My brother had been the one to tell me that I needed to avoid causing trouble if I wanted to stay alive. He’d warned me time and time again not to mess with the vampires. It was easy to become the enemy of the creatures, he told me. Instead, I needed to make myself someone who was non-threatening, but important.
If you were important, even if you were a human, people wouldn’t want you dead. The vampires could act like they wanted to hurt you, and they could pretend like you were some horrible troublemaker, but if you provided a service that they needed, they’d keep you alive.
Matt and I were both certain that was why we’d managed to survive as long as we had. He’d done a good job working for Elizabeth. He’d like his position, and he’d liked her. I knew that if he’d survived the attack that cost Elizabeth her life, he’d be devastated. As it was, he died with her. He died protecting her, or at least trying to.
It was sort of poetic.
The water started to turn cool, and I finally climbed out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around myself. I towel dried my hair so that it hung in long, wet curls, and then I went into the bedroom.
Colin was there, of course, and he was standing by the bed. He’d dressed in a nice suit, and his hair was styled, and it seemed wildly unfair that he looked so good in such a short amount of time. I felt like it took me hours to look truly presentable.
“You look nice.”
He seemed a little surprised by that comment.
“Thank you,” he said.
“You look really nice,” I said again. “And I’m a little nervous about that.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t bring anything formal to wear,” I admitted. “I thought we’d just be hanging out, you know, and maybe fucking.”
Was it just me, or did his gaze darken a little when I said fucking? Because that was part of the reason he’d brought me. He wanted me to be his little toy. He wanted me to be his doll, and honestly, I didn’t really care. I probably should have, I knew. I should care that Colin was the kind of guy who would fuck women and keep them captive at his home.
I just didn’t care.
Maybe that made me a bad person. I wasn’t sure.
He hadn’t said we were going to have sex. In fact, he’d said the opposite. He’d said no sex, but I just didn’t believe that. There was too much of a connection between us. If he didn’t actually make a move after dinner, I had a feeling that I’d start throwing myself at him. Was I the type of girl to beg a vampire to have sex with her? I was starting to think that I might be exactly that kind of girl.
“You don’t need to wear anything outrageous,” he said. “What did you pack?”
I unzipped my backpack and showed him the bra, panties, t-shirt, and jeans I’d packed.
“What the hell is this?”
“Clothes.”
“You didn’t bring work clothes or formal clothes or even pajamas.”
“Well, I figured I’d go home and get changed for work.” He’d said he wanted me to stay with him through the night, but I’d have to go home from time-to-time, wouldn’t I? I didn’t know how long this guy wanted me at his place, so I’d just brought the bare necessities.
“No,” he said. “You’re here until I say your work here is done.”
“But I have my own home.”
“Yes, and until further notice, it will remain empty.”
I didn’t argue with him. I already knew there was no point in that. If he wanted me here to be his little feeding toy, then I’d suck it up and do what he said. Besides, maybe if I was a good girl, I’d be rewarded. That was how these things worked, right? Good girls got dick. I thought I’d heard a rule about that one time.
“Do you have something I can wear tonight then?” I asked. “Tomorrow, I can go home and get my things.” I didn’t have a lot of formal items, but I had a few things that might work. Colin looked wildly nice, and the outfit he’d chosen was much different from his usual shirtless appearance.
“Not necessary,” he said. “You’ll go from here to work and back again. Make me a list of the things you want, and I’ll send someone to get your clothing.”
He said this as though it was no big deal to just have someone go fetch your things. Maybe to him it wasn’t a big deal at all. Vampires seemed to think that money could solve all of your problems, and to Colin, money was no obstacle. He had enough employees that he could just have someone go to my house, sort through my belongings, and bring me back the stuff I wanted.
Just like that.