Page 13 of Destined By Dragonblood (Blood Born #2)

Ashley

V anni had slept on my couch, allowing me to get some rest. Still, we ran a little late getting to work in the morning, and I’d given him my promise to call if I felt threatened at all during the day.

The hours dragged, my thoughts on how comfortable I’d been alone with him in my condo, how he’d been tender and careful about no skin contact while holding me.

More than anything, I knew I could trust my master in every way, and the warmth that instilled deep inside me overshadowed fear from the cold, bad eyes.

Five o’clock finally rolled around, and I shut down my computer, so ready for Vanni’s flogger on my back that my hands shook and twinges of arousal woke between my thighs.

I had two hours before our scheduled appointment to scene, and I planned to do as I always did to waste time.

Even though I needed release from the week-long buildup of sexual tension riding me due to the good stalker, my body required sustenance first.

When I stepped out beneath the darkening sky, both sets of eyes burned from opposite sides, one warm and honey-like, the other cold and biting. A shiver slid over me, pebbling my skin from desire and unease alike.

Master Vanni had insisted I reach out to him if I experienced the same sense as last night, but I only had to walk two blocks to the cafe I visited every Friday before meeting with him. His club sat closer to Midtown, an easy walk on crowded sidewalks where no one would attempt to kidnap me.

If that was their intention at all.

And for some reason, the good eyes made me feel safe, protected from the other. As long as I continued to sense him along with the bad, I didn’t need to bother Vanni.

I turned north, shoulders hitched and chin tucked into my coat against the cold, keeping a sharp eye out.

Like me, dozens if not hundreds hurried through the biting air, done with the work day and ready to head home.

Traffic jammed in the streets, horns, and the occasional curse were nothing new under Manhattan’s buildings reaching into the dark sky.

I made it to the cafe unmolested, and a blast of heat warmed my face as I pulled the door open. I shuffled inside, erasing the opposing feelings of my stalkers.

After ordering my usual chicken Caesar wrap and green tea, I took the only table available to me—in the front window.

Immediately, goodness rather than the chill I’d feared radiated through the glass, and I hid my smile by ducking my head and sipping my piping hot drink. Sweetness slid over my tongue, and I licked my lower lip before turning to look out the window fully.

People hurried past, most of them on their cell phones, a few abnormal meandering souls checking out the sights rising high overhead regardless of winter’s wind.

I scanned everyone who passed by, hoping for a glimpse of eye contact, a hint of whose stare I’d felt walking the mere two blocks from work.

A couple stood across the street on the far corner to my left reading a brochure. Another woman lingered far to my right, just outside the window casing, a frown on her face as she mouthed into the cell held between her cheek and shoulder.

The soft music overhead was lost in the buzz of voices as people came and went the same as every Friday I visited the establishment.

Usually, I read on my e-reader until the hours passed, but I found myself unable to focus, my gaze flitting from its screen to the glass beside me more often than not, my skin tingling with awareness.

I gave up on my fairytale book of happily-ever-afters and turned my attention to the crowded sidewalks. The stationary couple and woman had disappeared, but others had taken their places, lingering here and there while more people pushed past in their hurry to get to wherever they needed to go.

Picking mindlessly at the small wart on my pinkie, I scanned toward the left.

A solitary figure leaning against the building across the street snagged my attention.

He gazed in my direction, and even though I couldn’t make out his face or be sure he even looked at me, my breath caught as a rush of arousal swept over me.

I straightened in my chair, my hand falling to my lap.

Wide shoulders encased in a gray coat drew my gaze first, the thicker material doing nothing to hide the fact he spent his working hours in a gym rather than behind a desk.

I craned my neck as people slipped past, cutting him from sight for brief moments.

Casual jeans couldn’t hide the powerful-looking thighs beneath.

A bus rumbled by, and I bit my lip while shifting on my chair, cursing the slow-moving vehicle from hindering my view.

The gorgeous man still stared my way once the vehicle moved on, and my mouth dried as the moisture in my body pooled between my thighs.

I pressed my legs together, hoping to relieve the sudden, pulsing ache.

Heart thrumming, I took in his dark blond hair and strong jawline, wishing like hell I could make out the color of his eyes.

A filthy dog sat at his feet, head tipped while peering up at the man, tongue wagging—almost smiling it seemed from that distance.

The man absently rubbed the animal’s head with gentle strokes.

Surely if a dog wasn’t fearful of his looming presence, he couldn’t be that bad of a person.

My hand itched to wave, to motion the stranger across the street to join me, but I knew better. Initiating was a thing from my past, something I would never do again.

Tearing my focus off the man and his dog didn’t come easily.

My chest ached and breaths came choppy from trauma’s reminder.

For fifteen minutes, I wished him away. For fifteen minutes more, I longed for him to approach.

Flitting my gaze out the window on occasion allowed me to find him squatted beside the dog he held against his chest, but his focus was still on me.

Or, the cafe, at least.

A quiet ding from my cell reminded me it was time to face the cold for another walk that would lead to warmth and the chance to find relief from the lust burning throughout my body.

Shaking, I cleaned up my dinner things and stepped out onto the sidewalk, expecting to sense both stalkers. No trace of the one that instilled fear remained, thank goodness.

The man who had flooded me with desire no longer stood across the street, but the warmth of his presence continued to caress my face. His dog sat unmoved, peering up at the building behind him.

I swiveled my head side to side, looking for the man, feeling as though his disappearance had caused a piece of me to be stripped away and tossed far into the ocean. Where had he gone? Had I been wrong in thinking he’d been the one following me?

Swallowing back disappointment yet still thrilled I felt my comforting stalker’s presence, I turned and hurried northward through the cold.

Nose half-frozen, I pushed into the lobby of the building housing Master’s club.

The good eyes followed me, and I hid my smile by ducking my head while climbing onto the first elevator empty of those ready to leave the sky rise.

Other people pressed in to stand in front of me, and the stare of my stalker continued to warm me even though no one had given me a second look before turning to face the doors. We sped upward, people exiting one by one until I stood alone.

Every inch of my body tingled with awareness.

I sensed another presence, but my eyes assured me no one rode the elevator with me. Deceit at its finest. Or perhaps I was losing my mind.

“Who are you?” I whispered, refusing to believe the latter.

Of course, no one answered, nor had I expected a voice to reply.

Blowing out a heavy exhale, I straightened and faced the doors as the elevator slowed.

An exhale over my nape caused a shudder to ripple through me, and I squeezed my thighs tight as a whimper slid past my parted lips.

Want .

The word whispered through my mind, a perfect description for the ache in my body. Never had I ever desired physical touch so much in my entire life. My skin burned for contact, my core pulsing around emptiness that needed to be filled.

The door slid open, and I forced myself forward into the club’s entryway.

Lust followed, hot on my heels, and I shivered, thankful my stalker hadn’t left me.

I took my time in the women’s locker room, stripping out of my work clothes until I stood completely naked.

My breaths came in pants as my insides jittered and fluttered like butterflies on crack.

Swallowing hard, I glanced around the open room, taking note of a few other women in states of undress.

No tall blond in a gray coat watched from the shadows, no hulking figure leaned against a wall, arms crossed, intense stare soaking me in even though I could feel him.

Every inch of me wished for him to be real.

I wanted him to follow me into Master Vanni’s domain, to watch how I found release.

Clenching my eyes shut, I fought off an instinctive desire to be owned by him—a complete stranger, a creepy yet hot-as-hell stalker my body had no business being turned on by.

My pussy dripped over the image of the man etched into my brain.

But part of me longed for Master Vanni as well. Something deep-seated from having bonded with him through our scenes. When I fantasized over him laying his bare hand on me, even more wetness roused, and I bit my lower lip to keep from whimpering.

I needed my master.

Now.

I slipped into the blue silk robes provided by the club and took out the clip holding my hair tight to my head. A few trembling finger combs fluffed the dark waves to the middle of my back, and I hurried toward the door leading into the lounge, my pussy aching to be filled.

Delightful goose bumps licked over my skin at the thought of allowing Master Vanni to fuck me with the huge cock imprisoned inside his black leather pants.

Long and thick, his bulge had caught my eye a few times, and I wondered at his desire for me even though he’d never once voiced it, nor did he push my limits.

It wasn’t yet seven, and patrons already littered the lounge.

My stalker’s eyes cut off as the locker room door shut behind me, and while I would have preferred for him to stay close, Master Vanni waited for me.

He would take care of me as only he could.

His pain would have to be enough for tonight.

A redheaded submissive was shackled to the cross on the dais straight ahead, her bear-like Dom using a flogger to stripe her back. The sex swing was also in use, where a male sub strapped in and wearing a cock cage was getting pegged by his mistress.

Both sights caused more arousal to slip from my body, and I stifled a needy moan.

“Ashley.” Master Vanni had caught me unaware while I stared, his low voice on my right sending a shudder through me.

I lowered my head rather than lift my gaze higher to look into his arresting, mossy green eyes. “Good evening, Master,” I whispered, unable to hide the craving for him from my voice.

He touched my lower back, the satin robe between our skin, but a jolt of electrical current raced through my blood. I needed more. “How are you?” he murmured near my ear, sending ripples of goose bumps over my skin.

“I’m ready.” Never had those words been truer.

“Do you wish to sit and talk first?”

I shook my head. “I’m good. Work was fine. I—I need you, Master. I’m so green I can’t think straight.”

Master Vanni cursed under his breath, his fingertips pressing tighter against me as though to order me toward his private play-room.

I moved beneath his steering, but halfway across the lounge, a shiver licked along my spine like what a warm, wet tongue might feel like. I lifted my head.

Master Vanni moved like a predator beside me, dark hair curling at his nape, olive skin covering wide shoulders I suddenly wanted to clutch while he sank into my body. Swallowing hard and not nearly as freaked out as I would have been over that thought a week ago, I looked beyond him.

A few people gazed after us, but they were patrons I recognized from my prior visits to the club, and not a single one of them caused the arousal inside me to intensify. That sense came from a presence heading toward the corner grouping of empty seats.

He watched.

Whoever— what ever—this creature was, it stared as it took up residence on a leather chair, causing another wave of desire to make my skin itch for physical touch.

An idea flitted through my brain, and feeling reckless with instinctive need, I reconsidered the limits Master and I always discussed before sceneing together.

Yessss…

The whisper slid through my mind, more potent than my subconscious voice. Rather than freak out over the voice in my head, I sank into the word still hissing like curling smoke through my blood, heart, and lungs. The suggestion gave me strength, and I made up my mind.