I opened my eyes and looked at Lex. His hands were clenched into tight fists, as though he was waiting for something dire to happen. I started to comment on how it wasn’t so bad after all and reassure him I was okay, but the breath was stolen from my lungs as the experience went from “not so bad” to “oh dear God”.
A rush of lustful heat spread from my throat in a wave of ecstasy that flooded me down to my toes. I inhaled, the noise a strangled gasp that sounded impossibly loud, and my legs went weak beneath me as my eyes fluttered shut. The feelings were incredible, like nothing I’d ever experienced before. It was one long orgasmic sensation that suffused my entire body, a pleasure so sharp it skirted the edges of pain. Through the haze of sensation I dimly heard Lex thoroughly cursing Simon in both English and French, questioning everything from his looks to his parentage to his sense of honor, but I couldn’t understand why. This was amazing, incredible. It now made perfect sense to me why so many magicians willingly signed up to be a vamp’s dinner, and I began considering life as a buffet. In fact, I began considering a whole lot of things I normally would never think of doing with a complete stranger, but my girl parts were campaigning that we entertain guests. And they wanted to entertain said company right now. Perhaps bent over the desk, or even right then and there on the floor.
I moaned, never wanting the feeling to end, and something about that desire triggered a warning in my mind, a primitive instinct that sent a spike of adrenaline shooting through that lovely oblivious fog. I was weak, lightheaded, and my legs were about to collapse out from under me. Things were wrong, very wrong, and I attempted to struggle free of the bite.
“That’s enough, let her go,” Lex ordered, but the vampire ignored him. Simon grasped my upper arms, firmly holding me in place against him as he continued to drain me. I tried to fight, to pull out of his embrace, but I no longer had the strength. My eyelids felt heavy and slipped shut. When I was on the very brink of unconsciousness he stopped drinking, and then handed my limp body over to Lex. He pulled me into his arms, still growling curses at the vampire who laughed lightly.
“I have misjudged you, Duquesne,” Simon commented, his voice sounding faint and distant to me. “I thought you were an intelligent man, but anyone who would willingly let such a rare treasure get away from him is naught but a fool.”
Though I would’ve loved to have heard Lex’s reply, the darkness rose and swallowed me, and everything went cold and black.
Chapter Ten
Okay, I was getting real tired of this being-knocked-unconscious thing, even though this particular incident hadn’t involved me being hit in the head with an almighty whammy, and instead involved suffering severe blood loss. Again. Lord and Lady. Really embarrassing blood loss too. I’d volunteered myself to be molested by a damn vampire. I must be losing my mind. Totally. Completely. Irrevocably.
The sensation of two purring machines sleeping curled up on my feet woke me this time, and I was pleased they hadn’t decided to nip me awake. Groaning, I blinked my eyes open, but much to my surprise I did not see the familiar surroundings of my apartment. Nor was I in the vampire’s library, or Lex’s SUV, which I also would have expected to wake up in. The setting felt familiar to my fuzzy, addled brain, and I struggled to place where I was. I was beneath the covers of an enormous, orgy-sized four-poster bed, with Merri and Pippin napping happily on my feet. Thick navy blue velvet fabric stretched in a canopy above me, falling in curtains around the bed. To my right the curtains had been pulled aside, tied back with a silver cord. Silver. The word finally triggered the correct memory: Castle Silverleaf, in Faerie.
“Portia?” I called out, and was answered by the sound of excited fluttering wings.
“You’re awake!” The faerie plopped herself down on the edge of the bed. “Here, drink this.” With one hand she guided me into a sitting position while she handed me a silver chalice with the other.
“What is it?” The liquid was cold and looked a bit syrupy, a far cry from my usual mug of morning coffee.
“Pink drink.”
Not a good sign-the pink drink is a super energy drink for magic users, like Red Bull on steroids. It’s hard to find and costly to make, so if I needed it I must have been in sorry shape. Grimacing, I began to sip the beverage. Chugging the pink drink is a bad idea-it can make smoke come out your ears. Literally.
“How’d I get here?”
“Lex brought you. I went back to your apartment for the cats, and Tybalt brought your equipment.”
“Thanks, Portia, I appreciate that.” I winced with guilt at the mention of Lex. He’d looked mad enough to shoot laser beams from his eyes before I’d fainted. “Where is Lex now?” I asked, doing my best to sound only casually interested.
“Out in the courtyard sparring with Tybalt. Tybalt wanted to bring your clothes too, but I made you new ones so you wouldn’t need them anyway. Better ones too. They’re so pretty, you’ll love them, look!” Launching herself into the air, she zipped across the room and out of my line of sight. Glancing down at myself, I realized for the first time that I was dressed in a frilly white nightgown, the stuff of Victorian fantasies-long sleeved, high collared, with enough itchy fabric to clothe three people. Shaking my head in disbelief, I cautiously got out of bed to investigate Portia’s source of high-pitched glee.
With her wings working a mile a minute the fairy hovered in front of a large wooden wardrobe filled to capacity with dresses. They were the sort of fashion popular in fairytale movies and upscale Renaissance faires. Ribbons, silk, satin, intricate embroidery, lace. It was a virtual hit parade of women’s fashion throughout the ages, featuring only the softest, most feminine, flattering and formal. I paused, frowning at Portia dressed like a 1980s punk princess in her halter top, ripped stonewash jeans and combat boots. Elaborate gowns were not her style, and they certainly weren’t mine. Hell, I didn’t think there was one dress in my closet at home. Probably not any skirts either.
“Look!” Portia gasped, holding out a gorgeous scarlet dress with golden embroidery of leaves and suns. The much-neglected girly part of my brain leapt up from the dark, dusty corner of my mind I’d kicked it into with my white gym shoes, and it did an excited dance of approval.
“Wow. I can’t wear that, it’s too nice. I’d only end up getting it dirty or bleeding all over it.” I shook my head.
Undeterred, Portia held the garment up in front of me with a contemplative expression on her face. “I think the color would go well with blood…maybe something darker,” she decided, oblivious as to how morbid her statement sounded. Turning back to the selection, she sorted through gowns, looking for a more suitable dress. “And I have jewelry, and we can style your hair, and I have all kinds of shoes for you to pick from, and-”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down there. What’s with the sudden desire for a makeover party?”
“Well, you’re going to have to get used to it sometime, Kitty. When you’re Titania you’ll have to go to big formal gatherings like banquets and masquerade balls and you need to dress pretty, like a lady.” She lectured me matter-of-factly, her serious tone unusual for the playful faerie.
“Great, something else to look forward to. Okay, fine. I’ll wear a dress. A plain dress.”
Squaring my shoulders, I endured my torture like a good soldier, sipping my pink drink and regaining my strength as I let Portia have at me. She buzzed and chattered around me as though someone had crowned her my Extreme Makeover Fairy Godmother. After a great deal of agonizing, she settled on a deep forest green satin gown with silver knotwork embroidery along the neckline and hem and a matching cloak, and then made my hair her next project after getting me dressed.