have to pretend with you, do I?”
“Pretend what?”
Smiling to himself, he shook his head as if something had occurred to him and he dismissed it. “Depending on who I’m feeding from, it can be a chore, bland, or pleasant.”
Drinking blood led to sex. I knewthat. It was the point of dinner clubs—a mutually beneficial exchange between humans and vampires, a compromise honed by centuries of tension. It was a little disturbing to hear Russel call sex a chore—did he fuck people just because he needed to feed from them? That sounded miserable.
“You’ve gone quiet. What are you thinking?”
“Sorry. It’s just that…” I moved the straw around the melting ice in my glass. “Nothing.”
“What? Tell me.”
“You don’t like the sex part? You just need the blood?” I could feel my ears growing hot. My blush must have been visible from space.
“I love sex, Eddie. I love getting my dick sucked and fucking a guy’s tight hole. Coming inside a man with the taste of his blood in my mouth is the best feeling I know. But some men are less enticing than others. Only rarely, when I’m really lucky, do I meet one who’s irresistible.”
