WiredinSin (7 page)

She heard him growl then hot cum filled her. He pushed as
deep as he could get and held her against him, bruising her hips with the
strength of his grip. At some point she’d released the headboard and clutched
his shoulders. She continued to stroke his skin, savoring the tremors still
rocking her and the weight of him on her chest.

“Thank you.” She whispered the words between pants. “I know
that isn’t something you’re supposed to say, but I’m going to. I’m tired so I’m
going to sever our connection. I’ll still see you tomorrow, right?”

He lifted his head and once again she was struck with the
urge to beg him to show his face. The fuzzy visage made her sad. But he spoke
before she could gather her thoughts. “Don’t thank me. That cheapens this, Vic.
I’d do anything for you. Sleep well, my succubus. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He kissed her gently and pulled his softened cock from her
depths. She reached up and stroked the face she couldn’t see and closed her
eyes, willing the connection closed. She’d deal with the emotions swirling in
her mind later. She needed to sleep and use the energy he’d given her to repair
the damage she’d done by starving herself.

“Maggie, could you bring me the reports for the Vandeline
project and a Diet Coke?” Dominick’s mind was buried under an avalanche of new
projects and planning. He’d been awake since four trying to get his work under
control. There was no way he’d be putting off the call to Victoria. Eight
thirty p.m. looked mighty close and there was no end in sight to the fires he
needed to put out.

The memory of their time together the night before had his
cock twitching and his palms sweating. He hadn’t meant to take her. He had
wanted to feed her and show her that he could be what she needed without sex
being involved, but something had snapped when she’d playfully hinted that she
wanted him. A deep, dark part of him had cut loose and taken over. He’d taken
her in a fury of lust and passion unlike anything he’d felt before.

“Here you go. Anything else I can get you before lunch?”
Maggie bustled into his office with a stack of folders and a cold soda in her
free hand, breaking into his thoughts. His secretary’s aura was tinged with
reds and oranges from the stress, but whose wasn’t at this point? She stared at
him pointedly until he realized she’d asked him a question.

“Um, no, I’m good for now. Can you put an ‘out of office’ on
your phone so it doesn’t ring while you’re gone?”

“Sure thing, boss. Oh, and there’s a box for you in the
front office. I can bring it up when I come back from snagging some food or I
can send it over now.”

A package? He wasn’t expecting anything from anyone.
Anticipation flared. Would she send him something? They hadn’t spoken for two
days and he was ready to explode. He’d wanted to call and talk to her, find out
how her day had gone. Gynger had kept him from calling, but barely. Now that
he’d found his mate he didn’t want to be separated from her by anything. Even
silence hurt him. But she wanted space, had agreed to meet him for the night,
even if it was still in his head.

He noticed Maggie still standing by the door with a bemused
expression. He sighed. “Sorry. If you don’t mind getting it sent up that would
be great.”

“Sure thing. Maybe
she’ll
have sent
you
a
present this time.”

With that his faithful employee snickered and wandered
toward her desk. They’d all been ribbing him since that fateful meeting. He’d
come back to the office drawn and weak. He’d expended so much energy trying to
get through to her that he’d sapped his own reserves. Then in a fit of
stupidity he’d admitted that he thought she was his mate. Since then his
employees, coworkers, janitorial staff and anyone else who heard the story had picked
at him. Most of the time he could let it go. Finding a fated mate was both a
blessing and a curse. If the other person didn’t accept the mating, the poor
sap was destined to live a long life pining after that lost soul. But if the
person accepted the advances, became a true mate, then, then both their lives
were blessed with never ending love and understanding. Or at least a life of
sharing the ups and downs with someone who would always be there.

He shook his head and tried to clear out all the
metaphysical bullshit that had him pondering fate and her twisted sense of
humor. No one would’ve believed him if he’d announced that he, a techno-wizard,
would find his mate in a turned succubus who shunned the rest of the world. He
was a social person, enjoyed hanging with his friends, going out to enjoy the
richness life offered. It seemed that he’d been paired with a hermit, or at
least a closet hermit. Victoria didn’t seem the type to go out and mingle with
her fellow supernaturals.

That was the thought that started him on the plan for the
night. If he couldn’t get her out of her head and building in a real situation,
then he’d take her there in his head. The date he’d been designing for the last
two days was all about getting her out of her comfort zone, which meant leaving
the bedroom.

“Mr. Danforth, I’ve got your package. If you can just sign
for it?” The quick knock on the doorjamb didn’t even slow the delivery kid
down. He’d entered the room, stepped around the organized chaos and was
juggling a bunch of boxes. Multitasking was definitely a strength of the kid’s,
but the chomping of the gum between his molars wasn’t an endearing feature.

Taking the proffered pen meant assisting the boy in getting
the right package from the pile he was balancing. Dominick offered a quick
smile before dismissing him. “Thanks.”

Without taking his eyes off the small cardboard box, he
strolled to his door and shut it tight. No sense in allowing anyone to see what
was snugly packaged in that small box. He walked back to his desk, staring at
the return address label. Within a few feet of the desk he could finally make
out the elegant scroll and his heart rate doubled. The flash of adrenaline had
him slightly lightheaded but grinning. She’d sent him something. His Victoria had
found him and sent a gift.

That thought stilled his movements and his breathing. If she
knew who he really was she’d be able to check him out and find out his
association with her company. Not that what he was doing was illegal or even
wrong. He could date her or even use Sin Incorporated’s services without a
conflict of interest, but still the thought of her finding out how their paths
had already crossed gave him instant stomach cramps. Maybe that was why she
hadn’t called the day before.

Disgusted with himself, he grabbed the letter opener on his
desk and carefully slit the packing tape. No point in “what if-ing” when he
could just open the box and see what was nestled inside. Even with that in his
mind he still opened the flaps carefully, pressing them up and out of the
opening with gentle fingers.

His breath caught in his chest when he finally caught sight of
the little present inside. Fluffy folds of tissue paper pillowed the most
intricate glass dragon Dominick had ever seen. He didn’t even want to take it
from its home, afraid to shatter it. With shaking fingers he lifted it slowly
from the paper and gasped anew. The creature he held in his hand was heavier
than he’d thought it would be. Made of spun glass of iridescent blue, the
dragon shimmered with inner light. The scales were so small that they looked
like tiny dimples but they had the smooth texture of blown glass. He turned it
repeatedly, trying to find how it was illuminated. Perhaps it was magical in
nature, although he couldn’t feel any aura at all surrounding it. With a
humph
he set it gently on the desk and peeked into the box, looking for instructions
or a note.

Below the imprint of the dragon sat a small piece of folded
paper. Dominick gently removed it from the box and unfolded it slowly, savoring
the idea that Victoria had taken the time to put perfect creases in it instead
of haphazardly putting it in the gift. Her scrolling script was so beautiful on
the creamy paper that it took a moment to concentrate on the actual words.

Dominick. As I sat trying to find a gift to send that was
not only befitting of you but spoke of my happiness in meeting you, I found
this treasure. He’s now yours although he has been my companion for the last
thirty years. You will find that he enjoys eye ridge scratches the most. Yours,
Victoria

Eye ridge scratches?
Is she serious?
He turned and
stared at the small figurine again. He could have sworn that its head had been
turned the other way when he’d set it down. A shiver of understanding skated
down his spine. Could she really have sent him a Crystal Dragon? He hadn’t
thought to ever see one in real life. They were rare and very fragile.

Only one way to find out whether he was looking at a living,
breathing dragon. With steady hands, he reached out slowly. Cupping them around
the dragon and settling it into his palm felt funny. He watched it, looking for
minute movements, but saw none. Maybe he’d been wrong about the head. He
scowled but figured he’d test out the theory. He stroked down the head and very
slowly over the eye ridges, concentrating on his magic. Did he feel a slight
tremor in the creature?

Another pass down the critter’s head brought a tangible
shift in the dragon’s stance. Its tiny tail swished and he could feel needled
claws digging slightly into his palm.
Don’t scare it, don’t scare it.
He
tried to keep his breathing steady, not stare at the tiny perfection resting
lightly in his hand. His mind raced for other things he’d learned about wild
animals. No fast movements, keep it feeling safe. Food.
Shit, what do you
feed a glass dragon?

He squeaked, a real girly sound, when the little thing
unfurled transparent wings and stretched. He watched the small creature turn
twice, like a cat readying itself to curl in a sunny spot. The dragon sniffed
his hand, looked him in the eye with shining, brilliant blue, multifaceted eyes,
then sat. Its tail twitched continuously while it cocked its tiny head back and
forth on a serpentine neck.

“Hey, there. Aren’t you the coolest thing I’ve ever seen?”
Dominick kept his voice low, afraid to startle it. But it was the dragon’s
response that made him jerk. It opened its mouth wide, yawned and produced the
highest, clearest keening chortle he’d ever heard. It sounded like the
crystal-clear note you’d get from rimming a half-full glass. Its voice went
through a few notes before it bent forward, moving its face closer to his other
hand, which was still hovering just over its back.

“Oh, you want me to pet you more?” He stroked its back and
chuckled at how the little creature arched its long back just like a cat. “So,
little one, do you have a name already? Perhaps I need to read the note again.”

Another quick perusal of the note didn’t net him a name for
the dragon or any other information. The lack of delivery information stumped
him for a moment, but then he understood. Someone from her office had delivered
the little guy. He looked at his present and grinned. “Seems we need to call
your past mommy, huh?”

Before calling Victoria he set the little dragon on his
desk, fashioning it a little bed from a cloth napkin he found stuffed in his
cabinet. He’d make it something better later, but first he needed to thank his
lovely mate for such a wickedly awesome gift. Seemed he’d get to talk with her
before their date after all.

* * * * *

“No, Tabatha, I’ll be back in the office later. I needed to
run some errands today.” Victoria sighed, listening to her assistant question
her health. “Yes, I’m feeling fine. I just needed to take care of some things
by myself.”

“No offense, Victoria, but you don’t go out to do anything,
ever. I’m just worried about you, that’s all. Did you need to find someone to
feed from?”

“Gods, no. If you
must
know, which honestly you don’t
need to… I ran a gift to Dominick’s office. I didn’t trust the courier service
to do it.” She looked both ways before crossing a busy street. The city park
was not far ahead and she craved some living things for once. Even if those
were just trees and bushes. She needed to feel the flow of energy.

“Oh…
oh
. Well, then, I won’t keep you. I just wanted
you to know that
he
actually has called your office. If you’d like I
could give him a message or transfer him to you.”

“Wow, that was fast,” she said under her breath. To her nosy
assistant she spoke more loudly. “Go ahead and put him through. Thanks, Tab.”

“No problem, and tell Nick I said hi, okay?”

A couple of clicks let Victoria know that her assistant was
already gone and she only had a couple of moments before Dominick was once
again speaking in that wonderfully deep voice. She’d spent way too many hours
thinking about him after figuring out who he was. Once she’d had a real first
name and a general idea of his talents it hadn’t taken too long. But even with
the information, the knowledge that they had been in the same room when she’d
scented her mate, she was leery to approach him in person. Delivering Sedric to
him was the closest she’d let herself get. She wished she could have seen his
face when he opened the little box and found her Crystal Dragon snugly cocooned
in tissue paper.

Another click in her ear brought Victoria from her thoughts.
She cleared her throat. “Hello?”

“Well, hello there, yourself. How are you, love? Still
feeling better?”

She loved how he said that. How easily the endearment rolled
off his tongue. “I’m good. Did you get your gift?”

“He’s gorgeous. Does he have a name?”

“He does, but you can rename him. He’s very smart and will
learn his new name fairly quickly.”

“Victoria. What is the name that
you
called him?”

“Sedric.”

“Beautifully strong name for such a unique creature.” He
paused. “How did you know where to send him?”

“You told me your name and I had your phone number traced.
So I knew where you worked. It didn’t take more than a wink and smile to have
the assurance of the front desk that I had the right building.”

“Hmm. Very resourceful. Where are you?”

“I’m walking back to my office by way of the park. Why?
Where are you?”

“I’m standing in my office, staring at my present, wishing
you were here so I could thank you properly.”

His voice always took on a rough sensuality when he spoke to
her. The image that her mind conjured after he growled about thanking her had
her belly quivering. Would he have wrapped his arms around her and pulled her
in for a scorching kiss? Or would he want to bend her over his desk and take
her from behind? Her demon woke with the spike of her arousal. The swift intake
of breath on the other end of the call didn’t help her keep the succubus side
from crawling forward in her mind.

“Oh, what is that wicked mind thinking, dearest Victoria? I
heard you gasp and the low rumbled growl tells me that your demon was piqued.”
He hummed and her panties dampened. “If you are in the park I could be there in
five minutes and you could feed.”