“You have such little faith in me. I’m going to break this curse, and then I’m going to fuck you so hard you’ll beg the devil to make me forget again. I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you.”
We fought until we stopped at a hotel to wait out the sun.
“Can we please stop fighting?” He begged after we got into our room.
“Stop saying things that piss me off.” I snapped.
“Fine. Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.”
“Why do you only answer the shitty ones?” I shot back.
“You don’t deserve the good shit.” He shouted and stormed into the bathroom.
I shut the lights off and pretended to be asleep when he came to the bed. He pulled me into his arms, and I let him, despite being furious with him. I kept my eyes closed and attempted to slow my breathing.
“I wish I could tell you everything,” he whispered as he ran his fingers through my hair. I snuggled my face deeper into his bare chest. My hand went to his tattoo, the bat that confirmed his ties to the Seven Sins. He kissed the top of my head. “I know you’re afraid of me realizing there was someone else. Back then. I think there was. I can see it, I think. But that was a long time ago. People change. Feelings change. I’m not the man I was in nineteen-ninety-four. I don’t want that man back. I like this. I love this.”
He knew I was awake and listening, but still, I didn’t respond. I didn’t need to. He didn’t expect me to.
“You said you wanted to know some good stuff. Stories. I can give you one.”
Despite myself, I perked up slightly. He chuckled low. “I knew it. Okay, you want a fun story?”
“Yes, please,” I said as I began to run my fingers down his chest, admiring every line of his muscles.
“Despite us all being friends, organized crime wasn’t the original plan. We were just seven cursed vamps trying to get by. Corrine and Tully came up with the idea for us all to do stuff together. But it wasn’t really—” He tilted his head side to side. “It wasn’t an automatic invitation. They had lots of vampire friends. Corrine and Tully invited Arsenio first, and then Dante and Ginata.”
“So, how did you get the invitation?” I asked, my hand drifting past his belly button.
“Elvie got hers first. She was given a mark, and when she was done, she had to go back and tell them how she did it. It was like those divers. You know, they do their flips and spins in the air, and then the judges hold up numbers on technique and style.”
I sat up, removing my hand from the base of his cock. He opened his mouth in protest and sat up with me.
“Hey now, I’m not going to tell you things if you’re just going to tease me,” he warned, but after seeing that I was too interested in his story, he got up with a huff and went to put on pajama pants. He shot me a glare. “I don’t mind if you don’t want to, just— vampires still get blue balls.”
I burst into laughter, which only caused him to continue scowling. He threw up his hands, but a small smile slipped through. “That’s it. I’m never telling you anything good. You can’t handle it!”
“Oh! Don’t say that. I’ll be good.” I got up on my knees and gave him my best puppy dog eyes. His eyes went wide, and I watched them flick to my lips. He licked his own, and I could almost hear his erection rising again. I grinned. “I’ll be a good girl. Just finish your story.”
He rolled his eyes but relaxed back against the headboard. He raised his arm and motioned for me to take my place back on his chest. I did so quickly, and he sighed. “You are such a nerd, choosing stories over sexy times.”
“Yes, and you are a huge loser. Go on.” I patted his chest.
“Well, Elvie was nervous. She always hated killing people. Sometimes it’s a necessary evil, being a vampire, but often she’d try to get someone else to do it for her. This time she couldn’t, though. She was given some guy, I don’t remember why, but she kidnapped him and basically made it her goal to drive him insane to the point where he begged to die.”
“Did it work?” I asked.
He laughed. “Oh yeah. And it sucked because she did it in our apartment. He was tied to a chair for two weeks in the middle of the room. I was so happy when he was finally dead.”
“Okay, so she’s in. Now how did you get in?” I waved him on. This was fascinating to me.
“Well, I went after that stunt, so I had to figure out how to top it. I spent a week just trying to figure out what I wanted to make my thing.”
Realization hit me then. “The cards!” I said excitedly, but then I frowned, realizing what I was celebrating.
“The cards.” He confirmed. “The one that got me in was the Seven of Wands, which was basically me beating the shit out of the bastard with broomsticks until he died. I got better, more creative over time,” he said, almost as if I was judging him for style.
“And now you do it for every mark?” I asked, my hands returning to their leisurely exploration of his body.
