Chapitre 3: Chapter 3: Love Nest

Ariana POV

The light streaming into the room awakened her. She stirred and felt sheets softer than Egyptian cotton, softer than a cloud. A mattress like one of those luxury brands she kept seeing on the news and always coveted. She'd planned to maybe try and get one someday for Aunt Sally and Uncle Bill, who she'd moved in with after her mother died ...

Aunt Sally! Uncle Bill! Oh God, they must have been trying to call her, or email her, or text her. She reached for her old phone.

Where was it?

Seeing the brand new latest model iPhone sitting on the nightstand, its blood red finish gleaming in the light, brought everything back.

Getting abducted from Incline College. Dimitri's proposal to be her vampire sugar daddy in exchange for saving her from becoming the star in a horror movie scene. The desperate flight out of town. Kissing Dimitri in the black SUV.

Oh, that kiss.

The minute his lips met hers, she melted. His kiss tasted like champagne, chocolate truffles, and steak. She didn't even feel the fangs bumping up against her teeth. Maybe after hundreds of years, he'd learned to kiss gently. Or maybe he'd enchanted her.

But that didn't matter! She'd been taken away from everything she knew, and just barely avoided a gruesome fate. All because her family somehow make a deal with Dimitri's family to sacrifice princesses, probably virgin ones. Yes, she was still a virgin. She'd been too much of a nerd in high school and all through college to date much, focused on working hard and keeping her head down and making her mother proud.

Snatching up her phone, she discovered ten missed calls from Aunt Sally just today and a dozen texts.

Aunt Sally: Is everything OK?

Aunt Sally: I called you. You haven't answered.

Aunt Sally: Your roommates said you dropped out of school!

Aunt Sally: I know your mother's death hit you hard, but please, don't do anything stupid!

Aunt Sally: Oh God, where are you?

On and on. Ariana called her, her voice trembling.

Her aunt's sunshine voice sounded like a storm cloud. "Ariana, thank God, what happened?"

"The family curse," she whispered.

A horrified pause stretched on for minutes. "I told her to change your name and identity. I told her to hide."

"You knew?" Ariana felt dizzy. "Why--"

"Your mother made me promise to keep it a secret unless something happened to her. I was going to tell you, but you just seemed so consumed with school."

Ariana felt a flicker of guilt. "Well, don't worry about that now. I'm safe. I'm away from them. Dimitri--Prince Dimitri--has a conscience. He's taken me somewhere they won't find me, near Greece. He's probably made himself an outlaw."

A pause as her aunt tried to wrap her mind around all of this. "That's decent of him."

Ariana looked down at herself, feeling her neck. No bite. A slight soreness between her thighs. She pulled back the creamy, ultra-luxurious sheets. No blood.

Would he have taken her virginity while she slept? Or did his creepy family verify that she was a virgin? That awful Luc said as much.

"I'm alright," she reassured her aunt. "But I can't come home. And you both need to stay out of sight. I'll see if we can send for you. Just know that I can't tell you where I am or much about where I'm living, but I'm safe."

Her textbooks sat on a desk, and her other books had been arranged on an antique cherry wood bookshelf. No clothes to speak of. She wore a soft silk robe that felt like nothing she'd ever owned. Daring to get out of bed, she noticed a huge walk-in closet and entered.

"Holy sh*t."

"What?" Aunt Sally sounded like she were struggling to breathe.

The designer clothes that filled the closet made Ariana's mouth go dry. "Just ... it's nice here. I have everything I need."

Aunt Sally took a deep breath, her voice shaky. "Is that good? This isn't another Merak trick, is it? He isn't just fooling you?"

"No. He ordered a freaking Japanese sex doll that looks just like me for their sick ritual."

Aunt Sally's surprised laughter was the best sound Ariana had heard in days.

"He did that? Well ... your mother said Dimitri Lyunov was always the sneaky one."

Ariana's fingers brushed the satins, silks, cottons, wool suits, and furs. "She knew him?"

"Not well, but enough to know he was ... different. Still cruel and authoritative, but different."

Cruel?

Except for making her call him "Daddy," Dimitri hadn't treated her cruelly.

"Maybe he had to act cruel, considering who his family is," she defended him. "He might not have been happy with their little ritual. He seems modern, for someone who is centuries old."

Aunt Sally hesitated. "I suppose that's true. Where is he now?"

Dimitri's arrogant, smooth voice startled her. "Here, Sally Wilkins Norton. I'll take good care of your niece. Expect my agents to come and collect you and bring you here to Ampero in the kingdom of Merak. Be ready to leave at a moment's notice."

His voice was so strong and the echo in the closet was so awesome that Sally could hear every word.

A pause from Sally. "D*mn it, Prince Dimitri, you're going to give my husband a heart attack."

"He's a much stronger man than that," Dimitri said.

The note of respect in his voice surprised Ariana.

Dimitri continued, draping his arms around Ariana. "Your husband is wasted on Americans who don't know good craftsmanship or building. Here, his contracting will be valued. I can use a good builder."

Sally sucked in a deep breath. "Just keep Ariana safe."

"I will. But to be blunt, she's my responsibility now. Let me take care of her. After all, my family is the reason she's in this predicament."

Sally huffed. "No argument here."

"Wise. Now, pack your things."

Ariana mumbled a goodbye to Aunt Sally and added, "I love you."

She hung up, staring at the clothes. They looked like a fashion house in Milan.

"Like them?" Dimitri asked, pressing his lips to her temple.

Her heart fluttered. "You know my size?"

He grinned. "I have ways. And I can't wait to see you in this ..."

He pulled a Balenciaga gown from a hangar and held it up to her. She swooned at the sheer beauty of it. A blue-patterned one-shoulder dress that draped exquisitely.

"I'll take you to dinner in this in Paris," he murmured. "And Dubrovnik. And Milan. And Athens. You'll be the most beautiful woman anywhere. Try it on for me."

She didn't ask what happened to her old clothes. Probably gone. "My jewelry ... it's not fancy except for that Tiffany bracelet, but--"

He opened an antique wooden jewelry box with the bracelet arranged just so, and her sentimental pieces sparkling in the light.

"The jeweler will be here tomorrow," he murmured. "Jewelry is such an individual choice. I want you to choose your own pieces. Have your own style."

She swallowed, overcome with emotion.

Want. Desire for luxury. Gratitude.

Desire for him.

His scent could make an entire roomful of people give him their firstborn children.

"Ariana."

His sensual voice didn't help her blood pressure.

"If you keep looking at me like that, I'll have to do something about it."

He'd essentially bought her. Bought her freedom. She owed her life to him.

He took the gown from her and hung it up, smoothing the fabric, then turned to her, his hands on her shoulders. He slid the robe from her heated, naked body.

"You got rid of the teddy," she said foolishly.

"Burned it."

His hands ran down her body, and she bit her lip to keep from gasping. Her body belonged to him now.

"Do you want me to do something about the way you look at me? Say, 'Yes. Daddy.'"

Trembling, she tried to make herself say the words.

It was obvious what was going to happen now. His fangs glistened, and he stroked the curve of her neck. "I'm going to feed on you after I take you," he said, his voice a sensual rasp. "As you orgasm, I'll taste your blood. I take good care of all my pets. Am I going to do that to you? Are you going to let me, and enjoy it? Say, 'Yes, Daddy.'"

His eyes didn't permit any evasion or stalling.

"Yes, Daddy."

Growling, he swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. "Good pet. My good little pet. You're going to feel things you've never dreamed of."

"Please," she whimpered.

"Please ... what?"

D*mn it, he was going to insist on total submission.

"Please, Daddy."

He'd pulled her out of college ... but saved her life.

He was going to get her beloved aunt and uncle out of harm's way.

As he lay her down on the bed, arranging her limbs so she was relaxed and open for him, he stood there, his gaze smoldering as he surveyed his prize.

"Now, the fun begins."

L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
AmandaMadden

I like my male leads a bit domineering but knowing that they can't act like complete jerks just because they're helping out the heroine. But trust me, Dimitri isn't going to find Ariana as compliant as he thinks once she feels safe.

Creation is hard, cheer me up!

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