Guilty Pleasures

The water was dripping down his neck and chest. I stood and handed him a towel from the rack. He didn’t respond. I mopped up his chest with the soft, clean-smelling folds of the towel.

He finally took the towel and finished drying off. His hair was dark and wet around his face. There was no way to dry it out. “I did it,” he said.

“Yes,” I said, “you did it.”

“I almost let her.”

“But you didn’t, Phillip. That’s what counts.”

He nodded, rapidly, head bobbing. “I guess so.” He still seemed out of breath.

“We better be getting back to the party.”

He nodded. But he stayed where he was, breathing too deep, like he couldn’t get enough oxygen.

“Phillip, are you all right?” It was a stupid question, but I couldn’t think of what else to say.

He nodded. Mr. Conversation.

“Do you want to leave?” I asked.

He looked at me then. “That’s the second time you’ve offered that. Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why would you offer to let me out of my promise?”

I shrugged and rubbed my hands over my arms. “Because…because you seem to be in some kind of pain. Because you’re a junkie trying to kick the habit, sort of, and I don’t want to screw that up for you.”

“That’s a very…decent thing to offer.” He said decent like he wasn’t used to the word.

“Do you want to leave?”

“Yes,” he said, “but we can’t.”

“You said that before. Why can’t we?”

“I can’t, Anita, I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. Who are you taking orders from, Phillip? Tell me. What is going on?” I was standing nearly touching him, spitting each word into his chest, looking up at his face. It is always hard to be tough when you have to look up to see someone’s eyes. But I’ve been short all my life, and practice makes perfect.

His hand slid around my shoulders. I pushed away from him, and his hands locked behind my back. “Phillip, stop it.”

I had my hands flat on his chest to keep our bodies from pressing together. His shirt was wet and cold. His heart was hammering in his chest. I swallowed hard and said, “Your shirt’s wet.”

He released me so suddenly, I stumbled back from him. He drew the shirt over his head in one fluid motion. Of course, he had a lot of practice in undressing himself. It would have been such a nice chest without the scars.

He took one step towards me. “Stop, right where you are,” I said. “What is this sudden change of mood?”

“I like you; isn’t that enough?”

I shook my head. “No, it isn’t.”

He dropped the shirt to the floor. I watched it fall like it was important. Two steps and he was beside me. Bathrooms are so small. I did the only thing I could think of—I stepped into the bathtub. Not very dignified in high heels, but I wasn’t pressed up against Phillip’s chest. Anything was an improvement.

“Somebody is watching us,” he said.

I turned, slowly, like a bad horror movie. Twilight hung against the sheer drapes, and a face peered out of the coming dark. It was Harvey, Mr. Leather. The windows were too high for him to be standing on the ground. Was he standing on a box? Or maybe they had little platforms at all the windows, so you could watch the show.

I let Phillip help me out of the bathtub. I whispered, “Could he hear us?”

Phillip shook his head. His arms slid around my back again. “We are supposed to be lovers. Do you want Harvey to stop believing that?”

“This is blackmail.”

He smiled, dazzling, hold it in your hand and stroke it, sexy. My stomach tightened. He bent down, and I didn’t stop him. The kiss was everything advertised, full soft lips, a press of skin, a heated weight. His hands tightened across my bare back, fingers kneading the muscles along the spine until I relaxed against him.

He kissed the lobe of my ear, breath warm. Tongue flicked along the edge of my jaw. His mouth found the pulse in my throat, his tongue searching for it, as if he were melting through the skin. Teeth scraped over the beating of my neck. Teeth clamped down, tight, hurting.

I shoved him back, away. “Shit! You bit me.”

His eyes were unfocused, dazed. A crimson drop stained his lower lip.

I touched a hand to my neck and came away with blood. “Damn you!”

He licked my blood off his mouth. “I think Harvey believes the performance. Now you’re marked. You’ve got the proof of what you are and why you came.” He took a deep, shaking breath. “I won’t have to touch you again tonight. I’ll see that no one else does either. I swear.”

My neck was throbbing; a bite, a freaking bite! “Do you know how many germs are in the human mouth?”

He smiled at me, still a little unfocused. “No,” he said.

I shoved him out of the way and dabbed water on the cut. It looked like what it was, human teeth. It wasn’t a perfect set of bite marks, but it was close. “Damn you.”

“We need to go out so you can hunt for clues.” He had picked his shirt up from the floor and stood there, holding it at his side. Bare ta

He shrugged. “Ready to go out?”

I was still touching the wound. I tried to be angry and couldn’t. I was scared. Scared of Phillip and what he was, or wasn’t. I hadn’t expected it. Was he right? Would I be safe for the rest of the night? Or had he just wanted to see what I tasted like?

He opened the door and waited for me. I went out. As we walked back to the living room, I realized Phillip had distracted me from my question. Who was he working for? I still didn’t know.

It was damn embarrassing that every time he took his shirt off, my brain went out to lunch. But no more; I had had my first and last kiss from Phillip of the many scars. From now on I would remain the tough-as-nails vampire slayer, not to be distracted by rippling muscles or nice eyes.

My fingers touched the bite mark. It hurt. No more Ms. Nice Guy. If Phillip came near me again, I was going to hurt him. Of course, knowing Phillip, he’d probably enjoy it.

Chapter 27

Madge stopped us in the hall. Her hand started to go up to my throat. I grabbed her wrist. “Touchy, touchy,” she said. “Didn’t you like it? Don’t tell me you’ve been with Phillip a month and he hasn’t tasted you before?”

She pulled down the silky bra to expose the upper mound of her breast. There was a perfect set of bite marks in the pale flesh. “It’s Phillip’s trademark, didn’t you know?”

“No,” I said. I pushed past her and started to turn into the living room. A man I did not know fell at my feet. Crystal was on top of him, pi

I turned abruptly and went for the door. My heels made an important-sounding clack on the hardwood floor. If I hadn’t known better, I would have said it sounded like I was ru

Phillip caught up with me at the door. His hand pressed flat against it to keep me from opening it. I took a deep, steadying breath. I would not lose my temper, not yet.

“I’m sorry, Anita, but it’s better this way. You’re safe now, from the humans.”

I looked up at him and shook my head. “You just don’t get it. I need some air, Phillip. I’m not leaving for the night, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

“I’ll go out with you.”

“No. That would defeat the purpose, Phillip. Since you are one of the things I want to get away from.”

He stepped back then, hand at his side. His eyes shut down, guarded, hiding. Why had that hurt his feelings? I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to know.