Naughty Temptations

Chapter Three-1

Chapter Three

A few minutes before eight, her bazillionaire vampire date rang the doorbell.

Serena gave a last glance in the bathroom mirror. Her hands trembled a little as she smoothed the vibrant melon colored skirt over her thighs with damp palms. The hem of the dress reached just above her knees, showing off her toned calves and slim ankles.

The sleeveless bodice of the dress clung in all the right places, revealing her bare shoulders and arms. The dress’s deeply scooped neck showed a good bit of her round, high cleavage — just as ordered — without being lewd.

Serena slipped her strawberry polish-tipped toes into a pair of beige, strappy high heels, dabbed on a bit more passion cherry lip gloss, and grabbed her clutch just as the doorbell sounded again. She could picture Caden Chase’s eyes narrowing as he stabbed the doorbell a second time when she didn’t answer his summons immediately. Good. Let him wait. It’s not like he could bust in on her without an invitation. Ha.

Serena marched down the stairs of her townhouse condo, determined to keep her own body in check tonight. Yet her lacy panties were as damp as her palms at the thought of Caden Chase on the other side of her front door.

How could that be? No matter how strong her attraction to Caden Chase, her cousin’s current nightmare with a duplicitous, selfish vamp had cooled any thought Serena might have had of wanting an undead boyfriend of her own. She’d packed her handbag sufficiently to ensure she didn’t become a vampire’s aperitif tonight.

So why was the small yet persistent voice in her head reminding her that, until she had discovered Caden Chase was a vampire a few days ago, she’d been crushing hard on her boss for the past three months? He’d even been the featured guest star in all of her s****l fantasies since they’d met. Hell, she might as well name her vibrator “Caden.”

Yanking the handle, she threw open the front door just as the bell sounded for the third, imperious time. Caden filled the doorway, looking tall, dark, and dangerous in a perfectly fitted charcoal gray suit. He was sans one of the habitual power ties he always wore to the office. His crisp, white shirt was open at the collar revealing the strong column of his neck. The warm light from her home spilled through the opening, illuminating his short, black hair and pale green eyes that raked her form, warmly assessing every detail of her appearance.

“You’re early,” she accused.

“Would you believe I just couldn’t wait to see you again?” His tone was wistful, sweetly abashed. She felt a twinge of softening somewhere in the vicinity of her heart. Until his next words, that is.

“Very nice,” he murmured appreciatively at her low-cut neckline and heels. “I like a woman who can follow orders.”

Before she could volley back an acid retort, he held up a single flower and casually offered it to her. She gasped. The perfect bud was similar to a rose but it wasn’t like any rose she’d ever seen. The petals were vibrant silver tipped with gold. The leafy stem was ice blue with small but formidable thorns.

“I love it! I’ve never seen anything like it,” she admitted. “Is it real?”

Automatically, her fingers reached to accept it from his hand, mindful of the thorns. Her thumb brushed his and she noted again how cool his skin was compared to her own. Cool but not cold or clammy. His different body temperature was a soothing novelty, calming her heated pulse rate, which he could no doubt hear with those keen ears of his.

“Yes. It’s from one of our greenhouse labs. It’s called a Vampire Bloom. Once plucked it does not die unless direct sunlight hits it. We’re trying to figure out how to create a hybrid that can withstand UV rays.”

“Just one of the many miracles Chase Industries is working on,” she mused, inhaling its unique perfume.

“Yes. It reminds me of you.”

“Because of the painful thorns?” She laughed.

“Because it’s beautiful and one of a kind,” he corrected with half-smile. There he went again, being all sweet and genuine. The blush from the simple, honest compliment stung her cheeks. At this rate, she wasn’t sure how much longer he’d buy her assertion that she just wasn’t into vampires when all she seemed to want to do was melt against him and offer him her throat.

He crooked his elbow, inviting her to take it. “Care to?”

Did she? Serena hesitated a moment. He watched her patiently while she made up her mind. Was it her imagination or did he give a small, satisfied sigh of relief when she finally linked her arm with his and stepped with him into the night?

*****

By the time they pulled through the electronic gates of the large Malibu estate and he switched off his electric luxury car, Serena uneasily surmised Caden wasn’t taking her to the fancy, undead-friendly eatery, Chez Vampyre. And this for sure wasn’t Club Blood, the hip new L.A. underground bar where a staff of willing, attractive human “mixologists” allowed vamps to sample a variety of blood types on tap from the source.

“How did the other guy take it when you broke your date?”

“Barry? He understood.” Actually, Barry was more of a friend than a real date, primarily because he was gay. But there was no reason to let Caden think he had a clear playing field where she was concerned. “He wants me to check in with him every hour, though,” she warned, lifting her chin. “You know, safety call.”

His fingers tightened on the wheel. “If you were mine, I wouldn’t allow you to break a date with me, much less in order to go out with another guy who warrants a safety call.”

“Barry’s a very understanding man. That’s why I like him so much,” she sweetly taunted. What was wrong with her, getting her thrills by teasing a vampire like this?

“Then Barry’s an idiot.”

Serena barely heard his grumbled comment. She was too busy gaping at the expansive house perched on the sea cliff. It looked like a Renaissance citadel, complete with battlements for crying out loud. Cautiously, she stepped from the vehicle. The full moon shone down on the waves, giving the Pacific the illusion of a gaping expanse of churning black water. She clutched her silver flower before her as though it might ward off dark magic. One of the blue thorns pricked her finger.

“Ouch!” She froze, glancing at him in worry when a drop of blood welled up from the tiny wound.

Caden’s lips twisted wryly. “Keep your pretty hair on. I can withstand being in the presence of a drop of human blood without going full leech on you. If I try hard enough.”

She sucked her sore finger to stop the oozing and rolled her eyes. “That’s so reassuring. Not. Where exactly are we?”

He shrugged. “My place.”

“You said you were taking me someplace nice!”

“This is nice.” He sounded mildly affronted. “And you’ll want some privacy to discuss your cousin’s problem.”

“I do, but—”

“Good,” he interjected brusquely. “After dinner is served, I’ve given instructions for my staff to take the rest of the night off. We’ll be quite alone,” he assured her artlessly.

“Okay, see? That, right there! That’s hardly a reassuring thing for a vampire to tell a nervous, bleeding human on a first date, you know? Maybe it’s time to work on your people skills.”

He turned and looked deeply into her eyes. She got the distinct impression he was willing her to feel reassured. “You will never be in any personal danger from me. Not on a desert island. Not in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. I told you. I can control myself.”

She could feel his desire that she trust him. It wasn’t a command, unlike mind thrall. But more of an earnest, heartfelt request coupled with the sincere assurance that he meant her no harm. It also had the oddest effect on her clit, which was now warm and tingling, her p***y ready and willing for his penetration. Now.

He broke their eye contact and the moment was lost, leaving her feeling weak and needy for the huge orgasm she suspected only he could give her. What the hell kind of power did he really have over her? She hoped the special purchase in her purse that she had procured in Koreatown could ward off vampire mojo, or whatever it was that always caused her s*x organs to go into overdrive when he was near.

He headed for the entrance of the three-story mansion-s***h-fortress. Feeling conflicted for so many tangled reasons, only a little less so now, she slowly trailed after him up the lit flagstones to the front door.

He glanced into a small, reflective device installed in the outside wall next to the knocker.

“Caden Chase.” His deep voice carried easily to her ears on the dark ocean breeze, stirring ripples of desire that always seemed to burn in her belly at the sound of his voice.

From the device, a green strobe light shot out to glide over his open eyes and down his face. A computer-generated voice politely announced, “Voice and retinal scan complete. Welcome home, Mr. Chase.”

There was a whirring click and the giant door swung open on silent hinges.

“You’re not exactly the trusting sort, huh?”

He turned and saw her hanging back in the shadows, trying to stare around him into the dark recesses of his lair.

“Not usually.” He quirked a brow. “Well? Are you coming? I don’t know about you but I could really do with a bite.” With a wicked grin he disappeared through the darkened doorway, leaving it wide open for her to follow.

“Hell’s bells. Vampire, one. Human, zero.” She shifted back and forth under the full moon, wanting both to run after him and far, far away from him at the same time.

He was her one hope to save Zoe, she reminded herself. And she still had the secret weapon in her handbag if he tried to do anything to her in cold blood, so to speak.

Gathering her nerve, she walked through the dark, ominous doorway. The heavy door swung shut with an ominous boom once she was inside. Several heavy locks automatically bolt the door behind her. Not the most comforting sound. She was officially trapped inside some kind of medieval Malibu fortress with the vampire she’d tried to blackmail that afternoon.

She followed Caden’s long, silent shadow as he walked ahead of her through the softly lit foyer and crept into the dining room behind him. A dim chandelier overhead weakly illuminated the large room. He stood next to a candlelit table set for two with ornate china, costly linen, and crystal stemware.

She popped her silver flower into a bud vase on the table and looked around at all the dark, heavy antiques, and depressing wall hangings.

“Tomb sweet tomb. Very Early American Coffin. Who’s your decorator? Bram Stoker?”

His eyes followed her dismayed gaze around the formal room with a crooked grin. “I admit it. I need a woman’s touch.”

His inference was clear. He needed her touch. The thought of running her hands over his body the way she’d wanted to for weeks and weeks made her mouth go dry.

Strains of a Frank Sinatra song crooned from some unseen source in the room. Deciding to change the subject to anything else, she asked, “You like Sinatra?”

“He was okay. A bit of an ass after his fourth martini.”

She started to laugh, but stopped when she suddenly had a feeling he wasn’t joking. “How old are you, anyway?”

“Old enough to know better than to answer that question, youngster” he demurred.

“Vanity, thy name is ‘Vampire.’” Suddenly they were smiling together. She bonding with him, damn it, and that made her instantly suspicious. Was he lulling her into a false sense of security?

It was time to take some precautions. She bit her bottom lip and withdrew a small bottle of fluid with a silver stopper from her purse. His gaze sharpened on it.

“What’s that?”

She removed the stopper and dabbed her wrists with the purple, viscous liquid inside. She kept her tone businesslike. “I got it from a wiccan in Koreatown. It prevents mind thrall.”

He folded his arms across his broad chest. “It does not prevent mind thrall.”

“It does so!”

“Hop on your left foot and pat your head with your right hand.”

Suddenly Serena found herself unable to stop hopping and patting.

“How much did you pay for that goop?” His eyes admired her high, taut breasts bouncing up and down inside her tight bodice.