Page 24 of Bound By Blood

Monday rolled around and Landon headed back to work as if nothing had happened. He dove in headfirst because he found himself in need of a distraction. He had several meetings that morning with the rest of the security team and a ton of paperwork to catch up on. He hadn’t had the chance to do it Friday due to his stalker-like tendencies and the meeting with the Elders, but now he was grateful for it because it kept him busy. The work had helped a bit, but it didn’t distract him from Carly completely.

The rest of the week passed by in a blur and had gone the same as it always had with one major difference. He had been put on several different jobs for his father and was loaded down with a bit more than his usual workload. But even though he was busier than usual, he couldn’t stop thinking about Carly. She was always there in the back of his mind, and he had to stop himself from stalking her from the shadows on multiple occasions.

The girl seemed to plague his mind no matter what he was doing. He was constantly thinking about her, wondering if she was okay, how she felt about him eradicating all the information she had gleaned about vampires. He also wondered if she was thinking about him as much as he thought about her, if she still felt drawn to him and if she too felt as though a piece of herself was missing. It wasn’t healthy and he knew he was going to have to do something drastic in order to snap him out of it.

Earlier that morning, Irma, his secretary, had come into his office and asked him if he wanted to join her for a drink after work since it was Friday. Because he was so desperate to get his mind off of Carly, and because it had been so long since he had been with a woman, he had reluctantly agreed. He knew it was a bad idea from the start, but he couldn’t help it. His entire life seemed to have been turned upside down the last week.

The club was one of the many that he owned himself, one of the few places that his father had no control over. The place was packed with people, as it always was, and the air was thick with the stench of perfume and body odor. Dozens of people were crammed in the center of the room, grinding their hips to the beat of the music, which could be felt through the floorboards. The place was only lit by various neon lights and the occasional strobe light.

He and Irma took over the VIP section and ordered their drinks. It didn’t go unnoticed that Irma was being particularly handsy with him even though he was her boss. She wasn’t his usual type, but at this point, he didn’t care. Sex was sex, and he needed to blow off some steam. He felt far more pent-up than usual, and it was beginning to affect his work. He couldn’t have that.

He wasn’t going to feed on her though because they worked together. If she went missing, it wouldn’t be hard to tie it back to him. He had been doing this for a while now, and he knew how to pick victims that no one could trace back to him. That was how they had remained hidden for so long. He was only using Irma for sex, and, based on her current actions, she seemed to be on the same page.

Her hand slid up from his knee to the middle of his thigh. “Is this okay?” she asked, the corner of her mouth tilting up.

Landon quirked an eyebrow at her in response. What kind of question was that? What did she think was going to happen when he agreed to go out with her?

“Or should I go higher?”

He didn’t stop her as her hand began moving upward once more, but he felt the need to clarify a few things before this went any further. “Before anything can happen, we need to get a few things straight,” he began. “This is just sex, Irma. Nothing more. A way for us both to blow off some steam. You need to understand that before I will allow this to go any further.”

For a split second, her expression faltered, but she recovered quickly. “I understand,” she replied softly, her hand drifting higher and her fingers grazing the head of his cock.

Landon hissed through his teeth, his head falling back slightly. It had been far too long. He made a quick mental note not to go this long again. “And this can’t affect work either. I won’t have any drama at the office.” His voice had gone low and husky as he began to get lost in the sensations.

Irma angled her body so that her ridiculously fake breasts were pressed against his shoulder. She leaned forward, her lips brushing against his ear. “Not even if you bend me over your desk and fuck me?” She gripped him hard through his jeans.

“Irma,” he warned, grabbing her wrist and stopping her. He was beyond horny by this point, but he still had enough willpower to stop this if he thought, for one moment, that she wouldn’t listen. “I’m serious. I won’t take this any further unless I know you understand. At work, things need to remain professional between us. What we do after hours is no one else’s business.”

This wasn’t what he wanted; she wasn’t what he wanted, but it was clear to him that he was going to need a constant outlet until he was over Carly completely. He wasn’t above letting Irma believe that it would happen more than once. Mainly because he couldn’t guarantee that it wouldn’t. The absence of Carly’s presence had him wound up tightly and Irma was clearly eager to spread her legs for him. He just needed to make sure she understood the rules.

Irma chuckled in his ear. “I can live with that.” She nipped at his ear and then soothed it with a lap of her tongue. Her lips moved further down until she was kissing a trail down his neck.

Landon released her wrists, allowing her hand to go back to his hard cock, which was straining against the zipper of his jeans. He closed his eyes, involuntarily picturing Carly instead of his slutty secretary.

He couldn’t stop himself from wondering how Carly’s lips would feel against his skin, or how it would feel to have her hand on his dick instead. Those thoughts only fueled the sensations coursing through his veins and he groaned again, bucking his hips against Irma’s palm.

All of a sudden, Landon was slammed with the same feeling he only ever got whenever Carly was around, which instantly brought him out of his daydream. His eyes snapped open just in time to see her and her friend walk into the club as if they owned the place themselves.

Seeing her again after being away from her for so long was like a breath of fresh air. The dress she was wearing made his dick even harder by the way it clung to her every curve and accented both her breasts and perky ass. However, Irma took that as an indication that he was enjoying her touch. She moaned softly against his skin and gripped him even harder, which didn’t help his current predicament.

As if drawn by some unseen force, Carly’s eyes finally met his, and everything seemed to freeze in place. He watched as her jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed at him and Irma, whose hand was still gripping his cock and whose mouth was still trailing kisses along his neck.

Clearly, Carly wasn’t happy to see him. In fact, she appeared to be absolutely livid by the fact. Well, that made two of them. He had come here tonight to get away from her. She was the one who had the audacity to show up at his club, dressing the way she was.

As hard as it was for him to do, he forced himself to look away, but not before he decided to shove the knife of betrayal a little deeper. He wrapped his arm around Irma, pulling her closer, and then gripped her thigh with his free hand, positioning her leg onto his lap.

Chapter 10

Carly Harris

Over the entire week, Carly had spent her time in a numb and angry sort of state. It constantly swapped, and there was no controlling what her mood would be from one minute to the next.

She had gotten into trouble with her boss for not working the day she had spent at the city’s archives and researching all things vampires, but hadn’t cared. She hadn’t felt anything. Not guilt. No shame. Nothing.

Since she left Landon’s, since he kicked her out of his life and made it clear that she wasn’t allowed to return, dragging her heart through coals in the process, she had done everything without a single care in the world. Numb. That was the best way to describe part of her week.

Every time she thought about Landon, though, she got pissed. She had arrived home, and everything she had collected about his kind had disappeared, even the picture. She didn’t know how he did it, but someone definitely came into her house and stole it all and, with it, her sense of equilibrium. He had done it on purpose, the asshole.