Venice Vampyr - The Beginning

“But Signore, I’m still in mourning. I’ve only just lost my dear father. I’m beside myself with grief.” Her eyes looked pleadingly at him.

Mourning? If Bianca was grieving, she sure hadn’t shown any of it only minutes earlier when she’d writhed underneath him in obvious ecstasy. If all grieving daughters reacted like this to the death of their beloved father, Lorenzo would be stalking every funeral in the city to find his next willing bedmates. Because if that was how grieving daughters mourned, he wanted a piece of it. A very large piece.

But what he didn’t need was a woman in the house. Mourning or not, she had to leave. Not only could he not deal with a woman who seemed to be on the verge of tears, he wouldn’t be able to hide his own nature for long. Already now he had to fight his own body to prevent his fangs from lengthening. Her enticing scent and the taste he still carried on his tongue played havoc with his control.

The longer she stayed in his presence the more she would be at risk of him biting her, sinking his fangs into her graceful, long neck and taking her essence into him. And who knew if he could stop? If her blood tasted anything like her sweet cunt, then his control would snap like a little twig under the weight of an elephant. She would have no way of escaping him.

Of course, he could always use his suggestive powers to make her forget the bite, but would he be able to forget it, or would he want to come back for more? And he wasn’t a long-term kind of man. All he was interested in was a quick fuck and a quick bite, no repeats, no relationships. No emotional commitments. Emotional commitments could get you killed.

They’d almost gotten him killed once already. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. It was better to shove this woman out of his life right now and not look back. By tomorrow night she’d be a distant memory. By tomorrow night he’d be in bed with some other doxy before moving onto the next without even being tempted to have the same woman two nights in a row.

Lorenzo stared at her. She hadn’t moved from her position, still clutching the pillow to her chest as if it was a life raft on a sinking ship. The upward tilt of her chin indicated her determination not to let him win. Her eyes gleamed with defiance. She wanted to stay, and she would do anything to keep her home. But he couldn’t allow it.

There was only one way to make her leave: he had to make her run from him in panic or disgust. While he could certainly achieve that by flashing his fangs, he couldn’t afford the exposure this action resulted in. After the recent attacks by the Guardians, Dante had advised everybody to be more cautious than usual. Lorenzo wouldn’t go against that edict.

But there was one other way of making her run away from him. He would show her what kind of rogue he was. And being the well-bred woman he assumed Bianca to be, she would run to save not her life, but her reputation.

“Signorina, the only way you’re staying in this house is as my mistress.” He looked past her, not keen on seeing the contempt in her face that she must feel for him now. “So, I suggest you get dressed and leave.”

He turned away from the bed and reached for his clothes, giving her one last view of his backside before he stepped into his trousers and pulled them up.

Lorenzo congratulated himself. He’d scared her speechless. To do that to a woman, was a feat in itself. To accomplish this with a woman who’d given his cock appreciative glances when she thought he hadn’t watched, was a magnificent achievement. He almost felt like patting himself on the back. Nico and Dante would howl with roaring laughter once they heard the story. At least it would make for good entertainment.

It did nothing for his aching cock though.

“What do you expect your mistress to do?”

Lorenzo almost choked on his own saliva. Was she asking him because she was considering his offer? Hell, it hadn’t even been an offer. He had no intention of acquiring a mistress. “Signorina—”

“Just tell me what you expect from your mistress.”

What would he want from a mistress if he really were in the market for one? “Everything. She has to be uninhibited, open to experimentation, and she has to want it. I don’t want a woman who’s merely lying on her back. I don’t want to fuck a stiff board.”

“I understand.”

The finality in her words told him that he’d finally managed to dissuade her. He reached for his shirt and put it on. “Fine, then once you’re dressed I’ll escort you to a hotel or a boarding house.”

“You expect your mistress to live in a hotel or boarding house? I had expected so stay here.”

Lorenzo swiveled on his heels, dropping his hands from the buttons he’d been trying to close. He simply stared at her. After all he’d told her, she wanted to be his mistress? This couldn’t be happening.

“I would expect you to suck me,” he warned her.

Bianca loosened her grip on the pillow and nodded. “I can do that.”