Page 12 of I Dated a Golden Vampire (Blind Date Corporation #21)

“Why are you doing this? I saw your fan base.”

“Oh, they can look and sigh and put my face on a vibrator, but what interests me is power and grace and humility.” He sighed. “And some world-class breasts.”

He was staring at them, and then he started to pet them softly, lifting them to check their heft, and as she watched, he leaned forward to rest his head between them.

She lifted her hands and slid her fingers through his dark blue hair.

It was like wrapping her fists in silk. She wanted to rub his hair over her body, but then she realized what she was thinking, and she jerked her hands back.

He tilted his head back. “What was that?”

“Intrusive thought.”

He sighed and leaned forward between her breasts again. She said, “You look so relaxed there.”

“I am. There is a scent your skin gives off that tells me I’m home, that I could rest here forever.”

“Chatty scent.”

He started nuzzling her left breast, and she gasped and grabbed his hair again, sliding her fingers past his pointy ears.

She whispered, “What are you doing?”

“I will explain later. Promise.”

He continued nuzzling, licking, and then licking and blowing a warm stream of air over her nipple. Her toes curled, and she held onto his hair. His arms wrapped around her hips, and he caressed her back as he teased and taunted her breasts until she was certain that her bikini bottoms had melted.

He went from left to right until her skin was in a constant state of excitement. She was breathing in short gasps, and when he leaned back and smiled at her dazed expression, he said, “I believe it is time to greet the captain of this fine vessel.”

Pria swallowed and numbly moved away from him and went to her room.

She closed and pressed her forehead to the door.

She looked through the dresses and grabbed one with a tight-fitting top.

She wrapped it around her and zipped it shut, putting the toys away.

The skirt was fitted in a high-low style near her knees.

Pria put on the high-heeled sandals and then sat on the bed. She didn’t want to go out there. Riro was going to ask things of her on his schedule, and she was going to be stuck. She hated being stuck and despised waiting for others.

She laughed grimly as she realized he had just broken trust.

There was a knock at her door, and Cabree’s voice said, “Pria? Are you okay?”

Pria locked all of her frustration down and said, “I am fine, Cabree.” She opened the door, and Cabree was standing there.

“Pria. What happened?” Cabree’s whisper was concerned. She was wearing a lovely dress, and her skin was glowing.

“Nothing.”

Cabree looked toward the living room. “Nothing?”

She walked toward the door and nodded. “Nothing.”

Riro was talking softly with Denog, and he smiled at her, but the smile died as he looked at her. “Pria? What’s the matter?”

She looked at him with her expression blank. “Nothing.”

He held his hand out to her, and she looked at it and then turned and walked away.

She heard footsteps behind her and created a wall of water a moment before he made contact. She felt the thud against it as he struck it.

“Pria? What happened? What did I do?”

She walked for the main door and left the room, glancing back at him as she went. “Nothing.”

* * * *

C abree looked after Pria and looked at Riro. “What did you do?”

Riro frowned. “We were just playing.”

“We were playing, or you were playing? Did she finish?”

He snorted. “No, that wasn’t the point. It was just to get her used to my touch.”

Cabree slapped her forehead. “And now she knows that she won’t get to learn what pleasure feels like when you are playing with her. Nice. The first time you masturbated, did you stop halfway to build the tension?”

He frowned and glanced toward the door. “Oh, no.”

“The Sethir are strict with young girls. A woman who has been attacked by coworkers in the program is even more cautious. Then she lost the ability to move her body for years, so you had a blank canvas, finger-painted, and walked away. Good luck getting near her again because I don’t think she’s gonna let you touch her. You really blew the first impression.”

He was already pale white, and he got grey. “I didn’t think. We were just playing.”

“To play, you have to know the game.”

Riro left the room in a rush of fluttering silk and a cascade of hair.

Denog hugged her from behind. “Did he just do what I think he did?”

“Teased her to the frustration point and then cut off contact? Yeah. Pretty sure he did.”

He kissed her neck. “I am glad I am not that stupid.”

“Me, too. And you are lucky I don’t have armour-cutting water knives.”

He hugged her. “Should we join them?”

“Sure. I would hate to waste the shower.”

* * * *

P ria went to the highest point on the ship and looked at the water beneath them. She trusted the water before the accident. It had always come when she called. They had danced together so many times that when it had crushed her, the betrayal had been complete. She thought they were friends.

The island that they were docking at had a bay so deep that whales were silhouetted beneath them. Denog’s yacht was tied up in the shallower water. Cabree would be happy with him; she just had to get past her trauma.

Pria had started to let her mind flit around Riro. As Master Roil, he had been calm and trustworthy. As the half-blood bastard prince of Hyreno, Riro was an asshole.

She settled that in her mind and nodded. It was better to go back to formalities. She was just a toy, after all.

“Pria. Are you all right?” He was walking toward her, and she stopped him with a wall of water again.

“I am fine. Did you talk to the captain?”

“No, I wanted you with me.”

“Why? I am just a guest on this ship. Three more weeks of travel and I go home.”

He froze. “I thought you wanted to see the island.”

“I did, but you tricked me, Master Roil, and I won’t fall for that again.”

“Tricked you?”

“The booking.”

“Oh, right.” He slumped slightly. “Pria, what we did—”

“You did, and it was nothing, Master Roil.”

“Pria, why are you calling me that. My name is Riro.”

She paused and explained. “When you were Master Roil, I could trust you. You took care of me, and I didn’t worry about what happened next. I would like to reset you to trustworthy status, and that requires a name change.”

He blinked. “You think I betrayed you?”

“I am so frustrated right now, I want to slice this damned boat in half.”

He cleared his throat and said, “I thought you would take care of that yourself.”

“How?”

Shock was on his features. “What?”

“I. Don’t. Know. How. I haven’t done that and don’t know where to start, and starting angry wouldn’t be a good first time.”

“Oh, Pria. I am so sorry. I didn’t know.”

She cocked her head. “Yes, you did. It was in my file. I had four years where I couldn’t move my hands.

When did you think I would start to touch myself when I was numb?

I can move tons of water with my mind, and you think I wouldn’t lose control on myself?

That was told to me more times than I could count by medical teams.” She was rising up in her anger and looked down to see water under her feet.

She looked at him. “Idiot.” She ran and jumped off the ship, was caught by water, and then cruised away slowly, swaying as she skated on the surface. She needed the water more than she needed people.

* * * *

C abree saw Pria falling , and she gasped when Pria left the area around the ship and headed far down the shoreline.

“Oh, she’s really mad.”

“I thought she danced with water,” Denog murmured. “That is more like a hockey game.”

“That’s only when she’s happy. I don’t think we are going to be seeing that on this visit.” She held Denog’s arm as they walked toward the stunned Riro.

He nodded.

Riro looked back at her and frowned. “How can you be trained for this, and she isn’t?”

“I went for months of escort training, and I was lonely and wanted to understand what would happen at every phase along the way. I know how to bring myself pleasure if Denog gets bored and wanders away, and I also know if he ever leaves me hanging, that is the last time he will see me. She’s a trainee defender who is recovering from a life-threatening injury after she just learned how to walk again. ”

Riro blinked.

“But, hey. She isn’t an escort; she is just another active with a strong sex drive and absolutely no outlet. She’s about one more bad experience from becoming a villain.”

“She’s calling me Master Roil now.”

“Of course. She could trust you when she was your apprentice. Now, you have an endgame that she knows about, but when she thinks you are on the path, you stop and veer away. If a female did that to you, what would you have done?”

His gaze flickered, and he groaned, rubbing his hand over his face. “What do you think she will do?”

“If she is just angry, she will go out and run the waves until she’s tired and then probably have to swim home. If she is depressed, she will just go to the ocean because she trusts it, and we will find her body or something will eat her.” Denog was calm.

Riro looked appalled. “She wouldn’t. She fought to live.”

“Then, she will just head out there until she’s tired and then will come home.”

Riro asked, “You are sure?”

“You know her better than I do. What do you think?”

He nodded. “She will return when she can.”