“I’m sorry if it seems otherwise to you, but I do want to be here,” she said tightly. “And if you need for me to prove it, I will. The first night of a patron-attendant liaison is supposed to involve the first blood offering, isn’t it?”
His eyes narrowed. “Yes.”
“So, bite me.” Oh, dear. That sounded so much ruder than she had meant for it to. If Xavier was a painting by Monet, nuanced and elegant, then she was a picture drawn in crayon by an angry kindergartner.
He lowered his hands, uncrossed his legs and rose to his feet, all in one sinuous, graceful movement. His steady gaze never leaving her face, he walked forward and crouched in front of her chair. Everything he did was at an unhurried pace, all with the same incredibly beautiful economy of motion. He simply flowed like water.
If a wild lion had walked up to her, it could not have been a more powerful experience. A deep shaking started in her limbs and intensified as he took one of her fists and lifted it. Gently but firmly, he pulled her fingers out and turned her wrist up.
His slim fingers felt cool and light on her overheated skin. Bending his head at a slant, he watched her face as he raised her wrist at the same time. In the firelight, his eyes had turned the shade of green bottle glass, bright and glittering, and his skin appeared tinged with a faint wash of color.
She couldn’t look away. How she had ever thought he was plain-looking, she didn’t know. He might not be conventionally handsome, but everything about him, from the power of his presence to his quiet dignity of manner, was unspeakably striking.
Then he put his mouth on the delicate, thin skin at her inner wrist. His lips were cool as well, but not unpleasantly so. Resting his mouth on her like that . . .
It felt almost as if he kissed her.
Any moment now, his fangs would pierce her flesh. Somehow, she managed to swallow the small moan that wanted to escape, biting her lip until her teeth broke through the skin. Why was he doing everything with such excruciating slowness?
She wanted to shout at him. Stop dragging this out. Just do it.
When he raised his head again, a pulse of anxiety shot through her. She managed to whisper, “What’s wrong?”
“Even though everything inside of you has clenched in protest against this, you would still let me drink,” he said.
His voice had gentled again, and to her horrified surprise, her eyes dampened. She said between her teeth, “That’s our bargain, and I’ll keep it.”
“Such fierce determination.” He smiled, folded her fingers back to her palm and set her hand in her lap. “I will not bite you, not when the very thought of it causes you such distress.”
“If you’re not going to bite me, why did you do that?” Her chest heaved as she sucked air, and she flung out an unsteady hand to gesture at him kneeling at her feet.
“To test your resolve. Your commitment, if you will.”
“But if you don’t take an offering, how can we create or maintain a liaison?” she asked, near to tears. “You need blood. I’m supposed to give you blood. You’re supposed to protect me.”
“You can still give blood.” He rose to his feet and walked back to his chair. “I don’t need to drink directly from your vein. We have all the necessary equipment, and Raoul is a licensed phlebotomist. Of course, that means you would forego any of the benefits that humans gain from a Vampyre’s bite, but I assume that will not be a problem for you, at least for the time being.”
“No. . . .” Her forehead wrinkled. She hadn’t slept in a bed in a week, and it had been over twenty-six hours since she had last eaten. An exhausted kind of fog had been slowly but steadily filling her mind, but suddenly it all cleared away and the fear had subsided enough so that she could truly think.
She asked, “Why did you ask me here?”
He smiled, and for the first time since she had met him, he looked genuinely approving. “That is the right question to ask, but it is not the right time for me to give you an answer. How old are you?”
Taken by surprise, she told him, “Twenty-four.”
“You appear to be in excellent health.”
“I am.”
“Do you exercise?”
“Yes, usually I run three times a week, and I like to do weight training at the gym, but I haven’t had the chance—”
“Good,” he said, cutting off her flow of words. “You need to know, this is a very busy time for me. After the Vampyre’s Ball, Julian holds a series of council meetings while senior members of the demesne are still in the area. Usually every year, he hosts some kind of visit from the Light Fae as well, which means I will not have much time to give to your training, at least in the beginning.”
Relief banished a huge amount of her fear, until she felt almost normal. “I understand.”
The light touched the corner of his mouth and the strong line of his forehead. “While I am otherwise occupied, Raoul will be in charge of your training. I warn you, physically it won’t be easy.”
She straightened her spine. “I’m not afraid of hard work.”
He smiled again. “If, at any time, you feel the need to end our liaison, you may do so. If you stay, you will do as you’re told. It’s as simple as that. All of my attendants receive a monthly stipend. While we have an arrangement, I will cover your medical needs, and of course your room and board. Everyone gets time off each month. Should we develop a long-term liaison, eventually I would care for you in retirement as well, although these days, we have a more mobile society than we used to, and people are more likely to want to change professions and lifestyles than they used to.”
“Has that happened often?”
“Not with any of my attendants, but it does happen.” He paused. “Tess.”
It was strange to hear him say her name, intimate in a way that she couldn’t define. She looked at him curiously. “Yes?”
“I will never bite you without your permission.” His voice was soft, even courteous. “I will never take anything from you that you do not want to give, but make no mistake—there are some Vampyres who would.”
Dread had become a familiar acquaintance of hers by now. It pulsed again, sullen like an aching bruise. “I understand.”
His gaze turned hard and piercing. “It’s important you do, because if you choose to leave, some might approach you and offer a liaison merely because you have resided within these walls for a time. I would advise against doing that. Anyone who would choose to offer for you would not have your best interests at heart.”
She swallowed. “I see.”
“One more thing. If you are not able to give a direct blood offering, freely and willingly, by the end of the trial year, our liaison will be over.”
She clenched her jaw, but she couldn’t keep quiet. “Forgive me, but isn’t that a contradiction? First you said you wouldn’t take anything I didn’t want to give, but now you just said otherwise.”
He lifted one eyebrow, and when he spoke, his voice had chilled. “There is no contradiction. Everything you do here will be by your choice, and you are always free to go. I will not coerce you into doing something you do not want to do, but there are also requirements of this job that you must fulfill if you want to stay on permanently. You don’t get a free pass, and you don’t get to change my rules just because you might not like them. I will give you ample opportunity to come to terms with the blood offering, during which time, I expect you to get over it and move on. Does that clarify things for you?”
Folding her lips tight, she forced herself to breathe evenly until her unruly temper had subsided enough for her to answer. “Your job, your rules. Got it.”
“Good. Now there is one more thing you will do for me before we’re done for the night. Come with me.” He rose to his feet.
Curious, she stood to follow him, but he only led her to the large desk across the room.
Standing to one side, he gestured to the chair. “Please sit.”
Complying, she glanced at the large dark screen of the desktop in front of her. It was easily a ten thousand dollar machine. A discreet, thoroughly modern keyboard tray had been added to the antique desk. “What now?”