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“I really should get going. Please release me.” I tried my best to keep an even tone and not freak out. No need to excite him further.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t fully in control of my body and so I stiffened as his head lowered. His nose buried in my hair, and he inhaled deeply, a low rumble vibrating through him. I swore I felt something poking me in the stomach.
“Such a pretty little thing. Too bad your owners don’t know the value of someone like you, the immeasurable amount of pleasure you could give them.”
I swallowed hard and squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m sure you’re mistaken. I’m not all that remarkable. Just a plain old maid. Nothing more.”
Valentine chuckled and lifted his head, much to my relief. “I’m sure your unappreciative masters have filled your head with such nonsense, but I think I should be the judge of that.” Quicker than I could follow, his hand grabbed hold of the lace collar around my neck and jerked it off. The fabric ripped, and I gasped.
He wasn’t going to bite me, was he?
One moment, I was in Valentine’s embrace, and the next, I was clutched against a familiar chest. With one hand in my hair and the other on my sternum, Rayne’s fingers brushed the curve of my breasts as he held my back tightly against his front.
“Valentine. What are you doing to my maid?” The possessive tone in his voice in usual circumstances would have pissed me off, but right now, I’d take it over Valentine any day.
Valentine's eyes widened a fraction, but then a cool blank expression covered his face. Crossing one arm under the other, he acted like Rayne had simply asked him the time of day. “Nothing for circumstance. She is not claimed. I figured I could take her off your hands.”
Claimed? I bristled at the words, but Rayne’s hand in my hair tightened, warning me to stay quiet. Pinching my lips closed, I lowered my eyes to the ground, forcing myself to act the dutiful servant. God, Rayne was so going to get his when this was all over.
“What makes you think that?” Rayne pressed me closer, his hand moving lower until it settled on my stomach. Against my better judgment, my body reacted to his hands on me. I shifted my legs and took a few shallow breaths. Remember, asshole. Asshole. A chauvinistic pompous assho—
“I don’t see any marks.” Valentine waved a hand in my direction, and I stopped thinking about how Rayne affected me. Did he mean bite marks? There was no way I was schooling my features for that one.
Rayne, however, seemed to be more than prepared for Valentine’s inquiries. He pressed his cheek to the side of my head as a condescending tone filled his voice. “Not everyone goes straight for the jugular, Valentine. There are far more delicious places to mark one’s own.”
God, fuck. Where had that come from? When did the little, redheaded shit learn to seduce like that? He wasn’t even trying to turn me on, and I was ready to collapse on my wobbly knees.
Valentine made a noise in the back of his throat, clearly not believing Rayne. I didn’t know why, I know I sure did.
Rayne figured the same because the hand in my hair whipped my head back and his mouth captured mine. A startled sound came from me, but he swallowed it whole. His tongue assaulted my mouth, dragging my own tongue into his hot cavern. My hands which had been dead at my sides now clutched at his hand on my stomach, my eyes squeezing shut, but I didn’t push him away.
It was for Valentine’s sake, of course, not because Rayne kissed like he was fucking my mouth, leaving me thoroughly breathless and aching by the time he released my mouth. But not before his fang nipped my lip, causing a trail of blood to drip down my chin.
Not meeting my eyes, Rayne licked the blood from my face, teasing the corner of my lips before releasing me completely.
Still not looking at me directly, Rayne turned his gaze back to Valentine. “Satisfied?”
Valentine huffed, a mixture of disappointment and annoyance in that one sound. “Fine. Then find me something else to eat, I’m going to starve in this house.” He spun on his heel and started back for the stairs, only giving me a passing glance over his shoulder as he left.
When Valentine’s footsteps sounded on the stairs, I turned to Rayne, opening my mouth to ask him what the fuck that was, but he shook his head, his eyes staring at the place Valentine had been. “Go wait in my room, Piper. I’ll be there shortly.”
Opening and shutting my mouth like a gaping fish, I began to argue, but then Rayne’s eyes pivoted to mine. There was something in his amber eyes, a warning of some kind that had me swallowing my complaints.
My head bobbed, and I shifted away from him on unsteady legs. “Of course, Master Durand.”
I walked on stiffening legs to his room, my eyes forward and telling myself not to look back no matter how much I wanted to. Rayne had saved me from Valentine’s clutches, but was I really truly safe?
Safe inside of his bedroom, I took my shoes off before climbing onto his bed. There wasn’t anywhere else to sit, and I wasn’t going to sit on the floor. Who knew how long it would take him to show up?
I should have taken that other job. Vampires. Blood bonds. Hot sexy males that have no sense of personal boundaries. Okay, so maybe it went both ways, and maybe it was only a couple of them, but still, I wouldn’t have any of these problems if I had taken the call center job before I had joined the temp agency.
I sat on his bed, my arms around my knees for hours. Rayne never came. I didn’t know when I fell asleep, but when I woke, the sun had risen, and someone had covered me with a blanket. I glanced around the room. There was no Rayne or anyone else in sight, no sign that anyone had come in beside the blanket.
Climbing out of the bed, I folded the blanket and placed it on the bed before heading for the door. I hadn’t locked it, not knowing if Rayne would be able to get in. It was his room after all.
Once the door was opened, I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave. Were they gone? Had Valentine and his whole horrible crew left? Did I want to chance it?
Peeking my head out, I searched for some sign of the visiting vampires, but as the sun was up, I wasn’t surprised to find the hallways empty.
