Chapter 5: Unfinished Business

-Ronan-

This role reversal is...interesting, to say the least.

I don't know why I stopped when I noticed she was about to climax. Her taste still lingers on my lips, and all I can think of is that I want more. To drink from her and savor her for hours, though the former of course wouldn't be possible without killing her.

I patiently wait for her next move. She seems to doubt what she's just said, but soon enough, she makes her way toward me.

I've had a hard-on for who knows how long now. Her gaze rests on my groin as she kneels down in front of me.

Slowly, she unbuckles my belt and zips down my pants with one hand, while the other one rubs against my hard cock.

I'd always scoffed at how Desmond and other vampires used their attendants—as sex toys, basically. Ara isn't even glamored and she's the one coming to me, and I don't know what to think.

I can't think clearly, anyway, because she lowers my pants and underwear, releasing my erection. I'm burning with the desire to fuck her, but I want to know what she wants to do, and it takes all my self-restraint not to stop her and fuck her senseless.

Her lips press against my cock as she takes me in her mouth, moving in a swift, rhythmic motion. I groan and close my eyes as she swallows me whole, her tongue caressing my shaft as she bobs her head up and down.

Her hand squeezes me and accompanies her sucking, tightly engulfing my erection. As the pleasure mounts, I can't help but think how inexorably fucked I am.

I actually like this human.

Not because she's got my cock in her mouth, but because she seems so…fearless. She could've just asked me if she could put her clothes back on and moved on to something else when I stopped, but she continued.

Is it just because she wants to please me and ensure that I treat her well? Or because she also feels this unlikely yet inevitable attraction that I feel for her? Right now, I choose to believe it's the latter.

My cock is deep into her throat when I gently pull her head up. I can't stand it any longer. I want to be inside of her, for real this time.

Her shoulders rise and fall and she smiles at me, her mouth dripping with saliva. If it was possible to make me harder, her face right now would have made it so.

As if she can read my thoughts, she turns and sits on top of me, slowly sliding my cock into her. She's wet and soft and there is nothing else in the world but her as she rocks up and down, riding me.

My hands move to her breasts, my fingers twirling around her hard nipples. She presses her back into my chest and throws her head back, placing her neck dangerously close to my face.

Then I begin to fuck her in earnest, sliding in and out of her as she moans.

"Ronan," she breathes out, and I pick her up and turn her around. Her legs now hang over the armrests, and she faces me as I enter her again, this time slowly, pacing myself.

I realize I made a mistake.

This is too intimate. Too close.

I want to kiss her, badly. But deep inside me I know I can't cross that line. Not now, or ever.

Her breasts brush against my chest and her hands move to my head, tangling her fingers in my hair. The softness of her body entices me to caress her, exploring every inch of her back and her waist, until I settle my hands on her ass.

It really is exquisite.

She picks up the pace, and now it's her who sets the rhythm. At one point, our eyes lock, and I know I am doomed. I reach out to kiss her but she moves her face away, so I bite onto her nipple instead, realizing I made a grave mistake.

The smell of her blood awakens something inside of me, something I fear I can't control. I lick the tiny puncture wound I've left on her again, and she doesn't stop.

She shudders and a moan escapes her lips as she continues to spasm and ride me.

My pleasure mounts and I'm very close to release when I hear the faint click of the doorknob.

"Fuck," I say, stopping Ara and looking behind her.

Desmond, of all people, stands in the doorway with that sinful smile of his.

"Don't let me stop you," he says, leaning against the frame. "I was quite enjoying the spectacle."

"What the hell are you doing here, Desmond?" I pick Arabella up and set her down behind the armchair. "Put on your clothes."

She looks more angry than embarrassed as she searches for her bra and underwear, which seem to have slid under the couch at some point.

"Just use my jacket," I say dismissively, not bothering to touch the rest of my suit that's still lying on the floor. "Go upstairs. First room to the right. Close the door and don't touch anything."

There's the faintest hint of disappointment in her face when she nods and walks outside with my jacket hanging loose on her. She glares at Desmond as he moves aside to let her pass.

He reaches out to grab her ass and I growl at him.

"If you so much as place a finger on her…"

"My, my. Someone's territorial. So tell me, little brother. How was it? Was I right, or was I right? I told you an attendant was a good investment."

Investment. Toy. Pet.

Right, that's all she's supposed to be. That's all attendants are for vampires.

"What was so urgent that you couldn't text or call?" I sit back down on the armchair, regretting that I don't keep any alcohol here. I could use something to calm me down. "And why the fuck didn't you knock?"

"I did. I waited outside for at least a minute before coming in. You wouldn't want to leave me waiting, would you?" He takes a seat across from me, leaning back against the couch.

"If I didn't answer, it could have been because I was busy, don't you think?"

"I thought it would take you longer to fuck her, actually. Given your aversion to humans, and all."

"I don't hate them," I say, though everything I've always said about them could be interpreted that way. "But that's not the point. I'm going to throw you out if you don't give me a good reason for interrupting me."

"Fine. Father has ordered us to go to the event at the Van Arders' today. He said you owe it to him, and that it'd be a good occasion to show off your new attendant. And why did you dismiss her so quickly? She could have gotten us a drink, first."

To my annoyance, I can't disagree with that last part.

"I'm not going," I reply.

"It was an order, not a request."

I sigh and glare at Desmond, because I'm at a loss when it comes to Father's orders. I need him on my side, even if I know what he's playing at.

Stella will be there. He wants me to show off Ara in front of her as a sign of good will. 'See, I approve of your business venture with humans. See, I'm just like everyone else now.'

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't HE call or text me?"

"I volunteered to come." He grins at me. "I was curious!" he quickly adds when I roll my eyes at him.

"Get the fuck out of my house," I say, standing and walking past him.

His laughter is the last thing I hear before he slams the front door.

When I get to my room, Arabella is still wearing my jacket, and she stands with her back to the door. Her face is immersed in a book she's pulled off the shelf, so lost in it that she hasn't even heard me come in.

"What are you doing?" I say, startling her. The book falls to the floor with a thud, and she quickly picks it up and inserts it back in its place.

If she disobeys such a simple order as not touching anything, I'm going to have to punish her. For real. It's the only thing that might work.

But I still don't know enough about her to know what she fears or what kind of discipline to use on her. I already know I won't bring myself to cause her any physical pain, regardless of what the other vampires say they do to their own attendants.

I am not like Desmond.

"I'm sorry. I grabbed the book on a whim. I know you said not to touch anything," she says.

"I will let it go for now, but you have to understand that there are consequences to your actions," I say. "Just because we enjoyed fucking doesn't mean the rules I established no longer count."

Something shifts in her as her back straightens, and her gaze hardens. The resolute, impenetrable Ara from earlier today has returned.

"Yes, sir," she says stoically. "I apologize for disobeying you."

There's a subtle hint of mockery in her tone, but I have more important things to deal with right now. First, she has to understand how to behave around other vampires.

"We are going to a party tonight, and there will be other vampires there, with their attendants in tow. I don't want them to know you refused the glamor, so you're going to have to act accordingly."

Her mouth opens as if she's about to speak, but she snaps her lips shut.

"What?" I say.

"How does someone under a glamor behave?"

"Like you're there but not really. You don't react to what other people say about you or around you. If they touch you, you let them. You defer to me if they ask you questions. You're pleasant, chirpy if you will, and if I say jump, you say how high?"

"Why would you tell me to jump?" she says.

"I won't tell you to jump—"

A wicked smile forms on her lips.

She's joking.

And her smile could make me forget that she's not supposed to do that.

"That's the kind of thing you can't say. Not now. Least of all tonight," I say in a gentler tone than I'd intended.

Ara purses her lips and nods. "Got it. I'll watch the other attendants and act as they do. I don't suppose it will be so hard."

Impossibly hard for her in particular, judging by her behavior so far.

"I…"

"Shut up and go shower," I cut her off.

And she raises her fucking hand. Like a student asking for permission to speak.

"Don't do that," I grumble. "Just...talk. What is it?"

"I don't have any clothes."

Right. She has no clothes, and there's no food for her in the house. I don't want her fainting from the blood loss before we even leave.

"Go take a shower and I'll arrange for someone to bring clothes over. Someone will also come by to do your hair and makeup."

That seems to take her by surprise, and I can tell she's dying to ask more questions, but she merely nods and scans the room.

"The shower's over there." I point to the door that leads to the closet and bathroom. "We're leaving at seven."

I've forgotten I'm still naked and my cock is still hard until she glances at my groin while she makes her way to the bathroom.

And I've only now remembered that the contractors in charge of the renovations said that the only bathrooms that work right now are this one and the one that's next to the dining room downstairs—and that one doesn't have a shower.

I could also just tell her to hurry and wait for her to be done.

But I don't, because I want to wash off the lingering, intoxicating smell she has left on me as soon as possible.

When I enter the bathroom, she's rubbing soap on her legs, bent down with her ass facing the door. She can't hear me because of the water pouring down on her.

I have to force myself to stop staring at her taunting figure and move.

I get inside and turn on the other shower head, and it's only there that she notices me, letting out a scream.

"I'm sorry!" She places a hand on her mouth. "You scared me."

I ignore her, or try to, as the scalding water rains down on me. But the steam in the bathroom only excites me even further. It smells of her, and it's everywhere.

I shampoo my hair and rinse it, making a very strong point to ignore her presence, until I peek in her direction and see her watching me. I know I could simply order her to stop or just finish quickly and get out, but I'm also mesmerized by her naked, wet body.

So I turn to face her and give her a questioning look, silently asking her what she wants. Though I'm pretty sure I already know.

Besides, we never properly finished what we started down in the library.

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